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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the first chapter and thanks for your suggestion. I hope to add them all to the story if possible. Until then, enjoy.

"I'm dreaming again." Ais felt herself floating in a dark abyss, feeling like she was surrounded by nothing.

As she floated there, a voice began to echo in her mind. She had heard that voice before. A gentle voice, telling her stories filled with happiness. She hadn't heard the voice in a long time and as it became clearer, she was overwhelmed by a great sense of nostalgia.

Ais finally opened her eyes and as she did, she realised she was standing in a forest. In front of her was a large tree, which had two individuals sitting at its base.

One of those two looked like her, appearing a little older with a more expressive face. And in her lap was a younger version of her, who also had a much happier face. The older one was holding a book and reading it aloud. "And just like this, the sleeping beauty was released and awakened by a youth. The two of them would never be separated again and live through their happy lives."

"Mother," Ais whispered as she realised who she was staring at.

The older woman stared down at the child in her arms and gave her a warm and loving smile. "Do you like this story?" The younger version of Ais glanced back at her older copy and smiled, nodding happily as she obviously loved the tale that had been told. "Me too. Because it's just like my story." She closed the book and began to hug the child. "Thanks to him, I am incredibly happy. And if you ever happen to have a wonderful encounter with someone, I'll be even more happy." The two continued to hug one another, both smiling as they were held.

Ais couldn't turn her attention away from the image in front of her, which felt more like a memory than it did a dream.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, she blinked and found herself sitting on something hard. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the forest. Instead, she was in a cave of some kind. And she was no longer her normal self.

Now, she was smaller and less clothed. She looked down and found she was in the body of her younger self, wearing the same dress she had been wearing when he mother was reading to her. And before she could say anything, a roar made her gasp and look around.

Coming down the dark tunnel, a horrible horned monster stomped towards her. It was a giant minotaur, who saw her and let out a roar before charging towards her.

She screamed, her body being overwhelmed by an intense fear she couldn't shake. She wanted her mommy. She wanted to be home. She wanted to be safe.

[BOOST!]

Suddenly, the creature was struck from behind and sent flying. The one who struck it was a man with black hair and a red scarf around his neck, wearing light looking armor and having a sword in his right hand. But it was his left hand that caught Ais' attention, as it was inside a large red gauntlet with dark red claws over the fingers a green gem on the back of the hand.

The man glanced at the little girl and smiled before turning his attention to the minotaur, who got up and attacked again.

[TRANSFER!]

The man moved the sword into his left hand, as the gem on the back glowed and sent a bunch of light into the blade. And with a single swing, he sent the light out and it cut through the beast like a hot knife through butter.

The minotaur roared as it was killed, the man sheaving his sword as his gauntlet stopped glowing. He then turned to Ais, who started tearing up and leapt towards him. "It's okay." He held her tight.

"We've got you." The voice didn't come from the man, but the gauntlet he was carrying. "We'll keep you safe."

"Papa!" Ais cried, "you saved me. You're my hero." She kept hugging him, but the man sighed before pulling away and placing her on his knee.

"I'm sorry. I cannot become your hero." Ais' eyes widened, as he stared into her eyes. "Because I already have your mother." Ais frowned, upset that her daddy couldn't be her hero as well. "It'll be great, if one day you'll encounter the hero that solely belongs to you."

"Yes," the voice agreed. "And I'm sure whoever they are, they will be just as strong as us." As the voice said that, Ais' vision became blurry. And in the blink of an eye, she found herself in the void once again. And slowly, the fuzzy image of her father appeared in front of her.

Then, she gasped as a tornado of black fire surrounded him. "PAPA!" She cried, as the flames then died down. And when they did, it showed someone else. Someone smaller, with different hair. And on their left arm, a gauntlet similar to the one she had seen on her father was shown. She stared at the figure for several more moments before the black flames appeared and swept in front of her face.

Ais gasped, as she felt herself awake whilst laying in her bed.

She lay there, thinking about the dream she had just had. As she did, she couldn't help but smile. "Mother. Father. It feels like my body has become quite a bit lighter." She got up and stretched, feeling rather refreshed after the dream as she headed out of her room. "It's been years since I was able to recall anything about mother and father. Why today?"

"Ais!" She looked around and saw one of her closest comrades standing down the hall. "You look well rested. Have a good dream or something?" Ais thought about it and gave a slight nod, making Tiona smile. "Good. We're gonna need it for today. Better get downstairs before breakfast runs out." She ran off and Ais calmly followed, still thinking about the dream.

She then remembered the last part, seeing the figure from the previous day that was wielding the red Sacred Gear. Could that have been why she remembered her parents?

Bell yawned, as he felt himself beginning to come around.

Being a farm boy, getting up at the crack of dawn had been hardwired into his very being. He got up and found his goddess asleep in bed, so quickly changed into his adventure attire and headed out the door without making a sound.

He chuckled, as he made his way through town on his way to the dungeon. As he did, he couldn't stop thinking about Ais and how strong she had been. "I've gotta work hard and grow just as strong." He then summoned his Sacred Gear, the Twice Critical feeling more and more like a part of him every time he summoned it. "You might not be a guarantee that I'll get stronger, but I'm sure you'll be a big help."

As he stared at his Sacred Gear, he wondered about what other Sacred Gears existed. If his doubled one of his stats, were there ones that doubled more? Or ones that allow you to weaken others? His curiosity was going into overdrive.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt something. A powerful sensation, which sent a chill down his spine. Like someone was watching him. "Huh?" He looked around, but couldn't see anything or anyone that might have been staring at him. "What was...that?"

"Um, excuse me." Bell jumped, as he turned towards the voice. In the blink of an eye, he found himself face to face with a girl about his age. She had gray hair and gray eyes, wearing a green and white waitress uniform.

The two jumped away from one another, Bell suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I-um...sorry. Did you need something?"

The girl hummed, as she stared back at him for a moment. Then held out a hand. "Well, it's just...you dropped this." Bell looked down at her hand and saw a magic stone, which confused him.

"I did?" He asked, taking the stone as he tried to remember. "I thought I already cashed in all my magic stones yesterday." He put the stone away, as the girl looked him over. She then noticed the weapon on his arm and her eyes widened.

"Is that a Sacred Gear?" Bell raised his gauntlet and nodded, as she stared it down in amazement. "Incredible. So you are an adventurer, right?" He gave her a quizzical look. "Are you really going into the dungeon this early in the morning?"

Bell smiled and nodded, as his Sacred Gear disappeared. "Yes I am." But as he said that, his stomach grumbled. This made him blush, as the girl smiled before holding up a finger.

"Give me a second." She rushed into the building behind her, which Bell realised must have been some kind of eating establishment. And when she came back out, she was carrying a box wrapped up in a napkin. Before Bell knew what was happening, the box was sitting in his hand. "It's not a lot, but you should take it." Bell blinked.

"Bu-but I can't accept this." He frowned at her, "not from somebody I just met." He blushed, "besides. It's this your breakfast?"

"Ah, don't worry about it." She glanced back at the building, "I work here. I can always get myself something to eat after the tavern opens up." Bell looked inside and spotted what seemed to be a cat girl, sweeping the place up.

"Yeah, but..."

"Okay, how about this?" The girl smiled at him, "you can pay me back by having dinner here tonight." Bell blinked, as she gave him the best puppy-dog eyes he had ever seen. "Promise me you'll come back, alright. I'd be, so happy." The way she said that last part made Bell feel like he couldn't say no.

"Err...sure, okay."

The girl smiled, "alright. I'll see you later then. By the way, the name's Syr. Syr Flova."

"Bell," he replied, "Bell Cranel." Syr nodded and headed into the tavern, leaving Bell standing on the street wondering what the heck had just happened.

"Did I just get swindled?" Bell sighed, realising he had no choice but to go there now. "Well, better make as much money as I can." He rushed towards the dungeon, not wanting to waste a second.

As soon as he reached the place, he rushed down the spiral staircase leading into the stone labyrinth.

As soon as he got there, he drew his dagger and summoned his Sacred Gear. And this time, he focused. "Alright. Doubles any stat I choose. Double strength stat." The gem on the back of it suddenly glowed, as he felt a sudden rush of energy racing through his body.

He panted, the surge making him smirk as he began to run forward. He laughed in excitement, as he felt like he could jump twenty meters high. The sudden increase made him smirk, as he tried to figure out what his strength was. It was around eighty last night, which meant Bell now had one-sixty strength. A serious boost.

Soon, a goblin appeared from around a corner and he smirked. "You're mine!" He swung his dagger around and struck its head before the monster knew what had even hit it. And the amount of power his attacked with, allowed him to cut right through its head.

The goblin let out a single scream, as a large chunk of its forehead disappeared whilst Bell appeared behind it. He smirked and watched the creature fall to the floor, dead, the adventurer being amazed that he had been able to defeat it so easily.

"This is so cool." He quickly cut the Magic Stone out of the creature and pocketed it, as more goblins appeared along with a kobold. Bell smirked and charged forward, using his enhanced strength to cut them all down in a matter of moments.

The increased strength was amazing and he felt a rush at being able to cut the first floor monsters down so easily.

After removing their stones, he chose to head down to the next floor. And there, his increased strength made cutting the monsters down easy as well. "I wonder what doubling my speed would be like." He thought about it and his Twice Critical stopped glowing.

As soon as it did, Bell gasped as his body suddenly felt heavier. He realised he had lost his added strength, which meant he was as weak as he had been before. But after a few moments, he adjusted and nodded.

"Alright. Speed." But nothing happened. "Um, speed." Still, nothing happened. "Strength." That didn't happen either. "Oh, crap. Don't tell me it has a limited number of times I can use it. Speed." Finally, the gem glowed again and he felt the surge again. "Huh. Do I have to wait a short time between stats. Guess that makes sense, since switching from enhanced strength to speed might be a little too broken if it's right away."

A roar made him look up and see a kobold appear, the creature snarling as it began to run forward. But strangely, it looked like it was moving slower than he remembered then normally moving. This must have been because his speed had shot up to the two hundreds mark, likely nearing three hundred.

He smiled and moved forward, rushing towards it faster than he had ever felt himself move before.

He reached the creature and cut its throat without even needing to avoid the claws, as he moved too fast for it to even try and slash at him. It died and he quickly retrieved the stone, only to hear more growls and look around to see a couple more kobolds approaching.

He smiled and pocketed the stone before rushing forward, his speed unreadable to the second floor creatures.

He slashed at one and cut down its chest, as the other tried to bite at him. But on instinct, Bell thrust his left arm upwards and smashed his Sacred Gear into its face. The weapon seemed like the perfect bludgeoning weapon, allowing him to smash it flying. Had his strength been doubled, he probably would have broken its teeth.

As it fell to the ground, he rushed towards it and drove his weapon into the creature's back in order to kill it.

Once they were dead and he had their stones, he headed down to the third floor. Along the way, he chose to try out his other boosted stats. He had heard that one's agility was useless without a high enough dexterity, which Bell had noticed since he felt a little clumsier when his speed was so much higher. And when he boosted his dexterity, it was like his body was more responsive.

He used it to do an impressive spin kick and knock a kobold flying into a wall, then rolled to avoid a goblin attempting to leap at him.

After that, he boosted his endurance. Though he wasn't big on the idea of letting himself get hit to test it out, he decided to when he came across a single goblin. And sure enough, the creature's attack didn't even scratch him.

A kobold was next and it managed to bite him, but it didn't even break the skin despite Bell actually feeling a sting.

After killing it, he decided to focus on his strength stat. With his agility and dexterity already so high, he didn't really have to worry about being slower and less manoeuvrable than the other monsters. So he would boost his strength and use it to smash and slice his way through the monsters he fought.

He quickly got used to using his Twice Critical as a shield and boxing glove, as the weapon didn't seem to take any damage from using it like one. Heck, the spikes on the side even worked to stab the ones that tried to sneak attack him from behind.

All the while, Bell kept remembering Eina's words. The Sacred Gear was a tool that could help him get stronger, but still needed him to put in the work. And he would. He was going to keep fighting with everything he had, no matter how difficult it was.

For the next few hours, Bell fought his way through the monsters he came across. He managed to collect enough stone to fill his bag and felt like he had done pretty well all things considered. Even so, he knew that his actual base stats were pretty low. And they wouldn't increase much, even after all the hard work he was putting in.

"At the rate I'm going, I wonder how long it would take me to catch up to Ms. Ais. Ms. Eina told me to build experience but-" He pulled the last stone out of the kobold and the creature turned to dust. But as he did, he spotted something in the ash and picked it up. A small nail. "Oh, it dropped an item." He smiled and put it in his bag, "lucky me."

Just then, he heard a cracking sound and turned to see the walls opening up. And from it, a bunch of kobolds appeared and fell to the ground.

Bell gulped, seeing such a large number. "There's so many of them." He felt his body shake, fear beginning to overwhelm him. It was just like before, when he had faced the minotaur. Against that many, a normal adventurer would be in serious trouble. "I want to run. But...but I..." Suddenly, the image of Ais appeared in his mind. The girl he wanted to catch up to. "I've gotta give it a shot!" He rushed forward, deciding speed was his best state to boost against so many opponents.

As soon as he was fast enough, he used his increased speed to leap up.

His momentum carried him up and over the first line of kobolds, allowing him to fall down towards the ground before smashing his Sacred Gear into the head of one in the second row. The kobold's eyes bugged out, as Bell landed and stabbed his dagger into it.

Another rushed at him and he ducked under it, quickly spinning around and slashing at the creature before leaping at another and punching it with enough speed to send it flying. As it crashed into the wall, Bell turned towards the other kobolds and raised both arms. His Twice Critical was ready to block any attack and his dagger was ready to stab into them.

One charged forward and Bell roared, charging forward ready to destroy these creatures.

"Are you sure this is right?" Bell asked, Hestia having updated his status as soon as he got back.

==============================================================

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 82 > H 120

Endurance – I 13 > I 42

Dexterity – I 92 > H 139

Agility – H 172 > G 225

Magic – I 0

Magic

-

Skills

:..;.'.. ':...;.,:.

-Status-

==============================================================

Somehow, his points had all been pumped up by an insane amount. More than what he had gotten every day for the past week. Hestia was sitting upon the bed, adjusting her gloves as Bell kept looking over his status.

"My experience level. It's at one-sixty now." He turned to her. "Look at this. I only took one hit from those monsters and my endurance jumped up to forty. My strength and agility went up too. That's never happened before." Hestia said nothing, but her face was one of worry as well as annoyance. "Goddess? Do you think it could have something to do with me using my Sacred Gear."

"I doubt it," Hestia replied. "Your Sacred Gear only boosts your current stats. It has no effect on the amount of Excelia you earn."

"Okay," Bell nodded. "Then...do you know why my numbers are so high?"

"Who knows," Hestia replied. She then got up and grabbed her coat from the closet. "I'm going out with some of the other part-timers from work."

"Oh," Bell nodded. "Alright." He watched her leave, whilst Bell looked back down at his stats and could hardly believe it.

Outside, Hestia made her way through the ruins of the area whilst frowning. "It's gotta be that skill. Pumping him up so much like that, just from doing simple adventuring work. His feelings must be really strong. Which makes it even more worrying." She didn't know what the limits of this new skill were. But she knew that if the other gods knew about it, things would get seriously problematic.

She sighed, hoping that Bell didn't get into too much trouble. The last thing they needed, was him getting in over his head.

After the goddess had left, Bell had remembered his promise to the waitress and headed over to the tavern as well.

Along the way, the rain began and Bell had to rush towards the tavern before he was completely drenched. "I think I met Syr around here," he told himself before spotted the building from earlier. The 'Hostess of Fertility'. "This is the place, isn't it?" He could hear sounds from within and stepped inside. "Hello?"

"Hello?" A waitress announced, catching Bell's attention as he saw her dressed the same as Syr. He then looked around and saw the other servers were all girls.

"There's even an elf known for nobility," he realised as he spotted the green haired waitress. "So this is the flower garden of beauties that I've always dreamed of." But as he looked around, he realised something. "Isn't this too fancy for someone like me?"

"Bell." He looked around and spotted the waitress from that morning.

"Ms. Syr." He smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I came like I promised."

"Thank you for coming," she smiled before turning towards the kitchen. "We've got a customer." She gestured towards the bar and Bell moved over to take a seat, as a large dwarf woman appeared on the other side of it.

"Are you Syr's customer?" Bell nodded, "haha. You've got a cute face for an adventurer. Heard you're a horse-like glutton. Spend a lot of your money here."

"Glutton!" He shot a shocked look over at Syr, who didn't make eye contact and whistled. "Since when have I become a glutton?" Syr gave a slight giggle. "Don't 'ehe-he' me. I can't eat that much!" He didn't want to say because he was poor, as Syr began to mock faint.

"Wah, I'm out of energy because I didn't have breakfast. It's so unfair." Bell moaned, as Syr gave him a chuckle. "I was just joking. I expect only a little effort on your part. Please enjoy the meal to your leisure."

Bell hummed. "A little, huh?" He thought about how much he could afford to spend, even though he had made quite a lot of money in the dungeon that day. The last thing he wanted to do was blow it all in a single night, since he was hoping to save some for a new weapon. As he was thinking this, Syr sat beside him and he raised an eyebrow. "Um, shouldn't you be working?"

"The waitress part is not so busy," she explained. "Is it okay, mama?" The dwarf, known as Mama Mia, nodded as Syr turned to him. "So what would you like to eat?"

"Ah, then...pasta, please." Mia nodded and got to cooking, as Bell turned to her. "Thank you for what you did this morning. It was delicious." Syr smiled at him.

