Power…

That's what I feel rolling down from my very soul. The sensation of a breakthrough in soul cultivation is a very weird and novel experience.

Although it is the easiest barrier to open… I still achieved something great, right?

Every time I feel embarrassed at the idea of being so happy about achieving something so simple, I indulge myself in the sensation of my soul being more powerful than yesterday—and the shame disappears.

I have my own cultivation technique now. Born of desperation and a lack of resources, but a technique nonetheless.

The ball of light inside my soul sea is colored now. Yellow, green, and white. Following the color scheme of my affinities.

Being able to see your soul grow and expand is truly shocking. The feedback from the experience isn't something that I am used to—despite always having been someone that sought to push himself and improve.

Physical improvements, even if I am already well into the super-human territory, are nothing compared to the betterment of my soul. The rush of power coming from your very being improving on a fundamental level is wonderful, despite not having the same kind of direct consequences as becoming stronger, or faster…

However…

When I remember how I managed to destroy the wall with a charged headbutt, powered by my new and better Ki, I understand that for a cultivator, the direct results of soul cultivation are truly wondrous. The gaseous Ki in my mind instantly answers my call, rapidly crossing the barrier between my soul sea and the real world, rushing towards my fingertips—making them glow with a familiar green color.

That's so cool! I think with childish glee. It's like I found a new toy, one that has an infinite amount of applications in the real world.

The problem comes from naming the stages. While I could just assign a number to them, I have a nagging impression that it isn't the right move. But since I am really bad with names, as evidenced by my healing technique named 'Healing Projectile' and my glorious 7 feet tall guandao 'Bartholomew', I hesitate.

The first few names that come to mind are quickly discarded as I ponder on the situation at hand.

I enter the Church in the morning, the silly grin on my face never leaving my face. I silence my steps, clench the handle of the backdoor carefully and enter the building slowly. Hestia and Bella are probably sleeping right now after all.

The moment I push the door open, unwilling to produce the usual squeaky sound the old barrier makes when one opens it up slowly, I hear a thud on the other side of the door.

Hestia let out a squeal in a high-pitched voice as I felt the weight pushing against the door disappear.

"I'm sorry Hestia," I say, worried about her. I carefully open the door and see my goddess crouched down on the floor, holding her forehead with both of her hands.

I crouch down to her level, trying to look past her hands to see if any bumps formed. "I can heal you if you want," I say.

Hestia suddenly stops her squirming and lifts her eyes to me. She blinks twice. "What did you do again?!" She says, half-expectant, half-worried.

"...Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me, how did you get this healing ability?! Is it your skills? Of course, it has to be your skills!" Hestia grabs my arm and starts to shake it.

"H-Hold on for a second!" I try to pacify her.

...Do I take this leap of faith?

The reason why I've never told Hestia about my more… esoteric abilities is that I'm afraid of what kind of meaning a mortal ascending to the Heavens has in this world—a world I have a very basic understanding of.

Although Hestia has given me her complete trust, and has done nothing to deserve her first child hiding something so important from her…

"Yeah, this comes from my skills… Turns out I figured one application of them…" I say, stretching the truth with a normal expression, a normal tone.

And a faint smile.

It's fine, I tell myself. I only know her for what… Two weeks? I justify myself.

But the churning feeling doesn't leave. The aftertaste of this lie is bitter as she offers me a bright smile when she grasps the fact that I improved thanks to her blessing.

I really get attached to people too quickly, I realize.

"Hey, did you hear about that?"

"What?"

"The Loki expedition ended a couple of days ago, they're nearly back to the surface now."

"Huh? Weren't they supposed to stay down there for a fucking long time? How come they're already back up?"

"I don't know, the dude that passed me the information was pretty tight-lipped. He didn't want to give me anything other than that…"

"...Sure."

"Hold on, what do you mean by 'sure'?!"

The babbler of adventurers is my favorite thing to hear. And this place, a popular bar in one of the most occupied streets of Orario, going straight to the dungeon, is the perfect site to hear every rumor going on in the city.

Of course, it doesn't mean that everything that is uttered here is true, but it gives me a rough estimation of the popular current of the city.

