"Chapter 11: Loki Family and the Malevolent Half-Elf Eina"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Alex noticed a voice from the side and saw the approaching figure of an Amazoness—it was Tiona. Ignoring Tiona, who was running towards him, Alex went back to his thoughts, with his first thought being, "What the hell just happened?". He kept looking at the huge crystal that had fallen in front of him, occasionally glancing at the hole in the ceiling leading to the 16th floor, and then back at the crystal. Completely ignoring Tiona, who was jumping around him and asking questions.

"How did you do that? Can you teach me? Or better yet, show me again! Come on, show me again. How did you do that: boom-bam and a hole in the ceiling?" Tiona asked, jumping around Alex like a hyperactive child.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Alex thought, "Alright, to hell with it." He decided to pay attention to Tiona, who was jumping around him and tugging at his arm like a spoiled child.

"Alright, Tiona, stop jumping around me, I'm getting dizzy," Alex responded, dismissing Beowulf and picking up Tiona like a cat. Thank goodness she didn't stretch out.

While Alex and Tiona chatted, the rest of the Loki Familia approached, shifting their gaze from the hole in the ceiling to Alex, who was holding Tiona at arm's length.

Finishing his chat with Tiona, Alex turned his attention to the newly arrived members of the Loki Familia and decided to greet them.

"Yo," Alex said, setting Tiona down and raising one hand in greeting.

"Hello, Voldigoad-san," the elf Reveria elegantly introduced herself.

"I see you haven't been wasting any time, Voldigoad-san," said Finn, extending his hand for a handshake.

"Hmph. Show-off," grumbled Bete, standing aside.

After greeting everyone, Alex glanced at Ais, who simply nodded in greeting. As Alex continued greeting the other members of the Loki Familia, Tiona climbed onto his shoulders.

"Now, tell me how you did that punch? And will you teach me?" Tiona asked, sitting on Alex's shoulders and lowering her head so their eyes met.

Hearing her question, all the members of the Loki Familia perked up, eager to know how Alex executed such a punch. Even Ais, whose face usually showed no emotion, was interested.

"Tiona, get off him and stop pestering the man; he's not obliged to reveal his secrets," said her sister, making everyone feel a bit awkward.

"That punch isn't a secret; anyone can do it as long as they have mana in their body," Alex replied, ignoring Tiona, who was still sitting on his shoulders and swinging her legs like a small child.

"Hmph. Easy for you to say. It's probably all about your weapon. Stop pretending to be mysterious," Bete retorted arrogantly, implying that it was all about the weapon Alex was using.

"It seems you didn't learn your lesson last time. Do you need a reminder of how it ended?" Alex responded calmly to Bete's provocation.

"I was just careless. This time, it'll be different, and I'll show you your place, rookie," said Bete, preparing to attack.

"If you don't calm down, I'll have to use a super-secret move to knock some sense into you," Alex said, carefully lifting Tiona off his shoulders.

"Let's see what you've got, rookie. This time, you won't get the drop on me," said Bete, taking a fighting stance.

All the members of the Loki Familia stepped back and watched the beginning of the confrontation, curious about the super-secret technique Alex had mentioned. Taking his fighting stance, Bete was ready to launch his attack. Seeing Bete ready to strike, Alex took a step and instantly appeared before him, delivering a blow with his super-secret technique. The blow struck Bete's head, driving his body into the ground so that only his legs were left sticking out. All the members of the Loki Familia gaped in amazement at the sight.

"That's what happens when you underestimate the power of secret techniques," Alex said, looking at Bete, whose head was buried in the ground.

"What kind of technique is that? Can you teach me? I want to use the super-secret strike to beat up monsters too," Tiona ran over excitedly, tugging on Alex's arm like a spoiled child.

"This strike is called the 'Burial Strike.' There's also an equivalent called the 'Burial Kick.' The essence of this move is to drive your opponent headfirst into the ground," Alex calmly responded to her question, causing another round of gasps from the members of the Loki Familia.

"Can you teach me this technique?" Tiona asked excitedly, already imagining herself slamming monsters into the ground with her strikes.

