Recruitment Day (2)

"Artemis, are you alright?" She kept staring at me, so I felt the need to ask. I didn't mind the stare, but it wasn't likely just nervousness. Once again, it's that strange connection she feels. I've noticed it more than ten times this week. Maybe I shouldn't doubt that she likes me but it doesn't make sense on how one can fall for another so quickly.

Whether it's romantic or just a deep trust, I'll have to figure it out later. Right now, she has a Familia to run. I need the name and brand, so I can avoid the constant, "ArE yOu In a FaMiLiA?" questions.

I genuinely might kill a whole section of a city if that annoying-ass question keeps being asked. Fortunately, it hasn't happened too many times! Only twice at the guild before they remembered me and "asked" me to stop bringing in monster corpses and just bring the crystals.

The first time, I forgot to remove the magic crystals from the ant corpses, and their bodies didn't turn to dust. So, I brought them to the guild. Little did I know, they don't like that, even if it gives them more materials! Sounds like bullshit to me, but I'm not trying to get banned or cause problems for this Familia. The second time, it was kobolds, and maybe having their limbs hanging on by a thread wasn't a good idea.

Anyways, I brought my attention back to Artemis, who still hadn't answered my question. She was just staring blankly. This woman is confusing... I guess my existence has altered her beyond my understanding. What am I supposed to do? Die? Hell no, did it once, was not fun...minus the transmigration.

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(AN: DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID EVER! DO NOT try to end your life in order to reincarnate or transmigrate!)

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"Artemis~!" I playfully waved my hand in front of her face, mimicking Satoru's move against Jogo. Still, no response. Time for a more hands-on approach.

"AH~!" I pinched her arm! She jolted, her blank stare replaced by an angry gaze.

"You awake? I don't know what's got you so lost in thought, but you do have to maintain a certain image."

"Oh yeah? Then why the hell did you pinch me? That ruins my image, making me seem like a goddess who lets someone from her Familia walk over her!" She had a point but missed one thing.

"Trust me. No one thinks they can take advantage of you! You made it clear that I hold a special level of trust in your heart!" I said it to tease her. You'd think she'd be better at controlling her expressions by now, but she'll get there eventually.

'I'm starting to see why smart harem or romance protagonists enjoy teasing. Truly, a medicine for the heart! If I still had my split personality, this wouldn't be as fun...wait its technically me ugh. I got so used to separating us into two different people. Either way thankfully, my chaotic side is restricted to when I activate my [Cursed Form]!'

Her face flushed pink, barely noticeable from a distance. She has gotten better after all! Funny to think if I hadn't helped her Familia, we wouldn't be having this friendly conversation. She might have continued as that man-hating goddess. Thinking about it, she never really felt like a man-hater, just uncertain about them. My interpretation could be wrong!

I'm thankful she was the first goddess and Familia I ran into. Others might have used me or tried to kill me since I wasn't a citizen of Orario yet. They could have easily taken me out without a trace. Would they have beaten me? Hard to say, it depends on who I would've fought!

"J-Just go and test those people! Rethy looks like she needs a break!"

I glanced at Rethy, who looked completely fine. She's level three; I doubt she'll get tired soon, but I should respect Artemis in public. She's right; if we continue too long, people might think she's super friendly, which could cause problems. Artemis wasn't Hestia in that regard!

"Artemis wants us to switch out, so let me take the lead," I said.

Rethusa looked at me, then at Artemis, seeking confirmation. She clicked her tongue and nodded, not wanting to cause a scene. Neither did I.

Walking over to the open area, I could feel the confused eyes of all the applicants. Among the puzzled faces, I noted a few keen eyes who didn't wait for me to finish walking over. These were the ones with potential, ready to strike the moment I gave the go-ahead.

Pah~

I stomped my foot to snap them out of their daze. The sound echoed, and they quickly refocused their attention.

"I'm going to keep it simple! We originally separated you, but forget that. Ten of you, step out and get ready! Don't worry about losing; it's natural to lose to me. Just try your best!"

"..."

'Why are they all so silent?' I was genuinely confused. Did I say something wrong? The silence continued for a little before I felt a little irked.

"Look, you all have 10 seconds to attack or I'll beat your asses and then fail you!" I spoke with an angelic smile, which was a contrast to my words; however, this was the point. If none of these idiots moved after hearing my words, then they were useless!

