4 3.1 Taking the Plunge

A/N: You know the drill guys.

Here is a bit of a key:

{this is The Game talking to the MC and also system messages}

"This is speaking out loud"

'This is thoughts'

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Ramiel found himself reminiscing about his previous life as he leaned back in one of the chairs inside the small private meeting room, one hand idly stroking a nonexistent beard while the other clamped a lit cigarette between two fingers.

A lot of things had changed for him after leaving the forces and joining that group of insane ex-military vigilantes, but the sitting, standing and sleeping postures that had been drilled into his brain for nearly half a decade, had never been lost.

To anyone else, it would look as if he were simply lazing around but he was, in fact, scanning the room and keeping a vigilant eye on the door, while also being at maximum readiness for motion at any given time, even as the 4th cigarette in a row was stubbed out on the ashtray followed by the lighting up of another. The Game had graciously provided the ashtray and Ramiel had figured out that the butts wouldn't disappear unless the self-regenerating pack itself was on his person and so, he had left it out.

There was just something extremely cathartic about watching the small glass dish slowly fill up with his tapped ash and burnt ends.

Neatly laid out on the table in front of him were his identification papers, letters of correspondence between 'himself' and the Demeter familia, the deed for the farmstead and a single adventurer registration package, courtesy of the guild. There was also a rather fancy looking quill pen and inkwell set into a groove on one side of the table, which meant that writing tools in this world were not even as far advanced as fountain pens yet… thoughts for later.

At first, he had been too nervous and wary of the situation to even think about filling any forms out or reading anything but after the first quarter of an hour had passed, the panic had mostly subsided and Ramiel decided to prepare himself. All of the separate important documents in his satchel were meticulously smoothed out and laid neatly on the table, ready to be presented to a staff member if one actually ever decided to show up.

He then reached for the registration forms and began reading through the rules, regulations and all the other legal jargon which basically equated to; 'you must sell any magic stones gained in the dungeon to us and if you die inside, too bad'.

It was at that point that Ramiel had noticed that he was actually able to read the language and blanked a little.

It wasn't that the words were all that different to English, not really. It was more of a bastardised version with fewer letters and some symbols but he really shouldn't have been able to read it.

{Inbuilt language comprehension.}

'Wait, that's a thing?'

{Do you really think I would want to watch you learn to read and write for weeks on end, especially knowing full well you wouldn't be into it?}

The young man blinked slowly. 'That.. is actually incredibly useful. Thanks.'

{Worship me, mortal.}

'I still don't forgive you for screwing me over here though.'

{Suck it up.}

Ramiel picked up the quill and began to slowly and awkwardly fill out the registration form while trying not to smudge it, his military developed OCD thankfully coming out in full force to avoid any mishaps. The majority of the sections that needed filling out were waiving of legal rights due to accident or death in the dungeon, setting up some form of bank account where the guild could tax your earnings from, probably, and naming next of kin.

On that part, he decided to be petty and wrote Goddess Ishtar just so that even if he died before meeting Hestia, Freya would literally go mad and destroy the bitch to get his things for herself.

{I'm so proud of you.}

By the time he was finished, at least another quarter of an hour had passed and the room was starting to look reminiscent of an underground mahjong den with how thick the clouds of smoke hanging in the air were. Funnily enough, the smoke from the Spirit Cigarettes didn't have any sort of acrid smell, instead, it had a faint aroma that was fairly similar to that of 'nature' and not even burning nature at that.

After completing the monotonous paperwork, Ramiel's nerves had fully settled and as he was finally able to think clearly, a bit of mild irritation began to set in when he realised what was actually happening here…

They were testing him.

{Bingo.}

The confirmation from the Game was merely the icing on the cake. After all, this was a tried and tested interrogation method. Let your target stew for a while without any information and at one point, they will be sure to betray their emotions and let you get a read on them.

If Ouranos had so desperately wanted to meet with him then he should have been brought there immediately. The man, no God wanted to know how much he was aware of and assess what level of communication he should go with.

The young man raised a hand to cover his mouth as a sly smile was barely hidden behind it. 'Let's make a little play shall we.'

