"Here you go," I said, my voice not reflecting my thoughts. I guess it was half because I expected her to do it at some point, but I didn't really feel betrayed or anything like that. Still, I couldn't say it wasn't disappointing. I guess I would have to keep better track of how many monsters I kill to learn how much she was skimming off the top.
I had a nice nest egg, so I wasn't hard pressed for money anymore, but I wouldn't let what happened to Bell happen to me.
"Thank you again, Mr. Jericho. Lili promises that she'll make up for it tomorrow," Lili promised, tucking the bags of gold away. I shrugged, dismissing the issue as I glanced around the room. My gaze landed on a group of adventurers, most of them looking at me, though they were quick to look away when I caught them. They wore decent looking armor, one of them wore an emblem emblazoned on their shoulder pad. A crescent moon with a fancy looking cup inside of the moon. That was...the Soma familia's emblem, wasn't it?
My eyes narrowed as I tore my gaze away, trying to play it off as a coincidence. I turned my attention down to Lili and sent her a lopsided smile, "I said don't worry about it, Lili. Just make sure you get some rest for tomorrow."
"Lili will! Goodbye, Mr. Jericho," Lili said, waving goodbye as she left the Guildhall. I watched her leave, a small sigh deflating me as I made my way to the showers. I didn't see Eina anywhere, so she might be off today. As I made my way to the showers, I walked by the group that was eyeing me, none of them glancing my way as I passed them by.
As soon as I was out of sight, I shoved my earnings into my Inventory before stripping off my armor. After everything was off, I paid close attention to how everything looked before I took a quick shower. Less than five minutes long. After wiping myself down, I went back to the armor rack and my locker and found exactly what I expected to see.
My clothes had been moved, the same for my armor. Someone had tried to rob me. Well, Lili had already robbed me, but someone else was trying to steal from me.
And, as I expected, that group of people was nowhere to be seen when I came out of the showers.
"Hm," I hummed, leaving the Guildhall. That could be a problem. No, it was a problem already. Was this Asshole the Seconds move? It's not what I expected, but that didn't change a couple of guys from his familia were trying to steal from me. Was it just coincidence, or were they following orders? I didn't know. Maybe I should have stuck with the canon timeline so I wouldn't have to deal with these questions.
Still, if they were after my money...then there were better ways to get it. I was still expecting something from Asshole the Second, so maybe this was just testing the waters or something? Again, I had no idea. I've never had to worry about getting blackmailed before, so all of this was new to me.
"Excuse me," a woman's voice broke me from my plotting. I came to a stop, turning to the source of it, and blinked in surprise when I saw who it was. Silver hair with matching eyes that were the same color as steel, a heart-shaped face while her lips pulled upwards into a smile. Her hair curled inwards ever so slightly near her mouth, two locks of hair hanging by her cheekbones. Syr Flova. The girl that looked like Freya.
"Yeah?" I started, coming to a stop, feeling more than a little cautious. Her connection to Freya in the anime was vague, only that she looked like the goddess and she seemed to take orders from her. Though she did seem to have genuine feelings for Bell, other than that Syr was a great big mystery. "Wait, your Syr, right? You stitched up my pants for me."
Syr nodded, beaming joy out of every pore. She clasped her hands behind her back, smiling at me in a cutesy way. "I did! But, I wanted to apologize on behalf of the children, they wanted to have a little fun, but…" She shrugged dramatically, a troubled expression passing over her face. "I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble…" She said, fishing to see if I was still pissed.
"Eh, I'm more embarrassed about how I reacted. Just...could you tell the kids if they want to play pranks, then stick to stuff like whoopie cushions? I mean, I'll just laugh it off, but not everyone will," I said, shrugging as I scratched at my cheek. Syr nodded gravely as a look of relief replaced the troubled look.
"I will. I've already had a stern talking with them, I promise," Syr informed, then her smile became a little more shyer in nature. "I'm not sure if your goddess told you, but the offer of a free meal is still open!" Oh, yeah...I completely forgot about that. With everything else going on, going out to eat was the last thing on my mind.
"I won't say no to a free meal, but are you sure that's okay?" I asked, recalling Mia, the owner of the Hostess of Fertility. She seemed to cut Syr a lot of slack, while also giving her a hard time when she slacked off too much.