"No, no. I'm rewarded more than enough for my deeds." Bell wondered what she meant by that. "Mama Mia used to be an adventurer herself." Syr looked around. "All the employees are women. Mia was willing to hire even those with history. Though I'm working here because of suburb working conditions." Bell also looked around the tavern. "There are all kids of people gathered here. And where people gather, I can learn a lot of different things." She smiled at him. "I should say that getting to know strangers has become sort of a hobby, because it makes my heart race."

As Mia put the food in front of him, Bell realised he understood what she meant. Of course a job like this, would help her meet and learn all different kinds of things. "I think I can understand how you feel." Syr smiled, as Bell started eating. But as he did, something happened that Bell would never forget.

One of the other waitresses let out a meow, as she turned to the rest of the pub. "The big party with the reservation arrived." She ran forward, as Bell turned towards the door and saw who it was.

The entire tavern went quiet, as the Trickster Goddess Loki stepped into the room. Behind her was a collection of amazons, elves, a dwarf, werewolf, pallum, and a single human bringing up the rear. And it was the human that caught Bell's attention, making him stop with his mouth open so some of his food fell out.

Ais Wallenstein strode in, now free of her armor as she and the rest of her guild were led to a table.

Bell heard other adventurers talking about how amazing they were and how they needed to be respected, but Bell couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Bell?" He barely heard Syr, as she waved her hands in front of his face. "Hello?"

"Alright, guys!" Goddess Loki announced, as the group sat around the table with their food already prepared. "You really kicked that dungeon's ass. So tonight we feast! Eat, drink and get cheery!" The adventurers all raised their glasses and cheered, as they began to enjoy themselves.

Bell managed to finally close his mouth, but he couldn't take his eyes off the group of first class adventurers. The pinnacle of what those in Orario were striving to become.

Syr smiled, "the members of the Loki Familia are some of our best customers." An already drunk Loki tried to give Ais' ass a squeeze, only to get bonked on the head and knocked to the ground. "Their patron Goddess, Loki, really likes coming here. Like, a lot."

Bell smiled at this and was beginning to think coming here more often wasn't such a bad idea. The food was good and he would get to see Ais and the other adventurers as well.

He glanced around at all the other members of the Loki Familia, his gaze unintentionally lingering on each of the girls a little longer than it should have. Aside from Ais, there was Riveria, a High Elf, a normal elf that he didn't know the name of, along with the Amazon twins Tiona and Tione.

They were all amazing and Bell hoped he might one day be able to properly talk to them instead of just staring.

He turned his attention back to his food, enjoying it as the night wore on. And as some of the customers began to head out, Bell finished off his meal and was considering ordering a little more just so he could stick around a little longer.

However, one of the Loki Familia then spoke up. "By the way, Ais. Tell us what happened to you the other day." Bell glanced over at the table and saw it was Bete, the werewolf clearly having had his hair share of drink.

"What do you mean?" Ais asked.

"Remember. The few minotaurs we lost on our return." He laughed. "You killed the last one on the fifth floor, didn't you." As soon as he said that, Bell's eyes widened. "You know! I'm talking about that tomato kid."

"Tomato kid?" One of the amazons asked, "what are you talking about. You meant the minotaurs that ran away from us on the seventeenth floor, right?"

"Yeah, exactly. One managed to get all the way to the fifth floor. And guess who it ran into? Some weak little rookie." Bell was sure he was talking about him. "Before we got there, there was this super bright light coming from down the tunnel. And when I arrived, I spotted Ais with a minotaur dead on the ground and a little kid soaked in its blood. The guy looked like he was about to wet himself. It was so hilarious."

"That doesn't sound very funny," the green haired elf stated. "Considering we were the ones that let the minotaur get to him, if anything happened then it would have been because we failed." Bete turned to her, glaring at her and about to say something. But the elf, who Bell recognised as the famous Riveria, kept speaking. "You said something about a light. What was it."

"A Sacred Gear," Ais spoke up before anyone else could. "I believe the fear and stress of it caused him to awaken it. He didn't seem to know what it was."

"A Sacred Gear?" The amazon, who Bell recognised as Tiona Hiryute, asked intrigued. "You mean like what Raul has?"

"Interesting," a pallum named Finn stated. "A rookie adventurer, awakening their Sacred Gear. That's quite a feat. What did it look like?"

"It was a red gauntlet," Ais explained. "With a green gem on the back of it."

Riveria hummed, as she took a sip of her drink. "Sounds like a Twice Critical. It's a rather common Sacred Gear, made long ago from the remains of the Red Dragon of Domination. The Welsh Dragon. Though common, it's bound to become quite the useful tool if the boy becomes strong enough."

"Oh, please. That Sacred Gear is totally wasted on a wimp like him." Bete drank his booze down. "You should have seen the guy. Shaking like a leaf. And then, even after Ais wasted her time saving him, he goes and runs away. It was hilarious."

These words made Bell begin to shake, as he let them sink in. "Bete," Loki told him, "that's enough. You're making the booze go bad."

"I'm just speaking the truth. If he runs away from the girl that saved him, he has no right to call himself an adventurer. Maybe there's a way we can take that Sacred Gear and give it to someone who can actually use it. Bet Ais would make better use of it than that loser."

"Don't be ridiculous," Riveria told him. "Removing someone's Sacred Gear, even if it were possible, would be like ripping out their heart. There's no way they'd survive. Enough of your drunk talk."

Bete huffed. "As expected from the ever proud elf. But what's the point in defending that hopeless case. What's wrong with calling garbage garbage?" The Loki Familia all frowned at this and those around them also seemed to be annoyed by his words. What do you think Ais? What do you think of that tomato loser?"

Ais seemed rather stoic, as Bell listened intently. He wanted more than anything for her to say he did great. That he was a great adventurer. But then she spoke.

"I think he couldn't help it under those circumstances." Bell frowned. It wasn't the great praise he had hoped for, but it wasn't bad either.

Bete huffed. "What, you're playing a good girl? Then let me rephrase the question. Who would you rather mate with. Me or that kid?"

"Bete, are you drunk!" Tiona glared at him, but Bete laughed.

"Shut up." He slammed his hands on the table. "Look, Ais, decide. Which male could make you wage your tail. Which would you do it with?" He smirked, clearly thinking he knew the answer. But then, Ais answered.

"I wouldn't pick you, if you were the last man in the mortal world, Bete." This statement made everyone else laugh, as Bete's hand slipped off the table and he almost hit his head.

"Rejected," Riveria stated.

Bete growled. "Shut up, you old hag!" He turned back to Ais. "Then what? Would you accept the kid if he babbles 'I love yous' 'I want yous' in front of you?" Bell's body froze hearing this. Fear washed over him, as he waited for Ais to answer. He prayed for her to say yes, dreading her saying no. But she said nothing. "Hah! You can't answer yes! A wimp who is weaker, meeker, than you beyond any hope of salvation, doesn't deserve to stand by your side. You of all people can't accept that." Bell glanced at Ais and saw she barely had any expression on her face. "A small fry like him isn't worthy of being near Ais Wallenstein."

Bell couldn't take any more. And before he realised what he was doing, he got up and slammed his hands into the table before running out. "BELL!" Syr screamed, Bell not listening as he kept running at full speed.

In the pub, everyone had heard him and Bete looked surprised. "A dine and dasher?"

"At Mama's place?" Loki asked, "he's got some guts." But as he said that, Ais got up and headed towards the door as well. "Hey, Ais. Where you going?"

Ais didn't listen and kept going to the door, stepping out onto the street and trying to see if she could find him. "That boy? From the incident." She realised he had heard everything that had just been said. Obviously, he was upset because of what had happened.

Part of her wanted to chase after him, but stopped when she asked herself why. Why did she want to catch up to him.

All that mattered to her was getting stronger. Getting strong enough to defeat the beast that had taken everything from her. Ever since she was a little girl, she had had to fight. To become as strong as possible. Because her father had been wrong. "A hero never appeared in front of me."

"Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!" Bell ran as fast as he could, his mind recalling everything Bete had said. "What a moron. I'M SUCH A MORON!"

He kept running and realised that that arrogant werewolf was right. 'It's not that I don't know what to do to befriend that girl. Unless I do something worthy, I can't even show my face to her.' His body shook in rage. 'I want to kill myself for being so foolish. Expecting something in return for nothing.' Bete's words echoed through his head, making him sob. 'I'm so weak that I have no choice but to concede to those words. Too helpless to counter them. I'm nothing more than a stone on the street to her. I can only be mad at myself!'

He kept running, moving as fast as his legs could take him. And eventually, he arrived at the only place he could get his frustrations out of him. The dungeon.

This was a pretty interesting chapter, all things considered. Let me know what you think so far and don't be shy about any suggestions you might have. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Thanks again for all your comments. Hope you like the next chapter.

Down in the dungeon, Bell stared down a pair of goblins he had come across.

One of them charged and the young man raised his Sacred Gear, which was currently boosting his speed, allowing him to deflect its strike enough for him to jump to the side before slashing at the creature. But just as it fell, he heard movement above him and glanced up to see a dungeon lizard on the wall. it then leapt down, trying to crush him underneath it.

But thanks to his boosted speed, he was able to leap out of the way and even counter attack before it hit the ground. He jumped towards it and slammed his sacred gear into the beast's head, causing it to roar as it was knocked into the wall.

Bell then rushed in and stabbed the lizard before it could recover. This terrified the other goblin, which began to run away. But Bell's enhanced speed allowed him to get to it before it could even take three steps. And with a single stab, it was dead and Bell smiled before deactivating his Sacred Gear.

Letting himself return to his normal status, he looked himself over and nodded. "I feel a lot strongerHe thought about the fight, as he began to extract the magic stones. "I can keep my composure, even when I'm fighting two monsters at once. I've grown a lot from the past me."

He exacted the stone from the goblin and the beast exploded, the adventurer pocketing the item as he began to make his way up the tunnel.

"Am I...getting closer to her?" He sighed, the image of the radiant Ais Wallenstein clear in his head. "It's about evening now. And I filled up my bag, so let's call it a day." He started heading towards the exit, the number of monsters in the area becoming fewer and fewer.

Thanks to the mystical prayers of Lord Ouranos, the beasts were kept at by and didn't go anywhere near the entrance. That made it safe to leave the doors to the dungeon wide open, allowing adventurers to come to and thru whenever they wanted.

As Bell headed for the exit, he noticed a bunch of people gathered around the entry way. "Wonder what's going on?" He asked, as he got closer and stepped into the underground floor of Babel. Lots of individuals were just standing around. But as Bell moved towards the stairs, he saw that something else was also in there. "A bunch of delivery crates?" He stared at the metal boxes, with metal bars wrapped around them. "Which Familia owns them?"

Curiosity getting the better of him, Bell moved towards the crates. But when he did, he heard something coming out of it. A growl.

He leapt back and almost summoned his Sacred Gear, as he realised what was in there. "A caged monster?" The adventurers around him noticed his reaction and all chuckled.

"Are they going to hold it again?" One guy asked.

"Monster Feriae, huh?"

"Ganesha's people must have a hard time, since the guild keeps dumping it on them year after year."

"Monster Feriae?" Bell asked, wondering what the heck that was. But then he noticed someone standing next to one of the boxes. Someone he recognised. "Eina." His Guild Adviser was talking to a member of the Ganesha Familia, clearly asking questions about the state of the box. "If a Guild Employee like Eina is here, that must mean that this is approved by the guild. Right?" The look on Eina's face showed how seriously she was taking whatever she was doing. "I wanna ask her about this, but I'd better leave her alone for now."

He headed out of Babel and made his way towards the Guild to trade in his stones. By the time that was done, he found that it was getting late in the day. "It's almost sunset." He walked through the town, unsure what to do now. The last thing he wanted was to go home, since he would be all alone there. "I wonder where the goddess is?" He frowned, since Hestia hadn't been home in the last few days. "I could go look at some weapons." He frowned, unsure if that was what he should spend his time doing.

"Oh, is that you, Bell?" The adventurer looked around and saw a man with blue hair and rather simple robes, who was making his way towards him carrying a paper bag full of ingredients.

Bell smiled and bowed. "Good evening, Lord Miach. Are you running errands?"

"Just getting some groceries for dinner," Miach announced. "What about you? Have any plans?"

"I was gonna go check out some weapons," he explained. "Though at the moment, all I can do is look."

Miach nodded and chuckled. "You and me. It's a pain to belong to a small Familia, isn't it?"

Bell nodded, but then realised something. "Um, do you know where Hestia might be? She hasn't come home since she went to her friend's party."

"Hestia, huh?" Miach thought about it, but he didn't seem to have a clue. "If it's a party we're talking about, she was likely at Ganesha's banquet. But I don't go to those, so I'm sorry but I can't help you much."

"Oh, not at all. But why didn't you go? If Hestia got an invite, I assumed you had one."

"I did. But I'm too busy running my extremely poor Familia." Bell sighed, knowing how bad his Familia's situation was. "Oh, that's right." He reached into his pocket and took something out. "I'll give you these." He held up two vials of liquid, "potions I just made."

"Eh, Lord Miach." Bell didn't want to take them for free, since he knew they couldn't have been easy to procure.

But the god smiled at him. "It doesn't hurt to win favour with your neighbours, does it?" He handed them over and began to walk off, Bell unsure how to react as the god left. "Well, Bell. I'm looking forward to your patronage to my Familia." Bell stared at his retreating form and was still drawing a blank about what had just happened.

Eventually, he sighed and pocketed the potions before continuing forward. As he did, his mind drifted to all the different Familia in Orario. Whilst a lot of them made their living through entering the Dungeon, others created items and other useful objects to help those Adventurers at a cost. And there were some that almost never entered the Dungeon.

As Bell made his way through the street, he came to a stop and looked up at the building he was in front of.

One of the many Hephaestus shops in the city, catering to all kinds of requirements that the Adventurers of Orario had. Swords, shields, spears and many other weapons that were used to fight against the monsters in the dungeon.

Bell stared into the window, marvelling at a dagger within it that looked absolutely perfect. "Ahhh," he groaned. "I know I can't afford it. But still, I can't help but admire it." He kept staring at it, then summoned his Sacred Gear. Whilst it powered him up, could be used to shield him from attacks and smash monsters to bits, it was still lacking in true offensive power. If he wanted to be able to face any beast that appeared, he would need a truly powerful weapon. "I want it. Someday, I'll be standing next to her with a weapon like this."

He kept staring at the dagger for a few more minutes before finally heading home, sighing as he wondered just how many years it would be before he could afford something like it.

Meanwhile, Hephaestus was in her office going over some files.

But then she looked over at a corner of the room and sighed. "How long are you going to stay there like that?" She was talking to Hestia, who was currently on the floor performing her ultimate technique: The legendary dogeza. "Watching you curled up like a bug on the floor over there is annoying." She let out a sigh, putting down her quill and frowning at her. "I can't work like this."

"Apologises," Hestia stated. "But I'll keep doing this until it works." Despite that, her legs had seriously started cramping. she was almost worried that if she didn't get up soon, she might get sent back to heaven simply because of the strain on her legs.

Hephaestus sighed again. "Look, Hestia. Like I keep telling you. Weapons and armor made by high-level blacksmiths from Hephaestus Familia are top-quality products. Their performance and prices are first class." From the way she said that, Hestia could tell how much pride Hephaestus had in those products. "Those weapons are forged with the blood and sweat of my children. You're really asking me to sell them to you for cheap, just because we're family? How can you expect me to do that?" Hestia didn't reply, simply remaining in that stance whilst Hephaestus stared at her.

It had been two days since Ganesha's banquet. Since then, Hestia had remained in that state in some weird attempt to convince the forge goddess to give her a powerful weapon.

'What could be motivating her to do this?' Hephaestus had never seen Hestia act with so much determination. It was certainly a lot different from how she had acted during her first few months in the lower world. "By the way, what kind of pose is that?"

"Dogeza."

"Dogeza?"

"It's an ultimate special move, that grants forgiveness for any act and acceptance of any request. Take taught it to me." Hephaestus sighed, shocked that the far eastern god would teach her something so useless.

"Hestia," the little goddess looked up at her. "Please tell me, why you're going this far?"

"I WANT TO GRANT POWER TO THAT CHILD!" Hephaestus was shocked by the sudden outburst. "He's trying to change right now. His goal will take him on a perilous journey. So I want to get him a weapon, that will help him along the path."

"But he has a Sacred Gear," Hephaestus pointed out.

"Which is all the more reason he needs a weapon like that. You more than anyone, know how the Sacred Gear system works. They're not just handed out to anyone. Only those with the most unique of souls are able to be given them. And every soul that was ever given a Sacred Gear, have always been those that have faced great challenge and hardship. There isn't a single instance of a Sacred Gear user, having an easy life. That's why I need to make sure Bell has everything he needs to overcome whatever fate he risks falling into. If I don't, I could lose him forever."

Hephaestus thought about it and realised Hestia had a point. Awakening as a Sacred Gear wielder, meant giving up any and all hope of having a normal life. Even the weakest Sacred Gear, had the potential to cause great suffering if the wielder wasn't properly prepared.

"I've only been a burden for that child," Hestia continued. "I've never been able to do anything worthy of his goddess. I HATE THAT I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP HIM!" Even though she couldn't see her face, Hephaestus could tell Hestia was crying. It was kind of pitiful, but the forge goddess could understand the goddess' feelings. And considering what she was going through to help her child, how could she say no.

"Okay," Hephaestus put her quill down, "I'll get something for that child." Hestia gasped and looked up at her. "Mostly so you don't take up floor space in my office for the rest of eternity."

Hestia smiled. "Thank you, Hephaestus!" But then, the goddess got up.

"But like me make this clear, though. You're going to pay for it, even if it takes several centuries." Hestia nodded, accepting that condition without a second's thought as Hephaestus moved over to her personal forge. "Now, what kind of weapon does your child use?"

