Chapter 3

I reached the building in a matter of minutes since I wasn't in a particular hurry now that I am in Orario. I arrived by lunch time, so I have plenty of time to search for a Familia and enter the Dungeon. I entered the place and saw that the Advisors were all free, how lucky. Hm… Who should I choose? Waifu material or plain old helpful veteran? Hm… Veteran it is, I'm not too interested in the Advisors, to be honest.

I went up to an old dude that I would certainly classify as a Dwarf, if not for what Observe told me:

{Davan Smith

Race: Human}

I ignored his stats, since they are recorded in my Database.

"Hello there, I would like to register as an Adventurer." I told him. He looked at me with a confused expression, then I remembered that I don't know the local language. I bought the Linguist skill from the Shop real quick and repeated what I just said.

"Oh, good, then fill out this form. Hm… I've traveled quite a lot, but I've never heard your language. Where are you from, sonny?" He passed me a piece of parchment.

"Oh, it's just a village in the South. Completely in the boonies. I doubt anyone else in Orario speaks my language." I told him while filling in the form. It asked for the usual stuff: name, age, combat method, preferred profession (smith, researcher, explorer…), and what kind of Familia I wanted to enter. I marked the last one with 'Any, as long as I'm the only Adventurer'. I don't want a shit-ton of leeches or fake friends that I would have to be in charge of. God forbid some jackass from entering my Familia, otherwise I'll start a fucking massacre.

Davan looked over the form and chuckled a little seeing my last response.

"So, Jules, here is a list of Familias that suit your 'needs'. By the way, name's Davan, I'll be your Advisor from now on."

"Pleasure. Just give me a moment to look over the list." I started scouring for names I knew or was interested in. Until now, my gut feelings never missed a beat, so I will do what I think is right. "Hm… I'll go with the Athena Familia. When did she descend?"

"Just a few days ago, actually. She wants to create a Familia that will eventually help in expeditions and provide support. A mercenary Familia, to put it bluntly."

"Sounds perfect. Where can I meet her?"

"Just wait here, I'll contact the Goddess and have her meet you. I'm sure you two will hit it off real well." He said, then took some kind of crystal ball and started murmuring. After a couple of minutes, he looked at me again. "She's coming here. Why don't you sit down on one of the couches?"

I nodded and went to sit down, then re-examined Davan's stats. He actually had a 30 across the board, with a 50 in STR, INT, and WIS. He's pretty strong, probably the Level 4 I saw on the map. Good, if this is all they can offer, I am pretty much set. Though, Davan could just be a weak Level 4…

While I was deep in thought regarding my current strength level, Athena arrived in the Guild. She had a pale complexion, blonde hair, more of a lime color actually, a white ribbon on her head, and a blue and white dress. Well, needless to say, the Goddess looked fine as fuck, excuse my crass expression.

I stood up as Davan greeted her. "Good day, Athena-sama. This young man here is Jules, a prospective Child."

Oh God, do I really need to do this? Well, I'll deal with it. "Good day, Athena-sama." Fuck suffixes, as soon as I get in her Familia I'll drop it.

Athena was eyeing me up and down to assess me. She had a confused expression when she saw my pistol, but I ignored it. Please spare me from a Goddess shooting people by mistake.

Davan led us to a room for us to talk privately. Athena sat opposite of me and started studying me.

"Why should I let you into my Familia?" she asked.

"No, it's why should I join your Familia. You see, I can make any Familia a D-rank within a month, and an A rank within two years. Within three years, S-rank is quite doable. So tell me, why should I join your Familia and not another one?" If my gut feeling is correct, Athena is ambitious, cunning, a strategist. She'll start weighing the pros and cons of accepting me. There really aren't any cons, so I am confident enough to act like this.

"Pfft! Ha! You, alone, can lead an entire Familia to become S-rank in three years?! Don't make me laugh!"

"I never said that I was alone. You see, I represent some people, some strong people. We are all searching for a Familia and I decided to 'test the waters'."

She got serious when she heard that. "My 'mother', Hera. She left quite a few hidden stashes around the city. I have a fortune already, so you will get a headstart compared to other Familias. Is this enough of a reason to join my Familia?"

"No, money isn't what we are looking for. What I, we, are searching for is a God or a Goddess with a backbone, someone who isn't scared of calling for a War Game when we ask for it and one that won't just abandon us or sell us out. Are you someone who fits the bill?"

"Hmph! You won't find anyone better than me, unless you get into already established Familias, like Loki's. Plus, I am not the kind to abandon my Children."

