Soon, Daphne and Cassandra arrived at the Focalors Familia's temporary headquarters.
Just as they were hesitating whether to knock, the door opened from the inside. Two elf girls walked out, looking utterly crestfallen. They were clearly hopeful recruits who had just been rejected.
Even elf rookies were turned away?!
This sight dealt a heavy blow to Daphne and Cassandra's confidence. Among all the races in Orario, elves were the most highly sought after. Almost every elf was guaranteed to awaken magic. No matter which Familia they applied to, they were usually welcomed like treasures.
If the Focalors Familia was turning away even elves, their entry standards must be absurdly high.
"You're here! Please, come in."
After seeing the two elves off, Tifa spotted Daphne and Cassandra standing by the door. She immediately offered them a warm, gentle smile, ushering them into the living room.
Seeing Tifa's smile, which felt as comforting as a spring breeze, eased some of the anxiety twisting in their chests.
"Flamescion, we're here for our appointment. Please, give us your answer," Daphne said, getting straight to the point after she and Cassandra sat down and thanked Hyacine for the hot tea.
"No need to be so tense," Aiden laughed, taking in their nervous, wavering expressions. "I've already made up my mind. Our Familia does need to expand. So, welcome to the Focalors Familia."
"R… Really?"
It went… that smoothly?
Both Daphne and Cassandra froze, their brains temporarily short-circuiting. They had even prepared an entire speech to pitch their worth to the team, yet they were accepted before they even had the chance to speak.
"Of course it's real!" Hyacine cheered, affectionately leaning in close. "Welcome to the Focalors Familia! We're all one big family now, Daph-babe, Cass-babe!"
The sudden, overly intimate nicknames caught Daphne and Cassandra completely off guard, but the genuine warmth behind them sent a comforting surge through their hearts.
"Hehe! We have new members! The Familia is growing, yay!"
Furina sprang up from the sofa, placing her hands on her hips like a little queen. She beamed at Daphne and Cassandra. "You two, come with me! This Goddess will perform your Conversion ritual right now!"
Since the Apollo Familia had been disbanded, the Falna of all former members had been set to an open state by Apollo, allowing them to convert to a new deity at any time.
The Conversion ritual went incredibly smoothly under Furina's administration.
As the Captain, Aiden naturally gained access to their detailed Status information. However, out of respect for their privacy, only Aiden and Robin—the Captain and Vice-Captain—had the authority to view those detailed stats. Even within the same Familia, most adventurers kept their Statuses private unless they were as close as Daphne and Cassandra.
Daphne and Cassandra were intimately familiar with their own Statuses. They didn't expect a simple change of Familia to result in any earth-shattering differences.
But when they looked at their updated backs and saw a new skill, [Divine Protection of the Water God], and a new development ability, [Diving], they were both left absolutely stunned.
"T-This is—?!"
They looked at each other, eyes wide with sheer disbelief.
Seeing them shocked stiff as if hit by a petrification spell, Furina proudly puffed out her little chest. Hands on her hips, she giggled. "Hehe, see that? That's the hidden perk of joining my Familia! Keep it a secret, though. It's the absolute highest classified information of the Focalors Familia."
Daphne and Cassandra nodded frantically, their hearts hammering in their chests. They had no idea how Goddess Focalors pulled it off, but gaining an extra skill and development ability out of thin air was a monumental blessing. The Dungeon had no shortage of underwater zones and aquatic monsters; the [Divine Protection of the Water God] was undeniably a god-tier skill for any adventurer.
"Alright, alright! To celebrate our new members," Furina threw her hands in the air, looking at Aiden with stars in her eyes, "let's go have a banquet at the Hostess of Fertility tonight!"
Those sparkling eyes clearly translated to: I want to eat Mama Mia's little cakes.
Aiden naturally had no objections. Hosting a welcome party for new members was standard procedure, and it was the best way to help Daphne and Cassandra integrate into the Familia's dynamic.
Not that Aiden was worried. Everyone in the Familia—Robin, Tifa, Hyacine, and even Jeanne—was incredibly gentle and accommodating. From their past interactions, he knew Daphne and Cassandra weren't difficult people to get along with either. As for their Goddess, Furina was the undisputed mascot of the Familia. Her total lack of divine arrogance made her incredibly easy to approach.
.....
After a grand and heartwarming welcome banquet at the Hostess of Fertility, Daphne and Cassandra returned to their temporary inn. The Focalors Familia's actual headquarters was still under construction, and the small temporary base had no spare rooms.
However, Aiden had already made plans with them: they would meet at the Guild first thing in the morning for a Dungeon dive.
The news left the two girls both thrilled and unprecedentedly nervous.
Early the next morning, when a bright-eyed Daphne and Cassandra arrived at the Guild entrance, Aiden's group was already fully geared up and waiting. Sleeping bags, blankets, massive amounts of rations and water, backup potions, and tools... It was clearly a setup for a prolonged expedition, not a casual day trip.
Daphne and Cassandra exchanged a solemn look.
"We're heading down to the deeper floors this time. A round trip will take too long, so we'll have to camp in the Dungeon," Aiden explained briefly. "This is also our first time fighting as a full unit, so we won't push the pace too fast. The main goal is synergy."
Upon entering the Dungeon, the team advanced steadily.
Daphne, armed with her rapier and a long whip coiled at her waist, acted as the highly mobile vanguard-support, flanking the front lines. Cassandra stayed in the luxurious backline alongside Hyacine, forming a dual-healer setup.
Right then, Robin's voice echoed softly directly inside their minds.
In the next second, Daphne and Cassandra's entire world was flipped upside down.
Their field of vision violently expanded, as if they had suddenly grown extra sets of eyes. Aiden's forward-piercing gaze, Tifa's sweeping peripheral vision catching every corner, Jeanne's protective watch over the rear… Every sense merged and synchronized in that single moment, forming a flawless, omnidirectional "God-mode" perspective.
"T-This is—?!" Cassandra nearly shrieked.
"A-Are we hacking?!" Daphne was equally shaken to her core.
As an adventurer with a natural talent for commanding, she understood better than anyone how utterly broken this ability was on a battlefield. The commander could issue orders the instant a threat appeared, and the team received and executed them with zero delay and zero misunderstandings.
This telepathic link was the ultimate divine skill every commander dreamed of.
Along the way, the frequency of the Dungeon's newly spawned anomaly monsters—Hilichurls charging with flaming wooden clubs, and various elemental Whopperflowers ambushing from beneath the earth—far exceeded their expectations.
Yet, under Robin's calm and precise telepathic direction, the chaos became entirely systematic.
The team's coordination was flawless. Tifa and Daphne acted like two razor-sharp knives, carving a path straight through the hordes. Aiden barely even had to draw his weapon.
---
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters, Visit:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations