Chapter 13: New God Descends

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Arthur Leywin:

Three years have passed since I became an adventurer, and I've grown a lot during this time. My core broke through into the Initial Silver Stage, and I could see the Aether particles but didn't have any luck in influencing them yet.

I also joined the Astrea Familia on multiple expeditions, and we managed to reach the 46th floor. Considering we are a small group, this is a big feat. Ryuu and I also formed a team outside the expeditions.

Sylvie and I also moved out of Uncle Vince's apartment and bought our own. It's nothing big but enough for us.

"Stop spacing out, Princess." A voice snapped me out of my reminiscing.

My eyes twitched when I heard the nickname. "I told you not to call me that, Lyr..."

"But you look like a pretty princess with your magic." Lyra said with a smirk while I could hear the muffled laughter from the others.

Nothing will happen if I punch her, right? No, I shouldn't do that...

I got the nickname due to my Illusion Magic. I thought it was a good idea to disguise myself and make me look more feminine so people wouldn't stick out when people saw me joining them in the dungeon, but it was the worst thing I could have done.

I stopped using it after the first time, but they still call me that, and I blame ROB for this stupid idea... Yes, I will blame ROB for every stupid decision I make.

Sigh...

Wait, why were we even here?

I suddenly remembered that I didn't know why I was there. I only knew that Lady Astrea asked Ryuu to bring me here.

"Lady Astrea, could you tell me why we are here and why are so many people are gathered?" I asked the Goddess.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? A new Goddess will descend today and make a welcome speech." She explained with a smile.

Wait, a Goddess will descend today?

It must be some minor goddess because I don't remember a big shot in the canon story that descended at this time.

So I waited, and after a few minutes, I could see a white beam descend from the sky, and magical screens started appearing throughout Orario.

On the screen, multiple gods could be seen surrounding the middle where the beam hit. When the light started fading, I could see a petite Goddess with a youthful appearance. She had blue eyes and mid-thigh length black hair tied into twin tails that reached down to her mid-thighs. She was wearing a white mini dress with a blue ribbon around her neck and one tied under her breasts and around her arms, and a pair of white gloves.

"Greetings, citizens of Oraio. I'm Hestia, Goddess of the hearth, home, and hospitality..." She began her speech, but I tuned it out as I started to think about what was happening.

What is she doing here? She was supposed to descend a year from now, so what did change? ROB... That bastard must have done this. Does that mean the canon plot will also happen sooner?

SHIT...

If it happens, all my early preparation to be strong enough will go to waste.

"KYU."

'Papa, calm down."

Sylvie kyued, and it helped me calm down.

Let's think about it.

Hestia descended today instead of a year from now. What could be the cause? I started thinking about every possible scenario, from the changes to the timeline to the original timeline, to find what caused Hestia to descend early.

Wait! I finally put this together, but if this theory is correct, this could be bad. In the original timeline, Hestia descends around six months before Bell arrives in Orario, and Bella will come to Orario in six months.

Is this ROBs doing or fate...

I hope this doesn't change the major events...

"Art, why are you still standing there?" Ryuu's voice snapped me out.

"Hmm... What do you mean, Ryuu?"

After saying that, I looked around and saw Hestia had finished her speech, and everybody was returning to doing their duties.

"oh..." I said while rubbing the back of my head, trying not to worry about it as I started walking home.

But this brings out the question of what familia Bella should join. At first, I thought about her joining the Astrea Familia, but now that Hestia is here, it has changed things.

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Waking up early the next day, I started preparing for the day.

My new outfit consisted of a loose black long-sleeved shirt with a cloak lined with soft white fur around its hood. A pair of black pants, soft leather shoes, and my sword strapped to my waist.

Taking my backpack, I checked if I had everything we would need. Some Healing Potions, food, and a large water pouch.

Everything seemed good, so I left the apartment and walked toward the dungeon with Sylvie resting inside my hood.

Without any problems, we arrived at the entrance to the dungeon, where Ryuu was waiting for us.

"Morning Ryuu. I hope you didn't wait long." I greeted the blonde elf.

"Morning, Art. No, I just arrived." She replied with a small smile.

We talked for a bit before descending the staircase into the dungeon.

We started killing every monster on our way down the floors, and I must say it's nice to have someone watching your back. Of course, I always had Sylvie, but she is lazy, so if nothing serious happens, she won't do anything.

Sigh... My daughter is lazy in the dungeon...

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Dodging the attack from a Deadly Hornet, I set my sword on fire and stabbed it straight through the head of the monster.

