My Misadventures as a Hotel Owner

by Hussbek

Despite graduating from college with good marks, Naruto's had no luck getting a fulltime job and had just gotten kicked out his landlord. Naruto certainly wasn't expecting a random questionnaire to win him an apartment and the troubles it would bring to him. It's like Lady Luck can't make up her mind about him. Naruharem and various Anime/Video Games/Manga Elements to be applied

7. Starting Out

My Misadventures as a Hotel Owner
Chapter 6: Starting Out

Naruto opened his eyes and yawned loudly, he wanted to stretch his arms but quickly realized that he couldn't due to a certain factor. Hestia, who was supposed to be sleeping on the bed meant for her was currently cuddling on his chest on the couch which he was laying on.

"Well, isn't this what every hotblooded male wishes to wake up to? Having a pretty girl cuddle with you," said Sora playfully.

"Don't bother denying it, plus she's doing this all on her own," Kurama added, cutting off any route the blonde ninja would try to take to defend himself.

"Ugh, leave me alone you two," Naruto grumbled before ever so carefully tried to separate himself from Hestia but to no avail.

"Mmmm, my big cuddly Naru. Squeeze me even more tightly…," Hestia mumbled, making Naruto blush beet red and the others snicker in amusement.

In a moment of panic, Naruto swapped places with a pillow then went to clean himself up in the portable shower which he had purchased online along with a few other things and assembled in one of the rooms of the abandoned church. Afterwards, he wore an orange t-shirt with black shorts and a pair of black sandals as he returned to the room and gently shook Hestia awake.

"Wake up, Hestia-chan," said Naruto with a gentle voice.

The goddess's eyes slowly opened as she sat up and let out a loud yawn, then she beamed upon seeing Naruto who smiled at her "Good morning, Naruto!"

"Good morning to you too, Hestia-chan. The shower is all set up so you can go and take a bath while I get breakfast ready,"

"Okay, I'll be right back!" Hestia left the room quickly, eager to eat Naruto's breakfast as soon as possible.

Leaving the basement to the ground floor where there's proper ventilation and accessing his inventory, Naruto brought out a folding table which he quickly set up followed by a portable dual butane gas burner stove, the basic cooking set, utensils and cutlery. After putting a kettle of water on one of the burners to boil, Naruto took out the necessary ingredients from his inventory to start cooking; cutting, stirring and mixing them while heating up the frying pan with eyes full of concentration.

Hestia was waiting in the room of the basement after taking her bath and put on a new set of clothes for Naruto to return with breakfast. Eventually, Naruto had returned along with a few shadow clones with trays of food in hand which they set on the table before dispersing in puffs of smoke.

"Breakfast is served! We have; French Toast with fried bacon and chicken sausage, fruit cups, oatmeal and black tea!" Naruto presented the layout with pride.

Hestia marveled at the sight of the food "Wow, they look so good,"

"Well, dig in. food is mainly for eating with appearance being secondary," said Naruto playfully.

Without needing any further persuasion, Hestia gave her thanks for the food and began to eat with the blonde ninja joining in, even Sora ate much to the blonde's surprise which she revealed that she can convert whatever she consumes into energy albeit it not being necessary but wanted to enjoy the taste. Soon enough, they had fully sated themselves and cleared up the dishes.

Naruto then spoke up "By the way, Hestia-chan. The demon which was targeting you came last night,"

Hestia was shocked and worried to hear that "What?! The demon came here?"

"Yeah, he even tried to pretend to be human to fool me but I knew better and dealt with him once and for all. Check it out," Naruto unsealed the demon's corpse from the scroll to be viewed.

Upon seeing this, tears welled up in Hestia's eyes as she lunged to hug Naruto with heartfelt joy "Thank you, Naruto! You really are the best thing to have ever happened to me!"

Naruto hugged her back with a smile "You're welcome, now let's head on over to the Tavern to meet up with Aisha-chan and Hiyori-chan,"

"Okay, let's go,"

After changing his clothes, he and Hestia left the church and made their way to the tavern. They went inside and found Aisha and Hiyori sitting at a table then walked over to greet them.

"Hey you two, good morning," Naruto called out to them.

Hiyori waved cheerfully in response "Hiya Naru, you too Hestia-sama!"

"Good morning to you too," said Aisha with a nod.

"Same here, we also come with good news; I was able to take of the demon that was after Hestia-chan," Naruto whispered quietly so as to not draw attention to them, surprising the two girls.

"You mean that demon is killed?!" asked Hiyori, barely managing to keep her voice down.

"Yeah, but Naruto learnt from the demon that the demon lord is targeting the gods, wanting to get rid of us so he can take over the world," Hestia explained.

Aisha frowned at the information "This is quite serious; the demons have always been held at bay by the gods and other powerful entities that side with them. It would seem that this demon lord wishes to change that considering that they tried to kill Hestia, I advise that you warn the others of this matter,"

"You're right, we'll go and see Hephaestus after this. so, what you girls up to?" Hestia inquired curiously.

"Actually, we planning on departing from Orario today. Aisha will continue on exploring more dungeons in search of grimoires or anything relating to that ring she's looking for, I on the other hand will be going back to and meet up with my guildmates. I can't wait to tell them about you!" said Hiyori albeit sadly at the last part.

"Oh, you are going so soon?" asked Naruto, feeling a bit sad at their departure.

"I'm afraid so, I still need to find a way to regain my magic but it doesn't make the time spent with you any less valuable as I have learnt and enjoyed so much with you all," said Aisha.

"I hope we can meet again,"

"I feel the same and I hope you won't mind allowing to stay at your inn again,"

Hiyori spoke up excitedly "Me too, I really want my friends to try out your cooking!"

"You're always welcome," said Naruto with a smile, making them smile in response.

Later on, Naruto and Hestia saw the two girls off at the city gates but not before the blonde ninja packed some food for them after rushing back to the abandoned church to cook. Naruto watched them leave with a forlorn smile and hoped to see them again.

Afterwards, Naruto and Hestia headed over to the northwest shop to locate Hephaestus and sure enough she but apparently wasn't alone as two men were with her at the moment and Naruto could sense divine energy emanating from them.

The first man has black hair which has been styled like those of the Old Japanese period and his gray clothes were also designed in that same period and a pair of wooden getas.

The second man has long dark blue hair, he wears a black robe, a tan brown stole that reaches down past his shoulders and brown shoes.

The black-haired man cheered upon seeing Hestia "Hestia, it's great to see you again!"

The other man smiled gently but no less happy "Indeed, I was so relieved when I heard from Hephaestus that you have returned to us safely,"

Hestia smiled in response "I'm glad to see you all again!" then she turned to Naruto "Allow me to introduce you to my friends; Takemikazuchi and Miach. They both have their own familias,"

"Nice to meet you both, I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, a proud member of the Hestia Familia," Naruto bowed in greeting and showed the Familia Emblem on his hand as proof.

The two male gods were surprised at first but then expressed happiness with Takemikazuchi even hugging Hestia and spinning her around.

"Congratulations, you finally got your very first member!" said Takemikazuchi happily.

"Indeed, congrats are certainly in order. I hope that you help her with the best of your ability, young man," said Miach amiably.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "I will,"

"So, what's the reason for you two to come here besides meeting up with old friends?" asked Hephaestus curiously.

Naruto proceeded to tell the three gods what happened last night with the demon, its reasons before being killed then he unsealed the corpse from the scroll and showed them the demon horns which he had cut.

"This is serious," said Hephaestus with a frown "Sounds like the demons are up to something and are trying to reduce the number of gods in the lands for whatever plan they have,"

"You're right, we'll need to alert the others about demons targeting gods," said Takemikazuchi.

Miach added "Not only that, but also to investigate on what they're planning that would instigate such an action,"

"Anyways, I'll be heading out to the Pantheon first to see the kind of missions I can get then head over to the dungeon," said Naruto, politely making his intent to leave known to everyone.

"Then before you leave, I'd like for you to take these," Miach handed over a leather pouch to Naruto who opened it with Hestia gasping upon seeing the contents.

"Those are healing potions! But why are you giving them to Naruto?" asked Hestia confusedly.

"Consider them as both a gift for joining Hestia's Familia and also a reward for protecting her. Remember that you can purchase potions along with other items from shops that my Familia runs," Miach explained.

Naruto bowed in gratitude "Thanks very much, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," then he left the shop for Hestia to continue talking to the others.

Setting up a waypoint on the Automap, Naruto made his way to the Pantheon and went inside to find Eina at her booth but was apparently talking to a pink-haired woman who was also wearing a receptionist uniform.

Eina took note of Naruto approaching her and greeted him "Oh, good morning Naruto,"

"Good morning to you too, Eina-san," Naruto responded in kind.

