The Protagonist System

Hestia cried for several minutes after delivering that bombshell. I held her and whispered that it was okay, that it wasn't her fault, and that she didn't have to worry. She calmed down eventually and looked up at my face, her own streaked with tears.

“I'm so sorry, my Bell. I was gossiping with the girls in the open-air bath and...” Hestia paused and looked guilty. “One of them mentioned Freya and... and it just slipped out what happened...” She sighed. “For the first time in my life, I was suddenly the center of everyone's attention. They started asking questions and... at first, things were lighthearted and okay, then there was so much pressure and...”

I leaned down to give her a long and lingering kiss to interrupt her rambling. “You are my personal Goddess, Hestia. I promised that I was going to do everything I could to help you.” I whispered and two more tears rolled down her cheeks. “Do you still believe in me?”

“My Bell, I... I do.” Hestia whispered back.

I beamed a smile at her and she blushed. “Then trust in me. Aiz is guarding our next expedition into the dungeon tomorrow afternoon and I'll make as many teleportation circles as possible within the time I have left.”

Hestia caught her breath. “My Bell...”

“Before the tribunal.” I said, even though we both knew my words meant something else. “Aiz is staying here for the night under hospitality rules. Why don't you get cleaned up and changed for bed, too? I have a lot of work to do to prepare for tomorrow and then I'll head to bed as well.”

Hestia nodded and went to her room to get undressed, then returned wearing a robe to go to the bathroom. She gave me another sad look as she shut the bathroom door.

I went to Lili's backpack and quickly took out the old lute and all of the parts for it from the side pocket and brought up into my mind what I wanted. I used transformation magic in bits to straighten the bent handle, then again to lengthen it and the strings. I used another bit to change the teardrop shape to the figure 8, then again to flatten it out and removed the bulbous back. I left the filigree, though.

With the basics done, I enlarged it and stopped when it was the right size for a guitar. I repaired it and it looked brand new, which gave it a nice wooden sheen. I used the varnish on it and a bit of magic to dry it, finishing the whole thing to make it into a new instrument that no one on this world had seen before.

I took the opportunity to lace the inside with metal strips and it didn't take me long to enchant it with a few things. Reverberation, amplification, distance, and anti-dirt and toughness. I could probably use it as a club and it wouldn't break, which was great, because I was taking it into the dungeon with me.

“What in the world is that?” Lili asked me from the doorway to the new section of the apartment.

I did some adjustments on the string screws on the top of the handle and plucked them to tune them properly. Once I had that done, I smiled at her. “This is something that will change the world.”

Lili looked at it, then at me, then back at it.

“Confused?” I asked with a knowing smile.

“I... I... I can't appraise it.” Lili said, clearly shocked.

“That's because it's priceless.” I said and put it down to the side and out of the way. “Do you want to give me a hand with tearing apart your backpack? You have a lot more experience with it than I do.”

Lili walked over to me and we started doing that. Every few minutes, she would stop and turn to stare a the guitar for a few seconds, then she would start working again.

Hestia came out of the bathroom wearing just a towel and saw us working, sighed at not being able to tease me with her undressed state, and she went back into the bathroom to finish changing. I had to hold in my laughter at her trying that, because I had the thought that she might be nervous about Aiz being here.

I didn't say anything about Hestia's possible insecurity with Lili right beside me, because I didn't want her teasing our Goddess about it. Hestia came back out wearing a conservative nightgown and walked over to us. She didn't ask what we were doing and sat on the closest couch and just watched.

Lili told me what she wanted and where, so I rearranged her backpack to her liking. It would be much better and easier for her to access everything and I even added in a drop opening on the underside of the compartment where ore was stored. She would no longer have to shovel it out and that earned me a very passionate kiss.

When we were done with all the modifications, including larger expanded spaces inside, it looked like a hiker's backpack and not the rounded giant sack she used to have. Both Hestia and Lili were surprised by it, mostly because of the metal reinforcements that held the enchantments. The best part was that the metal was exactly the right amount of extra weight that it activated Lili's special skill for carrying heavy things.

Before I could do more than tell her about that, Lili was naked and had me on the floor and rode me pretty hard. Even though she couldn't take all of me inside, because her body was just built smaller, she sure tried to fit in as much as possible and she made sure that I enjoyed letting her try. Of course, I wasn't idle, either. My hands roamed, played, and tweaked her appropriately.