"I'll teach you the technique when I have time. But for now, if you don't mind, I can show you how I delivered the strike to Goliath," Alex replied, walking towards a vacant wall, piquing the interest of the Loki Familia members. Everyone was curious about how to execute such a powerful strike.

"Everyone knows how to reinforce their body with mana during a fight, right?" Alex asked, receiving nods from the members of the Loki Familia, confirming they knew how to do it.

"Good. Since you already know how to reinforce your body with mana, I'll show and explain how to deliver such a strike. To start, instead of distributing mana throughout your entire body, you concentrate it in one place, specifically in your fist or foot. Now, I'll demonstrate how to do it, and then you can try it yourselves," Alex began his demonstration, making the mana visible as it accumulated in his hand.

Turning towards the wall, Alex slowly delivered a punch. The strike was so powerful that a web of cracks spread across the wall, causing parts of it to collapse in some places, showing that even a seemingly weak punch could cause significant damage. The observers gaped in disbelief, unable to believe that such a seemingly weak punch could inflict such damage. Some even pinched themselves to ensure they weren't dreaming. Ais Wallenstein pondered: if she could master this strike, she would be one step closer to her goal of defeating the One-Eyed Dragon that had taken her parents. Everyone had their thoughts, but all were impressed by the power of the strike and thought about how they could master this skill.

"That was awesome! Can you teach me how to use this skill so I can smash everything?" Tiona ran over excitedly, waiting for Alex's response.

"If I have some free time, I'll teach you, no problem," Alex replied. The Amazon began jumping up and down at his words, and even Ais showed interest in learning the strike.

"Alright, friends, I still need to return to sell all the loot and get back to my Goddess so she doesn't worry," Alex said, lifting the huge crystal with the "Grip of the Ruler."

"Before you leave, can you tell us which familia you joined?" Finn inquired.

"I joined the Hestia Familia," Alex replied, summoning a mana sword and aiming it at the hole in the ceiling leading to the 16th floor.

"Sorry, I haven't heard of Goddess Hestia before," Finn apologized.

"No worries, she only recently descended to the mortal world, so not many people know about her yet. But in time, everyone will. Now, I must be off. Good luck with your raid," Alex said, launching his mana sword towards the hole in the ceiling. Before they could say goodbye, he vanished in a flash of light, leaving the members of the Loki Familia bewildered.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Finn decided that after completing the mission, he would ask his goddess if she knew Goddess Hestia. Little did he know how well Loki knew Hestia, which would later cause him quite a headache. Commanding his team to pull Bete out of the ground, who everyone had forgotten about, Finn ordered them to continue the raid. Meanwhile, Ais continued to stare at the destroyed wall with eyes full of interest, thinking about how to approach Alex to learn the skill. She didn't notice her group was ready to leave until Riveria called her, saying they needed to move on. Nodding, Ais gave the wall one last determined look before following the group.

A little while later...

After bidding farewell to the Loki Familia members, Alex used his new skill to arrive on the 16th floor. Then, using the spell "Gatom," he teleported to an empty room on the first floor. Checking all the loot he had gathered and estimating the earnings, Alex headed towards the guild.

As Alex walked towards the exit of the first floor, adventurers he passed would step aside upon seeing him.

"Hey, look, it's that newbie! And what's that huge thing floating behind him?" one adventurer said, pointing at the enormous crystal hovering behind Alex.

"That's the Goliath's crystal. That crazy newbie must have defeated the Goliath alone today and is now heading back to sell the crystals," his companion replied enviously.

"No need to be jealous, maybe one day you'll be just as strong," he tried to encourage his friend.

"Yeah, right, dream on. Now, let's go, maybe we'll get lucky today," the other replied sarcastically.

Ignoring the adventurers, Alex exited Babel and headed towards the guild. As soon as he entered the guild hall, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the huge crystal floating behind him. Alex pretended not to notice their stares and went to queue up to sell the crystals. While waiting, he started praying to every god he knew, hoping not to encounter Eina. He didn't want to listen to a long lecture about proper dungeon behavior and how his arrogance could get him killed. When it was finally his turn to sell the crystals, he was relieved that his prayers seemed to be answered. But as he handed his crystals to the receptionist, he heard a voice that sent shivers down his spine. Slowly turning his head and cursing the gods he had prayed to, he saw her. Sure enough, it was the stern half-elf Eina, standing there with a look that could devour Alex alive.