The pink-haired looked at Naruto with interest "So this is the guy you were telling me about yesterday," she looked at the blonde ninja more closely and then smiled mischievously "I gotta say he looks really cute with those whiskermarks of his, like a fox,"

"Um…," Naruto was a bit flustered by all this.

Eina sighed at her friend's antics "She's Misha Flott and a fellow coworker here in the guild, please excuse her antics,"

"Oh okay," Naruto snapped himself into focus "Anyways, I came here to request entrance to the dungeon and look for any missions available for me to accept,"

"I'm afraid I cannot let you gain entry to the dungeon as you are right now. You need to rank up a bit more, form a party of your own or at least hire someone to escort you due to you currently being an F-rank adventurer. Even if I were to allow you to go, at best you would be allowed to go to the 5th floor which that is far as you can go for your current rank," said Eina stoically.

Naruto frowned in response of being denied and restricted just because of his ranking, this reminded him of when he returned to Konoha from his training trip and found out that he was still at Genin rank while the others had advanced to Chuunin or Jounin which he found unfair as he had taken on missions that were way beyond Genin rank.

Seeing that words won't convince her, Naruto decided to employ a different approach as he leaned forward to whisper "I'd like to show you something but please remain silent," Eina quirked an eyebrow in confusion which soon gave way to shock when he reached the inner pocket of his jacket and revealed what he held.

"Those are demon horns; how did you get them?!" Eina whispered fiercely.

Naruto looked around to make surely that no one was looking their way and whispered "From a demon, I can show you but somewhere where no one can see since I don't want to cause a ruckus,"

"I see, then follow me," Eina walked out from the booth and gestured for the blonde ninja to follow which he did.

"Wait for me!" Misha followed after the two, being ever curious.

They went into a room where Naruto took out a scroll and unrolled it to reveal strange writings much to the two women's confusion until he channeled chakra onto the seal and bringing out the demon's corpse much to their shock.

"What the-that's a demon's corpse!" Misha exclaimed.

Eina pushed up her glasses while trying to calm down "How on earth did you get this?"

"Well it went like this…," Naruto explained how he killed that demon who was out to kill his goddess after breaking into his home last night "…and that's what happened,"

"…," Eina didn't know how to react to this. he was supposed to be an F-ranked adventurer and yet was able to kill a demon despite it was fairly a weak one given that Naruto didn't give it a chance to do anything.

"So, does this prove that I am capable of taking care of myself while in the dungeon? If you don't believe me, I can always bring my goddess to vouch for me,"

Eina raised a hand to stop "There's no need for that, given the undeniable evidence before me "In spite of the regulations, the least I can do is allow you to enter the Dungeon and will even go as far to give you permission to go to the 8th floor but that as far I will allow you, considering you managed to slay a demon despite your low rank and lack of skills,"

Naruto smiled happily at that "Thanks very much!"

Later on, Naruto left the Pantheon for the dungeon after receiving a mission with the objective of killing a certain number of monsters and bringing their magic crystals back as proof.

"You know, that Naruto guy has certainly piqued my curiosity," Misha commented whilst leaning Eina's booth who was frowning in thought.

"Just who is this man and could he be hiding something? His status is rather anonymous to me since most of his information were blurred out which is unusual. There's a chance that he's not as weak as I initially thought he was despite his rank. The also the fact that he was in the dungeon without our knowledge, supposedly defeating a floor boss who had two E-Ranked adventurers with him for help and that said E-Ranked adventurers fought him at the same time yet lost to him and now he presented a corpse of a demon he had just killed yesterday night that tried to break in and kill his goddess despite his supposed lack of skillset. Not to mention where he's from…I've never heard of any place called 'Tokyo' before,"

"You're overthinking about this," Misha saw the look on Eina's face and got an idea of what she's thinking about before snapping her out of it "I know you're being suspicious about the guy and while it's suspicious, you just met him and he looks quite trustworthy so don't overthink on this and stress yourself,"

Eina listened to her and took it into account with a sigh "I guess you're right…,"

"Plus, him being cute and adorable is a bonus for me!"

"*Sigh*…," Eina sweatdropped at this but still remained suspicious and made a mental note to talk to him at some point later on.

---

Back with Naruto, he had just entered the dungeon and was currently on the first floor as he took out a scroll and unrolled it to read the contents.

"Let's see what quests Eina-san has for us…," Naruto was about to read through it when a notification screen appeared in front of him.

[New Quests Available]

[Kill Vampire Bats (0/10)]
[Kill Goblins (0/10)]
[Kill Kobolds (0/5)]

Hovering for a few more seconds, the screen compressed itself into three separate progress bars and moved to the top right corner Naruto's HUD in order for him to keep track of his tasks.

"Well, that makes things easier," Naruto accessed his inventory to bring out two more weapons to holster to his back for quicker access just in case then he formed a handsign "Release Level 2," he made the weight seals a bit lighter so his body can move more easily while in the dungeon with the current heaviest being at Level 4 then he pulled up his facemask "Now then, let's get to work!"

Music Start: Final Fantasy VII Remake OST; Battle Theme

Naruto ventured through the first floor of the dungeon and soon came upon a small group of Vampire Bats hanging from the ceiling whom upon seeing him, swooped to attack in order to forcefully drink his blood. Naruto immediately moved by constantly bounding off the walls and ceiling to make himself difficult to catch, he took out his Uzi but didn't use it yet as he wants to ensure that his shots won't miss by making the monsters easier to hit and he knows how to do so.

"Blizzard!" Naruto thrusts a hand forward to launch a widespread blast of ice chunks which froze parts of the bats' bodies before shooting them all down with his equipped firearm as they turned to dust and leaving behind their magic crystals for him to pick up since he deactivated his Auto-Collect Feature in case any wandering adventurer suddenly encounters him.

[Kill Vampire Bats (3/10)]

"Been looking for an excuse to use your magic, haven't you?" asked Kurama pointedly.

"Pretty much yeah, but you don't have to worry about me neglecting my jutsu," thought Naruto, putting the magic crystals into one of his ninja pouches.

"However, I can see that you're becoming attuned to some of the various styles of casting magic spells," said Sora approvingly.

"I remember; there's the Basic Style which is the standard use of magic, the Proximity Style where magic is cast in a dome or circle around the caster, the Dual Style is where the magic is cast as small projectiles in paired bursts, and the Artillery Style is magic cast like a large cannonball-like projectile that explodes upon impact," Naruto recited the lesson he learnt back in the modern world.

"Exactly, you cast the Blizzard spell with the Dual Style in order to attack the Vampire Bats as a group instead of focusing on just one with the Basic Style. Now let's see what else you can do," said Sora.

"Sure thing,"

Not finding any more of the bats on the first floor, Naruto went down to the second floor to continue his hunt and soon found more Vampire Bats which attacked him but he was ready for them, this time with the Tsumetogi in hand to combat them

"Hien-tsubaki!" Naruto swiftly drew the Tsumetogi from its sheathe and threw it ahead of him like a buzzsaw to repeatedly slice up the bats before flying back to his hand "Wind Style: Wind Cutter jutsu!" Naruto swung the katana repeatedly to launch multiple blades of wind which finishes off the bats with their bodies cut into many pieces. Naruto continued his hunt for the Vampire Bats until he finally completed the required quota with a notification screen appearing before him.

[Kill Vampire Bats (10/10) Quest Complete]

"Alright, that's one quest down with only two more to go," said Naruto, looking at the two remaining progress bars on his HUD.

"The other monster can be located at the lower floors but exercise caution nonetheless," said Sora.

"Roger that,"

Descending to the fourth floor, Naruto scoured the area carefully before coming across a gang of goblins who wasted no time to attack him and he responded in kind. Naruto constantly slashed at the target monsters with his katanas then deflect the incoming swings of their wooden clubs but then he heard something whistling through the air and quickly rolled to the side in time to avoid several arrows which had been fired at him by goblin archers.

Then he took note that the goblins had surrounded him while the archers prepared to launch another volley of arrows at the right moment. Naruto's mind raced for a counterattack and quickly came up with one right as the monsters attacked him.

"Fire!" Naruto casted the spell in the Proximity Style as two small fireballs quickly appeared and orbited around him which formed a ring of fire, keeping the surrounding goblins at bay. Upon sheathing the Tsumetogi, Naruto unholstered the dual Taurus PT92 and rapidly shot at the goblin archers and killing them before switching back to the katana with the fire spell dissipating "Kanran-kikyou!" Naruto focused deeply for a moment then performed a 360 spinning slash around him which beheaded the goblins who were unfortunate enough to be near him. Naruto swiped the katana to the side to flick the blood off the blade before returning it to the sheath and moving on.

He continued to search and kill the goblins along the way until he went down to the fifth floor where he happened upon a hidden goblin camp just like the one when he first met Hestia and rescued her. The number of goblins in this camp are no doubt more than ten which is just what he needs to complete his next quest.

