Chapter 19

I took a deep refreshing breath as soon as I acquired my new, Unique Skill. I felt better and stronger than ever as I closed my fist and felt newfound power flowing through me. I stood from the pile of corpses and looked down at my body, which was covered head to toe in gore. Now that I was coming down from the high of the battle, I could now feel how uncomfortable all the dried blood sticking to my skin was. I quickly used Clean Wash to bring me back to normal. Then, I looked for my shirt but found that it had been torn to shreds, so I reached into my storage and grabbed some new clothes.

Once I was dressed, I turned back to the monsters and resummoned my spear. 'I really need to summon a demon or elemental to help me with this stuff,' I thought as I began digging out the stones with my spear. It was frankly very annoying busy work that I was planning to delegate to a spirit in the near future, preferably an Earth Elemental. Soon enough, the corpses faded into smoke, and I was left with a mound of magic stones. I quickly collected them into my storage and began to make my way back out of the dungeon. I could have continued inside, but I wanted some time to summon a spirit and check how much I made before returning.

As I walked, I used Formhide to keep from being noticed by anybody. Once I was hidden, I fell into thought about how I had received this new skill. I knew that skills are born/gained through desire, but I didn't quite remember what I was thinking about during the fight. I was mostly just focusing on killing one enemy at a time while trying not to be overwhelmed in the process. After a few minutes, I outsourced my inquiry to Great Sage.

"How did I gain the Unique Skill: Juggernaut?" I asked, genuinely curious since if I could replicate it, then I could potentially gain more skills.

[It was the primal desire to keep fighting and not be overwhelmed, as well as the immense pride at conquering a horde of foes, that allowed the skill to manifest]

"Since it was all subconscious and primal, does that mean I can't consciously recreate similar feelings to gain more skills?" I asked.

[It's potentially possible but highly unlikely]

I nodded, my hopes of farming skills thoroughly dashed by Great Sage. I sighed but moved past it quickly, focusing on my next main task, summoning an elemental or two. Of course, I would want to summon an elemental of light or darkness which could grant me a Hero's Egg, but I didn't want to get too hopeful for that to happen. I decided to keep my expectations low so that I wouldn't get disappointed. By the time my thoughts settled, I was already heading up out of the dungeon and back into the city. The sun was just setting as I exited Babel and made my way toward the guild to cash in my stones and drop items before heading home.

However, I noticed that I was being followed midway through my walk to the guild. 'Is it those people who ambushed us during the mission?' I thought, casually reading myself for anything to happen. I strained my senses to expand the range of my Magic Sense since whoever was tailing me was outside of its range. My efforts proved to be futile as I was unable to extend my range far enough to get a good look at them before I arrived at the guild. I looked over my shoulder as I rented, but I didn't see anything.

I sighed as I headed straight for the bulk deposit desk and dropped all of my stones and drops inside. The guild employee tried to strike up a conversation, but I was too distracted to spend too much effort on the conversation, so it eventually just fizzled off into silence. I waited for a few minutes until everything was calculated and handed back to me. I snapped back to the present when I heard the employee announce the total amount I had earned.

"Here you go, all 2.1 million Valis," he said with a slight tinge of awe as he handed the heavy bag to me.

"Thanks, have a good night," I said as I quickly dropped the bag into my storage discreetly.

I exited the guild as if nothing was wrong, all my senses on high alert for any threats, but there was nothing. I remained ready for anything, especially when I reached a street that seemed oddly diserted on my path back home. Usually, all the paths to Babel had at least some foot traffic at nearly all hours, but this one was silent. My footsteps were the only ones that echoed loudly on the cobblestones as I walked. I remained on high alert, but still there was nothing and nobody around. 'Am I just paranoid,' I thought, beginning to doubt myself.

Right as I began walking again my Magic Sense flared as something appeared right in front of me. I turned, spear already in hand tearing toward the person who was ambushing me. My spear stopped inches away from the man's head, only creating a light gust that caused him to reach up and still his feathered hat. Orange eyes regarded me cooly as he wore a smile that hadn't shifted in the slightest at any point while I was about to skewer him. As soon as I recognised the god, my spear was gone like a mirage, already placed securely on my back before the god could even blink.

The fact that he had gotten in front of me so suddenly startled me more than I cared to admit. I doubted he would use his divine power just to speed in front of me since that was against the rules and I doubted he would risk something that important just to startle me during our first encounter. 'Does he have some way to counter Magic Sense?' I thought as I regarded the god silently while Thought Acceleration was active. I eventually decided that he probably had an item that made him untrackable, but that was just a guess.

As I deactivated Thought Accerleration I smiled warmly as if I hadn't almost killed him, "Sorry, I didn't see you there," I said as if I had merely bumped into him lightly.

"No problem at all, I should have noticed you since there is nobody else on the street," he said, but I couldn't tell if he was serious or just joking, the way in which he said it made it impossible to tell.

As he spoke, I noticed a new presence silently approaching. They were invisible, but Magic Sense was easily able to pierce through their invisibility, revealing Asfi stealthily getting closer to Hermes. 'It seems that my spear came a bit too close for comfort then,' I thought, deliberately ignoring the woman's presence. Asfi's presence made me slightly more weary since, despite my abilities and powers, as a level four she could probably rip me apart with two hands tied behind her back while blindfolded. I would stand no chance against any level four, so I decided to play this situation a bit more cautiously.

"No, it was completely my bad," I said smoothly.

"No, I must apologise," the god said grandly, then took of his hat and bowed, "After all, I am the god Hermes and how can I not apologise for my mistakes,"

Once he introduced himself I gave a deep bow myself, "It's an honor to meet such a famous god. I am Galahad or the Fortuna familia," I said respectfully.

"I've heard about you," Hermes said calmly, a soft smile still on his face, "Emma spoke highly of your talent during the join mission,"

"I'm honored by your words, but Emma was certainly leagues more impressive than me during the mission," I said humbly, unsure what game Hermes was playing here.

"I'll pass along the compliment. It always warms my heart to hear others speak highly of my children," Hermes said, turning to walk down the street away from me, waving to me as he did, "I have a feeling we'll see each other again, good night,"

I was left standing there for a moment before I quickly moved on toward Babel as I thought, 'He must have been trying to get a read on me in person,'

===

Asfi approached Hermes's side as soon as the blue-haired adventurer, Galahad, was out of sight. She stayed invisible as she fell into step beside her god, waiting to hear his judgment of the man they just met.

"First, let's hear what you think, Asfi," Hermes said, his present smile still plastered on his face

"Truthfully, I didn't think he was that impressive, but his reflexes were quite good," She said honestly.

"Hmm," Hermes said, his smile morphing into a serious look, "The most impressive thing was that he knew you were there,"

Asfi paused for a moment in shock, she was confident in her invisibility, especially against a mere level one, "What makes you say so? He gave no indication that I could see,"

"It was only for a slit second, but once you started your approach, he reacted slightly. I doubt even he noticed, but if there is any gift that is thousands of years old gives you, it's reading facial expressions and reactions," Hermes said.

"So, is he the one?" Asfi asked

"We'll see. After all, a hero needs to go though trials and tribulations to prove themself, don't they?" Hermes asked, unable to hide the near-manic excitement in his voice.