A/N

Here is the winner of the April 2024 poll. Also, Saiyan Effect won the poll for next month, so that will be up then.

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Enjoy!

Chapter 3 – REGISTRATION DAY

The day dawned bright as I stretched on my comfortable bed in the townhouse I had been given by my new familia goddess. I wasn't going to say 'my goddess' because I wasn't going to worship her and I hadn't mentally made the leap yet to just say that she was mine. Still, she was the one who gave me the falna on my back and owned this townhouse. I was still planning to be cautious of the gods, but my agreement with Tyche certainly gave her a little more leeway in my mind.

That said, when she buys back one of the other townhouses, I was going to be moving into that one as soon as possible.

The sunlight peeked through the blinds, making me blink as I considered it. Before I had gotten cancer, I had been a very active person, getting up before the sun to workout on most days and making sure I got plenty of sleep. Then, when cancer came along, the pain of it kept me from sleeping through the night. I couldn't remember the last time I was awake after the sun rose. I needed to get back into that. I needed to train up myself to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible. So I was going to start getting up before sunrise to begin my days.

That might change a little, depending on how I went about the dungeon, how long I spent there and how exhausted I was at the end of a tough day. But thanks to the falna, whatever gains I got, I wasn't going to lose. I would get stronger and stronger until I levelled up. Then I would just get stronger again. It was a neat little system; I just needed to figure out the most effective way to get stronger.

The most obvious one was exercise. Work hard and reap the rewards. The only thing I wasn't entirely sure about was if regular exercise would be enough, or if I needed to do something particular, like killing monsters.

Which brings me to the next way to get stronger, which was killing monsters in the dungeon. Or outside the city walls, but it was a waste of time and effort to go outside of Orario to fight monsters when the dungeon was so close with stronger monsters.

One of the prevailing things that I had seen mentioned in the wiki, but wasn't mentioned in the anime, was about exalia. It seemed to essentially functioned like experience points would in a game, but it would be earned by killing monsters. Though I did read a reddit explanation that had mentioned that exalia was just the stat points themselves which could be gained through exercise. I wasn't sure yet so I would need to ask just to be sure that's how it worked. I know that Bell got a lot stronger training with Ais in the source material, but I would have to be sure that it tracked that way in the world I was living in. Otherwise, the only way to grow stronger is staying in the dungeon all day killing monsters.

The third way to get stronger is through skills. I didn't have liarise freese like Bell did, but he didn't get that on his first day either. Not that I necessarily want that particular ability, but I wanted a skill that would allow me to get stronger much faster than everyone else. Combine that with my planned training and we would see how I turn out.

Though, I did have a skill. Invictus. It appeared at first glance that it was a defensive protection sort of skill. It made me immune to the Charms, possibly poisons, being drunk out of my mind (wasn't sure how I felt about that one yet), or any other status affliction that I could be forced into. But I couldn't help feeling that my thoughts on it were falling short of the potential of that particular skill. I hoped that Tyche was able to find out more about it soon, because I wanted to take full advantage of any advantage I could get in this world of monsters and madness.

A rummaging downstairs drew me out of my thoughts as I could hear Tyche moving about in the kitchen, possibly to get breakfast ready. I decided that it was probably as good a time as any to get up and begin my first full day in Orario.

It only took me a minute to get dressed. I'd only had the clothes on my back, but Tyche had told me that I could wear anything that was left in the cupboards that fit. Thankfully, it was male clothing. It wasn't a perfect fit, being a little tight in the shoulders, but it would do for now. I didn't care about getting dressed up properly, I just threw on a shirt and pair of pants that were a little on the tight side.

Finally ready for the day, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. As expected, Tyche was there, having just plated up breakfast. At my arrival, she looked up at me with a grin that seemed to make the room get brighter. I had to admit, it did emphasise her beauty when she smiled.

"Good morning Albert!" she called out cheerfully. "Perfect timing. Come and sit, I made breakfast!"

Breakfast turned out to be a mix of breakfast sausage and some sort of yoghurt with oats and dried fruits in it. Not my standard fare, but it would certainly give me the energy I would need to get through the day.

"Is this normal?" I couldn't help asking.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she sat down.

I gestured to the plate. "I really don't mean to sound ungrateful, because I am not meaning to be. I was just wondering about the food. Where I come from, we have both these types of food, but they normally wouldn't be eaten together."

Tyche looked a little sheepish. "It's fine," she insisted. "I'm not offended. But seeing as I was considering leaving the lower world, I hadn't done much shopping recently. The food is good, but I just couldn't bring myself to go to the market and force myself to interact with people and their judging eyes."

I nodded. "I understand," I replied. "Besides, it still smells good and I am sure it will taste better."

She smiled and we both took a mouthful of food. The yoghurt wasn't as sweet as I was used to back home, but the fruits did a good job of bringing that sweetness back.

"Seeing as you mentioned it," Tyche said, after she swallowed her mouthful, "where are you from? You didn't mention last night."

I considered how to answer. On the one hand, I could risk it and give the full truth. After all, as a goddess, she would know whether or not I was lying. But did I want to give her the full truth? Honestly, no. I still had no idea how trustworthy she was yet. Not just whether or not she would screw me over, but on whether or not she could keep a secret. The last thing I wanted was to become an experiment or something for the gods in this world.