"Let's make this quick, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto conjured multiple copies of himself that brandished various weapons then rushed at the shocked goblins to attack them while the original went to face the goblin leader who glared at him with its weapon in hand.

Naruto focused intently in the battle as he attacked and parried incoming attacks from the Goblin Leader while a sharp eye out for whatever surprises it would have hidden to use on him. Sure enough, he saw the Goblin Leader reach for something in its garment and pretended to be unaware. Right then, the monster threw a bag which burst open to release yellow dust upon hitting Naruto, but then he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke to reveal a large piece of rock in his place much to its confusion.

Naruto's voice suddenly called out from behind the Goblin Leader "Nice try, but I won't fall for that a second time! Shunka-shunran!" the blonde ninja attacked with a thrust attack which pierced into the monster's back and out through its stomach, then he pulled the blade out to follow up with a combo of slashes before somersaulting backwards into the air whilst weaving through a set of handsigns "Fire Style: Great Fireball jutsu!" he opened his mouth to expel a massive orb of roaring flame which consumed the Goblin Leader, reducing its body to ashes.

[Kill Goblins (23/10) Quest Complete]

"Alright, that's two down with only one more quest to complete. Ad I know where to find the Kobolds," said Naruto cheerfully.

He exited the now destroyed Goblin Camp and descended to the eighth floor and scouted the area for the Kobolds and soon came across a small pack much to his fortune. Pausing to think of his approach against the monsters, Naruto decided to use one of his newest firearms which he had packed for today's dungeon exploration

Weapon: G6 Commando [ATK: 30 MAG:0 (Critical Hit increase 20%)]

Naruto loaded a magazine into the assault rifle which has a bayonet attached underneath the muzzle and loudly cocked it on purpose so the kobolds could hear him as the monsters snarled ferociously the moment they had set their eyes on him with the blonde ninja smirking at them.

"Hey doggos, come on over so I can teach you a trick which I call 'Dead dog walking'!" Naruto taunted mischievously.

Angered by the taunt, the Kobolds charged towards Naruto who took aim with his rifle and shot down a few of the Kobolds with blood pouring out of the bullet holes on their bodies, this alarmed the rest and made them instinctively realize the potential danger of the weapon which he wielded.

Relying on their pack mentality, the kobolds took off in separate directions in their approach in order to force Naruto be more selective of his targets. However, this didn't deter Naruto one bit as he targeted one of the kobolds and lunged to drive the bayonet into the beast's chest and followed up by firing a barrage of bullets into its chest to finish it off.

Hearing something whistling through the air, Naruto instinctively ducked to evade a claw swipe aimed at his head from behind by a kobold "Hey, watch the hat!" he countered with a low sweep kick which sent the kobold falling on its back. The monster tried to get up but found itself pinned down by a foot and looked up to see Naruto aiming his rifle at it before planting a bullet in between its eyes for the kill.

The next kobold lunged at Naruto with eyes blazing with fury as it lashed at him with numerous swipes of its claws and at times tried to grab the blonde ninja just so it could sink its teeth into him whilst Naruto weaved from side to side and constantly backstepping to evade such attacks, working on reloading his weapon. Naruto took out a magazine from his ninja pouch then tossed it over the kobold's head before quickly sliding in between the monster's legs to get behind it in time to catch the mag and swiftly reload. The kobold turned round only to come face-to-face with the muzzle of the rifle and literally eating lead and dying.

[Kill Kobolds (7/5) Quest Complete]

"And that takes care of all three quests!" said Naruto with satisfaction whilst returning the assault rifle to its holster on his back and looking at the three full progress bars on his HUD.

"So, what happens now?" asked Kurama curiously.

"Maybe I could drop by the inn and make sure that Felicia-chan is doing ok-huh?"

"What is it?" asked Sora, a bit confused at Naruto's sudden pause and the frown appearing on his face.

"I thought I heard some sort of rumbling…," Naruto listened carefully and could hear the faint rumble…and for some reason it's growing louder by the second. He looked at the Automap and saw a red blip which for some reason was going through the walls.

"…!" Suddenly realizing the cause for the rumbling which at this point was so loud that he can't hear anything else, Naruto darted out of the way right as the wall he was standing next to suddenly smashed open and something stepped through, revealing a monster which Naruto recognized but was shocked to see it.

"That's a minotaur! But what is one doing here on the eighth floor? They're normally encountered after the eleventh floor!" said Sora in confusion.

"Don't look now but that oversized cow has just set its sights on you!" Kurama called out in alert.

True to the fox's words, Naruto took note that the minotaur had trained its eyes on him and was already approaching him with much aggressiveness which he groaned at.

"Why do I keep getting in these kinds of situations?" Naruto grumbled.

Kurama shrugged in response "After everything we've gone through back in the Elemental Nations; starting from your first C-Rank mission to the Fourth Great Ninja War, I decided to stop trying to figure out how that crazy luck of yours works,"

"Great…,"

Music Change: FINAL FANTASY OST Daemon Battle Theme

One look at the Minotaur's tough hide told Naruto that his firearms won't do much damage or even make it flinch so he'll need to work on getting past its high defense. He snapped back to focus as he saw the minotaur lower its head and charge towards him, Naruto dashed forward and somersaulted over it for the monster to smash into the wall.

Naruto spun round and thrust his hand at it "Fire!" he launched fireballs one after another which struck but wasn't doing that much damage to the monster. The minotaur began picking up large rocks and throwing them at Naruto who darted from side to side whilst dashing towards it with his sheathed katana in hand and preparing to attack "Asagiri-rendan!" he reached the Minotaur and unsheathed fluidly to unleash a flurry of slashes then leapt backwards to follow up with another attack "Hatou-rindou!" he sheathed his katana to focus for a second then swiftly drew it out to launch a blue crescent wave of energy at the monster.

The blonde ninja looked at the gashes on the minotaur's body and frowned upon seeing that it wasn't bleeding as much as he wanted "Gonna have to strike harder since this bullhead can take a beating and still keep goi-whoah!" he jumped away to avoid another charge attack from the minotaur and attacked once more with an assault of slashes from his katana. The Minotaur used its forearms to defend against the oncoming attacks before lunging forward with a horn attack while at that moment when Naruto channeled chakra through the blade and attacked, managing to cut off one of the horns but then he saw a crack on the blade of the katana.

"Darn it, any more and it will break," Naruto reluctantly sheathed the blade and took out a pair of combat knives as substitutes "Let's see how to go about this…alright then," he crossed the middle and index fingers of both hands together "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he created several clones to attack the minotaur, keeping it occupied.

"Blizzard!" Naruto aimed around the minotaur's feet and launched multiple chunks of ice to freeze the ground which made it difficult for the monster to maintain its balance and easier for the shadow clones to land their attacks with several combat knives lodged into its body "Trip it up!" two clones came from behind whilst sliding on the icy ground and slashed the tendons of its legs, forcing it down to its knees.

"And now, Thunder!" Naruto thrust a hand above his head, calling forth numerous lightning bolts to strike down on the minotaur from above, the combat knives drawing in the electricity and frying it from the inside.

"So that's what you were aiming for, bypassing the minotaur's tough exterior to directly attack its weaker interior," said Sora, understanding what her master's plan was and admiring it.

"Yeah, time to finish it off," Naruto channeled chakra to his right outstretched hand to form a blue spiraling sphere of energy then he dashed forward at highspeed till he was in front of the minotaur "This is the end, Rasengan!" he rammed the jutsu into the minotaur's chest which grinded against it before sending it flying in a spiral and crashing into wall where it hung there embedded with a circular hole in its chest for a few moments before turning to ashes, leaving its monster core and horn behind.

Music End

With the minotaur's death, Naruto heard a ping to signal a level up before his status screen appeared before him to display the latest changes to him.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze
Age: 18
Race: Human (Reincarnated)
Job: ?
Title: Child of Prophecy, Sage of Peace, Hestia's Blessed, ?
Affiliation: Hestia Familia (Member) Spiraling Leaf Inn (Proprietor)

Level: 15
Strength: 82
Magic/Chakra: 88
Attack: 67
Defense: 71 (+20) (Fuinjutsu Boost)
MAG Attack: 69
MAG Defense: 60
Agility: 89
Luck: ?

Falna: Burning Will [When damaged to a critical condition, the user's overall stats are sharply increased when facing enemies of higher levels than the user. Also the Exp Points are doubled when defeating enemies of levels higher than the user]

Weapon: Stinger (Combat Knife) [ATK:15 MAG:0]
Sub-Weapon: G6 Commando (Assault Rifle) [ATK: 30 MAG:0 (Critical Hit increase 20%)]

Armor: None
Accessory: None
Skills: Chakra Manipulation LV4, Shadow Clone, Substitution, Rasengan, Wind Manipulation LV4, Fuinjutsu LV6, Fire Manipulation LV2, Fire Magic Tier 1, Thunder Magic Tier 1, Blizzard Magic Tier 1

"Phew, that was tough. Reminds me of the good old days, right Kurama?" asked Naruto, walking over to pick up the monster core and the Minotaur Horn.