'Oh?'

One elf, a female, looking around 5'7" or 5'8" with long white hair and deep blue eyes, charged in! I couldn't help but be surprised that a woman was the first to make a move. Now, there isn't anything wrong with that; I was just hoping the men present wouldn't be pussies, but whatever, I'll just focus on her for now!

"Hah!" She threw a straight punch at my face, clearly a test of my prowess, so I entertained her. I threw out a quick punch with my left hand curled into a fist. The sound of our flesh hitting each other reverberated through the surroundings!

A smirk formed on my face, and I spoke, "I see at least a level 2"! The woman in question was stunned, seeing me effortlessly match her prowess. Presumably, she must have thought I was a normal level 1. Unfortunately for her, my race's body is stronger than normal human and elf abilities. How did I know this? I didn't! I found out just now. Well, unless her stats before becoming level 2 weren't at their max, my race was naturally stronger.

'Anyways...' I kicked her in the stomach with my right leg, doing a semi-spin and sending her flying towards the pond that was free of movement until she landed in it.

Splash~!

"Now, who's next?" Hearing my words and seeing the woman get dealt with easily, the rest, numbering 9, all charged towards me. Feeling no fear, I dashed to the right, as the person in question was dressed in mage attire, so I had to get rid of him. His appearance wasn't worth mentioning, unlike the woman who challenged me first!

"Sorry man, but it is what it is," I spoke words of solace to the mage and then hit him with a cursed energy-infused punch, completely knocking the wind out of him. I made sure not to send his body flying. He wouldn't have survived the sheer impact of colliding with whatever he could have collided with; he wasn't lucky like the woman, as she had water to help her!

"Bastard!"

"Got you!"

'Haha, a perfect time to reveal my cursed form since Artemis and I decided to keep Cleave and Dismantle a secret!' She referred to the two abilities as wind magic, but that was pointless to say since either way, I wasn't using the techniques in public.

Pah! Pah~!

Two arms manifested on my back and caught the two absolutely ridiculous attempts at an attack. These pathetic weaklings could never have hurt me with such an attack.

'I should show them the power of a cursed spirit!' I strengthened the two hands on my back that were holding the idiots in place and threw them up in the sky with great force, sending them 20 meters up!

Three more came in to attack, but now with four arms and four eyes—four Six Eyes—I easily noticed their approach. Another pathetic display of force!

"All of you except that woman should be ashamed to call yourselves adventurers. You all are better off crippling yourse—?! That could have been dangerous, and I don't want unsavory rumors yet!" I almost activated Cursed Speech and crippled these ants. It was truly beneath me to stop, but I can't ruin my plans just yet.

'This isn't as fun as I imagined, so I guess I'll deactivate my beautiful form.' The arms and eyes disappeared, replaced by my normal appearance! Using that form was quite fun, and it felt good releasing some of my held-back arrogance. When I'm in the dungeon, I'll make sure to use that form more!

'That makes 7, leaving three more in this batch.'

"—are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr—my name is Alf!"

'What the?!' A chant entered my ears at the last second; I was too lost in arrogance to notice that the woman from before with her white hair and blue eyes had recovered. She actually caught me off guard!

A wide area-of-effect flame magic came hurling towards me, but the problem here was that this woman didn't give a damn about the surroundings.

'Tch! What should I counter with? Wait, I could just use a burst of cursed energy to collide with the spell. However that will cause an explosion in and of itself! Well, good luck everybody else!' 

Using a normal but powerful output of Cursed Energy that I concentrated at my finger tips, a sickly green color shot towards the incoming wave of flames! In seconds the two attacks made contact resulting in a deafening boom. 

BOOM~!

Dust and Smoke covered the testing area which was actually 15 x 15 meters however we were only using about half that. Having the Six eyes was great in a situation like this because even in this smoke and dust I could see that everyone was fine and the woman was only exhausted! This whole experience did leave a bitter taste in my mouth though. 

'Even with an advantage of abilities, the level difference still limits me! I utilized about 90% of perfectly controlled cursed energy and it was only able to stop the attack. I didn't even break through it!' I thought but I didn't dwell on it too long as I didn't want to be left in smoke and dust in case somehow an enemy could sneak through. Now, of course I didn't have any enemies yet but some of the new people could have some which would look bad if they did die!