So a redacted version of the truth was the best way to go, for now. If Tyche proved herself trustworthy with information, then I would likely tell her the full truth, just so that I had someone to talk about it with. We would just have to see.

"It's an island called Australia," I explained, thinking about my home and how to keep her from guessing more if she didn't already know. "It was in the south." I switched my thinking to the geography of this world. "I don't think it's there now."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "I have no way of knowing for sure at the moment," I explained. "But I highly suspect that if you hopped on a boat now and went south, there will be no Australia in existence, nor any of its people. I think I may be the only Australian in the world now."

She gasped in horror, luckily not inhaling any of her food. "What happened?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter," I said. "One moment, I thought I was about to die. The next, I am waking up on this continent. I had heard people speaking about Orario and thought that this was where I should go to do something with myself."

She had a hand over her mouth and tears glistening in her eyes, which somehow made them sparkle even more. "That's so tragic," she whispered. "Your home is just, gone?"

I shrugged. "I assume so," I said. "I do believe that I am the last of my people." That was said, as I thought about no one else being here from my world.

She was silent as she wiped away the tears in her eyes. Then her expression turned concerned. "Have you been able to… process it all?" she asked, sounding as concerned as she looked.

I thought about that. I had known I was going to die from cancer. I'd had time to say my farewells and make sure that my kids got everything I had. In the end, I had made my peace with it, so when I closed my eyes for the last time, I was ready.

"I think so," I said slowly. "I might get some flashbacks from time to time, but I have mostly made peace with it all."

She gave me a searching look. "That's good," she said, settling back in her chair, but not looking up at her food. "But if you ever need to talk, please know I will do anything I can to support you. Even if I can only provide an ear for you to scream into, or a shoulder to cry on, I will do everything in my power to look after you."

That was… surprisingly sweet. I hadn't expected her to offer that to me and, from what I could tell, she was completely serious. Maybe trusting her will be easier than I thought.

I gave her a grin. "Thank you," I said genuinely. "That is very sweet of you. If I need that, you can be sure that I will use you as my cuddling partner."

Her face turned a pretty shade of pink, but she smiled back and nodded. "Anytime," she said.

We went back to our breakfasts, the only sound being that of our chewing for a few moments. I decided it would be a good idea to check on how today was likely to go.

"How many of the other townhouses can you afford to buy back?" I asked curiously, looking up from my plate.

Tyche's expression fell a little. "It's a little better than I thought," she said, her words and face not matching up, seeing as she didn't look all that hopeful. "From what I saw in their advertisement, I can afford two of them but I am just short of a third house."

I gave a nod. "How short are you?" I asked.

She shrugged. "About sixty thousand valis," she said, looking annoyed. "I might be able to barter them down a little, but if not, we can't get the third one back."

I reached into my bag and pulled out my moneybag and grabbed a handful of coins. I had taken a moment the night before to count out however many coins I had on me. It was another one of those things that I hadn't yet figured out; was I taking over a person's body that was turned to look like mine and their own soul was removed? Or was I created from scratch and given possessions to make up for the fact that I was thrown in a new world? Either way, for this moment, it meant that I had some money on me.

I dropped the coins on the table and counted out eighty thousand. I had started with about a hundred and thirty so this would leave me with fifty thousand valis that I would need to get kitted up.

It wasn't much, when the top gear from Hephaestus costs tens of millions of valis, but I remember that her minions sold their wares for much lower prices in the novice shops. I should be able to get a few good items and weapons before I go into the dungeon from them. After all, I was only going to the first few floors to begin with and I doubted that they would present much challenge to someone who had actually trained in combat.

"Here," I said, pushing the pile of coins in her direction. "That's eighty thousand, so even if they try to up the price a little you should be able to get three of the houses around us. It would be much better than having some strangers or another familia try move in so close. And maybe you can buy the others back with a loan from the Guild that we can pay back."

"No! Albert, I couldn't do that!" she said, trying to push the coins back at me, though failing as I hadn't pulled my own hands back yet. "It's not right for the goddess of a familia to borrow from their children!"

"Ok, stop," I said firmly, causing her to freeze immediately. "First off, I am not one of your children, so don't call me that. I had amazing parents and I will not dishonour them by being called your child. I am one of your familia, but not a child."

She looked a little hurt and confused by that, but nodded as she pulled her hands back.

"Secondly," I continued, "it's not a bad thing for me to assist in paying for my own house." I gave her a grin. "You just have to make sure that it is my place and I have final say on any and all guests and tenants in it."

Her brow was furrowed as she clearly disagreed with what I was saying. "But the property would be familia property," she objected. "I know I made an agreement with you but I can't give you that much more leeway than I would over other members. Our agreement was that I wouldn't command you. It didn't say that I would just give you familia property."

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Fine," I conceded. "But I still want you to take the money. I don't want anyone moving next to us that we don't want to be there and I would rather put my own money to helping this familia, your familia, than sitting by and watching you feel sad because you felt like you failed by not being able to buy the properties back. I am doing this for you and for the familia. So please, just take the money."

She gave me a watery smile, then surprised me by leaping over the table and hugging me tightly.

"Thank you!" she whispered right into my ear as she pressed herself into my body. "Thank you so much!"