"Really?" Hephaestus hummed, as she imagined the Sacred Gear Hestia had described. As she thought about it, a frown appeared on her lips. "I guess using a dagger in his other hand would work. But if he tried to use it in the hand with the Sacred Gear on it, it could be an issue." She kept thinking and shook her head. "I'm sure he'll figure out a technique for it." She grabbed a hammer and turned to Hestia. "For now, let's get to work."

Hestia's eyes widened in shock. "Hephaestus. Could it be that you're gonna personally forge the weapon yourself?"

"Of course I will," Hephaestus nodded. "This is entirely a private matter between us. Got a problem with that?"

"How could I?" Hestia had stars in her eyes. "When you, the one praised as the god of blacksmithing back in heave, are going to make it!"

Hephaestus smiled at the praise, but had to remind her of something. "Did you forget? I can't use my godly powers."

"Don't care! I'm just happy you're making a weapon for me." Hephaestus seemed to blush at this remark, then smiled before turning to her forge.

"You should give me a hand to. I'll work you hard." Hestia nodded and followed her into the forge, as Hephaestus became lost in thought. 'Even if I make the best weapon I can, the wielder is still a novice adventurer. If the weapon is too strong, his growth will be stunted. But making a mediocre weapon goes against my policy. What should I do?' She also thought about what Hestia had told her about Bell's Sacred Gear. She wasn't sure, since it was still too soon, but the Sacred Gear Hestia had described sounded a lot like something she knew all too well. 'If what I suspect is true, it's possible even my best work wouldn't be able to handle what he could become. This is such a pain.'

On the streets of Orario, Bell was once again making his way towards the dungeon.

Hestia had been gone for three days at this point and he was starting to worry, but decided not to go into a full on panic just yet. If she hadn't returned by tomorrow, he would start searching for her. And until then, he would focus on tackling the dungeon and making as much valis as possible. "Maybe we can have a feast when she gets back."

"Hey! White head! Wait up!" Bell stopped, knowing he was likely the only white haired individual around.

"Wha?" He looked around and saw a familiar face, waving him over to her. "The waitress from the pub?" It was the brown haired cat girl, Bell moving over to her and scratching his head. "Good morning. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Good meow-ning. Sorry if I surprised you." She then held something out to him. "Here, take this." Bell took it and saw it was some kind of purse. "Please bring it to that klutz girl, nya."

"Anya, that doesn't explain much." Bell looked around and saw the green haired elf waitress, who had just stepped out of the pub. "You're troubling Mr. Cranel."

Anya smiled. "Don't be silly, Ryuu. Clearly, he understands that I want him to bring the purse to Syr. She's watching the Monster Feriae, nya." Ryuu sighed, as she turned to Bell.

"That's about the gist of it, yes."

"Oh," Bell nodded, "I got it."

Ryuu nodded back. "Do you mind helping us out with this. We're pretty busy setting up the tavern."

"No, I don't mind at all. But...what is this Monster Feriae?" Ryuu looked confused.

"You've never heard of it. I thought everyone in the city knew about it."

"Well, I'm still pretty new to Orario."

Anya smirked, "then let me teach ya-nya. Monster Feriae is a super big event, that's held every year-nya. They rent the entire colosseum and tame monsters captured in the dungeon."

"What? Tame?" Bell had never heard of such a thing being possible.

"It's not unusual. Even you, white head, must have experienced it-nya. Like the moment when a defeated monster gazes at you, as if it wants to join you-nya." Bell thought about it and was sure he had never seen a monster do that. And to be honest, he usually didn't give them a chance to do that. As soon as he got an opening, he always killed the monster as soon as he got a chance.

"Nope. I haven't seen it before."

"A taming skill is a genuine skill," Ryuu explained. "Even though it largely depends on your natural ability."

"So in other words, they're performing a show where they fight monsters and capture them."

"Exactly," Anya nodded. "Bluntly speaking, it's a circus-nya. Syr ended up forgetting her purse, even though she said she'd buy us souvenirs. That clumsy girl."

"Like you're one to talk," Ryuu stated.

"Anyway," Anya glared at the elf. "We're counting on you. She left just now, so you shouldn't have any problem catching up with her-nya."

Bell smiled and nodded. "Got it. I'll find her, don't worry." With that, he ran off whilst the waitresses headed back into the tavern. He headed towards the coliseum, as he noticed just how packed the streets were. Everything looked impressive, as he ran full speed with the purse in hand.

In another part of the city, a single figure was sitting at a table near the window of a second story cafe.

That figure wore a black cloak, which hid her features as she enjoyed the refreshing beverage that had already been served to her. That figure was none other than the Aesir Goddess of Beauty, Freya. She smiled, as she watched the many mortals down below as they moved around.

"Yo, Freya!" She looked around and spotted her fell Aesir, Loki, heading towards her. Right behind her was the legendary Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No. I just got here too." Loki moved over and took a seat, Ais standing behind her whilst Freya smirked. "I heard you got depressed and drank yourself into a coma after the banquet." This caused Loki to almost fall off her chair, as she glared at her.

"You rotten tits. How did you find that out?"

Freya giggled. "Your cute little children are pretty vocal about about the topic, you know." She then took a moment to glance over at the blonde in the room. "So, when are you going to introduce her?"

Loki smirked. "Yeah, I guess you've never met her before. This is Ais, from my Familia. Good enough?"

Ais nodded to the goddess. "Nice to meet you." The two locked eyes and Ais was suddenly overwhelmed by her incredible beauty. Forcing her to take a deep breath as she tuned out whatever Loki was saying. That was until the goddess started patting her on the butt.

"If I leave her alone, this princess will go straight back to the dungeon." Ais frowned at her. "Even though her expedition was recently finished, she'll never rest until someone blows the steam out of her." Ais blushed, as Freya smiled and put the cup down.

"Then, why don't you tell me the reason you called me out here."

"Hm," Loki smirked. "Just wanted to have a little chat. It's been a long time." But Freya wasn't buying that.

"You're lying again." The two goddesses glared at each other, causing an intense aura to form around them. Even if they didn't have their godly powers, they still processed the presence to make every mortal around them quiver. Only Ais managed to keep from shaking, as she waved off a waiter who had approached to take their order.

"Tell me honestly," Loki glared at her. "What are you up to?"

"Whatever could you mean, Loki?" Freya asked, looking as calm as could be whilst Loki glared at her.

"Don't play dumb with me. You showed up so suddenly at the banquet. Plus, I can tell from what you just said that you've been spending a lot of time gathering information lately. What could you be plotting this time?"

"Plotting?" She smiled, "you make me sound like a villain."

"You talk too much," Loki glared her down. The two didn't blink, both continuing to eye the other as if trying to decode a secret message in the other's expression. And eventually, Loki sighed before sitting back. "It's a man, huh?" Ais seemed surprised by that, whilst Freya just smiled. "So you're hitting on some kid from another Familia, huh? You're still lusting after men, as always." Freya just smirked, not denying anything as Loki shook her head. "Geez, you stupid sex-crazed goddess. You act like you're in heat all the time, ready to jump on any you see."

"Oh, my. That hurts. I at least, make distinctions."

"Don't try and fool me," Loki glared her down. "You even flirt with male gods."

Freya smirked. "Keeping them under my thumb has its perks." Ais watched the pair not even blink, the Level Five Adventurer sensing the intense battle of wills waging between the two. If they had access to their arcanum, she had a feeling it would be bursting out of them right now.

"So," Loki spoke, "which child is your target this time? After all you put me through, I think I deserve to know."

"You're right." Freya finally broke eye-contact and turned towards the street, a smile on her lips as she watched the many mortals down below. They all rushed around, like ants scurrying back and forth. "He's...not strong. He's still unreliable, prone to getting hurt and cries easily. Such a child. But..." Her gaze became one of utter longing. "He's so transparent. That child had a colour I'd never seen before."

Loki looked down at the street as well, wondering what kind of child could get such a look from the goddess.

"Finding him was truly a coincidence. At the moment, I happened to be looking out the window just like now. And when I looked at him, I realised there was more to him than even he knows."

"What are you talking about?" Loki couldn't see souls like Freya, so she had no idea what she was talking about. "What more could there be?"

Freya didn't look back at her, continuing to stare into the crowd. "Let's just say that in time, this child may end up changing the fate of Orario. And I look forward to seeing what that new fate is." Loki frowned, with even Ais feeling a little nervous at that statement.

Ais followed Freya's gaze and stared down into the street, only to suddenly spot something. A flash of white. "What the heck are you-" Freya didn't let Loki finish, jumping up much to the other god's surprise.

"I'm sorry, but something urgent requires my attention."

"What?" Loki asked, seeing Freya get up and walk away faster than she thought she could move. "Huh. Why'd she leave so suddenly?" She turned back to her favourite child. "Hey, Aiz." But then she saw the child was staring down at the street as well. "Ais? What's the matter?"

The blonde swordswoman didn't look away, as she could have sworn she had seen someone she recognised. The white haired teen, who she had saved from the minotaur. The one that Bete had insulted. The one she had wanted to apologise to for everything that had happened. But she had already lost sight of him, as he disappeared down the street.

Back at Hephaestus' forge, the room was blazing hot and Hestia felt like she would soon melt.

It had been a long night of work, but they had finally completed their objective. "It's finished," the forge goddess looked the weapon over before turning to Hestia. "Here, take it." The Goddess of the Hearth took the cloth covered item and unwrapped it, revealing a blade dagger in a rectangular black sheave. Just from holding it, she knew it had incredible power.

"Wow!" Hestia cheered, holding it up and laughing. "AMAZING!"

"Is this sufficient?" Hephaestus asked, as Hestia kept cheering.

"This is more than enough. How could I complain?" She took a moment to draw the dagger, seeing the marking engraved into the blade. "A weapon like this needs a name." She tried to think of something, but was drawing a blank. "Maybe something like...Bell Slasher!" Since it would be Bell's weapon, it made sense to call it that.

Hephaestus, however, clearly didn't like it. "Don't call it such a cringey name." She sighed. "But you have a point. It's a godly weapon. So we should call it...the Hestia Knife." Hestia's eyes sparkled, as that name sounded perfect. "Well, now you have the weapon. Just don't think about skipping the loan payment."

"Thank you, Hephaestus!" Hestia rushed over to grab a bag, which she quickly placed the knife into.

"Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Yes. If you'll excuse me." Hestia ran for the door, Hephaestus frowning.

"Hestia, wait! You've been working all night. At least take a break!" But she didn't hear her and kept running, rushing out of the room and out of the building. Hephaestus smiled, seeing how excited Hestia was. But then, she frowned.

She remembered what Hestia had said the previous night about the wielders of Sacred Gears, always being those that had to face hardship. And if Hephaestus was right, Bell was in for more hardship than anyone else.

"I know I shouldn't be worrying. After all, there are tons of Twice Critical. It could very easily be one of those. The chances of it being that are...huge. There are thousands of mortals. The chances of two having that gear one after the other coming to Orario are...astronomical." But despite that, she couldn't help but worry for Hestia. "If this boy does have it, will he end up meeting the same fate as the last one? Hestia would be devastated." All she could do was pray that Hestia's child wasn't the one. And if he was, pray that he could master his power fast enough to survive the avalanche of issues that came with it.

As Hestia made her way down the street, she hugged the bag holding Bell's new weapon.

Despite the astronomical cost that came with it, she was happy to pay. After all, this weapon would keep Bell safe and allow him to grow strong enough to face any danger. She just had to find him before he headed to the dungeon. But given the time, she doubted he wasn't already down slaying monsters.

But as she said that, she spotted a poster on a nearby wall. "Oh, that monster festival is today." She smiled, "maybe Bell decided to take a day off and go to it. She nodded, wanting to get to the Monster Feriae since she was sure Bell would be there.

She ran towards the main street, making sure to not jiggle her gift to Bell around too much. She stepped out onto the street and heard the people in the distance, signalling where she needed to go. And it was a long walk, which her tired body wasn't happy to undertake.

But before she could stew, she heard a horse and cart approaching. "Hey, taxi!" The cart slowed to a stop and she rushed over to it. "Please take me to the eastern main street."

"Headed to the Monster Feriae?" He asked, Hestia nodding. "Hop in." She got on and the cart rolled through the city, heading straight towards the main street. Hestia smiled as she heard the sounds of cheering and cries of excitement. And a few minutes later, the cart rolled to a complete stop.

The reason was obvious. The large group of people flooding the street, making it impossible for the cart to go any further without trampling someone.

"Gosh, I'm sorry goddess. But this is as far as I can go."

"It's fine," Hestia replied. "I can walk from here." She paid the guy, telling him to keep the change despite giving him the exact amount, then rushed off through the back alley the taxi-driver pointed out to her.

The alley felt dark and a little gloomy, but Hestia kept going despite it. And as she was about to turn a corner, she found a cloaked individual rush out from around it.

She gasped, a slight surge of fear washing over her. But then she caught a glimpse of the person under the hood. "Oh, my. Is that you, Freya?"

"Hestia," the goddess of beauty smiled back.

"Are you heading to the Monster Feriae too? You must be in a hurry, if you're using this back alley."

"Sort of," she smiled. "I can't be seen walking in a crowd."

"Oh, I guess it's difficult to be a goddess of beauty." Freya nodded. "Oh, have you seen my Familia's Child? He's a human with white hair and red eyes." Those words seemed to spark something in Freya, as her eyes widened.

Hestia watched her eyes dazzle, as if she was having an internal conversation. But before she could ask if Freya was alright, the goddess pointed the way she had just come. "Come to think of it, I feel like I saw him. I think he was on the east main avenue, that way."

"Really?" Hestia smiled, "great." She began to run off and waved back at her. "Thanks, Freya." With that, she disappeared down the street. And all Freya could do was stare back at her, the goddess sighing.

"I'm sorry, Hestia. But your child is just too amazing not to play with. I'm going to make sure he truly shines and when he's ready, I'm going to take him for myself." With that, she turned to leave the alleyway. She had places to be and was already beginning to put a plan together. One she was sure would make Bell even stronger and more magnificent, even if it caused many people great harm.

The monster festival approaches. How will having his Sacred Gear change the outcome? Only time will tell.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions. Hope you enjoy.

Bell felt really awkward, as he made his way down the street alongside Ms Eina Tulle.

They had met up earlier and Bell had been rather surprised by the way she had dressed, since he had only ever seen her in her guild uniform. Now she was dressed in a white shirt and a red skirt with a matching ribbon tied around her neck, with blue stockings and a bag on her shoulder.

She smiled, as she walked happily towards their unknown to Bell destination. "It's been a long time since I went shopping with someone like this," she giggled.

"Really?" Bell asked. "I always thought people would be happy to go shopping with you. Especially men."

Eina giggled again. "You're good at flattery, Bell." The teen blushed at this, think that it was just true. "I've been putting all my time into work since joining the guild." Bell could understand that. Her devotion to her work was something he could respect, as he began to look around.

"Um, where are we going today? If we head this way, we'll arrive at the dungeon by the end." When he turned to Eina, he saw a knowing smirk on her lips.

"Exactly." She jumped ahead and pointed towards the massive tower in the sky. "The place we're going today is the dungeon. To be precise, the Babel Tower right above it."

Bell tilted his head, confused. "But, doesn't the tower have only shower rooms and public facilities for adventurers?" Eina smirked, shaking her head and finger in a way that showed she was about to go into lecture mode.

"No, no. The Babel that is owned by the guild also has a snack bar, medical facilities and an exchange booth. Also, there are a bunch of shops run by commerce-oriented Familias. A prime example is...Hephaestus."

"Heph...aestus?" Bell blinked at the name before he suddenly started panicking. "Eina, I can't afford stuff from a Hephaestus shop." Even if his Familia wasn't swimming in debt, there was no way he could afford to buy something there. "Not unless they have a bargain bin for secondhand armor."

Eina laughed, "you're not getting second hand armor. You'll be getting never used Hephaestus armor." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, making Bell cry out in protest by be unable to fight back.

But as she did, he suddenly found himself bumping into someone carrying a super large backpack. "Wow!" He was almost knocked over with how heavy the bag was, but caught himself whilst the carrier staggered around. "I'm sorry," he told them. But the figure didn't answer and just kept moving forward, Bell watching them leave.

He hadn't gotten a good look at them, but they had been short and had been wearing a tattered old hooded cloak. And as Bell watched them walk away, he realised they had to be a supporter.

For some reason, Bell was drawn to watch who he assumed was a little kid drudging away. He then felt Eina grab his hand. "Let's go already, Bell." Bell turned back to her, but almost noticed a bunch of people staring daggers at him. They were clearly annoyed that he was so close to a girl and Bell could feel the anger shooting directly towards him.

"Eina. Please let go of-"

"Let me tell you about blacksmiths," she interrupted him. "Blacksmiths are..." She went into full on adviser mode, telling him everything she could remember whilst keeping his hand in hers.

Eventually, they reached the Tower of Babel and she led him over to an elevator. Since Bell usually only went straight into the dungeon, he hadn't seen any of the other areas of the tower. So the elevator was quite a surprise, being powered by a magic crystal that allowed it to move up and down the tower.

"This is the fourth floor of Babel," Eina explained once the elevator came to a stop. "The whole floor sells weapons and armors from the Hephaestus Familia. They rent from the fourth to eighth floors." Bell looked around in amazement, seeing all the high quality armor in the windows. "The store I want to go to is upstairs, but why don't we look around first."

Like a little kid, Bell rushed over to one of the store windows and started staring through it. "Whoa! Whoa!" His entire body was shaking in excitement. "It's just as I thought! There are so many top quality weapons here! It's almost intimidating." He then spotted a sword in the window and his eyes widened at the price. "Thirty Million Valis!" He moaned, having already expected this. No way would he ever be able to afford something like this.