"Hmph, if there are monsters like that oversized cow at the lower floors, I'm looking forward to it," said Kurama with a smirk.

"For a fox who sleeps all day, I still find it hard to believe that you have a hunger for battle," said Sora with a quirked eyebrow.

"Goes to show how much you know of me,"

"Anyways, I'll use a Return Scroll to get back to the top and report to the guild after picking these up," Naruto then heard rapid footsteps heading his way and the Automap displayed a blue blip approaching his position which meant its human. Soon enough, he saw who it was.

She is a very beautiful woman with long golden hair, gold eyes and a slender physique. She wears a black-and-white battle garment underneath armor which consists of a headguard, breastplate, arm guards, hip guards and knee guards. Naruto took note of the rapier in her hand with its blade glinting in the light.

The woman looked around as if in search of something before setting her eyes on the Monster Core and Minotaur Horn in Naruto's hands which the blonde ninja noticed and began to get an idea of what actually happened.

"Were you by any chance chasing after a minotaur from the lower floors? If so, then you're kinda late since I've already taken it down. Sorry if I stole your kill," said Naruto apologetically. Kurama scoffed, not seeing any reason for his partner to apologize since the monster attacked them and not like the woman had her name written on the monster for them to know.

Even though she wasn't reacting visibly due to her stoic expression, the woman was actually shocked to learn that the minotaur had been killed. She inspected the man with critical eyes while noting the strange attire and the weird looking staff-like weapon holstered to his back which bears some resemblance to that of a crossbow. Then she notices his gem necklace which indicated his rank and to her surprise, he's an F-Ranked adventurer which makes his claim very hard to believe.

"…are you an F-Ranker?" asked the woman stoically.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yes I am, I was on a couple of quests when that oversized cow attacked me,"

"Did you really kill the minotaur by yourself?"

"I had to otherwise it would have killed me," the blonde ninja pointed out to her as a matter-of-factly.

"It shouldn't be possible for an F-Ranked adventurer such as him to defeat a powerful Minotaur from the middle floors and yet he did on his own as I don't see anyone else with him. This man…he's different from others I've met," the woman looked at Naruto intently, something about him tells her he's strong in spite of his rank if he was able to kill a Minotaur singlehandedly.

"Who are you?" asked the woman.

Naruto was about to reply while picking up the Monster Core and Minotaur Horn when he paused and decided to hold off on giving her his name "I'm just a fellow adventurer like you. I know you have lots of questions for me but right now I have somewhere to be as I've just finished my quests and coming across a minotaur was not part of it but I'm not complaining," he took out the Return Scroll and prepared to use it "I'm pretty sure we'll meet again since we live in the same neighborhood after all,"

Activating the item, the Return Scroll unraveled itself and swirled around Naruto while increasing in speed before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Ah, wait…," the woman tried to stop Naruto but he was already gone by then, leaving her alone "…just who is he?"

---

"What did you just say?! You were attacked by a minotaur and managed to kill it?!" Eina yelled in disbelief.

Going back to how things led to her yelling, Naruto had returned from the dungeon and went to report the completion of the quests. Apparently, the guild can know exactly how the adventurers perform in their quests through their Guild Gems. It seems like the Guild Gems record their actions like which monsters they had fought and how many were killed, and also which floors they had gone to as well. That recorded information can then be read when the gem touches a crystal ball belonging to the guild, this way they can make sure that the quests are properly completed.

This was what Naruto did when he got back, at first Eina was surprised by the number of monsters he had killed to complete each quest and descended to the eighth floor. What really knocked her for a loop was when she saw the information of him having killed a minotaur and it can't be fake since the Guild Gem is linked to him and can't be tampered with.

Naruto waved his hands in a placating manner "Eina-san, please calm down,"

"How can I calm down? Look I can understand you killing a demon given what you explained that it was weak and didn't give it a chance to attack and maybe even go as far as taking your word of having defeated a floor boss because you had two E-Ranked adventurers with you which by the way, you weren't even a registered adventurer to begin with. But slaying a Minotaur that came from the middle floors is just not possible from an F-Ranked adventurer!"

Naruto took out the Minotaur Horn for her to see "Then is what I'm holding a fake?"

"N-No, but…," Eina trailed off unsurely, not knowing what to make of all this.

"You really need to stop underestimating me just because I'm an F-Ranked at the moment. In my book; 'Experience outranks everything'," Naruto stated this with hardly a trace of doubt in his face.

Eina looked at Naruto in shock at the way he made that statement, spoken like someone who had lived through those very words for a long time and knew its meaning very well unlike a naïve person who might say it out of ignorance "Just who are you, Naruto Uzumaki?"

"By the way, I met this pretty lady with long golden hair in the dungeon. She was chasing the minotaur from the middle floors which resulted in it running into me and I had to deal with it," Naruto inquired.

Eina hummed in thought at that "A female adventurer with long golden hair and could go to the middle floors…you speak of Ais Wallenstein,"

"So that's her name, what more can you tell me about her?"

"Well for starters; she's a member of the Loki Familia and is currently an B-Rank with her level being at 58 last I checked and inching closer to becoming an A-Rank. She's said to be one of the strongest swordswomen in Orario and the gods have bequeathed her with the title 'Sword Princess'," Eina explained.

"Sword Princess huh? Pretty nifty title," Naruto commented.

"A whole lot better than being called the Number One Unpredictable Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja," Kurama teased.

The blonde ninja merely scoffed in response "Please, I take pride in that title. Lots of bad guys end up paying the price for underestimating me time and time again,"

"He's not wrong about that," Sora pointed out, having seen the memories of his past.

Seeing that the sun has begun to set, Naruto decided to head home after cashing in the magic crystals and monster cores for money which he did and earned a good amount but decided to keep the Minotaur Horn as a souvenir of sorts. He bade Eina farewell and left the Pantheon.

Misha then approached Eina to speak to her "So, he was able to take down a Minotaur as a F-Ranked adventurer which is pretty impressive and yet hard to believe,"

Eina nodded in agreement with a serious look on her face "You're right, it's unheard of for an F-Ranked adventurer to be capable of defeating a Minotaur from the middle floors and yet he was able to do so. This only proves that something about his stats that's blurred out at certain parts means that he's hiding something,"

"I'll admit that it's strange but it's probably best not to pry into someone's business. The last thing you want to do is to make him distrust you. I'm sure that that he'll reveal more to you about his stats if you've proven to be trustworthy. All you need to do is to be patient with him and not rush into things,"

"You're right, I just hope that's the case," said Eina reluctantly.

Meanwhile, Naruto had returned to a fully renovated church after leaving behind a group of shadow clones to complete the process while he went to the dungeon. Entering the building, Naruto made his way done to the basement and had just descended the stairs when he was suddenly hugged by Hestia.

"Welcome back, Naruto!" said Hestia happily.

Naruto smiled while hugging her back "Glad to be back, how was your day?"

"It was great, I came back to find the place as good as new, thanks to your shadow clones. It's almost like it was never abandoned in the first place. How did it go for you in the dungeon today?"

"Boy, do I have a story to tell you," Naruto sat on the couch together with Hestia, telling her what had happened in the dungeon, causing her to start fretting over him.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? If you die, it will really be traumatic for me!" said Hestia worriedly.

Naruto patted her head with an assuring smile "I'm currently the only member of the Hestia Familia and I don't plan on dying and abandoning you anytime soon, it goes against my Way of the Ninja,"

The goddess sighed with relief upon hearing his words "It makes me happy to hear that,"

"Let's have dinner, I still have some curry leftover in my inventory since I'm a little tired today,"

"Yay, I can't wait to have some!"

---

The next morning, Naruto woke up to find that Hestia snuggling up to him instead of being in her bed yet again with her boobs smooshing on his chest, making him blush red again. Not wanting to wake her up, Naruto switched out with a pillow like before some weird reason…he's envying the pillow for taking his place. Snapping out of it.

He donned out his outfit and geared up but before he left, Naruto whispered gently to Hestia "I'm heading out, Hestia-chan. I'll be sure to return safely,"

Hestia shifted around a bit before mumbling a reply "…okay,"

While walking along the street towards the Pantheon to pick up some quest before entering the dungeon, Naruto was having a mental conversation with Sora and Kurama "Geez, did she have to be that close to me?"

"Did you hate it?" asked Kurama pointedly.

"Well um…no,"

"I fail to see why you'll be uncomfortable of a girl who's clearly being affectionate with you," said Sora with a quirked eyebrow.

