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Protect Our Kai Inside the main forging workshop of the Hephaestus Familia, Hephaestus stared in absolute disbelief at the best friend she had known for hundreds of millions of years.
She never imagined that within two days of leaving her Familia, Hestia would completely throw away her title as a virgin goddess.
Wasn’t that a little too fast?!
“Hephy!
Do you notice anything different about me today?!” “How could I not notice?!
Do you really like that child of yours that much?
To make a move on him this fast…
you have absolutely no class!” Hephaestus harshly condemned Hestia’s actions.
In her eyes, a virgin goddess who had lived for hundreds of millions of years had just ruined a twenty-year-old kid.
As for the possibility that Kai was the one who initiated things with Hestia…
impossible.
No matter how embarrassing Hestia could be, she was still a chief deity with eons of life experience.
Calling her a sly old fox would be a compliment to her youth.
“What are you saying?!
Kai likes me a lot too!
The feelings are mutual!” “You forced yourself on him, didn’t you?
I know your personality.
Don’t try to make excuses.
I knew that if you actually met a kid you liked, your true nature would come out, but I really didn’t expect you to move this quickly.
It’s only been two days!” “Ahem, anyway, Hephy, shouldn’t you be congratulating me?!” “You need to treat him well.
He became an adventurer and joined your completely destitute Familia without a second thought.
He goes into the Dungeon every day to earn money to support you, and what do you do?
You scam him out of his money and his body!
You weren’t this despicable back in the upper world.” Hephaestus looked at her friend with utter disgust, shocked by how quickly this wide-eyed, seemingly innocent goddess had been corrupted by the lower world.
“Wahhh, stop scolding me!
Kai was just way too cute, I couldn’t help myself!” “…Whatever.
Did you come here for a specific reason, Hestia?” “Oh, no reason.
I just came over to brag!” “You little—!!!” ….
When night fell, Hestia wrapped her arms around Kai, her eyes practically turning into glowing hearts.
This time, Kai could clearly feel that his stamina and endurance were much higher than the night before…
Could that talent actually boost my stats in this area too?!
Fueled by excitement, Kai launched his charge, only to collapse in defeat once again…
Hestia possessed a literal divine body.
Kai wouldn’t be leaving her paralyzed with heart-shaped eyes anytime soon.
When Kai woke up the next morning, despite having squandered his energy all night, he didn’t feel that same hollow, exhausted weakness.
Instead, he felt incredibly refreshed, and his thoughts felt sharper than ever.
It looked like he was definitely heading into the Dungeon today!
Kai carefully slipped out of bed, washed up, equipped his armor, and strapped on his standard Rhodes Island sword.
He was actually quite looking forward to today’s Dungeon trip.
For him, it had been over ten days since he last set foot inside.
While the monsters were certainly repulsive, he thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of fighting them and growing stronger.
“Hestia, I’m heading to the Dungeon.” “Mmhmm~ Be careful out there.” Hestia groggily sat up, gave Kai a hug, and flopped right back onto the bed.
Kai gently patted his lover and patron deity on the head before setting off for the Dungeon, armed with a god’s blessing.
This time, Kai set his sights directly on the seventh floor.
This was an area normally reserved for Level 2 upper-tier adventurers, but thanks to the massive stat boost from the Alatreon template, Kai finally felt challenged here.
The monsters on the seventh floor were towering humanoid beasts.
They possessed the faces of wild animals but walked on two legs, ripping entire trees from the ground to use as massive clubs.
While they possessed zero combat technique, they made up for it by using sheer brute force to solve everything.
An average Lv.2 adventurer would have to chug a health potion if they took a single hit, and a blow to the head usually meant instant death.
Kai weaved through the attacks of three monsters like a butterfly.
The tree-trunk clubs constantly crashed down around him, yet they couldn’t land a single hit.
This wasn’t because Kai had suddenly mastered some profound footwork technique; it was simply because the monsters’ attack wind-ups were far too obvious.
Every strike was raised high into the air before slamming down heavily.
As long as he tracked the trajectory of the weapon, dodging was effortless.
Left—then right, step back.
Kai swung his longsword.
Horizontal slash, downward cleave, thrust.
One, two, three.
Kai’s sparring partners fell one after another.
With such exaggerated movements, even the greenest of rookies could clearly spot the monsters’ completely exposed weak points.
It was just that not every adventurer possessed the courage to stand their ground and drive a weapon directly into a beast’s chest.
Just two or three walls away from Kai, the rising star of the Loki Familia, Aiz’s ultimate fangirl, and the highly embarrassing elf—Lefiya—was also undergoing training.
Logically, a First-Tier Adventurer like her would gain absolutely nothing from training on the upper floors.
But Lefiya was the sole exception.
She wasn’t here to increase her stats; she was here to conquer her paralyzing fear of monsters.
“Ahhh!” “So gross!” “Stay away from me!” “Miss Aiz, save me!” Clearly, today’s training was another total failure.
Despite possessing phenomenal magical talent, Lefiya’s phobia completely prevented her from becoming a truly independent adventurer.
The Loki Familia was preparing for a Grand Expedition, and they desperately needed as many capable First-Tier Adventurers as possible.
This time, Riveria had decided to let Aiz take Lefiya to the Dungeon to wander around.
Lefiya idolized Aiz, so having Aiz guide her training might yield miraculous results.
However, letting Aiz enter the Dungeon alone to train someone was incredibly dangerous in its own right.
Aiz had a bad habit of losing her head in the Dungeon, frequently charging entirely alone into massive hordes of monsters to slaughter them.
Thankfully, on the upper floors, she wasn’t in any real danger.
Even if Aiz completely eradicated every single monster on the entire floor by herself, she wouldn’t suffer a scratch.
“Lefiya, don’t be afraid of them.” “Miss Aiz…
I really can’t do it.” “But why are you afraid of them?” “Because they’re terrifying!” “But you can kill them with a single spell.
You shouldn’t be afraid of them.” “But Miss Aiz, they’re really, really scary—” Lefiya had no idea how to articulate her deep-rooted phobia, and Aiz was far too straightforward and airheaded to comprehend it.
And so, the two of them just stood there, their conversation completely glitching out.