"I will always be the home you can return to.“

  I honestly did not know how to react when the goddess who had made herself at home on my back said those words.

  I had spent the past eighteen years of my life in the foster care system. Being traded around like a hot potato from one set of prospective parents to the next. My "difficult personality" was apparently too much for any of them to handle. I was unwilling to act within the confines of what society dictated a proper citizen should be even at an early age, and as such, I never lasted much longer than a single year in any of those places.

  A genuine home was not something I could remember having in a long time.

  Hearing the sincere tone in the woman’s voice, an unfamiliar heat spread from my chest up to the back of my throat. A strange tightness took hold of my heart.

  A home, huh? I think I would like that. I would like that…very much.

  I was torn out of my idle train of thought when a gasp tore itself out of the goddess who had proclaimed herself to be my new home.

  Hestia scrambled off of me and stood next to the tiny bed. The piece of paper she clutched in her hands trembled.

  A frown twisted my features. I sat up and assumed a position that would allow me to observe the woman and her distraught face more clearly. Despite the Falna, I did not feel any different from how I did just moments prior.

  Hestia's eyes were shaking, and there was a cluster of tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. The look on her face was accusatory.

  What is going on?

  "Hestia? What happened? You can tell me.“

  Her tightly pinched face relaxed slightly, and she let out a deep breath. The hand holding the piece of paper was still trembling.

  "It is nothing, Cain! Really…don’t worry. I simply…overreacted, for a stupid reason!“

  Seeing the way I looked at her, Hestia seemed to understand that that vague explanation would not be enough for me.

  With a strained smile, she continued.

  "It is just that…I thought that I would be your first goddess, you know?…Like you are my first child…Can you tell me what Familia you were a part of before? There are a few death deities I could think of. Was it Anubis or…Hel? They are both beautiful…I would not be surprised if you were interested in them, you know! That is alright! I am not a…jealous…goddess, and you are a healthy young man after all!…But why did you leave their Familia? And what could I offer you that they cou—“

  I quickly interrupted her ramblings.

  There is definitely some strange misunderstanding going on here.

  "Hestia, stop…I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have never been part of any Familia before, and neither do I know of any death deity. There are only a few gods that I know of besides you…Where did this come from? What made you think all this?“

  My voice turned worried at the end of my question. It would be just my luck to finally find a place to belong…just to have it torn away from me because of something out of my control.

  Hestia peered up at me, her eyes blinking rapidly. The expression was unexpectedly cute on her perfectly symmetrical face.

  Then, goddess blushed red.

  "You…you are telling the truth! But how? Your Falna said…it said that.“ She gathered herself and stared at me with a raised brow.

  "Cain….What is the Blessing of Death?“

  My expression turned blank in an instant. My heart skipped a beat as the goddess addressed the one topic I had…hoped to postpone for at least a while longer.

  How did she?…Was it the Falna?… Well, I knew this was going to come up sooner or later. I really should have expected something like this when I gave her access to my Souls of all things.

  I had been very interested to find out that the blessings this world offered were vastly different from the ones I was used to.

  Instead of being born with them. In this world, everyone could get the Falna. Instead of some people awakening stronger powers than others, creating natural hierarchies, here everyone started on the same starting line. It was fascinating. If I understood it correctly…what you could achieve with the divine blessing, was only limited by your own talent and determination. There was no system in place to suppress the masses while empowering the few.

  It was almost like a dream come true.

  “The Blessing of Death is…it is an ability I was born with.” I paused my explanation and took a moment to look into the goddess’s wide eyes. She stared at me with undisguised curiosity.

  How do I even begin explaining this to her?

  As if sensing my discomfort, Hestia put both of her small hands on my bare arms and spoke in a low tone. "Don't worry, Cain…You do not need to tell me, if you don't want to…Knowing that it is a natural ability and nothing bad is all I need! That is actually very extraordinary, you know! It is rare for adventurers to have skills. Having a skill at level 1 is super rare. Having a skill the moment you get the Falna?…I have never heard of something like that before.“

  A smile grew on my face at her obvious attempt at cheering me up.

  This woman…how is it fair for someone like her to exist? I did not know that people this kind are actually real…Maybe it’s because this is a different world?

  There was no real reason for me to hide my story from her. As she called it, we were bonded now. As far as I understood it, I would carry her mark upon my soul for as long as I lived. What was a bit more trust in the face of that?

