Chapter 220 ⤞ Wish_One

"Adam... Adam..." Hestia repeated his name thoughtfully, then gave a thumbs up. "It's a good name! But not quite as good as Bell's."

"...Thank you for the compliment." Adam replied dryly, thinking to himself, 'A goddess in love really must compare everything.'

Then, he addressed Hestia.

"Lady Hestia, please grant me your Falna now."

When an Adventurer receives a God's Falna, they unlock their Status. The Skills and Magic sections are the most intriguing parts.

He was no different — he wondered what his〚World Traveling〛and〚Analyze and Copy〛would become. He was also curious whether he would develop any Development Abilities, which most Adventurers lacked.

"No, not today."

Hestia's refusal caught him off guard.

"Why not, Lady Hestia?" Adam asked, "Granting a Falna isn't difficult — why wait?"

"Because I want you to have a sense of ceremony!" Hestia said warmly, "Since coming to the lower world, I've made it a rule that everyone joining my Familia must do so formally. That ceremony helps you truly see other Familia members as family."

"...I see." Adam paused.

While cynics might view this as an attempt to buy loyalty, he knew better — Hestia genuinely wanted to give her Familia members the warmth of family.

What a truly kind approach.

"Aren't you worried I might choose another Familia?"

"Not at all!" She shook her head, "You trusted me and chose my Familia, so I'll trust you and believe you won't change your mind."

"...I see." He fell silent again.

"Besides..." Hestia stretched out both hands, palms up as if to catch something, "Even if I wanted to grant you my Falna now, the Heavens won't let me be so casual about it."

Pitter-Patter—

Rain began to fall. Droplets landed on her fair, delicate palms, scattering onto her arms, sleeves, and the ground.

"Ah, what a shame. It seems I won't receive your Falna tonight." Adam felt cool raindrops on his face, "Lady Hestia, let me escort you back in this rain."

"No, no need!" Hestia said firmly, "This rain's only going to get heavier — you should hurry home."

She would have liked to invite him back to her church, if only it weren't so small.

But with Bell returning at night and only one bed between them, she had to dismiss the thought.

"But..."

"When I say no need, I mean no need. I'm your Goddess, aren't I? Listen to me!"

Though Hestia's tone was forceful, she spoke purely out of concern for her Familia member.

"But as your Familia member, I should at least..."

"No! If you're my Familia member, that means you should listen to me even more!"

"...Alright, if you insist."

"Good! Though not quite as good as Bell."

Damn it! Must everything be compared to Bell?

As Adam's thoughts whirled, Hestia waved goodbye and darted off.

After a few steps, she spun around and called out, "Tomorrow! Wait for me here tomorrow morning — don't forget!"

"Yes, Lady Hestia, I'll meet you here!" Adam shouted back before turning to leave.

The rain was growing heavier; there was no time for idle chat.

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Back at the inn, Adam hung his cloak by the fireplace to dry. He made a mental note to enchant it when possible, adding a water-repelling spell.

No — not just water-repelling. He could add fire, lightning, and wind-repelling spells too, once he had the chance.

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, Adam lay on his bed and fell asleep.

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The next day.

When Adam opened his eyes, sunlight already filled the room. The air felt exceptionally fresh after the rain, leaving him refreshed and energetic.

"Hmm, looks like good things will happen today."

Of course they would — if receiving a Falna counted as a good thing, he thought to himself.

After getting ready, he left his room and headed for the small river where he'd agreed to meet Hestia.

However, when he arrived, she wasn't there.

"Did I come too early?" Adam glanced at the sun barely peeking over the horizon.

Time passed slowly as the sun climbed higher, its light gradually warming the earth.

Two hours later, Hestia finally appeared.

"Sorry I'm late." she said with a grin.

Adam noticed immediately that the Goddess was hiding something. Though he didn't press her about it, he suspected it had to do with Bell.

He imagined Bell must have struggled through the night after being mocked, returning home wounded and telling Hestia, "I want to become stronger".

With only one person in her Familia and no way to help Bell grow stronger, this must be what troubled Hestia.

"Lady Hestia, are you alright?"

"No, I'm fine." Though Hestia wasn't skilled at keeping secrets, she insisted, "Alright, Adam, let's go back to our base."

"Base?"

"Yes, our headquarters — and where I'll grant you your Falna later."

The run-down church, he realized.

Wait — was this what she meant by a sense of ceremony? What difference did it make whether they did it outdoors or in the church?

Adam couldn't fathom what was going through this petite Goddess's mind. Perhaps she'd simply grown attached to the place after living there so long?

He kept these thoughts to himself and followed her silently to the dilapidated church. The building's age showed clearly — it looked ready to collapse in a strong wind.

"Ahem, it's not what you think." Hestia said before he could comment, "As you know, I'm the most useless Goddess in all of Orario, so I can only live here."

The most useless Goddess... She wasn't wrong.

She lacked Freya's soul-piercing eyes, Miach's mastery of potions, Soma's divine wine-making that could entrance even gods, or Ishtar's ability to command Amazon warriors.

She had descended to the lower world late, only to freeload in Hephaestus's Familia until her divine friends couldn't tolerate it anymore and cast her out.

