Chapter 10 - It's Time To Grind!
They quickly found shelter among the ruins—a busted-up church that was barely standing.
Inside, there were still a bunch of chairs that hadn't rotted away yet, and a few other things that could be useful.
The church also had a confessional room. It was covered in dust, but there was a sofa and a bed that, while old, wasn't completely trashed.
Still, he couldn't figure out why there was a bed in the confessional room.
The sheets on the bed didn't have any weird stains, but they had turned gray from just sitting there.
If they didn't get cleaned, they'd definitely need to be replaced. Lucky for them, Bell had a spare set of sheets in his Spatial Pocket.
Three hours later, the quick cleanup was done.
"Ugh…"
Without the goddess image to maintain, Hestia lay on the bed they'd just tidied up. Cleaning up the ruins had drained her, both physically and mentally.
In those three hours, she'd done more than she had since coming to the lower world. Now, she was wiped out.
Lying on the slightly stiff mattress with her muscles aching, she thought, "Compared to Hephaestus's place, this is way worse." Hestia couldn't help but miss her life as a goddess.
But then she glanced over at Bell, who had been busting his ass just like her. The exhaustion faded from her face, and she even sat up straight.
"No way, Hestia! You're not the lazy goddess you used to be. You've got a child now."
Hestia, having just thought that, instantly sat up.
"Bell."
Bell, who had just finished his work, saw Hestia sitting there, staring at him. The way she was sitting made Bell take a step forward and say, "I'm sorry, Hestia-sama," as he adjusted her sitting position.
When her white dress shifted as she sat cross-legged, he got a full view, and damn, it wasn't bad.
"Hestia-sama, you need to be more careful wearing thin clothes like that. That sitting position is way too easy to expose yourself."
Hestia quickly grabbed her skirt with both hands, her cute face going bright red.
She had clearly forgotten that they were going to live together from now on, and that she was living with a guy.
"Well, I'm going to be living with Bell from now on, so I really need to pay attention to stuff like this."
Hestia took a deep breath, steadied herself, and spoke.
"Bell, from today onwards, you're the first member of my Familia, so you need to be careful. You're my only family now, and if something happens to you, it'll break me."
The meaning was clear:
"Don't go dying like an idiot."
Bell got the message loud and clear.
He wasn't stupid, and he didn't take risks lightly.
Things need to be done step by step to get results. Rushing in only gets you killed.
Sure, he wanted power, but he wasn't about to throw his life away for it.
"Hestia-sama, don't worry. I want strength, not death. I know I have to put in the effort and take risks to get stronger, but I'm going to do it step by step. I'm not planning on dying in the dungeon."
"Phew, that's good."
Hestia let out a sigh of relief. She'd been worried Bell might be too eager for power and end up getting himself killed.
She didn't have a family before, but Hestia had heard from her friends in Orario that lots of child would jump into danger without thinking.
She didn't know about others, but she sure as hell didn't want Bell to end up like that.
"So, what's your plan, Bell? You going see the dungeon?"
Bell nodded slightly.
"That's the idea. The outside world is dangerous, but I've heard the dungeon's a lot worse. I'm not planning to go to any dangerous places until I've gotten used to the dungeon and leveled up."
Dungeons are dangerous as hell. But as long as you keep the yourself under control, it's a great place to grow stronger.
Knowing how dangerous the dungeon is, Bell wasn't planning to dive in too deep.
Whether now or later, he'd need to take it slow. He wasn't an experienced adventurer, so he needed to grind through the dungeon to get good.
"Yeah, I don't have to worry too much about Bell."
Hestia felt a real sense of relief now. Wanting power isn't bad, but you've got to keep that desire in check.
You have to act according to your own strength. Overstepping only brings trouble. Hestia didn't need to worry about that with Bell.
Hestia looked at Bell with approval.
"Bell, you're right. The dungeon is seriously dangerous. As a rookie adventurer, you should stay away from the lower floors until you know what you're doing."
You need to get used to the environment and understand that it's always trying to screw you over.
"The dungeon is trying to destroy everything… Is it really alive?"
Bell raised his eyebrows, then furrowed them.
Hestia nodded seriously, her tone cautious.
"The dungeon is alive. It doesn't have a mind, just instincts. It's always alive, like a womb spawning monsters. It hates gods and keeps breeding monsters to destroy the world."
"That's why Orario was built over the dungeon. It's to keep the number of monsters in check. If we don't, they'll overrun the world."
"The deepest part of the dungeon is its core. They say controlling the core stops it from breeding even more monsters."
That was all Hestia knew. The deep secrets of the dungeon were beyond her, and only a few gods knew the truth.
She told Bell all this to make sure he understood the dungeon's dangers.
After hearing this, Bell's first thought was, "One-Eyed Black Dragon."
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It's AU of Danmachi....
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[IMG of Hestia]
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(You can read upto ch38)