88 Recruitment end

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/Sometime later.../

/Clang!/

"Kya!"

"Don't be afraid, just try your best."

'Rethusa was currently testing one of the recruits, it was a girl with long blond hair, having her evade her blows, run around the place, and overall just trying to tire her and see how far she could push the girl.'

'The same could be said for Yilfi, who was fighting against another girl.'

'The first two recruits were two human girls, there didn't seem to be any unique features about them apart from the fact they looked cute, but to be honest. The average beauty of the girls in Orario is already quite high.'

'Boys have it rough though, perhaps that is why girls tend to look at Elf males every time one passes on the street…'

'The time limit for this trial was 5 minutes, it looked short but as they fought, more people passed Hestia's assessment and came into the garden.'

/Clang…/

'Eventually, the girls grew tired and dropped their respective weapons, not being able to hold them anymore. Rethusa and Yilfi didn't even drop a sweat throughout the entire fight.'

'This was the difference in stamina between them.'

"Yawn..."

'Watching this Silver almost closed his eyes and slept.'

"This will take a lonnng time…"

'But Artemis did not allow him to sleep, every time he closed his eyes for longer than half a minute she would poke his side and make him flinch.'

"Please, cut me some slack…" Said Silver as he turned his head to Artemis

"No can do, you are the captain of this Familia, and hence, you must be fully aware of everything that happens within it, and at the same time, you represent the face of the Familia, so make sure to show everyone proper etiquette."

"Sigh... Alright…"

If that's the case…

'Silver closed his eyes and used his powers to create an illusion on his face, so for everyone, it seemed as if he was looking around just like previously.'

'Artemis did not notice this, and like that, time passed.'

…

/As the hours passed, more and more people were interviewed and it started to get crowded around the arena…/

'Everything went well, Rethusa and Yilfi eventually grew tired from fighting several people, not only physical exhaustion, but mental as well, since holding themselves back against newbies was quite a daunting task, and as such, they had to be replaced by other people.'

'Specially when they also had to evaluate these people, testing them constantly...'

'But that was just a minor inconvenience, there were many people here and all of them were more than capable of taking on a few novice Level 1 adventurers… No, most of these people aren't even adventurers yet.'

'From all of the recruits, only two of them were Level 2… And that was Cassandra and Daphne.'

'Despite the recent fame of the Hestia Familia, most Level 2 adventurers would prefer to stick with the Familia they are currently in, and not risk going to a rising yet rather new Familia.'

'Most that have risen to the position of Level 2 would be rather comfortable whenever they are in.'

'Time would tell if they would get any such adventurers to join… Or if they would need them.'

'Artemis also joined in the fun, she may be a goddess, but she is one of the strongest in all of Heaven, and her physical strength rivals those of Level 3 adventurers.'

'Her archery skills would be the best in the whole world... If she was strong enough to compete with other high-Level archers of course...'

"It seems it's finally ending... Silver?... Huh?" Asked Artemis

'Artemis just came back from testing someone in the arena, she was tired of sitting in the chair and decided to participate herself.'

'She came back and realized something was wrong with Silver, he was a bit too passive and silent, that was a bit too distant from his usual relaxed and funny persona, he only replied with simple sentences instead of his jokes…'

'She put her hands in front of his face but he didn't react, it was then she saw what was wrong as his illusion slowly dissipated…'

"ZZZzzz…"

"..."

He's been sleeping this entire time?

I…

I should've thought as much.

'Artemis smiled sweetly, she knew something like this was eventually going to happen.'

'So she took out her finger and picked his sides… Really hard this time…'

"!!"

'Silver woke up with a jolt, but he didn't cause a commotion, only jumping from his chair a bit.'

'He turned towards Artemis and saw her smile.'

"Was that necessary?"

"Who knows…"

"What if I fell from the chair and embarrassed myself?"

"You reap what you sow."

"..."

This girl…

"And one thing, aren't you going to test them?"

"Hum?"

'Silver saw the big crowd around him, it seemed he had been sleeping for quite a while. Even Cassandra and Daphne were there.'

'Artemis then said:'

"Hestia was a bit rough in the interview so the number of applicants is almost over. What you see here is probably going to be your Familia."

'Silver nodded, taking a look around the place, but he frowned.'

"Is there something wrong?" Asked Artemis when she noticed his expression

"... Why are there so many girls here?" He asked with a frown

"..."

'Artemis knew he was going to ask that so she just smiled awkwardly.'