"Then we have a deal. Let's do the Falna-giving ceremony or whatever, then I'll contact my partners. They'll be here by next week." I said and extended my hand.

"Take off your shirt, boyo. You have guts to treat this like a business deal. I have the feeling that we'll be a great pair." she said with a scary smile as she shook my hand. Well, it would have been scary to anyone else but me.

I took off my shirt, laid down on the couch, and showed my back to her. She straddled me and pressed her finger on my back. She traced an olive branch on my back and I got a prompt from my system:

{Foreign substance detected. No risk for the user.

Falna detected. Integrating Falna. New tab acquired: Excelia Distribution}

Nice. I basically have two statuses now. And I think that I will begin from Level 1. Great, more benefits for me.

Athena then pressed a piece of paper against my back and read my status.

"Jules Dumont… Level 1... " She stopped and looked at me in disbelief. "Are you even human?"

"The Status says so, doesn't it? How high are my stats?"

"You have 2500 across the board. Probably the strongest Level 1 Adventurer in… Forever."

"Damn, that's low! I was hoping for at least double that."

"Are you an idiot? That's the maximum a human can attain per Level."

I shrugged and put my clothes back on. "Give my status to Davan. Give me two days and I'll get to at least Level 2. For now, let's go to the Hostess of Fertility to celebrate your imminent success."

Athena did as I said and I ignored Davan's shocked gaze. I followed my Goddess to the pub and sat down at an empty table. Soon enough, a certain Goddess with a voyeur fetish came to take out orders.

"Good day! I am Syr. What can I bring you?" She then took a better look at me and seemed confused. Must be my system hiding my soul.

"Hello there. I'll take a beer and whatever the chef thinks goes well with it." I told her. Syr is an interesting one, but Freya? She's a THOT. Maybe I can brainwash her into completely assimilating with Syr? Ooh, that's one nice idea!

"I will take some wine and whatever goes well with it." said Athena, then she shooed Syr away. "Tell me, how many people do you represent?"

"We are four. You can roughly say that one is a tank, one is a… Uhm… Crazy girl with massive damage, and one is an archer."

"Oh… And what are you? I mean according to your subdivision?"

"I am a hunter. I get a target, I kill it, without fail. If you want a better classification, I am more like an all-rounder." Yes, that's the way I can gain power. I will make sure to become a powerhouse as soon as possible.

"Then what if I told you to eliminate Ottar? The King?"

"I would do it. It wouldn't be too difficult." True. I have several ways of killing the guy without him even noticing.

"Then do it. With him out of the game, we can easily become the strongest Familia."

"Will do. What about the Loki Familia?"

"Loki can be reasoned with, there is no need to antagonize a potential ally." That's the right call, I am impressed by my dear Goddess.

"And antagonizing the Freya Familia is okay?"

"If you can take down Ottar, there is no need to fear them."

"Good. You have passed, my dear Goddess. I will have that boar's head on a silver platter by tomorrow morning. My companions, as I've told you, will arrive in a few days." Indeed, I was checking that Athena was the right Goddess for me. In my book, she has bigger balls than most generals and CEO's back on Earth, and that's saying something.

We enjoyed our little celebration and then headed to Athena's HQ in the evening. It was an unassuming building, quite neat, very clean, three floors, an underground storage room, and it even had a bath. I am starting to like my Goddess even more.

But, there's a but: she's currently broke, at least on paper. This means that I will need to work my ass off in the Dungeon, just as I planned to do.

"Don't wait for me awake, I might just come back tomorrow." With that, I left Athena to do her own thing and I went to the Dungeon. While walking, I sent a few Area Scans to find the strongest reaction in Orario. I wanted to find Ottar and kill him, even before Athena's request. Not only would it count as a big enough achievement to get a Level Up, but I would get all of his skills. Just immagine what kind of bullshit skills the guy has, and I can make the most out of them.

I found him just before reaching the Dungeon. Coincidentally, he was also going there. I switched to my Pilot suit and activated the cloaking device, then started following him. I marked him and started thinking of a plan. The guy won't go down without a fight, that's for sure. He has incredible defense, which my pistol will never penetrate. However… There is the possibility that a sniper rifle would do the trick. That or a laser weapon. I got two weapons from the Shop: the Whisper of the Worm from Destiny, which should pack enough of a punch to kill that boar, and the DL-44 from Star Wars, which will either kill him or cook him slowly. I stored both weapons in my Inventory and continued to follow Ottar.

I think that he noticed someone following him, though I do not know how. Instinct, I guess. He went to a desolated area on the 11th Floor, then turned around.

"Come out. I know you are there."