How to be strong 101: Be Prideful

(A/N: Your Author here, just wanted respond to some question, the MC is a younger version of Escanor, he's 22, yes his system is a template system, just with a few added function. Also You guys killed it with the power stones, I really appreciate every single one of you guys, as an Author even if just for fun, seeing you guys enjoy the chapter truly makes my day, and just like the last few chapters I hope you guys like this one too.)

Also Hestia picked up some love from the previous Chapter, now I never really planned to have her as a lover for the MC but to show you guys some love, should I add her or no?

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 Escanor finally arrive at the Adventurers Guild again, and once again attracted the attention of many, truly the life of the strong was like this, being recognized everywhere 

He went towards the counter again and saw Rose, his own advisor

" Hello again Mrs.Rose, I came again to tell you that I successfully joined a Familia, never a doubt on that though." Said Escanor with a smirk 

" Huh you did? So fast too?" Asked Rose bewildered 

" Yes I successfully joined the Hephaestus Familia and I'm here as per your request to personally tell you which Familia I joined." Said Escanor 

" Well I certainly dint expect you to join one so fast especially the Hephaestus Familia, nonetheless follow me, I'll give you a guide to the dungeon all rookies get as well as a starter weapon complementary from the guild." Said Rose with a small smile and blush on her cheeks, as for why, well I guess we'll never know 

" No need Mrs. Rose, I have my own weapon and the guide is not needed as well." Said Escanor stopping her

" I have basic knowledge of the upper floors and I assure with my strength they are not of any danger towards me." Said Escanor with his never fading confident smile

" Are you sure Escanor, many new adventures are over confident and do the same, only…. Only to end up dead." Said Rose with a pause in between her sentence and a grim expression on her face

" Although having a beautiful woman such as yourself worry about me is a good feeling, I assure you I will be fine, after all I would still need to come back and see you again." Said Escanor with a smirk 

" Wha-what are you saying." Said Rose while blushing

Unfortunately Escanor did not get to see it as Rose turned her head sideways to hide her face from his view 

" Ha ha ha, Worry not Mrs.Rose, I'll be back safely, I'll be seeing you later." Said Escanor while turning around and waving her goodbye 

" * sigh* this isn't like me, why am I being so nice and considerate towards him?" Questioned Rose seemingly to no one as she watched him leave 

( Ill tell you why, cuz of plot *wink* *wink*)

(Back to Escanor)

He made his way towards the dungeon, although Rose offered him a guide for the 1-6th floor, due to him watching Danmachi multiple times he already knew about what monsters he could encounter 

As he arrived he took a look around the first floor, it was just a long hallway where the weakest monsters spawned, Goblins.

( A/N: Everytime I see or hear about a Goblin, it takes me back to the dark days of Goblin Slayer.)

The walls are light blue colored, and the monsters that appear are Goblins or Kobolds. If he recalled correctly the wide hallway on the 1st Floor is known as the Beginning Road, where most Level one adventurers spend their time.

As Escanor started to walk in saw his first Monster which was a Goblin obviously 

But just a he approached it, the Goblin suddenly burst into flames and disappeared without a trace, only thing left behind was the magic stone 

(Silent R.I.P. in the chat for the Goblin that died without even knowing what happened)

"What…just happened?" Asked Escanor to himself 

" Wait, is it because of Sunshine." Said Escanor 

He remembered from the anime once that Escanor radiated heat from his body due to his magic, and the only thing that held it back was Rhitta who absorbed the heat. If it wasn't for the Axe everywhere he walked would either melt or burn away

" Did he die because of that?" Wondered Escanor 

" Let's see, I'll summon Rhitta." Said Escanor 

As he did he held out his hand and willed the weapon to come to him, when suddenly he heard a sound from behind causing him to turned only to be met with the Golden Axe flying towards him, instinctively he closed his right hand when he felt the axe land perfectly there.

" This axe is truly beautiful, it really can't compare to the weapons I saw on the 8th floor at Babel Tower." Said Escanor 

As he walked again he spotted another Goblin but this time, it dint burst into flames, as the goblin ran up to him and tried to attack him Escanor swung down Rhitta and killed the Goblin effortlessly.

" Hmm so it was because of that, Escanor truly was too powerful, that the only way to nerf him was by using a weapon that absorbs his power." Said Escanor with a sweat drop on his forehead 

"Anyhow this floor is too easy, I need to go lower, my goal is at least to defeat Goliath today, I'd set a new record, killing a Monster Rex on the first dungeon run." Said Escanor with a hearty laugh 

From the first to the fifth floor nothing really happened, just some poor dumb Goblin and Kobolds trying their luck against Escanor only to be met with their demise.

