33Normal POV
Location: Hestia's & Natsu's Home (Abandoned Church)
Natsu slowly opened his eyes and rather than seeing the clear, blue skies, instead, he saw an overhead surface above him.
Confusion welled up within him, before soft snores emitting the room, reminded him of the events that had transpired the day before.
He agreed to help Hestia with her debt, and in exchange, he'd be able to stay with her. While staying in a rundown church was anything but comfortable, it definitely beats living out in the streets.
'It really is such a relief that I don't need to sleep on the ground anymore.' The pinkette thought to himself, moving his body slightly, and he smiled knowing that it wasn't aching as bad whenever he woke up on the ground.
He couldn't help but think back to the small house located just outside Magnolia Forest that he and Happy built from the ground up long ago. While the Vermillion Familia provides small apartments for the members, the problem with that is that they'd all need to share a room together, which would be very packed and unsettling.
That was why they decided to build a house of their own so that they could do anything and not have anything to worry about.
'I should probably get a start on the day.' The pinkette then got up from the couch before accidentally bumping into the table, which created a loud creaking sound and Natsu flinched, hoping that the noise wouldn't wake the sleeping Goddess.
"Uhm…Natsu?" Hestia rubbed her eyes as she slowly rose upright.
'Damn it.'
"Sorry about that, Goddess Hestia. I didn't mean to wake you up." The pinkette said with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Don't worry, it's probably better for me to get up earlier anyways." She responded with a smile, getting out of bed, stretching slightly.
With that, Natsu used the next few minutes in order to prepare himself for the day, and once he was done, he stood at the end of the stairs.
"I'm heading off to the Dungeon now, Goddess Hestia!"
"Alright, travel safe! Also, remember to be careful!" the pigtailed Goddess yelled out in response as she watched the Adventurer ascend up the stairs in order to carry on with his day.
'Is this how Hephaestus feels watching her child each day?' the Goddess thought with a smile, a warm feeling welled up in her chest before she turned over to the clock.
…
…
…
"Ahh, I'm going to be late for work!" she shrieked as she rushed to get herself prepared for work.
It was just another day for the Goddess of Hearth.
Location: Dungeon (10th Floor)
After picking up his lunch from Syr at the Hostess of Fertility and greeting Eina at the guild, the pinkette quickly started out his day at the Dungeon and was currently in a battle against a group of monsters.
The Hard Armoured armadillo instantly began rolling towards the pinkette at a fast speed before lunging at him, while maintaining its form.
Yet, Natsu managed to stand his ground, crossing his arms in an 'X' fashion in order to block the monster's attack. While the spikes were stinging his arms, he managed to endure it before the monster eventually stopped.
Using the opportunity, Natsu grabbed it before tossing it at the other monsters that were advancing towards him. This managed to push them back, but it also allowed Natsu to finish them all in one.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu fired out a torrent of flames at the group of monsters, each one of them disappearing to ashes, leaving their magic stones behind.
The pinkette sighed as he began picking up the magic stones scattered across the ground.
'These monsters aren't worth my time anymore…I really hope I can access the Middle Floors soon.' As soon as he got ready to return back to the surface,
ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR*
The pinkette's eyes widened in shock as he turned back, watching as two Adventurers were running towards his direction.
"Run away, it's an Infant Dragon!" one of the two shouted in trepidation as they quickly climbed up the stairs.
Due to the thick mist, it was difficult to see whatever was beyond it. It was then a pair of yellow orbs caught his attention.
And that was when he saw it, red scales covered its body as stood on its four giant limbs, which supported its large body.
"This is the first time I've seen you here." Natsu smirked, cracking his knuckles as the Infant Dragon growled menacingly at him.
"Let's see just how strong you are!" With that, Natsu immediately charged towards the monster who raised one of its limbs intending to crush the pinkette.
Unfortunately for it, the rosette proved to be too fast as he avoided it without a problem, though the shockwave did cause him to lose balance for a split second, he managed to compose himself.
The pinkette lunged at the monster before sending a direct punch at its chest, which caused it to wail in pain before swinging its tail at Natsu, who quickly ducked in order to avoid the attack.
Using its massive body to his advantage, Natsu manoeuvred around the monster, in hopes of confusing it. It slowly turned to a game of cat and mouse as the Infant Dragon desperately tried to crush its prey and once Natsu managed to find an opening, he lunged towards the monster. With his fists ablaze, the rosette sent a direct punch at the monster who slowly disappeared into thin air.
"That's all?" Natsu pouted as he picked up the moderately sized magic stone.
He expected it to put up a tougher fight based on how the adventurers from before were running away in fear.
'Guess that's it for the day.' He sighed, placing the magic stone in his pouch before deciding to climb up the stairs.
Location: Guild
Eina could only sigh in relief as she put away the last document of the day. While it was normal for her to be doing this every day, that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting each time.
