Chapter 6 Hermes offer

Alaric looked up and greeted Hermes with a polite but distant nod.

"God Hermes, good to see you but sorry but I am busy right now. I would be happy to help you later," he said with forced politeness.

Hermes, undeterred, leaned his shoulder against Alaric's and whispered into his ear, "Be cautious, young one. It was dangerous just now."

Alaric's eyes widened in surprise. "What?!"

"I saw the whole thing. The situation is indeed suspicious, but this kid is hiding important information. He has spirit blessing," Hermes said, his voice low and urgent.

"Really? I thought after the gods descended to Genkai, the spirits no longer gave blessings."

"I thought so too, but it seems like a special case. Anyway, spirits don't give their blessings to evil, so you may stop being suspicious and exchange his magic stones."

Alaric, relieved that his suspicions were unfounded, nodded and turned to address the stranger.

"Thanks to God Hermes' testimony, you have proven to earn this legitimately. I will exchange the magic stones," he said, and the Notcis nodded silently.

"I need time to achieve approval from my superior regarding the pricing for such a significant number of magic stones. Please come back in an hour, and I will give you the money."

"Okay, I will come in an hour," Noctis said, and the stranger nodded again before departing.

Hermes invited Noctis to drink with him, and the two made their way to a quiet corner of the tavern. The lanterns cast a warm glow upon the patrons, and the air was thick with the scent of ale and roasted meat.

"Notcis-kun, drink with me!" Hermes said, offering Noctis a frothy mug of beer.

Noctis hesitated for a moment before accepting the drink, wondering what this strange god had in mind. He had expected Hermes to interrogate him about his suspicions regarding the stranger, but instead, the god seemed content to chat and drink.

"How strange is this man? I thought he would straight ask me why I lied to the guild recipient," Noctis thought to himself as he took a sip of the beer.

"Then why did you call me?" Noctis asked, in order to unreveal Hermes intentions.

"You are sure to go straight to the point, ahh! Then let me ask you, how did you get a spirit blessing? Those kids isolated themselves after the era of gods began, as their role was no longer needed with our presence," Hermes said, his eyes fixed on Noctis.

Noctis knew that Hermes could detect lies, so he chose his words carefully. "I received it after my village was destroyed. I ran away for days, and then when I was about to die, a random little spirit with wings gave me a blessing, saving my life."

"Is that so? A pretty harsh story you have, but still earning spirit blessing like that is particular but still fitting them as most of them are kind enough to save a people in need," Hermes said, his expression softening.

"then what is the spirit's name?"

"I don't know he left quickly after that, and I was not in the situation to care about this."

" so you have become this strong without spirit updating your potential?"

"yes?"

"spirit just like us updates the potential of the one blessed to allow them to have superhuman physical prowess so if the spirit doesn't update the blessing the people in question would be at best mid-level 1 with access to innate skills which is clearly isn't your situation," Hermes explained.

Seeing the conversation reach to what are his skills Notcis decided to stay quiet as this is the only way to avoid revealing information in front of a living lie detector.

Seeing Noctis not talking does not make him angry but rather interested. "He knows how to deal with gods," Hermes thinks to himself.

"In how much time did you hunt those monsters?" Hermes asked, changing the subject.

"Around two days," Alaric replied, wondering why Hermes was so interested in his hunting abilities.

"Pfft!" Hermes suddenly spit the alcohol in Notcis's direction, narrowly avoiding him.

"Please refrain from doing this. It's disgusting," Noctis said, wiping the beer off his face.

"Ahh, sorry. But really, did you hunt this much in such a short time?" Hermes asked, impressed.

"Even less, as I have only hunted during the days, not at night," Notcis said, feeling a little embarrassed by the attention.

"Wow, you are amazing to reach this level by only training. Even Orario adventurers would take longer to hunt so many monsters," Hermes said, his eyes shining with admiration.

"Thank you for the compliment," Notcis said, feeling a little more at ease.

"You are such an interesting fellow. How about it? Would you like to join my Familia?" Hermes said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Thanks for the invitation, but now I have no interest in binding myself to any god or goddess," Notcis said, shaking his head.

"Are you sure? Falna is much better as you can always gain more skills or magic later. Also, the update of status and level up inside your abilities is much more than spirit blessing which requires achieving your power through training and not having the chance to have any skills or magics except innate ones."

"Yes, I am sure I would stay with spirit blessing," he answered confidently while being happy to confirm information about spirit blessing.

"What a shame, Then what are your plans for now?" Hermes asked, intrigued.

"I plan on traveling around the world for a few years and then settling in Orario," Notcis said, taking another sip of his beer.

"Ah, Orario. The city remains in turmoil with the Evilus group causing chaos by mass killing adventurers, robbing and destroying people's businesses, and spreading fear anywhere you go," Hermes said, his expression darkening.

"This all started to happen after Zeus Familia and Hera Familia lost in the fight with the one-eyed black dragon. The people's hope fell to the ground, leaving the city in an unstable state with its two rulers disbanded along with a lot of strong individuals," Hermes continued.

"I'm on my way to cut off their sources of support, but it's no easy task," he added, his eyes narrowing.

"Is it really okay for you to tell me this?" Nor is asked, feeling a little uneasy.

"Of course, I know you are not the kind of person who would spread such information," Hermes said, as if he captured Noctis's personality in such a short time.

"But still, Notcis, you are strong. Even by normal standards, you are comparable, at least to level 5 adventurers. Having you around would be helpful," Hermes said, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Just as Notcis considered the offer, the tavern's door swung open, and a young woman with striking teal hair entered. Asfi Al Andromeda, a member of Hermes Familia, approached their table with an intrigued expression.

"Hermes, what are you doing? Who's your friend?" she asked, eyeing Notcis with a slightly blushed face.

"Hi Asfi Chan meet this is Notcis Grandworld, I met him through coincidence."

"Nice to meet Asfi Al Andromeda."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Hermes-sama, did you cause trouble with someone again?"

"No, you are wrong Asfi, I just..."

"Thinking about it, there are still things I can earn by tagging along with Hermes Familia except the chance to test my strength. I could learn their information-gathering skills along with creating a connection with their information network, which could help me a lot," Notcis thinks while Hermes explains the previous events to Asfi. "Above all, I could learn how to create magic items."

"Hermes, I am willing to join your group on your mission for a few conditions."