Syr nodded, "it's all okay!" She answered, her shy look transforming into a slightly pleading one. "Please, could you come? I feel really guilty about what happened, I was supposed to be watching the children when they stole your clothes, but I was just so tired after work that I took a small nap! Can you please come, it would make me feel better," she finished, a light blush dusting her cheeks.
She looked so embarrassed that I felt a blush on my own cheeks rise as I looked away, "er, yeah. I think my goddess has a day off coming up, so we'll come then, okay?" And then we could finally celebrate forming our familia a week after it happened.
"Yay!" Syr cheered, clapping her hands as she beamed at me, "I'll get everything set up, Mr…?"
"Jericho," I introduced myself.
"Jericho," Syr repeated, sounding like she was considering the name. Then she nodded, satisfied. "Your name suits you, Mr. Jericho. I'm Syr Flovel, by the way. I look forward to seeing you! Don't keep me waiting," Syr said, giving a small wave as she turned to walk down the street towards the Hostess of Fertility. I waved back, my mind slowly turning over the odds that this was by chance.
Could I have attracted Freya's attention? I know her thing was finding noble souls, souls of heroes and those that were unique...I was no hero, but was my soul unique? Did death leave its mark on my soul, or was she seeing the Gamer System in some manner? Or was I overthinking this, and it really was chance that Syr was inviting me to the Hostess, much like she did Bell.
The odds were against it, but I still doubt that I had managed to attract Freya. I was...normal, hardly the beacon of innocents that Bell was.
Either way, I wasn't likely to find answers standing here and thinking about it. I would have to be on the lookout for signs that this was more than a chance meeting, like monsters rampaging through the city, a grimoire dropping in my lap or trained monsters cornering me in the Dungeon.
A sigh escaped me as I started walking again, shoving the issue to the side for now. I had bigger fish to fry at the moment. As much trouble as Freya stirred up, her interference with my life could help a lot more than it would hinder. If what I recalled from the anime could be believed, then Zanis wasn't likely to part with Lili for any amount of money simply out of spite. Which meant my only option was likely to be a War Game.
A randomized battle that could end with me fighting him in a 1v1 duel, or his entire familia at once. It all boiled down to the same issue.
I wasn't anywhere close to being strong enough.
I let out a huff of laughter as I started walking the final stretch home, the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon. It seemed that anime-protagonists-ites had infected me already since all my thoughts recently seemed to revolve around how I wasn't strong enough.
Stepping inside the church, I opened my inventory and took out the black backpack and shrugged it on. After that, I pulled out the chest that I tucked under one arm. Had to keep up appearances, and all that.
"I'm home," I called out, ducking my head to enter the small room. Hestia had apparently beat me home because I smelled something cooking. Hestia made an adorable sound as I walked down the steps, she rushed to get in her usual position, only for something to clang to the floor.
"Welcome back!" Hestia said sheepishly, picking up a pan that was thankfully empty. "You're home early, is everything okay?"
I nodded, letting her check me over, but she paused when she noticed that I was wearing my leg armor. "Woah," Hestia muttered, patting it down as if to test its integrity. Then her eyes lingered on a few scuff marks where the occasional killer ant or horned rabbit got me. Though, none had managed to injure me.
"I picked it up this morning. It's pretty great so far. And I'm back early since Lili couldn't keep up and it was too late for me to bother going back down." I answered to draw her attention away from the scuff marks. Welf really did do good work.
"Oh, well, dinner won't be ready for a little bit," Hestia informed, taking a step back to look up at me.
"That's fine. Need any help?" I asked, starting to shrug off my armor. I would have just shoved it in my Inventory, but just because Hestia knew about my pocket dimension didn't mean others had to learn about it. Especially when I was being watched by the Soma familia.
"No! I can do it, just relax, okay?" Hestia hastily denied with a shake of her head as she went back to making dinner. I opened my mouth to tell her about what happened with the Soma familia for the thousandth time, and for the thousandth time, I closed my mouth. Telling her about the Soma familia meant that I would have to explain why I caught their attention. Which would lead me to explain that I had killed someone.
How would Hestia react to that? No matter how I formed the justifications in my head, I don't think any of them would work. I didn't want her to look at me and think 'murderer.'
"How was the Dungeon today?" She asked as she cooked something that smelled delicious. Just because I didn't need to eat anymore, didn't mean that I didn't want to. Hestia was proving to be a talented cook.