"I haven't gotten used to that kind of thing yet,"

"Well adapt faster, I just know that she's got a lot of goodies for you,"

Naruto was about to retort when he suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine and spun round to look behind him but only saw citizens minding their own business "Did you guys feel that too?"

"If you talking about the feeling of being watched? Then yes, we felt it," said Kurama with a frown on his face.

"But it was only for just a second, now I don't feel it anymore," Sora added.

"That's so weird," thought Naruto.

"Um, excuse me…," Suddenly a voice called out to him. She turned to see that it was a young girl with bluish grey hair which is tied with a small knot in a ponytail style and grey eyes. She wears a green above-the-knee dress with long puffed sleeves and a white collar a small orange bow under it, a white Apron and headband, black leggings and a pair of short brown ankle-length boots.

"Is something the matter?" asked Naruto curiously.

"You dropped this yesterday," the girl held out a small magic crystal.

"A magic crystal, I thought I traded them all in? How weird," Naruto took the magic crystal then pocketed it "Thanks anyways,"

"You're an adventurer, right? Are you going to the dungeon this early in the morning?" asked the girl curiously.

Naruto shrugged in response "Pretty much yeah," he would have said more when his stomach growled, making him realize that he had left without eating breakfast much to his embarrassment.

"Please wait for a moment," the girl ran inside the building behind her before Naruto could say anything and returned with a wrapped lunchbox which she pushed into Naruto's hands with a polite smile "It's not much but I'm sure it could sate you for a while at least,"

"No no no, I can't take lunch from someone I've never met before!" Naruto protested "Doesn't belong to you?"

"No need to worry, I'm sure there will be something to eat once the pub opens," the girl gestured to the building behind her for Naruto to look up at the sign which read [Hostess of Fertility]

"But even so…,"

"How about in exchange, you come over and eat tonight? That would even things out," the girl explained.

"Um okay, but I didn't get your name or tell you mine yet. I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze," Naruto introduced himself.

"I'm Syr Flova and it's nice to meet you. I hope to see you again tonight," the now known Syr introduced herself with a smile.

"Uh okay, it's the least I can do for the lunchbox you have given me,"

"Great, hope to see you later!"

"Sure…,"

Later on, Naruto was in the dungeon hunting monsters in accordance to the quests which he had received from Eina. Multiple goblins and giant spiders were attacking him but he was keeping up and slaying with a combat knife in each hand until they were all killed, leaving magic crystals behind upon their death.

"How much longer are you gonna keep hunting these small fries? We were able to descend to the tenth floor and beat the boss. Not to mention you've been in tough spots and still manage to come out on top," Kurama complained.

"I know but judging by Eina's reaction alone, I can tell that the guild wouldn't let me go down to the floors below the tenth due to my current ranking. So, I'll slay more monsters in order to level up and improve my rankings in order to gain access to the middle floors," Naruto explained.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and kill those small fries already,"

Sora spoke up "Then you don't need to look far now as another group of EXP Points just showed up,"

Naruto looked to see a group of monsters heading his way and twirled the combat knives in his hands to hold them in reverse grips with his eyes narrowed in focus "Let's get this over with, shall we?" he charged towards the monsters to engage them in battle and become even stronger for the difficult journey ahead of him.

Fulfilling another quota of quests and trading in the collected magic crystals for money, Naruto was walking through the busy streets, observing the people going about their business being it selling or buying items. Naruto wasn't paying that much attention since he was having another mental conversation with Kurama and Sora.

"Quite the workout, wouldn't you say? Certainly beats sitting on one's butt all day and being bored to death," thought Naruto.

Kurama scoffed in response "What you call a workout is what I'd call nothing more than jogging a short distance,"

"He's not wrong, you've gotten all too used to the monsters on these floors and the rate of gaining exp points gets longer with each level. You'd grow a beard by then," Sora added.

Naruto rolled his eyes "Jeez, you make it sound like leveling up is as easy as snapping one's fingers each time to do so, there's no need to rush plus we're not on any kind of deadline, are we?"

"Well no, but…,"

"I know you guys are getting bored but the dungeon isn't the only place I'll be going to, there's still lots of things to see and experience beyond Orario so don't be in such a hurry,"

Kurama grumbled in response "Fine fine, so what do we do next?"

"Let's check out the pub and have dinner there, I did assure Syr-san that I would go there," said Naruto.

"More like you were strongarmed into doing so," Sora teased, making the blonde ninja groan.

Soon enough, Naruto made his way over to the Hostess of Fertility which was already bustling with many customers going in and coming out of the pub much to his surprise. Snapping out of his awe, he went inside and managed to find a seat at the counter while taking off his hat and pulling down his facemask when Syr appeared.

"Naruto, you came!" said Syr happily.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile after putting his backpack next to his seat, having sent away his assault rifle to his inventory before exiting the dungeon "Well, you did invite me here after. I couldn't refuse after you had given me your lunchbox,"

"Exactly why I said you were strongarmed into coming here," said Sora teasingly with Kurama snickering in the background much to Naruto's annoyance.

Syr then called out to the kitchen "Mama Mia, the friend I told you about is here!"

Emerging from the kitchen is a woman much older than Syr who wears a different colored version of what the other waitresses wear as they serve the customers. The woman smiled upon seeing Naruto.

"So, you're the Naruto chap I've been hearing about since morning. Syr wouldn't stop talking about you. What would you like from the menu?" asked Mia.

"I'm kinda new around here, so I'm open to recommendations," said Naruto thoughtfully.

"Then you came to the right person, wait while I whip something up for ya!" Mia went back inside the kitchen and soon returned with a tray of food and drink "Here you go; stir fry noodles and a nice mug of fruit liquor, people can't seem to get enough of it!"

"Oh uh, thanks…," Naruto looked at the large heap of noodles on the plate and couldn't help but salivate a bit from the aroma "Mmmmm, it seems so good," he was suddenly disrupted from his thoughts when Mia slammed a plate of deep-fried catfish next to him, shocking him at the size of it.

"It's not enough, right? It's today's special!" asked Mia winked mischievously.

"I-It's okay! I know I said I'm open to recommendations but not too much please!" Naruto responded in a panic.

"Don't hold back, you're still a youngster with a lot of growing to do," Mia walked away to serve other customers while laughing boisterously.

Naruto looked back at the food and sighed in resignation "At least it's the cousin of ramen, might as well dig in and eat my money's worth," he proceeded to do so and found it to be quite delicious and the fruit liquor rather addictive to drink.

Syr approached Naruto with a bright smile "Well, are you having fun?"

"At the moment, I'm a bit overwhelmed," Naruto admitted.

"Sorry, though it looks like I can count getting paid a lot tonight,"

"I'm so glad for your good fortune," a deadpanned ninja took another bite of food, wanting to smack himself for being suckered into this just because he didn't know how to say no to a girl.

"But isn't it great how many kinds of different people come here?" Syr gestured for Naruto to look at everyone and see how they're enjoying themselves in spite of the differences in race, appearances, gender and much more "When there's so many people, there's so many things to discover…I can't help but feel excited! I guess you could say that meeting new people is my hobby,"

"I see what you mean," said Naruto, thinking of his past and the many places he had gone to and the people he had met, he had learnt so much from his interactions with them which shaped him into who he was back then and now.

Suddenly one of the waitresses being a peppy brown-haired cat girl called out from the entrance "The customers with reservations have arrived, nya!"

Naruto looked to see a group of adventurers enter the pub which suddenly fell silent which made him more interested in the individuals given that the redhaired woman in the lead is emitting divine energy which meant that she's a god. He looked at the rest which consists of twin girls with dark complexions and wearing tribal clothing, a wolf man with silver hair and purple mark on his left cheek, a male and female elf, a seemingly young boy, and a dwarf…but it was the last one that surprised him the most.

The customers began to whisper among themselves;

"Hey, she's gorgeous!"
"You idiot, look at the emblem! It's the Loki Familia!"
"You mean the Giant-killing Familia!"
"So that's the Sword Princess?"

"Small world, huh?" Kurama commented.

Naruto nodded in agreement "I know right? Said we'll meet again later, wasn't expecting to be this soon,"

The blonde ninja took a sip as he watched the waitresses serve the group their food then their god female stood up from her seat with her mug of fruit liquor raised into the air

"Good work out there in the dungeon, guys! We're having a feast tonight, so let's get drunk!" said Loki cheerfully, the others raised their mugs in response and proceeded to feast.

"Sounds like they came from the middle floors," Naruto commented.

"The Loki Familia are regular customers of the pub, their goddess Lady Loki really likes this place," said Syr.

"I can see that, they're a cool bunch. Next time, I'll bring Hestia-chan here to eat, I'm sure she'll like it here," Naruto took another sip of his fruit liquor, smiling at the thought of it.

