After the events that happened with the silverback, A day has passed. The two have not been to the dungeon the previous day because of rest after such an encounter. So they went out having quality time as a whole.
Now, we see the two only Hestia Familia members at the guild, after a dungeon dive, seeing their advisor for some advice, towards the floor they are aiming tomorrow.
Well...more like a scolding session.
"NO! For a thousand times already, even if you're level 2 now Aurelius, you are NOT going past the 9th floor!" Eina said, calmly.
Yes, Aurelius had decided to make his level up status public and official.
"I think they could testify for that." Aurelius said as he pointed towards the billboard area of the guild, a crowd was gathered at it.
"Level 2 in the record of almost a month?!" a middle aged demi-human man spoke.
"That's insane! Though I bet his stats is at the bare minimum to surpass and level up." An elf with pink hair said.
"But if you said that it's the bare minimum, what about the great feat he did?" A female prum said.
"Didn't the rumors said he beat a silverback barehanded or something?" A dwarf warrior said.
"If you guys want to know more, he's literally right there at the receptionist desk." An amazonian said towards the crowd.
They all then turned around and looked towards the area told. They saw a giant man that towers over the elf in front of him and the rabbit beside him.
Awkward silence were in between them.
"Sup." Aurelius said, breaking the ice, as he raise his hands in gesture.
They then looked back towards the billboard.
"Yup, understandable."
"I take it back. He must've leveled up with super high stats."
"I second that."
"Totally believable that he beat a silverback barehanded."
Aurelius then turned back to face Eina.
"See, told you." Aurelius said towards the annoyed elf.
"Ugh, then what about Bell? You can't just possibly go ahead and bring him towards the lower levels of the upper floor! He's still level 1!" Eina said, stating a fact.
"Actually ms. Eina..." Bell then decided to show his stats as he lifted up his shirt under his jacket. "I'm more than qualify to follow him deeper."
Eina seeing his stats was in utter disbelief. "Ehhh?! How the heck do you have SS rank in your stats?! That doesn't make sense!"
"Shhh! ms. Eina, quiet!" Bell said.
"How can I?! How is this possible?!" Eina said frustrated and confused. "But, you are more than qualify to follow him down to the lower-upper floors."
Eina then started to scratch her head violently, clearly very frustrated with her feelings. "Aggghh, fine! but only down to the 10th floor until bell too levels up! There's no way I am letting you go down deeper with only that much experience."
*sigh* "Fine....stingy woman..." Aurelius said, muttering the last two words.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Eina shouted.
"Nothing, you're hearing things." Aurelius said as he looked away from her rage.
"My, my. What is with the sudden outburst here you three?" a sudden voice was heard behind them.
The person who spoke those words is non-other then their goddess.
Hestia.
"Oh goddess Hestia, hello there." Bell said, greeting his goddess.
"Hello there Bell. Are you two done with your dungeon diving?" Hestia said.
"Yeah pretty much." Aurelius said.
"Hmm?" Hestia uttered while looking towards the elf. "Well, I'm guessing that you're their advisor is it?"
"Ah, yes." Eina bowed down to Hestia. "My name is Eina Tulle, goddess Hestia. I am their assigned advisor."
"HAHAHA, it seems like you're the one that doesn't let my child here do excessive, reckless actions now do you?"
"W-Well I was doing my job as an advisor so that nothing bad happens inside the dungeon, goddess." Eina said towards Hestia.
"That's good to hear." Hestia said with a smile knowing that her two children is being taken care of.
"Now, you two did promise to bring me to this hostess for a time together right?" Hestia ask the two.
"Yeah, we promised you before but you went out saying that you have a work-party or something?" Bell said.
"Hehehe, y-yeah...." Hestia said as she scratch her cheeks. "W-Well, I'm free now to do so! So how about it?"
"That's great!" Bell said as he then looked at Eina. " Oh! Do you want to join to ms. Eina?"
"Is that fine by you three?" Eina said as she hesitates to accept the invitation.
"Not at all really. You're more then welcome if you don't have any work to do." Aurelius answered towards her.
"Is that so? Then thank you for inviting me!" The elf said as she bowed down respectfully towards them.
"U-Um, can I join in a-as well?" said another female voice from a different direction.
They then looked towards the source of the voice.
The person in question is none other then Rose Fannett.
"Rose?" Aurelius said towards the redhead werewolf.
"H-Hi A-A-Aurelius." Rose said, stuttering her words with a tint of pink on her cheeks, upon sight of the titan.
"Oh hello there ms. Rose!" Bell said, greeting the redhead.
"Oh? and who is this you two?" Hestia said as she looked towards the redhead.
