It was a surprisingly chilly morning with a cold wind breeze passing by from time to time. The air smelled perfectly fine, which brought back some memories from Earth.
A well-suited merchant on a carriage awaited me by the tavern's door, next to him stood the god Hermes with his fellow follower, Asfi Andromeda. He still hasn't introduced me to her, but thanks to my prior knowledge from Earth, I already know who she is.
She's a level 4 adventurer who makes magical items, one of the best in all of Orario, or even further. I've heard somewhere that she leveled up by dropping bombs on Goliath while also flying thanks to the magical item.
But I don't know if any of those stories are true; they were mentioned by some random person on the internet, after all. Speaking of which, I want to buy bombs and terrorize the dungeon monsters with them.
I have been a lover of explosives ever since I was young; the sheer sound and force when the bomb explodes always gave me chills of pleasure. One more thing, bombs could be quite useful during monster parades or when fighting against a group of people.
Even if my skill alone could defend me, probably, having bombs could benefit me in a lot of ways.
"Good morning, Niall. Have you slept well? Are you ready to finally settle your foot into the dungeon city of Orario?" Hermes waved at me and smiled.
"Of course, you are cherished, as usual, god Hermes." I waved back to him, and he laughed for a moment.
Turning my gaze elsewhere, I noticed Asfi glancing over at me with her glasses. "Ahem, let me introduce you to my beloved princess, Asfi! She's my most devoted follower and a very good crafter of magic items!"
Asfi blushed at the appraisal she got from her patron god. I, on the other hand, just waved and introduced myself. She's a short girl with aqua-blue hair and cyan eyes, wearing glasses and her usual white cloak.
She's quite a looker but nothing special compared to some other girls from the anime. She's also a noble princess from some noble family from I don't know where.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Niall. I am Asfi Al Andromeda. I've heard some interesting things about you from my god." She maintained her serious attitude and fixated on her glasses.
"She's also a level 4, very amazing indeed? Despite her level, she can make some interesting stuff for a pretty good sum of money, the things also known as magical items."
I already knew her background somewhat, but I still am quite envious of Asfi's skill called Mystery. It allows her to create magic items and other funky things. "Let's go then, I don't want to spend any more time in this town..." Before I could speak further, two voices yelled at me.
"WAIT THERE, BOY!!!!"
They yelled in unison. Turning to look, I saw both Marcus and Svarog running towards us. Svarog looked pissed off for some reason, while Marcus looked serious. Unlike his usual armor attire, this time he wore casual clothes.
Stopping right in front of me, Svarog looked at me intensely. "You act like someone who didn't get trashed by an Amazon yesterday! HAhahahah" He dropped his serious act and laughed at his joke.
Others looked dumbfounded. "You should've called me at least before departing! Well anyways, I wanted to wish you luck on your further endeavors and a safe trip!" Marcus spoke like a noble, but I could see a bit of sadness behind the act.
"That was a mistake on my part, I apologize. Also, one more thing, Svarog, I forgot to ask before, but where is the god Perun now? I wish to meet him and if possible, speak with him." Svarog looked at me seriously and responded.
"He should be somewhere in Melen right now. He tends to visit that place to hang out with Poseidon and Varuna. But he's unpredictable like a storm. One day he's in Orario, and the next, he's on the other side of the world."
I thought about it until a certain name crossed my mind, Varuna. He's known as a Hindu God of waters, never mentioned before in Danmachi. 'It seems that the world is much bigger than the anime showed; there are several other gods from other mythologies which I don't know...'
I thought before Svarog broke my thoughts, "He tends to visit me occasionally if you don't meet him before... I will send him a message to search for you in Orario." I nodded, and Svarog surprisingly patted my head, to everyone's surprise too.
Marcus and Svarog departed from me, and I left along with the little group with me. The merchant's carriage was quite comfortable for some reason, though.
"Hey sir, what do you carry back here? It's oddly comfortable for a wooden carriage, it feels like I'm laying on the clouds." I asked while looking at the bright blue sky. Both Asfi and Hermes remained silent while looking at me.
"Haha, Kid, it's actually the finest quality pillows and blankets in the region! You are pretty lucky to experience such a thing as laying on the expensive silk pillows," the merchant laughed, and Hermes immediately laid on them as well.