Suddenly, the door opened and someone stepped outside. "Good morning," a familiar voice spoke. "How my I serve you today."

"Well, I-" Bell's voice died in his throat, as he found himself staring at his own goddess. Hestia was wearing a red and white uniform, which Bell guessed belonged to this store. "Hestia!?"

"Bell!" Hestia gasped, as her child rushed forward.

"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're working two part-time jobs." Hestia hummed, as she looked away and was clearly trying to figure out how to answer. "Didn't I tell you we have some extra money, because I've been able to loot the lower floors of the dungeon. Why do you need to do so much?"

Hestia sighed before turning to her child. "Listen well, Bell. Forget what just happened. Keep your eyes and ears closed and leave quickly. It's too early for you to see this."

"Goddess!" Bell cried as he grabbed her arm, "please don't demean yourself like this. I can make more money, so please go home before anyone sees you and starts spreading rumours." He couldn't let his goddess become a laughing stock. The idea of a god or goddess working like a common mortal, was something that would be laughed at.

"No," Hestia told him, "let me go, Bell. As a goddess, there's something I need to do. I'm not going to let you pay for everything. I'm not Loki or Freya."

"Hey! You slacking off, newbie." Hestia gasped and pulled her arm free, running back into the store and telling Bell she would see him later.

"Goddess," Bell moaned as Eina let out a chuckle.

"Your goddess is still as interesting as usual."

Bell turned and bowed to her. "I'm sorry I showed you such an ugly scene."

"It's okay," Eina smiled. "How about we head upstairs?" Bell nodded and the two returned to the elevator, heading up to the next floor. "Bell. You think you have nothing to do with a luxury brand such as Hephaestus Familia, don't you?"

"Yeah," Bell nodded as they got out of the elevator and Eina led him into a store that seemed a lot less impressive than the one on the lower floors.

"That's not entirely true." She gestured to a rack of weapons, as Bell looked around and saw that this place was full of different weapons and armor that actually didn't look all that impressive. "Here, take a look at these spears." Bell moved closer and spotted a price tag tied around the shaft of one.

"Twelve thousand valis?" He checked the one next to it and saw that was eighteen thousand. "This is much more affordable."

Eina smiled. "See, I told you that you could afford to shop here."

"But how is it so cheap?"

Eina giggled. "When you think of Hephaestus Familia, you think of highly skilled blacksmiths that create incredible pieces of equipment every time, right?" Bell nodded. "But all those blacksmiths had to start somewhere. How do you think they gained a reputation to begin with?" Bell had never thought of that. "The Familia lets low ranking members craft their work and put them on display in this store."

"Oh," Bell looked around and realised what she was saying. It made sense that this place was so jam packed full of stuff, since it all belonged to a bunch of different blacksmiths. "I see."

"The important point here is, a rookie adventurer and a rookie blacksmith can form their own connections."

"What do you mean?"

"Simple. A rookie adventurer learns the name of a rookie blacksmith through their work. If the stuff the adventurer finds is something they like, they'll remember it and try to buy more of it. A lot of the time, they'll meet and agree to form a contract. So if the adventurer becomes super famous, other adventurers will learn about the blacksmith thanks to their work being on display thanks to the adventurer."

"Oh, I get it. So someone like Ms. Ais likely has her own blacksmith and when she does something amazing, the armor and weapons of that blacksmith are also being shown off."

"Exactly. And I'm not saying birds of a feather flock together, but a hidden gem amongst these blacksmiths can only be discovered by an adventurer with good insight." Bell smiled, though was unsure if he possessed said insight. "Anyway, there are products from Hephaestus' Familia that even you should be able to afford. How much did you bring, by the way?"

"Oh, exactly ten thousand valis."

"That should be more than enough to get you a full set of defensive equipment. Let's spit up and look around." Bell nodded and the two headed off in opposite directions, Bell spotting a bunch of armor lining the walls in one section.

Bell examined each and every one of them and despite some of them being what he could afford, he wasn't sure he wanted them. Seeing how large and bulky they were, he imagined wearing them and trying to fight. Whilst he was sure they would protect him, he had a feeling dodging would be next to impossible in such restrictive armor.

He then summoned his Sacred Gear and frowned, wondering if the armor would be an issue for that arm. Since he constantly had the weapon on him in battle, he had to be sure what he wore wouldn't cause issues for it. "I wonder if they let you try on the armor before buying it."

So he moved away from the full plate armor and turned his attention to lighter equipment. And it was all amazing.

"Even though low-ranking smiths made these, they're still amazing." As he said that, he noticed a bunch of boxes in one of the corners at the back of the store. And when he looked closer, he realised they were full of metal pieces. "Are those armors for sale? They look like they're being treated like junk." He moves closer and saw price tags on the boxes, which meant he could buy them.

Then, he looked into one of the boxes and he suddenly froze. For staring back at him was a bunch of light armor that looked about his size, whilst also appearing to be well made.

He picked up the breast-plate and found that it was lighter than he expected, but still seemed sturdy. He gave it a gentle tap and the metal was solid. "There's no Hephaestus brand." If this had been made by a low-ranking smith, he wanted to know what their high-ranking equipment looked like. "Oh, there's a signature." He spotted a name over the image of what looked like a rabbit. "Welf Crozzo?"

He checked the price and found that the set cost almost all the valis he had on him. A smirk appeared on his lips, as he realised this had to be fate.

"Bell," he heard Eina call out, "I think I've found something good. A protector and some leather armor. It's a bit expensive, but what do you-" She stopped, as Bell turned to show her the armor he had found. "Oh, have you found something you like on your own?"

"Yeah," Bell nodded, "I'm gonna buy this." Eina saw the smile on his lips and sighed.

"And after all the effort I went through, finding you something good."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Eina smiled and shook her head, "don't be. It's for your use, after all. If you picked it, then that means it's the right kind of armor for you." Bell smiled and picked up the box, taking it to the counter where the store owner was surprised.

"I was about to send this one back to the blacksmith," he told him. "I'm sure he'll be happy he's finally making a sale." Bell frowned, wondering what he meant by that. Why would someone who made such good armor, have his armor sent back? "Thank you for your purchase."

Soon enough, Bell stepped out of the store with a dufflebag full of the armor. He smiled at his purchase, but realised he only had a hundred valis left. "Maybe I splurged a little too much." He expected Eina to tell him he hadn't, but she didn't. "Huh," he looked around and saw she was nowhere in sight, "where'd she go?"

"Bell." He spun around and saw her walking out of the store, "sorry to leave you waiting." Bell smiled back, only to notice she was carrying something that she presented to him. "Bell, take this." Bell took a closer look and realised it was a green vambrace, perfectly sized to fit on his arm.

"I...I don't understand?"

Eina smiled, "It's a gift from me. Please, make good use of it." Bell's eyes widened, as he tried to figure out what something like this must have cost.

"I...I can't accept this!" Bell cried, trying to hand the armor back to her. "Please, go return it. This must have cost more than you spend on your rent!"

Eina frowned, "you won't accept a gift from a girl?" Bell frowned, as he held the vambrace in his hand.

"I...I don't deserve this."

Eina sighed, as she moved closer to him. "Listen, Bell. This is more for my sake than yours." She placed a hand on the armor, trying not to show worry. "Being an adventurer is a dangerous profession. Even the most powerful first class adventurer, can meet their demise as if it's just a random god's whim. I've seen many young adventurers die in the dungeon. I don't want you to be one of them."

"Eina," Bell whispered.

"So please. Take this and use it to protect yourself. Considering it fulfilling a girl's selfish desire." The two stared at one another for several seconds, Bell's heart beginning to race whilst Eina blushed. And eventually, Bell nodded.

"Alright," Bell smiled back, "I will. Thank you." Eina smiled and happily accepted the thanks, as Bell put the vambrace with the rest of his armor.

"Good. Now, why don't we go check out the other stores around town. I know you're pretty much broke right now, but it's a good idea for you to learn the lay of the land when it comes to stores and blacksmith shops. After all, I get the feeling you're gonna need to get that armor of yours repaired a few times."

Bell smiled and nodded, as he let Eina lead him through the town.

They spent the next few hours visiting the many different stores and blacksmith shops, Bell making sure to listen closely to everything Eina told him. After that, Bell agreed to help Eina do some grocery shopping. She happily let him carry the several bags worth of food she had gotten, since she wouldn't have enough time to shop for food over the next few days.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, the pair had arrived at Eina's street.

She didn't let Bell know which one was her apartment, saying a girl had to keep some secrets, so she quickly took all the heavy bags from him and thanked the young adventurer for carrying them. Bell had been happy to do it, even if his back was now killing him. And so, the pair said goodbye and Eina wished him luck in the dungeon the next day.

"It's getting late," Bell told himself as he noticed how dark the streets were getting. "I hope goddess Hestia's back home. I'd hate for her to walk from Babel in the dark." As he said that, someone suddenly came shooting out from around a corner.

They almost slammed into him, but Bell was able to side step as the figure tried to stop and trip. "Wow!" They cried, hitting the ground as Bell gasped.

"I'm sorry." He watched, as the figure got up and turned to him. She appeared to be a young pallum girl, with chestnut hair and ratty clothes that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while. And as she turned to him, he saw a strange look in her eyes. "Are you okay?" He reached out to offer her a hand up, but she seemed to flinch as if expecting Bell to hit her.

"There you are, brat!" They both turned to the voice and spotted a guy walking towards them, a large sword on his back. "You damn pallum. I won't lose you this time!" Bell glanced back at the girl and saw her shaking in fear, looking like she wanted to run. "Stay right there!" The guy got closer and Bell frowned.

The guy was almost twice his size, but Bell refused to let himself be scared. His grandfather had always told him to protect girls in trouble, even if he had no idea what was going on. So, he stepped in front of the girl and held his arms out to block the man.

"Huh?" He frowned, "what are you doing?" Bell didn't answer, unsure what the heck he was doing himself. You little shaveling. You're in my way. Move!"

Bell gulped, trying his best not to freak out. "H-hey. I don't know what's going on here, but why don't you calm down first."

"Shut up!" The man almost roared, "who the hell are you? Are you working with that little kid?"

"No. I've never seen her before." He took a moment to glance back at her, seeing a confused look on her face as she stared at him.

"Then why're you covering her?"

"Well...because she's a girl." The guy looked confused and Bell could tell the girl behind him was confused as well.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The guy began to reach for the sword on his back. "Whatever. I'll just kill you first." Bell's fear flowed through him like an exploding damn, but he refused to surrender.

He remembered his grandfather's words, as he drew the Hestia Knife. "A man ought to protect a woman in danger." The guy frowned, as he drew his own sword.

"You wanna fight?" Bell gulped, whilst the girl behind him seemed fixated on the weapon in his hand. He then summoned his Sacred Gear, the green gem's glow illuminating the street as it activated. Bell didn't want to hurt the guy, so he chose to increase his defensive power. Meanwhile, the two stared at him in surprise. "What the fuck is that? What are you?"

"Bell Cranel," Bell replied. "Sacred Gear wielder." He didn't want to brag, but he hoped this statement would surprise the guy and get him to leave.

"Sacred Gear? So what. You're still some loser who doesn't know when to mind his own business." He was about to charge, as Bell shook some more. This would be his first time fighting another person, so things wouldn't be like with monsters.

"That's enough!" Another voice echoed through the street, surprising everyone as they turned towards the source of the voice.

"Someone again? Who the hell is it this time." The owner of the voice slowly stepped out of the darkness, surprising everyone when they saw it was a green haired elf wearing a waitress uniform.

"The person whom you intend to inflict harm, is a spouse-to-be of someone precious to me. I cannot allow you to lay a hand on him." The elf drew closer, as everyone looked confused.

"Ryu?" Bell whispered, then remembered what she had said. "Spouse-to-be?"

The guy growled and pointed his sword at her. "Enough of this. If you're going to get in my way, I'll just kill you!" He was about to attack, but Ryu suddenly did something that none of them had been expecting.

From out of the green-haired elf, a wave of power suddenly flew out of her. One that made Bell and the guy stop and freeze, feeling just how strong she was.

"No way," Bell whispered. He had felt the strength of adventurers before, especially in the presence of high-level adventurers like Ms. Ais or the other Loki Familia Members. But he had never felt Ryu emit energy power before. He had assumed she had just been a normal elf, but this wave of strength made it clear that she was or had once been an adventurer.

The other guy shook, which wasn't surprising given the amount of aura coming off the woman. Whilst she wasn't as strong as Ais or the other Loki executives, she was still powerful. Maybe Level four or above.

Ryu reached into her uniform sleeve. "I don't want to start anything." Suddenly, she drew a blade that looked like a katanna. Except it was only half the length of a normal sword. "Because I always end up crossing the line."

Both men could tell she was being serious, as she glared at the man in question. Bell wondered how the heck she hid a knife up her sleeve, whilst the guy growled and sheaved his sword. "Damn you little bitch." With that, he turned and ran off. "This isn't over!" And soon, he was gone as Ryu sheaved her blade and turned to Bell.

"Are you okay?" Bell jumped, as he put his weapon away.

"Y-yes. Thank you. You saved me there."

"No," she shook her head, "it was rude of me. I'm sure you could have taken care of him yourself." Bell doubted that very much, imagining how his fight with the guy would have gone. And even with his new skill and better weapon, he likely would have been toast.

"By the way, Ms. Ryu. What are you doing here?"

"I'm running errands," Ryu explained. "I found you by chance and I acted before I realised." As she said that, Bell felt the aura she had been emitting before vanish. She was clearly trying to suppress it, making him wonder what he store was. "If I might ask, Mr. Cranel? What were you doing, picking a fight with such an individual?"

"I didn't want to. But I had to stop him from..." He stopped and gasped, "that girl!" But when he looked around, he found she had vanished into the night. "Huh?"

"Was there someone here?"

"There was," Bell nodded. He frowned, hoping the girl was okay. He also wondered what had caused that man to attack her like that.

"Well, I'm off. Please be careful on your journey home." Bell nodded and Ryu headed of, leaving him to walk the rest of the way home. He didn't tell Hestia about his little run in, just showing off the armor he had bought and the vambrace Eina had given him.

Hestia smiled when she learned about this and chuckled, leaving Bell confused as he then tried to convince Hestia to quit her job and let him worry about making money. But Hestia refused, stating she had something she needed to pay for and refused to let her debt be passed on to somebody else. Bell would have kept trying to convince her, but suddenly found himself getting hit by a slipper and told to drop it. That made him do so, Bell sighing as he got ready for bed.

All the while, having no idea he had just become the next target of Orario's ultimate scam artist.

The next morning.

As soon as he was awake and cleaned up, Bell changed into his new armor and smiled. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was definitely way better than his old armor. "Good," he smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. "I finally look like a full-fledged adventurer."

Once he had his left armor on, he checked to see if his Sacred Gear would be an issue. But as it appeared, it seemed to fuse with his gauntlet. The metal of the armor was sucked into the metal of the Twice Critical, making them one. Bell smiled, feeling even stronger with the two on his arm. And as he dispelled the Sacred Gear, the armor returned to normal.

He strapped the vambrace Eina had given him to his right arm, glad she hadn't wasted his money by getting a left arm one. He then heard his goddess mumbling in her sleep, clearly tired after the hard work she had put in at her second part-time job.

"I don't know what she's trying to pay for, but I've got to do what I can to help her. Even if I have to be in the dungeon from sun-up to sundown, I'll make us both enough money for her to live as comfortably as possible."

He made his way through the city, stopping by the Hostess of Fertility in order to drop off the lunch box Syr had given him the day before yesterday and reluctantly accepting the new one she made him. Bell thanked her before heading towards the dungeon, joining the large crowd of adventurers that were making their way towards it.

He stopped for a moment, smiling as he realised he would be heading to the seventh floor. It wouldn't be easy and he would need to stay on guard, since he would be all on his own. But-

"Hey, mister. Mr. Adventurer. White Haired Adventurer!"

"Huh?" Bell spun around and spotted someone standing behind him, carrying a massive backpack and wearing a large hooded cloak. As soon as she looked up at him, Bell was struck by a wave of recognition.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Adventurer." She smiled and Bell was sure of it.

"Aren't you the girl from yesterday?"

The girl didn't answer, acting like she didn't even hear the question. "I know this may be sudden, but would you be in need of a supporter?"

"A supporter?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Bell frowned, looking back at the dungeon and remembering what he had just been thinking about. 'A supporter, huh? It might be nice to have one, but...'

The girl hummed, seeing his confused expression. "Does the sudden offer confuse you, sir? But it's a simple story." She moved closer. "A humble supporter, looking to share a little adventurer's booty, is selling herself."

"Yeah, I get that. But...didn't I see you yesterday?" The girl tilted her head, confused as she seemed to be thinking.

"Yesterday. Have you seen Lili before? Lili doesn't remember it." Bell frowned, crossing his arms as he tried to think. He was certain this was the same girl he had met previously. Her scared face was burned into his memory. "So, what do you think of having a supporter?"

"Well...I guess I need one if there is one."

"Really?" Lili cried, stars in her eyes. "Then will you take Lili with you, sir?" Bell staggered back, as Lili moved closer to him.

He thought about it, then turned to a nearby bench and pointed to it. Lili nodded and the pair sat down, Lili taking the large backpack off and dropping it onto the floor with a heavy thud. "Alright. If I'm going to work with you, I need to know more about you. So...tell me about yourself."

"There's not really much to tell," Lili explained. "Lili's name is Liliruca Ard, from the Soma Familia. It's a very famous Familia."

"Really?" Bell was shocked, "then why me? Why don't you party with people from your own Familia?" As soon as he asked that, he saw a pained look spread across her face. One that told Bell something horrible must have happened to her in the past. And as he thought back to last night, he wondered if that guy had been a member of her Familia.