"R-Rose Fannett. I-It is a pleasure to meet you goddess Hestia." Rose then bowed her head, giving a gesture of respect.
"Well it's nice to meet you too Rose." Hestia said, calmly replying towards the werewolf.
"How about we get the move on now shall we? I'm afraid that there would be no seats left available if we arrived late to the establishment." Aurelius said.
Everybody nodded upon the suggestion the titan made.
They then went towards the hostess together, all 5 together excited to eat delicious food.
After a while walking, they arrived at the hostess. Not too many people has taken in to eat at the establishment when they arrived, so they have plenty of places to sit.
"So this is the hostess that you said about huh?" Hestia ask, seeing the establishment. "It looks like a simple place but it has this certain charm to it."
"Yeah! It's nothing much for appearance but the food here is super good!" Bell said.
"Is that so? well if you say that it's good, then it must be." Hestia said.
While they continue to talk about things, a waitress of the establishment, came to their place. Possibly wanting to take their other.
"Hello all of you. Good evening." The waitress said, gaining the attention of the five.
"Good evening to you too, Syr." Bell said putting on a smile doing so.
"Well, well. This is more than usual for your group." The waitress, now Syr, said. "Usually, it is only the two of you."
"Well, initially, it was going to be just the three of us. Me, Bell and our goddess here." Aurelius said as he pointed towards Hestia. "However, one thing led to another, it became five people instead."
Syr looked towards Eina and Rose as the both of them nodded, signifying a gesture of welcome towards the waitress.
"The more, the merrier!" Syr said as she starts to held up a pen and paper. "Now then, what can I get your orders?"
"I'll get the usual!" Bell said.
"I think I can go for fried rice." Eina said.
"one bowl of noodles please!" Hestia said.
"A whole chicken and a big bowl of noodles." Aurelius said.
The three who ordered before him sweat dropped by his sudden big order.
"U-Um..." Rose uttered as she doesn't know what she wanted. She then looked towards the titan as she remembered what he ordered.
"G-Give me what he has....but a smaller portion...p-please." Rose said, a bit shy.
"Alright, coming right up!" Syr said as she then went ahead and go to the kitchen of the establishment.
"....." Hestia, who was looking Syr, couldn't but to think about the waitress.
'She seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on who she is....' Hestia thought contemplating upon the identity of the waitress. '.....It's probably nothing. I'm overthinking things.'
'However~' Hestia then looked towards the redhead that is sat in front of her giant child. 'I think sooner I am going to have myself more family members.' Hestia smiles, unbeknownst to everyone present, at the seemingly two "couple".
They then talk about things to pass the time until the food arrives. After a bit, the food arrived, being served by two waitresses.
"Here is your food, nya." Says a cat person, as she puts half the order on the table. She is none other than Anya Formel.
"Please enjoy your meal." An elf said as she put the the other half of the order. This elf is the green haired Ryuu Lion.
"Thank you both of you for bringing the food." Aurelius said as he gestured a slight bow towards the two waitresses.
The two then bowed as well and proceeded to continue on with their other work.
The five then proceeded to eat their fill. They couldn't help but to eat clumsily for the food, for them, is finger licking good.
"Mmhh, sho delishious!" Hestia said as she slurps the noodles loudly.
"You're wight goddesh Heshtia! Thesesh are amashing!" Eina said as she as well followed the clumsy eating style of the goddess.
They continue to eat at their leisure, as Bell, Aurelius watch their antics with awkward reactions.
"They are....lively. Especially the goddess." Bell said.
"Yeah.....To think that the goddess has this side to her seemingly mature allure." Aurelius said, not believing the scene unfold.
Aurelius and Bell continued to watch the two eat to their contents, ordering more after they finish their first.....much to the dismay of the rabbit having to pay more.
Aurelius then turn his gaze away from the the little event going on. As he started to eat his, he couldn't help but noticed the redhead in front her being seen a bit unsettled about something.
"Rose? Are you okay?" Aurelius ask, a bit worried upon the redhead werewolfs' being.
"Eeek?!" Rose surprised upon the sudden mention of her name. "I-I-I'm f-fine! T-Thank y-you for worrying-g."
"Are you sure? you're face is red right now." Aurelius said, stating the condition of her face.
"W-What?! A-Ah! It's f-fine! J-Just a l-little hot from t-the temperature!" Rose said as she then picked a fork-full of noodles, bringing it to her mouth.
The other three then took notice of the events occurring. Curious on how it will go. This include "Syr" as well.
Rose then slurp the noodles into her mouth. Though a bit of a mess has been left on her lips and cheeks.
"..."
