Danmachi-Hell's forge

Rethusa rolled her eyes "Of course that would be your answer. If you eventually die from following that gut of yours know that I told you so." she said jokingly.

I chuckled "Then i just need to make sure I die for some other inane reason, oh what about finding the one eyed black dragon and taking a leak on it? That sounds like it would make an interesting story don't you think?" I asked with a cheeky smirk.

"A good death." Ariande said with a wide smile and a thumbs up.

A few moments later Rose returned and set down a small ledger that was rather thin all things considered.

"You are in luck as the list was just updated this morning and as such has the best selection you could ask for and what they are looking for if anything at all." Rose said as she set the ledger down on the counter.

"May I?" I asked and she nodded to give the go ahead so I picked up the thin book and opened it.

(Apollo)

size: medium

Type: exploration

wanted: Mage 

(Apophis)

Size: medium

type: exploration

Wanted: Warrior

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(Hestia)

size: No members

Type: N/A

Wanted: No specifications given

The list was fairly simple in design but it gave most of the information someone applying for a familia might look for. I intentionally ignored all the familia looking for a specific type of adventurer since I wasn't quite sure what I would end up as after my cursed technique got usable. That sadly limited the list down to only three options. The Hestia familia that was clearly just starting out since it was listed as having no members. The Loki familia that only had talent as a requirement confusingly enough. Like how would most people even know if they were talented or not before receiving their falna?-

I was a bit of an exception since I knew right away that my cursed technique alone made me considered talented but for everyone else it was an unusual and frankly unreasonable requirement to try and match. The final option was the Miach familia but Artemis directly told me I wasn't allowed to join that one on account of the god Miach being a gigolo or something like that. it was hard to tell since she muttered it under her breath while glaring at the name.

"In that case the Hestia familia is the only option that fits for me since the Loki familia is well known for their expeditions and teams." I said setting the book down again.

"She can be a bit of a handful but Hestia is a good choice." Artemis said with an agreeable nod.

"If that is your choice I will arrange to have a meeting between you both. Please check in regularly for an update." Rose said calmly while taking the ledger back.

We left after that and unlike what I had expected the Artemis familia didn't actually have a house that they operated out of but rather just booked an entire small inn to themselves when they were in town. Suspiciously though the inn in question was called {The moon and bow} and had no other customers at all. The reason for that was apparently the owner who was a beastkin woman named Irene used to be a member of the Artemis familia but left to pursue romance as it was forbidden to do so while in the familia.-

She and her husband had bought a broken down building at the outer edges of the city that was basically abandoned and thus cheap and ran it as an inn for newbie adventurers and when they were in town the woman's old familia. It was rather funny to see how the familia and the woman got along as many of those in the familia were clearly jealous of Irene for getting hitched. Just because romance was forbidden while in the familia didn't mean those in it didn't wish for it, only that that longing was out weighed by their desire to remain.-

It was also why I got uncomfortable originally when the amazons of the familia first met me. The gazes they had were those of someone judging if I was a worthy candidate to be their mate, I failed in case it wasn't obvious. Amazons as a race had a "type" that they wanted as a husband, strong. That was it, that single word was their only real requirement in most cases. I am not ashamed to admit that I am definitely not strong at all, hell I never NEEDED to be until I died and came to this world.-

Earth was a place where physical fitness was basically pointless if you weren't an athlete of some sort or enjoyed exercising. You simply didn't need above average strength unless you fell into those categories. Why would I go out of my way to workout and eat healthy when all it accomplished was determine whether or not I lived a slightly longer miserable existence? So I simply lived my life day by day as I saw no point in caring beyond that.-

Here though? Godhood was an actual possibility, one that a bonafide goddess had confirmed was possible but unlikely. Regardless of how unlikely it was I wanted to chase that possibility with everything I had. Suffering was inconsequential in front of such a lofty goal and I knew it. But like any earthling will tell you that was a long term goal but in the short term I needed to set more reasonable goals. My current goal is to work on my fitness and join a familia to get a falna.-

After that I will spend however long and however much effort it takes to hone my skills and power to perfection. The best part is that I am actually fairly certain that if I expand my cursed technique enough I can also earn a fortune by creating weapons and armor unlike anything this world has ever seen before. I knew this because I had taken a look at the weapons and armor of the Artemis familia and got a rather curious piece of information from my techniques instinctual understanding, they were made of parts taken from a living thing.-

"Drops" they are called, pieces of a monster that remain even after the rest of the body turns to smoke from the magic stone being damaged or removed. Smiths in this world could apparently turn these drops if they were the correct sort into weapons or armors. These equipment were also much more resilient and powerful than normal metal weapons usually. In fact almost any gear for an adventurer beyond a certain level of power required these drops to be made.-

My cursed technique as a result made me uniquely suited for the smith profession but that would be a cop out on my part. While there was no shame in sitting in a forge all day and crafting things like literally every other smith in this world that was not a path to godhood. Far too many had traveled it for that to be true, no I needed to go beyond the normal and into the realm of the extraordinary to even have a sliver of a chance at reaching my goal.