I wrapped my arms around her slowly. I wasn't going to lie; she was a beautiful looking woman. While I was still hesitant about the whole 'gods were jerks' deal, I would probably just be able to enjoy holding onto a beautiful woman like her.

As it was, I pulled away from the hug after a few seconds, and nodded to her. "You're welcome," I said with a smile. "Make sure that you keep that safe." I gestured to the pile of coins on the table. "It wouldn't do if we got mugged on the way to the Guild."

She nodded and flounced back to her side of the table, scooping up the coins into a larger sack. "You betcha!" she promised. "I'm not letting this out of my sight before we get those deeds!"

She sat back down in her chair and started wolfing down her food. "You should eat quickly and get dressed as soon as possible," she advised around a mouthful of food. "If no one has bought the other houses by now, I doubt that someone will buy them before we get to the Guild. Still," she swallowed her mouthful, "I don't want to run the risk of someone getting them before we get there."

That made sense, so without further ado, I tucked into my breakfast.

Less than ten minutes later, I had redressed into some of the spare clothes that one of her old familia members had left behind, as mine needed to be washed after yesterday's running around the city. The clothes weren't a great fit, but they had also left an old cloak which was slightly too big. It would let me get there without drawing too much attention to myself.

More importantly, the cloak had some large inner pockets that let me hold the money we were bringing with us for the properties, while keeping it out of sight of the masses.

Walking through Orario in the daylight really hit home that I was no longer in my old world. Coming through yesterday, it was like I was walking through a dream, or a VR game. This time, it was like a veil had been taken off my mind which had stopped me from consciously considering this as reality, and not something else. I was looking around and it was just hitting me that this whole thing was real. Not a simulation, not a joke and not temporary. It was real and it was possibly permanent.

One might wonder what it was that gave this realisation. Was it someone knocking it into my skull? No. was it the sight of lots of adventurers walking the streets? Nope. Could it have been the horse-and-cart situation that seemed to be the main form of transport that didn't involve just waling everywhere? No, it wasn't that, nor was it the lack of technology visible to the naked eye. Was it the people themselves walking around in what would have been 'peasant cosplay' back home? No, but getting closer.

It was the smell.

The smell of people that didn't have hygiene as a top priority. Of sweaty farmers who still have dirt on them as they try foist their goods to everyone in the sound of their voice. Of stinky adventurers who have been fighting for their lives in the dungeon and haven't showered since they got out but decided to do run their errands before they went home. Of people that didn't have showers in their homes and probably showered once a week, at best, at the public baths that were advertised in the city.

I would be glad when my nose adjusted to the smells of the city, but I wasn't going to be missing out on my own hygiene. I liked feeling clean after a good sweaty workout and I wasn't going to 'do as the Romans do' in this place.

Thankfully, there was some semblance of plumbing and sewerage control, as the houses all had flushing toilets, which I was really glad to see. No one was throwing buckets of faecal matter into the streets which I counted as a massive win. Clearly the gods, when they came down to Orario, decided that they didn't want to be living in filth.

Our townhouses all had showers, or they would be ours when we finished at the Guild today. I could only hope that showers were actually common in everyone's house, or at least the adventurers. Being stuck inside a stuffy dungeon, throwing yourself around in battles and sweating your head off doing it… if there were thousands of adventurers doing that, it would be a giant stink hole. I could only hope that whatever god or demon that ran the dungeon that made sure the air quality didn't become dangerous, was also happy to remove smells.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Tyche's voice broke into my thoughts.

I looked over at the bombshell goddess. She was wearing her toga, but with a travel cloak over it, made from nice but sturdy material. She was looking at me with a curious expression as we headed towards the Guild.

I grimaced. "I was just reminding myself that I would make regular use of the townhouse's shower," I replied, speaking quietly enough that no one else was likely to hear us. "Things are a little more… pungent than I was expecting."

Her face gained a look of understanding. "Don't worry," she said reassuringly. "I made sure that all the townhouses had running water when they were built. It's connected to a clean underground river. I just make sure to pump up water to the reservoir every time it gets below half full and we never run out."

She looked around at the people making their way through the streets. "As for everyone else," she continued hesitantly, as if she was afraid that someone would overhear her and be offended. "Well, let's just say that most adventurers shower regularly, and farmers in the markets closer to the Guild make use of the public showers more often. They have a better understanding of how smell can turn people away from them."

That was very relieving to hear. I guess it was dependent on which area you lived in on how people took care of themselves. Like every modern city, really.

As we got closer to the Guild, I started to notice something else. People were staring at us as we walked. It wasn't obvious at first. Some adventurers were looking at us curiously. A group of Amazons would stare at us and giggled to themselves. Another group of adventurers looked at us with pity. A goddess looked at Tyche and flinched before looking away. It didn't make sense to me for a moment.

That is, until I turned to Tyche to ask her about it.

The goddess was hunched over in her travel cloak, as if trying to hide under it as much as possible. Her face was dejected and she was staring at the ground as we walked. She even started to slow down so she wasn't walking next to me but slightly behind.

