Chapter 94 Level 3!

After leaving Tina and Tamamo to get some more rest, I went to go see Lady Astraea, who was sitting primly behind a desk as she was doing some light paperwork while her familia's captain in Alise was moping over her own pile of paperwork.

"Ah? I am glad to see you awake Jake." Astraea spoke kindly as she smiled at seeing I on my feet.

I bowed my head and I said more formally. "Thank you for the aid you rendered to myself and my friends Lady Astraea, if you or your Familia ask's for my aid I will be there." 

The brown-haired beautiful goddess of justice raised an elegant eyebrow before she nodded and said firmly. "I accept your gratitude in the meaning it is given... Though you will find that any debt doesn't exist as your remotely controlled swords saved members of my familia from a couple of breath attacks from that mutated monster."

I smiled wryly and raising my head I looked around at the members of the Astraea family who were relaxing on separate couches and work tables as they relaxed and I nodded to Kaguya before I looked back at Astraea.

"In either case, you offering to hold up a roof over my head while I was recovering and keeping me out of the public eye is something I am thankful for. But I must be going... After all, I need to go to my goddess and break the rank-up record again!"

Alise looked away from her paperwork with a pout and she said flatly. "What do you mean? Sure you might have a bunch of High Quality Excellia, but are your stats actually filled out?" 

To which I just grinned and said. "Of course they are filled out Alise, I am the Honored One... Anywho it's still been a few months while I been in Melen and I spent that time killing water city monsters which are normally for level three and fours to grind on." 

"Well then in that case Jake. I offer my congratulations on your achievement." Astraea spoke with a small smile and I walked over to her mostly empty desk and I asked. 

"By the way, I do have the extra elixer's ready if I can just leave them here on the desk if that's fine?" And Astraea nodded with me dropping off the elixer's and other things either atop or beside her desk.

And with that done I gave the goddess a shallow head nod in respect before I spoke to everyone. "Once again thank you for the aid. But I need to go check in with my own goddess. You ladies don't get into too much trouble haha." I joked at the end as I left the room.

From there I left the Astraea Familia's mansion and headed down south towards the smithing and crafting quarters. And while walking through the early afternoon life of Orario, I couldn't help a wry smile seeing how everything was normal basically.

Melen was basically a fucking crater due to a level eight boss monster blowing it up with its ranged attacks, not to mention all the spells that bounced off the Amphisbaena and of course the blazing flames that ran through the city.

But here in Orario? It was just another Tuesday at hearing another settlement got fucked over by monsters. This time though, they knew it was entirely Maxim's fault even if they didn't say all to loudly, any criticisms. 

Lest a member of the Zeus familia who was loyal to Maxim heard that, and decided to string up the gossip speakers.

Either way I kept walking until I made my way to the walled-in courtyard for the Hepheastus Familia, "Oh shit they are you Jake." A deeper male voice spoke and I blinked as I saw a dwarf I recognized faintly. 

"Damn Delder, you got fucked up didn't you haha." I joked seeing the dwarf who gave me the STD potion for me and Tina had a new scar across his face and a dark black eye.

But the dwarf just laughed deeply before he said proudly. "Ha! I will wear this scar with pride you know! Got it when I headbutted this shitty infant dragon in the dungeon and with my spiked helmet I won that fight haha! I am level two now just like you!"

I brushed a hand through my hair with a wide shit-eating grin. "Damn dude that's good news. Hey, any idea where Hepheastus is? I need to get a level up from all the bullshit I went through. When I came out of Melen." 

The dwarf raised a thick eyebrow before he huffed and said. "Aye, that would make sense. Glad to see you came out of that mess in one piece laddie. But yeah, Lady Hepheastus is in her office doing paperwork as it's close to tax season." 

Giving my fellow familia member a nod of respect, I made my way into the main mansion, heading directly towards Hepheastus's offices so I could hopefully skip the line as it were for a level-up.

-

Once I reached the doors of Hepheastus's office I gave them a good knock, the door opened a minute later and I gave a wry wave to Tsubaki who scowled at seeing me.

"You little shit! Do you know how much I worried about your ass who just up and disappeared? I thought the Hera familia hid you inside their mansion before Hepheastus told me you were safe!" Tsubaki scolded me.

