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Elias and Dee walked back to the church.
The sun was completely gone now.
The street was dark and quiet.
Elias pushed the heavy wooden door open. It made a loud creaking sound.
Inside the church, a single candle burned on the main table.
Bell sat in a wooden chair. He was staring at the table.
Hestia sat next to him. She looked very tired. She rested her chin on her hands.
Lili and Welf stood near the wall.
They both looked serious.
In the middle of the table, under the candlelight, rested a white envelope.
It had a shiny gold seal on it.
Bell looked up when the door opened.
"Elias,"
Bell called out.
"You are back."
"We are back,"
Elias said. He walked over to the table.
Dee walked right behind him.
Bell pointed a finger at the white envelope.
"Did you hear the news in the city?"
Bell asked.
"I heard,"
Elias answered.
"It is an invitation."
Hestia let out a long, heavy sigh.
"It is from Apollo,"
Hestia said. Her voice sounded bitter.
"He is throwing a grand banquet. He invited all the Gods in the city. And he specifically invited our family. He made sure everyone knew he invited us."
Lili crossed her small arms. She frowned deeply.
"It is a trap,"
Lili said.
"The Apollo Familia is huge. They have a big mansion and hundreds of members. We live in an old church. He just wants to make fun of us in front of everyone."
Welf nodded slowly.
"Lili is right,"
Welf agreed.
"Apollo is a proud God. He likes to show off his power. If we go, his children will try to push us around. They will try to make us look bad."
Bell looked down at his hands. He felt nervous.
He looked back up at Elias.
"What do you think we should do?"
Bell asked.
"Should we go or not?"
The room went very quiet. Everyone waited for Elias to speak.
Elias looked at the white envelope.
He did not look worried at all.
"We should go,"
Elias said simply.
Bell blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
Bell asked.
"Even if it is a trap?"
"Yes,"
Elias said.
Hestia stood up from her chair.
"But Elias,"
Hestia said quickly.
"If we go, they will mock Bell. They will insult our family. Apollo wants to start a fight. I know how he thinks. He is greedy. He will use the party to force us into a bad spot."
"Hiding will not stop him,"
Elias explained.
"If we stay here, Apollo will say we are cowards. He will say we insult the Gods. He will use our absence as an excuse to attack us in the streets."
Elias looked at Bell.
"We don't hide from anyone,"
Elias told him.
"We put on our best clothes. We walked through his front door. We eat his food. And we look him right in the eye."
Bell swallowed hard. He felt a small spark of courage in his chest.
"And if they try to start a fight?"
Bell asked.
"If they push us into a corner?"
Elias kept his voice very steady.
"Then we let them,"
Elias said.
"If they mess around, they will cross a line. If they demand a War Game, we will accept it. We will just wage war with them."
Welf let out a sudden laugh.
"Wage war with a massive family?"
Welf asked with a grin.
"You make it sound so easy."
"It is easy,"
Elias replied.
"They only have numbers. Numbers do not matter when the end arrives. If they want a war, we will take everything Apollo owns. We will take his money, his home, and his pride."
Dee stepped forward.
She placed a hand on Elias's shoulder and smiled at the group.
"My boyfriend and I is very good at ending things,"
Dee said happily.
"Do not worry about Apollo. He is just a man sitting in a bright chair. He doesn't know what hides in the dark."
Hestia looked at Elias, then at Dee. Slowly, she sat back down.
"You two are crazy,"
Hestia said. But she was smiling a little bit now.
"But you make me feel brave. Okay. We will go to the banquet."
Bell let out a breath he was holding.
He felt much better.
"There is something else we need to talk about,"
Hestia said. Her tone became very serious again.
She reached under the table and pulled out a stack of paper.
"Before we worry about Apollo, we need to talk about yesterday,"
Hestia said.
"I updated your status boards this morning while you were all sleeping."
Bell leaned forward.
"Did something change?"
Bell asked.