"Well, Lili's kind of small and weak. So they don't let a klutz like her in." Bell frowned, remembering how dejected he had been when all those Familia had refused to let him join. Was that how Lili felt. "Lili feels uneasy at home, so she moves from one inn to another. But she's run out of money." Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed the adventure by the straps of his backpack. "So please, please, please! Lili wants to go to the dungeon with you, sir!"

Bell could see she was desperate and felt sorry for her. And since he wanted a supporter, there was no reason he had to refuse her request. "I understand your situation, Liliruca. But can I check one thing?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Are you sure, we haven't met before." Lili once again looked confused.

"Lili is a stranger to you. Aren't you mistaken?"

Bell hummed. "If you don't mind, can you remove your hood please?" Lili gasped and grabbed her hood, as if worried he was going to rip it off her head. "Um, well." He was about to say it was alright, but Lili spoke up first.

"Yes, sir." She then pulled her hood down and when she did, Bell saw something he was sure the girl from the previous night hadn't had. Dog ears.

"Th-therianthrope?" He was certain the guy yesterday had called her a pallum.

"Yes." She pulled part of her coat up to reveal a short fluffy tail, "Lili is a therianthrope."

Bell blinked, as he stared at the girl's tail and then at her ears. 'So she wasn't the girl from last night. But she looks just like her...' Before he realised what he was doing, he reached up and touched one of her ears.

She gasped, as Bell kept touching the ears and confirmed they were real. Which meant she couldn't be the girl from before. "Mister." His gaze suddenly shifted down to see the girl's face was all red. "Lili's ears are very sensitive." Bell gasped, realising what he was doing.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, as Lili moved away and held her ears whilst still red in the face.

"Touching Lili's ears like that. How scandalous." Bell gulped, hoping she wasn't going to call someone to arrest him. "You'd better take responsibility for this."

"I am really, really sorry!" He watched her pull her hood up. "But why are you hiding your race?"

"Lili's hair is bushy. It's such an ugly sight, that she doesn't want to show it to others." Once she was sure she had her hood properly set, she smiled at him. "So what do you say, sir? Do you want to hire Lili?"

Bell thought for a moment. "Do I need to pay some sort of deposit?" Lili shook her head.

"We're having a trial run today, so we just need to split a share of the profits from the dungeon." She clapped her hands together. "Lili will be very happy if she gets just thirty percent."

Bell nodded. "Okay. Sorry for the late introduction, but my name is Bell Cranel." Lili smiled, as Bell felt like this might just work. "Okay, Lili. I'll ask you to be my supporter for the day."

"Thank you, Master Bell." Bell smiled and stood up.

"Okay, let's go then. To the dungeon!" With that, the new team headed towards the Tower of Babel. And as they did, Lili stared at the boy in front and smiled at how much of a fool he was. Soon, she would have a high class weapon to sell. This stupid adventurer was about to learn a serious lesson in this world. That fools come in last.

For those reading my Bayard story, you probably realised this chapter is pretty much exactly the same as one from that. Sorry, but it just seemed easier than writing the exact same thing by hand. Still, hope you enjoyed it. 

Chapter Text

Thanks again for all your comments and support. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

As Bell and Lili made their way through the dungeon, they stuck to the main route and took on any monster that showed up.

Despite Bell deciding to go to the seventh floor today, he decided not to go straight there since Lili was with him. Instead, he chose to make his way through the rooms he already knew whilst seeing if Lili was a good fight for him. And he quickly found that she was a skilled supporter.

Thanks to her animal senses, she heard which direction the monsters were coming from. This meant Bell wasn't taken by surprise, allowing him to prepare for his fight. "Wow," Lili's eyes widened at the sight of Sacred Gear when she first saw it, though Bell didn't notice the look was slightly rehearsed.

Bell cut his way through the monsters and Lili moved the bodies, which was extremely helpful. "Great work," Bell smiled whilst Lili did the same.

"You too," she nodded once the last monster was dispatched. "Um, is that a Sacred Gear?" She pointed to the Twice Critical, Bell nodding as he powered it down.

"Yup. It lets me double one of my stats." He had been boosting his speed and Lili had noticed, amazed by how fast he moved.

"Lili wishes she could have been given a Sacred Gear. Even a weak one would have been better than nothing. Then, maybe, she could have made something of herself." Bell frowned, as he looked down at his Sacred Gear. He knew they were rare and the chances of being born with one were slim. He had felt lucky to have been born with one, but had never thought about the countless number of people who wouldn't get to wield their great power.

Once Lili was finished extracting the stones and picked up a drop item, they made their way through the dungeon and killed anything that showed up.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance to the seventh floor and Bell let out a sigh. He was about to head into uncharted territory. "Don't worry, Master Bell. With your strength, you shouldn't have any issues dealing with what's down there." Bell nodded and the two began to descend the stairs.

Once at the bottom, they looked around and saw that this area was different from the network of tunnels on the higher floors. This one was a giant chamber with several tunnels in the walls that led off in multiple different directions. Stalagmites and stalactites filled it, as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Once there, Bell drew the Hestia Knife whilst powering up his Sacred Gear for his strength stat. 'Preparations one-hundred percent complete. Now I have new equipment as well as a supporter. I've got this.' As he said this in his head, they heard movement and spun around. And soon, the monsters of the seventh floor made themselves known.

There were a bunch of giant ants, along with a purple moth

"They came out of nowhere!" Lili cried, only for Bell to jump in front of her.

"Don't worry," he got into a fighting stance. "I can take on a group this size. Anytime, anywhere." The Twice Critical glowed before he rushed forward, fast enough to make Lili gasp. Soon, he was on the first ant and cut through it with a single slash of his blade. The beast screamed, whilst Bell noticed the purple moth flying towards him.

It was about to unleash a cloud of purple dust, but Bell managed to jump up and avoid most of the cloud before landing.

He leapt to the side, his increased strength allowing him to clear a good couple of meters before reaching a stalagmite and slamming his feet against it to stop. He then kicked off the large rock and flew towards the moth, stabbing his knife into it and causing it to cry out in pain before it collapsed onto the ground.

Bell landed and turned to the other ants, rushing forward at high speed. "Don't you dare move!" He slammed his knife into the first and his strength allowed him to pierce its armor and kill it instantly. But as he did, another ant attempted to slash at him with the three claws on the end of its large leg.

However, Bell saw this coming and raised his arm, the vambrace on it blocking the ant claws. He then raised his Twice Critical arm and threw a punch at full strength, the Sacred Gear hitting the ant's head and causing it to explode whilst Bell leapt away.

"Master Bell," he heard Lili gasp. "You're so strong." Bell smiled, but knew his strength was nothing compared to the Adventurers he was aiming to reach. He turned to see her moving the dead bodies out of the way, a smile on his lips as he realised she had been doing this the entire fight.

"Thanks for the help, Lili." She smiled, as Bell heard a cracking sound and turned to see several holes forming in the wall. Needle Rabbits were being born and he was ready for them. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. Can you watch my back?"

Lili kept pulling the dead bodies out of the way, giving Bell plenty of room to work whilst he slashed his way through the many monsters in the room.

The two might have just met, but they found working together was quite easy for them. Lili would occasionally give warning to the young adventurer, half expecting him to tell her to shut up and not distract him. But he was actually listening to her and taking her warning to heart, as he slashed at the monsters she warned him about.

Eventually, almost all the monsters were slain. However, as Bell took down the final Needle Rabbit, Lili heard a cracking sound coming from one of the pillars holding up the ceiling she was standing near. "Waaah, Master Bell! Another one's being born!" Bell heard this and saw how close Lili was to it. Thankfully, he was still boosted by his Sacred Gear and shot forward as the ant's end broke free along with part of its body.

"Take this!" He cried, shooting past it and slashing at the beast before it could make a sound.

It didn't even have time to understand what had hit it before it was dead, Bell sighing whilst Lili looked absolutely amazed. "Master Bell, you're truly strong. But..." She turned back to the ant in the pillar and pointed at it, "what should we do with this?" Bell realised what she was talking about, since the ant was way too high up for her to extract the stone.

Instead, Lili turned her attention towards the monsters on the ground. She drew her knife and got to work, cutting into the weak point of the monster and extracting the stone within seconds.

Bell was amazed, since she had done that without looking like she was even trying. She then moved onto the next body and did the same, gathering stone after stone along with the few drop items that came with them. "Wow, Lili. You're harvesting those stones so easily."

Lili smiled. "I'm hardly as impressive as you, Master Bell. This is about all I'm good for."

Bell chuckles, hearing her call him master feeling a little weird. "You don't have to address me as Master."

Lili frowned. "You're my employer. It's only natural that I call you that. If I don't, I might forget to say it with my other employers and I've gotten in trouble for that in the past."

Bell frowned, feeling sorry for her. Why would someone get annoyed for not being called master? It sounded silly to him, since supporters were just as important as adventurers. That battle would have been way harder, if he had had to worry about tripping over monster bodies. And he would have been nervous whilst extracting the stones, since he would have have to worry about getting attacked mid extraction.

Lili seemed to notice the look on his face and sighed. "Master Bell, supporters aren't like adventurers. We can't do what you do. You could possibly explore this floor on your own. It might be harder, but you could still do it. But me. I wouldn't last two minutes down here on my own. So do you understand? We supporters are nothing more than parasites, taking the scraps from any adventurer willing to let us leach off them."

"But what you do is super important," Bell told her. "Maybe I could do this without you, but it's still way easier with you. I would have properly needed a potion by now, if you hadn't warned me about those attacks."

"Right. Which is what a supporter is supposed to do, to earn the money they want to collect from the employee. Right now, our relationship is symbiotic. But if I become more of a hindrance than a help, I'll be a parasite and you'll not want me as part of your party. And if word got around that I wasn't acting like a proper supporter, no other adventurer would hire me." She removed the stone and stood up. "I may be forcing an unfamiliar philosophy upon you, but would you please accept it as a favour to me? Master Bell."

Bell sighed, understanding her situation despite not liking it. "Okay."

"Thank you, sir." She then turned to the rest of the monsters he had killed. "On the other hand, are you really a rookie? To think that you killed so many monsters by yourself."

"You can say it like that, but it wasn't easy or safe."

"That's because you're fighting alone. Wouldn't people usually make a party of more than three people? Nobody like to go solo."

"But that doesn't mean you can't, does it? There must be many Level One Adventurers stronger than me."

Lili nodded. "That's not wrong, I'll admit."

"Then I've still got a long way to go." Lili nodded, as she glanced down at the knife he was carrying.

"Well, I assume your strength lies not only in your status, but your weapon too." Bell smiled, as he looked down at the Hestia Knife in his hand.

"I think so," he nodded whilst he put the knife back in the sheave. "Perhaps I rely on this knife a little too much. My Sacred Gear, too."

"I don't think so. The Sacred Gear, especially, is a part of you. You'll have it forever, so getting used to it is just a smart thing to do. And the weapon is a conduit for channelling your own strength. As long as you control it and don't let it control you, you should be fine." Bell nodded, understanding what she was saying. That was all true. "By the way, how did you obtain such an amazing blade? Sorry if I sound rude, but a rookie like you shouldn't have enough money."

Bell smiled, as he patted the knife and thought about how he got it. "My goddess gave it to me. She seems to have persuaded a friend of hers to make it." Hearing those words, Lili frowned as she kept extracting the stones from the monsters.

"She must be...quite the goddess." Bell raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what she was talking about. Surely, her god was as amazing as his. After all, gods were all incredible. He was about to ask what was wrong, but Lili finished the extractions and turned to the ant that was still in the wall. "Now then, Master Bell, let's also pick out that Killer Ant's magic stone. We've already come this far."

"Alright," Bell nodded. "Let me try and pull it out for you."

"No need," Lili held out her harvesting knife. "The magic stone should be in the chest, so you just need to cut off the thorax." Bell nodded and took the knife, moving over to the ant and lifting up its head as he stabbed the blade into the creature's lower body.

He wasn't used to the knife, so he was having trouble cutting through it. The face Lili had had such little trouble, just showed how skilled she really was. But Bell could do this, as he considered using his Twice Critical to power himself up and make it easier.

He was so focused on the ant in front of him, he barely paid any attention to what was happening around him. It wasn't until he was half way through the thorax, that he felt something behind it. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like something had just touched his lower back. It was barely a trace, but he felt it.

"Huh?" He looked around and saw Lili standing behind him, smiling up at him happily.

"Are you done?"

"Um...wait, just a bit." Bell turned back to the ant and sawed through the last of the beast's middle, allowing the upper body to fall out of the wall and crash down onto the ground.

"Perfect," Lili smiled as she held out a hand to take the knife. Bell handed it over and she got to work. "Master Bell, why don't we call it a day after this?"

"Already?" Bell asked, as Lili began to cut into the ant. "But I still have energy left."

"No, no. You shouldn't let your guard down. The monster you killed today was a purple moth, which sprays a poisonous powder. Its effects aren't instantaneous, but if you're exposed to it several times, it can inflict damage."

"Really?" Bell gulped, remembering the purple cloud that had been blown his way. He had managed to dodge most of it, but he couldn't remember if he had breathed any in.

"It's true," Lili nodded as she let out a sigh. "How dense of me to use up all the antidotes I had. We should return to Babel and be close to a please that can treat the poison, in case it takes effect."

"Poison," Bell frowned. "If we head back up, I'll have to go all out against the mobs we fight in order to get out fast enough." Lili gulped, a worried look on her face.

"T-that's alright, Master Bell. If we follow the tracks of some other adventurers, they'll have taken down all the monsters between her and the exit. So long as we keep to the populated areas, we won't need to fight any monsters."

"Yeah," Bell nodded, "you're right.

Lili nodded, as she pulled her massive pack up onto her back. "At this hour, the upper floors will be crawling with adventurers. Follow me and you won't need to swing your weapon even once."

Bell smiled, as Lili began to head towards the stairs. "Lili, you are amazing. I know you said being a supporter wasn't a worthy job, but I feel way more confident with you here."

Lili smiled back. "You just lack experience. Watch. Once you have more time under your belt, you'll be fine. Now come on. Let's go before any more moths show up." They headed upwards, to the higher floors. And as they did, Lili asked about the payment for her services.

Bell was more than pleased with her work and was more than happy to split the money they made right down the middle.

This seemed to make Lili happy, as they kept heading up. But Bell had no idea that the smile Lili was wearing, foreshadowed something more to come.

"Hm. A supporter from a different Familia?"

Bell nodded, as he had just finished explaining about his day in the dungeon with Lili. Eina crossed her arms, looking a little worried. "What's the matter? Do you think I shouldn't continue working with her?" When they returned, Lili had taken the stones to the counter to be counted whilst Bell waited for Eina to finish helping another customer. They had managed to make a fair amount, way more than what Bell would be able to make by himself. Even after Lili took her share, it had still been more than Bell had ever made.

"What do you think of his Liliruca kid, Bell?"

"Oh?" Bell thought for a moment. "She seems like a kind person. And she didn't seem to be lacking in the skills of a supporter." He then remembered what Lili had said that morning, about how she was usually ignored by members of her Familia. And the sad look she had sometimes worn when she thought he wouldn't notice. He could tell, she had some tough issues to deal with. He didn't want to leave her in a bind.

"What Familia does she belong to?" Eina asked, as Bell thought for a moment.

"Let me think? She clearly said the Soma Familia." But as soon as he said that, he noticed Eina looking worried. "What's up?"

"The Soma Familia. Damn it. I don't know if I should go along with this idea of yours."

"Really? What kind of Familia is it?"

"Give me a moment." Eina headed into the back and returned a few minutes later with a file, which she flipped through until she found what she was looking for. "Here we are. Soma Familia is a typical case of Dungeon Explorers. Their level is above average amongst major Familias. But they differ from others, as they're also involved in commerce."

"Commerce?" Bell could only wonder what their guild sold, since he was sure he had never seen a store with Soma's name on it.

"Yup. They sell liquor." Bell understood now, since he wasn't exactly a heavy drinker. He doubted he had ever been in a store that sold Soma drinks. "They don't sell much and their selection is small, but it's reputed to have an exquisite flavour." She looked through the file some more and her eyes widened. "Wow. More importantly, they have quite the large member base. I didn't know about this."

"What does that mean?"

"It means their god, Soma, is highly worshipped. Even though nobody knows much about this god, whether it be good or bad. There's barely any info on him." She kept reading. "He's famous for not having any communication with the other gods. And he doesn't attend god banquets. It doesn't even know if any other gods know about him."

"Seriously?" Bell asked. "How can a god have so many members, but have so little known about him?"

"Well aside from their larger membership and the money they make from the alcohol, barely anything is known about the Familia." She shut the file, a frown appearing on her lips. "But..."

"But?"

"This is just my personal opinion. Adventurers from the Soma Familia have a strange air about them. They say they compete amongst themselves, against their own comrades, almost desperately." She tapped her pen against her clipboard. "How can I put this? The Familia Members are for some reason desperate for something. And it's affecting them negatively." Bell frowned, wondering what that something could be. He could only hope that Lili wasn't in any serious trouble. "For now, I agree that you should hire that girl as your supporter."

"Huh, you're serious?"

"Yup. All Familias have their own mysterious side. But you don't need to worry about conflicts between Familias. There shouldn't be any issue with you working with a Soma Member. So long as you don't do anything to irritate the other members, it should be alright." She smirked. "I want you to quit playing solo as soon as possible, so I'd rather you hire her."

"Ms. Eina." He smiled, blushing a little at how she was worrying about him.

"But the decision is up to you. Do you think you can trust her with your life? And if you do, do you think you can trust yourself with her life. After all, you'll be the one responsible for her safety. If something happens to her, it'll be on you. This is something many Adventurers refuse to accept. To them, Supporters are just tools they can use for their own ends."