I bowed my head a bit and said honestly. "I am sorry for worrying you captain. I didn't exactly have time to say where I was going. And the first time I came to check in with our goddess Eris the Sword Saintess was able to see me from the Hera Familia Mansion."

Tsubaki's face twitched before she nodded in agreement as it was a fair point. 

"Anyway, can I come in and say hello to Hepheastus? I obviously need to talk with her about some stuff." 

To which Tsubaki just raised an eyebrow. Clearly wanting to be petty at me for making her worry so much with Tina and my own disappearance.

But after a minute Hepheastus's amused voice spoke up in almost a shout. "Tsubaki! Get your ass back in and get back to your paperwork!"

With the one-eyed half amazon pouting as she bounced back into the office and seeing me whole Hepheastus nodded with a small smile as I gave her a grin. "Heya, so don't I have a story in dealing with that damned Amphisbaena."

The goddess and level four raised their eyebrows and then I broke into the tale of how I used and broke dozens of swords and greatswords upon the monster's form but I still in the end killed more than half of the monster's heads.

Which obviously played a pivotal role in killing such a massive boss monster which would gain me insane amounts of Excellia.

After a moment of silence, Tsubaki's face twitched as she looked at her goddesses and asked almost pleadingly. "Goddess... Please tell me that the level two didn't show up the Sword Saintess?" 

"Not a level two for much longer Tsubaki." Hepheastus said with a tone that just screamed she wanted a whole bottle of Soma's personal best wine to drown out the thoughts of my bullshit.

"Sooo. Hepheastus, wanna update my falna and see what I have been up to?" I asked in a slightly taunting voice.

Hepheastus gave me a long look before she giggled with some hysteria in her voice as she retorted sarcastically. "Oh of course! Let me get all the details... And proof of what punishment you deserve!"

I took one of the office seats and sat backwards on it before I threw my shirt off my back to bare my back to my goddess with her saying. "Tsubaki please give me Jake a minute for his Falna update." 

Then I felt Hephaestus's blood tipped finger unlock my falna with myself taking a breath at her divine ichor and hints of divinity infusing into my soul. "Well well Jake... You have certainly be a busy bastard haven't you." Hephaestus spoke with some heat as I felt her hand land on my shoulder.

"You know me and Hera are on bad terms right? And you are now... Involved with her mascot and favorite little mortal?" Hephaestus added with some irritation.

To which I said honestly. "Materia is adorable and I have no shame. Keep going, don't focus on just my romance life." 

And so Hephaestus made a couple of mentions of my other various adventures around Melen before she got to the meat of the bit. And her previous irritation was wiped away as she quietly said. "You should have run from the Amphisbaena... Maxim is a damned fool and I will enjoy torturing his soul if I find it back in Tenkai before he reincarnates."

To which I retorted. "You think Zeus would allow that?"

And Hephaestus said coldly with her hand on my shoulder tightening. "If he is here on Gekai he won't have a single option to stop me from doing so unless he went back to Tenkai himself. And he wouldn't do that."

There was a pause as I coughed at feeling something inside of me... Just clicking and I could just feel slightly different. "So Jake, you got a couple of skills from your fusion weapon challenges. And I am glad you didn't try to do a lot more, as the quests tie into a possible tier three development ability for your fusion magic." 

"It allows you to fuse your skills and magic's you gain from the fusion challenges. And allows you to take longer trials than just slaying a boss monster for example is what I am getting out of it. But you also gained an independent skill from your... Nonsense with the Amphsibeana."

I felt Hephaestus's hand moving across my back before she said more firmly. "So I assume you want the next upgrade to your Fusion Magic?" 

To which I nodded and said. "Yes, it's the core component of my skillset. But now that I am level three and can properly defend myself. I can do a number of the trials and gain skills and magic from those." 

I was already well aware of some of the skills I could get like the skill Invictus helping shield my mind from illusions and mind control that I got from killing Guts in that trial. But there were similar other trials like surviving out in a desert trial, or having to fight another figure.

This would just give me another willpower/mental defense skill, and it seems that if I did that now with this new development ability, I would be able to combine those skills and most importantly magic... As I was well aware I still only had three slots for magic with my falna with one of them being taken up by my fusion skill.

Hepheastus's power flared ever so slightly and I felt that same rush as my maxed-out stat lines were converted into more power and then that familiar hollow feeling of an empty falna as my goddess announced. "There you go Jake! You are now level three! Let me just transfer your current falna to a paper for you to read." 

