Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

Thank you all so much for your incredible support this week!

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

It was afternoon. After his daily healing shift, August walked to his car, looking forward to dinner at home.

"Mr. August."

A voice called out, making him stop.

August paused with his hand on the car door and turned around. Five striking women stood nearby, wearing matching robes with a flame crest instead of regular clothes.

They made a gesture only believers would recognize.

August immediately recognized them. They were believers from Greek mythology, similar to temple priestesses.

"What is it?"

He hadn't expected them to find him. If they were just a regular group of women, he wouldn't have paid attention. But since they were devoted believers, he decided to listen.

When August responded, the five priestesses looked delighted.

"Someone on our team fell ill," the head priestess said, her face flushing red.

They were devoted to their faith, but they knew that when sickness struck—you needed a doctor. Leave professional matters to the professionals.

"Why didn't you just go to a hospital?" August asked.

Religious titles aside, they were foreign nationals. Any local clinic would treat them.

"We... don't have any money." A petite priestess shifted uncomfortably. "We are followers of Goddess Hestia. According to our code, we don't take anything beyond what we earn to satisfy our own desires."

August looked at her, unsure what to say. He figured the leader was the only true believer, while the others were probably just filling out the group. Still, since they were trying to stay loyal to Hestia, he decided not to make things difficult for them.

He sighed and looked at the stunning head priestess.

"What's the diagnosis?"

"Undercooked food," the leader muttered, looking down. "Food poisoning."

August couldn't help but smirk.

Hestia had talked about this before. Her followers were very self-sufficient. They didn't ask others for help, rarely took money from home, and lived on what they earned from part-time jobs, much like monks. If they needed money, they worked for it. They grew and cooked their own food, and since Hestia was the Goddess of the Hearth, her followers were usually skilled at domestic tasks.

Looking at them now, August could tell they were being painfully honest.

"I appreciate the honesty."

He turned and waved toward the edge of the area. Two young soldiers on guard duty jogged over and saluted.

"Mr. August, how can we help?"

The soldiers had seen the women earlier, but their superiors had already told them these were religious followers with Greek diplomatic ties. As long as August allowed it, they could move freely. Being called over now made the guards a bit confused.

"Someone in their group has food poisoning," August said. "Take them to the medical wing for observation."

The soldiers blinked, their mouths twitching a little. They quickly regained their composure and nodded.

"Ladies, we'll help you right away." The soldiers saluted.

"Here."

August reached into his [Spatial Backpack] and pulled out a vial of antidote. "This is for the poison. Once you get her to the hospital, have her drink this and get some rest."

The potion glowed faintly with magic. As soon as the priestesses saw August give the vial to their leader, they recognized it right away—it was an antidote potion, like something from a fantasy world.

"Thank you, Mr. August." The head priestess bowed deeply.

"Alright, go take care of your friend. I'm heading out."

August didn't mention Hestia. He gave them what they needed and left. Then he got in his car and drove away.

As August left, the head priestess clutched the potion tightly and made a sign of devotion.

"I'll work even harder, Mr. August... We will follow Goddess Hestia with all our hearts."

Her eyes showed her competitive spirit. She had always seen August as her main rival, the one beside Hestia.

As the First Priestess, losing to him hurt her pride, so her goal was obvious: catch up and earn her place. Asking for his help brought her no shame—it only made her more determined.

"That's right. We will follow her."

The other women quickly joined her. Their leader had believed from the beginning, but the rest had only reached this point after several rounds of screening. Then they saw Hestia with their eyes.

In that moment, whatever doubts remained disappeared. She was their goddess, and for the first time, their faith felt entirely their own.

With the First Priestess leading the charge, they were now fully committed.

The head priestess turned to the two soldiers.

"Thank you for your assistance." She was thankful that the local military was willing to help.

"Just doing our job," the guards replied.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

August drove home.

When August walked in, Hestia and Lili, who had been watching anime in the living room, jumped up to greet him.

Lili took his briefcase, while Hestia jumped onto his back like a koala and started sniffing his jacket.

"Sniff, sniff."

Hestia caught a recognizable scent and nodded. "I knew it. It's those kids."

She said it as if it were obvious.

"You knew?" August glanced back at her.

"Of course! I'm a Goddess. You think I can't hear my believers praying?"

Hestia laughed. "Those girls aren't used to the local vegetables here. They didn't cook them right and ended up poisoning themselves. They panicked and started praying to me, so I just pointed them in your direction."

A God could hear the prayers of anyone who called their true name.

These priestesses didn't care about money or power—they just wanted to do their duties, and Hestia was fine with that. When she heard what happened, she gladly guided them to August, knowing he had the antidote.

"So it was you. I was wondering how they found me," August said, shaking his head.

"Lord August, those priestesses must have been really touched," Lili teased as she unpacked his things. "Lady Hestia told me they're very loyal to her. Giving them that potion definitely made them like you more~"

"You really think they're going to fall for me?"

August scoffed. "You're overthinking it. From what I saw, their leader looked at me like I was the enemy. To them, I'm just the guy taking Hestia's attention. Their first instinct is to knock me down so they can be number one."