"Valdigoad-san, I see you had a very successful raid," Eina said coldly.

"Haha, something like that. Here, came to sell these crystals," Alex nervously replied.

"I see. Now follow me, we need to talk," Eina said just as coldly, gesturing for him to follow her.

"But my money," Alex sadly responded, realizing he hadn't received payment for the crystals yet.

"You'll get your money later, it's not going anywhere. Now come with me to the consultation room," Eina said, already entering the room.

Knowing he had no choice, Alex decided to accept all the criticism that would come from Eina. Taking a deep breath, he resolved to face his fate like a true man. Upon entering the consultation room, a scolding followed. Alex heard a lot directed at him: that he was irresponsible, arrogant, and very careless. Eina continued her lecture for a full forty minutes, covering every possible topic. Exiting the room, Alex's face looked as if a Dementor had sucked out his soul. Even the raid hadn't left him as exhausted as Eina's lecture on proper dungeon behavior. Wearily, Alex approached the counter to collect his raid earnings, totaling a whopping 2 million valis. Thinking he was one step closer to his goal, Alex tiredly made his way to an empty alley to teleport home.

Descending into the basement, opening the door, and once again catching the dark-haired rocket, Alex picked her up and headed for the couch. After sitting down, he exhaled and began recounting to Hestia how today's raid went and how much he earned. Hestia started rejoicing in her child's achievements and suggested celebrating. However, Alex made a proposal that made Hestia's eyes shine even brighter.

"Hestia, how about leveling me up to 2?" Alex said, excitedly, causing Hestia, who was already preparing to celebrate, to turn around.

"Exactly, let's level you up so at the next gathering I can rub it in the faces of those gods and show them that my child is the most capable," Hestia said, immediately rushing over to Alex, pushing him onto the couch to upgrade his level.

While Hestia upgraded Alex's status, the Loki Familia group returned to the guild after completing their mission. They recounted their encounters and mentioned meeting an adventurer who single-handedly defeated Goliath with one blow, earning admiration from everyone present. Those who saw Alex selling the crystals thought he had defeated Goliath with his group, but the truth was even more shocking. After reporting on their raid, the Loki Familia members headed to their estate. On the way, Finn pondered how to inquire Loki about Goddess Hestia.

Arriving home, the Loki Familia members noticed Loki herself sitting at the table drinking alcohol. After greeting her, everyone dispersed to their rooms to shower and change, except for Finn, who decided to tell Loki about the events in the dungeon.

"Goddess Loki, today in the dungeon we encountered Alex on the 17th floor," Finn said, sitting across from his goddess.

"Oh? And what was he doing there?" Loki asked, pouring herself another glass of alcohol.

"He decided to take on Goliath alone and defeated him with a single strike, creating a hole in the ceiling leading to the 16th floor," Finn began his report.

"Pffft... HE DID WHAT?!" Loki spat out her drink after the captain of her family spoke.

"I'm telling you, he defeated Goliath single-handedly with one blow," Finn repeated, wiping alcohol from his face.

"If he's already delving into the dungeon, he must have joined some familia. But which one? Did he say which familia he joined?" Loki began questioning, pondering which god Alex might have aligned with.

"He said he joined Hestia's familia," Finn replied.

"He joined that little goddess's familia? What makes her better than me? She's poor, she doesn't even have her own home," Loki started speaking, scratching her hair and doubting her life choices.

"Doesn't matter. I can always lure him to our side, and we need to do it quickly before the other gods realize and start making offers to recruit him," Loki began devising a plan to lure Alex into her familia, outmaneuvering the other gods.

While Alex was busy leveling up, news of his feat began spreading throughout Orario. No one wanted to believe there was a newcomer who could defeat Goliath with a single blow. More and more people started discussing the topic and believing in it. These rumors reached some gods who became interested in this new child. All they knew was that he belonged to Hestia's familia—a goddess whom practically no one knew. At the upper levels of the Babylon Tower, a silver-haired goddess sat holding a glass of wine, pondering where this wayward Hestia could have found such a child. She was very curious to meet and see this child, thinking perhaps he could offer her the freedom she desired.

To be continued...