A Survivor’s Life in the Dungeon (Danmachi fanfic)

*Narration.* 

Heracles looked at the petite goddess as she pouts on the ground like a little girl, Hestia is one of the few gods the Heracles considered to be a friend of his, she was one of the first gods who approached him when he ascended to heaven and became a god himself.

"you gorilla!!! Why is your body so hard?!" She asked the god, as she massaged her feet, kicking Heracles was a mistake on her part as the kick hurt her more than it did him.

"Did that brain of yours melt down to your breast? Gorilla? Me? Hahaha!!! Please I'm stud." 

"Stud my ass, I have a bone to pick with you." she stood up and poke the god on his chest. "What's the big idea leaving like that huh? You didn't even say goodbye to me. I thought we were friends." 

"Sorry about that, it was all in the heat of the moment. Someone caught my eye here in the lower world, and you know me... Once I find something that interests me I'll just go ahead and do it." 

"Yeah yeah... Buddha told me, a child, you know heaven didn't take your departure well, calling it disrespectful or so." she then smiled and looked me in the eye. "You know Thor said that he'll beat you to a pulp once he sees you since you didn't even say goodbye to him." 

"Oh I look forward to it..." he said excited at the chance to fight his blood brother for the first time in a long while. "So you finally decided to descend. How long have you been here in the lower world?"

Hestia paused at the question, her eyes started to roam the hall as she spoke with her voice stuttering. "Uh-- about 2 m-months now. Yeah two months."

"Two months eh. Knowing you, you're probably freeloading at the other place, after all you're pretty much useless on your own." 

"I'll have you know that I've been doing fine on my own." she said smugly as she folded her hands on her breast sending them shaking as the other adventurers in the area couldn't help but stare at them.

"Doing fine my ass." a voice suddenly joined in on their conversation, as a tall redhead beauty walked slowly towards them, she was wearing an eye patch on her right eye. "Heracles." she nodded at the god of strength as she looked at Hestia annoyingly.

"Hephaestus." Heracles nodded back. Hephaestus wasn't really a friend per say, more like an acquaintance, but he respected her nonetheless.

"H-H-Hephaestus?!" Hestia panicked, her eyes looking down, dodging the stare of the redhead she looked at her with cold eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Hestia... You seemed to have wandered off. Last time I checked there is still a bunch of armor in my inventory that needs to be polished." 

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Heracles laughed at the interaction between the two goddesses, every word that came out of Hephaestus mouth seems to make Hestia shrink smaller and smaller.

"Our deal is that you'll work for me after I take you in, imagine my surprise as I found out that you're playing hooky." 

Hestia just looked defeated after that. After she boasts that she was doing fine Hephaestus of all people showed up.

"Oh and Heracles, long time no see. How have you been?" Hephaestus then turned her attention towards Heracles. 

"I've been fine. Looks like you got your hands full with this one." he said as he pointed towards the tiny goddess lamenting in the corner.

"I'll manage... Seeing you here In Orario must have meant that you're officially starting your own familia, and knowing that old fox I bet he'll do everything to make your life harder here." 

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that old fool. He has no power over me." Heracles shrugs. 

"Still I would be careful if I were you. Ouranus isn't the type of god who lets go of any grudges, and from what I know, he hates you quite a bit."

"I'll be fine." 

"If you say so. Since you're here I take it that you've just registered in the guild as an official familia. Good luck on that. Most newly descended gods fail in establishing one here in the city since most adventurers tend to join more established families." She then pointed at the little god. "Hestia here is a good example, two months and still no adventurer joined her. She's now bankrupt and is now working for me for food and shelter. Well she likes to skip work so she's basically freeloading."

Heracles could have sworn that he heard something breaking, he smiled awkwardly and scratched his head as he stared at the poor girl falling deeper into despair.

"well I already have the adventurer part cover. And he's pretty strong too if I do say so myself. I already have someone in my familia so I'm good there, I also have a good stock of valis in my possession so money will not be an issue."

Hestia hearing this suddenly became angry, she the very beautiful and graceful goddess failed to get anyone to join her familia for two months, and this, this buffoon who has just arrived at the city already has an adventurer under him, and he has money to boot. How is that even fair?

"HUHHH?!!!" Hestia stood up to face Heracles. "You're telling me that you, who just arrived here in Orario already have an adventurer who joined your familia?" 

Heracles just smiled at Hestia, the mocking smile that seems to say 'you can't even do this much?' which made her face turn sour. 

"oh a strong one eh..." Hephaestus on the other hand was not surprised, she remembered the reason why Heracles descended in the first place, and she was much smarter than Hestia who to be frank is a bit of an airhead at times. She remembered the Denatus that had been held when the alliance returned back to Orarion from their campaign in hunting down evilus, and knew that Heracles gave his blessing to a child nine years ago. In her mind the child must have grown strong, a level 3 perhaps, well that is a good place to start. "I would have loved to meet that child of yours."