"A lot better now that I have my leg armor. Didn't take a single scratch," I told her as I shoved my armor into my Inventory. "And I got a new sword while I was at it. Way better than my old ones." I said, taking it out of my Inventory to show Hestia. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw the blade that was bigger than her.
"Is it made by the same smith?" Hestia asked, inspecting the sword with a clueless expression on her face.
"Yeah, Welf Corozzo, he's apart of the Hephustus familia," I tacked on, seeing Hestia looked pleased at that.
"Speaking of the Hephaestus familia, I got a new job!" Hestia exclaimed, sending me a proud look. "I'll be selling weapons and armor made by level 2 blacksmiths!" She said, striking a pose that practically screamed 'praise me.'
"Congrats! How'd that happen?" I asked, feeling some confusion. This hadn't happened in the anime, at least not until Hestia took out an incredible loan for Hestia's Knife. Given her lack of a reaction to my new weapon, then it didn't seem like that was the case here.
"Ah, I met up with Hephaestus and she told me about a position that opened up. It's commissioned based, so my hours are going to be a lot more flexible." Hestia said as she turned her attention back to the stove. And since I was raking in the money now, it didn't matter as much if she had a bad day profit-wise.
"Hestia, if you want, you don't have to work. I'm making enough money to support the two of us," I offered, making her look back at me. I knew what she was going to say just by looking at her expression. She smiled at me as she shook her head, filling the room with the sounds of bells chiming.
"No, I want to work. If I sat here all day, every day, then I wouldn't know what to do with myself!" Hestia exclaimed, dismissing the issue. I opened my mouth to argue but fell silent instead. I couldn't help but feel there was a lot she wasn't saying there.
"Alright...just...know the option is on the table, okay?" I said, settling on the couch. There was a slope in the cushion where I sat the past couple of days. Pulling a book from my Inventory after shoving my sword back into it, I started to thumb through a chapter about the eighth floor of the Dungeon.
To my disappointment, I still hadn't found a Skill Book among the pile that Eina gave me. So, either there weren't any or I needed to look into different kinds of books. Time passed rather quickly as I finished off the chapter just before Hestia informed me that dinner was done.
"Smells great," I complimented, getting up to help her take the plates. On them I found a not-Phillie cheesesteak sandwich-- practically overflowing with strips of steak, topped with a liberal amount of cheese, with some peppers. There were also a nice pile of not-french fries off to the side. "Looks better."
"He-he," Hestia puffed her chest out with pride as we both sat down. She really was easy to please. Not just sexually, but a word of praise was all it took to make her day. Honestly wish my relationships in my last life were this simple.
I took a bite of the sandwich. Then another. And another. And another and another. I would have taken another one, but by that time it was gone entirely. I never put it back down. I caught a look of amazement from Hestia out of the corner of my eye, so I gave her a closed-lipped grin while I chewed. "S'good."
It took Hestia a lot longer to finish her's off, but even then she only made it halfway before she passed me the remainder. After finishing off her plate as we chatted, I picked up the dishes to wash before taking off my tank top. I caught Hestia blushing as she looked at me, and that blush only intensified when she realized I caught her looking.
"Let's update my status. I think I did pretty well today," I said, throwing myself onto the bed and feeling it groan underneath my weight. A moment later, I felt Hestia climb up on top of me. A bright light filled the room as she began to update my status.
"I ran into Syr earlier," I started, realizing that I forgot to tell her. "She says that offer for a free meal is still on the table. I told her that you had a free day coming up...would you want to go-"
"L-like a d-date?" Hestia stammered, getting a chuckle out of me.
"Like a date," I agreed. "The Hostess of Fertility is an adventurer's bar, but I've heard good things about its food," I told her, also thinking that it would be a good time to check out the quest boards in taverns.
"Let's go tomorrow!" Hestia decided, practically vibrating she was so excited at the prospect.
"What-" I started, only to cut myself off as a screen appeared before my eyes.
You have reached 50 in Endurance! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:
Toughness: 5% damage resistance.
Life-Giver: Total health is immediately doubled and an additional 5% health is awarded with every permanent increase in health.
You have reached 50 in Dexterity! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:
Dexterous: Bonus 5% exp awarded for all Dexterity related actions.
Graceful: Finding your balance is a simple task, regardless of positioning.
Due to reaching 50 in Endurance and 50 In Dexterity, you have been awarded the perk:
Ballerina: You now move with an almost unnatural grace.