"Sigh God Hermes, can you please avoid acting so childishly?" Asfi asked a question to which she already had an answer, and that answer was no.
"What's wrong, my dear Asfi? You don't get to experience laying in such comfy pillows like these every day. They are quite expensive, you know?" Hermes teased at Asfi's seriousness.
I guess that the merchant offered us a free ride on such a nice carriage since both Asfi and I are adventurers who can protect his goods from any potential attacks. Of course, Asfi is stronger and more experienced than me, but that still doesn't mean I'm completely useless.
The rest of the trip was pretty peaceful, and Hermes enjoyed the view of the beautiful blue sky from our comfortable positions. Asfi remained silent, periodically scouting the area for any potential threats ahead.
I learned the merchant's name, and his name is Sid, which oddly reminds me of a certain trader character from the game called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. He looked like him too, heavily balding and a chubby guy, but he was a nice person to hang around with, unlike the real Sid from Stalker.
2 days later - - -
Two whole days later, I finally could see Orario's walls from the distance, and boy, they looked majestic from afar. They were towering, completely covering the sky and the city behind them.
Despite having powerful adventurers, I'm pretty sure that if Orario had ordinary people, it would still be quite a defendable city thanks to its powerful walls that surround the city in the shape of a circle.
"Are you ready, Niall? Are you ready to finally set foot in the city of Orario and start your life of adventuring?" Hermes held his hands open at the sight that beheld us. The next moment, the carriage bumped into a rock, and Hermes fell onto the pillows.
Sid laughed at the god's playfulness. Now getting close enough to the city gate, we had to stop and prepare ourselves for the security checks.
Security checks are run by Ganesha Familia, a familia that acts as the official police force of the city despite not being nearly as powerful as Loki and Freya's. They have quite a few members, so they can always offer manpower to various areas in the town.
"Halt! Oh, it's you, Mr. Sid! Sorry for not recognizing you earlier. You are entering the city for one more silk business, I presume?" A guard wearing an animal mask on his face cheerfully asked the merchant.
Sid confirmed, and they talked before letting each of us go. A guard stopped once he saw me lying on the pillows.
"You, introduce yourself and state the reasons for entering the city. It seems that you lose yourself in those bags." He pointed out at me, and I stood up.
"My name is Niall, and I wish to become an adventurer. God Hermes here can vouch for me if needed. Surely they wouldn't let a suspicious guy travel with them that easily?" I playfully answered the guard.
The guard thought for a moment and nodded, "Very well, but be wary! Boys like you are often taken advantage of by experienced adventurers. You have to be cautious in this city, or otherwise, you are going to end up dead in no less than a week."
I didn't expect such advice from the guard, but I thankfully nodded. Finishing all formalities with us, we were let go by the guard and finally made our way into the city.
We passed the gate, and I saw crowded streets filled with various races: Amazons, humans, beast folk, and elves. It was the same as the portrait in the anime, if not better since reality looks better than anime.
Sid waved at us before storming to the marketplace, in a hurry since the sales were just about to start. On the other hand, Hermes and Asfi stood beside me with a gaze directed directly at me.
"How does it feel? Being inside a large city like Orario? Let's get you to the guild immediately since they have a map for new people in the town." Hermes rushed me as he grabbed my shoulder, and Asfi patiently followed.
"It met my expectations, god Hermes. Do you perhaps know how many residents dwell inside it? Surely it's quite a number for a city like this..." I asked, thinking about estimations I'd read before.
"To my knowledge, it has about... um, I think 100,000 people in total. It's a pretty high number, but the city doesn't feel as crowded as it seems. Unfortunately, many people die when they start their adventuring life due to various circumstances, so it keeps the population balance in check."
I was kind of surprised for a moment since I thought the count was higher, but it seems that my guess was wrong. (This is not an official number, it's just for my fic.)
Little did Hermes know that back in my original world, 100,000 was a mere joke for a city, at least for Europe where I was from. I had the luck of living in a city with a little bit larger population than Orario, which was way better than living in a larger city.
Following Hermes and Asfi around, we managed to get to the guild in less than ten minutes. I arrived at the crowded building filled with various adventurers with their unique powers, stories, and destinies.
"This is the guild. Here you must apply before becoming an official, documented adventurer of the city of Orario. Before that, I must tell you that you are required to join a familia since going into the dungeon without falna is a death sentence."