"Well he's right there talking to the little elf receptionist." Heracles pointed at August, he was still there and from what he's seeing he seems to be getting along well with the young elf. Perhaps a little too well, 'did the elf just laugh as she slapped her arm. What the fuck? Does August have rizz?' Heracles was flabbergasted, looks like his child has some sort of hidden talent.

"Oh you mean the one who's obviously flirting with the elf?" Hephaestus smiled at Heracles which pissed the god off. His eyebrows twitched as he watched how August seems to effortlessly charm the elf with his smile.

"Yes..." He answered quietly.

"Pfft.." Hestia tried to laugh at the situation but failed to do so, a huge hand suddenly clutched her head which made her stop on her tracks.

"AUGUST!!!" Heracles called his child as the young man stood and looked around trying to find where the voice came from, he finally saw them as he made his way towards them, not before saying goodbye to the elf Sophie. 

"Lord you're back." He fixed himself as he stood in front of his god, he spotted two unknown females beside Heracles so he made sure that he looked at least presentable. 

"Allow me to introduce you to some of my... Acquaintances.." Heracles started talking but Hestia cut him off.

"Please... We're his friends, my name is Hestia the goddess of the hearth, and this right here is Hephaestus the goddess of smithing, metalworking, and fire." Hestia energetically introduces herself as well as Hephaestus, Heracles is quite shocked at how fast the goddess bounced back from her depressed state earlier.

"..." Hephaestus on the other hand was quiet, her eyes were glued at the spear on the boys back, Beowulf, she felt divinity coming out of the spear yet it wasn't arcanum, conflicted by emotions of awe and envy at whoever made such a marvelous weapon. Heracles caught the goddess's eyes, yet he said nothing of it. He understood what Hephaestus felt, after all he felt that sensation when he fought August a while back. A piece of divinity that is not arcanum.

"Hephaestus?" Hestia on the other hand can't seem to read the room, hearing the little goddess call her name snapped her out of her trance, she then finally introduced herself to the boy.

"Lady Hestia, Lady Hephaestus, it is nice to meet you both... My name is August Kaiser, a member of lord Heracles' familia." August bowed as he introduced himself. 

Heracles on the other hand feels a pang of anger in his heart. 'The fuck, this boy seems to be respectful towards others, why in the fuck is he disrespecting me then? Ok that's it, from now on I'm gonna double our sparring sessions.' he thought to himself as he smiled sadistically for August to catch a glimpse of.

'This old man is thinking of something stupid again.' He paid his god no heed as he continued his conversation with the two goddesses, primarily the little one who.

"What a respectful child, it's hard to believe someone like you is under this big oaf." August could clearly see a vein popped on Heracles head, and he did his best to ignore it. "I hope you won't find this rude, but Heracles here is saying that you are quite strong for your age, what was it again? 15? So if you don't mind me asking. What level are you currently at?" Hestia asks sweetly, as she is dying to know the strength of Heracles adventurer, she refuses to accept defeat from this big gorilla.

August looked at Heracles for approval, and the god, as petty as ever nodded at his way, he really wanted to see Hestia's defeated face of despair. 

Hephaestus listened to the conversation as well, the topic has peaked her curiosity and she also wanted to know the boy's strength.

"I'm level 5 right now." 

"Eh..." Hestia widened her eyes, she laughed at the boy, a level 5 at fifteen. Yeah I must have heard it wrong. "Can you please repeat that, I didn't seem to hear you correctly." She asked again, this time her smile seemed a bit flustered.

"I'm currently level 5 right now." August answered a little bit clearer this time, as he scratched his cheeks at the goddess reaction of awe and disbelief.

Hestia felt betrayed, she, the embodiment of beauty and grace (on her fantasies only.) spent two months trying to find an adventurer to join her, yet this gorilla who was muscle for brains who had just arrived at Orario got a respectful, good looking, strong adventurer right of the bat (She pretty much forgotten that the boy was the one Heracles descended to the lower world for.) how is the world fair?

Her face tells the story in it of itself, a face of utter and complete defeat, as Heracles took it all in. 'Suffer more!' he kept repeating in his mind, and then like a dam he couldn't help himself and laughed hard at the expense of Hestia.

Hephaestus on the other hand took the information with more grace, sure she was shocked by it, she knows that Heracles trained this boy from the ground up, yet her expectation has been blown out of the water, she wouldn't be surprised if the boy was a level 3, from what he heard in Denatus the boy was fairly talented. But to achieve level 5 in 9 years. "Another prodigy entered Orario." she couldn't help but spout those words.

Hearing that both Heracles and August paused. Heracles was interested by this other prodigy Hephaestus spoke of, August on the other hand is trying so hard to keep his mana and aura from bursting off from excitement. He never met anyone his age as strong as him, and the goddess said that there is another one in the city, he is itching to find them, to fight them, to see who is stronger between the two of them.

"Well I'll be off now, I still have a business to run, and I'm taking this... I wanna say mushroom... With me since the armor won't polish themselves." Hephaestus bid her farewell as she excused herself, holding Hestia by her collar and she pulled her out of the guild. "It was nice seeing you Heracles." 