{It took you long enough to do something that wasn't acting like a little bitch.}

'This world's strongest God wanted to meet with me on my first day here because of something YOU did to him! He could literally destroy me with a fart if he wanted!'

{Are you gonna do something or what?}

'Yes, I'm gonna draw out whoever is watching me right now.'

Over the next couple of minutes, Ramiel allowed his posture to relax and annoyance to slowly bleed its way into his expressions. He began tapping the table impatiently and every so often, he would glance at the door to the room while furrowing his brows. Finally, as if he couldn't take it anymore, the young man slapped the table, began to 'roughly' collect all of his paperwork together, stood up from his chair and took a step towards the door when he heard a withered and hoarse voice sound out behind him.

"Please wait, Mr Gedeon."

Ramiel slowly turned round and although he was surprised to see a tall and thin figure covered head to toe in ragged-looking black robes, a small grin still worked its way onto his handsome face.

It was Fels, the aid of Ouranos, a Level 4 adventurer and on top of that, some sort of hundreds of years old undead lich skeleton thing. The man/skeleton had quite a presence about him, but his power was well concealed, the only indication of it at all was a slight drop in the temperature of the room and the unnatural billowing of his robes.

{He looks a bit like a Dementor knockoff.}

With a wave of the Fels' hand the room cleared up completely, a power play for sure, and it took all of Ramiel's mental faculty, along with the aid of Gamers Mind to keep his tone even and not shout 'Expecto Patronum!'. "Got you."

Fels blanked for a second and then barked out a shallow and raspy laugh that sounded like a cat scratching wood before he bowed in respect. "It would seem that we underestimated you Mr Gedeon, My apologies."

The young man retook his seat and gestured for him not to mind it. "Look, It's not like I don't understand it, but I do actually have real business to do today, so if we could…"

"Certainly, someone will take care of the transfer of currency to your account and the processing of your registration forms in a moment."

"Now, if you would follow after me, My Lord desires to meet with you." It was phrased as an invitation, but both knew it wasn't and that irritated the young man more than he would like to admit.

Being looked down upon like that left a strange and unsavoury taste in his mouth, something he hadn't experienced for at least a few years and he didn't like it. Not. One. Bit. He couldn't do anything about it right now, though. Of course, there was also the fact that he wasn't enough of an idiot to call the much stronger man/lich out on it but it still lit a small flame in Ramiel's heart.

A flame that was fuelled by his conviction to gain enough strength to assure that people would treat him with the respect he believed he deserved.

The skeleton man turned around without another word and a doorway simply appeared in the wall in front of him, as if it had simply always been there...

The insides of the doorway were completely different to the room he was in, consisting of weathered grey stone walls, sparsely lit by naked torches and a darkened stairway that led further downwards, into the belly of the guild.

Ramiel, who was barely holding back the petty desire to spam Observe a bunch of times, lit a fresh cigarette, pocketed the pack and sent the ashtray into his inventory before following after the undead assistant.

When he reached the hole in the wall, Fels was nowhere in sight and so he continued to move downwards for several minutes in near darkness, presence detection barely making up for the lack of available light.

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As he reached the bottom of the stone steps, the narrow stairwell opened up into a large and darkened rectangular prayer room that was sparsely decorated by evenly spaced marble columns, reminiscent of a Greek temple.

Ramiel stepped over the threshold and slowed a little as he passed through what felt like some sort of thin membrane, only for every single sense of his to be assailed and overwhelmed by a feeling of insurmountable. Power. The very air was saturated with it, thrummed with it and at the centre of it all, sat upon a gigantic, high-backed, white marble throne, the source itself...

To Ramiel, the sensation was an unfamiliar one but there was no mistaking it for anything other than what it was. The feeling of a higher presence, one far beyond mortal comprehension washing over his very being.

Ambros, Divinity, a God...

His eyes saw a huge middle-aged man with shoulder-length grey hair and a stoic mask on his otherwise handsome face, but his other senses...

Well, every single one of them was screaming out at him that this was no man. Screaming for him to run as far away as possible because before him sat a being of power absolutely unfathomable to the current him. Power untold, barely masked behind an illusory veil, one as thin as a cicada wing. A monster in human skin, and one that was hardly trying to hide that fact.