-

Jake Barris

Level 3

Strength 0 I

Endurance 0 I

Dexterity 0 I

Agility 0 I

Magic 0 I

Development Abilities-

Fusion Upgrade Modules- Pets/Trials,Skill, Magic Fusion-

Skills-

Endymion Poiménas- Passively boosts all creature's physical and magical strength tamed by host by fifty percent. The longer the tamed beast follows the host, the higher the boost will become over time.

Tribulationes Mille- Allows the user to fuse the skills and magic's the user gains from the fusion challenges into stronger forms.

Invictus- The user's will not break via external influences. Shields the user from mind control or illusions.

Magesight- The user is able to see magical signatures in various hues based on who or what the magical signature belongs to. Increases the user's ability to see through illusions.

Ydraktónos- The larger the monster the user faces, the higher their stat parameters rise to face the monster. Increases damage done to large monsters. Makes wounds dealt by the user to large monsters unable to heal.

Therapeftís Ton Kataraménon- The user's healing spells will greatly exceed their common parameters when the target is considered unhealable by the divine.

Magic-

Fusion Of All Things- Grants the user the control of a pocket space, the user may place things in the pocket space and when desires, he may activate the pocket space that will fuse all things within the space to make a single object that is better than all things that were in the pocket space prior put together. Pocket space will level up with more abilities with subsequent levels of Falna and accomplishing secret quests. Rank F

-

"Well this is looking pretty good. I just need to figure out a couple of main spells that I can upgrade with my item quests... That's if my falna isn't already fucked and I can have more than three spells?" 

Hephaestus gave my shoulder a squeeze as she said. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case Jake. But anyway Jake, what are your immediate plans for now?"

I blinked hearing that and I spoke slowly. "Hmm, beyond testing my strength in the dungeon. And especially getting some actual magic spells under my belt to make me stronger. I am going to be breaking Blake and Kali Belladonna in if they are going to be my lovers." 

I saw Hephaestus's face darken and I quickly said. "Not break them in that way Hephaestus! I mean that I need to do a lot of work to fill out Kali's shit Falna as she only had like C rank stats at best with her prior two levels."

The goddess of the forge shook her head with a huff escaping her. And then seeing I was done with the falna page she threw it into a monster stone-powered paper shredder and then she threw the shredded paper pieces remains into a fire.

Only after that did Hephaestus speak again. "Well, that is a decent plan for the near future. In any case Jake. I am very proud of you for breaking the level up record, with maxed-out stats as well. You did very well Jake." Hephaestus's spoke proudly making me smile at the genuine care in her voice.

After that Hephaestus and I just shared some small talk, I shared the weird bits and bobs I had make with my fusion abilities along with my supplement gummies that could help encourage Falna growth at the cost of having the user's life force inflamed greatly.

To the point of being in a sort of breeding rut, which made them not that useful for use inside the dungeon obviously. 

And then Hephaestus's shared some thoughts on some things I could fuse from her perspective of a goddess which I happily wrote down.

But after a bit of conversation, she looked over at the Vanishing Cabinet at the side of the room and she asked quietly. "So... I assume with the mansion back in Melen burning down. That the other cabinet is also destroyed?" 

I nodded and after a moment of thought, I said. "Yeah... The last I saw of the mansion it was completely rubble. Though I need to hurry someone to go dig up the Sword Array I had buried around the property lines. Anyway yeah, I will likely need to make a whole new teleportation system." 

Hephaestus popped the question I had been expecting. "Jake, I would like for an attempt to be made for just material goods to be delivered from the dungeon to another similar vanishing cabinet. But no living people!" She said firmly.

I raised an eyebrow at that and I asked curiously. "Why can't I try to make a working teleportation system in the dungeon Hephaestus?" 

To which the forge goddess took a breath and said with finality. "Because it would piss the dungeon off more than anything Jake. And making the dungeon wake up from its slumber will piss off Ouranos."

"And right now the Primordial God is on a hair trigger for petty revenge as he wants his own entertainment, drama, or just wants us to suffer like the mortals we pretend to be better than." 

I rubbed my face before I asked flatly. "And a resource teleportation system won't trigger the dungeon?" 

To which Hephaestus's expression broke into a confident look. "Correct! The dungeon tracks adventurers and even divines via their souls. So if you are just teleporting materials it won't gain the attention of the dungeon." She explained.