Ah. So these people remembered the fate of the original Tyche Familia. It made sense I suppose, that Tyche would be a source of amusement to some of the more antagonistic gods and adventurers. Those that had a more sadistic bent would probably find Tyche's problems a source of humour. And sadly, in my current state of being a fresh new adventurer, there was nothing I could do to change that. Yet.

What I could do was not let the head of the familia get depressed by it all. I knew how it felt to be alone in a crowded room. It was a little how I felt after getting the big C diagnosis. While I didn't have anyone laughing at me about that, except for maybe some battlefield enemies if they had known, I still knew that sometimes people just needed to know that someone was there for them.

I slowed down a little and put my hand on Tyche' shoulder. She looked up in surprise, as if just realising that I was still there.

"Don't worry about them," I said, giving her a small smile. "They don't matter anyway. All that matters is that we are here now and we are going to be wiping the floor with them soon enough."

She gave a strained smile of her own. "It's easy to say," she said softly. She looked off to the left where another small group of Amazons were throwing snide looks our way and one was winking at me, licking her lips. "Those Amazons are from the Ishtar Familia. They know my two girls that were taken to work for her. They were already in the familia when we made our claims to the Guild so they knew that all they had to say was that they had a renard and it would all have been sorted out. None of them said a thing!" she growled as her face turned bitter. It only lasted a moment though before the anger became tired again. "Now look at me. I lost all my original familia and most of my property."

"But now you have me," I said with a grin, trying to lift her spirits again.

That seemed to work as she gained a genuine small smile. "That's true," she said, looking grateful. "I have you, and we are starting again!"

At least her smile was back. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

We kept a companionable silence as we continued making our way towards the Guild building. It was in the same general area that the dungeon entrance was from our house. There was only a few hundred meters distance between the two. Which made sense really, as adventurers wouldn't want to lug their magic stones all around the city if they didn't have to. They weren't right next door to each other, but the distance was only a short walk away.

Something came to mind as we neared the Guild. I decided to ask it.

"I've been meaning to ask," I said putting an innocent expression on my face. "I know that there are many other gods and goddesses that don't seem to have familias. I saw on the list yesterday that Hestia was one of them, but the address given was the same as the address for the Hephaestus Familia. Is that a mistake?"

She gave me a look that was a little suspicious. I don't know what kind of lie detection the gods have here, but nothing I said was an outright lie. I had intended to ask, because I needed to know where in the timeline I was sitting. I did see Hestia's name, and the Guild girl had written Hephaestus' house as the address. So no lie to detect.

Though, considering how insecure Tyche was yesterday, maybe this was some residual suspicion that I was looking to leave her for a 'better choice'. It wasn't going to happen. I wasn't going to be joining Hestia's familia at all. I was as happy as I was going to get joining Tyche. Even if it came with some baggage that I didn't care about. It had nothing to do with me and there were no outstanding debts so it was a fresh start for both of us, as far as I was concerned.

"Hestia came down to the lower world about three months ago," Tyche said slowly, looking at me with a frown that didn't hide her anxiety. "She has basically been crashing on Hephaestus' couch since then." Tyche's face turned disapproving. "She just lazes around eating and drinking all of Hephaestus' stuff, not putting any work in to establishing herself. I know that she has put her name down as open to starting a familia, but she hasn't had anyone that has taken her up for it."

"Why is that?" I asked. I had an idea why, but I figured it was good to ask, just to be sure.

"Because she doesn't have any resources of her own, mostly," Tyche replied, confirming my own thoughts. "She doesn't work, so doesn't earn money. She isn't trying to gain any skills, like Hephaestus or Goibnu or even Miach have done. She can't use her arcanum either. She just sits around, hoping that someone will join her so that she can claim she has a familia."

I nodded. That was what Hephaestus would complain about whenever she thought that Hestia was going to ask for money. And really, Hestia was the Goddess of the Hearth. She basically represented being safe at home. It wasn't a martial position, nor one that would look to gain the skills of a trade. It was ultimately a position that she was just wanting everyone to feel welcome at home. Not exactly traits that would make her seem likely to go out and proactively start working to provide resources for her potential familia members.

No wonder she asked for a knife that cost two hundred million valis to make, without having the money to pay for it upfront. It seemed in line with how she was in the anime too.

"Why do you ask?" Tyche asked, looking all vulnerable again.

I reached over and patted her on the head. "Don't worry," I replied. "I am not planning on leaving you for Hestia. I was just asking."

A relieved smile came over her face as she nodded, not even concerned about me touching her head. In fact, I could have sworn that she leaned into it slightly. I wasn't sure what to make of that, but for now, I was going to assume that she was just seeking comfort that I wasn't leaving her.

How hurt she must have been if a simple question brought about such insecurities.

We finally arrived at the Guild. My best guess was that it was about three kilometres away from our houses. Only about twenty-three minutes of walking all up at my best guess. Hmmm, that reminds me, I need to see if watches are a thing here. Anyway, the distance was nothing strenuous. Once I get my stats up, I imagine that it would take nearly no time to run there if I wanted. In fact, all told, the city walls probably had a diameter of about ten kilometres, all told. That was only about half the length of Manhattan Island. Not a major city by modern standard.

I think I remember reading somewhere that the population of Orario was only about one million. A large city in ancient times, but nothing to write home about from my old life. It would be easy to fit a million people in the walls of the city, but lack of skyrises would certainly limit how many people would fit. And with horses taking up room and smelling like they do, most people don't have them, which means walking everywhere.