Just as Escanor was going to head down towards the 6th floor he heard a girly scream 

" Looks like someone is in danger." Said Escanor making his way towards the scream 

As he got there he saw Minotaur almost about to land the finishing blow towards a young adventurer

"Not on my watch." Said Escanor as he swung Rhitta down killing the Minotaur in one hit 

As he looked towards the unlucky adventurer he was stumped, as the one in question was Bell, only that this "Bell" was a girl.

' No way, there has to be forces at play here' Thought Escanor looking around 

' Author is it you?' Thought Escanor looking around 

' No way it's probably just my imagination and it's just an alternate universe I'm in and not the main one or at least a similar one' Thought Escanor 

( A/N: All going according to keikaku)

" Are you alright young one." Said Escanor 

" ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Screamed Bell or Bella? As she ran away towards the exit 

" Well, I certainly dint see that coming, wait don't tell me she's going to be in love with me now instead of Ais." Said Escanor 

" If we go by canon wise shouldn't he or well she be 14." Said Escanor 

Now he wasn't a cupcake muncher so if it came down to it, he would naturally reject her.

" Let's just keep going down, after all I got a Monster Rex to kill." Said Escanor heading towards the lower floors

As he left towards the lower floors, he dint catch that a person more specifically a girl was watching the whole thing 

The girl in question was Ais she has long golden-blonde hair, gold eyes, and a slender body, resembling her mother. She usually wears a white and black battle cloth, black arm covers, and long blue boots. She wears her armor over this consisting of a head guard, breastplate, arm guards, hip guards, and knee guards

" He's strong." Was all she said before heading back towards her Familia 

( Back to our Chad MC)

"Finally I've arrived at the 17th floor" Said Escanor

While on his journey to the 17th Floor he encountered many new monsters such as, War Shadows, Killer Ants, Orcs, Infant Dragons, Silverbacks, Hard Armoreds and last Minotaur's just to name a few, but just like that first Goblin, they were all easily killed with one swing of his Rhitta 

' So this is the wall of grief huh, certainly lives up to its name' thought Escanor 

" Now I can't wait to fight the Goliath, ever since I saw it in the anime I couldn't even fathom of how much fun it would be to fight it, although with my current strength the only monsters that can give me a good fight should be at the 50th floor and above, but still just the thought excites me." Said Escanor 

*Rumble* Rumble*

Just when Escanor finished speaking, the wall of grief shook and from within the Monster Rex, Goliath, came out 

The Monster Rex of the 17th Floor. It has a large body that reaches seven meters and has gray skin. It is always reborn two weeks after it is killed. It is Level 4 too, so Escanor wanted to see if it match up to its floor Boss status 

Just as soon as it spawn the Goliath spotted Escanor and ran towards him and when it got close enough it tried to swing

But Escanor jumped high into the air, he brought his hand up and pointed with his index finger high in the air and said

"Cruel Sun." In his usual deep voice 

What formed was a miniature Sun that radiated heat so high that the surrounding area started to melt, he threw the Cruel Sun towards the Goliath and watched as it hit the Monster Rex and completely evaporated him only leaving behind its Magic Core.

( Scene Change) 

" Ais what happened, why'd you disappear." Asked Finn 

Finn has medium length scruffy blonde hair and blue eyes with a fair skin tone. He has a small body, but is still strong. Finn has the appearance of a child despite being over 40 years old. He wears a yellow vest over a purple long-sleeved shirt and trousers.

" I went after an escaped Minotaur but just when I got there, someone else killed it." Said Ais in her usual monotone voice 

" Someone else." Asked Rivera with a questioning face as if asking her to elaborate 

Riveria is tall with jade-colored hair tied in a ponytail that reaches to her waist, same color eyes, and Elf ears. She wears a green outfit with yellow borders, a white cloak over it, a black belt, a yellow sash, black leggings, and long brown boots. She is described to be exceptionally beautiful, stated to be more beautiful than a number of Goddesses.