"Hmm? W-What's wrong Aurelius." Rose said as he looked at the titan staring at him.
All of a sudden, The titan raise his hands and bring to the face of Rose.
He then wipes away the food residue that was on her lips. He then wipes away the ones on her cheeks.
"There we go. wouldn't want that face to be all messy with food now are we?" Aurelius said with a smile on his face.
...
...
...
...
...
Absolute silence.
Bell had his jaw dropped far down that he would.
Hestia has her mouth open wide while the water she drank was pouring out of her mouth.
Eina was in the middle of slurping her noodles. So she let the noodles hang from her mouth.
Syr was as well having a jaw dropping moment. After a second, the tray that she was holding dropped from her hands.
"Hmm? Rose? what's wrong?" Aurelius said with a raised eyebrow.
On the other hand, the redhead werewolf is slowly having her face turn as read as her hair.
*TEMPERATURE RISE INTENSIFIES*
Like a kettle, she is about the release the steam....albeit, out of her ears.
*KETTLE SOUND INTENSIFIES*
Rose, sitting, with steam coming out of her ears from over heating, stayed there.....unmoving.
"Huh? Rose? Oi!" Aurelius then waved his hands in front of her face. "Eina, is she okay?"
"Yeaaahhh....she's....fine..." Eina said, not believing what had transpired at this very moment.
They then continued to eat their meals. At least, one of them stopped half way through.
After a while, they finished their food and is about to head back home.
"Thank you for bringing us to the eat Hestia Familia. We appreciate your kindness." Eina said bowing down towards the three of them.
Rose as well bowed clumsily towards them.
"There's no need to bow you two. We ask you two to join because we want to." Hestia said while waving her hands signifying her denial upon their apology.
They then went their separate ways towards their home.
"Huhuhu~" Eina suddenly uttered.
"Hmm? what is it Eina?" Rose ask, confuse upon the sudden act her friend put on.
"You were having fun with your romeo now don't you~?." Eina said with a teasing voice.
Rose heard this, immediately turned red from remember the experience beforehand.
"W-W-What?! N-NO! YOU GOT THE WRONG IDEA!" Rose shouts from embarrassment.
"Oh~ is that so~ then why the sudden lovey dovey touchy moment that you had with him hmm~." Eina once more tease, more intense in its teasing department from before.
"You...!" Rose said as a tick mark metaphorically formed on her forehead. She then raised her hand in a karate chop fashion, ready to strike down the teasing elf. " I said....IT'S NOT LIKE THAAATT!"
*SMACK!* "Puagh!" Eina uttered as she was hit by the furious attack.
Scene then change towards the three, heading back towards their home as the two of them teased the titan of what transpired at the hostess.
After reaching home, they then settled in, relief having to eat to their hearts contents.
"Haaaahh. That was blissful to eat that much!" Bell said heaving a sigh of relief.
"You bet it brat. Never eaten as much as that in my life!" Aurelius said happy upon his feast. "I could go for seconds right now if I can!"
"To honest, best pub food I had ever had since coming down to Genkai!" Hestia said, laying in bed with a satisfied smile.
They then talked for a while longer about things. In the middle of their conversation, a topic arose from Bell.
"Mister, goddess, I think we needed another member in the team." Bell suggest his idea towards the two. "I feel like that just the two of us going in and out of the dungeon isn't going to be efficient for long. We need to be a trio or something alike. It's getting a bit dull just three of us. Not that I'm bored with you two! it's just that it'll be nice to have one more."
"Now that you said it, yeah! I do think we need one more in the roster at the very least." Hestia said, solidifying the rabbits' reasoning.
"But, where do we find a third member is the question. People wouldn't want to join a Familia with only two members now do they?" Bell said.
"Well, I do have one candidate." Aurelius said, gaining the attention of the two.
"What?! Who?!" Bell ask excited hearing the news.
"I don't know if the person would want it though. The person is in a different Familia already after all." Aurelius said to them of the truth. "But the said person, by the looks of it, doesn't like its Familia even a bit."
Bell hearing, realized what his captain had in tail. "Do you mean you want to steal a gods Familia member mister?!"
"Why not? If an adventurer is interested in a different one, why not try to get her out of it?"
"If she doesn't wanted to in the first place, then why bother? besides this is just at first glance theory. take it with a grain of sand." Aurelius said.
"Ugh, and here I thought we are going to get a Familia member by possibly tomorrow." Bell said slumping down in the sofa.
"It's fine Bell. We'll find one someday." Hestia said as she started change her position in the bed. "Well, I'm going to bed now. Make sure you two sleep early. You don't want to get tired by tomorrow."
""Okay. Goodnight goddess."" Bell and Aurelius said.
