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Hestia stared at the heavy bag of money, and then at Elias's friendly smile.
She couldn't believe it.
The literal concept of Death and her super-strong boyfriend wanted to join *her* tiny, broken Familia?
Before Hestia could even say yes, the old church doors squeaked open again.
"Kami-sama! I am home!"
A cheerful but tired voice called out.
Bell Cranel walked inside.
His clothes were a little dirty from the Dungeon, and he was carrying a small bag of magic stones.
When he looked up, he stopped completely.
He blinked his red eyes in surprise, looking at the tall, handsome man and the beautiful pale girl sitting on the floor with his Goddess.
"Um..."
Bell scratched his white hair, looking very confused.
"Kami-sama? Do we have guests?"
Hestia quickly jumped up to her feet.
She dusted off her dress, trying to look like a brave and proud goddess in front of her child.
"Bell-kun! You are back!"
Hestia cheered. She pointed at Elias and Dee with a big, nervous smile.
"We don't just have guests. We have brand new family members! Meet Elias and Dee. They just asked to join the Hestia Familia!"
Bell's jaw dropped. His eyes went wide with pure shock.
"R-Really?!"
Bell gasped. He looked at Elias and Dee to see if it was a joke.
Elias stood up and held out his hand.
"It is nice to meet you,"
Elias smiled kindly.
"Hestia told us you are a very hard worker. We are excited to work with you."
Bell stared at Elias's hand for a second.
Then, a huge, incredibly bright smile took over his face.
He quickly reached out and shook Elias's hand with both of his own.
"Welcome!"
Bell said, his voice shaking with pure happiness.
"Thank you so much for joining us! I... I always thought no one wanted to join because our church is so old and we don't have any money. I am so glad I finally have a brother and a sister in the Familia!"
Elias felt the boy's warm, honest grip.
Dee was right.
Bell didn't have a single bad bone in his body.
His happiness was completely pure.
"We don't care about a fancy house,"
Elias told him gently, feeling a deep respect for the young boy.
"A family is about the people, not the building."
Bell looked like he was about to cry happy tears.
Hestia smiled proudly, feeling a deep warmth in her chest, too.
These two strangers might be terrifyingly powerful, but they were actually very nice people.
Dee suddenly clapped her pale hands together, breaking the emotional moment.
"Alright!"
Dee cheered happily.
"Since we are officially a family now, we cannot just sit around in a dusty old church! We need to have a big welcome party!"
She picked up the heavy bag of coins Elias had put on the floor and shook it.
It made a loud, rich jingling sound.
"And since Eli earned all this money today,"
Dee grinned,
"We are going to go out and eat the best food in the city!"
Bell's eyes widened at the big bag of money.
"Wow, you earned that much on your first day?"
Bell asked in awe.
"That is amazing! Where do you want to go?"
Dee's dark eyes sparkled with pure excitement.
She had watched the anime, and she already knew exactly where she wanted to eat.
"I want to go to the Hostess of Fertility!"
Dee announced loudly.
"I heard the food there is amazing, and the waitresses are super pretty!"
Bell choked on his own breath.
He waved his hands in a panic, his face turning bright red.
"T-The Hostess of Fertility?!"
Bell stuttered nervously.
"But Dee-san, that place is really famous! It is super crowded, and the food is very expensive! Are you sure?"
Elias just laughed and patted Bell on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about the money or the crowds, Bell,"
Elias smiled comfortably.
"Today is a special day. The food is entirely on me. Let's go celebrate."
"Wait, you two!"
Hestia called out quickly before they could walk out the door.
Elias and Dee stopped and turned around.
Hestia stood up straight, trying to look very professional and serious.
"Before we go celebrate, we need to make this official,"
Hestia explained, pointing a finger in the air.
"If you are going to be in my Familia, you need my blessing. You need my Falna to enter the Dungeon safely. Are you sure you want my power on your backs?"
Dee smiled brightly and nodded her head.
"I don't have a problem with it at all!"
Dee giggled.
"I want to play by the rules of this world. Please, give me your blessing, Kami-sama!"
Hestia smiled warmly.
She told Dee to sit down on the old sofa and turn around.
Dee pulled down the back of her black dress just enough to show her pale, smooth back.
Hestia gently pricked her own finger with a tiny needle.
She let a single drop of glowing blue divine blood fall onto Dee's skin.
Hestia chanted a quiet, beautiful song.
Bright blue light glowed in the dark church.
When the light faded, a black tattoo with strange letters and numbers appeared on Dee's back.
"There!"
Hestia cheered happily.
"It worked perfectly. Welcome to the Familia, Dee!"
"Yay! Thank you!"
Dee smiled, fixing her dress.
She didn't have any problems at all.
Even though she was Death, she easily allowed the magic to sit quietly on her skin.
"Okay, Elias,"
Hestia said, turning to him.
"It is your turn! Take your shirt off and sit down."
Elias nodded. He took off his shirt and sat on the sofa.
Hestia squeezed another drop of glowing blue blood from her finger and let it fall right into the center of Elias's strong back.
But the moment the divine blood touched his skin, something went completely wrong.
*Whoosh!*
A blinding, intense light exploded from Elias's body.
The air in the church became incredibly heavy.
"Ah!"
Hestia gasped, jumping backward.
She grabbed her own chest, looking completely terrified again.
"Kami-sama! What is wrong?!"
Bell yelled, running over to his goddess.
"My power!"
Hestia cried out, staring at Elias's glowing back.
"The Falna is not resting on his skin! His body... his body is eating my blessing! It is breaking down my divine power and making it his own!"
Elias opened his eyes. He could feel it perfectly.
His Adaptivity power had felt the foreign magic of the gods touching him.
Because his body was built to survive everything, it automatically started to consume the Falna to make Elias completely immune to it.
It was turning Hestia's blessing into Elias's own raw energy.
Elias realized he needed to fix this quickly.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He focused his mind and spoke directly to his own body.
*Stop adapting*
Elias commanded his body silently.
*Do not eat this power. Just leave it alone. Let it stay right on the surface level.*
Because Elias had absolute control over his existence, his body listened instantly.
The blinding light immediately faded away. The heavy pressure in the room vanished.
The glowing divine energy stopped sinking into his muscles and bones.
Instead, it slowly moved back up to the surface of his skin, turning into the normal black tattoo of the Hestia Familia.
Hestia fell to her knees, panting heavily.
"Are you okay, Kami-sama?"
Bell asked, helping her up.
"I... I am fine,"
Hestia breathed out, wiping sweat from her forehead. She looked at Elias with absolute wonder.
"Elias, what exactly did you just do?"
Hestia asked weakly.
"I am sorry about that,"
Elias chuckled softly, putting his shirt back on.
"My body is a little bit too protective. It tries to absorb any new magic that touches me. But I told it to stop, so your blessing is perfectly safe on my back now."
Hestia and Bell just stared at him.
They had never heard of a human body fighting back against the magic of the gods.
Elias stood up and smiled at his completely shocked family.
"Well, the blessings are done, right?"
Elias asked cheerfully, clapping his hands together.
"Yes,"
Hestia nodded slowly, still trying to process what had just happened.
"Great!"
Dee cheered, grabbing Elias's arm again.
"Then let's stop standing around! I am super hungry! To the Hostess of Fertility!"