'Silver noticed that for each guy, there were at least 5 girls. Even if you were to remove Artemis' and Leto's children, the ratio would still be rather significant.'

"Haa… It just so happened to end like this… We can ask those two later and see why… Or would you like to go there and see how she is doing?"

'Silver replied without much thought:'

"There's no need for that, I trust her for this."

Everyone that is here has passed her personality and intentions test, meaning they should all be good people at heart…

I wouldn't do any better than her in this regard, to be honest.

"Still, with these ratios, people are going to spread rumors about me soon…" Said Silver as he scratched his head

"You're rather pessimistic… But you aren't wrong…"

"There are about 50ish people currently here, and if Hestia chooses a few more people, I may have to send some people home. Once she ends I will start."

'Artemis nodded and Silver and said:'

"No tricks this time, else you will be ~pu-ni-shed~."

"..."

"..."

'Silver looked at Artemis' unusual cute act and Artemis looked at his face, waiting for a reaction, but seeing how he didn't react, her face grew red and she turned to the side embarrassed.'

"Please forget I did that."

"No."

"Why are you so direct in these circumstances?!"

"I just replied to your question, now, let me focus on the recruits."

"Don't change the subject so suddenly! Hey! Listen to me…"

'Artemis continued to pester Silver, growing closer to him, step by step…'

…

/Back in the party hall.../

"FINALLY! THIS IS OVER!..."

/THUD!/

'Hestia dropped her face on the table as she cried slightly.'

"I want to sleep…"

'But Leto just caressed her head.'

"It's not the time for that yet, come, your Familia is waiting for you."

'But Hestia did not move.'

"I want to retire."

"... What did you say?"

"I want to… RETIRE!"

'And she started throwing a tantrum until Leto managed to calm her down and bring her to the garden where Silver and the rest were waiting.'

…

'Silver was currently having a nice chat with Rethusa and Artemis when he noticed the tired Hestia being dragged around by Leto.'

"Looks like it's time for me to shine." He said as he cracked his neck

Thankfully there were no problems with the interviews…

I was sure some people would get angry but thankfully I didn't have to deal with any assholes.

'He counted the people in the arena and arrived at a rather big number, 57.'

'It was considerably bigger than he wanted. Some people are going back home.'

'He checked the time on his pocket clock and nodded to himself.'

/CLAP!/

'So he got up and clapped loudly.'

"Everyone, it's currently 6:23 Pm, it's been a few hours and I am sure everyone is tired, so let's end today with a final test."

"No need to fret as it's nothing too hard. But still, I will have to disappoint some of you today."

"For those who pass, treat this as my first training session with you, so let's start this!"

'Silver dragged a box he had prepared beforehand from behind his chair and took out a few metal discs…'

'These were the ones he forged a long time ago but barely used, since they ended up being outclassed by his more conventional weapons.'

'It is still the same even now, but that doesn't mean they are useless.'

'Smiling as he held the discs, Silver said:'

"No matter what type of adventurer you are, knowing how to evade blows is fundamental, if you can't do that, you'll end up being more of a liability than a proper comrade, and unless you develop a unique magic like healing and support magic, you won't be able to find a party willing to take you in."

"This is how important evading is, do not be afraid and move, that is one of the bases of adventuring."

'He threw the rings in the sky, making the float and orbit around him. They even had a nice glowing tail flowing behind them...'

"..."

'That was Silver trying to look cool and Hestia knew that, but she didn't snitch on him… Yet.'

"When your name is called, just come and try to last as long as you can, don't be afraid or depressed even if you can't last long, everyone has a first time."

I would be happy to accept them all, but 57 is too much... I'll have to reduce this number to about 35 or 40.

'With a smile on his face, the last trial for these young adventurers started!'

…

/Half an hour later…/

/Sniff…/

'The ones who failed the test eventually left the garden with sad expressions and their heads dropped.'

'But the ones that passed felt incredibly happy… And tired.'

"Well, congratulations everyone!" Said Silver with a smile as he played with his metal discs

'Hestia also got up from her chair in excitement, she had been waiting for this moment the entire day!'

"Welcome to the Hestia Familia!" She said with a big smile

/WOW!/

'The 40 people present cheered, they were the people chosen by Hestia and Silver, the ones who would build the Hestia Familia, the first generation.'

'Amongst them were 9 Level 1, and 2 Level 2 adventurers. The rest were people who had yet to receive a blessing.'

'There was a lot of work to do, but Silver was confident he could turn these guys into a proper Familia with enough time.'

'Hestia smiled in satisfaction, she didn't care if they were weak or strong, she was happy they were here, that was her personality, how she saw people.'

'Silver clapped his hands and said:'

"Alright, I am sure everyone is super tired, so let's give you all the blessings and call it a day…"

Since I also need to rest…

"So for this, I will ask the boys to form a line and follow me while the girls follow Hestia."

"Please follow me, everyone!" Exclaimed Hestia as she hummed a childish song and made her way inside the Manor happily

"..."

'But Silver's eyebrows twitched when he looked at the boys… Children in front of him.'

'From the previous underwhelming number of men, only three kids were left… Making them and Silver the only males of the Hestia Familia. It was an overwhelming 10-1 ratio…'

'Just as Silver looked at the kids, they also looked at him.'

"Is there a problem Mr… Captain?" Asked the first kid

"Did we do something wrong? If so please tell us, Captain!" Said the second kid

"Oh no… We made him angry…" Mumbled the last kid

'Three kids, all with the same appearance, bald heads and childish features, triplets. Around 14 years old, but with different personalities.'

'They seemed to be Human, but they were all rather small for their age…'

'Silver quickly shook his head and said:'

"No, I was just thinking about something else… And while we wait, why don't you tell me your names?"

I don't really care if the number of boys is low, soon enough we'll do another recruitment.

Can't say I am satisfied though... Perhaps 3 kids are better than 3 adults?...

The biggest problem with boys would be people making out in my own house...

But still, that isn't as big of a problem since for someone to do that here they would need to have massive balls to even dare try.

'As Silver thought, the triplets all nodded with a smile. And they said one after the other:'

"I am Piro, the oldest." He said in a formal tone

"Firo, the second-born." He said in a neutral and more relaxed tone

"B-Biro, the youngest…" He replied with a shy and low voice

"..."

What a freaking naming sense… And personality combination...

Piro, Firo, and freaking Biro…

'When Silver heard them, he had the urge to laugh and cry at the same time, but he maintained his serious persona.'

"Piro, Firo, and Biro, welcome to the Hestia Familia, I am Mellios Silver, your captain, just call me captain from now on."

'The firstborn Piro saluted Silver with a smile.'

'The second-born Firo jumped in excitement.'

'And the last born Biro nodded in silence.'

'Silver smiled and gave each of them a head pat instinctively, they were just so small that he forgot they were 14… An age where someone would already be considered an adult….'

'But they didn't seem bothered by it anyway, so it was all fine.'

"Since we have nothing to do, can you tell me more about yourself?"

'The three looked at each other but they seemed confused. But the oldest took a step forward and said:'

"There isn't really much to say about us, our parents weren't adventurers, instead, they owned a clothing shop. Our father was a Human and our mother was a Dwarf… But they suffered an accident a few years ago and… We've been training ever since."

'The second one continued from where the first stopped.'

"We don't know much of what happened, but we wanted to become stronger and eventually find out about it... What caused the accident to begin with."

'And finally, the young said:'

"A-And beat the crap out of everyone who was behind that!... I-I-If there was someone behind it..."

"We tried many times to join a Familia, but no one accepted us, so when we heard about you, we thought that perhaps we would be accepted for once…" Said Piro the eldest

'And then the three bowed and said at the same time:'

"Thank you for accepting us!"

'The three kids' words were simple, but also heavy, their current situation was the result of the many conflicts of Orario… They are the forgotten who struggle every day.'

'Silver couldn't do much apart from smiling and saying:'

"Then as your Captain, I'll make sure you three grow super strong, be prepared!"

'But before they could continue, they heard the sounds of crying from behind Silver, only to see Yilfi and a few other girls crying too.'

"..."

'The kids were confused, but before they could react they were hugged from all sides.'

'Silver took a few steps back and watched everything unfold...'

"..."

Pitiful guys…

'Artemis was also tearing up a bit but she quickly recovered and walked towards Silver.'

"It seems all went well in the end, every one of those children seemed to be rather good people."

"Well, Hestia has the ability to discern good people so…"

'Artemis smiled.'

"I know that."

'They stayed like this gazing at the kids as they were 'assaulted' by the girls.'

"Are you sure that is fine?..." Asked Silver

"Let them have their bit of fun, they worked hard today."

'Silver closed his mouth and smiled. But he suddenly remembered something.'

