Night had completely swallowed Orario by the time Hachiman finally reached the forgotten alleyway leading to his "home." Exhaustion weighed down every limb, the pain in his arm throbbed under the makeshift bandage, and the persistent smell of dust and mold from the alley felt almost welcoming compared to the metallic odor of monster blood he felt impregnated his clothes. He pushed open the creaking door of the abandoned house, expecting to find Aqua sleeping or, more likely, complaining to the walls.
Instead, as soon as he entered the dark and dusty room, illuminated only by the faint moonlight filtering through the cracks in the windows, Aqua jumped out from a corner where she had been curled up.
"Hachimaaan!" she exclaimed, her voice a mix of relief and accusation. "You're back! It took so long! I was dying of boredom here! And hunger! Mostly hunger! What does a goddess have to do to get a decent meal around here?!"
Hachiman blinked, her sudden burst of energy contrasting with his own state of depletion. 'At least she doesn't seem to have destroyed anything or attracted unwanted attention,' he thought with an internal sigh.
"I was... working," he replied, his voice hoarse with fatigue, as he closed the door behind him. "I got some money. Enough for us to eat something."
Aqua's eyes instantly lit up at the mention of "money" and "eat." "Money? Food? Finally! Where are we going? A banquet? A fancy restaurant with multiple courses?"
Hachiman shot her a tired look. "With what I earned today? We'll be lucky if we can get something hot from a street stall. But before that..." He hesitated, but knew it was necessary. Curiosity about his progress, however small, outweighed the desire to just collapse on the dirty floor. "I need you to update my status. I want to see if... if all that hell was worth anything."
Aqua grimaced as she watched him start to take off his dirty, dried-blood-stained shirt. "Urgh! You're filthy! And smelly! And hurt!" she complained, though there was an underlying tone of genuine concern in her voice, almost imperceptible beneath the usual complaints. "Did that horrible place do this to you? We need to get servants to do this dirty work!"
'Servants... right. With what money?' Hachiman ignored the comment. He turned his back to her, exposing the skin where the Falna was inscribed. "Just update it, please."
Aqua sighed dramatically but complied. She placed her hands on his back, and the familiar soft blue light shone for a moment, quicker and less intense than the first time. It was a reading and updating process, not the initial bestowal. The light vanished, leaving the Falna inscriptions visible and updated in the dimness.
"Done! Behold the glorious result of your labor under my divine blessing!" Aqua announced with an air of someone who had done all the heavy lifting.
Hachiman picked up the piece of polished metal they used as a makeshift mirror again and positioned it to see his back.
Hikigaya Hachiman Level: 1 Strength: I-0 -> I-12 Endurance: I-0 -> I-15 Dexterity: I-0 -> I-8 Agility: I-0 -> I-10 Magic: I-0 -> I-25
Magic: [Unlimited Blade Works] (Hidden)
Skill: [A Loner's Protection] (Hidden)
Development Ability: [Blacksmith: I]
He stared at the numbers. 'Seventy points total... 12 + 15 + 8 + 10 + 25 = 70.' It was a modest gain for an entire day risking his life, but it was progress. 'Endurance increased a bit more, perhaps because of the wound and the effort... Strength, Dexterity, and Agility rose minimally, reflecting my lack of talent and clumsy fights.' What caught his attention was Magic. 'Twenty-five points... much higher than the rest. That's unusual for someone who fought hand-to-hand all day.' And then, below the basic stats and hidden abilities, something new.
'Development Ability... Blacksmith: I?' Hachiman frowned. 'Aren't Development Abilities supposed to appear only when you level up? I'm still Level 1. And Blacksmith? I didn't forge anything...'
His analytical mind started connecting the dots. 'The overall gains, especially in Endurance, might have been boosted by the Skill. I used "A Loner's Protection" focused on myself. Survival was the priority, so it makes sense that Endurance and the ability to keep fighting benefited most from the excelia generated under that condition.'
'Magic... 25 points. This can only be because of Trace On and Projection. Using magic consumes mana and apparently trains the Magic stat, even if the magic itself isn't direct combat. Recreating that sword took a lot out of me.'
'And Blacksmith... Trace On. The ability allows analysis of structure, history... and even acquiring the experience of the object's maker. I deeply analyzed that sword made by the Grizzled Blacksmith. I felt his process. Somehow, using Trace On to copy a blacksmith's work granted me a basic affinity with the Blacksmith ability.' He remembered the cosmic entity's vague description of "surprises" and "help." Perhaps his unique abilities interacted with the Falna system in unexpected ways, allowing a Development Ability to emerge early through specific actions related to those abilities. 'This... this could be useful. Very useful.'
"What is it?" asked Aqua, noticing his silence and thoughtful expression. "Are the numbers not good? Were you expecting more, considering you serve me?"
"No, they're... interesting," Hachiman replied, putting his shirt back on over his newly updated back. He decided not to mention the Development Ability to Aqua for now. The less information she had about his peculiarities, the less chance she had of blabbing about it to the wrong person. "It's progress. Slow, but it's progress."
"Progress is good, but food is better!" Aqua declared, her stomach growling audibly to emphasize the point. "You promised! Let's go!"
Hachiman sighed, picking up the small pouch with the 1500 Valis. 'It's not much, but it's better than nothing.'
"Alright," he said. "But don't expect any banquet. I know a place... or rather, I'll look for a place where this will be enough for both of us."
He led her through the night streets, moving away from the brighter, busier areas and delving into simpler streets where food stalls and small taverns offered cheap meals for workers and low-ranking adventurers. They found a small stall selling skewers of dubious-looking grilled meat and a type of watery, but hot, stew.
For 1500 Valis, they managed to get a few skewers each and two steaming bowls of the stew, plus some hard bread. They sat on a wooden bench near the stall, under the flickering light of an oil lantern.
Aqua looked at the food with an initial expression of disgust. "Is... this it? What poor presentation! And the smell is... rustic."
"It's eat this or starve," Hachiman replied simply, taking a bite of a skewer. The meat was tough and greasy, but it was hot and had some flavor. The stew was thin, but it filled the stomach.
After a moment's hesitation and another rumble from her stomach, Aqua's hunger overcame her divine snobbery. She began to eat with surprising voracity, devouring the skewers and stew without further complaint, only occasional murmurs of "It's actually not that bad..." or "I need more!".
Hachiman ate in silence, watching her. It was a reminder of the bizarre situation he found himself in: eating cheap street food next to a forgotten goddess, both dependent on the few Valis he managed to earn by risking his life against weak monsters. But, for the first time that day, he felt a pang of normalcy, however distorted it might be. It was just a shared meal after a difficult day.
When they finished, the 1500 Valis had practically disappeared. They returned to the abandoned house in silence. The place seemed even darker and colder now, but exhaustion was so great that even the dusty floor looked inviting.
'One day at a time,' thought Hachiman as he settled into a corner to try and sleep, ignoring Aqua's grumbling about the lack of a decent mattress. 'Today I survived. Earned some points. Discovered something new. And got food. Tomorrow... tomorrow I try again.' The path was long and miserable, but he had taken the first step and received the first proof that, perhaps, there was a chance to move forward.