For as long as she could remember, she wondered who her mother was, her father told her she was an unrivaled beauty who loved them both dearly but due to circumstances of her past, had to leave them in order to keep them safe.

Haruhime would wonder if her mother did care, but every year, she got a cake made from her mother, it was awful beyond words even though the cake looked fine on the outside, which betrayed all forms of logic and reason for how awful it tasted, but she would still eat it all knowing her mother tried and put her love in it, though she would get a Dunamis to help her, one reason she had "Degradation Immunity" at EX rank when she got a Dunamis, and scary enough, eating one whole cake raised it from "I" to "E" in one sitting, and with that, Haruhime would also max her Mana Parameter since the use of skills and development abilities also increases one's Mana.

(and yes, this is why everyone's Mana can get to D rank even if they don't have magic)

however, when she was 11, her family was attacked by a rival Familia and she was sold into slavery, fr 6 months, she would be beaten, abused, and almost raped too many times for her to count as she fought and struggled to protect her chastity with all her might as she didn't want to have it taken like this, if not for her not leveling up and getting her Parameters higher by the day, and the fact not many of the slaves had a Dunamis or were past level 1, she was lucky, and while she was starved where her ribs and bones were basically visible, dehydrated where she would have a nasty and frequent cough with some of them having blood in her coughs at times, and tired as she needed to stay awake to protect herself, bearly getting sleep at all, she was desperate, dying, and hurt, crying, and begging from under her breath to be saved, then, she arrived.

Ishtar:" (terrified and scared) Haruhime"

she looked up to find the most beautiful woman she has ever seen, and a hint of familiarity as unbeknownst to her, her body relaxed upon seeing this woman in front of her as she muttered under her breath.

Haruhime:" (weak and tiredly)... mo... mmy"

and as Haruhime passed out, she then woke up in a medical tent as she was being given food slowly as it was warm porridge and beef broth to help her get her strength back as she was then given the highest quality medicine as well, Haruhime could have sworn she saw dozens of doctors and maids at her beck and call, and for the next week, her body would just about fully heal as her condition was so bad, even a Dunamis's advanced healing took so long to heal her, he started to walk and then her savior, the woman she saw before she passed out then asked about her health, frantic about her condition, checking her entire body to make sure she was alright, and while she was told that haruhime was healthy, the woman hugged Haruhime, and Haruhime felt a comforting warmth from the woman, she didn't know her really, but she felt warmth she hadn't felt in a long time.

Haruhime's Thought's:" this warm feeling... it's like with mama... I missed this warm feeling, her love"

Haruhime then hugged back, making the woman hugging her cry as they then talked properly.

Ishtar:" excuse my behavior, I am the goddess Ishtar, the patron goddess of the Ishtar Familia"

Haruhime:" oh, nice to meet you goddess"

Haruhime tried to bow her head but due to her recent recovery, she somewhat stumbled on her feet as Ishtar panicked a bit because of this.

Ishtar:" please dear, you're not well, please, take it easy for a bit longer, please, no formalities"

Haruhime then sat as she felt her neck and noticed the salve collar was gone as well.

Ishtar:" don't worry dear, I removed that thing the second I saw it... so... if you can, could you tell me what happened"

while Haruhime was hesitant, she told Ishtar everything that happened, and while Ishtar heard this, by the end, her expression had a dark tone as she then called her Familia to go to war with the Familia that sent Haruhime into slavery and even joined in herself, upon the next day, the entirety of the Far East dungeon region would know the fury of the Mesphatanian goddess of war and fear her name for generations to come with an angering fury so immense, the mere presence of it outright and instantaneously killed those below level 3 and wounded those level 4 and above, decimating the land to less than ashes with the god of that Familia so horribly maimed in their mortal form, their divine body was named in a similar fashion and has yet to heal as far as anyone knew as well as have a fear of Kitsunes and Mesopotamian goddesses of any kind.

when the dust settled, the people of the east were adamant about Ishtar's demands so long as she spared them, and all she asked was to what happened to the Sanjuro's noble family and learned the man she loved was gone forever as she then left with nothing else there, taking Haruhime with her.

Ishtar:" come with me, and I'll make sure you're never in this position again, and make you able to stand on your feet"

Haruhime:"... yes goddess Ishtar"

taking the hand of the goddess, Haruhime would work, and for what it was worth, having the war goddess as her personal combat instructor helped her a lot as she was able to get her status updated to a lot more than she though

(see next chapter for status)

Ishtar was sure she could make Haruhime level up, but first, she needed to train her hard to get her ready for the dungeon since at best, her only real combat experience is as a healer only.