Those RPG games back on Earth were onto something.

But the reason why I'm waiting here, on an open large balcony—giving a nice view on the street down below—sipping a nice hot coffee; because this bar is also a café during the day, is not to hear useless information from loose-lipped adventurers.

I am waiting for Bella.

Today is one of the days of the week where we're going to the dungeon together after all.

I wonder how much further Bell- Oh, I don't have any coffee left.

I put down my cup, and let out a healthy sigh at the peace the black liquid has brought me. As a coffee addict, I couldn't be more relieved than when I learned that the divine beverage existed in this world as well.

And as I look around and see the number of people enjoying the glorious drink just like me, I realize one of the great truths of reality.

Coffee transcends all, even silly things such as dimensions.

"Welcome, what can I do for you?" I hear the female receptionist say from the first floor. My hearing is truly frightening when I zone out and concentrate on the world around me.

"Ah, hello…" That's Bella. I recognize her voice through the whispers and the shouts from the customers around me. "I was wondering if you've seen Tian here…"

"...Do you have a Rendez-Vous?" asks the receptionist, a cute girl called Jun. I can hear her amusement in her voice.

"Y-Yes I do!" And I can also hear Bella blush at Jun's words. "He's tall, he's tanned, he has deep blue eyes… He has brown hair, and he's,... He's really well-built and oh, did I mention he has deep blue eyes?"

My eyes shot open at her description… I look at my arm. Well, that's true that physical activities and cultivation are doing wonders for my body…

I flex just a little bit, satisfied by the definition and the swelling of my muscle before I put my arm on the table again.

The receptionist giggles at Bella's words. "I see… Really an important Rendez-Vous then," she says, her voice dripping with mirth.

"Y-Yes…"

"I think I've seen your 'Tian'" Jun's tone becomes teasing when she pronounces my name. "Come here quite a lot of time. Every morning since a couple of weeks ago actually. You'll find him on the balcony of the second floor."

"Thank you!" Bella says, earnestly.

"Go get him, girl!" Cheers on the joyful receptionist.

Bella starts to rapidly sputter a good number of incomprehensible words, but I open my mind again since she is about to arrive.

The smirk on my face speaks for itself.

"Tian!" Bella adorably shouts when she sees me. Now that I've heard how she describes me I'm wondering if her red-faced shy expression is because the shirt I'm wearing is doing a very good job at showing my body or it's because of the stares she gets from the other customers.

It would be cool if it is the former, but since she's looking around and mouths 'sorry'...

Mission failed, we'll get them next time.

"Yo Bella! Hope you slept well," I say to her once she sits down in front of me.

Her eyes flicker to mine. "Yes, I did! By the way, where were you last night?" She tilts her head to the left.

"I was… testing something during the whole night, honestly I didn't even see the time pass," I answer, chuckling awkwardly.

She raises her eyebrows at my answer. "What kind of things take you the whole night to test?"

"Hmm… I don't know if I should tell you," I hum, intentionally narrowing my eyes at her as if she's suspicious.

"Eh?"

"You see, this is a very important secret between me and Hestia, it isn't something that I should carelessly share with anyone else…"

"But…" She blinks her eyes cutely at me. "There should be no secrets between members of the same familia!"

"Ehhh... " I deadpan. "You should tell that to every other familia out there and you'll see how they respond."

"Then, if you tell me that means we are better than every other familia here," she declares. "Pleeeeease?"

My lip twitches at the high-pitched tone she takes and the way she's giving me the puppy eyes. And she gets close to me.

Of course, all of that would mean something if it wasn't for the obvious smirk she wears on her face.

"Alright, alright…" I placate her, trying to get my personal space back. "You don't have to act like this, you know?" I say with a tired smile on my face.

First the knife, now this? This girl isn't as innocent as she seems.

She grins once more. "But it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, twice now." I chuckle. Belle blinks and looks at the sky, trying to remember.

"Ah, but I paid you back already?"

"Yep," I say, popping the 'p'. "Doesn't mean that you didn't try to play a trick on me."

