13 Chapter 13: A Dwarf, an Elf, and a Werewolf walk into a pub.

"Hey Anya! You're off today so why are you bringing in customers?" I hear a woman ask her and look to see Mia Grand behind the counter as we walk into the Hostess of Fertility.

"Hehe ~ It's personal business this time Mama Mia." she says and Mia raises an eye at us.

"You be careful now Anya, stealing from a Goddess is a good way to get done in quick." she says and I see Anya grin in response.

"I know Mama, he's not here because of that. He need party members so I'll be introducing him to those three." she says and Mama turns to look right at me.

"You think he'll treat them right? Well, since you brought it up you must trust him for some reason. Fine then, do what you like." she says and Anya smiles in response.

"Thanks Mama, I'll be taking him up to my room before going to get them. Can you send some food up for him while he waits? He'll pay of course ~" Anya says while turning to grin at me.

"Yeah, I'll pay." I say as I feel Mia staring at me.

"Good." Mia says before heading into the kitchen.

"Hehe, lets head up then ~" says Anya as she leads me through one of the back doors. Once through we head up some stairs and down a hall before stopping in front of one of the doors near the end. She leads me inside and guides me to sit down on the couch.

"Alright, you make yourself comfortable while I go get them!" she says before running out making me shake my head.

I take some time to look around the room and am surprised by how plain it is in contrast to Anya's cheery personality. Plain wooden floor and walls, the furniture consists of just a bed, a dresser, a couch, and a small table. All in all, a small and plain room. Maybe they're not allowed to decorate.

I get up and walk up to the window overlooking the street below and can make out Anya running down it towards the outskirts of the city. I keep looking through the window, watching the people walk around. Eventually however, the door to the room opens.

I turn around and see Ryuu walk in while wearing the Hostess of Fertility uniform. She gives me a cold stare before going and placing a food platter with a few plates of food on the table. Once she does so she looks back at me and continues to stare at me coldly. I give a small smile as I pull out some Valis from a pouch on my waist and give them to her.

"This is too much." she says and I smile.

"Keep the change. The food here is great and worth every Vali." I say and she keeps staring at me for a bit before letting out a small smile. Without saying anything, she takes the money and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.

Sighing at her personality but understanding the reason for it, I sit down on the couch and start eating my food. It's mostly the same as before with a few new plates that are just as good as the rest of the food from the Hostess. It doesn't take me too long to finish eating so I get up and walk back to the window to keep people watching.

I spend about twenty minutes just looking at the moving crowds and trying to see if I recognize anyone. I do find some people I know, not personally of course. Eina and Misha from the Guild seem to be on their way to work and Hermes seems to be dragging a frustrated Asfi around. Eventually I see Anya coming down the street with three people behind her. A dwarf, a werewolf, and an elf follow the cat girl as they enter the pub. Sounds like a bad joke. . .

I do notice one thing though. There's someone watching Anya aside from myself. From an alleyway not too far down the street I see Allen Fromel, Anya's brother. Since it's her brother, I'll ignore the creepy actions. Plus, he's the vice-captain of Freya Familia and Level 6 so I would rather avoid confronting him.

It seems he notices my gaze as he looks up at me and scowls once he sees me. I can guess why he doesn't like me. . . maybe I should move away from the window before he realizes I'm in his sister's room. I don't want any misunderstandings.

Deciding I should be sitting when they arrive, I go to sit on the couch and wait a few minutes before the door to the room finally opens. In walks Anya with the trio and I can see the three of them, especially the elf, staring at me warily. I want to make a good impression so I stand up with a smile and offer a hand to the dwarf, who from their demeanor, seems to be the leader of the three.

"Hello there, It's nice to meet you. Anya tells me the three of you are competent adventurers and she's someone who's opinion I can trust so I have no doubt all of you are capable." I say and I see the three of them smile, although the elf's smile is more subdued.

"Hahaha, we trust in Anya as well so we understand where you're coming from. If we didn't, we wouldn't have come after hearing you're male." The dwarf says with a laugh.

"She's told me you've had some problems with harassment in the past, is it really that bad?" I ask and she nods.

"Three women, two level 2s and one level 3. You do the math." she says and I nod in understanding. The three of the are quite beautiful so I can see why they've had issues.

"I have someone I am in a committed relationship with, so you do not have to worry about me doing anything like that." I say and I can see the elf's shoulders relax at my words.

"A loyal man, something that is rare to find these days, especially among gods." The werewolf says and I can't help but chuckle in response.