Just as she was about to carry her documents to the office,
"Yo Eina! I'm back!" Natsu called out from the entrance as he walked towards his guild advisor with a smile on his face.
The half-elf shifted her eyes towards the source before deciding to place the stack of papers on the counter as she greeted the adventurer.
"Oh, Natsu. You're quite early today. Normally you'd come out later than this." The pinkette rubbed the back of his head,
"Yeah, I guess, but after a while, those monsters are getting easier to beat so…" Eina narrowed her eyes at him before inspecting his body.
"Well if that's the case, then don't you think you should be more careful when you're in the Dungeon? Look at all those scars you have." Eina pointed out as the pinkette looked all over his arms to realise that the half-elf was telling the truth.
"Well, I've survived worse cases than that, so I think I'm fine." He waved it off, though that wasn't enough to satisfy the guild advisor.
"If this continues, I might not let you access the Middle Floors." Eina said in a sigh, as she looked away with a slight smirk on her face, already able to picture the expression on the boy's face.
"You can't be serious Eina!"
"Don't worry I'm just joking." She chuckled causing the pinkette to sigh in relief.
"Are you free tomorrow?" the brunette asked.
"Huh? I am, but why do you ask?" The pinkette tilted his head in confusion.
"How about we go for a little outing?" she smiled.
Location: Orario (Centre Square)
It was another bustling day in Orario, the citizens had gathered. The whimsical laughter of the townsfolk ringed in the melodic air, as the sounds and beats of instruments reverberated everywhere. The sun appeared high above in its glory; showering the town and its people with an abundance of light and joy.
Standing by the water fountain, located at the heart of the town, was a lone figure with pink hair as he looked around him to search for his guild advisor.
'Did I arrive too early?' Natsu thought, before releasing a yawn, feeling a bit exhausted.
Since his Goddess had work today and while she was getting herself ready she accidentally woke him up. Which was rather fortunate, otherwise he would have definitely missed out on their outing at their agreed timing.
"Ah, Natsu there you are!" The boy then turned his head towards the source before his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing what the half-elf was wearing.
Instead of her usual guild uniform, she was wearing a frilly white shirt with a black ribbon, alongside a red skirt. In addition, she was also not wearing her glasses.
Seeing the pinkette's stare, she frowned, "I must look weird in normal dressings don't I?"
"No, no, I think you look really pretty." Natsu said honestly with a smile on his face.
"Eh?" A small blush formed on the girl's face as she played with her hair a bit after hearing his compliment, "T-thank you."
"So, where are we headed to anyways?" Natsu questioned as the half-elf coughed into her hands, composing herself.
"We're headed over there." Eina then pointed at the tower.
"To Babel?"
"That's right, it's where the Hephaestus Familia shop is located at." The half-elf then grabbed the pinkette's arm before she began pulling him.
"Let's go!"
Location: Babel Tower (4th Floor)
After taking the elevator up through the tower, Natsu and Eina were greeted by an ostentatious looking display of weaponry being displayed.
Natsu stared
"Yup, since you're new to Orario you must not know, but the few floors here belong to the Hephaestus Familia where they display their weapons and armours up for sale." Eina explained.
"We're heading for the upper floors, but since we're already here, I think we might as well stop by and look around, shall we?" Eina asked with a smile, getting a nod in response.
"Woah, so all these armours are on sale for the public?" Natsu said in awe, looking at all the high-class armour which were being presented.
"That's right, and the ones you see here are made with the highest quality of materials that can be found in the Dungeon."
"Wow, that's incredible." Natsu said as he walked towards an armour that was being displayed before looking down to view the price.
"T-twenty million valis?!" the pinkette exclaimed in shock, rubbing his eyes to make sure they were not fooling him.
'If I had that much money I wouldn't need to worry about food for an entire year!'
"It's incredible that some people could afford such equipment…"
"Right? But I think we've seen enough. Let's head upstairs!"
(Line Break)
"And here we are!" Eina said, as the doors to the elevator opened.
After emerging on the 8th floor, Natsu wasn't at all surprised to see plenty of Adventurers surrounding the armours and weapons that were displayed. However, at first glance, it was clear to see that the equipment he had seen at the lower floors and the ones he was looking at now were completely different.
"Are all of these equipment made by the Hephaestus Familia as well?" the pinkette questioned, getting a nod from the brunette.
"That's right. After all, not every Adventurer would be able to afford a high-end brand like that." She said as she walked over to a small sword.
"Look, the price isn't that expensive isn't it?"
"Yeah, it really isn't…"
"That's because all the stuff here is made from new blacksmiths. However, even if it is cheap, it's to their advantage to have their products be sold so that they'd be able to get evaluated and possibly earn a loyal customer in the future. Also, some of them are actually really good, let's go and check some out."
With that, the two began exploring the shop, there was plenty of decent quality equipment around the shop, but none that the pinkette saw fit to use.
"I'll go and check some of the armour in the back."
