Chương 75: Blades of Hestia

Turning around, Cael saw the familiar twin ponytails and blue ribbon standing not far away.

"Lady Hestia, why are you here? Who brought you here?" Cael was a little surprised. Although he had expected Hestia to come to the Dungeon to look for them after they did not return for two days, he had not expected her to arrive so quickly. It had only been one day. Under normal circumstances, it would take around a day just to reach the Upper Floors of the Dungeon. It should not have been possible for her to know so quickly that they had gone to the Middle Floors and then rush after them.

"Cael!" Hestia ran toward him with open arms and hugged his neck. Because of the momentum, he fell backward. Of course, that was because he did not resist. Otherwise, Hestia would not have been able to knock him down.

"Cael, Cael, Cael... Thank goodness." Hestia hugged his neck and only seemed relieved after confirming that he was truly there. Then she let go, stood up, pinched his familiar cheeks with both hands, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank goodness. No missing arms, no missing legs, and your head is still there." Cael looked quietly at Hestia and spoke softly.

"I made Lady Hestia worry. I took everyone to the next floor without warning." Hestia looked into Cael's eyes and wiped away the tears at the corners of her own.

"You really worried me to death. When I heard that you brought everyone into the Middle Floors, I was afraid something had happened to one of you. You are obviously only Lv. 1, but you are too willful."

"I can only say I am sorry, Lady Hestia. If I had to do it over again, I would still do it." A willful smile appeared at the corner of Cael's mouth. Lady Hestia seemed to be sitting on his stomach for the first time.

"That is right. After all, Cael is very willful. No matter how many risks Cael takes, as your god, I will fully support you." Hestia smiled. No matter how many times Cael acted willfully in the Dungeon, she would also act willfully to bring him back.

"When I came here, I heard from other adventurers that a Lv. 1 adventurer team was attacking Goliath. After three hours, we knew it was time."

"It really is amazing, Cael. Without my realizing it, you have grown to this point. I still feel as if meeting you happened only yesterday."

"It is because of your Falna that I have grown to this point. And I was able to defeat Goliath thanks to the two swords you gave me."

"You must have paid a lot for those two swords." A warm curve appeared at the corner of Cael's mouth. At that time, even if Sword Saint's Blessing had appeared, without those two divine swords, defeating Goliath would not have been so easy. They might have had to pay a heavy price. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"They were very useful, right? Hehe. Speaking of which, I have not named those two swords yet. What do you want to call them?" When Hestia mentioned the two swords, round blushes appeared on her cheeks, and the curve of her lips carried a little pride. But she could not let Cael know where the swords came from. If he knew, he would definitely be anxious about the cost. That would not do. They were her gift to Cael. How could she let Cael worry about them?

"As for the name, I have already thought of it. They are called the Blades of Hestia." Cael grinned. Since they were given by Goddess Hestia, naturally he would use her name. Hestia immediately became very happy. The round blush on her face became even redder, and she gave him a thumbs-up in appreciation.

"Cael really has the best taste, hehehe."

"By the way, Lady Hestia, who brought you here?" Cael thought of the most important question and asked suspiciously.

"Cough, cough." At that moment, a cough came from behind a large tree. Cael immediately looked over, and his eyes widened slightly. So big... no, so strong. He had not noticed her at all.

"I have been standing here for a long time, and you did not even see me. Really, you started fooling around in front of others. You do not treat me like a woman at all." A bold voice rang out. A tall, mature beauty walked out, black hair and red eyes, a white cloth wrapped around her chest, loose wide-leg pants on her body, a large hammer on her back, and her left eye covered.

"Oh, you got Hestia's god, huh? Not bad, kid." Tsubaki immediately gave Cael a thumbs-up, showing her white teeth. What did she mean by fooling around? This was a touching reunion. Also, if that other eye was useless, she could wear an eyepatch.

"You are from Hephaestus Familia." Cael's mouth twitched. His gaze almost slipped toward her white-wrapped chest, but he forced it back up and kept his voice calm. Tsubaki Collbrande, captain of Hephaestus Familia, had the highest Level of Lv. 5 and was also a master blacksmith. Originally, she was only a blacksmith, but every time she made a weapon, she went into the Dungeon to test it. Somehow, she accidentally rose all the way to Lv. 5.

She could be called a model of someone who clearly did not want to, yet God insisted on feeding her strength, leaving her helpless. Since she had escorted Hestia here, Hestia had presumably begged Hephaestus. They were friends, after all.

"Tsubaki Collbrande, first-class blacksmith. Just call me Tsubaki. When you have money in the future, you must come to me for weapons." Tsubaki patted her chest generously. This movement made Cael's eyes spin. It would have been fine if she had not patted it. The waves shook so much he could hardly restrain himself. At that moment, pain came from his waist, and he saw Hestia's puffed-up cheeks and angry eyes.

"Where are your eyes looking, Cael?"

"I was looking at how exaggerated this big sister's chest muscles are... hiss."

"Hahahaha, you really are interesting. Since you can defeat Goliath and go back by yourselves, I will not accompany you any longer. The job my goddess entrusted to me is over. I still have treasures on the forge that are not finished. See you." Before Cael could thank her, Tsubaki waved like a boy and turned around gracefully.

"No need to thank me. Just come to me to forge weapons in the future. I hope you will."

"As long as it does not break my bones," Cael thought while rubbing the bit of skin at his waist that had been twisted three hundred sixty degrees. When he leveled up, he would definitely copy all of Hephaestus Familia's weapons. She did not seem shocked that their group had conquered the Labyrinth Master at Lv. 1 just now. That made sense. She was a blacksmith first, an adventurer on the side, and did not care much about adventurer affairs.

In a blacksmith's eyes, gossiping about adventurers was not as useful as striking iron two more times.

"By the way, Lady Hestia, please update my Status. I want to see how much I grew after defeating Goliath together with everyone." Cael suddenly thought of how his strength had undergone a tremendous change. His Basic Abilities should be higher, and they should not be full yet. Anyway, he did not feel as if he had reached a bottleneck. He was even a little worried that he might always remain Lv. 1 while his Basic Abilities continued increasing until they reached five digits or six digits.

It reminded him of the absurd grind of needing 9, 999 points before leveling up, and he felt a deep fear.

"Cael really is obsessed with becoming stronger. The first thing you ask after seeing me again is this." Hestia pouted while poking Cael.

"Because I deeply understand that only by becoming strong can I protect Lady Hestia and the people around me. If I am weak, I cannot protect anything." Cael looked at Hestia and smiled. In this world, only the strong could have everything. The weak had no chance to resist their fate unless someone strong was willing to reach out to them.