After some time when most of the customers had left the pub to turn in for the night. The wolf man whom Naruto had learnt his name to be Bete Loga started to talk in a drunken stupor.

"Hey Ais, tell us about that thing,"

Said girl blinked in confusion "That thing?"

"You know, we let a bunch of minotaurs escape on our way back. You took out the last one on the eighth floor, right?"

"I didn't kill the minotaur,"

"Yeah yeah, you didn't kill the minotaur but rather an F-ranker did. Come on, I know you're nice and all but why are you giving credit to a no name loser who must have been cowering like a chicken until you saved him?"

Naruto frowned at what Bete was saying and already not liking where this is going, even Kurama and Sora weren't liking it either with all traces of amusement gone.

The drunken wolf man continued "You told me you went to finish off the last minotaur on the eighth floor, right? I bet that you had to save that dumbass before he ended up becoming nothing more than a smeared tomato paste. In fact, I know exactly what really happened.

Everyone in the pub were listening to Bete who wasn't even trying to keep his voice down in the first place, Naruto was already getting angry at the man's slander which grew even more at what he heard next.

"So get this; some little pansy who thinks he's all that was running around in the dungeon, and this big ugly cow suddenly appears and starts chasing him around till he was cornered. That's when Ais jumps in and cuts the thing to pieces while the little wuss was probably huddling against the wall, shaking all over in fear! I bet he was so scared he probably lost control over his bowels and ended up messing his pants from almost having his first near-death experience," Bete then started laughing while the two girls known as Tione & Tiona followed suit while the others remained silent as they just focused eating their food

"And then check this out, the loser who was so overwhelmed with fear and embarrassment of getting saved, he probably begged Ais to give him credit for killing the minotaur just to save face from his own dignity while in reality he doesn't want anyone to know that he soiled himself in front of Ais who saved him from his own ignorance! Hahahaha, what a pathetic jackass,"

Naruto growled with growing rage as he watched Bete laugh like crazy while slapping his knee while talking smack about him behind his back.

"That arrogant mutt, why I oughta…," Kurama was barely holding back from trying to over Naruto's body so he could tear Bete apart.

"Mess that guy up, master!" said Sora angrily "I won't be able to take any more of his lies!"

"…," Naruto didn't respond, trying to maintain control of his infamous Uzumaki temper else he ends up destroying the pub in a rampage, the people around him sans Bete don't deserve that.

Ais then said "I'm fairly certain that's not what happened and not even remotely accurate but I'm not so sure he can be blamed for any of that,"

However, Bete wasn't listening as he was still laughing while Naruto gripped his hand on the counter with such force that it formed cracks on it, Syr looked at Naruto with concern, wondering why he was acting that way.

The green hair girl named Riveria said "That will be quite enough out of you, Bete. The monsters only escaped from the seventeenth floor because of our mistake. It wasn't the kid's fault, so don't even try it. If Ais is covering for him and claims he killed the minotaur then we will take her word for it. So just leave it be,"

However, Bete didn't seem to buy it, slamming his hands on the table and shouted out "What! The idiot bit off more than he can chew for trying to be a hero. Do you honestly expect to believe that an F-ranker could ever beat a minotaur, let alone on his own? No way, no how! He wouldn't last ten seconds against that thing because he's a weakling!"

"It was clearly Ais who got rid of the last minotaur, not that weakling who got in the way. The only reason Ais didn't claim to be one to kill the last monster was because it was out of pity for the unfortunate fool and she knows it. Go ahead and ask Ais, she knows that I'm right. Tell her the truth, who's the bigger, stronger and handsome hero; me or that worthless wimp?"

"Naruto…Shut. Him. Up…," at this point, Kurama was shaking all over with rage and demanding the mutt to be silenced even if it meant killing him, laws be damned.

The team's short male captain named Finn tried to calm Bete down "Um Bete, I think you might be drunk,"

"I asked you a question, Ais!"

"Yup, drunk," Finn sighed, seeing that he was being ignored

Bete glared at Ais "What would you do if that guy walked up to you and say he had the hots for you, I'm sure you would tell him to get lost right. I mean you wouldn't waste your time with some low-level loser you could totally crush in seconds. That sniveling sorry excuse for a human being has no right to be anywhere near you. You're way too good for a nobody like that. Can you imagine a lowlife crouch sniffer like him is your partner? No no not THE Ais Wallenstein-,"

*SLAM*

That got the Loki Familia's attention as well as everyone else as they all looked at the source of the sound which revealed to be Naruto who had stood up from his seat with his hands on the counter which has a lot of cracks on them with his head lowered for his hair to cast a dark shadow over his eyes. Ais immediately recognized who the man is by the clothes he wore, watching him slowly walked towards their table with his body emitting a certain vibe which made the other customers move out of his way until he finally arrived at their table and faced Bete who looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked the wolf man.

Naruto replied in a cold tone "The guy whom you had been slandering for the past five minutes," hearing his answer made everyone realize that he was the subject of the insults.

Bete rose from his seat to confront Naruto with a sneer on his face "So, you're the brave little pansy who had the guts to claim that you were able to kill a minotaur by yourself. Where are your other pair of pants, do they still stink even though you washed them many times?" he tauntingly flicked Naruto's Guild Gem, purposely making everyone see the color of the gem and what rank it represents which caused them to whisper amongst themselves. Syr witnessed all this with worry, not understanding why Naruto was being insulted like this. unbeknownst to her, one of the waitresses was looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

Naruto glared at the man "I'm only going to say this once; don't go making claims about things when you don't have any proof at all. That would rather make you a big liar,"

By now, Bete glared at the blonde ninja with a challenge "Is that so, then do you have proof?"

Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and brought out the Minotaur Horn for all to see "I've got my proof right here, where's yours?"

Bete suddenly swiped the horn from Naruto's hand "You practically presented it to me! No doubt you stole this horn while Ais wasn't looking so you can claim that it was you who killed the minotaur instead, just how much of a fraud can you be?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, having truly gotten fed up with the mutt at this point "Give that back…,"

"And why should I when it obviously doesn't belong to you,"

"I said give it back, I'm not going to repeat myself,"

Bete brought his face close to Naruto with an arrogant smile "Then that means you won't be getting it back, unless you can make m-,"

*WHAM*

"Finally/It's about time, master," Kurama and Sora felt vindicated upon seeing Naruto finally taking action.

Bete's eyes suddenly widened in pain as something slammed into his stomach with great force, he looked to see that it was Naruto's fist which shocked him further. But before he could react or even make sense of what just happened, Naruto reared his fist back and punched Bete straight in the face with great force, sending the wolf man flying out of the pub and to the streets outside but not before snatching back the Minotaur Horn, shocking every single person bearing witness to their very core.

The blonde ninja turned to face Mia and bowed "I apologize for the damage to the counter, I shall pay for the repairs after I've taught that mutt outside a lesson in humility," Naruto took off his jacket and handed it to Syr "Please hold this and look after my bag, I'll be right back," he made his way out of the pub, leaving Syr behind to worry about him for angering an B-rank adventurer into a fight.

Outside the pub, Bete groaned in pain as he rubbed his face which had been punched by that lowly F-ranker, the passerbys outside were taken by surprise upon seeing a well-known member of the Loki Familia suddenly come flying out of the pub. Bete looked up and snarled upon seeing Naruto emerge from the pub without a shred of fear.

"You've just made a big mistake by hitting me; a member of the Loki Familia!" said Bete angrily.

Looking completely nonplussed, Naruto replied stoically "You're right about that…I made the mistake of not hitting you hard enough," he cracked his knuckles loudly "Allow me to correct that,"

Everyone watched as the forthcoming fight was about to begin while the other members of the Loki Familia had their own thoughts about this;

"Shouldn't we stop this fight? That guy is in over his head!" said Tione worriedly.

Loki shrugged in response "I don't know what his deal is but the guy's asking for death wish by hitting Bete, this will be fun to watch,"

"Have you guys forgotten that Bete tends to go overboard during a fight? He could get himself killed!" Tiona pointed out a fact.

The dwarf known as Gareth scoffed in response to Tiona's concern "He would deserve it, that whelp has no respect. I should be helping Bete teach that brat a lesson!"

"Let's not have any of that Gareth," said Finn, stopping the dwarf "As foolish as the guy is for challenging Bete, we'll need to stop him before he kills him,"

"But that guy has no chance against Bete who's a B-ranked Adventurer and had gone to the middle floors, it's just not possible," said the female elf known as Lefiya Viridis.

"…," Ais didn't say anything but rather looked at Naruto who looked at Bete with such intensity.

Music start: Tekken 7 OST; I'm Here Now

Naruto watched Bete intently, taking note of the claws extending from his fingers and the tensing of the leg muscles as he prepared for a head-on charge and sure enough…

"I'll end this in one blow!"