Maybe I should just 'invent' bicycles? Something to think about.

We walked into the Guild building and walked straight to the first counter we saw, which happened to have a familiar face, though not one I had spoken to before. It was an elvish woman, though half-elf would be more accurate, with brown hair down to the nape of her neck, glasses perched on her nose and a larger than average bust that was completely covered by her uniform.

Eina Tulle had made her appearance. She looked startled at seeing Tyche for a moment, before recovering.

"Welcome to the Guild, Lady Tyche," she said, bowing as we approached. "My name is Eina Tulle. How may I help you today?"

"Hello," Tyche said, sounding pleasant, despite the curious eyes that were staring at her, and by extension, me. "I need to speak to someone about property sales, and Albert here," she gestured to me, "needs to register as an adventurer for my familia."

Eina blinked as several voices started whispering at this news. I had no doubt that Ishtar would hear about it by the end of the day. Or anyone else who had been happy with her previous bad luck.

"Oh?" Eina said, sounding confused. She straightened up after a few seconds. "I mean, of course. Mister Albert, could you please take a seat over at one of the booths along the wall there. Lady Tyche, I will have someone that deals with property be with you shortly."

I gave a nod and walked back over to the booth that I sat in yesterday. I could feel Tyche watch me go, but she stayed where she was. A minute later, someone came and escorted her to a back room.

A minute after that, Eina approached the table with a stack of parchment paper in her hands.

"Thank you for waiting," she said as she took a seat across from me. "Lady Tyche said your name was Albert, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, Albert Jacka," I confirmed.

She looked at me for a second. "I am sorry, but you'll have to forgive my curiosity, Mr Jacka," she said, looking a little sheepish. "How did you come to meet Lady Tyche?"

"I came here yesterday to sign up as an adventurer," I explained. "I was dealing with a pink haired girl that never gave me her name. she wrote up a list of gods and goddesses that were open to having a familia but had no current members. Tyche was on that list and she was my first choice."

Eina blinked at that, before frowning a little. "The Guild member you spoke to never told you her name?" she asked, sounding annoyed. A small 'eep' could be heard in the background.

"No," I replied easily. "Though to be fair, I never gave her my name either, nor did I ask for her name."

The half-elf pursed her lips. "I see," she mumbled. She straightened up, turning professional again. "Thank you," she said, bowing her head slightly. "I was just curious because…" she trailed off as if she was trying to find the right words, "well, the Tyche Familia has had… some difficulties in the past."

"I know about the whole drama with the Ishtar Familia and Tyche losing all of her previous members," I cut her off. "Miss Pink-Hair did tell me that much. She advised that I look to one of the other gods on her list, but I chose to go with Tyche."

Eina blinked before she gave a small smile. "I see," she said. "It may not be my place to say so, but I am glad that you were able to see past her former troubles. Though…" she hesitated again. "I think it would be remiss of me to say that you may find yourself being harassed by the Ishtar Familia once they learn of you."

I shrugged. "They are welcome to try," I said casually, but letting my face go blank. "But I find that trials usually lead to strength. If all they want to do is make me stronger, that's on them."

Eina's eyes widened before she gave a small smile of her own. "I suppose it would be," she replied.

She pulled out a quill and a pot of ink from… somewhere, and placed them on the table next to her stack of paperwork.

"Now," she said, her tone turning all business. "What is your full name, for the registration, and your age?"

"Albert Jacka, and I think I am eighteen." I wasn't entirely sure how old my current body was, but it looked like it did at that age so I was going to assume that's how old I was.

It didn't take long to register, only about ten minutes total and most of that time was because Eina was making sure not to smudge any of the ink as she wrote. She had also expressed sympathy when I told her that my home was completely destroyed and as far as I was aware, I was the only one left. She had even reached over and grasped my hand in a comforting gesture, though she made sure not to hold it too long to be misconstrued.

Hearing that I was a former soldier and had taken part in active missions for my country had a mixed reaction. Soldiers weren't thought much of in Orario compared to adventurers, as they were always much weaker than even middle-class adventurers. Still, she had accepted that I had experience in fighting and using weapons, even if the weapons were different than what I was used to.

She was more surprised that there were no gods or goddesses in my country giving out falna before its fall. Hearing that everyone had the same level was unusual to her, but it did give her greater context on how I was only level one with a few years of combat experience behind me.

"Now," she said, finishing the registration forms. "Because you are a member of a familia with no other members, the Guild will require that you be assigned a Labyrinth Search Advisor. That is someone who will give you all the information that you will need to navigate and survive the dungeon. As you have experience in dangerous situations, I am sure that you can appreciate that having more information will be beneficial to making it back home safe every day."

I nodded. "I agree," I said. "Who is going to be my advisor?"

She considered it for a moment. "Well, it could be nearly anyone from the Guild," she said. "I could see if Misha, that's the pink-haired girl from yesterday, is willing to be your advisor?"

I shook my head. "No thanks," I replied. "I would rather not have someone who is likely to blow me off because she didn't want to do anything be the one in charge of helping me stay alive."

Another frown adorned Eina's face. "She was trying to avoid work?" she asked, her voice getting dangerous.