Heracles gave the two a nod of goodbye as he stared at their retreating figure. 'Shit... I failed to ask about this prodigy. Oh well I'll probably see them in the future.' 

"Lord..." August called for his god, as Heracles looked at the boy, a smile appeared on the god's face. August was smiling viciously, his aura is oozing out of his body as the other adventurers felt a cold sensation, like a hand clutching them at their necks. "I'm really glad that I'm here at Orario right now." excitement can be seen all too clearly at his face as the boy contained the aura that was leaking out of him.

Heracles felt joy at August's determination, his hunger for strength and to be the strongest filled him with expectation for the future of his child.

"Let's go, we have a lot of stuff to do." Heracles moved and his child followed, the adventurer, making way for the god who is as big or even bigger than a minotaur, and the man who released such a terrifying aura earlier. 

They reached the door and walked past a certain blonde girl who was making her way inside the guild. Little did August know that the prodigy he is searching for is much much closer than he thinks. The two of them would become the pillar of Orario's future, but that is a story for another time.

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-A week later. 16th floor of the dungeon.

A monster was shrieking in pain as a spear penetrated its abdominal, blood was gushing all over as the monster finally succumbed to death, its body turning to dust leaving behind its core.

"Roar!!!" another monster came foolishly charging in, as the adventurer twisted his spear and slammed the base down the minotaur horn, it sent the beast reeling off balance as a quick slash decapitated the monster and turned it to dust.

The adventurer was August, he finally gets to dive inside the dungeon after one week, the reason for his delay is because of his god, making him do all the paper work and choirs that should be his. 'Stupid old man.' he thinks to himself.

He was excited at first, and sure the monster inside was stronger compared to their counterpart outside the dungeon, but for him a level 5, floor 16 is just no challenge for him.

'So after this floor should be the boss room.' he thought to himself as he collected the monster core and put it inside his bag.

'Sophie did warn me not to engage the 17th room alone, that a monster rex is a much different monster compared to the others inside the dungeon.' 

A crystal mantis sneaked behind August as he was deep in his thoughts, inching closer, and closer towards him.

'Sophie said that a monster rex required a full team of high class adventurer to beat, but she also said that the 17th floor rex is only level 4, and I'm level 5 myself.' his hands suddenly moved, using his spear to stab behind him, hitting the large insect on its mandibles and through its skull, splashing its grey matter all over the place.

"Fuck it. I should be able to kill that thing." he said as he marched down the 17th floor.

The more he thought about it the more he thought that killing it would be doable for him, after all he did kill some level 4 monsters, the hobgoblin he killed back at the mountains came to mind, he suspected it to be a high level 3 or even a level 4, yet he was able to kill it rather easily. Yet he failed to understand that the monsters outside, and the monster inside are vastly different when it comes to their strengths.

Especially a rex.

August completely forgot one of Heracles lessons, that overconfidence is a bane of a warrior. And right now August is as confident as you can get.

"How hard can a level four be?" he placed his spear on his shoulder hanging his hands on it as he walked confidently towards the 17th floor.

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*BOOM!!!* 

August was sent flying, he was fast enough to raise his spear to guard the blow, but his body aches all over, screaming at him in pain.

He quickly rolled up and jumped back as he saw a huge hand descending upon him. He dodged it but the shockwave sent him tumbling down on his ass.

From all the monsters that he has faced this was by far the strongest, his arrogance and overconfidence brought him into a death match against the huge behemoth. 

With dark grey skin, a black obsidian eyes, the monster stood 7 meters tall staring at the man who dared challenge him.

Goliath rex.

He channeled mana at his feet, and in his hand, the mana then enveloped the spear as he rushed at the giant and slashed it with a flurry of blows. But Beowulf is just as big as a toothpick for this monster and all the wounds it received from the relentless strike ate just scratches, too shallow to deal any significant damage.

A hand suddenly appears as Goliath rex swatted him away.

"Shit!!!" he enveloped his whole body with mana to take the blow as he braced himself for impact. The blow landed sending him straight to the ground, bouncing off the hard pavements.

He got up, battered and bruised, as blood fell out of his lips, he suffered heavy internal damage with that blow, even as his mana protected him.

His mind raced, working overtime to find an opening he could exploit. 'Should I use endless battle? No... Going mind zero deep inside the dungeon alone is a death sentence. I need to find another way. His skin is way too dense for me to deliver a deep enough wound. Think August... Use that brain, brain, its eyes, I could reach his brain through its eyes.

August prepared himself as he came up with a plan, he remembered the fight the adventurers had against the Nemean Lion, with its impenetrable skin the eyes and its inside are a glaring weakness. And he would try to emulate that fight against this thing.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING SLAUGHTER YOU." August released his battle cry as he charged at the giant beast. His mana raging, it ran all around his body sending a strong gale of wind to blow inside the room.

"Roar!!!" The monster following suit, charging towards the man who dared challenge him.

Then they met in the middle.

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*** 

Welp chapter 18 is done now, sorry about the delay, I don't know what's wrong with this app that it suddenly deleted my finished chapter right before I was about to post it.

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing

 helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.

good day, love y'all.