Ramiel took a deep breath to compose himself and slowly walked toward the centre of the room and when he was finally face-to-face with the Sky God himself, he cupped his fists and bowed once, not to the man's power or station but out of respect for his actions.

If the slightly amused expression on the God's face was anything to go by, he had noticed this too.

"Greetings Lord Ouranos"

{{"Greetings... Planewalker Ramiel Gedeon. Many of my kin have often theorised about other planes of existence yet none have ever succeeded in proving it. You are the first of your kind."}} Each word spoken carried with it a deep and ancient majesty that could never be achieved by a normal man.

"Forgive me if I am speaking out of turn but how can you be sure?"

Ouranos chuckled. {{"Over the countless millennia spent watching the realms, I have never before laid eyes upon a soul as unique as yours. The threads of fate constantly encircle and surround it. Even now, they encompass it almost completely yet no matter their endeavour, they cannot ensnare it."}}

He raised a hand to point at the young man. {{"You, Ramiel Gedeon, are free from the fate of this world unless you so choose to entangle yourself with it."}}

Ramiel scratched the back of his neck "That's probably a fair description. You know, I never met a God before and you are surprisingly easy to talk to Lord Ouranos. I was expecting cryptic riddles or thinly veiled threats at the very least considering the lore surrounding a lot of Gods from my old world but I am pleasantly surprised."

The Sky God snorted in mock disdain. {{"I am but a guardian, one who stands vigil, watching over the Lower World while using my power to hold the forces of darkness at bay. Just as I have done so for a thousand years. I see no reason to make an enemy of you nor the entity behind you when I could possibly obtain a powerful ally instead."}}

The young man was a little taken aback, this was going much more smoothly than he would have ever imagined. Did the Game really scare Ouranos that badly or was the man trying to rope him in for the events that were about to start unfolding?

{Little of column A, little of column B.}

The Sky God's eyes flashed with an azure light and the surrounding air visibly rippled with power. {{"Tell me Ramiel, what are your goals in this world?"}}

'I guess that was him using some of his Arcanum to either intimidate me or make us both aware that he can tell when we are communicating.'

{He is totally scared.}

Ramiel let out a small sigh, sat down on the floor cross-legged and ran a hand through his hair while his lips curved up in a gentle smile. "My immediate goals are rather simple really, I want to find a Goddess who will care for me and gain not just a familia but an actual family of my own to love and protect. My long term goals, however, are more ambitious." Ouranos narrowed his eyes and a dangerous presence filled the prayer room causing Ramiel to smile wryly.

"I wish to reach the bottom of the dungeon, see things no one has ever seen before, set foot in places nobody has ever been to before, slay the One-Eyed Black Dragon and push towards the peak of the mortal path." Ramiel wiggled his eyebrows. "If you're wondering, I also have no prejudices against any races, including monster girls."

That seemed to throw the man for a loop for a second before he chuckled lightly again. {"So you know of the Xenos."}} It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

The young man inclined his head. "I do, and I must say that I very much respect what you have been trying to do for them."

{{"Unfortunately, It is never enough,"}} Ouranos said with a hint of sorrow in his voice.

Ramiel lit up another cigarette and took a long toke. "Well, I wouldn't be disinclined to help you take supplies down to them once I am powerful enough. I do have a dimensional storage space after all."

Ouranos's eyebrows briefly raised in mild surprise which he guessed was the equivalent of anyone else screaming 'YOU WHAT!?' before they lowered again and he spoke. {{"Interesting… How would you like to join my Familia?"}}

This one, he was expecting and so without skipping a beat, came the reply. "I am flattered Lord Ouranos but I'm afraid I must apologise. The politics of Orario are of absolutely no interest to me. I offered to help with the Xenos... because I see them as other sentient life forms, ones who cannot choose their birthplace and deserve a chance like anyone else. However, I currently do not wish to be involved on a deeper level."