Lili collapsed on top of me when I finally let myself go and filled her up. She had exhausted herself and breathed heavily as she tried to recover from doing so much exertion so quickly. When she had, she gave me a kiss, stood up and picked up her new backpack, and hugged it to her chest as she went to her room and shut the door.

My eyes drifted from the hallway where her cute little ass had just walked down, across the living room, to end at the couch. That was the moment I realized something important. Something very, very important.

Hestia, the virgin goddess whose powers depended on her innocence, had seen the entire thing. She stared at me with shock on her face, at my still dripping erection, at my face, at my popping muscles, at my erection again, then back to my face.

I started to panic about the whole thing and my eyes flew around the room, as if to distract myself, and my eyes immediately landed on my new guitar. I suddenly knew exactly what to do.

I cleaned myself with magic and stood as I scooped up the guitar, then I knelt in front of Hestia and slowly started to strum it. I poured some magic into it and the enchantments activated and worked like an electric guitar amp, exactly as I had hoped it would.

“You're stillll the one... you're still the one I run toooo... the one that I belong toooo... you're still the one I waaaant for liiiife.” I sang in a perfectly soft voice.

Hestia gasped as she started to glow and tears came to her eyes.

“You're stillll the one... you're still the one that I looove... the only one I dream ooof... you're still the one I kiss gooooodniiight.” I kept singing and the sound of the guitar filled the room, then the apartment, then the church.

Lili and Aiz entered the living room and their eyes were wide when they saw me, still naked and on my knees, as I sang my heart out for Hestia. She was still softly sobbing and the glow from her became stronger.

“Theeey said... I bet... they'll never maaaake it... but, just look at us hooolding on.” I sang and strummed the guitar. “We're still together... still goooing strong...”

I sung the chorus again and left out a few lines that didn't really apply, then slowed my playing down and ended with a few plucks of the final string and let the reverberation die out on its own as the magic charge faded.

“My... my Bell.” Hestia said and hiccuped as she wiped at her eyes. The glow around her slowly dimmed and she slid off the couch.

I put the guitar down to catch her in my arms and I was very careful about her not spearing herself on my erection. It hadn't gone down as I sang the song for several minutes and I wasn't sure why. It wasn't until Hestia straddled my lap and pressed her belly against mine and trapped it between us, that I realized Hestia might have had something to do with it.

“My Bell.” Hestia said, her face bright red as the warmth at our bellies increased to become almost blisteringly hot. It wasn't uncomfortable, though.

“My personal Goddess.” I whispered. “What did you do?”

Hestia's blush didn't fade as she spoke. “I'm using your new skill.”

I blinked my eyes for several seconds as I thought about it. “The blessing Hephaestus gave me?”

Hestia nodded. “Blessing of the Forge. Anything you do with heat of any kind will increase the effect by 100%.”

The shock on my face made her giggle.

“Yes, my Bell. Any heat caused by any source.” Hestia said and leaned into gently kiss me. “Like from a blazing fire from a hearth to the warmth of my love for you.”

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, especially with her pressed against me. I was kind of glad that I had already gotten off with Lili, because I was pretty sure the building heat between Hestia and I, combined with the pressure she was intentionally exerting on me, would have had me blow a load already.

As if I had called it forth, I felt the familiar feeling and opened my mouth to warn her. Hestia kissed me and her tongue fought mine as my unexpected load, that felt surprisingly like what had happened when Hephaestus had blessed me, shot out between us and soaked into Hestia's nightgown.

Hestia let out a womanly moan, which was something that I had never heard from her before, and I felt her soak my lap. It seemed appropriate, if extremely dangerous. Would that be enough for her to lose her powers or would it taint her Purification Flames?

I broke the kiss and saw the sad look on Hestia's face. “Hestia?”

“It's all right, my Bell. I still have them.” Hestia said and slid back enough to let herself stand. When she did, I reached up and placed my hand on her belly. The warmth there quadrupled and the room became almost oppressively hot instantly. Again, it wasn't burning and only welcoming.

I cast a cleaning spell on her and she smiled down at me, bent back down to briefly kiss me, and walked away. She lightly touched Lili's shoulder as she passed her and Lili glowed for a second. Aiz reached out and Hestia smiled at her and took her hand, which made the blonde glow for more than a few seconds.

“I accept your offer, my Goddess.” Aiz said and there was a bright flash of light.