"What's wrong?" Hestia asked as I read over the boxes again, surprised to see them. They were the first popups I've seen in the week I've been here.
"I've reached a milestone with my stats, and my falna is letting me pick a perk," I answered, my brow furrowing as I stared at my choices. How did Graceful or Ballerina work? Would I suddenly be able to dance, or something? What did it mean by 'almost unnatural grace?'
"Tell me about it," Hestia demanded, her voice uncharacteristically serious. I did so, repeating what I saw, the light still glowed so she paused updating my status. Hestia fell silent after I was done, both of us thinking on the perks. "I don't understand this -- is this from Gamer Body?"
I nodded, "yeah, it is." I confirmed
"I can't finish updating your status until you pick one, it seems. I...don't know which one you should pick. I'm sorry…" Hestia trailed off, I could practically see the frown she wore despite the fact she was behind me.
Which one should I pick? More damage resistance sounded nice, but so did that instant boost in HP and more gains each time my Endurance went up by ten. But...that five percent wouldn't do me a lot of good down the line, would it? It was already getting harder and harder to increase my Endurance stat. Still, doubling my health right now sounded fantastic.
My health now was 161. Doubling that would put me at 322. Getting stabbed in my arm cost me about 15 hp. Probably less now that my physical resistance was higher. At the same time, that extra 5% physical resistance would bring me up to 15% total. Between that and my armor, that was a pretty decent number. At that point, I doubt cuts and scrapes would damage me at all.
But…"I'll pick Life-Giver," I decided after a long minute of thought. The extra 5% boost in hp sold me on it. So, my next health boost would be...370 or so. And that number was going to keep getting bigger alongside my physical resistance.
You have gained the perk: Life-Giver!
As for my Dexterity perk...I couldn't lie, that 5% gain for Dexterity was tempting as all hell. Between Limber and Fast Learner, my total bonus exp for Dexterity would be 15%. That sounded fantastic. However, Graceful caught my eye. How would it interact with the perk Ballerina? If I was almost unnaturally graceful now, then wouldn't having near perfect balance be some pretty great synergy?
Or, was there no point to it since I handcrafted this stupidly huge body? Between it and my heavy armor, it sounded like I needed to make sure I got as much exp as possible for Dexterity. But, at the same time, the synergy between Graceful and Ballerina sounded pretty powerful. I was already fairly flexible -- I could touch my toes without bending over, and stuff like that. Not to mention that if I was more graceful, I could fight more dexterously, which, in turn, would give me more exp for that stat. If carrying heavy stuff gave more strength, and continuing to carry stuff when I was tired gave endurance, then moving like a ballerina in heavy armor would grant more dexterity.
...You know what? Let's science it.
"And I'll go with Graceful," I decided before I could think better of it.
You have gained the perk: Graceful!
Instantly, the light began to fade, Hestia letting out a sigh as she patted my back lightly. "I really don't know what to think of this," she mused aloud as she peeled off the paper on my back. As she got off me, I nodded, feeling much the same, if a little less lost.
"But, it sounds like it's going to help me in the long run," I told her as I accepted the paper to look down at my new status.
Jericho
Level: 1
Progress to level 2: 23,867/1,000,000
Strength: 38
Endurance: 53
Dexterity: 50
Intelligence: 12
Sense: 33
Development Abilities:
Physical Resistance: The user receives 5% less damage. Effectiveness is determined by the Endurance stat.
Abnormal Resistance: Poisons, Toxins, and Drugs are 5% less effective. Effectiveness is determined by the Endurance stat.
Skills:
Gamer Body: The user's body is that of a video game.
Massage: Skilled hands make targets tension and exhaustion melt away. Effectiveness is determined by Dexterity and Strength stat.
Kissing: An intimate act between lovers that, if done well, can bring pleasure to the target. Effectiveness is determined by the Dexterity and Sense stat.
"I sure hope so," Hestia muttered, cuddling up to me as I turned over. I wrapped my arm around her, hugging her to my body.
"Don't worry so much. Everything is going to turn out fine."
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A/N— I'll try to post daily. Powerstones and comments would help, it would mean alot and give me the motivation to continue the story. In fact two chapters a day wouldn't be impossible either.
I'll post an extra chapter every 500ps power stones, no limit!
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Ps. You can also read ahead at my Patreon to support the story and help me write more. Patrons get two chapters a day and 30 chapters ahead for just a couple bucks :)
Patreon.com/Ethereal0