Danmachi - Eldritch Apostle

My eyes opened, revealing a wooden ceiling above me. Somehow, I'd fallen asleep, even though biologically, that shouldn't have been possible. The second thing I noticed was Azathoth in her kitsune form, fully naked and asleep by my side.

The third thing I noticed were bite marks scattered across my chest, neck, and thighs, along with a few lipstick marks. I raised the blanket to check the lower half of my body and found myself lacking underwear, with more marks there as well.

"Say whatever you want, but you enjoyed it to the last moment..." Yoko's voice spoke from the side. I turned to face her, and a rush of memories stormed into my mind.

I remembered Yoko making an offer to me, and after some consideration, I accepted. After a long session together, I felt a sudden exhaustion and drifted off to sleep, while she smiled and dozed off beside me.

Focusing back on the present, I saw Yoko caressing my face before she stood up to pick up her clothes. My underwear, however, was torn to shreds, and my shirt was tossed to the other side of the room.

Thanks to my regeneration, I could get up—otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to walk properly for a while. Yoko just laughed and went to check on Haruhime. Before leaving, she conjured a fresh pair of underwear for me.

"Wait, you nympho fox, why did I get tired?" I called out. She turned, flashing a mischievous smile that revealed a sharp tooth. Patting my head, she rested her hand on her cheek, clearly amused.

"Because you did it with a powerful goddess like me, and your body hasn't fully evolved yet. Now go kill the Goliath for your quest. Once you defeat it, you should level up and become even stronger."

She gave me a kiss on the forehead before heading to Haruhime's room. Meanwhile, I left the house and made my way to the city of Rivira. The idea of not being "pure" anymore didn't really bring any special thoughts to my mind.

It happened, and I remember it feeling good, but in the grand scheme of things, such trivial matters held little importance to me. My current goal was to explore the town a bit before taking on the Goliath to level up.

As I walked down the calm, vegetation-lined dirt path leading to the adventurer town, I reached the town gates and noticed a small group of smiths on an expedition. Leading the group was none other than Tsubaki.

Among the smiths, I noticed a red-haired boy struggling with a heavy backpack full of weapons, a look of frustration on his face. That boy was Welf Crozzo, who must have been around fourteen at this point in the timeline.

He and Tsubaki appeared to be having a minor disagreement, which Tsubaki quickly settled with a smack on his head. Welf rubbed his head in pain and quieted down. Just as I was about to go the other way, Tsubaki called out to me.

"Hey, you! Come over here!" Seeing her gesture, I decided to listen and approached her group of smiths. The other smiths looked at me in confusion, likely wondering how their captain knew someone like me.

As I got closer, Welf's gaze shifted toward me as well. "Well, we meet again, Tsubaki. It's been a while since our last encounter."

Tsubaki gave me a soft smile, tinged with a bit of regret. "How have you been? Have you found a place to call home yet?" She placed her hands on her waist, the crystalline light above casting a glow on her figure.

"Mhm, I have indeed found a home. It's unusual for you to check up on a stray like me, though," I replied. She laughed and tapped me on the shoulder, earning more confused glances from the others.

"It's nice to hear that! We may have met under bad circumstances, but I'm glad it doesn't seem to bother you. So, what brings you here—dungeon diving or just some downtime in town?"

I glanced at Welf before answering, "I came to visit town but also planned on spending some time fighting monsters. What about you? Is this a regular expedition, or are you just out for the day?"

Tsubaki laughed, clearly amused. "Ha! There's no rest for us smiths! We're just heading back from an expedition—after all, weapons don't make themselves. If you don't mind me asking, are you headed to the upper floors or the deeper ones?"

The other smiths looked at me in anticipation for some reason, while a flicker of concern crossed Tsubaki's eyes.

"I planned on checking if the Goliath has spawned so I could fight it for a level up. Why do you ask?" I replied. Tsubaki's eyes widened, and she pleaded, "You can't be serious about fighting it alone. Even I, at my level, would have a tough time with it. It spawned this morning, much earlier than expected—it shouldn't have shown up for another week."

She sighed, deep in thought. "It's unusual for it to spawn so soon, but the dungeon works in mysterious ways. What do you say we take it on together?"

I considered it and replied, "How about this: I'll try fighting it alone, and if things start to go south, you can step in, and we'll take it down together." She thought for a moment before nodding.

"Hmm, that could work! But remember, the moment I see you struggling, I'm stepping in. Don't underestimate a Monster Rex," she cautioned, speaking with the authority of a more experienced adventurer—the only smith to reach level 5.

"And who's this fiery young smith here with the red hair?" I asked, realizing I sounded a bit older than I actually was. Tsubaki turned to him, and Welf stepped forward with confidence in his eyes.

"Hey, my name's Welf Crozzo. Nice to meet you... uh, what was your name again?" He smiled, slightly embarrassed.

"My name's Niall, and there's no need to be formal with me. I'm only two years older than you, after all!" I replied, smiling back. He nodded, smirking, and Tsubaki stepped in between us.

"He's got a lot of potential to become one of the best smiths, but he's still too green. Anyway, we should start our journey back up; our goddess will worry if we spend too long here."

As Tsubaki spoke, the group began moving, and I walked beside her at the front. Our next stop was the infamous Wall of Grief, and behind that wall lay the massive Monster Rex, the Goliath.