Chapter 3: First Adventure (Patreon)

Goblins: the most common monsters in the world of DanMachi.

Besides the Dungeon in Orario, they were spread all over the outside world too.

Still, as the weakest of monsters, goblins weren't actually dangerous. Hand a grown man a longish farm tool and a bit of nerve, and he could take one down in a one-on-one fight.

As for Renan, back in his hometown he'd tagged along behind the militia to kill goblins. Now he also had the combined strength of two worlds' worth of himself.

If he could still flub this, then Renan figured he should do everyone a favor and retire on the spot.

And sure enough, the fight went off without a single surprise.

The goblin charged in with a stone club, raised it high and brought it down hard, only for Renan to sidestep it with ease. The instant the two of them crossed paths, the one-handed shortsword in his grip traced a smooth arc. The goblin ran a few more paces before a thin red line finally appeared across its throat. Then its head dropped off and its body toppled forward.

Renan took two steps closer and drove the shortsword into the goblin's chest. He didn't push all the way through. He stopped the moment the blade touched something hard, then crouched down, not minding the mess one bit, and thrust his left hand straight into the wound he'd made. When it came out, it held a magic stone no bigger than a thumb.

Almost the instant he finished, the long-dead goblin's body went poof and dispersed into a puff of black mist.

100 Valis, three fried potato balls, in the bag.

Adventurers dealt with monsters year-round, and one slip could get them killed in the Dungeon or out in the wild. But in return, the job paid very fast.

Even the magic stone a goblin dropped could be swapped for 100 Valis at the Guild hall without any trouble.

Kill ten or so over the course of a day, taking care to avoid the spot where the magic stone sat when you struck, and you'd match an ordinary person's pay for a day, even two.

And if you went down to deeper floors and took on stronger, more dangerous monsters, the income only went up!

Of course, from the second floor of the Dungeon onward, goblins weren't the only things it spawned.

But whether it was the kobolds that showed up next, the Dungeon Lizards that preferred to climb the stone walls, or mixed squads of goblins and kobolds that appeared in groups, every last one of them turned into a little courier of fortune when facing Renan, who never forgot to reinforce himself with his Breathing Techniques.

One, two, three…

100, 200, 300…

By the time the sun slanted west and Renan walked out of the Dungeon and back into the Guild hall…

"…8,900 Valis in total."

At the exchange counter, the staff member finished carefully counting the small magic stones on the tray, then handed over a cloth pouch holding the matching Valis coins.

In Orario, that sum wasn't actually much. A decent meal at a roadside tavern ran close to six or seven hundred Valis.

But Renan's savings had been nearly bled dry before this. Now that he'd taken a big transfusion, he naturally had some surplus to work with.

Thoughts flashing through his mind, Renan spotted Eina at the counter, still not off duty.

"Miss Eina, good evening."

The brown-haired half-elf girl looked up at his greeting. Seeing that it was Renan, the one she'd helped that morning, she quietly let out a breath of relief, then put the smile back on her face. "Good evening, Mr. Renan. Congratulations on completing your first adventure."

"Thank you." Renan nodded, then got straight to the point. "Miss Eina, I'd like to buy a few more pieces of the Guild's beginner equipment."

Eina was no fool. She caught the subtext right away: clearly, today's adventure had earned him a tidy sum.

If it had been someone else splurging like this, or wasting money on food, drink and fun, someone with her earnest streak would have been sure to lecture them a little. But Renan was spending it to improve his survival odds in the Dungeon, so of course she wouldn't refuse. She was rather happy to see it. "Which pieces do you need?"

Renan didn't hesitate. He rattled off the list he'd already drafted. "I'd like another one-handed shortsword, so a broken main weapon in the Dungeon won't leave me stranded. Then a pair of leather bracers, a pair of leather greaves, and a tactical belt pouch."

Eina did the sum in her head and quickly gave the total. "The one-handed sword is 1,000 Valis, the leather bracers and greaves are 2,000 each, and the tactical pouch is 1,700. That comes to 6,700 Valis."

Renan didn't waste words. He handed over most of the money he'd gotten his hands on barely two minutes ago.

…

After a day of farming Valis and buying gear, Renan's savings stood at a little over 2,300, just under 2,400 Valis.

He didn't hesitate. He headed straight for the street with the best public security in Orario and took a single room at an inn nearby.

Then he took off all the equipment he'd bought from the Guild and left it in the room, keeping only a chest guard and a one-handed shortsword.

Only after that did he stroll back to the Soma Familia's base.

Newly minted adventurers, just after receiving a Falna, were all itching to run to their patron god every single day for a status update.

Under normal circumstances, since the Falna had awakened their potential, ordinary adventurers really did hit a burst of growth in this period.

Often, one day of training in the Dungeon could net a total gain approaching several dozen, even a hundred points.

But at the fastest, within a week or two, or at the slowest, about a month, changes like that would gradually level off.

After that, it usually took quite some time of training to squeeze out a mere few points in a single stat.

Now that he'd stacked another self's power on top of his own, Renan's real combat strength had enjoyed a huge boost.

Even so, he had no intention of passing up any other power that was just lying within reach.

Back at the base, he went straight to find Soma, who was brewing wine in the workshop.

"Lord Soma, I'd like to update my Falna."

Soma didn't refuse. He only told Renan to wait a little longer. "Let me finish this batch first."

With that, his hands visibly sped up a touch.

It still took more than an hour.

The whole time, the workshop was thick with tempting wine fragrance. Anyone else in the Soma Familia would have been hit by that scent alone, and the craving they'd been holding down might have burst out completely, making for an ugly scene.

Renan, though? There was no one else in the room to take his cue from, so he didn't bother pretending anymore. He just sat down on a chair like an honest man, actively keeping up the rhythm of his Thunder Breathing while he waited for Soma to finish his hobby.

Soma might have looked absorbed in his brewing, but he was actually spending a good deal of attention on Renan, the new member of his Familia, who had joined with a skill already in hand.

Seeing that Renan wasn't hooked on the divine wine he'd brewed the way the others were, Soma's first reaction wasn't I've found a treasure or I just pulled an SSR. It was: Did I botch this batch?