"Those are my shadow soldiers. They always stay in my shadow, which is why you were a little scared. Every time I defeat a monster, I can summon them back from the dead as my shadows, just like you saw—each one of those guys. I came out here, fought, killed, and recruited them as part of my army," I explained when she asked.
"Well, I'm glad you saved the city, but now other gods are going to come after you," she said worriedly.
"It can't be that bad."
A few moments later, I was caught off guard as several gods and their followers appeared around us.
Before I even got a chance to speak I suddenly tackled Looking to see who it was, I was surprised.
"Tiona, what are you doing?" I asked genuinely curious.
"Remember what I said earlier? Congratulations, you passed," she said with a mischievous smile before Hestia tore her off and threw her back to her god.
"Loki, keep your perverts in line!" Hestia yelled.
"It's not my fault," she retorted.
"Sorry, Whitey, it looks like you didn't listen to my sister's warnings, and now she wants to breed with you," added another Amazon standing next to her.
"I'm not letting her breed with my Bell!" Hestia shouted.
"That's fine. I can go second. Just hurry up and breed so I can have my turn," she said, making us blush at her boldness, before the other gods interrupted.
"You're the one who handled this. Our deepest thanks. We'd like to offer you a spot in our Familia," said a masked god wearing a toga.
"We were planning to offer him a place in our Familia," echoed another god. The gods continued trying to persuade me to join theirs.
"No, thanks. I'm always in a Familia," I replied, pointing to Hestia, who was right beside me.
"She's just started out and doesn't even have a proper place to live," Loki added.
"I don't care, and I wouldn't choose your family, especially since your dog is so arrogant that he can't keep his mouth shut," I shot back, eyeing the beast man in particular.
"How about a deal? We'll leave you and your god alone if you manage to beat all of our Familias. But if you lose, whoever lands the final blow—knocking you out—you'll have to join theirs," suggested Freya as she walked in with some of her Familia members.
"And why would I do that?" I challenged.
"Because you wouldn't let your little god over there get into trouble, would you?" a male god said, before I suddenly appeared in front of him with my dagger at his throat.
"If you threaten my god again, you won't have a head," I warned before teleporting back.
"Fine, I'll do it tomorrow at the arena. Be ready," I said, picking up Hestia and jumping into the air, summoning the dragon as I called it home.
"Are you crazy? I get you're strong, but I don't think you can handle all of them—even with your shadow soldiers!" she yelled, worried.
"Relax, I'll be fine. Those weren't even my strongest soldiers. I left some in the dungeon yesterday so they can gather more stones. I'll go get them tonight," I assured her, landing the dragon in front of the church.
"Just promise me you'll stay safe," she said.
"Fine, I will. I just need to pick up those guys first," I replied, heading to the guild while waiting for the dragon. Once it arrived, I dismounted and turned toward the dungeon, walking inside. On the tenth floor, I sent a message to my shadows, summoning several bodies. I examined the corpses, noticing a few were high-level and that many stones were among them.
"Good job, guys. Give me a second. Arise," I commanded, reviving the bodies as the shadows responded.
I checked the stones, seeing they weren't small ones—only medium and large. I turned to three of my helpers who had brought them here.
"How far did you go? Tap your hammer on the ground if you went past 20," I asked.
He hammered the ground.
"Again, if you went past 30," I said.
He hammered again.
"40," I prompted.
He hammered once more.
"50," but didn't slam his hammer this time.
"Not your head. You went at least to 48," I confirmed.
"Alright, return to my shadow," I said as they disappeared back into it. I collected the stones and stored them in my inventory.
Exiting the dungeon, I opened my inventory, dropped all the stones, and asked the clerk, "How did you manage to get this much? And how did you get those mini-big ones? You've only been down there about 30 minutes!" The clerk looked surprised.
"I can summon creatures, some of which I used in the dungeon yesterday. The monsters I defeated today were tough—certainly not easy wins," I explained, causing everyone to stop and listen, especially when I mentioned the 48.
"So, can I get my money now?" I asked, snapping everyone out of their shock as they hurried behind the counter to retrieve the bags. They handed me over at least 250 million coins.
I stored the bags in my inventory and headed back to the church. I sat on the couch as she entered from the bedroom.
"You're back early," she said.
"Yeah, I brought this," I said, opening my inventory to reveal the bags.
"That's 250 million coins—enough to buy us a mansion," I said proudly, realizing how heavy it was.
"Yeah, but you'd better take these, too, if you lose tomorrow," she warned.
"Trust me, everything will be fine. Why don't you check my status to ease your mind?" I suggested, removing my shirt and lying on the bed.
She climbed on top of me, looking at my stats and gasping in surprise.
Name: Bell Carnel
Age: 17
Level: 8
Class: Assassin/Mage
Mana: 100,079,543/100,079,543
Strength: 500,344/500,344
Speed: 676,563/676,563
Stamina: 156,789,234/156,789,234
Skills include summoning and controlling shadows, detoxification, regeneration, stealth, ruler's authority, monarch domain, exchange, inventory, potion crafting, realis pharaze, dagger proficiency.
Magic abilities include healing magic and shadow magic.
"What are these stats? How did you get so strong in just a day? You wanna buy two more levels and other stats? They've more than tripled from before," she exclaimed, amazed.
"I had some shadows fight in the dungeon, and the ones I left there yesterday are gathering more stones. The monsters today were tough, so it makes sense," I explained.
Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day hanging out, ending the night by going out to a restaurant before heading back to the church. I was brushing my teeth before bed.
As I lay in bed, she climbed onto me, asking, "Promise me you'll come see me no matter what happens tomorrow?" and hugging me.
"Of course. I'll win, I promise—I wouldn't want to miss your cute face," I replied, making her blush. She punched my arm, then turned around and went to sleep.