"Well, she wasn't leaping up to help me," I replied, happy to throw the Guild girl under the bus. "Who else is there?"

Eina's frowned lasted another moment before it smoothed out and she looked thoughtful again. "Well, there is Rose," she said, gesturing to a red-haired woman behind a desk talking to an adventurer with a stern look on her face. She had a pair of wolf ears that made her look cute and a large bust, maybe even larger than Eina's. "She is an experienced advisor and would be able to help you."

I looked at the wolf lady thoughtfully. "Possibly," I said. "Who else is there?"

Eina gestured to another desk where a young elf woman with platinum blonde hair was standing and filling out paperwork. "Sophie is also available," she said. "She has had a few adventurers that she has been an advisor for. If neither of them works for you…" she bit her lip nervously, "I suppose, I could be your advisor."

I raised my eyebrow at that.

"I-I mean, I haven't had any adventurers yet," she stammered quickly. "I mean, to be an advisor for. You would be my first. Adventurer. That I would advise!" she looked quite flustered, which was amusing. The poor girl looked cute with how red her face was getting. Though 'girl' was probably the wrong word to use, seeing as she was about my current age. Her body alone basically screamed 'woman'.

I couldn't help grinning. "Please be gentle with me," I teased. "It's my first time."

Her face went bright red and she covered her face with her hands and groaned loudly. "I'm sorry," she said. "That came out wrong."

I reached over and patted her arm. "It's ok," I said. "I know what you meant." I leaned back in my seat and looked over at Rose. She was tall and certainly attractive, even with her stern face. She looked like she might be a couple of years older than my current age. She didn't appear in the anime, but I do remember reading in the wiki that she didn't like getting close to adventurers because they would die.

On the other hand, if I went with Eina, I know that she would do her best to look out for me, but I have the feeling that she would probably be overbearing. I remember that she kept repeating to Bell that 'adventurers shouldn't go looking for adventure'. That ran counter to everything I knew about how to level up. She was likely to help me as much as hold me back. That and I knew that she had a notoriously bad habit of shouting unexpected news at the top of her lungs wherever she was, regardless of who was able to hear her.

Sophie, I wasn't interested in, so I ruled her out without much thought.

I looked back at Eina. "Miss Tulle," I said. "You have been very open with me, so please allow me to ask you a question."

She tilted her head at me curiously, but nodded.

"Out of either yourself, or Miss Rose up there," I began, "who is more likely to help me come back alive and get stronger?"

She looked surprised for a moment, before she considered the question. "Honestly," she began hesitantly, "it could be either of us. I may not have been an advisor before, but I would do everything in my power to help you come back safely. However, Miss Fannett does have more experience than me and would likely be able to help you with some things better than I would, purely because she has likely come up against those issues before."

I nodded and thought about it. Other than a couple of things I barely remembered, Rose was a blank slate. Eina was known, but seemed to be willing at least. Either would be suitable.

I guess I could just go with whoever I thought was better looking. Not that I would tell Eina that. The half-elf was still very attractive, but the redhead was better.

"Could you ask Miss Fannett if she would be willing to be my advisor?" I asked. "Not that I don't think you could do as good a job, even with less experience," I continued to make sure that she wasn't going to be offended. "Honestly, I would happily have either of you. I just tossed a coin in my head and Rose is the one that was chosen. If not, I would be equally happy to have you as my advisor. Especially with how honest and caring you seem to be."

I made have laid it on a bit think, but Eina blushed slightly, looking pleased with herself.

"I'll just go see if she is willing," Eina said, standing up.

I watched as the half-elf walked away, doing my best to not ogle her very nice backside as she walked. I blinked and looked away, thinking about that reaction. Dammit. I hadn't thought about it before, but I was eighteen or nineteen again. I was going to have to work harder to not seem like a horn dog.

A few minutes later, Eina returned, leading Rose to the table. I stood as they approached.

"Mister Jacka, this is Rose Fannett," Eina introduced us. "Rose, this is Albert Jacka, new member of the Tyche Familia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, reaching out a hand. I know that this society seemed to be largely similar to the Japanese society, so bowing seemed to be a big thing, but I wasn't Japanese. I was going with what I knew.

Luckily, Rose seemed to not care either way. "The pleasure's all mine," she said, sounding bored and dismissive as she peered at me with her golden eyes. She did, however, reach out a hand to shake mine. I grasped it firmly and shook before letting go.

"Miss Fannett has consented to being your search advisor," Eina said, her smile starting to look strained at her co-worker's attitude.

I nodded. "Thank you," I replied. "And thank you so much for your help today, Miss Tulle. I am very impressed by your work ethic and your helpfulness."

Eina gave me a large smile. "You are very welcome," she said. "I will leave you with Miss Fannett for now and she can go through a few things with you."

I nodded and she left, leaving me with the attractive redhead. I gestured to the seat in the booth that Eina had used and she sat across the booth from me.

"Mister Jacka," she began flatly. "I will be going through…" she drifted off in confusion as I raised a hand to stop her.

I leaned forward slightly and looked at her, deep in her eyes. Not in a lovey kind of way, but truly looking at her, trying to see what sort of person she was. It was a habit that I had picked up in the field on missions when working with the locals. I became quite adept at being able to read people and it was a skill that had served me well over the years.