Bell sighed, hating how it seemed supporters were getting treated. From the way Lili had spoken, she had clearly experienced something like that before. Which mean he had to be sure to treat her with the utmost respect.

"Not everyone has the potential to become super strong adventurers," Eina stated whilst looking down in pity. "Many adventurers can't make it past level one and they end up becoming full time supporters. Often looked down on, because they didn't have what it took to become anything more than helpers."

Bell looked down, feeling shame despite not having done anything. 'To think that they're called failures by their own Familia. How despicable.' "Thank you, Eina. I've learned a lot." Eina nodded back.

"Of course. If you ever need to talk about anything, come and see me. I'll help in any way that I can." Bell nodded and turned to leave, only for Eina to gasp. "Hey, Bell!?" He stopped and looked back, seeing her looking worried.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened to your knife?"

"Huh?" Bell reached back, "I'm sorry. My knife is right-" He stopped, as he felt nothing where the Hestia Knife should be. He patted the sheave several times, but the knife didn't appear. And that made Bell scream. "I DROPPED IT!"

In another part of the city, Lili was stomping down the street grinding her teeth.

"Thirty Valis!?" She asked, staring at the weapon in her hand. The Hestia Knife seemed different from when she had seen it used by Bell. It didn't have the same sheen that the weapon had radiated before. "No way this is so cheap. What the hell?" She kept stopping through the back alleys. "This is an exceptional knife, which was able to tear through the hides of monsters like it was nothing. It has to be a first-class weapon, worth more than a big manor."

She stared at the knife again and ran her hands over the edge, feeling how dull it was. She didn't understand how such a weapon could have become blunt so quickly.

"If I had the sheave with the brand mark, then there'd be no doubt of the weapon's credentials." As she said that, she turned a corner and noticed two individuals walking towards her. As they approached, she quickly stuffed the knife up her sleeve.

"It saves time from the store," one of them said. "We won't get lost. You don't have to worry."

"That's not what I'm worried about," the other replied as Lili strode past them. But when she did, the other spoke up extra loud.

"Stop right there, you little pallum." Lili froze on the spot, as the woman slowly turned towards her. "Please show me the knife, you just stuffed up your sleeve."

"Ryu?" The other asked, as Lili tried to remain calm.

"Why?"

"That knife has hieroglyphs and appears similar to the one owned by my acquaintance. So I'd like to check it." Lili frowned, as she glanced back at the green haired elf that was staring her down.

She was impressed with the elf's vision, especially with how dark it was, as Lili removed the knife. "Too bad, but this knife is mine. Don't go throwing accusations."

"Nonsense." Suddenly, the elf unleashed a wave of pressure from her body. One that Lili had only felt from high ranked adventurers. The feeling made Lili gasp, as she felt like she was being crushed under a powerful weight. She panted, trying to stay calm, but it took all her strength not to pass out. "Do not move."

Lili didn't listen and raced off, her fight or flight response kicking into overdrive and making her run as fast as she could down the street. She heard Ryu say something, but didn't listen as she kept on running. Then, she felt something hard hit her left arm with the force of a cannonball.

"Augh!" She cried, as the apple she had just been smashed with exploded against her hand and she dropped the knife.

She fell to the ground and gasped, as an approaching shadow began to loom over her. When she looked up, she saw the elf charging forward with an almost murderous look on her face.

Bell was searching the streets, trying to retrace his steps and hoping nobody had found his knife already.

As he did this, his was mentally kicking himself for dropping the most important gift he had ever been given. He couldn't believe he had been so completely careless. "I had to have dropped it somewhere around her," he realised whilst trying to remember the last time he had actually held the knife.

He kept thinking and thinking and just as he remembered sheaving it in the dungeon, he found himself almost being tackled by someone who had just flown out of a nearby alleyway. "Wow!" He dodged the small body, which fell to the ground next to him. "What's going on?" He asked, only to recognise the coat of the person. "Lili?"

"Master Bell?" She asked, raising her head and looking at him.

Bell knelt down and helped her sit up. "What happened to you?" He noticed that she looked a little scuffed up.

"I'm being chased by a feral woman," Lili cried. "No, a wild dog." Bell gulped, wondering what kind of monster Lili had had the misfortune to run into. And as he tried to see if he had a potion on him, someone raced out the alleyway.

"I can't believe I lost her," Ryu sighed as Syr rushed out panting like she had just run a marathon.

"Ms. Ryu," Bell noticed them arriving. "Ms. Syr. What the heck is going on?"

"Ah, Mr. Cranel. I'm glad you're here." She stepped forward, "actually, your..." It was then that she noticed the girl Bell was protecting, a frown forming on her lips as she reached out and grabbed the girl's hood. "Excuse me, Mr. Cranel."

"HEY!" Lili cried, trying to keep her hood up. She then started whispering something they couldn't hear and soon, Ryu managed to rip the hood off her head. "Augh!" They all saw the dog ears on her head, making Ryu blink in shock.

"What? Thianthrope?"

Bell grabbed Lili and pulled her away. "What's with you all of a sudden? Lili, are you okay?" Lili pulled the hood back up, agreeing that she was fine as Ryu stepped back and bowed.

"I'm sorry. It seems I was mistaken." She then reached behind her apron. "By the way, Mr. Cranel." She pulled something out and Bell's eyes widened. "Isn't this knife, yours?" Bell gasped, fearing he would never see the weapon again.

He rushed forward and grabbed the knife, along with Syr's hand. "That's my knife. Thank you so much. You have no idea what losing this would mean." But then he noticed Ryu blushing, as he remembered how elves didn't like non-elves touching them.

"Mr. Cranel. You shouldn't do that. You should do this kind of thing with Syr, not me." The other waitress blushed at that, asking what she was talking about as Bell let her hand god and she offered the knife back to him.

He sighed, clutching the weapon. "In any case, I can't believe my look. Goddess Hestia, I promise I'll never drop it again."

"You dropped it?" Ryu asked, as the hieroglyphs on the blade began to glow.

Lili noticed this, her eyes going wide as she noticed the sheen it had previously lost return to it. Bell carefully slotted it back into the sheave, as he smiled at Ryu. "Where did you find it? I was worried I had dropped it down in the dungeon or something."

"I didn't find it. Some pallum had it." Lili frowned at this, as Bell glanced over at her.

"Pallum? So that's why you were so rough with Lili."

"Yes. I chased after the pallum, but I lost them. The girl is wearing the same hooded coat, so I thought she was her."

"A bit of a hasty assumption," Bell pointed out. "But I understand."

"Yes. I didn't really get a good look at the pallum's face, but I was certain she didn't have a tail." As Ryu said that, Syr stepped over to Lili and knelt down beside her. And as Bell and Ryu kept talking, Syr leaned in close to Lili and whispered into her ear.

"Don't fool around too much, or you'll get in big trouble." She leaned back and when Lili saw the look in her eyes, she shook in absolute terror at how scary the woman was.

"Then our business here is over," Ryu spoke up. "Syr, let's head home already." Syr turned back to them, her terrifying expression reverting back to the normal gentle one she was known for.

"Sure," she smiled before the two waitresses headed off.

"Thank you," Bell called out to them whilst Lili finally stood up and they watched them leave.

"Master Bell. Who are those people?"

"Servers at a tavern. A famous one, called the Hostess of Fertility." Lili nodded, as she imagined what the rest of the waitresses there would be like. She was sure that they were all as terrifying as those two.

"Hey..."

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever take Lili there." Bell wondered what she was talking about, but Lili simply brushed the dust off her cloak before turning away. "Anyway, I gotta get going." Bell blinked, as Lili began to walk away.

"Lili!" Bell called out to her. "Are you okay with going back into the dungeon with me?" She stopped and glanced back at him. "My adviser really wants me to keep going down into the dungeon with someone and after today, I think the two of us will make a great team together. So, do you wanna keep working together."

Lili stayed quiet for a moment, as if contemplating the future. And after a few moments, she finally spoke. "Sure. Let's do it. I'll be waiting at the fountain again tomorrow." Bell nodded, smiling as he watched her run off.

Once she was gone, Bell sighed in relief and turned to head home. He patted his lower back every minute or so, now paranoid that he would lose his knife once again. He would need to be careful with it from now on and truly thankful that Ryu had been able to save him from his own clumsiness.

"It's not clumsiness that's your issue. It's your overly trusting nature. Beware of snakes, hiding in long reeds." Bell stopped, as those words flowed through his head. He frowned, clutching his head as he felt a sudden dizziness wash over him for a moment. He didn't know where that voice in his head had come from, but he felt strange.

He waited to see if he could hear it again, but he didn't. And soon, the dizzy sensation disappeared and he was able to head off once again. But still, he was confused by what had happened.

Well, Lili almost got away with the theft. Hopefully, this'll teach her not to do anything stupid from now on. Ha. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. 

Chapter Text

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments. Hope you like this chapter

"Only twelve thousand valis!" Eina and her workmate, Mina, looked around at the outburst.

Over at the stone exchange, two individuals were arguing. One of them was a guild worker, whose job it was to determine the value of the magic stones and drop items brought by the adventurers. Meanwhile, the other was an adventurer carrying a now empty sack that had once been filled with his loot. And by the looks of things, he wasn't happy about the amount he had been offered for it all.

"Bullshit! What the hell is wrong with your eyes?" It was times like this, Eina was glad the exchange had an armored window to protect the guy behind it.

"Wow," Mina hissed, "it's an adventurer from the Soma Familia. I wonder why they're so obsessed with money."

"Are you sure you've appraised the drop items properly?" The adventurer asked. "Hey, check them again." The guild worker looked insulted by his statement.

"You fool. Can't you tell how many years I've been in this business. I've had enough of you." The adventurer just glared at him, whilst his guild adviser moved over to try and calm him down. But that just got him a glare as well.

"Geez," Mina sighed, "the way he's glaring is creepy. So glad I'm not in charge of the Soma Familia." Eina barely said anything, too focused on the adventurer and the Familia he came from.

"Dammit!" The guy looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "This much. This isn't enough at all!"

"Soma Familia," she frowned. The image of her new favourite adventurer flowed into her mind, remembering the conversation they had had about him hiring a supporter. A supporter from the exact same Familia this guy as from. "Could it be that I was too reckless?"

It was another day in the Dungeon and Bell was exploring the rest of the seventh floor with Lili by his side.

They had met up again that morning and gotten to work, making their way down to the floor they were on. And as they did, Lili revealed something that took Bell by surprise. "What? You have a skill, Lili?" Bell could hardly believe it, as Lili simply shrugged. "That's so cool."

"It's nothing special," Lili sighed. "It's a pathetic skill that just lets Lili carry bags easier. Barely better than nothing."

"Still, I'm envious of you. I don't have a single skill yet. Or magic."

"Yes, but you have your Sacred Gear. That's pretty much equal to a skill or magic. Using it the way you do more than makes up for it." Bell realised she had a point. He didn't want to think of how hard a time he would have, if he hadn't had his Twice Critical.

"Good point. So what about you? Have you earned a magic spell?" He barely looked at her, too focused on not getting taken by surprise by any monsters. If he did, he would have noticed the worried look Lili had whilst trying to think of what to say.

"Unfortunately, there are many people that never obtain magic in their lifetime. And Lili is amongst them." Bell nodded, as they kept making their way through the caverns. "By the way, Master Bell. What's the schedule for today?"

Bell hummed for a moment, remembering his last status update and how unhappy Lady Hestia had been about something. "Well, since I got my status updated, I want to test my new power. So why don't we see if we can make it to the entrance of the eighth floor today?" Lili nodded, as they started heading in that direction. "By the way. Are you sure you don't need any down-payment?"

Lili nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't matter. It won't be a problem because you aren't forming a party with other people. Plus..."

"Plus?" Bell asked, as she didn't continue right away. Lili then gave him a sly, knowing smile.

"Isn't it more convenient for you that way, Master Bell."

"Eh?" Was all Bell could say in return, making him wonder what Lili was talking about. And in that moment, he smile shifted for a moment and a new expression appeared on her face. It was only for a moment, but he saw it before she smiled again and took a few steps forward.

"Now let's go, alright. Please work really hard, so Lili can make a living." Bell watched her walk off and as she did, he couldn't help but feel like something was dropping in the bit of his stomach. The way she had looked at him, had said words her mouth refused to speak. "You're the same as other adventurers."

He stood there, feeling like someone had stabbed a hot knife through his gut. Even though she hadn't said anything, that look had been enough to make Bell feel terrible. He couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to make Lili give him a look like that.

Within one of the taverns of Orario, Lady Hestia was sitting at a table across from her good friend: Miach.

The little goddess gulped down her drink, letting it wash away all her pain whilst Miach stared at her. The reason she was gulping it down was because of what she had seen earlier that day. Her precious little Bell, hanging out with somebody else. "Can you believe that, Miach?"

"Believe what?" The other god asked. "All you said was Bell was spending time with someone. And that they were going out to dinner together."

"Exactly. Why would he take her out when he could have brought her home and introduced her to me?" She gulped down the rest of her drink and looked over at the bar, ordering another one. "I mean, why wouldn't he want to introduce his new friend to me? Is he embarrassed by me?"

"Of course not," Miach assured her. "I bet...he's embarrassed for you." He had said that randomly off the top of his head, expecting Hestia not to believe a word of it. But when the little goddess thought about it, she seemed to realise something.

"You're right. He must be embarrassed for me." She moaned. "Oh, our home might be cosy but it's hardly a fitting dwelling to bring someone. He probably doesn't want his new friend to look down on me. Oh, he's such a good boy." She got her new drink and started chugging it down. "Oh, I wish we could do something about our home. I'm grateful for Hephaestus giving it to us, but the place isn't a home worthy of a god and her Familia."

"You know," Miach told her. "My place isn't much better and I don't have any real issues with it."

Hestia huffed. "If only Bell could get one serious payday. If he just got lucky once and ran into one of those Jack Birds, we'd have more than enough money to rebuild the church into something fit for people to see." She moaned, chugging her drink once again. "What am I saying? I shouldn't be relying on my child getting lucky. There has to be something I can do. But what?"

"You need to be patient," Miach told her. "You think Loki and Freya got their amazing homes the second they arrived in the lower world?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Hestia hadn't seen Freya's place, but she knew it was a large plot of land with a huge mansion. "How long did it take them to get their homes?"

"Well, they already had them when I first arrived. But Loki's wasn't as extravagant. The place has really built itself up in the years since I've arrived. But it didn't just spring up overnight." Hestia sighed, as she gulped down more and more. She needed to do something, but what?

Bell on his own, couldn't make enough money for them to rebuild their home into a nice place to live. But there was no way they could recruit new members, since their home wasn't currently big enough to house anyone. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Hestia moaned and decided to simply drink her worries away. Tomorrow's Hestia be damned, today's Hestia needed this.

The next morning.

"Damn you, yesterday's Hestia." The goddess moaned, as she lay in bed with a splitting headache and a seriously dry mouth. Bell looked extremely worried, as he handed a glass of water to her. "Oh, why did I drink so much?"

"Are you gonna be okay, Lady Hestia?" He had been worried sick about her, especially after last night when Miach had brought her home in a freaking wheelbarrow.

Hestia moaned, as she drank the water and looked up at Bell. "I'm sorry to show you such an ugly sight. Guess I drank too much." She barely remembered what she and Miach had been talking about. Something about Bell's new friend and a house or something. "Ahhh." She clutched her head, as Bell kept a watchful eye on her. "Bell, shouldn't you be heading to the Dungeon right now?"

Bell smiled. "I couldn't leave you alone. So I asked a kid from the neighbourhood to tell Lili I'll be taking the day off from the dungeon to look after you. I'm sure she'll understand." Hestia frowned, feeling bad that Bell had to hold off on getting stronger to help her feel better. She couldn't let herself become a burden to him. "Here," he showed her a bowl of porridge, "can you eat?"

Hestia nodded and took the bowl, scooping up the food and shovelling it into her mouth whilst Bell sat down and smiled as he watched her go about feeding herself. "Thank you, Bell. Sorry you had to stay home and look after me."

"It's fine. I'm used to it. My grampa used to tie one on at the village tavern whenever we had a particularly hard week on the farm. The next day, his head was screaming at him. I think he used to say something. A second...Athens or something."

Hestia tried to make sense of that, but her head hurt too much for her to be able to think properly. Instead, she simply sat there and ate her porridge. "So, you and your supporter went out to eat yesterday?"

"Yeah," Bell nodded, "we went out to celebrate."

Hestia huffed, wishing she could have been there. "How lucky of you. I bet you ate some good food and had fun. Ahh, I wanna go." Bell hummed, as he sat on the bed beside her.

"Well...why don't we go out?" Hestia froze and turned to him. "Once you're feeling better, we can go have something nice to eat together. Just you and me." Hestia looked back at him in shock, as Bell smiled. "I made a lot more exploring yesterday than usual. And I wanna repay you, for everything you've done for me."

Hestia's heart swelled with joy, excitement coursing through her. "That sounds wonderful," she smiled.

"Okay," Bell smiled back, "we can go out on your next day off or-"

"Let's go today!" Hestia cried, jumping up to stand on the bed.

"What?" Bell asked, blinking at her as she stood there smirking. "But...aren't you still feeling run down after last night." But Hestia simply jumped off the bed, smiling as she did.

"I'm fine," she ignored the pain still beating in her head. "This is gonna be so much fun. Let's-" She was about to say for them to go now. But then she happened to catch a whiff of herself and almost puked.

A hard day of work at Hephaestus' store, coupled with her drinking way too much, had resulted in her body sweating up a storm. Even though Bell was too nice to talk about it, he probably smelled it as well. Hestia knew she should take a shower, but she wanted something better. So, she started stretching before heading over to the closet.

"Goddess," Bell frowned. "You should at least rest a bit.