  "It is alright. I…do not mind telling you, Hestia. As you said, we are a family now. I don’t want there to be secrets between us.“

  In the books I read on the darker corners of the Net, family was always proclaimed to be the closest bond people could share. That was not always the case in the Theocracy, especially for me, who had never been part of a family before, but I always wanted to experience such a bond. And now that I had the chance, I would give it nothing less than my best shot.

  "What I am about to tell you will sound unbelievable. I can scarcely believe it myself…But I swear to you that it is the truth.“

  I stared Hestia dead in the eyes to properly convey the sincerity of my words.

  "Until earlier today…I was not a part of this world…I have never met a deity besides you, ever. I do not know what the Dungeon is, and I did not arrive in Orario by choice. I…come from a world very…different from this one. In that world, a small part of the population is born with what we call a Blessing. It is different from the Falna. The selection process is…unknown, but the people that awaken them do so without aid and do not use that power to fight…monsters like the Adventures do here…The Blessing of Death is the ability I was born with. It allows me to kill…anything…with a touch of my hand and gain power as I take their life.“

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I grasped her hands into mine and leaned forward until only a breath separated her face from mine. The goddess did not flinch back from my touch.

  "It is…important… to me that you understand that I have never used my Blessing to kill an innocent person before. Nor do I wish to! I did not choose this power…but I will do my absolute best to use it for good!“

  I released her still hands and leaned back into the bed. My shoulders were tight as I observed the woman’s expression shift through a wide range of emotions in rapid succession.

  It looked vaguely comical.

  Eventually, her face was torn between an expression of wonder and surprise. She paused for a moment and then smiled at me.

  "I know that you’re telling the truth, Cain! You don’t need to worry about that! I also know that you are not a bad person…Power is just power. It is neither good…nor evil. What matters is how you use it! I would never judge you for something that you have no control over…but never mind all that!“

  Her tone if voice suddenly rose to a higher pitch. Stars ignited in her beautiful blue eyes.

  "Why were you even hesitating?! This is amazing! It is like a story out of legends!…The hero who was summoned to Gekai, seeking to become an adventurer and slay monsters with his special power!" She squealed loudly and twirled in a circle. "Ah! I am so lucky to have found a child like you!…I’m so happy!“

  My mouth hung open as I stared at the goddess with wide eyes. While what I had told her was undoubtedly the truth… It was also a heavily summarized retelling of what had actually happened. I did not want to burden her with the true…reality of my world….Of exactly how it was that I ended up in this place.

  My goddess did not deserve to have her mood stained by such a ghastly tale.

  Still, while I had already realized that the people here were of a more martial culture than the citizens of Solstaris…I still expected some negative show of emotion at the mention of my Blessing.

  Even in the societies that littered the continent pre-unification…an ability that could do nothing but kill….It would have been demonized.

  A heavy weight lifted off my shoulders as I beheld Hestia’s bright expression. I leaned back even further and sank into the deceptively comfortable bed.

  "Oh!…I almost forgot. That means you truly know nothing about this world then?…Not even about Gekai?“ Hestia met my eyes with an earnest gaze. "Do you want me to tell you?“

  A smile bloomed on my lips. "I would love that.“

  Hestia grinned and jumped onto the bed next to me. She shifted in place for a few moments and then came to a stop with one of her legs crossed over the other.

  "Alright!…I will start by telling you about my people, the gods, and how we came to walk among you mortals in Gekai. You see…this realm is what we call the Lower World. I originally come from Tenkai, also called Heaven…it is the home of the gods."

  Her azure eyes lost some of their clarity.

  "Long ago we, the gods, descended into the world of our children, the mortals, in hopes of finding excitement and inspiration…We decided that we would reside here in the lower world for the rest of eternity! Seal away our divine powers and live a modest life…surrounded by all the discomforts of mortal inconvenience.“ She locked her gaze with mine and smiled.

  "I personally descended three months ago, and like the others, the only truly unique thing I can offer you in my earthly state is the blessing…The power to fight and defeat monsters that spawn from within the Dungeon! The children who receive this gift become a gods Familia…which means that you…are now my family! The first and only member of the Hestia Familia!“

  I closed my eyes for a moment to properly digest the influx of information.

  And she said my backstory was like a story out of legends? This sounded even more exciting than the myths of the heroes I read about in my youth!

  Maybe…I could even fulfill my childhood dreams of becoming a hero here. "Thank you for telling me, Hestia…“ I averted my gaze from her clear blue eyes. "There is…something else I have been meaning to ask you. When you call us mortals, children…when you call me your…child…what exactly do you mean by that?…Do you see me as your…son, now? because I…well, I—”

  Hestia interrupted me before I could finish. A choked yelp leaving her throat. "No! It’s not like that!“ She crossed her arms in front of her face into an X shape.