"Please go ahead, we're here to find some armour for you after all." Eina smiled as she watched the pinkette disappear behind the row of shelves.
If anything this was probably the first time since knowing him, that she's seen him take a break.
While it's normal for most starting Adventurers to constantly go to the Dungeon in order to earn some valis, but it can also be very damaging if they don't pace themselves, which was another reason she decided to invite the pinkette for the outing.
She had seen too many deaths as a guild advisor, and she didn't ever want to see that happening to someone close to her.
Meanwhile, the pinkette was currently browsing through the armours, but like the others, none of them really stood out to him.
Just as he was about to give up though,
'Hmm?' Natsu then spotted a crate of armour on the side. Bending down, the pinkette picked up the breastplate, admiring its shine.
'Is there a signature from the smith somewhere?' rotating the chest piece around, Natsu noticed words carved inside.
'Welf Crozzo.'
He was rather impressed with it, and after seeing plenty of blacksmiths in the Vermillion Familia, he could tell that it was rather well made.
"Natsu, ah there you are!" Eina then looked at the breastplate that he was holding.
"I didn't know you were interested in light armour."
"Well, I usually utilise my speed when battling so I wouldn't want any armour that slows me down." Natsu responded, before also pulling out some arm guards from the box.
Deciding to try it on, he was surprised that it was a perfect fit for him.
After a short while of consideration, the pinkette decided to purchase the arm guards as well as the breastplate, leaving the other pieces aside.
In the end, it cost around 4800 valis, which he considered to be reasonable and he didn't need to worry about money since he had plenty after the haul in the Dungeon yesterday.
"Are you happy with what you got, Natsu?"
"Sure am, I can't wait for tomorrow!" he responded as the two made their way out of the store.
An orange hue now filled the skies of Orario after the two exited the tower.
"Thanks for accompanying me today, Eina."
"It's no problem. Just make sure you use those armour to the best of its uses and we can call it even, alright?" she winked, getting an ecstatic nod from the boy.
"I will! See you tomorrow, Eina!" With that, the pinkette ran off back to his home, while the half-elf watched his retreating figure with a tender smile on her face.
Location: Hestia's & Natsu's Home (Abandoned Church)
"I'm back, Goddess Hestia!" Natsu announced as he reached the end of the stairs, but was surprised to see that it was pitch black.
'What's going on?' he thought.
He knew that the Goddess was in the room due to her scent, so he was confused
"Surprise!" Suddenly the lights went up and Natsu had to cover his eyes from the sudden brightness, but once he lowered his arms, he was greeted by a smiling Hestia standing behind what seemed to be a cartoonish amount of Jagamarukun.
"Today we're going to be having a Jagamarukun Party!" she cheered.
"Woah, how'd you bring this much back?!" the pinkette asked in shock, his eyes widening at the amount.
"My boss was kind enough to let me bring me back the leftovers after I told them I recruited someone into my Familia." She said proudly and Natsu was surprised that they allowed her to bring that much back, but that was when he caught on to her words.
"You recruited someone? What do you mean by that?" The Goddess immediately stiffened, before she nervously fiddled with her fingers.
"Well…I was just thinking that since you're helping me and all, it technically counts as you being my child. I know I won't be able to help access your status since I'm not strong enough, but…" Hestia then looked up to face him, a hopeful expression on her face.
"If possible I want you to be a temporary member of my Familia!" she exclaimed.
Natsu could only stand there in place, the Goddess's words ringing in his head. While he had pledged his loyalty to the Vermillion Familia, Goddess Vermillion had also told him to live out his life while in Orario.
"I guess, now that I'm still in Orario…" the pinkette then bowed towards her.
"Thank you for accepting me, Goddess Hestia!" it took a second for the Goddess to process his words before she jumped at him happily.
"Thank you, Natsu!" Unsure whether her happiness managed to pass onto him, a smile formed on the boy's face.
Later that night, the two ate their food with massive smiles on their faces until they were full.
Location: Babel Tower
In the top floors of the tower of Babel, there a lone silver-haired female sat on the crimson chair in the room, her eyes remain unmoving at the large window in front of her.
"Ottarl?" she suddenly called out.
"Yes my Lady?" the boaz asked, getting on his knees, with the silver-haired Goddess not even turning to face him.
"When will the Monsterphillia be starting?"
"It'll start in a few weeks from now." The boaz responded, feeling slightly confused since his Goddess had never been interested in the event before.
"Hmm…Then could you help do something for me?"
"Of course my Lady."
Quiet words filled the room, as Ottarl bowed towards his Goddess before proceeding to leave the room in order to perform the task that was handed out to him.
The Goddess stood up from her crimson chair before walking towards the window as she placed her hand on it.
'I was just going to watch him for a while, but in the end, I just want to play with you.' The Goddess thought as a sultry smile formed on her face, her eyes looking down on the city beneath her.
'Now, I hope you'll be able to entertain me, child.'
End Chapter
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