CHAPTER 69: A Breakthrough

"There's also Tione, Ais Wallenstein, Riveria, and Lefiya. It would be weird if I didn't know about you."

Although Yuri had beaten Bete previously, the atmosphere between them was quite harmonious.

Everyone knew about that guy's temper.

"Ehhh? It seems like you know us very well…"

Tione, who was also an Amazon, enthusiastically put her arm around Yuri's shoulders and said:

"Then introduce yourself properly."

"This is the first time I've met someone who just arrived in Orario and is already so strong."

"Have you been part of a familia before?"

Tione's question caused the other women to look at Yuri curiously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yuri Winters, and I'm part of the Hestia Familia."

"I believe Loki mentioned her at some point."

"Hestia?" Riveria immediately thought of the petite goddess with huge breasts who often fought with Loki.

"Does that mean…" Lefiya suddenly realized something. "Mr. Yuri, did you only receive Falna recently?"

"That's right. Hestia and I established a familia the day after my fight against Bete. As the first and so far only member of the Hestia Familia, I am the captain."

"Does that mean you're only at level 1?"

Tiona exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide.

"So... he defeated Bete before receiving Falna…"

Tione also had a strange expression on her face, feeling like her brain was unable to process it.

"How is this possible?!"

This completely broke common sense—a person with no level defeating a level 5 adventurer.

"He's a hero…"

Ais, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

"My mother told me that… Before the gods came down to our world, there were people capable of fighting monsters without Falna…"

"Indeed… I remember reading about something like that in the elven records."

(Is this why I can't stop paying attention to him?) Riveria looked at Yuri while thinking.

(I don't understand, he gives off a calm aura, like someone who's very easy to get along with...)

Riveria didn't notice that Lefiya beside her was also thinking something similar.

Seeing that they were lost in thought, Yuri turned and waved his hands, causing the trees to fall back into the ground.

"It's getting late. I still have to go to work after updating my status, so I'll go ahead. Hopefully, we'll meet again later."

It was already getting dark…

Yuri bought something to eat and drink as he headed to Hephaestus's shop with a smile on his face.

A few minutes of walking later, Yuri finally arrived at Hephaestus's store.

After having dinner together, before Hephaestus could ask anything, Hestia eagerly pulled Yuri into a room, ripped off his clothes, and pushed him onto the bed.

[A/N: ಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ]

After dripping a drop of her blood, Hestia updated Yuri's status.

Yuri Winters - Lv.1

Strength: I (27) → SS (1499)

Durability: I (33) → S (977)

Dexterity: I (45) → S (910)

Agility: I (31) → S (955)

Magic: I (60) → SS (1123)

{Magic}

[][][]

{Abilities}

[Unknown Ability] [Sage Body] [Sun Breath] [Mangekyou Sharingan] [King of Oni]

Hestia fell silent upon seeing how much Yuri's status had increased in just one day in the dungeon.

"Is something wrong with my status, Hestia?"

Seeing that she couldn't answer, Yuri turned around and placed Hestia on his lap, watching her expression while he unconsciously stroked her head.

"It seems like I've improved quite well."

"More than good…" Hestia did not refuse such intimacy, but turned and looked closely at Yuri's face.

"I almost doubt you're actually human…"

"And I'm not..." Yuri replied under Hestia's look of disbelief.

"Seriously!?" she asked in shock.

"Did you forget my last skill? 'King of Oni'. I'm not a human—or rather, I'm not a human anymore," Yuri explained calmly while still stroking Hestia's head.

He moved a little away from Hestia and showed her his true appearance.

Since becoming an Oni (demon), he had been using his body modification ability to maintain a human appearance.

Ever since arriving in this world—and especially just before entering that space-time tunnel—his Oni features would resurface whenever he entered combat.

Maintaining his body modification while suppressing his powers and fighting was very difficult.

"See, this is my true appearance now…" Yuri said as he used his powers to return to normal.

"Does that mean you were once human…?" Hestia asked, confused.

"That's a long story, and this isn't the best time to tell it. A much better time will come—once we have our own house."

"How about we get back to the topic now."

"Yuri, the time it took you to reach this status broke any record anyone could have for centuries to come."

"I have to admit that this ability of yours—getting stronger just by breathing—is very enviable…"

"Actually, I think a big part of what led me to this level was fighting a group of level 5 adventurers from the Freya Familia yesterday."

Yuri explained casually, but his words alarmed the petite goddess. She quickly turned around in Yuri's lap and hugged him tightly, speaking nervously.

"Yuri! Although Freya is beautiful, you must not be fooled by that perverted woman!"

The charm of that goddess could bewitch anyone.

"Relax, Hestia."

Yuri hugged Hestia and lifted her chin as he spoke.

"She couldn't seduce me with her charm even if she wanted to." Yuri placed his hand on Hestia's cute cheek.

"I would never allow myself to fall for something like that." As he spoke, Yuri brought his face closer to Hestia's.

Their lips were almost touching as Yuri looked seriously at Hestia's flushed face.

"I will always be yours, and you… will always be mine."

After that, Yuri took the virgin goddess's lips.

Hestia, despite the surprise of the sudden kiss, quickly returned it, wrapping her arms around Yuri's neck.

Despite how sudden it seemed, Hestia had already fallen in love with Yuri after his declaration about the kind of family he wanted, on the day they founded the Hestia Familia.

Seeing how incredible he was only made that feeling grow stronger in her heart.

End of chapter

Give me some power stones there you go~😉

Author's Note:

I want to apologize for not posting anything yesterday—something unexpected came up, and I had to drop everything to deal with it. I won't go into detail, but to put it simply, last week my company opened some job positions, and I was the supervisor in charge of the interviews.

Anyone who's ever gone through a job interview knows how many questions the examiner asks. Anyway, I conducted six interviews that day. As expected, two people got the job. However, yesterday morning, something bizarre happened.

Someone showed up asking why they hadn't received a call confirming they got the job (during the interview, we said we'd call the selected candidates within two days—and six had already passed).

I calmly explained it was because they weren't selected...

My God… you have no idea the chaos that followed.

The person left—and returned minutes later with four other people.

For some reason, they claimed that I, as the interviewer, and the company were homophobic and racist—throwing wild accusations at us for not hiring that person. Long story short, they and their companions are now facing a lawsuit for defamation and false accusations.

My God, it's like I attract this kind of nonsense. This is the fourth time something like this has happened since last year…

Sigh.