Hermes spoke seriously, and I guessed so. Joining a familia would be a problem for me since my falna cannot be removed by any of these fake gods. Even if it were for some god to welcome me despite my powers, how would I explain to them that I have a falna from a real god?
But, if some god nice enough were to welcome me despite my sussy background, then I could perhaps lie to the guild and become an adventurer despite not receiving the falna from that same god.
There is also a thing of being a freelancer, a falnaless adventurer with some limitations when it comes to income and dungeon exploring. (It isn't canon, but I've seen this type of system in some fics, so I'm going to use it here as well.)
"Can I become a freelancer, though? What are even the limitations of it? I mean, I don't see myself finding a god just yet." I lied, but Hermes and Asfi gasped in shock for a moment upon hearing my question.
"Freelancers die the quickest, so there are almost no freelancers in the whole city. I advise against it since you don't have the backing of any familia, and you have to pay a 30% tax on all of your income in the dungeon. Plus, the most important thing is that you don't have a falna, so growing and becoming stronger is impossible for you... and freelancers are limited to the first five floors of the dungeon."
Hermes answered me truthfully, and I didn't like the idea of having to pay taxes for my sweat and blood spent in the dungeon. I have decided to find some nice and kind god to welcome me, but I will have some heavy explaining to do, and for that, I will need some god that won't rat me out to Ouranos or any other dangerous ones who can potentially harm me.
"For now, Niall, I suggest you take some rest in one of the taverns and then decide what to do. Here, let me show you a very nice place where you could spend some days before deciding on your future."
Hermes once more grabbed me by the arm and dragged me across the town, this time leading me to a popular place called Hostess of Fertility.
I should've known where he was dragging me, but it was too late now. I, Asfi, and Hermes stood in front of the Hostess of Fertility.
I knew that this place had the best food in the town and it was quite popular from all the fanfictions I've read before. But it's also a very dangerous place filled with high-level assassins and a certain goddess in disguise.
That goddess in disguise was the most dangerous of them all; no doubt she could see my soul, but that was bound to happen sooner or later. The only good thing about that is she can't force her falna on me, so I'm protected from being forced into her familia.
"This is the place, Niall-kun! Here you can find the best food across the whole of Orario. The overall ambiance and atmosphere of this place are some of the best too! Not to mention, very beautiful yet dangerous waitresses..."
Hermes shrugged, remembering the backgrounds of each worker inside the tavern. All of them were level 4 except Syr, the cook, and Mia, who was level 6 and a former captain of the Freya Familia.
Leading me inside, Hermes waved to the waitresses who were preparing for one more busy day of serving customers. "Hello, everyone! Preparing for one more busy day, I see. Well, well, I have come here to introduce my new, very good friend! Niall, say hi."
Hermes introduced me like I was some sort of attraction. Asfi, seeing this, sighed, and she pitied me since she knew very well how Hermes could be.
All the girls who were doing chores stopped and looked at me directly. Two cat girls, one blonde human, and a blonde elf stared at me without saying anything for a moment. All the while, one silver-haired girl stared at me with visible fear on her face.
- - - (General POV) - - -
"M..Mia, that b..boy is dangerous..." she slowly muttered, quietly enough for level 6 Mia, also the owner of the inn, to hear her. Mia was confused for a moment; she couldn't sense anything malicious from the boy, plus Hermes was with him.
But Syr never acted like this. She could hear the fear in Syr's voice upon seeing the boy for the first time.
The other girls, seeing Syr react like this, readied themselves for any possible outcome of this surprise meeting. They were all experienced adventurers, assassins, and bounty hunters who knew how to kill properly.
They felt that they had to protect their friend with their own lives if it meant it. Now glaring at the unmoving boy and the scared god, a blonde elf tried to approach before being stopped by Mia.
"Hermes! Who's this boy, and why did you bring him here?! I don't want any ruffians or bandits under this roof, am I UNDERSTOOD?!" Mia felt anger rush through her upon seeing Syr shiver like she did.
Hermes, dumbfounded by their acts, tried to ease the situation, "Please, girls, calm down! I can swear that this boy did nothing wrong to attract such reactions. Even Svarog approved of him, so there's nothing to fear!"
Mia and the other girls were stunned for a moment, upon hearing the old Primordial's name. One silver-haired girl couldn't decide what to think.