"I'm not a god, though I can't blame you for thinking so." I say and I can see the three of them freeze in shock.

"You have the feel of a God, the divinity is literally coming off you in waves." The elf says with narrowed eyes.

"I'm a Demi-God, member of the Hephaestus Familia." I say and their eyes widen. The elf comes closer and start examining me.

"A Demi-God. . . I didn't know that was possible considering the gods cannot procreate. How can you possibly exist. You feel identical to an actual god so it's impossible to tell the difference. Though I'm sure the actual gods can probably tell. . ." she mumbles as she lifts my arm and starts poking at it with curiosity.

"Sorry about her, once she finds something that interests her she'll start examining and studying it until she figures it out." The dwarf says with a embarrassed smile. I nod and choose to ignore the elf poking at me.

"So what do you think about joining the Familia? You won't have to worry about any sexual harassment, that much I can definitely promise. You also don't have to worry about getting equipment as we are primarily a smithing Familia." I say and the dwarf nods.

"I understand but I must ask, what are we joining for? Like you said Hephaestus Familia focuses on smithing, something none of us have a talent for." she asks and I look at Anya who is blushing in embarrassment. I shake my head with a small smile at her forgetfulness.

"Since Anya didn't tell you, I'll tell you now. I need adventurers to go into the dungeon with me. Although I am a blacksmith, I don't plan to spend all my time smithing. I need a good party to go into the dungeon with me and have my back. I will warn you ahead of time, my divinity makes the dungeon hate me a bit. Not as much as the gods, but enough to send a few monsters from a couple floors down up to kill me." I say and I feel the elf next to me freeze before she keeps muttering things I can't understand.

"It's. . . understandable. As long as we don't go too far too fast we should be able to handle monsters from a few floors down as a group. I have to as though what happened to your last party? Were they. . ." she asks and I shake my head.

"I didn't have a party. I've only ever gone into the dungeon alone." I say and she looks at me weirdly.

"I won't ask I guess. Alright, you seem trustworthy and Anya vouches for you so I guess you're our best choice. So, when can we head off to get our Falnas unlocked?" she asks.

"We can wait for my goddess to come back from the Denatus which should be ending soon, or you can get them here if you're comfortable with exposing your backs to me. It's up to all of you." I say and the once again, I feel the elf staring at me.

Surprisingly, instead of getting offended. She gets this gleam in her eye and takes her shirt off before laying face down on the couch. with her back exposed to me. I sit there in shock as I didn't expect her to do that and she turns her head to look at me and answer the question that is apparently written all over my face.

"Like Marie said, Anya trusts you so we trust you. Besides you're in a relationship and I want to see if getting a Falna from you is different from getting one from a God." she says and I shake my head at her bluntness. I move over to her and cut my finger to let my blood drip onto her back. Since she already has a Falna and it's just locked I don't have to do too much. the symbol of Hephaestus Familia appears on her back and I give her status a look quick look over.

[Name] - Alion Merid

[Age] - 17

[Race] - Elf

[Level] - 2

[Strength] - G217

[Endurance] - E412

[Dexterity] - D584

[Agility] - C621

[Magic] - B773

[Skills] - {Child of the Forest} - {Champion of Hephaestus}

[Magic] - {Spirit Healing} - {Rippling Winds} - {Aero Call}

[Development Abilities] - {Mage}

{Child of the Forest}: You were born in the woods, the forest loves you and will always protect you. You gain a status boost when within a forest and can communicate with and control the plants within one.

{Champion of Hephaestus}: You have been chosen by the Demi-God Heine to accompany him as a companion. For being in charge of protecting her loved one, Hephaestus has granted you her blessing. You are stronger when fighting alongside Heine and your fellow champions.

{Spirit Healing}: The Spirit of the Forest watches over you even when you're away. Call upon her power to heal yourself or your allies.

{Rippling Winds}: Spread the winds out in all directions and listen to their voices to know what they see.

{Aero Call}: Call upon the wind to answer your command.

She has some good abilities. She can heal with {Spirit Healing}, Check her surroundings with {Rippling Winds}, and attack or move however she wants with {Aero Call}. Though I feel she'll have to practice a lot to master the last one. {Child of the Forest} will be something I'll have to keep in mind whenever we're in a forest. Lastly is {Champion of Hephaestus}. It seems she can feel when I add someone to the Familia. I nod and pull a sheet of paper out of my storage before copying her status onto it and giving it to her.