Hestia nodded.
"Something impossible happened,"
Hestia said.
She handed a piece of paper to Bell.
"Bell, you are Level 2,"
Hestia told him.
Bell's eyes went wide. He stared at the paper.
"Level 2? Really?"
Bell gasped.
Hestia handed another paper to Lili. Then she gave one to Welf.
"Lili, Welf,"
Hestia said.
"You are both Level 2 as well."
The room fell completely silent again.
Lili stared at her paper. Her hands were shaking.
"This is wrong,"
Lili whispered.
"This has to be a mistake, Goddess. I am just a supporter. I did not fight the Goliath. I hid behind the rocks."
Welf looked at his own hands.
"She is right,"
Welf agreed.
"Elias killed the boss. He did it in one hit. We just stood there and watched. We did not earn this."
Hestia shook her head.
"You did earn it,"
Hestia explained gently.
"The dungeon is a strange place. It reads your soul. It reads your experience. When that giant monster appeared, you didn't run away."
Hestia looked at each of them.
"You faced a monster that should have killed you,"
Hestia continued.
"You felt the true terror of death. You stood your ground to protect each other. Even though you did not swing a sword at the boss, you survived the absolute pressure of the deep floors."
Bell looked at Elias.
"Because Elias protected us,"
Bell said.
"Yes,"
Hestia said.
"But you still gained the benefit. Your souls grew stronger just by facing that fear. The Gods call it a shared trial. It is very rare. But it happened. You all leveled up."
Lili wiped a small tear from her eye.
She had been Level 1 for so long.
She never thought she would grow stronger.
"Level 2,"
Lili said quietly.
"I am actually Level 2."
Welf smiled a proud smile.
"This changes a lot,"
Welf said.
Bell turned to Hestia.
"What about Elias and Dee?"
Bell asked.
"Did they level up too?"
Hestia put her hands flat on the table. She looked at Elias with wide eyes.
"I checked their status this morning, too,"
Hestia said. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"It makes no sense. It breaks every rule the Gods have ever written."
"What is it?"
Welf asked.
"Elias and Dee only joined our family a short time ago,"
Hestia said.
"They became Level 2 incredibly fast. But now..."
Hestia paused. She seemed to struggle to say the words.
"Now, they are about to reach Level 3."
Bell stood up from his chair.
"Level 3?!"
Bell shouted.
"Already?!"
Welf dropped his paper on the table.
"That is insane,"
Welf said loudly.
"It takes years for normal adventurers to reach Level 2. It takes a lifetime to reach Level 3. Ais Wallenstein is known as a genius, and it took her years!"
Lili looked at Elias with pure shock.
"How is that even possible?"
Lili asked.
Elias did not look surprised. He knew his own strength.
"My power is different,"
Elias said simply.
Dee explained to them.
"The rules of the Gods measure normal growth. They measure sweat and practice. But we are a force of nature. We grow as fast as we need to."
Hestia rubbed her forehead.
"The other Gods would lose their minds if they knew,"
Hestia said.
Elias looked at Bell.
"You are Level 2 now,"
Elias told Bell.
"You are much stronger than you were yesterday. You have a new path ahead of you."
Bell nodded. He felt a fire burning in his heart.
"I will keep training,"
Bell promised.
"I will not let Apollo take me. I will not let him hurt our family."
Elias placed a hand on Bell's shoulder.
"Good,"
Elias said.
"We will go to the banquet. We will see what the God of the Sun has to say. And if he tries to burn us, we will show him what the dark looks like."
Hestia picked up the white envelope.
She held it tightly in her hand.
"Then it is decided,"
Hestia said.
"We have a few days to prepare. We need to buy formal clothes. We need to look like a real family."
"I hate wearing suits,"
Welf groaned.
Lili laughed.
"You will wear one, Welf,"
Lili said.
"And you will wash your hair, too."
The heavy tension in the room finally broke.
They were laughing.