{{"Hmm, I expected as much. Tell me, boy, do you wish for me to recommend you to another familia. With your… unique situation, you should have little trouble finding a Familia. Perhaps you could join The Loki, Freya or even Hephaestus Familias with the guild's recommendation."}}

Ramiel shivered, the room somehow feeling much colder and less welcoming all of a sudden. "Please spare me from that Lord Ouranos. While Lady Freya is no doubt already obsessing over my soul, her Familia are in turn also completely and utterly obsessed with her. I wouldn't survive a week there with her 'favourable' treatment."

He took another long toke of his cigarette before blowing a cloud of smoke into the air. "Loki Familia is, admittedly, my second choice but they are too large, too involved with the intricacies of Orario's politics and too high profile for my liking. Not to mention that they are ruled over by a Goddess that would do everything in her power, including sacrificing my privacy, to take an edge over Lady Freya."

"No, forgive me but I already have a Goddess in mind."

There was that slight hint of amusement playing off the larger man's features again. {{"Oh, pray do tell."}}

"Goddess Hestia. Goddess of the home, the Hearth and of Family. She may be alone and almost destitute right now but I believe her values coincide nicely with my own."

Ouranos nodded to himself. {{"One of the oldest and most powerful among us despite her... shortcomings. It would seem that Vesta will anon be blessed with an extraordinary child."}}

"Thank you, Lord Ouranos." Ramiel stood up with a genuine smile and patted some dust from his trouser legs. "While I have your attention, would it be possible to directly negotiate an agreement with yourself in regards to the future?"

"Due to some of the… unique talents that I possess, my Adventurer Level will surely rise at what could be considered an exceedingly fast pace. In fact, it will likely be less than fourteen days before I reach Level 2."

{If it takes you any longer, you should be ashamed.}

Ouranos sat up straight in his throne with slightly narrowed his eyes, but not quite focusing on the young man and Ramiel realised that in some way, shape or form, what the Sky God could truly see, was the Game interacting with his soul.

{It's funny to watch him tense up like that every time.}

'I'm trying to negotiate a deal here. Would you kindly fuck off for a bit?'

"*Ahem* Apologies. As I was saying, In return for the guild doing its best to nullify the waves that kind of progression speed will create in Orario and refusing to sell any information about me to any Familia, no matter the price, I will offer two things."

Firstly I will owe you one favour of any kind to be redeemed when you see fit. If the city is in danger, if you need someone to rescue people from the dungeon or even help the Xenos for you, I will answer your call a single time.

As long as it is something that I am somehow capable of, you do not send me or the people I care about to die and as long as my absence will not cause them harm, there is I almost nothing I won't do.

Secondly, within the next few months, I will take over the regular missions of sending supplies to the Xenos and helping their community where possible. A level 3 adventurer should have no problem reaching them."

Ouranos contemplated for a moment and nodded briefly. {{"We have an agreement, Planewalker."}}

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Ramiel was currently sitting on one of those taxi cart things as it made its way to the tower of Babel, now 200,000 Valis richer and with his official guild registration card in hand. His eyes were slightly out of focus, staring blankly at the cityscape around him as he chatted with the extremely powerful and exceptionally sarcastic being in his head.

'So… How did I do with Ouranos?'

{Ehhhhh, 6.5/10.}

'Ouch. That's... quite harsh.'

{You actually did relatively well for your first Divine encounter. Neither acting too servile nor arrogant and easily conversing with him despite baulking at his show of power. Now, offering him a favour of his choice was a relatively amateur move however and neither bowing to him nor calling him Lord were to my tastes but overall quite well done.}

'Well, I offered him a favour for a reason. He will absolutely call it in during the Xenos crisis in a few months so that I will help them find shelter. I would have done that anyway due to that hot little siren chick but he doesn't know that.'

{Agreed. Mus. Protecc. Cute. Mongirls.}

'Honestly, calling him Lord Ouranos was literally the bare minimum of respect I have for the guy. If I didn't have the total cheat that is you with me then I would have submitted and joined his familia in a heartbeat. Pride is great and all but only when you have the collateral to back it up.'

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Ramiel thought that the Babel tower looked big from far away but up close it was positively huge!. It was undeniably the largest structure he had ever seen in both of his lives and if he was asked to compare the scale to anything it would be the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The tower itself constituted many different sections, each one having a different design that he assumed were to pay tribute to the different Pantheons of Tenkai.