"There's no way I'm getting any sleep when I smell this bad." She turned to him. "I'm going to head to the town's divine bathhouse. I'll be all clean and I'll get to rest there as well. It'll be so much better than taking a shower."

"Alright then," Bell nodded. "Are you going to come back here so we can go out. Or..."

"I'll meet you in Amor Park," she told him. Bell nodded, smiling in agreement as Hestia began to gather the nice dress she only wore for special occasions. Despite her still feeling a slight headache, she was raring to go. "I'll meet you there at six."

"Okay," Bell nodded. He looked over at his armor that was on the side, which was starting to get dirty after the few days he had spent using it. He would likely spend the day doing maintenance on it, along with cleaning up the Sacred Gear. He had never seen it get dirty or even stained, but he still felt like giving it a nice clean. After everything it had done for him, he wanted to show his appreciation

Hestia hummed to herself, as she sat in the water cleaning off the dirt and grime that was covering her.

She was looking forward to tonight, since it would just be her and Bell together. "Almost like a date," she laughed to herself. As a virgin goddess, the idea of her being on a date was laughable. She and Bell were family and that was all they ever would be, even if Bell was the kindest gentlest person she had ever met.

She dunked her head into the water, gasping after she surfaces before she started washing it with some soap.

"Is that Hestia I see?" She looked around and smiled, seeing her little sister walking towards her. "Surprised to find you here?"

"Hey, Demeter." Hestia watched as she sat down beside her, the woman's larger body making the water in the pool-sized tub splash around. "It's been a long time."

"Certainly has. I've barely seen you since you came down to the lower world." Demeter began to wash herself up, "so what brings you here?"

"I've been working overtime at Hephaestus' store," Hestia told her. "So I've been working up a real sweat. And then I drank too much last night, which made me smell even worse. If I didn't take a relaxing bath like this, my body might have smelled terrible forever and my muscles would have burst."

Demeter laughed at this, "poor dear. You never were much for physical labour. Such a dainty little thing, despite being the oldest of our siblings. It's no wonder the only job you had, was looking after the sacred flames of heaven. I can only imagine how quickly you would have broken, if you had had mine or Hades' job."

"Hey," Hestia pouted. "I could have so done Hades' job. I just preferred not to surround myself with the souls of the dead. Especially the ones that wound up in front of him. He was seriously tough, handling all those criminals and scoundrels that appeared up in heaven."

"Yes," Demeter nodded. "Dealing with them was always a tricky task. Simple honest souls were easy to cleanse. But souls that had been darkened by their evil acts were a nightmare to restore back to base form. No wonder Hades always looked like a skeleton." They both laughed at this, as Hestia kept washing herself. "So, any other reason you chose to clean yourself up now?"

"Not really. Just needed to wash myself off. Though I do wanna be clean and daisy fresh for my outing tonight."

"Outing?" Demeter smiled. "Oh, do I detect the presence of a man in my big sister's life?" Hestia frowned at her. "Could it be that you finally found someone."

"Shut up," she groaned. "You're being too loud. And it's not like what you're thinking. Yes, I'm going out with a man. But it's a child from my Familia. He's been doing really well in the dungeon, so I thought we would celebrate together."

"But you're spending time with a man," Demeter said loudly. "How can that not be a date!" Hestia flinched, since she knew the other goddesses in the bath had heard that.

"A man for Hestia?"

"The man hater has a man?"

"How did that happen? Spill!"

"It's nothing to do with that," Hestia cried. "He's my child and nothing more." She admitted, she did feel a strong connection to Bell. But it was nothing romantic. Maybe it might have grown into something, had she gained feeling before Bell met that Ais girl. But now that he firmly had eyes for her, Hestia was smart enough not to let herself fall for him.

"Come on, Hestia. You always rejected the guys up in heaven. Why did you come down here, if it wasn't to find a man to make your own." The other Goddesses nodded. "My word, you're worse than Artemis and Athena. If you hadn't been so opposed to men, you wouldn't have inspired them to go that route as well."

Hestia huffed. "I'm not discussing this." She started wading through the water, trying to get away from the gossip hungry goddesses trying to learn about the man in her life.

"Oh, come on!" Demeter cried, "just tell us about him. Is he a good person?"

Hestia was about to say yes. But just then, she found herself remembering when she and Bell had first met. She flashed back to that time and the strange aura that had been coming off Bell when she approached, which had almost made her run away from Bell because she felt like it was dangerous.

The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what that power was. What kind of power could frighten a god?

"Hestia," she jumped and looked back at Demeter. "Are you okay?" Hestia nodded, as she remembered the true facts about Bell. That despite the rather dark aura, which still seemed to flare up every now and then, Bell was a good person. The best.

"Yes," she nodded. "He's a really good person. Probably the purest soul any god will ever meet. And he's all mine, because no other Familia would have him. So you vultures better keep your hands off him. He's all mine and I'm not letting you anywhere hear him." They frowned at this, as Hestia pushed herself out of the water. She had finished bathing, but she still needed some work to be fully presentable for tonight.

Even if she had no romantic desires for Bell, she still wanted to look her best.

Amor Plaza

As the sun once again set over the city of Orario, Bell was sitting on a bench waiting for Hestia to show up.

He had spent the entire day around the church, not wanting to go out in case he somehow ended up getting pulled into a situation that would make him late for his outing with Hestia. After cleaning his armor and the Twice Critical, he had done some exercises. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats and other ways of building muscle.

He had then done some practising, training in the ruined area of the town with his Hestia Knife by slashing and striking at the air multiple times. He imagined a bunch of monsters around him, attempting to kill him but getting destroyed with a sing well place strike. However, he knew that this wouldn't really happen in a fight. Against real monsters, his attacks had a high chance of missing. But he kept doing it, knowing that every second of practise helped.

After that, he had washed himself up and found his most clean clothes before heading out to where he and Hestia had agreed to meet up.

So now, Bell was waiting for the goddess to arrive. "Bell!" He smiled and turned to see Hestia approaching, dressed in a nice looking dress. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I tried to get here on time, but it took a little longer to get ready."

"No, it's fine." Bell smiled at her. "I just got here, so I wasn't waiting at all." He looked her over, amazed by the way she was dressed.

"What do you think?" She asked, flicking her currently pigtail-less hair over her shoulder. "Do I look nice?"

"Yes," Bell nodded. "You look amazing." Hestia blushed at the compliment, as she ran over to wrap her arms around his arms.

"Alright, then. Please escort me tonight." Bell nodded, as they started making their way through the plaza. Hestia hugged his arm tightly, enjoying the attention she was getting. However, before they could even take five steps towards their destination, they heard a bunch of voices.

"It's Hestia!" She blinked, knowing that voice, so looked around and confirmed her fears. It was Demeter, along with all the other goddesses that had been at the bath. "And that means...with her is..." They turned towards Bell and as soon as they did, they stopped and just stared.

"Goddess Hestia?" Bell asked, "what's going on?" Hestia didn't know. She half expected the female gods to rush at them and knock her away, as they tried to grab Bell and squeeze the life out of him. But they were just staring and Hestia had a feeling she knew why.

Bell was radiating some of that aura again. The aura that had once almost scared her away from him before they met, which she had slowly grown more and more accustomed to. But other gods didn't have that built up resistance.

She didn't know why Bell was radiating this kind of aura. It seemed to come and go every now and then. But this was by far the strongest surge of it she had ever seen him unleash. "Could it be because of how high his status is right now?" She asked, looking towards Demeter and seeing the terrified expression on her face.

All the joy and curiosity they had once had, was gone. "Hestia," she asked with a quiver, "is that..."

Hestia smiled, as she grabbed Bell's arm and pulled him close to her. "This is my ever so adorable child, Bell. Isn't he precious? Say hello, Bell." She pulled Bell towards them, causing the aura he was giving off to also get closer.

"Um...hello," he smiled as the group all let out a gasp. The aura was practically touching them now and one by one, they all let out a scream and ran away. "What the?" He asked, as almost all the goddesses disappeared in a literal puff of smoke. "Was it something I said?"

"No, Bell. They're just unable to handle how cute you are." She turned to the few remaining goddesses, who all kept staring at Bell.

Demeter was amongst them and glanced over at Hestia, as if giving her a pleading look to get away from him. But Hestia didn't and pulled Bell away, letting them head towards the establishment where they would be eating today.

The goddesses that remained, watched them leave and some almost threw up. "What was that?" A goddess asked, whilst Demeter kept staring at Bell and could sense it.

"I've felt that presence before." Demeter was one of the longest serving residents in Orario. She had been in the city long before Zeus and Hera were even down on the lower world. She had seen many things and that dangerous aura she had felt, was something that always terrified her when she saw it.

It had been almost eighteen years since he had last felt it. And back then, it had only been a weaker version of it. This time, the dark aura was greater than she had felt in centuries. She knew what it was, but dared not say it out loud. For she feared worrying Hestia and making her child a target.

If the gods thought the boy was a threat to them, they would no doubt try and kill him. She had seen it happen before. A Longinus wielder was always a threat, even if they were the sweetest children in the world.

When Bell and Hestia arrived at the Hostess of Fertility, Hestia marvelled at the atmosphere and the smell.

"This is where you've been coming?" She asked Bell, who nodded as he explained how great the food is here. And when he mentioned how the Loki Familia loved it, Hestia huffed. "So that's it. You brought up here because you were hoping that girl you liked would show up, didn't you?" She pulled on Bell's check and he let out several hisses, swearing that wasn't it at all. But Hestia didn't believe him, as a brunette cat girl arrived.

"Nya. White Hair. I didn't know you were coming tonight."

"Yeah. Is Syr here?"

Anya nodded, as she looked around. But when she did, she frowned as there was no sign of the waitress. "Meow? That's odd. She was here just a second ago. Maybe Mamma Mia sent her out to get something. When she gets back, I'll let her know you're here." Bell nodded, as he and Hestia sat at one of the smaller chairs.

Hestia loved the scent in the air and was looking forward to eating whatever they had on the menu.

It wasn't long before Ms. Ryu arrived with their menus, the elf asking if they wanted anything to drink. Hestia decided not to have anything alcoholic this time, the pair agreeing to a simple mead as they checked the menus. When she got back, Ryu took their orders and Bell was still wondering where Syr was.

Ryu didn't know where she had gone off to, but assured Bell she would tell her he was there as soon as she showed back up.

Alas, Syr didn't show up and the boy and his goddess spent the next little while speaking about whatever came to mind whilst waiting for their food. When it finally arrived, Hestia moaned at how delicious it was and understood why Loki would come to this place.

"We're definitely coming here again," Hestia assured him. "Maybe if we ever get any new members, we can come here to celebrate."

Bell smiled, "I like that idea." The pair kept eating and Hestia asked about how things were going in the Dungeon, Bell having only told her about how he had gotten himself a supporter. "I never asked, but it's okay for Lili to work with me, right?" Hestia looked up from her plate, confused. "Eina said that partnerships between adventurers of different Familia, usually only work out if the gods have a good relationship. So...what's you relationship with master Soma like?"

Hestia thought for a moment, as she took a bite of her food. "Soma. That guy never really made much of an impact up in heaven. My nephew, Dionysus, tried to get him to liven up all the time. But those two were also complete opposites, despite sharing the exact same domain."

"Two gods can share the same domain?" Bell asked, "how does that work?"

"Heaven wasn't just one place. It was split into multiple areas, like countries in the lower world. I lived in the lands of Olympus, whilst Soma lived in the area of Svarge. Each land can have a god that embodies a domain. Whilst no two gods in one land can embody the same domain, gods from different lands can."

"Huh," Bell had never heard of that but nodded. "Got it. So you never knew Soma back then?"

"Yup. I'd heard of him, but that's about it. What do you know of his Familia?" Bell explained everything Eina had told him and Hestia hummed, as she finished off her meal. "Do you think you can trust this girl?"

"Sure. She hasn't done anything to make me believe she can't be trusted. But, something tells me she's not happy about her life right now. Like being a supporter is something she has to do instead of wanting to do, you know?"

Hestia sighed, "just be careful. I don't want you getting yourself into trouble, because you find your hero complex kicking in and getting you in over your head." Bell blushed at this, as pair of them kept eating.

When they finally finished their meal, they thanked Mia and the waitresses before heading out. It was night time and Hestia wasn't ready to return home yet. So, the pair went out and simply walked around.

Even if Orario could be dangerous at night, Bell had his knife and Sacred Gear. He should be able to keep Hestia safe if anything happened. "This was fun," Hestia smiled as they walked up a random flight of stairs. "Just the two of us together. Who knows how long that'll last."

"Why'd you say that?" Bell asked, as Hestia smiled.

"I don't know. Who knows when we'll get another Familia member. Could be tomorrow. Could be a year from now. I just want to enjoy the time we have to ourselves before that happens. Every minutes counts."

Bell nodded. He wanted more members in the Familia, but he understood why Hestia wanted to make sure they had plenty of memories just the two of them. Though he was sure every child was special to a god, he also assumed that a god's first child held a special place in that god's heart. Even after Bell passed away, he had no doubt that Hestia would remember him until the end of time.

At that moment, they happened to stop walking and realised they had arrived at the top of a large wall with a bell tower right next to it. And when Bell looked around, he saw something that made him smile and pull on the sleeve of her dress. She was about to ask what was wrong, but then he spun her around. And the sight before them was truly spectacular.

From their vantage point, they could see the entire city and all the lights of the houses. The way those lights shined made it look like the entire city was sparkling.

Hestia's eyes widened in amazement, as Bell smiled and stood beside her. This was certainly a memory they wouldn't forget. "Hey, Goddess. Why don't we come here again later." Hestia smiled at him. "I'll work hard and save a lot of money. Then we can eat good food, drink good drink and come here again." He smiled at her, "let's watch this beautiful sight, that the two of us found together tonight."

Hestia couldn't help but almost cry, as she moved closer and hugged Bell's arm. "Sure." The pair remained there for a while before their hunger finally got to them, so went to get something simple to eat before heading home. All the while, the memory of the amazing sight became burned into both their memories.

In the years to come, they would think back to this day and use it to give them strength and comfort when they needed it.

Well that was interesting. The goddesses' reactions were probably unexpected. But how long will Bell remain in the dark? Just have to wait and find out. 

Chapter Text

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

High above the city, within one of the top floors of Babel, the Aesir Goddess of Beauty sat in a comfy chair staring down at Orario.

Though her gaze was focused on the city below, her thoughts remain on someone else. A young man that had captured her attention above all else, whose soul radiated with a glow like no other. Despite the other soul she saw within him, which held the power to destroy her if fully unleashed, she desperately wanted him all to herself. But only once his soul shined its absolute brightest.

She got up and placed a hand against the window, as she spotted the glowing soul stepping out of the dungeon along with his new supporter. "I long for the day you become my possession. But I am in conflict, for part of me doesn't wish for your death." She watched the two head off somewhere, as she leaned her head against the window.

As a mortal, the young man would grow older and change. If that happened, he might stop shining. However, when he died, his soul would become locked in the state it was at death. If he died now, he would forever remain the way he was. But she didn't want him to die yet. Not when there was a chance he could glow even brighter.

"I think it's about time you start using magic." She moved away from the window and headed towards the large bookshelf situated behind her, where many different tomes could be seen. "Now, which one would be best for you?" She placed her finger upon the books, sliding along them until she found one that made her smile. "Fufufu. I wonder if this fits him?"

The next day.

Bell and Lili were once again on the seventh floor, the two fighting against a bunch of killer ants. Bell was slashing at them with his Hestia Knife, his Twice Critical out and doubling his speed so that they wouldn't get the better of him. He stabbed the blade into one ant's head before leaping over it, dodging the next one as it tried to bite at him. And as he landed, he drew the knife out of the beast and leapt at it.

With a single slash, he cut the beast's throat and smirked. 'I can do it. This floor is a cinch now.'

"Master Bell, look out. On your left!" He looked around and saw a needle rabbit, shooting towards him at full speed.

Bell's eyes widened, as he saw the horn head straight for his unguarded side. He couldn't dodge, as he was still in midair, so he was forced to block. And the only way to do that was to move his leg in the way of the horn, the tip bouncing off his armor but still hurting.

"Ow!" He cried, as he fell backwards and did several flips. With his Twice Critical still boosting his speed, he was able to jump back up. But since his dexterity was still as it was, he found himself a little too clumsy and almost fell over.

In that moment, another ant appeared and began to attack alongside the Needle Rabbit. "Crap!" He tried to block with his arm protector, as it swung its claws at him. But the two of them were at a stalemate strength-wise whilst the Needle Rabbit prepared to stab him once again.

He tried to think of what to do next, but his mind was blanking. He couldn't come up with a strategy that would help him.

"NO!" He heard Lili scream, right as a blast of fire flew forward and slammed into the ant. That knocked it away, leaving only the rabbit for Bell to deal with. And he was able to spin, dodging the rabbit before cutting it in half.

As the smoke from the fireball extinguished, Bell turned towards the ant and stabbed his knife straight into its head to kill it dead. Once it fell to the ground, Bell panted as he realised how close he had just come to getting seriously injured.

"Master Bell!" Lili rushed over to him, "are you okay?" Bell remained silent for a moment, then turned towards her with his head down. She couldn't see his face, as he shook. She felt like maybe he was upset with her, the girl looked ready to get scolded.

But then, Bell fell to his knees and raised his head enough for her to see his face. And he was on the verge of tears, fear clear on his face. "Lili! Thank you for saving me!" Lili blinked for a moment, then frowned as she raised her hand to chop him on the head.

"You were careless just now. The situation was surely tricky, but you're partly responsible for it."

Bell sighed, as he fell onto his butt and nodded. "I was careless. No, I got overconfident." Lili nodded and began to lecture him, whilst Bell frowned as he thought of how much trouble he would have been in without Lili there to bail him out.