(A/N: I get why Loki calls her mommy cuz damnnn)

" Yes, he was there before me and killed it, with one move too, he's strong." Said Ais once again with her monotone voice 

" Really there's such a strong adventurer in the dungeon and we dint notice." Said Finn while holding his chin in a thinking pose 

" Why don't we go down and see if we can see him, might as well get acquaintance with him since you say he's strong Ais, what do you think Finn" Said Riveria 

" Sure let's go see what he's about." Said Finn

" Tsk. He's probably just another weakling." Said Bete 

( A/N: he don't deserve a description)

As they were walking down the dungeon and they heard the Goliath screamed and rush there as soon as possible to see who was fighting the Monster Rex but when they got there, all they saw was the monster disintegrating as it left its magic core

With the man responsible for such thing just standing there

(back to Escanor)

" Hmm it was easier than I thought, all it took was one Cruel Sun." Said Escanor 

As he turned around to go back up the dungeon, as he finished what he came down to do, he came face to face with the Loki Familia 

" Hello how can I help you?" Asked Escanor 

" Sorry about that, I'm Finn Captain of the Loki Familia and this is Riveria the vice captain, and these two are Ais and Bete." Said Finn introducing himself and Co.

" Nice to meet you all, My name is Escanor Lionheart, of the Hepheastus Familia." Said Escanor introducing himself

"Oh umm we just heard the Goliath roar and came down as soon as possible to help whoever was fighting it, but by the looks of it our help was not needed." Said Finn with a sweat drop on his forehead 

" ha ha ha, I see, well you shouldn't have worried as the Goliath was not much trouble." Said Escanor with a prideful laugh

" Tch, says a weakling." Commented Bete out loud 

" Oh no Escanor, please don't hate him for that, he's like that with everyone." Said Riveria with an annoyed look on her face due to Betes comment 

" Ha ha ha, no need, after all why should I bear any hatred towards someone obviously weaker than myself." Said Escanor walking closer to Bete until they were only a few inches apart

When Escanor walked up to Bete, Finn and Riveria tensed up ready to fight against Escanor for Bete, while Ais was….just watching from the sides

" All I feel is pity for them, for they think they are strong when in fact they are still weak." Said Escanor looking down to Bete with a prideful look on his face 

Due to this Bete got mad and tried to punch Escanor 

" What did you say you prick, say th-". Bete tried to say while trying to punch Escanor 

But Escanor just appeared behind him and neck chopped him making Bete unconscious 

" I dint even see him move." Thought the 3 left of the Loki Familia, all of them with shock faces 

" I will not apologize for this, although it is an unfortunate first meeting I do hope this does not change our view of each other, after all it was him who tried to punch me first I simply retaliated." Stated Escanor walking away towards the stair trying to make his way up the Dungeon 

" Wait" Shouted Ais . " fight me." Was all she said 

" Hmmm maybe another time, as my Goddess should be waiting for me." Said Escanor already on his way up the stairs 

" okay I'll wait for you." Was all Escanor heard from Ais before he completely left the 17th floor.

" Hmm that certainly wasn't a good first impression, but damm did that feel good. That line that I used too, I always wanted to say it to someone, and now I can." Said Escanor with a smile 

[* Ding*

The Template system has detected that the host has defeated a Floor boss, ... rewarding host with a new template 

*rolling* rolling* rolling* ding*

congratulations Host, for getting the template [ Godfrey, The first Elden Lord]]

" Godfrey, as in the Godfrey from Elden ring?" Asked Escanor 

[* ding* responding to host, yes.]

" Oh this is interesting, do I get a new template every time I kill a floor boss?" Asked Escanor, but this time the system did not respond 

" Well anyway, if I remember correctly Godfrey was an extremely powerful character in that game, I'm sure I'll gain many strengths from him when I get him to 100%." Said Escanor 

" But I'll check him out when I get towards the Familia residence, I still need to go towards the Dungeon and exchange all these Monster Cores." Said Escanor heading out of the dungeon and towards the Adventurers Guild 

(A/N: Hey it's your Author here, I just wanted to say when I started writing this FanFic it was just for fun, I dint Expect much reaction out of it or anything really, but seeing all of you guys like the chapters so much, support it, and commenting on the little comments I put sometimes in between, it truly makes my day, I really love and appreciate all of you guys, and I really hope you all like this chapter, as I actually stayed up all night writing it, because of all the support all of you guys have shown, I'll try and upload chapter 4 on Saturday but if it's not possible than Monday since I work on Sunday.)

Also shoutout to OverlordBGs and ItsVatsal12 for posting the moves, really preciate it guys, now I'm going to go get a well deserved sleep 

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