"If you don't mind, there is something I would like to ask."

'This caught her off guard, but she smiled and replied:'

"Of course, tell me, I am all ears."

'Silver eventually pointed towards the back and Artemis followed him to the small forest near the garden.'

…

"Bringing a girl to a secluded forest… How bold of you." She said with a smile

'Silver rolled his eyes and replied:'

"It's just that I don't know if this should be kept a secret or not, so I will keep it one for now. So. No more jokes..."

"Okay."

'Silver nodded and said:'

'Let's go directly to the point and jump the unnecessary background lore...Before I became an adventurer and also when I hit Level 2, I had this strange dream…"

'Silver started to narrate his dream and what he felt during that, including what he wanted to ask the most about, the deer he saw in the dream.'

'His story shocked Artemis, who entered into deep thought before she said:'

"Yes, I have a certain idea of what happened, but I don't know if that is applicable to this situation… It's quite a mystery, to be honest."

"Anything will do, I am surprised there is anything, to begin with."

'Silver chuckled a little as he said that.'

"It was a long time ago when I still had my own temple here on Genkai…"

'She started to narrate a story, one Silver was slightly familiar with, it was the history of the temple that was eventually destroyed and used as a seal to trap Antares.'

'The Elsos temple far from Orario.'

'A lot of emotions were contained within her voice as she narrated its history, but she made sure to not delve too deep into it.'

"One day, I received a contact from my believers, they had found a strange deer fawn abandoned near the river..."

"Wait, was it possible for mortals to contact the Gods?" He asked surprised

"For 99% of the Gods, that would be a flat no, and even for me, only on special days would the minimum and the vaguest amount of information could be transmitted."

"If you aren't aware, Gods were always half capable of watching the lower world from Genkai, so they could receive information rather easily, but not the other way around."

"The best are communicating were the Gods with influence over dreams, being able to communicate with their children through them... But that is another story together."

"This is one of the reasons why before the Gods descent, there were many fictional religions born from many sources... But we are straying from our path."

"long story short, the priestesses at the temple raised the poor deer, and over time, it sort of became a symbol of my church, it wasn't a monster nor was it an animal, it was... A spirit, one that was birthed near my church."

'This story made Silver think.'

"In the first case, what are spirits? And how are they born?" He asked

"That's… A long story, can we jump that for now?"

"Of course..."

Damn...

'Artemis melancholy started to disappear as she narrated the next series of events.'

"As you know, spirits are mostly intelligent creatures, and that deer was no different. It didn't know how to talk, but it knew how to communicate… And that was the problem."

'Artemis went from melancholic to angry...'

"It was a bit too smart for its own good… It grew… Perverted!"

'Artemis suddenly lashed out!'

"Every day it would invade the girls' baths to drink the water, it would try to eat their clothes, and it would even spy on them…"

"They didn't bother with its actions at the start since it was just a deer, and who would care about a deer?. But with time, they found out about its perverted nature!"

"And it was kicked out from the temple."

"..."

What a twist...

'Such a story fascinated Silver, a story of thousands of years ago…'

"It's like a fairy tale." He said as he laughed

"It's not funny! It was quite the troublemaker that deer…"

"But that leads us to your dream… I am pretty sure what you described me was that perverted creature."

"And taking into account the current state of things… The only possibility is…"

'She had to think for a while before she said:'

"Tell me Silver, what do you know about Spirit contracts?"

…

The world! Stop the Story and leave them at a CLIFF!

/TIME STOP/

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Notes

"HAHAHA! YOU THOUGHT THERE WAS MORE CONTENT?! BUT IT WAS ME, WORD COUNT LIMIT!"

"Unfortunately, you do not have the right to continue and hence shall suffer the cliff!"

"See you all in... One... Two... THREE DAYS! HAHAHA!"

"But perhaps you could consider checking out the great master' works and P@treon page..."

"Links are: https://www.p@treon.com/AbadomWriter for P@treon and https://discord.gg/zpAgtPBAMK for Discord!"

/SLAP!/

'Suddenly, from the shadows, a buffed guy hidden by the shadows slapped the villain away.'

'His smile was dashing as he said:'

"Do not fret readers! I the author am here."

"The villains have taken hold of our chapters! And I will save them!"

"Give me your support with power stones!"

'The hero turned his face towards the shadows and whispered:'

"Did I say that right?"

"Yes yes... Now we wait..." Said the voice in the shadows...

Until next chapter!