The subtle yet familiar pressure of Divinity radiated from every inch of the obsidian grey stone, forever a reminder of the fact that it was a construction beyond mortal ability.

As he walked past the various stalls and seating areas lining the outer rim of the central plaza, Ramiel felt that familiar heat sink into his core again and the sweet smell of rose petals drifted in the air. With Gamers Mind pitching in, he was barely able to avoid reacting and simply continued to head towards the entrance to Babel. 'Was that Freya again?'

{Yeah, it was. You know, she's gonna try and kill you, right?}

'Is it weird that I find that extremely hot?'

{Ehhhh.}

'Thought as much. Well, let's give her a little summin summin.' Ramiel slowly removed his jacket, slung it over his shoulder and unbuttoned the top three from his grey shirt. He then ran his hand through his hair, smoothing it back and after hanging an unlit cigarette from his lips, he approached the base of the tower.

'Guide me a little would you?'

{Normally, no but this should get an entertaining reaction.}

Just before he entered, the young man stood still and looked upwards into the clouds. For the briefest of moments, his eyes seemed to pierce through them and he removed the cigarette from his mouth. He placed a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture and winked before heading into the gigantic structure as if nothing happened.

He was probably just imagining that rather orgasmic fangirl-like squeal, yeah that had to be it.

{Aaaand she passed out again.}

'Cute.'

{I can't wait for her to go all stabby stabby.}

'I'm gonna have so much fun teasing her through Syr. Now, though, it's time to get my game face on.'

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Entering the main hall of the Babel guild, Ramiel was again shocked by the sheer scale of things here. The hall was twice the size of the one in the guild proper with at least three times the number of facilities. Withdrawing his proof of registration, the young man went to find an advisor for two reasons. The first one was rather petty, he wanted the full dungeon experience that he had watched and read about so many times before.

The second reason was much more practical, he valued his life and if he was being honest, he really couldn't remember shit all about what monsters were present on each floor. Irritating as it was…

{It's called Semi-Perfect Memory for a reason. Its effectiveness relies on your intent. It will only record things you deem as important.}

'Well, I'm so sorry that the old me never thought that he would one day find himself in Orario, challenging the dungeon for realsies.'

'...Either that or you are blocking it as a part of a scheme so that I somehow come into contact with the pink-haired Loli, the busty Werewolf or the bitchy Half-Elf.'

{Oh, you know me so well.}

Ramiel rolled his eyes and started towards the counters only to see HER standing there...

It wasn't the busty werewolf chick but my God was she still incredibly beautiful, almost supernaturally so in fact. Standing behind one of the counters with a thin smile gracing her shining pink lips, with her silky brown shoulder-length hair, shining emerald eyes and perfectly sculpted face framed by a pair of unfairly alluring glasses was Eina Tulle.

Ramiel gulped. Goddess damn it! Why did those glasses have to look so sexy?

{Elves have high CHA.}

{Why don't you ask her to put on a pencil skirt and high heels, then call her Onee-san while she steps on you.}

Before the young man realised what was happening, he was standing in front of the counter, a charming smile on his face, his own CHA stat out in full force, and offering a hand to the all of a sudden, much more kindly referred to, 'stoic' half-elf.

Eina blushed bright red like this was some sort of anime and hesitantly offered her hand in return. Ramiel grasped it lightly, feeling her impossibly smooth fingers. "My name is Ramiel. It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

"L-likewise. C-could you tell me the purpose of your visit?"

He reluctantly removed his hand from hers, but not before running his fingertips along the entire length of her palm, causing the poor young woman to shudder. Although Ramiel pretended not to notice and instead focused on withdrawing his paperwork. To her credit, she managed to recover quickly by taking a deep breath and pushing her glasses up with one hand as she received the form he offered to her. "Well, I only registered with the guild today and as you can see, I have permission to go into the dungeon before joining a Familia."

Eina looked as if she would protest but a teasing grin from Ramiel stopped her in her tracks. "No need to worry my dear, I only intend to get a feel for the first floor today and either tomorrow or the day after, I will return to register with my Goddess."

