An instinctive invitation met with an instinctive refusal. Awkward.
The atmosphere froze as they stared at each other in silence.
The pleasant mood shattered completely by Adam's words.
"Mmm, why not?" Hestia pouted disappointedly, "Right, you know me — of course you know I'm the most useless goddess in Orario, with the weakest Familia. So naturally, you wouldn't want to join."
Having learned he'd only arrived in Orario two days ago, she had instinctively tried to recruit him, just as she had done with others before.
But his refusal reminded her that this young man knew her true situation in Orario.
"No, I think Lady Hestia has misunderstood. I'm not refusing because your Familia is weak."
"Eh? Then why won't you join my Familia?"
"Why..." Adam paused, then turned the question around, "Rather, Lady Hestia, why would you invite someone you've just met, without even seeing their face? Aren't you worried I might be a bad person with ulterior motives?"
"I'm not worried! A child who's willing to give me advice couldn't possibly be a bad person!" Hestia replied without hesitation.
Adam remembered that the gods here, like those in the Parallel World, could judge whether someone harbored evil thoughts or spoke lies.
So she trusted him simply because she sensed no malice in his advice?
Isn't this excessive for a god? She refuses to let women join her Familia, yet invites a man so readily?
Talk about double standards.
"Hey, you really won't join the Familia?"
"No, I won't." Adam replied, "I don't see any benefit in joining a Familia."
"How could that be? Joining a Familia, becoming an Adventurer, exploring the Dungeon, growing stronger and famous in Orario — isn't that what you all want?" Hestia challenged, "If not for that, then why did you come to Orario?"
Adam couldn't find the words to explain. From an outsider's perspective, her logic was perfect.
Indeed, if one didn't want to explore and become a powerful adventurer, why come to Orario at all? Wouldn't it be better to live peacefully elsewhere?
But what she didn't know was that he had other ways of becoming stronger, and had no interest in becoming an Adventurer who "couldn't do anything without a God".
Still, he needed to give some reason.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Lady Hestia might not believe this, but I'm actually very strong — strong enough that I wouldn't lose even against a First-Class Level 6 Adventurer."
"You're lying!" Hestia instinctively refused to believe it.
"You don't believe me... Well, I suppose it would seem impossible from your perspective." Hearing her retort, Adam remained calm and continued, "But you have the ability to judge whether someone is lying, so you should clearly know that I'm not lying. You just instinctively denied it when you heard my words."
To add credibility to his words, he deliberately pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing his face.
Then he lowered his head to make eye contact with the petite goddess beside him, letting her see the sincerity in his eyes.
Looking at the young man before her who showed no signs of lying, Hestia wanted to deny it, but her heart told her that what he said was true.
"Well, you do look quite handsome, just not quite as handsome as Bell-kun."
"...Hehe, thank you for the compliment." Adam could only respond with a wry smile to her sudden change of topic.
Women in love always want to make comparisons — whether they're human or divine, they're all the same.
"But you say you can fight against Level 6 Adventurers. Is that true?"
"Of course, I've already confirmed this in the Dungeon." Adam told her, "Their strength was indeed formidable, but... I'm stronger than them!"
He puffed out his chest, speaking such arrogant words.
If other passersby heard this, they would surely think he was bragging, but Hestia, sitting beside him, knew that the young man wasn't lying.
"Really?!" She jumped up excitedly, her impossibly generous bosom bouncing up and down.
"Then you should definitely join the Familia!"
"Eh?" Hearing her words, Adam was even more confused.
Hadn't he already said there was no need to join the Familia?
"It's your Vessel! Your Vessel is incredibly powerful! With such a powerful Vessel, you're bound to be the strongest Adventurer. Although leveling up might become more difficult, your strength will definitely increase further after each Rank Up! If you keep advancing, you'll eventually become an existence closest to the Gods! Just like the hero Argonauta!"
Hestia was saying things he couldn't understand.
She was talking partly to herself and partly to him, using too many terms and speaking so excitedly that it all became confusing.
"Wait, wait a minute!" Adam interrupted, getting lost in her rush of words.
"Sorry, I got carried away." Hestia composed herself and asked, "You're very strong, but you haven't joined any Familia or received any Falna yet, right?"
"As I thought, your Vessel is far greater than ordinary people's."
Faced with his confusion, Hestia explained, "I heard this from my fellow gods — the size of one's Vessel represents their talent and determines their potential..."
Adam knew this knowledge truly came from her fellow gods, as this was far too secretive for Hestia to have investigated on her own.
She offered a simple analogy.
She compared the strength of typical Level 1 Adventurers to a cup, with excelia (EXP) being like water inside. When the water fills the cup and enough achievements are made, they can Rank Up.
With each Rank Up, they switch to a larger container for the water. From bowl to basin to bucket — as the Level increases, the container grows exponentially larger.
By Level 6, the container might become a swimming pool.
But what if someone started with a swimming pool? If their initial container was already that large, what would it become at Level 6?
A lake? Or perhaps... an ocean?
Even among Level 6 Adventurers, differences in strength exist — not just from variations in excelia, but possibly from differences in their "Vessel" size.
Just like Bell. After breaking his limits, with his proficiency reaching SS Rank, he became stronger than other Adventurers of the same level!
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