"First of all," I began, "please call me Albert, or Al. I am not one for formalities unless the situation calls for it.

"Secondly, I know that you don't really want to get to know me. I can tell that you have had a few of the adventurers you have been the advisor for die on you. I can see it as clear as day on your face. You do this to help some people out but don't want to get close because you think I am going to die. Especially as I am the only member of my familia and a level one adventurer. You don't know my skills, but as I am only a level one, you don't think much of them. And you are trying to shut yourself off emotionally right now so that when I die, it won't hurt you as much."

Her face went a little pale and her mouth dropped in shock. "How did you…" her expression grew stern again. "Do you have a point to this?" she demanded.

I nodded. "Yes," I replied seriously. "Because I don't want to have an advisor that doesn't believe that I can win, that I can live. I want someone who believes in me and is happy with my successes. I want an advisor who will work her hardest to help me get through each level and come home alive. Who can give me the best information available, even if it is hints and rumours, because she believes that by telling me, I will stand a greater chance of being victorious over the challenges of the dungeon and against the other familias and their capricious gods.

"I believe that you can be that person. That is why I asked for you. Can you be the advisor I need?"

Rose looked stunned for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to come up with words to say. Finally her jaw clenched. "If you wanted a cheerleader, you should have chosen Eina," she said stiffly.

I shook my head. "I don't want a cheerleader," I denied. "I don't want or need others to know about my accomplishments if they don't need to. I just want someone to do their damn job to the best of their abilities to let me stay alive as I get stronger. Eina… she is too cautious. And from what I hear, seems to shout out news when she is surprised. She would work hard, but would also try to hold me back. I need someone more discreet than that and someone that will let me do my own thing."

She looked at me through narrowed eyes. "You seem to know a great deal about us," she said suspiciously. "Are you a creep or a stalker?"

I stared at her with as deadpanned expression as I could. "No," I said flatly. "I am someone who has walked the battlefields, who has seen the reality of violence and death and come back every time by not being stupid or hot-headed. And by being lucky." I gave a lopsided smile. "Though I won't deny that I can appreciate the female form, at the appropriate time of course."

"Of course," she said, her own voice as deadpanned as my own. She sighed and sat up a little better, her face looking a little more alive than before. "Very well," she continued. "I promise that I will do my best to help you as much as I can, just as you asked. But I make no promises about thinking you will come back every time." She shifted uncomfortably. "I have too many experiences telling me you might not."

I considered that, then nodded. "Fair enough. Then the first thing you can do for me, is get the list of every monster that can be found on floors one through five. I need a list of their strengths, weaknesses and vulnerable points. If there is any information on spawn times, size of group spawns, and monster pantries on those floors, I would like them as well. I also would like maps of those floors if possible. I will need to study all of that so I can have the best chance of success on the upper levels."

Rose blinked as I gave out my list of needs. "I can do that," she said slowly. "Do you need weapons and armour?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to Babel after this," I said. "But if you know somewhere that I can get a bag for my magic stones that would be helpful."

She nodded and walked off, returning a couple of minutes later with sheets of the information I requested.

"This is all the information you asked for, for the top five floors," she said, passing them to me. "I also included a list of people that are willing to train new adventurers with their weapons, for the right price." She dropped an empty sack made of sturdy material on the table. "And here is your bag."

I felt pleasantly surprised at that. "Thank you," I said genuinely. I already had a plan on how to get some training, but if that didn't pan out then it was good to have a backup. And, on the plus side, it looked like Rose was being serious about helping me out. "I shall take it back to the familia house and study this. Do you need me to return it?"

She shook her head. "No, we have plenty of copies," she replied. "We keep a few around at all times to make sure that we can give it to new familias."

"Right," I said. "Well, I think that's all I needed." Behind her, I saw Tyche returning from the back rooms of the Guild. That seemed like a good enough signal to finish up here. I reached out a hand again and she shook it without issue. "Thanks for your time, Rose. I look forward to working with you."

She nodded back at me. I made my way out of the booth and headed over to Tyche. "Hey, Tyche," I greeted her. "How did it go?"

She gave me a tired sigh. "I was able to buy three with our money," she confirmed. "But they would only give me a loan to buy one more. I took it, so we now own five townhouses total. The other two are still on the market for now."

I patted her on the shoulder. "That's better than we expected," I said to keep her spirits up. "And maybe people will expect us to fail, so they won't buy the other townhouses for a while. That will give me some time to get a new one."

She chuckled as we walked out of the Guild together. "Thanks for being so optimistic," she said, leaning into me. After a moment she straightened up and turned to face me directly. "I am going to head back home. I take it you are still planning on getting some gear?"

I nodded. "I'm headed to Babel now," I confirmed.

She nodded and said goodbye as she left, blending into the crowd.

I made my way to the giant tower of Babel, keeping an eye out for any familiar faces on the way. I didn't see anyone though, so I just kept going until I got into the elevator. I selected the fourth floor and waited as it creaked upwards.

Once the door opened, I ignored the expensive Hephaestus shop right in front of it and made my way down the hall to where one of the stores that catered to level one and two blacksmiths would ply their trade in an attempt to get noticed. On this floor there were only two shops that catered to the new blacksmiths, but the shops were spacious and packed with plenty of gear.