  "How do I explain this?…"Children" are simply what we gods call mortals, because…well… I would not exactly say that you are all children to us…but it's not far from the truth either. It's a result of our age compared to mortal lifespans, you see. As for you being my son…well, I do not really know what that means. If you really want to, I would not mind you calling me "mother,"…but I should warn you that I would not know how to respond to that…Gods do not have families in the same way humans do….We all come into being fully formed. We have neither parents nor siblings…nor do we have offspring."

  Her deliberate tone shifted into something brighter. "I wish to create a real family of my own down here in the lower world! I want to build bonds like the one we share now!…. but that family is not the same definition of the word that you are imagining right now.”

  I hummed in response to her words.

  With the way she acted so…normally…I had almost forgotten that the radiant woman in front of me was in fact not a human, but an immortal being of unfathomable power just…role-playing as a human…because it was exciting.

  What a strange thought.

  Almost as strange as the fact that the first person I would end up forming a connection with was not even a real person, but a goddess. It really was just like me. I had never managed to do anything the normal way a single day in my life.

  Still, I was…happy. I truly did not regret joining this goddess.

  "Ah…I see. That is…good. I think I will stick to calling you just Hestia though. In any case, I should thank you for accepting me into your familia.”

  The petite woman stilled at that. Her body sitting to my left turned away from me. She averted her eyes and stared at the floor.

  "I…I…no. You shouldn’t. To tell you the truth, Cain…I should be the one thanking you.“ Her gaze snapped back to mine and her blue eyes shone like dying embers. "Thank you…for settling for a penniless goddess like me.“

  I stared at her with a tilted head. A penniless goddess? The idea of a deity lacking money was baffling.

  If there was one thing my old world had taught me, then it was that while a rich man could lack power, a powerful man would never lack for riches.

  How is it possible for a goddess to be poor?

  Seeing that the silence between us was starting to stretch. I took my mind off of the thought and spoke up….I would not say that I had fully figured out the woman by my side just yet… but one thing had already become clear to me.

  There was only one thing I could say in response to her self deprecating words.

  "Hestia…Look at me.” I grasped her chin with my right hand and gently turned her head back towards me. I waited quietly until her blue eyes met my amber-colored ones again. They were filled with thinly veiled insecurity.

  This will not do at all.

  "I did not…choose you…because I expected any kind of material reward from you. You gave me the Falna; that is more than enough for me. You have offered me a home. That is more than I would have asked for. We are bonded now, aren’t we? That was what you said“ The corners of my lips curled upwards. "Never think that you are somehow in any way lesser than any other god I could have ended up with. You are perfect. Do not doubt that.“

  Hestia stared at me with wide eyes. "You…you really…you really mean that! I…I—“ She choked up and struggled for words. A moment later, a beautiful smile stretched across her face and she threw herself at me again, pulling me into a hug.

  "I am so happy! You are also perfect, Cain! I could not have asked for a better first child!”

  I had grown used to her physical displays of affection at this point…so I was merely glad that I was able to reassure her. I leaned farther back until my shoulders touched the bed, and I was fully lying down. Hestia rested her head on my chest and turned quite.

  I released a deep yawn.

  The events of the day were beginning to catch up to me…I truly never could have expected how this day would end just hours ago…when Indomitable opened the doors to my cell and escorted me to a fiery death.

  I am so tired.

  Hestia raised her head from my chest and peered up at me with wide eyes. "You are tired! You should sleep, Cain. From what you told me…you went through a lot today….We can talk more tomorrow…if you want.“

  I lifted my hand to her head and, in a movement that came so naturally I barely registered it, stroked her silky black hair. The goddess froze for a moment…and then quickly relaxed even further onto me.

  "I would love to, Hestia.“ I snorted in as I suddenly recalled an important detail.

  "You also still have not shown me my… Status was the word, right? The actual contents of my new blessing“

  Hestia's eyes widened. "You’re right! I can’t believe I forgot to show you! I…will give it to you first thing in the morning, okay?“

  I nodded silently and continued stroking her soft hair. My mind turned sluggish as sleep took me over.

  My last conscious thoughts went towards the infamous Dungeon…the one that I was determined to challenge on the following day

  I wonder how different killing monsters will feel compared to killing humans…Will it be worse?….or better?

  I could not wait to find out.