"Is it really trying if it worked?" She asks me, her bright smile coming back.

"I guess…" I scoff, with a shrug of my shoulders. Was Bell in the anime that forward? The female version seems way knowledgeable about these kinds of things…

"No, but really, I'll tell you what I've worked on this night later when it's finished."

"You will?" She asks, a slight but genuine pout appearing on her face.

"Yes. Both Hestia and I decided that it would be wise to keep it between us."

"To be honest," she sighs. "I'm not the best person to give a secret to keep," she says looking away and scratching the side of her head. "I've always been… Too honest."

I can't help but blink a few times at Bella's confession. How come she is so self-aware? Is that one of the changes being a female introduced?

The heavy eyes and the clumsy smile lead me to believe that she has a story to tell about this.

"So long as you understand it." I cross my arms and send her a teasing look.

She scuffles closer to herself under my words. "Hahahaha…" Her laugh is self-deprecating but isn't serious. "Let's change the topic, what are we going to do today?" She asks me, looking far more interested in our future activities in the dungeon. "Oh and also, is Lili going to come?"

"No, she's not. She's only contracted on the days where I go alone in the dungeon."

"I see…" Bella nods, gaining a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Look," I sigh. "Nothing bad is going to happen, alright? We have it under control."

My attempts to reassure her do nothing, as evidenced by her fake smile at my words, but since she seems unwilling to continue this topic as well, I move over to what the plans are for today.

"So today," I say. "We're going to be diving to the next floor."

"The 8th floor?!"

"No, not for me. For you, so the 5th floor."

"But-"

"I know, I know what Eina tries to tell you… How you're not ready for this, how it's too dangerous, but tell me honestly Bella: Do you feel like you're having any difficulties fighting the monsters of your current floor?"

"...Not really," she murmurs. "But when they're in a group, I have to be careful and even sometimes run away," she continues. "I still have a lot of problems in my fighting style, the ones that you pointed out yourself."

"I don't doubt that, it would be pretty impressive if you managed to erase these problems in just two weeks. But I think that you getting experience against monsters at your strength or stronger than yourself when I'm here to help you if things go wrong is a great way for you to advance faster than other adventurers."

And I truly believe so. The 'safe' way is only that, safe. It isn't rewarding in the least, and anyone can tell that to become truly excellent, you need to do more. Heck, even Bell himself had to push himself to grow. His skills granted him accelerated growth, but he had to do what everyone thought impossible of him to elevate at the pace he did.

Probably even himself.

"So the question is, Bella Cranel, do you want to stay mediocre for all your life, staying in your zone of comfort," I declare, feeling the sudden intensity of her gaze hit me.

Therefore Bella, let the flames of ambition consume you...

"Or…"

Don't let others dictate what are your limits, discover them yourself, and always push further…

"Or do you want to go on an adventure, and become something truly great, a hero?!"

Her expression, full of hopes and dreams, hungry for more and blazing like the sun whose light is pouring down on us…

—Just like how my own was, a long time ago…

Is enough of an answer.

So, maybe some of you already guessed, but this is going under a rewrite. This story has no plot in and on itself, and it's really starting to show in the writing. I already have 4 chapters for the new story, on my Pat re on because there are people that paid in a way for this story, but I'm going to stockpile the chapters a bit more before posting publicly again this story.

The rewrite will, to be honest, not be that similar to this one, but will have an actual plotline to follow and a progression ready for the characters. Without spoiling too much: The MC is technically the same, but doesn't have knowledge of danmachi at all and therefore doesn't just jump in Hestia's arms. It'll be a bit more complicated than this, there'll be a snake accompanying him from the start of the journey because he's a fan of dragons and cultivation + snake = dragon in his mind. Even though having an animal companion isn't anything new, the inspiration is more taken from 'Beware of Chicken' for the 'humanized' in a way animals so that they're full characters.

Of course, he won't be having his dragon from the start. As for the name, I'm not sure if I want to change it, I'll probably just write Ascension, but another possibility would have been A Man And His Dragon.

Thank you for those that have given me advice in this story, in the meantime, you can check out my other stories, or just wait for the rewrite!