He could see what was really going on. They weren't in love—they were ambitious. They wanted him out of the picture.

It was the usual rivalry.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hestia and Lili burst out laughing.

They knew he was right. The priestesses only wanted to push him out of Hestia's inner circle.

August walked over to the sofa and sat down.

"Speaking of which... It's about time." He leaned back. "I'm ready to level up."

He could feel it. All the experience he had gained lately made him sure he was ready. He didn't want to wait any longer—he was confident in his abilities and knew it was time.

"Oh?"

The moment Hestia heard it, her eyes lit up like fireworks.

After they handled the Dungeon's curse, she waited to update his Status. August wanted to take things slowly, so she held back until he was ready.

Now that he asked, she was excited.

"I'll go make dinner!" Lili said happily, rushing to the kitchen. She knew how important a Level Up was for August.

This would be his first time ranking up in his world.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

After dinner, August retreated to his bedroom, took off his shirt, and lay flat on the bed.

Hestia sat beside him, staring at her divine crest on his back, and excitedly tapped into his parameters.

[August]

[Level 2]

[Magic: Healing Fire; Nirvana of the Undying Phoenix]

[Skills: Charm/Flame Resistance; Temporal Resistance; Spatial Resistance; Divine Possession; Adventurer Killer (Xenos Edition)]

As usual, there were no simple numbers. The board was all about powerful abilities, and seeing the impressive list made Hestia feel very proud.

[Level Up Available]

Seeing the prompt, Hestia didn't hesitate. She pressed her finger against his back.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!"

As soon as the update finished, the crest burst into a bright light. The beam shot through the ceiling of August's apartment and soared into the night sky.

...

"Whoa... what's going on??"

Neighbors rushed to their windows, staring at the massive pillar of light shooting from August's building.

This time, there was no giant firebird or dramatic show. Only a powerful, blinding beam of light.

Then the environment reacted.

Elemental Energy from miles away started flowing toward the city. Blue light came from the rivers, green from the forests, yellow and red from the earth, and golden lightning from the clouds. All the elements rushed toward the pillar of light.

A few young locals filming it on their phones started joking.

"Is someone unlocking their final form up there?"

With water, wind, earth, fire, and lightning swirling across the sky, it looked like something straight out of a fantasy game's ultimate power-up sequence.

Meanwhile, at the military base, Commander James stared at the sky, jaw dropping.

What the hell? Why was there a sky-piercing beam of light erupting from August's apartment?

"CRAP! GET SQUADS DOWN THERE! SECURE THE PERIMETER!" James grabbed his radio and started giving orders.

They had to secure the area right away. Something this big wouldn't just disappear without notice.

A moment later, his phone buzzed. Lili had texted him from August's phone, explaining the situation.

"So it's just an Adventurer level-up." James breathed a huge sigh of relief. "August, you really know how to put on a show when you rank up. Unbelievable..."

His driver pulled up, and James hopped in immediately. He had to see this for himself.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

The phenomenon came fast and ended just as quickly. The elemental lights joined together in the main pillar and then disappeared into August's back.

A fresh, updated Status materialized.

[August]

[Level 3]

[Magic: Healing Fire; Nirvana of the Undying Phoenix; Magic Sword]

[Skills: Charm/Flame Resistance; Temporal Resistance; Spatial Resistance; Divine Possession; Adventurer Killer (Xenos Edition); Five Elements Spellcraft]

Hestia stared at the new panel, blinking in surprise.

What? This was... pretty normal.

It wasn't like his regular chaotic updates.

Instead of a strange, world-changing skill, he got something normal.

"Well, this is surprisingly ordinary," Hestia murmured. "But it looks like it manifested exactly what you wanted—"

She quickly worked out what the two new abilities did.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

August sat up and noticed the changes. Like always, there was no sudden burst of strength or pain. It was just a smooth shift into a stronger form.

"I got a new magic and a new skill," he said plainly.

"Yeah, but they look pretty basic," Hestia admitted.

Compared to his Level 1 and Level 2 upgrades, this was painfully normal. It lacked the theatrical flair of his earlier changes. She wrote down the new abilities and gave him the paper.

August scanned the text. He had to agree.

"Normal... Yeah, this is very normal."

[Magic: Magic Sword]

[Skill: Five Elements Spellcraft]

On the surface, the two didn't even seem to synergize. It felt like a dud level-up.

"Hey, it's fine! Do you really have to be a walking anomaly all the time?" Hestia cheered, patting his shoulder.

She thought he was disappointed. His previous skills were broken beyond belief; something standard might feel like a downgrade.

But August just smiled.

"Normal is good. If I was abnormal all the time, that would be the real problem."

He was perfectly satisfied. This was exactly what he needed.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

NEW WEEKLY EVENT!

BULK UPLOAD OF 5 CHAPTERS IF WE HIT 900 POWERSTONES THIS WEEK!!

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

~ Every 200 Power Stones = Bonus chapter!

~ 30 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)