Ishtar:" now, I'll personally train you to be able to fight, as a mage, you need to learn to fight, also, how do you have 2 offensive attacks, but almost never use them"

Haruhime:" father got me some of the best and most pristine grimoires he could get, as well as many teachers... I miss him"

Ishtar was sad as well, the man she loved enough to give him a child, born from her, the same child in front of her, and due to her motherly instincts, she hugged Haruhime as she stroked her hair to comfort the girl in front of her about to cry, and as Ishtar took Haruhime to the training ground, she broke her daughter's bones and muscles, buts he taught her her first lesson in combat, and as time gone by, Haurhime got better, eventually going to the dungeon regularly, a cycle that would continue until one faithful day.

Ishtar:" you leveled up"

Haruhime:" I DID, HURRAY, and with all my Parameters at 999S each after about a year, I was able to level up, thank you goddess for your help"

Ishtar's thoughts:" if I reveal her level up, then she'll get noticed, and the more she's noticed... the more likely someone will look into her..."

Ishtar:" honey, listen to me, you can't tell anyone about this, okay"

Haruhime:" why"

Ishtar:" cause if you do, then you will be looked at by others, and when that happens, bad people will approach you, now I need to go and discuss something"

Haruhime:" where are you going"

Ishtar:" the guild"

and as Ishtar left, she was face to face with Mero herself, and shown the paper, though Mero caught on quickly of what was likely to happen

Mero:" this is a level up of your Familia member indeed, but something tells me... you want this one under wraps, and nobody else can know, can they"

Ishtar:" no wonder you're the guild head who replaced Royman... I can't let her level up be announced, I'll still pay the added tax for her level ups, just... don't announce them"

Mero:"... you know, information is power, and given the circumstances of my recent promotion in the guild and who I am replacing, I'm not doing favors for free and without guarantee that it won't hurt people in the process, I have only one condition to this, tell me honestly, why is this girl's information that important"

Ishtar clenched her fist, scared about telling anyone for Haruhimes own safety, but with Mero's look in her eye, she knew if she didn't fess up, she would be in trouble, so she swallowed her fears and doubt and said aloud.

Ishtar:" because I want to protect my daughter from any harm that will come of it till she's truly ready to face what's ahead"

Mero was surprised, and then took into consideration the girl's age and Ishtar's sudden change with her Familia, and then put 2 and 2 together, she chuckled as she believed Ishtar and then said there won't even be a paper trail as she burned the status paper and said that if information of this did get out, it might start trouble, so she'll keep her mouth shut for now, and if Ishtar reveals her true level, she can just pretend to fine Ishtar's Familia as a cover.

Ishtar:" I don't know how to thank you"

Mero:" keep acting like the good goddess you are now and that will be payment enough, it's always nice having a dependable god around, now move, I have work to do"

as Ishtar left, she headed to find Haruhime was asleep on the couch while she was waiting for Ishtar to come back, so she got a blanket and put it on her as she planned to walk away, but then, Haurhime grabbed Ishtar's hand and Haruhime muttered in her sleep.

Haruhime:" (sleepy sleep talk voice) don't leave me again mommy, please, stay with me"

Ishtar got a flashback to the day she left her baby to protect her, she remembered it all too well, and how much it hurt to leave her behind back then, thinking that if she stayed, she could have protected her daughter from her months in slavery, hating herself, biting her lip for blood to run down, and clenching the free hand so hard, the bones and muscles in her hand were breaking and bleeding, she then went to her knees and kissed her daughter on the forehead, then wiping of the blood as she then said to her daughters sleeping ears.

Ishtar:" mommy will never level your side again, I will protect you this time, no matter what it cost me"

and as Haruhime smiled in her sleep, she hugged Ishtar tight as Ishtar felt comfortable and slept, though, when she woke up the next day, her legs, back, and neck would feel it as she popped them so loud it was as if you heard a horse stomping towards you and felt so much pain it was as if her body was dipped into boiling water to cook like a lobster, but she still continued her day, a painful day that got a chuckle out of Haruhime, as Isthar would act as her mother and teacher from then on, and also working to make sure Haruhime's status would be hidden till the faithful day it may be needed

Authors notes

due to Haruhime being Ishtar's daughter, she had special perks that not many can get, and is as close to Bell's fast level-up as you can get, and even then, Haruhime is still a special case since this doesn't happen often

I made the slave aspect of Haruhime far darker as I figured it must have been horrible, as well as changed the story to make it a bit more sense as to how Haruhime was enslaved, and also killed off her father to add tragedy to Haruhime and also to not wrote a new character, as well as make Ishtar want to be there for Haruhime that much more now that she is her only living family left

I had the scene of Mero hiding Haruhimes information to make sure I covered why the guild isn't onto Ishtar for hiding her development, and as far as anyone in the guild knows, only Mero is aware of Haruhimes true status as she believes that the more people know, the less secure it is, so she is the only one aware of anything, and this isn't exactly a new thing either as there are other thing's only she is completely aware of in the guild

the scene is to make you love the bonding relationship with this new Ishtar and Haruhime, showing you just what is going on to get to where we are now