Such a Goddess was indeed useless. Yet only Hestia would agree to his selfish request.

That's why she was the best choice.

"Alright, let's hurry inside." Hestia opened the door and invited him in.

"Excuse me." Adam said politely as he entered the church.

His first impression was that it was small and dim.

In the cramped basement, a bed took up two-thirds of the space, leaving barely any room to move.

But that didn't matter, because someone far more interesting stood before him.

A youth with white hair and red eyes — Bell Cranel, the Lucky Rabbit!

"H-hello!" Bell stood rigidly, clearly nervous.

Was he anxious about meeting a new Familia member? Worried they wouldn't get along?

Usually, it would be the other way around — newcomers were typically the ones afraid of not fitting in with existing members, so nervous they could barely speak during their first meeting.

Bell's awkwardness simply showed his limited life experience, having never been through this situation before.

"Hello, Bell-kun... right?" Adam smiled warmly while lowering his hood, "I've heard a lot about you from Lady Hestia. I'm Adam Carter, but please just call me Adam."

"Y-yes! Mr. Adam!" Bell responded formally.

"You're too tense, Bell-kun. Relax, just call me Adam."

Ironically, though he was the newcomer, Adam found himself being the one to ease the other's nerves.

"Y-yes." Bell exhaled, then asked curiously, "Um, Adam... you mentioned the Goddess spoke of me. What did she say?"

"Oh? Are you curious?"

"Yes, very curious!"

"Well then, where should I start?" Ignoring Hestia's warning look, Adam paused before saying, "She told me how handsome you are, how nice your name sounds, how obedient and motivated you are, and..."

"Ahem, ahem ahem!" Before he could continue, Hestia's loud coughing reminded him of her presence.

"Lady Goddess..." Bell's face flushed as he looked at her, embarrassed by Adam's words.

Seeing his flustered state, Hestia barely resisted the urge to hug him, stopping herself only because Adam was there.

She turned to him, "Adam, since you've chosen to join my Familia, I'll grant you my Falna. But understand — the Blessing won't instantly increase your strength, and any God can grant it... though I'm sure you already know this."

"Yes, I understand."

Hearing his response, Hestia nodded with satisfaction.

"Then, I'll grant you my Falna now."

"Yes, please do, Lady Hestia."

"Take off your shirt and lie face down here."

Following her instructions, Adam removed his shirt and lay face down on the sofa.

"Then, I'll begin."

Under Bell's curious gaze, Hestia pricked her finger with a needle and spread her divine blood on his back.

This method was the same as when she had granted her Blessing before.

After the divine blood was applied, Adam's back erupted with dazzling light!

In an instant, brilliance filled the dim basement!

But it lasted only three seconds before fading, plunging the basement back into darkness.

"Eh?" Both Bell and Hestia exclaimed.

Adam asked curiously, "What... what's wrong?"

Lying face down, he hadn't seen what happened. He'd only felt the flash of intense light, and the sudden silence that followed told him something was amiss.

"Lady Goddess, when I received my Falna before, the light wasn't this strong, was it?"

Bell asked blankly.

"What's going on?" was all Hestia could say.

It seemed Hestia didn't understand what had happened either.

But she knew everything would be displayed on Adam's back!

Now a flame pattern was engraved there — the proof of belonging to Hestia's Familia — along with hieroglyphs that ordinary people couldn't understand.

"I-impossible! What is this?" Hestia's voice trembled with disbelief.

She stared as if seeing something beyond comprehension.

"Lady... Goddess?"

"Lady Hestia?"

Bell and Adam's soft inquiries went unanswered as Hestia took time to collect herself.

Without a word, she pulled out a piece of parchment and pressed it against his back.

After copying the hieroglyphs, she handed the parchment to Adam.

"Adam." She said solemnly, "You must never — absolutely never — show your back to anyone!"

"I-I understand."

Though puzzled by her intensity, Adam knew this must be a deeply personal secret, one that couldn't be carelessly revealed.

"Um... Lady Goddess, not even me?" Bell asked, pointing to himself.

"No! Bell-kun, you absolutely cannot see it!" Hestia declared firmly. Seeing his confusion, she quickly added, "Bell-kun, Adam's abilities are very powerful. The more people who know about them, the greater the danger to him, so..."

"I understand, Lady Goddess. I won't ask anymore." Bell could see she had Adam's best interests at heart.

But Hestia's nervous behavior only heightened Adam's curiosity.

Just what did his Status show?

====================

== STATUS ==

Name: Adam Carter

Level: 1

== ABILITIES ==

Strength: I 0

Endurance: I 0

Dexterity: I 0

Agility: I 0

Magic: I 0

== SKILLS ==

[Last Hope (Wish_One)]

When Pandora released all evils into the world—greed, emptiness, slander, envy, pain, and more—only hope remained.

You are both the hope that remains in desperate situations and one blessed by the gods.

• When in desperate situations, increases own strength proportional to the desperation

• When relied upon by others, increases strength proportional to their thoughts

• Divine Chosen! (Water, Lightning, Fire)

== MAGIC ==

[World Crossing]

[Analysis and Mimicry]

[Synchro Summon]

====================

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