With that, I slowly nodded in understanding before I got up and Hephaestus blinked before I took her in a hug and I said. "I am back Hephy... Thanks for understanding when I had to leave." 

And Hephaestus patted my back with her chuckling as she broke away from the hug. "It's fine Jake, I understand you didn't want to be under a microscope by the Hera Familia... But now you are still going to be, with your relationship with Materia. Well go on ahead and send Tsubaki back in will you."

Knowing that my goddess was a very busy one I chuckled and said easily. "Alright alright. I will get out of your hair. You have a good day, I am going to go get into more trouble." 

My adorable goddess of the forge just rolled her eyes as I left her office and continued on as I started on my way towards the new apartment I got within the Familia compound due to how I had obviously leveled up according to Tina and Tamamo.

The trip towards my new apartment went fine but as I got over there and put my key into a lock I heard a loud thumping noise. "Do you yield?" I heard a feminine voice speak out and I swung open the door.

My lips twitched as I saw Shenhe with her holding Blake's arms above her head with one hand as she casually sat slightly above her waist to keep her pinned to the ground.

"You are hurting my tail!" Blake whined pitifully.

And Shenhe calmly retorted. "Pain is weakness leaving the mind. Embrace it if you want to be strong."

With Blake just shouting back. "I just wanted another sandwich from the platter! Not to fight you!"

Without missing a beat I walked in and said. "You took food from the lion's feast, and didn't expect the lion to retaliate?" 

Shenhe's multicolored eyes snapped to mine and she kicked off the ground to get off Blake and then a moment later she was standing in front of me. With her large breasts barely touching my chest as she stared me right in the eye.

"You made a fool of me Jake Bariss." She stated calmly.

And I nodded with that same level of calm as I responded. "Yes, I did. How have your battles with Alfia been going? Now that she is cured?" 

Shenhe's face twitched before she stated. "She is much stronger, much faster, and her endurance now that she can breathe properly allows her to defeat me with regularity." 

I gave Shenhe a long look before I stated in some confusion. "But that makes you happy?"

And Shenhe's slightly frustrated expression at how I had made a fool of her faded with her taking on a slight smirk. "She is still my rival, and I make her bleed for each win she may take. But I will once again become stronger than her." 

"Why are you bullying me a level one then!" Blake whined as she got up with a slight limp in her sore hip that she was holding.

And without any shame, Shenhe said truthfully. "You are an Amazon, you will need to be strong to pick and take a worthy man... Or at least thats what most of your kind do." 

Blake's slighty tanned face earned a little flush at Shenhe's words as she looked at me. And then remembering what I was warned about previously. I looked back to Shenhe who asked rhetorically. "So you broke Alfia's record twice in a row huh?" 

And without even waiting for a response Shenhe continued. "Jake, I want you to fight me. No holds barred on your side, I just want to see you at your best and most dangerous." 

I took a deep breath and then I said calmly. "Alright Shenhe, I will fight you. But not right now." I said firmly at the end making her scowl and I actually explained.

"I was involved with the Amphisbaena incident which is where I earned my level up... To say the least, my armor and my weapons were destroyed in the fight so I need like three days to put my kit back together."

There was a tense silence before Shenhe's lips curled back and she asked in a hiss. "This isn't a ploy for you to flee again is it!?"

And my lips twitched at... How it was a very fair question to be made.

So I put a hand to my chest and spoke with total sincerity. "Upon my very soul, my contract with my goddess, and my pride as a man, Shenhe. I will be available this weekend for a sparring match. Hell, I will come to the Hera Familia mansion to do it. As I need to do a check-up on Alfia and Materia as well." 

There was a pause as Shenhe stared into my eyes to judge my trustworthy levels and then she nodded. "Alright... I will wait for you then." 

Shenhe then looked to Blake and noted calmly. "Blake you are a better reader and smut writer than a warrior."

Then without another word, Shenhe walked out of my apartment with Blake staring at me with embarrassment clear in her eyes with an awkward silence surrounded us until Blake said quietly. "Hepheastus gave us a key because you knocked up my mom... And mom would rather play at being a housewife then an adventurer anymore." 

Taking a breath I stepped forward closer to Blake who swallowed as I advanced on her. And then I said bluntly. "She will become stronger if she wants to have my child. Sure I... Skipped a lot of romance and connection building with her, but I am taking responsibility for her." 

