"Goddess Hera mentioned filling the vessel to level up. What exactly is the vessel?"
Charlie expressed his doubts.
It had been too long since he watched the Danmachi anime, and he had forgotten many things, only remembering the general outline.
"I almost forgot you're not from this world. Charlie, when you meet others god, try as much as possible not to give away that you're an Otherwolder through your words. Keep in mind that no one can lie in front of the gods. If you don't want to be bothered by the gods, keep your identity as an Otherwolder a secret."
Hera gave a serious warning.
Compared to the beings of the lower world who worship and revere the gods, she knew how crazy the gods could be in their search for entertainment after living for hundreds of millions of years.
If the gods found out Charlie was an Otherwolder, they would constantly pester him to uncover the secrets of the other world.
Some gods might invite him to join their Familia, but others might go to extremes to get him.
The current Hera Familia wouldn't be able to protect Charlie from other Familia that had hidden motives against him.
"If only you had appeared 15 years before the expedition against the One-Eyed Black Dragon, I could have shown you off in front of the other gods and goddesses."
Hera looked at him with a hint of frustration for not appearing sooner.
"..."
Charlie's eye twitched slightly at the accusatory gaze.
It's not like he could choose which timeline he would arrive in, okay?
Honestly, if he had the choice, he would have chosen the timeline when Hera Familia was at its strongest. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about being targeted by others, as the protection of senior First-Class Adventurers would make others think twice before provoking him. Also, with abundant resources, he could get stronger faster.
"I'll keep your advice in mind, Goddess Hera."
"If possible, try to avoid interacting with the gods, especially Hermes. That bastard has sharp intuition and thinking; he can figure something out from just a few clues."
"Understood, I'll stay away from God Hermes."
Without Hera needing to say it, Charlie already intended to avoid Hermes. He vaguely remembered Hermes being a god with a cunning and sneaky personality, who would do dirty things to make the protagonist a hero.
"Back to the main topic, let's talk about the vessel."
Feeling her throat dry, Hera wanted to drink tea, but her cup was empty.
Seeing this, Charlie took the initiative to pour the tea from the pot into her cup.
"Mm."
With a satisfied nod, Hera sipped the tea before continuing her explanation.
"The gods bestow a small part of their divinity through their blood. Your vessel is your soul, and Excelia is experience; you're supposed to fill the vessel with Excelia. Even when receiving Falna for the first time, each of your stats rises. Aside from racial bonuses, a Level 1 with I0 stats becomes stronger than most humans who aren't blessed. In short, there's a limit to how much Excelia your vessel can hold, which is why you need to level up to increase the size of your vessel so it can hold more Excelia."
"The heroes of the past, before the gods descended, unlocked their power without Falna by fighting monsters and facing the harshness of the lower world, but in the present, it's no different from asking a god to grant someone Falna to achieve the same effect. Maybe the reason the Heroic Age succeeded while the Age of Gods failed is that only those worthy could unlock their power, whereas in the Age of Gods, a random street thug can ask a god for Falna and instantly gain great strength."
It would be a lie to say that Hera didn't anticipate the arrival of a hero like the other gods. Now that there was a young man with the potential of a hero in front of her, she felt her luck was starting to turn.
"Charlie, you possess The Chosen Savior Skill, one of whose abilities grants you extraordinary growth. I hope you won't waste your potential. If you do, I will be disappointed."
"I'll do my best to meet Goddess Hera's expectations of me."
Seeing the confusion on Charlie's face, Hera explained further.
"Since you're an Otherwolder, you might not know that most adventurers don't level up. Fifty percent of adventurers remain at Level 1, and of the remaining fifty percent, forty-five percent stay at Level 2. Most adventurers take a long time to level up. The reason is that they're a bunch of cowards, fighting the same thing every day. Looking at the current generation of adventurers, they're quite disappointing; they don't dare take risks against stronger enemies, so they only receive low-quality Excelia."
"..."
Charlie could clearly sense Hera's disgust. However, he thought that the behavior of most adventurers was quite normal.
Only a minority of adventurers risked their lives to become stronger. The majority became adventurers to earn money easily by selling magic stones and drop items from monsters.
"Rest assured, Goddess Hera, I'm not a coward who only stays in the safe zone. I want to become stronger so that no one can oppress me."
"Good, I hope you don't forget that obsession."
Not sensing any deceit from Charlie, Hera proceeded to give him the next lesson.
"A Skill is an innate ability with various attributes, such as improving and strengthening basic abilities, magic, and specific actions. The chance of obtaining a Skill is said to be rare, and Skills with effects not possessed by others are considered extremely rare Skills. You awakened two Skills when receiving Falna; you are a miracle, worthy of a hero's potential."
"Next, Development Ability is a special ability that has the chance to appear each time you level up, starting from Level 2. Development Ability differs from basic abilities in that it's a characteristic that specializes in a particular field. Starting from Level 2, there's a chance to obtain one with each level up. There's also a possibility that one won't appear at the next level up, or multiple ones might appear for you to choose from."
"Just like basic abilities, Development Ability is also categorized from I to S. However, they're much harder to train and aren't reset to I at each new level up."
"That's it. Do you understand, Charlie?"
Hera ended her explanation with a question to Charlie.
"Yeah."
Charlie nodded to her explanation. Although he didn't fully understand everything, he roughly grasped it thanks to having watched the anime before.
"You may go. You must be eager to try out your new powers."
"Thank you, Goddess Hera. I'll take my leave then."
Indeed, Charlie was very eager to try out Spirit Art. After that, he left the house.
"Wow, what happened?"
Just as he stepped outside, he was stunned by what he saw.