After getting dressed, Alion looks it over and her eyes widen at her new skill. She looks at me and I can see a look of determination appear in her eyes. I guess she decided to protect me well? I shake my head and decide to think about it later as the werewolf removes her shirt and lays down. I proceed to do the same as I did with Alion.

[Name] - Violet Glimmer

[Age] - 18

[Race] - Werewolf

[Level] - 2

[Strength] - C639

[Endurance] - C604

[Dexterity] - B771

[Agility] - C620

[Magic] - E416

[Skills] - {Child of the Moon} - {Champion of Hephaestus}

[Magic] - {Spirit Walking} - {Shadow Step}

[Development Abilities] - {Spearman}

{Child of the Moon}: You were born under the full moon, the moon loves you and will always protect you. You gain a status boost at night and can blend in with the shadows.

{Spirit Walking}: The Spirit of the Moon watches over you even when you're away. Call upon her power to walk silently and hide your presence from others.

{Shadow Step}: Walk within shadows to move from one to another.

Once again another 'Child of the' Skill. . . I look over at the dwarf, she won't have one too right. . . ? Aside from that, {Spirit Walking} is a very useful stealth skill and {Shadow Step} will allow her to have instantaneous travel from one shadow to another, very useful in combat. I copy Violet's status onto paper and she does the same thing as Alion after looking at it. The dwarf lays down after taking her shirt of and once more, I drop my blood onto her back.

[Name] - Marie Strand

[Age] - 23

[Race] - Dwarf

[Level] - 3

[Strength] - A891

[Endurance] - B712

[Dexterity] - E407

[Agility] - F341

[Magic] - G219

[Skills] - {Child of the Mountains} - {Champion of Hephaestus}

[Magic] - {Spirit Guard}

[Development Abilities] - {Strong Defense}

{Child of the Mountains}: You were born at the peak of a mountain, the mountains love you and will always protect you. You gain a status boost when on a mountain or in a cave.

{Spirit Guard}: The Spirit of the Mountains watches over you even when you're away. Call upon his power to strengthen yourself against attacks and stand firm in front of anything.

There really is another one. . . what is up with these three. Is this why they stick together? Three people blessed by spirits. . . If anyone were to find out then things would get bad. I see now why they were careful with what Familia they joined. The only magic she has is {Spirit Guard}. I can tell she's the tank of the group but. . . {Spirit Guard} gives me hope for her to use a weapon I wanted to make. I didn't think anyone could handle the recoil until higher levels but now. . .

"Hahaha, so that's why those two were so serious. On top of the blessing we already had we now have the blessing of a Goddess as well. It seems choosing to join you was the right choice Heine." Marie says with a big smile after I hand over her status sheet, making me smile at her in response.

I'm about to reply when the door to the room suddenly flies open. At the front is Ryuu and behind her are the rest of the girls who work her followed by Mia in the back. Mia notices Marie's state of undress and narrows her eyes but Marie just points to the status sheet in her hand making Mia understand. She puts her shirt back on as I turn to the group that just entered.

"Why are you all here like this? Did something happen?" I ask and Mia laughs out loud as the others giggle and Ryuu just stares at me.

"Yeah, something did happen. . . Little Hammer." Mia says with another loud laugh and I finally realize why they're here.

"The Denatus is over isn't it?" I ask and the girls nod making me groan.

"To reach level 2 in a month is a. . . very impressive feat." Ryuu says as she stares at me with her blank face. The rest of the room is shocked at that information but I'm too distracted to care.

"She actually went with that name. . ." I say in despair making the others laugh.

"Hahaha, I think it's a cute name~" Anya says and I just groan again.

'Why my Goddess!? Why must you treat me so!?' I yell in my mind.

'Stop being so dramatic Heine. If you want to change it then do so with your actions, show me and Orario that you're not a Little Hammer. . . wait. . . I mean in the dungeon, with Gideon. . . ' she sends back and starts panicking towards the end.

'I will show you. . . I will show you all. . . !' I think to her.

'Wait, Heine! Don't misunderstand!'

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-A/N: Finally another chapter and it's a full length one this time. Once again sorry for the slow updates but I'm happy to see so many of you are so understanding and enjoy the story so much. I will most definitely NOT be dropping this story. I love it far to much to do that and have enough experiences with stories I love getting dropped to do that to you all but you'll have to put up with the slow updates for a while still. Other than that, enjoy the chapter and please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes I may have made. I wrote it over several days as I didn't have enough time to do it in one go and could only skim over it for mistakes after I finished.

To be continued

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