As I entered, the teller, an older human man with weather-beaten lines on his face, looked up from where he was sitting at the front desk. "Good day, sir," he said. "How can I help you today?"

"I am looking for a sword, some throwing knives and a few armour pieces," I explained.

He hummed as he looked me over. "I take it you are level one?" I nodded. "And if I am right, you are probably looking for your first sword?" I nodded again. He gestured to the right wall. It was covered in swords of all shapes and sizes, from rapiers, to anime-sized claymores. "Feel free to take a look and see if anything feels right. I'll get the throwing knives for when you are ready."

I meandered over and started going through the weapons. The rapiers felt like toys in my hand and the longswords, great swords and claymores were too ungainly. Maybe when I level up I will look at them but not yet. The bastard swords were ok, but didn't feel right in my hands. I wasn't an expert but it didn't feel like it was the right sword for me.

Finally, I grabbed a sword that looked promising. It was a xiphos, a sword used by Greek hoplites and made famous by Percy Jackson. It was a leaf-shaped blade, dual-edge sword, made for both slashing and stabbing. It felt good in my hands and I took a few practice swings. Even though I had to be careful to not hit anything in the shop, I got a good feel for it. I think it was going to suit me quite nicely.

I wandered around the shop looking at armour. I found a pair of vambraces that I liked. They were plain, but felt like they would suit me well and didn't feel like they would drag my arms down while swinging my new sword. And as I increased my stats, any disadvantage caused by the weight would be removed.

I didn't find any matching body armour, but I didn't really want much. Maybe a breastplate later on, if I found one I liked. Otherwise, I was happy with what I got.

I returned to the counter, and found a bandolier with ten throwing knives waiting for me.

"I see you found some things you like," the teller said. "Let me see… that will be thirty-five thousand valis."

I pulled out my moneybag and counted out the required coins. The teller pulled out a sheath for the blade that I could fit around my waist, leaving my bandolier to go over my chest with my throwing knives.

Once done, I headed back outside, passing the other adventurers that were wandering around the tower without a second glance. I still didn't recognise anyone there so I had no reason to hang about. Besides, it was later in the day than I thought it would be. Heading home seemed like the right thing to do.

"There you are!" Tyche exclaimed from her seat at the table as I walked in the door. "I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost. I made some dinner, if you are hungry."

I smiled at her enthusiastic greeting, moving to sit across from her. "Thanks," I replied. "Sorry, I must have been wandering around longer than I thought."

"No, it's fine," she assured me. "I see you got your weapons. You happy with everything?"

I nodded. "Yep," I said. "Starting tomorrow, I am going to be training my heart out to get as strong as possible. I wouldn't want to stay weak and let us both down now, would I?"

She beamed at me. "That's great. I may even have some old training weights around the place from when…" she cut herself off looking pained.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey," I said as comfortingly as possible. "Don't worry about them. If they didn't have the faith in you to stick around when things got tough, then you are better off without them. No one wants a fair-weather companion."

She gave a slightly teary smile and nodded. "I know," she said, wiping her eyes. "But it still hurts to think about. They were my children, or at least, that's how we gods perceive our members. To be abandoned by our children… it hurts more than I thought it would."

I reached out and patted her hand. "I get that," I said. "Just know, I am not going to be running off to any other familia. You're stuck with me, Tyche."

She gave a wide smile, looking at me in relief.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation, leading us both to look at the door in surprise.

"Where you expecting anyone?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "Not that I can think of," I replied, standing up.

"It's alright," she said standing too, her face turning resigned. She clearly seemed to think that she was going to get more people making fun of her. At least she didn't look as vulnerable as she did when I knocked on the door. "I'll get it. It is my house, after all. And as the goddess of this familia, it is my responsibility to take inquiries at the door."

I raised my eyebrows at that but stood aside to let her pass. She strode over to the door and paused to take a steadying breath before reaching for the handle and pulling it open.

Being shorter than me, it was easy for me to see over her head to look at who was standing behind her. The person who knocked on the door was completely unidentifiable. There wasn't a single feature that would give away who, or what, they might have been. That was because of the large dark brown hooded cloak that they were wearing. Even the sleeves they wore covered the full arm, except for the gloves that they wore to cover their hands.

The only thing you could tell about the person was that they were unnaturally thin. A normal person would have either had extremely unusual genetics, or be on the verge of starvation to be as thin as this person was.

None of that stopped me from recognising who it was straight away.

"Yes?" Tyche said, sounding uncertain as she gripped the door tighter. "Can we help you?"

"Hello," the person said, their voice sounding oddly multitoned. "My name is Fels. I work for Lord Ouranos. I was sent a message through the Guild and told that I could make further inquiries to your familia." Fels looked over Tyche's head and stared straight at me. "I believe your compatriot is expecting me?"

Tyche whirled around and stared at me incredulously. I stared back with a slightly sheepish tone.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I knew I forgot something. Surprise?"

She just gaped at me, unable to reply.

A/N Please Review and Follow/Favourite as you please.

A longer chapter than my usual ones these days, but that's fine. I don't think that this chapter would really have done well being cut in half, so I just included all of it. Hope you enjoyed it.

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