“My hearth is your hearth, my home is your home, my love is your love.” Hestia pledged and kissed her fingertips and then lightly touched them to Aiz's forehead. “I will update your Falna in the morning.”

Aiz nodded and the three of us watched her walk down the hallway and enter her room.

“What just happened?” Lili asked.

“We received the blessing of our goddess.” Aiz said and looked at me. “Bell.”

I nodded and stood, still naked, and cleaned myself with a spell. I walked over to her and scooped her up into my arms, turned and bent to kiss Lili goodnight, and took Aiz to my room. I spent the next few hours introducing her to what it meant to love someone and explained everything she asked about. I even explained a few things that would help her relate to other people, especially Lili.

The funny thing that I discovered was that it would only cost me 100 Karma points to get a woman pregnant now. Whatever Hephaestus had done to me, had included passion and lovemaking, too.

I drifted off to sleep wondering what I was going to do during the tribunal in two days. I was sure I wasn't going to get away with what I did the last time I was brought in for justice to a panel of supposedly powerful people.

Then again, they weren't super-powerful angels and demons I was going to meet. They were mortal and had mortal bodies. That gave me a lot of different options and I smiled just as I lost consciousness with half-formed plans in my head.

*

The next morning's preparations went quickly with Bell modifying all of his backpacks with Lili's helpful advice. Hestia updated Aiz's Falna and her level and stats didn't surprise anyone, because Aiz was one of the strongest sword fighters in the city. Hestia also copied Bell's stats and he wasn't surprised to find out that he was Level 3, because of the magic he had been using had already clued him in.

Bell, Aiz, Lili, and Hestia used the teleportation circle to go to the Hephaestus Familia compound early in the morning and Bell went to Tsubaki to work on the armor and Aiz helped Lili pack the food for two days travel for four people.

They were a little sad that they had to skip the ore hunt, because they had to dive as deep in the dungeon as far and as fast as they could go before Bell had to come back for the tribunal. The sad face on Hephaestus matched the one Hestia had and no one commented on it, because they all pretty much knew what was going to happen.

With their prep work done, they gathered at the teleportation circle and only Hestia and Hephaestus were there to see them off. It was a sober atmosphere as they said goodbye, as if it would be the last time they would see them, and Bell laughed and said he wasn't going to let anything make him sad, because he had a plan.

Bell looked right at Hestia and told her to find a magic user for him to learn healing magic from and it didn't matter what their level was. He then smirked and said that the summons was for two days later and he didn't get it until late last night, so they had two days from when he read it. They would be back before then and he would deal with everything.

Hestia and Hephaestus looked stunned at his manipulating things like that and Bell waved as he activated the teleportation circle. The four of them disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the thirteenth floor. Bell had added them to his party and made sure that the experience sharing was active, because each of them had different ways of gathering experience.

“Welcome to the thirteenth floor, Aiz.” Bell said and she gave him a raised eyebrow as Lili gathered up the piles of valis around the circle. “I made a teleportation circle on each floor on the way down and this was the last one. It took two trips to get this far because it was only Tsubaki leading the charge against the monsters, with me as backup, and Lili and I gathering up everything they dropped.”

Aiz gave a nod to Tsubaki and then to Lili.

“We are running for the exit to the next level down.” Bell said and took several steps back as he took out his guitar. “We are only stopping long enough to rest as I make another circle, then we're moving on.”

“Bell? What are you doing?” Lili asked.

“Supporting my party.” Bell said and strummed the guitar as he poured magic into it. “There's a magic running through your soul... and you can have it all... whatever you do... I'll be two steps behind you.” He sang the slightly modified lyrics and Lili, Aiz, and Tsubaki started to softly glow. “Wherever you go... I'll be there to remind you... that it only takes a second of your precious time... to turn around and I'll be two steps behind you.”

Two minutes later, the three women kept the soft glow and seemed charged up. They also seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Bell stored the guitar and drew his mythril sword. “My ladies.” He said and charged his sword with his new magic element of fire, which lit up the area. “I will guard your backs and will protect you from harm.”

Lili was the first to pull him down into a kiss. Tsubaki was next and gave his butt a squeeze, then Aiz gave him a chaste kiss.

“Let's destroy this dungeon!” Tsubaki shouted, hefted her sword into the air, and the four of them charged forward at their fastest speed. The blink of an eyelid.

The first group of monsters died without seeing who had killed them.