POV- Third Person
Inside a building, there were three people inside one of the dimmed light room. One was behind a wooden desk who seemed to be a leader of sorts and another was at their right holding a straight posture while having their hands behind their back. This person at glance would seem to be a secretary or assistant.
The last one was a teenager. He had black hair and had sharp silver eyes. His skin was fair and wasn't too dark nor too light. He wore a grey shirt and black pants that was stained in black and so was his face. He had leather gloves on him as well. The teenager looked like he had just come out of a chimney. He had just finished helping in the forgeries so he looked very ragged.
This teenager was someone named Sasaki Kojiro and he had joined the 'Hepheatus Familia'. His parents were blacksmith's from the familia but they had died in an expedition in the dungeon when he was 12 years old. At least, that was what he was told. The only thing that he was left with was their possession but he had nothing to help substain himself for money and so on.
Thankfully, the familia had a contract with his parents that said 'if they happened to die, then the familia will take responsibility to take care of their child until the age of an adult'. (Which is 16 in this world. I think.) This is what happened to Sasaki and he was practically raised by the 'Hephaestus Familia' and now that he was of age, he wanted to help his family by becoming an adventurer and go to the dungeon to fight monsters.
But someone intervened, it was Hephaestus herself that intervened in this matter. Hephaestus had a crimson eye and red hair reaching to the neck. She has a rather sharp face and slender body with an eyepatch over her right eye. She wore a white shirt and black pants and had gloves.
She didn't want him to go to the dungeon. She had actually banned him from going to the dungeon despite having promised him that he could when he was 16.
"Why?! You told me that I could go to the dungeon when I turned 16! I'm now 16! You can't lock me up here anymore!" He cried out.
Hephaestus sighed and held her head in exhaustion. "How about your reconsider your profession? There are plenty of jobs that can help this Familia without going to the dungeon. I won't let you go get yourself killed. Not like your-" but she stopped before completing her sentence and looked down to avoid eye contact.
"What?! You were gonna say like my parents weren't you!" He screamed out as he slammed his hands on the wooden desk.
"Kojiro! Stop disrespecting her and speak with manners!" A girl said from the side. She was the advisor and secretary of Hephaestus, Tsubaki Collbrande. Tsubaki has brown skin, long black hair, red eyes, and wears an eyepatch over her left eye, similar to her Goddess Hephaestus, however, hers covers the opposite eye. She has a well-endowed chest which she keeps in a sarashi, and wears a red hakama and sandals.
He scowled angrily. "You people keep blabbering on about it! I know it wasn't an accident in the dungeon! I'm old enough now and I'm not ignorant. So tell me the real reason for why you're not sending me in there." He crossed his arms and looked at the Goddess who had a pained expression on her.
(I would like to just say that the MC won't be like this for long. Demeanour changes yate yate yate. Revenge blah blah blah and whatever. Just saying this because I'm scared people will misunderstand this MC. Plus he's like 15. Being annoying is part of his 'growth'.)
Tsubaki spoke on behalf of Hephaestus. "Because we know what you're going to do. You'll just gain strength and try to kill your parents killer! Do you think your parents would want you to go down that path? Do you think Hephaestus would want to see someone she practically raised to become a serial killer?"
Sasaki began hesitating and was made speechless but Tsubaki wasn't done. "Do you think that everyone in this Familia who are like brothers and sisters to you would want to witness you turn into a monster just for revenge. We're all a family here and it's our duty to look out for each other." She hugged Sasaki who began having tears in his eyes.
Hephaestus who witnessed this was sad and heartbroken. She too had known what happened to his parents but could do nothing as they held no evidence. The only piece evidence was Sasaki but he was just a child. This was a saying in this world. 'What happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon.' And this was very true to this incident.
Sasaki saw these people going in with his parents but never returned and the only ones who trusted him was his Familia. Hephaestus walked over to them and wiped away the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Sasaki. Even though I was their leader, I couldn't help them avoid it. I really am sorry. But don't blame it on the Familia. You can pour all that hate into me." Hephaestus smiled sweetly at him.
They all hugged it out in silence. After a moment, Sasaki broke off the hug and wiped away his tears. "I'll be going to my room." He said this without looking at them feeling embarrassed. He quickly ran out of the room and slammed the door shut. Hephaestus and Tsubaki smiled at his demeanour but Tsubaki changed her expression in an instant.
"What do you think we should do now?" She asked to the Goddess.
Hephaestus frowned but didn't comment so Tsubaki continued. "You know he'll go after them when he finds enough clues. You'll need to somehow make him get rid of these thoughts. For him. And us. Because we both know what will happen if we fight that Familia. We don't have the manpower and even if we get allies, I still don't think we could win."
Hephaestus walked to her desk and sat down while holding her head. This was taking a toll on her mind as she wanted to help Sasaki but couldn't because she wasn't strong enough. "We'll just have to help him the best we can. But even though he is reckless, he isn't ignorant and won't charge in to fight Apollo's Familia. Not right now at least."
In a bedroom, Sasaki had just got in and jumped in his bed while burrowing his head inside his sheet. His face was red from embarrassment as he now only wanted to disappear but quickly came to his senses by slapping his cheeks making them even more red. (I'm trying my best not to make it seem sexual but like every single word could be interpreted sexually.)
"No, I won't let Hephaestus trick me! But she's right. I won't be able to do anything even if I find my parents killers. But if she isn't going to help me, then I'd have to take matters in my own hands. And to do that, I'd have to get a whole lot stronger."
Sasaki got up from his bed and walked to his desk. On it, there was a picture of his parents with them smiling. His dad had black hair like him but it was spiky instead. His father wore clothes for adventurers and was flexing his muscles to show how strong he was. His mother on the other hand wore traditional Japanese clothes and had black silky hair that ran down to her back. She smiled sweetly in the photograph and had her hands on his shoulders. Finally, he was at the front and had a wide smile on his face while putting up a peace sign.
This was the only picture of his parents that he held and he treasured it with utmost care. Next to the picture was a sheathed dagger that had golden markings on it. This was a gift from his father before his demise. Sasaki still remembered the words that were engraved in it. It was made up from a non-existent language that both his father and him made. It was just a few random words but he still remembered what it meant.
'Unsheathing this blade means violence is about to erupt. Sheathing this blade means victory has arrived. One must always try to honour these words if he wants to wield this blade.' This was what was engraved in the sides of the blade and handle. Nobody but him could understand it.
Sasaki went under his desk and opened the plank of wood underneath it revealing a small narrow hole. He stretched his arm and searched something in there. When feeling something that he touched something, he grabbed whole of it and brought it out. It was a normal brown bag that he had put in there.
He looked within it and saw 4 bottles of healing potions and 1 for magic potions. It also had 2 normal looking daggers in the bag that was sheathed in an ugly and dirty brown leather. He had prepared for this day a long time ago and although he didn't have much money. He would still take what he had and pursue his goal.
Sasaki went under his bed to grab a set of light armour that was cheap. It was a set of chest plate, gloves, arm guards and kneecaps. Kojiro put on everything and double checked to see if he had misses anything. He looked at himself and nodded clearly satisfied. "Perfectly ready."
When finished, he left the Familia in the backdoor as to not alert anyone. Sasaki was now outside and saw a lot of different traits in everyone. Some were humans, demi-humans or something else. But most people had in common was that they were going towards one direction and he was going there as well. He looked at the distance and saw a huge grey tower.
He had a destination and it was the dungeon. The only place that could help him achieve his goal.