The Deadly Hornet is a large bee monster with a stinger powerful enough to pierce heavy armor and kill a Level 2 adventurer in one thrust.

As I picked the Magic Stone from its corpse, I saw Ryuu killing the last monster, so we continued down to the 25th floor.

The 25th floor marks the beginning of the Great Fall, a massive waterfall around 400 meters wide and twice that in length, which lasts until the 27th floor.

To move on to the next floor, we must navigate through a series of passageways varying in elevation around the waterfall to reach the passageway at the bottom.

As we entered, Ryuu took out her Undine Cloth, a blue cloth imbued with the power of an Undine, giving increased protection against water-based attacks and helping the wielder underwater.

I didn't use one because I could easily use my magic, so it was an unnecessary expense.

We continued to navigate through the passages killing every monster with minor difficulty before leaving the Water City behind and entering the 28th floor, which was a safety point.

"Let's rest here for a few hours before we continue." Ryu said while taking out something from her backpack.

Sylvie left to roam around the floor. I wasn't worried because this was a safe floor, and if a single monster came down here, she could easily kill it. But now that we are here, I thought about something important and needed Ryuu's opinion.

"Say Ryuu... What do you think about bringing an Almiraj as a pet for my sister?" I asked her.

She looked at me before answering with a deadpan expression.

"Almiraj, as in the Level 2 rabbit monster... Yes, that would be a great present for your sister..."

"Yes, they would look cute together." I said while nodding my head.

"You know, with all the stupid things you do, I wouldn't be surprised if you actually did it." She said before drinking from her water pouch.

We continued talking for some time while eating before I felt Sylvie's emotion from our link.

"SYLV!" I yelled while running in the direction she was in.

Ryuu seeing me, panicked and running, quickly followed on guard for an attack. When I arrived, I saw Sylvie stuck to a crystal that was absorbing her mana at a very fast pace.

My whole body warned me not to come near, but I ignored it and tried to help Sylvie.

Trying to separate her didn't work, and she was getting weaker every second. I could also feel it start to drain my mana.

Not having the time, I decided to activate Static Void. As the colors of my surroundings inverted and time stopped, I started thinking of possible solutions.

Looking around, I didn't see any monster that could do this, and I couldn't remember any crystal that could do something like this. Activating Realmheart, I could see all the mana and Aether surrounding me.

"SHIT!" I cursed out loud.

How is this possible? This crystal isn't only absorbing the mana but also the surrounding Aether.

What should I do? Not seeing a way out, I decided to do something stupid again.

Releasing Static Void, I placed my hand on the crystal and started channeling mana into it.

Pushing in more mana, the crystal started to focus on absorbing my mana instead of Sylvie's, allowing her to detach from the crystal for the next thing I would do.

She was barely conscious and couldn't move, so I used Wind Magic to move her to Ryuu, that just arrived.

"RYUU, DON'T COME CLOSE. THIS CRYSTAL IS ABSORBING THE SURROUNDING MIND!" I yelled at her

I took a deep breath ignoring what she was yelling, and concentrated all the mana from my core into the crystal.

This could end in a good way or in a bad way. The good being it releases me after my mana empties, or the bad one, it would explode.

Well, Healing Potions should heal the damage...

No going back now...

Pushing all the mana from my core, I saw as the crystal absorbed it, and not so long after, instead of letting me go, it started shining brightly, gradually becoming brighter while burning my hand.

"ARTHUR!"

"KYU!"

'PAPA!'

I could see as Ryuu ignored my previous warning and tried to reach me, but she wasn't fast enough. The light covered me entirely, and instead of any pain, I felt a floating sensation before I was slammed onto the ground with a thud.

"urghh..."

My core was practically empty but slowly replenishing. My body felt heavy, and I could barely stay awake.

'P^pa, w/e$e 4re y*u?' I heard Sylvie's voice through our link.

I focused on the link, but it was weak, I could barely feel it. So this should mean we are far away from each other.

'Sylvie, listen to me. I'm alive, but I don't know where I am. Help Ryuu get out of the dungeon and stay with her until I find a way out.' I sent my thoughts, hoping she heard it.

Feeling my conciseness slowly fade, I used the small amount of mana left in my core to create an earth dome around me, leaving only enough space to get fresh air.

With that, I welcomed the darkness.

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Authors Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

Now that Arthur is separated from everyone, the next chapters will be him solo and maybe some POV changes.

For the people who will complain about Hestia descending early, just deal with it... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Plus, I don't know I a god/goddess descends randomly, and that's it, so I made her do a welcome speech.

If you enjoy this story, remember to vote and leave a review if you haven't.