Danmachi- The Heroic Legend of Emiya!

Chapter 5 – Hidden Status

What on earth is this?

Hestia stared at the status appearing on Shirou's back, her expression filled with doubt and confusion.

The so-called Falna was a creation devised by the gods long ago. It is a method of engraving divine script, using divine blood as a medium, onto the bodies of mortals in order to enhance their abilities.

The primary means by which this enhancement manifests is through what is known as status.

A status contains various attributes of a Familia member—from fundamental elements like speed, strength, and magic, to unique skills and spells possessed by the individual.

Normally, an ordinary person would not possess any special magic or skills.

Only after receiving a blessing from a god and undergoing growth could such attributes potentially emerge in gifted individuals.

This is precisely why the Falna holds immense allure for mortals, compelling them to willingly become Familia members and devote themselves to the gods.

Because of this, Hestia had never imagined that someone would innately possess magic at the very moment of receiving a Falna.

While this was not entirely impossible, actually witnessing it firsthand still left her astonished.

Moreover, the fact that Shirou came with built-in magic was only a small issue.

The real problem was that his status was so unclear, not only failing to display concrete values but not even showing a defined level.

It was as if his entire being had not yet fully integrated with the world's system—everything was in a state beyond the understanding of the Falna.

At the very least, Hestia found herself utterly incapable of judging Shirou's strength based on his blessing, nor could she begin to comprehend the chaotic, indecipherable numbers behind his stats.

"What's wrong? Is it finished?" Shirou asked, noticing her dazed expression.

"Ahem… well, yes. It's finished. From this moment on, Shirou, you're officially a member of the Hestia Familia!"

Hestia forced herself to appear calm.

Despite her youthful appearance, she still held onto some shred of divine pride—she couldn't just casually admit she didn't understand what was happening.

In her mind, Shirou's bizarre status might be linked to his mysterious origins.

Such things weren't unheard of in Orario.

After all, even to the gods, Genkai still held countless strange and unknowable elements.

To Hestia, what mattered most was that Shirou had saved Bell's life and was now part of her Familia. That alone was enough.

"Lady Goddess, could you update my status too?" Bell said from the side.

In any Familia, updating one's status was a private affair—typically only the god and the individual involved would know the result. So naturally, Bell hadn't tried to peek at Shirou's status.

And since a Familia member's status could only be updated through their god, every time they returned from a dungeon expedition, they would visit their god to receive an update.

"Mhm," Hestia nodded, snapping out of her thoughts and turning her focus to updating Bell's status instead of worrying about Shirou's abnormalities.

But ironically, things only got more complicated.

After completing the update, Hestia's expression turned strange once again.

Following his recent dungeon adventure, Bell's status had evolved to include a brand-new skill:

"Liaris Freese "

The effect of this skill was that the stronger one's feelings of admiration, the greater the boost and enhancement it would bring to the user. In other words, this was a skill born from pure idolization.

Hestia surmised that Bell, having witnessed Shirou instantly annihilate the Minotaur, had been so overwhelmed by Shirou's power that he subconsciously awakened this skill out of awe.

Ordinarily, this would be a good thing—it meant Bell could chase after Shirou's example and grow faster.

The problem, however, was that Shirou was now heavily wounded and clearly in no condition to fight in the dungeon.

Because of this, Bell's newly awakened skill might not provide the intended benefits. Worse, the inability to actualize his aspirations could even have a negative impact on him.

"How could this happen…" Hestia muttered in frustration, holding her head.

She had thought Shirou's arrival would be a turning point for their Familia—perhaps even a chance to escape from their wretched life in a filthy basement, eating bread and drinking plain water every day.

But instead of a breakthrough, things now seemed headed toward a worse outcome.

Hestia was filled with a deep sense of helplessness about the world's unfairness, and her own weak but voracious life as a minor goddess.

Ultimately, she decided to keep the truth about Bell's skill and current abilities a secret from him for now—just like she had done with Shirou. At the very least, she didn't want to see him fall into despair so soon.

.

.

.

Shirou spent his first night as a member of the Hestia Familia.

Because the Familia's base was so pitiful, only the goddess Hestia could sleep on the single sofa; the rest had to sleep directly on the floor.

Although Hestia and Bell were worried about Shirou's injuries and strongly insisted he take the sofa, Shirou outright refused and forced himself to sleep on the floor.

Even so, his body didn't seem to suffer any further.

That's because his wounds were already so severe that any additional hardship made little difference. A few extra debuffs were merely the difference between -100 and -101—it didn't make things significantly worse.

Shirou was even able to get up early in the morning, dragging his heavy body, and begin practicing his projection technique.

Just as he'd experienced in the dungeon, Shirou's projection magic worked perfectly in this world—the speed and quality of his projections were unaffected.

This meant his combat capability had not diminished in the slightest. On the contrary, having killed so many dungeon bosses, his strength had even grown beyond his former self.

As for how much stronger he had become, Shirou honestly had no point of comparison.

If possible, he was quite interested in testing his abilities against the strongest fighters in this world to assess his true strength.

Of course, that would have to wait until he healed.

Currently, Shirou's injuries were so severe that merely killing a single Level 2 Minotaur would leave him completely drained and unconscious.

That alone showed just how dire his condition really was.

The problem was, Shirou didn't believe his wounds could be healed simply with time.

Without a proper healer, would he really ever recover fully?

Watching the projected weapon in his hand vanish into the wind, Shirou, after a brief moment of uncertainty, regained his resolve.

No matter what, the only thing he needed to focus on now was repaying the Hestia Familia for taking him in—and using his own strength to help Hestia and Bell.