Bete charged forward with a first reared back to attack with a haymaker punch, Naruto narrowed his eyes in focus as he took a quick step and countered with a high side kick to the chest, knocking Bete back and making stumble on his feet upon landing on the ground. Bete attacked with a kick this time but the blonde ninja knocked it aside with a kick of his own immediately countered with a string of high kicks which Bete deflected with his forearms. Naruto switched to jabs and hooks only for the wolf man to grab one of his fists and knocked him back with a punch to the chest.

Recovering from the powerful punch, Naruto soon found himself forced to the defensive as he darted and weaved around Bete's incoming attacks, merely feeling the wind pressure from each of them tells him that he needs to avoid taking as little amount of hits as possible due to the obvious difference in level, it made him cautious not scared.

On the other hand, Bete was starting to figure out Naruto's fighting style and able to defend himself more effectively whilst unleashing attacks of his own which made the blonde ninja block more frequently than dodge due to his superior speed. Naruto started to see why this guy is a B-rank adventurer but had no intention of backing as he attacked fiercely but then Bete attacked with a swift punch which Naruto blocked with both arms but got knocked back, leaving him open for him to land several punches before finishing with kick and knocking him down.

Refusing to give in, Naruto kipped up from ground and back to his feet before charging forward and attacking with a flying kick only for Bete to intercept by grabbing the outstretched leg then spun around several times before tossing him away as he crashed into the wall of a building slumped down to the ground.

Loki laughed out loud "See what I mean? It's so funny that this guy thought he could beat Bete!"

Gareth scoffed "As I thought, a foolish boy who was too arrogant for his own good. He shouldn't even be an adventurer,"

"I knew it was impossible for an F-ranker to contend with a B-ranker like Bete," said Lefiya.

Finn merely shook his head "It's no surprise considering that his overall strength gets enhanced when under the full moon at night," he looked up to see the aforementioned full moon illuminating in the night sky.

"At least, he didn't kill him," said Tione with Tiona nodding in agreement.

Ais looked at the slumped form of Naruto intently "…he's not finished yet," her statement made everyone look at her in confusion, wondering why she said this when the odds are obviously against the F-ranker?

Bete looked down at Naruto with arrogance "What was that you said earlier about correcting a mistake of having not hit me harder? Maybe the real mistake is you being an adventurer, you're better off being a nobody than a fake adventurer who would get people around him killed, huh?"

"Master, get up!" said Sora urgently.

"What the heck are you doing, Naruto? Get back up and beat this guy, he's making us look bad enough already as is! Or would you rather I take over?" said Kurama.

Not responding to the two, Naruto rose back to his feet much to the shock of the viewers as they weren't expecting him to wish to continue this one-sided fight. But then they saw him put his hands together to form a strange handsign and only those with especially good hearing managed to hear him mutter "Release Level 2,"

Bete quirked an eyebrow at the strange action of the blonde ninja "What's that supposed to be, some sort of pr-,"

Anything else that he was about to say was disrupted as Naruto was suddenly in front of him and was already attacking with a right hook punch to the midsection followed by a straight punch to the face with his left fist before ending with a large right uppercut that launches the wolf man into the air. Refusing to be idle, Naruto leapt after his opponent and punched him several times before performing a powerful spinning axe kick to send him crashing to the ground and landing afterwards. Just like that, he had regained his edge.

"Cocky little punk…," Bete got back up to his feet, smarting from the new bruises on his body to glare Naruto "He wasn't that fast and his attacks didn't hit that hard before, must have done something to make himself stronger by doing that weird hand thing. Not that it will change anything in the end!"

He lunged at Naruto, attacking fiercely with punches and kicks but Naruto was steadily coming up with him and responding in kind unlike before when he was forced to defend most of the time. Naruto intercepted an incoming claw swipe from Bete by grabbing his left wrist then hit him in the back of the head with a right roundhouse kick before swinging the same leg in the other direction with a heel hook to the jaw while letting go of the wrist so he would fall to the ground. A livid wolf man jumped to his feet and had extended his claws fully to attack Naruto with the intent to inflict fatal injury upon Naruto who saw this and took out his Tsumetogi while it's still locked in its sheath and took a more balanced for both offense and defense.

The two combatants constantly exchanged strikes with Bete trying to rip Naruto to shreds with his claws whilst the latter utilized his sheathed katana to specifically deflect the claws which could inflict critical then counter with blunt strikes and kicks. Suddenly they clashed against each other in the middle with such power that it unleashed a small shockwave around them as Naruto holding his sheathed katana with both hands pushed back against one of Bete's claws as they fought for dominance over the other.

Bete snarled at Naruto "You're dead meat!"

Naruto merely stared back with determination "Not as long as my soul inhabits this body!"

Bete tried to swipe at Naruto's head with his other claw but he quickly ducked under the incoming attack and swiftly countered with consecutive upward swings with the katana before launching him into the air with a rising uppercut and knocking away with a midair roundhouse kick. He got back to his feet yet again, trying to make sense of an F-Ranker is capable of keeping up and knocking him down so many times, even hearing hushed whispers echoing his very thoughts. Bete look up to see Naruto staring straight into his eyes without flinching, he's not afraid of him…not a single bit…and he hates it.

"Looking at me like that…you think you're hot stuff just because you're able to keep up and knock me down a few times. Don't delude yourself! By the time I'm through with you, you'll be broken to the point that you'll be nothing more than deadweight to your Familia and they will cast you out for being a worthless nobody!"

At those words, Naruto's eyes turned cold which sent shivers crawling up the spines of the bystanders as if a beast has awoken and is very angry. Naruto tossed the Tsumetogi into the air and formed that strange handsign from before and spoke in a frosty tone "Full release Level 0…," then he stretched out a hand for the sheathed katana to land on it before latching to his waist "Time to end this farce…,"

Naruto crouched slightly flew across the street at blurring speeds with a flying roundhouse kick which connected before Bete could react but the blonde ninja refused to stop at just that; he rapidly punched at his opponent's chest and face then switched to a barrage of kicks whilst alternating between high, mid and low. Naruto then grabbed his sheathed katana and swung upwards to launch Bete lightly into the air where he unleashed a rapid assault of back-to-back roundhouse and reverse roundhouse kicks to juggle him in midair before finally finishing with a powerful rising uppercut to send Bete spiraling higher into the air before crashing onto the ground yet again and with heavy damage inflicted this time (an: Jago's Ultra Combo from Killer Instinct Gold N64).

Music End

The entire place went silent upon witnessing what they had just witnessed; an F-ranked adventurer had just beaten down a B-ranked adventurer, a feat which one would only see in a dream and yet it has become reality right before their eyes. They all watched silently as the supposed F-ranker approach the downed wolf man.

Naruto looked down at Bete, mildly surprised that the wolf man was still conscious but chalked it up to it being some of the benefits of being a high ranked adventurer. Regardless, Naruto looked down at the wolf man and spoke in a cold tone.

"Here are two lessons you'd better inscribe into your very soul and it's for your own good. Lesson #1: Never judge a book by its cover for you do not know of its contents which might either be pleasant or the opposite of the word. And Lesson #2 which is my personal recommendation: Don't go talking crap about things you don't know. You weren't there when it actually happened, so don't go acting like you hold all the answers and start slandering anyone behind their backs,"

"…grk…grrr…," Bete growled in pain with the blonde ninja sighing as he senses the wolf man's anger towards him.

"Look man; I've got no beef with you but I just didn't like how you were slandering me like that especially when you hardly know a thing about me besides my rank. Keep in mind; Rank does not denote skill and experience after all, it's the person himself or herself that does. Next time, try to get all your facts straight and make sure they're all genuine before drawing up conclusions, okay?"

Kurama scoffed "Hmph, don't see that happening with this mutt. Even that Inuzuka friend of yours at least had some humility in the past compared to him,"

"He's not wrong master," Sora added in agreement.

Ignoring the two, Naruto turned away and began to walk back to the pub to collect his things and return to the church to rest. He was halfway there when suddenly…

"Behind you!" Syr yelled out in urgency.

*WHAP*

A fist was suddenly caught in an open palm which promptly closed around to hold it in place as Naruto had turned around sharply to catch an incoming punch from a battered Bete who simply refused to give in, having sensed his approach before Syr warned him.

"I'm not…through…with you…just…yet!" Bete snarled in anger.

"*Sigh* you stubborn fool…," Naruto released his killing intent and focused it upon Bete who clearly felt it and had never felt so terrified in his life, even more so when he saw Naruto's blue eyes suddenly change to red and the pupils became slitted like that of a feline and he could have sworn that he saw a nine tailed fox loomed above and was looking down at him with eyes of pure contempt "Do us all a favor…and stay down,"

Naruto then looked down which caused Bete to follow his line of sight to see an open hand inches close to his stomach and before he could rea-

*WHAM*

He was sent flying by a powerful one-inch punch, tumbling along the street before finally skidding to a stop and this time, he didn't get up as he has completely lost conscious with the last image in his mind being the feral red eyes of a beast whom he shouldn't have crossed.