Bell then went to the bed sleeping with his goddess beside her while Aurelius slept on the couch.
"..."
'Liliruca Arde....it's time for us to recruit you.' Aurelius thought about the prum he met a couple of days prior.
________________________
The next day came as the two Hestians are ready to go towards the dungeon. They then say their goodbyes to their goddess and left the church.
On their way towards the dungeon, They can't help but talk about yesterdays' topic, which is to recruit another member into their Familia.
"Mister, what do you think about last night suggestion?" Bell said towards the titan walking beside him.
"A good Idea really. Having more potential members in the Familia will surely make any raid dungeon easy. However that will stunt our growth with how easy it is to raid the dungeon with a full fledge team." Aurelius says towards the rabbit beside him.
"Then how about we search for someone with the same kind of skill set as ours?" Bell said prompting the idea of a person with their talent.
"Kid, I can guarantee you that in this generation of adventurers, there aren't any worthy people that has the same kind of talent we have. Not to brag of course, but, it is what it is." Aurelius said.
"Unlike the last generation, Zeus and Hera Familia could wipe this generation of Orario clean. Dare I say that the Hera Familia alone could wipe out Loki and Freya Familia on their own." Aurelius said as he stated the fact about the greatness of the last generation of adventurers.
"Woah! Really? Then, why didn't I hear anything coming from them?" Bell ask curious upon the absence of the two, once, powerhouses of Orario.
"Well, about 15 years ago, both of those Familia has set themselves a goal to annihilate the three great disasters, well the last of them. That beast is called "The One-Eyed Black Dragon". Both of their Familia posses adventurers that are high end second-class adventurers and first class adventurers." Aurelius.
"Oh. You mean that they posses a bunch of adventurers of the same level as top members of both Loki and Freya Familia?" Bell ask.
"Yes, you're right kid. However, they posses something more than that."
"Something more? what do you mean by that?" Ask Bell curious by the titans' words.
"Yes they posses that kind of adventurers, dwarfing the numbers of the current strongest, they also posses adventurers that could dwarf the strength of the strongest adventurers of this generation."
"That is, they posses adventurers of level 7's and above."
"?!" Bell hearing that is shocked by the revelation.
"You mean, they posses more than ONE level 7? And by "above", you don't mean..."
"Yes, they posses adventurers of level 8 as well. In fact, Hera Familias' Captain was a level 9."
"WHAT?! Then where are they? I never heard anybody utter their names at all." Bell ask utterly confused on why the people here aren't singing and telling stories about them.
"Well, simple really...."
"....they're dead."
"?!" Bell gave an expression of shock and disbelief.
"You're saying that two Familias, that can possibly wipe the floor of Orario alone, are dead?! How did that happen?!" Bell ask.
"It's because of the beast that I said before." Aurelius answered.
"The One-Eyed Black Dragon?" Bell guessed.
"Yeah. They set out on a quest to slay the beast outside of Orario. They believe they are the ones that would set the world free from chaos of such a threat. However, they failed miserably."
Bell hearing this couldn't help but to feel sad upon those heroic souls.
"It has been said that the beast was so strong that it wiped out the Hera Familia in one fell swoop. No one was left alive, even for their captain. Soon afterwards, the Zeus Familia followed suit in their demise." Aurelius said towards Bell.
Bell then had a sorrowful look.
"That's why, I wanted to get stronger, not because of following in their footsteps to defeat the dragon, but to become the strongest in this world. I would want to become strong until nothing in this world can make me move an inch while I am standing still." Aurelius said.
Bell, after hearing such a thing, would only fuel more of his determination to get stronger.
"Bell, let's get stronger. The strongest that the world has ever seen." Aurelius said towards the determined rabbit beside him.
"Yeah! You can count on me!" Bell said with a fiery heart, stilled with a solid resolve.
They then started to continue at a faster pace towards the dungeon. However, a voice was called out to them.
"Hello there! You two! The big guy and the rabbit looking one!" A seemingly childish female voice a distance away from them.
They both then look towards the direction of the voice. What they saw is a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a cloth robe. Looks to be that this girl is a prum.
"I heard that you two were looking for a supporter for you to be in your team. I can be one for you!" The prum said with a cheerful smile
"Oh, you would? Although we wanted an adventurer to join us though, but a supporter can do wonders for us right now too!" Bell said as he ducked down towards her face.
"Alright then! what's your name?" Bell ask towards the prum girl.
"..."
...
...
...
The prum girl inhale air and exhale. She then spoke her name.
"My name is Lili! Liliruca Arde of the Soma Familia!"
With that, a new member, temporarily, has joined the roster.