"Mr" She glanced at the form again. "…Gedeon. Do you at least have experience killing monsters before this?"

The young man nodded. "I have fought and killed many a beast before now." 'Technically…'

"Okay, Mr Gedeon. I don't very much like it but if you are confident that you can handle yourself against weak monsters then I suppose it is not my place to get involved. However, I will not allow you to take a single step inside the dungeon until I am content that you are at least fully aware of the risks."

Secretly gritting his teeth a little, the young man ultimately smiled in acquiescence. "Well miss Tulle, I have it on good terms that you are one of the most thorough advisors when it comes to lessons about the dungeon."

She nodded, hands on her hips and no small amount of pride leaking into her voice. "I have created an extremely comprehensive set of lesson plans available to any adventurers who are willing but I must warn you that the lessons will be tough."

Ramiel chuckled. "I think I can handle it, Miss Tulle, however, I must request that these lessons are conducted in a private meeting room. I trust the guild but I do not trust other prying eyes."

Eina's blush came back in full force but she agreed nonetheless. "O-of course. We pride ourselves on client confidentiality. Is there anything else you need from me today?"

'Damn the gap between stern and sexy Eina and cute and blushing Eina is too much. Thank God for Gamers Mind or I probably would have been grinning like a bit of a fool.'

{Don't thank God, thank me.}

"Hmm, a few things actually. Run me through the weak points of Goblins and Kobolds as well as the location of their magic stones if you wouldn't mind. It would also help me immensely to know the going rates for decent lodgings with meals included."

"Floor 1 is all Goblins and Kobolds. They are small and relatively easy to kill with a well-placed blow to the head, neck or heart area. Things to watch out for are the goblins' sharp claws or the teeth and claws of the Kobolds. Adventurers can often be caught off guard by Kobolds as they tend to drop down to all fours and their movements will become irregular when this happens.

The magic stones for both are located a couple of inches below the sternum in the centre of the chest area..."

Eina continued passionately explaining things to take note of and watch out for in the Dungeon while Ramiel looked on in wonder. Just from these few minutes, he could tell that her knowledge of the dungeon layout and ecology was deep and unfathomable but most of all, he could tell that she cared.

Knowledge as comprehensive as this could not be compiled over a single day, month or even a year causing Ramiel to gain a new level of respect for the woman.

Honestly, she was one of his least favourite characters from the Danmachi series due to how stern she acted and how she poorly expressed her worry for Bell through forbidding him from going to certain floors and scolding him loudly in front of the whole guild. Now, however, he only felt gratitude. She was doing everything in her power in order to prepare him, a mere handsome stranger, for the dungeon and provide him with the knowledge needed to keep his life intact.

When she finally finished her explanation, Ramiel bowed slightly to her. "Thank you very much, Miss Tulle, I am truly impressed with your knowledge. When I register my familia, I would like to arrange some lessons with you. Would I be right in assuming that you will be working here for the next two days?"

After spending several minutes explaining serious things to him, Eina had calmed down but she blushed again at his heartfelt comments and nodded, barely managing to stop herself from preening at the praise. "Will that be all Mr Gedeon?"

The young man cringed a little. "Please Miss Tulle, call me Ramiel. Actually, there is something. Does the guild sell any basic weapons? I need a temporary blade just for protection on the first floor."

She giggled at his reaction. "The guild starter pack contains a blade, a backpack and a few other helpful items, would you like to purchase one of those?"

"Yes please, Miss Tulle."

Eina hesitated as if she wanted to correct him, for some reason when he called her Miss Tulle, she didn't like it one bit but in the end, she lightly shook her head. 'If he survives his first dive I will let him call me Eina.' Her stern expression returned and she gestured to a desk at the end of the row while leaving some parting advice.

"You can pick up the starter kit from the desk over there. Stay vigilant and remember Ramiel, Adventurers don't go on adventures."

Ramiel thanked her again, gave her another million-dollar smile and walked over to purchase a starter kit, not noticing the young half-elf crouching down behind her desk with her face in her hands as he did so.

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