Meanwhile the other members of the Loki Familia including the goddess herself were shocked upon seeing Naruto whom they thought was in over his head to fight Bete was rather the one to defeat him, albeit the fight wasn't exactly one-sided but still…

"This is…how is it possible for Bete to lose to this upstart?" Gareth couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, he was even willing to help Bete teach Naruto a lesson about learning to respect his betters but Finn stopped him. Now something unimaginable has just happened and he doesn't know what to make of it.

"This guy, he's so strong even though he's an F-rank. Amazing…," Tione had thought nothing of Naruto at first, but viewing his prowess and victory has piqued her interest in him a bit but not too much.

"Wow, no one would have seen this coming…especially Bete. No doubt he's gonna be sulking a lot after he recovers," Tiona was worried for Naruto's safety at first as she felt he was putting himself in danger. However, seeing the blonde adventurer emerge victorious against all odds makes him look so cool and awesome in her eyes. Plus, there's the bonus of seeing the arrogant Bete getting humiliated by a low rank adventurer which she'll definitely never let him hear the end of it.

Lefiya couldn't believe what she had just seen "How? This can't…there's just no way that Bete has lost to an F-ranker!" in her eyes, high ranked adventurers are the elites admired and worshiped by those below them and the very thought of a low rank beating a high rank is laughable. And yet, this guy utterly shattered that belief tonight and honestly that scared her.

"I-I don't understand, Bete has always been one of our fastest and yet he lost in speed? Did that guy use some sort of spell to be able to win?" Finn was trying to figure out just how his teammate had lost this fight and couldn't help but suspect something odd about Naruto who hardly gave off the typical aura of a beginning adventurer but rather that of an adventurer who has been raised in life-threatening circumstances given by his various expressions and postures throughout their encounter with him.

"As I thought…," Ais muttered to herself, she had always felt that Naruto wasn't lying when he claimed that he was the one to have defeated the minotaur and witnessing his fight against Bete just proves it. She knows full well that a Guild Gem cannot be tampered with and makes her curious as to how he was able to be this strong?

Loki herself was stunned to see a member of her Familia having been beaten so badly "Just how can a low rank adventurer like him be able to defeat Bete who's a B-rank on his way to becoming an A-rank soon? Just who the heck is this guy?" she then noticed the Familia Emblem on the back "That symbol…could it be?"

They were all snapped out of their thoughts when they saw Naruto having reached them and gazed at them with an annoyed expression before continuing to collect his jacket, hat and bag from Syr and approached Mia. He reached into his bag and secretly withdrew a decent amount of silver and gold coins from his inventory which he held out to her.

"This is the payment for the food and repair costs for the counter, I sincerely apologize for my behavior and hope to be allowed to come here again as I've truly enjoyed your food and services," said Naruto while bowing in apology.

Mia looked annoyed at first but a small glance at a worried Syr made her sigh before speaking up "You've got some guts to fight a B-rank and still come out on top, but I can't say I hate that. You can come here again but I'm letting you off the hook just this once so you'd better not start anymore fights here again,"

Naruto nodded in understanding "Thanks very much, I won't do it again," he turned to Syr with a small smile "We'll see each other again,"

Syr smiled back "I hope so, too,"

Leaving the pub, Naruto walked by the Loki Familia and looked at most of them in annoyance which made Lefiya flinch back a bit in fear before speaking "You're need a medic for that mutt, but he'd better learn how to keep that big mouth of his shut else I'll teach him how to do so," then he left with the crowd making way for him to pass through while whispering amongst themselves and wondering who he is.

"Ais, just who is that guy?" Finn asked the girl.

Ais shook her head in response "I don't know, he didn't tell me his name…,"

Now fully recognizing the Familia Emblem and knowing who it belonged to, Loki was shocked to learn that she had finally recruited an adventurer into her Familia after so many failures, this one in particular is strong enough to beat one of her own. Loki groaned mentally, knowing full well that Hestia is going to lord this over her the moment she finds out about this.

---

Speaking of Hestia, she was waiting at the church for Naruto to return from the dungeon while feeling a bit anxious that he hasn't returned yet. She has been wondering what she could do for him since a majority of the things he has done was for her sake and she would never stop being grateful for it which is why she wants to do something to show her love and appreciation for him.

Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs to the basement and immediately knew who it is and quickly got up to run over to the door and open it excitedly "Welcome bac-Naruto, what happened!? Her supposed happy reception turned to shock upon seeing state of appearance as everything save for the bag, hat and jacket were torn and tattered.

Naruto rubbed the back his head sheepishly "Oh hey, Hestia-chan. It's kinda a long story,"

Gently taking his hand into hers, Hestia pulled him over to the couch and sat down next to him after taking off his bag, jacket and hat "Please, tell me what happened,"

"You see, it started from this morning when I was on my way to the dungeon…," Naruto proceeded to tell her everything that happened today; starting from when he first met Syr who invited him to visiting the pub all the way to when he fought Bete from the Loki Familia and was able to beat him.

"You fought a B-Rank?! First the minotaur and now this? you're making me worry too much for your safety!" Hestia exclaimed.

"I'm really sorry, it's just that I couldn't tolerate him slandering me concerning things he doesn't know about. Even so, I personally don't want to form any sort of animosity between the two Familia because of this," Naruto pointed out.

"I understand," Hestia hummed in thought while whispering to herself "So, my Naru was able to beat one of Loki's members who's a B-rank…,"

"Hestia-chan, why are you happy?"

"Happy, me? What makes you think that?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion "Because I can see the edges of your lips curling up just a tiny bit, is there something I need to know? And don't try to lie cause I can sense if you are,"

Hestia pouted "Okay okay, jeez. The thing is that Loki and I don't really like each other, she always calls me a runt but I always make sure to remind her of that flat board which she calls a chest. Not only that, she always teased me that I would never have anyone join my Familia. But now…," she started to grin "Not only did I recruit an adventurer into my Familia but he was also able to beat one of her strongest too. Fuhuhuhuhu, I can't wait to lord it over her!"

"She's got quite the grudge against her fellow goddess," said Sora with a sweatdrop.

"But she ain't wrong about her having a flat chest," Kurama commented.

"Is that what comes to your mind? Ugh, I'm too tired for this," Naruto got up and prepared to turn in for the night.

Later on, Naruto was fast asleep on the couch but oddly enough, Hestia hadn't snuck in to cuddle with him for she was holding the Tsumetogi in hand and unsheathed it to see the damaged blade with a sad look on her face.

"You've been relying on your combat knives this whole time while I do nothing," Hestia's eyes narrowed in determination "Well, I'm going to do something about it. Your loyalty to me will not go unappreciated. Just you wait, Naruto,"

---

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto got to start out on being an official adventurer in this world which he knows many otakus would kill to do as well. He and Hestia saw off Aisha and Hiyori who were going their separate paths but resolved to meet again one of these days then informed some of the gods about the suspicious movements of the demons and making plans to investigate.

Naruto went to the dungeon to accomplish the quests given which he did successfully but then he was suddenly attacked by a minotaur who had come for the middle floors but managed to defeat it and earn a monster drop being its horn. He then has an encounter with a female adventurer whom he later learns her name to be Ais Wallenstein. It seems to Naruto that Eina can't believe that he was capable of achieving feats just because of his level and rank so he called her out on that before returning to Hestia.

The next day, Naruto meet a girl called Syr Flova who invites him to the Hostess of Fertility pub after venturing through the dungeon which he accepted since he couldn't exactly say no to an insistent girl. Later that night, Naruto went to the pub and was having a good, even got to see the Loki Familia and was surprised to discover that Ais was a member.

However, the good times came to an abrupt end when one of the members Bete started slandering him just because he refused to believe that a low rank adventurer was able to defeat a minotaur and suspected him to be a fraud which angered Naruto to confronting the wolf man and engaging in a street fight. Naruto was eventually able to win but not without taking a lot of hits along the way before leaving, his actions had drawn a lot of attention to him both good and bad.

Hestia welcomes him back and became worried about, especially when she sees the state of his katana and resolved to help him one way or another.

For the quests aspect of the story, it's something in the works and working to move forward on it which could lead to filler stories outside the major ones plus I'm having the Isekai System make things much easier and understandable along the way but I'm open to suggestions like always. Also concerning the fight between Naruto and Bete, I took a few ideas from games like Tekken, Injustice 2 and Killer Instinct so I hope it's to your fancy. As for the harem list, it's in the works too and will display the first half in the future plus several Danmachi girls are already in it. So read and review like always.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out and staying alive.