Blake at hearing my words had her lips twitch before I continued more calmly and I said. "Anyway, you still have your weapons and light armor from when we were fighting on the ship back in Melen right?" 

"I am missing my armor. I wasn't wearing it when the attack came and with our house on the beach... I wasn't going to go get changed into my armor when the monster was rushing up through the water towards the beach and the city." Blake explained.

Which was more than fair enough. So I nodded and said firmly. "Good, you will be coming into the dungeon with Tina, Tamamo, Kali and I after this coming weekend." 

"So I will just make you a new set of light armor before we leave, Now... You are more cat-beastkin than Amazon right?" I asked curiously.

Blake's previously slightly embarrassed expression faded before she nodded and said curiously. "Yeah, Amazon's always give birth to females. But sometimes the partner's race can be more dominant especially with further breeding of the bloodline with that race so I am more cat-beastkin than Amazon."

Which made sense partly as Tsubaki was half-dwarf and Amazon. But it was clear that she was more Amazon than anything even if she had a more stocky build than most Amazons did.

"Why ask?" Blake added on.

And with zero hesitation I said bluntly. "Baby crazy amazons." 

Blake's face darkened into a blush with her back handing me across the arm with her hissing. "I am not my mother, thank you very much!" 

To which I raised an eyebrow and chuckled as I asked. "What part of your mother's plan do you disagree with? The wrestling match to establish dominance, or the fact that she jumped me within a month of being around me?" 

There was a pause as Blake seemingly actually considered the question with her blush fading. And then she answered honestly. "Probably the wrestling match." 

Shrugging I went and sat down on a new couch that I didn't previously have in my old apartment and I asked somewhat relaxed. "Haa... So what's your type of romance then? Kali's romance is a strong man proving their strength and then providing for her. What's yours?" 

Blake gave me a long searching look before she smiled wryly and said. "Something that fits too well with an Amazon frankly. It's why I stick with my books. And speaking of my books I am going back to reading." 

And with that, I watched as Blake walked into what was presumably her own room with her plush heart-shaped ass swaying as she left.

"Well... Today has been a productive day already." I muttered before I decided that now was a good time for me to search through my weapons, armor, and various treasures I had fused over time to mess around with.

As it was clear that the main core of my fusion skill beyond making strong weapons and such was allowing me to make the weapons and treasures of other fictional worlds so long as I could get materials that generally matched their being in order to make the object.

"Leviathan Axe trial? Fuck that I don't want to fight Kratos until I am level ten.- Moonlit Greatsword... Maybe at some point. Killing the Greater Will, will certainly be worth hitting a higher level." I muttered as I went over the weapons first.

But then I realized that I was mostly fine in terms of weapons actually. Hell, my physical strength and other physical stats due to all the magical supplements and stuff I took also meant I was physically speaking at the top of my level even still.

What I really needed was something simple... I needed magic to close the gap between me and the monsters of the Zeus Familia. I needed magic that wasn't fair, it wasn't clean, and its sole job was to kill all the shit.

After a long while of thinking, going between the wands I made from the firebirds in the dungeon to the ofuda seals I had fused from magic stone-infused ink, to even things like bootleg Materia from Final Fantasy I made by fusing elemental metals I got from Tsubaki's shop.

But then I came to a realization, no a sort of fucking irony that I couldn't ignore due to how wonderfully based it would be.

"Dragon magic from Elden Ring... What if I killed the Zeus Familia members that will inevitably come for me with draconic lightning spells? What irony would it be for another draconic attack to kill them when the Black Dragon is supposed to be the one who wipes them out." 

Not to mention just the draconic spells, but Elden Ring's magical systems scaled very high once you moved away from game logic and took in the fact that I wouldn't be some up-jumped tarnished. No, I would have far more mana than the Tarnished.

"Holy spells for healing, poison, toxin, sleep, bleed, madness spells for debuffing, and a whole host of buffing spells, techniques, and of course pure offensive methods." 

I slowly nodded as though Dark Soul's style magic would be... Easier to get probably. But they didn't scale as high nor as evenly as the wide host of Elden Ring's system of magic.

And honestly... I wanted to T-Pose to establish dominance as hundreds of portals opened above my head like an eldritch Gate of Babylon and shot countless high-speed meteors to devastate everything generally in front of me.