"Hey, are you listening, Master Bell!" He jumped and looked up to see her pointing at him, an angry look on her face.

"Yes, I'm listening." Bell sighed. "I'm sorry. I regret this and swear, I'll never be arrogant again."

Lili sighed, as she pointed what she was holding at him. "Well, you're clearly reflecting on this situation. So I won't lecture you about it anymore." Bell sighed in relief, as he finally focused on what she was holding. A knife of some kind, which looked pretty elaborate design-wise.

Bell then remembered the fireball that had saved him from the ant, as he began to put two and two together. "Hey, Lili. Could that be...a Magic Sword." Lili blinked, looking like she had just been caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

"Ah..."

Bell kept staring at it, as he remembered what he had heard about those weapons. Magic Swords were special weapons, which were imbued with magical energy. That allowed them to launch elemental attacks, such as fire attack, ice gales and thunderbolts. But every swing of the blade, pushed it closer to shattering once the magic was used up. Only a certain few blacksmiths had the power to create such weapons and they were super expensive.

"Did you save me with that Magic Sword?"

"Um..." Lili hid it behind her back. "A lucky chance brought it into Lili's hand."

"Right. I heard Magic Swords can exhaust you."

"Yes. That's why Lili only uses it for the most critical of moments. It's no waste to save you, though, Master Bell."

Bell smiled, as he stood up. "Thank you, Lili. You really are the best." Those words made Lili begin to blush, her face heating up as she tried to keep herself from looking as red as the clothes she wore.

She suddenly pointed her knife at Bell, swinging it around wildly. "Lili wasn't trying to save you in particular. She did it because her income would go down with you gone. Don't get her wrong!" Bell blinked at the sudden outburst, as she kept swinging her sword around and made Bell gulp for fear of it launching another fireball.

As Lili began to recover the magic stones, Bell thought about magic and how useful it could be.

"Still, I wish I could use magic. I mean, you just showed how useful borrowed magic can be. Imagine what it would be like to have full on magic." He imagined himself, using a spell to summon meteors down from the sky. Or unleashing a gale of wind that cut the enemies apart. "Man, what I wouldn't give for magic."

Lili shook her head. "Magic isn't just something you can get. You need to study and practise for a long time. And even then, there's no guarantee you'll awaken any kind of magic."

"You seem to know a lot about magic," Bell told her. "Do you use any magic?" Lili suddenly looked worried, but Bell didn't notice. "I guess not. You probably would have used it already, if you had any. What, did you learn from supporting members of your Familia?"

"Um...yes. Some of my Familia Members have magic spells. They're a mixed bag and aren't too useful, but they come in handy in the right situation." Bell nodded, as Lili finished the extractions and the pair headed off down the tunnel. And as they did, Bell remembered something.

"Oh yeah. Someone told me about how the Soma Familia sells alcohol."

"Alcohol?" Lili asked, wondering who told him about that. "Yes, we do. But we only sell our failures." Bell blinked at that, amazed by the statement.

"Failures?"

"Yup. It would be a waste to just throw it away, so we sell it to finance making more."

"But...I heard that everyone loves Soma Wine. How the heck can it be a failure, if it sells for such a high amount."

"It just goes to show how amazing our wine is," Lili replied. "If even the failed batch is more delicious then anything else on the market, imagine how incredible the perfect product is." Bell could only stand there in shock, as he tried to imagine what that kind of wine would be like. If it was so incredible, why had he not heard of anyone buying it before?

"Have you ever tried it." Lili didn't answer, as a far away look appeared on her face. Bell didn't know what that meant, but he had a bad feeling about it. He had seen that look on her face many times and whenever he did, he felt like she was remembering something painful. And all he could do was stand there with no clue how to help her.

'The gap between us hasn't narrowed.'

Meanwhile, the employees of the Hostess of Fertility were all hard at work.

The lunch rush had just ended and they were cleaning up the place before the next rush arrived. Syr was sweeping the floor and as she did, she noticed something on the bar and hummed as she picked it up. Chloe noticed this and smiled. "What's that, Syr. A lost item?"

"HEY! ARE YOU GIRLS SLACKING OFF!" Syr, Chloe and Anya jumped, spinning around and seeing Mama Mia approaching.

"Meow!" Anya cried, "we're not slacking! But we found a strange book. Take a look!" Mia raised an eyebrow, as Syr showed her the book.

"Isn't that..." Mia frowned, as the girls looked confused. "Damn. Put it somewhere clearly visible. The owner will realise they've lost it and come back for it, if they ain't a moron." She left, leaving the waitresses confused about what exactly they were holding. But they all shrugged and Syr put the book down where she had found it.

The next day.

Bell was making his way through the city towards the Hostess of Fertility, planning to return to the lunchbox Syr had given him the previous day.

He wasn't wearing his armor, as Lili had asked for the day off after their dungeon dive the previous day. "Tomorrow is the Soma Familia's monthly meeting," she had explained. "Everyone's required to reveal their monthly quota, so Lili doesn't have a choice."

Bell had been fine letting her go, since he had spent multiple days in a row dungeon diving. Eina had told him that he needed to take the occasional day off, so he could let his body have some rest and adjust to the increase in strength from his recent update.

However, Bell had found himself lounging around the church basement with absolutely nothing to do. Hestia had rushed off to work early in the morning, leaving Bell to try and find his own entertainment. But he hadn't had any idea what to do, so he had chosen to head out and explore the city some more.

He had also chosen to return Syr's lunchbox, since he didn't want to leave her wondering where he was.

When he finally arrived at the building, he found it was barely full of anyone. This made sense, since the lunch rush likely hadn't started yet. As he stepped in, he spotted Chloe and Anya working whilst Syr was nowhere in sight. But before he could call out to her, the girl stepped in from the kitchen and smiled.

"Bell!" She moved over to him and gave him a happy grin, "you're here. I was starting to get worried, since you didn't show up this morning."

"Sorry," he scratched the back of his head, "my supporter asked for the day off and I took one too." Syr nodded, as Bell handed her the lunchbox. "Hope I didn't worry you too much."

"Nya," Anya cried, "she kept turning to the door like a girl looking for her lost pet bunny. If you kept her waiting any longer, she might have rushed out the door and gone looking for you." She giggled, only for Chloe to bonk her on the head. "Ow."

"Quit yapping and get serving before Mama yells at us." Anya moaned, but did as she was told whilst Bell chuckled.

Syr did the same, as she put the lunchbox behind the counter. "So your supporter wanted a day off?"

"More like needed one to deal with some free time. Either way, I've got some free time and no idea how to spend it." Syr giggled at this, as Bell looked around at all the adventurers currently in the tavern. "What do you like to do on you days off, Ms. Syr?"

She hummed and thought about it. "Let me see. Read books, I guess."

"Reading, huh?" Bell frowned, as he thought about the books he had available to him. "Well, I would. But Goddess Hestia's books all look too complicated." But as he said that, he happened to notice a book sitting on the counter. Taking a closer look, he read the title out loud. "Modern Magic Even a Goblin Can Do?"

Syr nodded, as she picked up the book. "A customer left it here and we've been keeping it visible, in case they came back to get it. But if they haven't already come back to get it, it can't be that important." She held it out to him. "Here. I'll be happy to let you borrow it, if you're interested."

Bell smiled. "Wow, really?" He took the book and Syr nodded. "Thanks."

Syr smiled back. "Just be sure to return it, whenever you're finished reading it." Bell nodded and as Syr had to get back to work, Bell headed out and returned home.

When he got back, he sat on the couch and stared at the book on the table. He took a moment to read the title and guessed it was some kind of introduction to magic textbook. This made Bell smile, since he was eager to learn magic. He also remembered what Lili had told him, about how magic can only be awakened by hours of practise and study. And even then, there was no guarantee.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the book and started reading. But as soon as he saw the first page, he raised an eyebrow. "What's with this script?" He asked, seeing the odd symbols on the page that seemed to be making words. He had never seen anything like this. "It's not the common language, nor hieroglyphic." But then, something happened.

The words began to move on the page. The letters and symbols seemed to drift across the paper and began dancing around one another, swirling and weaving around. Bell was shocked, but he couldn't look away. And soon, the symbols began to come together and form a shape he recognised. The shape of his own face and hair.

The image stared back at him before a voice started speaking. "If you want something, ask. If you want something, break. If you want something, be shocked." The words made Bell's head feel fuzzy, as his vision blurred. "I've prepared an ugly mirror, that does not allow falsehoods." However, before Bell could black out, he suddenly felt something.

A pulse of heat, radiating from his hand and circulating through his body. Bell panted, as he saw the image of his own face and the entire book suddenly burst into flames.

He gasped, the flames spread to the table and then to the rest of the basement. He screamed, as he felt the couch catch fire below him and burn to ash. When it did, Bell felt himself beginning to fall into the flames.

He screamed and kept falling, panting in fear as he felt like he had been plummeting for hours. And when he finally stopped, he opened his eyes and found himself floating whilst surrounded by fire. But then the flames began to all move in a single direction, which revealed a black void that he was now in.

The flames swirled around one another and took shape, eventually forming what looked like a massive lizard head that was starting down at him. "Do you seek power?" Bell simply stared at the flaming head, unsure what was happening to him.

"I...yes, I want to get stronger?"

"Why do you seek power?"

"To...for many reasons. I want to be able to fight stronger opponents. I want to be able to protect those in need. So protect myself, so others don't have to do it for me. And to destroy the weakness within me."

"And what would you do with that power?"

Bell frowned. "Like I just said. I'd fight strong opponent and protect those in need."

"And what exactly would this power look like to you? How would it improve the current you?" Bell thought about that and realised there were many ways to improve the current him. He needed a way to fight off multiple opponents at once. To attack from a distance or shield himself and many others when needed. He needed to get better in so many ways. "I see. And what do you hope to achieve with this power? Beyond growing stronger. Beyond fighting strong opponents and protecting those in need. What do you truly desire?"

Bell thought some more, thinking about Ais and how amazing she was. And not just her. He wanted to stand besides all the great Adventurers in Orario. To be someone they deem worthy of their respect. And, more than anything, he wanted to be a hero. To be just like the people in the stories his grandfather had told him about.

"Interesting. Childish, but interesting." Bell knew it was childish, but he didn't care. that was who he was. "Indeed. Then take this power and unlock...your true potential!" With that, the dragon's mouth flew open and shot towards Bell.

He gasped and tried to escape, but couldn't and had to float there as he was suddenly swallowed. The flames then flew towards him and seemed to enter his body, causing Bell to scream as he absorbed the fire into himself. And as it did, Bell heard a voice calling out to him. "Bell? Bell? Wake up, Bell."

The young man's eyes shot open and he realised he was back in the church basement. He was slumped over the table, the book below him as he had been sleeping on it. "Wha?" He looked around and saw Hestia, the Goddess looking perplexed. "Goddess?"

"That's me. I can't believe you were sleeping here. Didn't I tell you we were going to update your status today?"

"Right," he nodded before getting up and letting Hestia see the book that had miraculously escaped his drooling. The goddess hummed, as Bell shut it without even looking at it.

"So you were reading a book and fell asleep?"

"Yeah," Bell removed his shirt and moved over to the bed. "Guess I'm just not used to reading something like it."

Hestia nodded, as she looked at the title and hummed. "Where did you even get this book?"

"I borrowed it from someone I know," Bell replied with a smile before getting up onto the bed. Hestia followed, grabbing a needle and using it to prick her finger.

"Let me read it later, okay." Bell agreed, as Hestia activated his Falna and began to let the experience flow. "Still boosting more than you should," she whispered as the numbers got higher and higher. "At least your basic abilities are getting close to S. They should slow down after that." But then, something new appeared. Something that made her gasp, as she stared at the words forming in an empty spot. "Wha..."

"Goddess?" Bell asked, "what's wrong?"

"M...magic." Bell's eyes widened, "you can...use magic now!"

"WHA!" Bell cried, accidently shooting up and causing Hestia to fall backwards. She let out a cry and rolled all the way off the bed, making Bell flinch. "Sorry." Hestia moaned, as she pushed herself up and frowned. "But are you serious? A magic spell has appeared?"

"Yes," Hestia nodded before crawling back up onto the bed. "Give me a second." He laid back down and Hestia took a closer look at his status, now that it was fully set.

==============================================================
-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength - B 701 > B 737

Endurance - G 287 > F 355

Dexterity - B 715 > B 749

Agility - B 799 > A 817

Magic - I 0

Magic
Dragon Flare: Quick Cast (Create and manipulate super hot flames)

Skills
Realis Phrase

-Status-
==============================================================

She quickly removed his skill, then printed the rest on a piece of paper before getting off the bed. Bell got off too and quickly put his shirt on, as Hestia sat on the couch. "Here." Bell took the paper and read it. And sure enough, there it was. "It's Dragon Flare," she announced. "Honestly, I never figured you'd pick up a magic ability." She thought about his first skill and wondered if that was the cause.

Bell just shook, unable to believe what he was seeing. He dared not blink, fearing that the skill would vanish from the paper if he did. "Magic. I can finally use magic. This is so amazing!"

Hestia giggled, seeing him like a little kid that had just been given a new toy. But then, she frowned as she thought about what the spell had said. "Bell, let me tell you about your magic." Bell turned to her. "As you probably already know, most magic requires an enchantment to activate it." She took the paper from him. "Normally, when a spell appears, the enchantment appears beside it. But all yours says is Quick Cast."

"Okay," Bell nodded. "What does that mean?"

"I'm just guessing here, but I think your magic doesn't need a chant. It's possible all you need to do is say its name and it'll activate. Castless magic. That's what you've awakened. And, the description says you can manipulate the fire. It's possible than the flames will follow your mental commands once conjured. You could probably shoot a fireball, make the flames change direction, possibly even create flaming constructs. The only limit is your imagination."

"I see," Bell nodded. "So all I have to do is say drag-" Before he could finish, Hestia slapped her hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it yet! You need to learn to control your magic. If you say it now, you could accidentally cast it and destroy this entire room." Bell sighed, glad that hadn't happened. "You'll need to learn visualisation. Being able to control the magic and say its name without launching it." Bell nodded, as Hestia pulled her hand away. "Since we don't know what's going to happen when you cast it, wait until you're in the dungeon tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Bell frowned, wanting to test it out as soon as possible.

Hestia giggled, "don't worry. It's your magic, so it's not like it'll disappear. Come on. Let's get to bed. The sooner you're asleep, the sooner you'll wake up and be able to go use your new toy." She headed over to the bathroom, whilst Bell sighed and laid upon the couch.

He had absolutely no idea what time it was. But if Hestia had just gotten back from work, it had to be late. Which meant Bell had spent the better part of the day asleep.

As such, when Hestia finally went to bed, Bell found himself unable to drift off. All he could do was lay there, wondering what magic he might have. And as Hestia began to talk in her sleep, Bell finally decided he couldn't wait anymore.

Getting up, he carefully put his armor on and placed the Hestia Knife in its normal holster. "Sorry, Goddess." He headed upstairs and ran out of the church. "But I just can't wait to try it out!" He ran as fast as he could and it wasn't long before he reached the Dungeon, the young man being reminded of when he last went down in the dead of night.

He made his way to the first floor, but couldn't find a thing there. He assumed that most of the monsters had been dealt with by all the adventurers heading up from the dungeon that day. Since it was the first floor, the respawn would take a while.

As such, he headed further down and soon arrived at the third floor. And it was then that he found a goblin, his first unwilling victim.

Bell smiled and raised his hand, aiming at the creature as it noticed him and looked ready to attack. "Alright. Dragon Flare!" Bell's hand suddenly ignited before a blast of fire exploded out of it, shooting towards the goblin and slamming into it.

The beast could only let out a cry of surprise, as it found itself being blown backwards and burning its entire body. When the flames died down, the body fell to the ground and was nothing more than a crispy mess.

Bell blinked at the sight, as he looked down at his hand. His entire body then shook before he let out a cry that echoed through the cavern. "SWEEEEEEEET!" As he rushed forward, he remembered what else Hestia had told him. He couldn't just make flames, but control them as well. "Alright! Dragon Flare!" His hand caught fire, but the flames remained and he wasn't being burned by them.

He tried to imagine the fireball splitting in two and as it shot off his hand, the flames divided and struck two areas.

"Yes!" He cried, as another goblin appeared. "Dragon Flare!" He launched a fireball and this time, it hit the ground and spread into a flaming circle that trapped the beast. It roared, as the flames began to contract and burn it from all sides until it was dead. "Hahaa!" He kept running, wanting to try out multiple ways of using this power. "Dragon Flare!" He used the flames to make a large wall of fire, which burned several goblins alive. "Dragon Flare!" The flames remained in his hand and extended, transforming into a sword that he swung around to kill a Kobold. "DRAGON FLARE!" This time, it extended even more and changed into a whip.

Bell laughed, as he ran around using his magic to his heart's content. And eventually, he arrived at the stairs to the next floor. He panted, as he realised just how powerful his spell was. He smiled, the initial excitement from having magic still flowing through him.

However, before he could decide whether to head back or keep going, he found his mind going fuzzy. "What?" He started to stagger around, trying to regain control. But he couldn't. And soon, he felt his legs give out and he fell face first into the ground before everything went dark.

He was completely defenceless and as he lay there, multiple goblins began to crowd around him.

They all smirked, looking ready to eat him alive. But as the first took a step towards him, it was suddenly beheaded and fell to the ground dead. The other goblins soon followed suit and in a matter of moments, they were all slain and the attacker appeared in a flash.

Ais Wallenstein flicked the blood off her sword before turning towards the fallen adventurer, as Riveria knelt beside him and rolled him onto his back. "What's his condition?"

"No exterior wounds," the elf announced. "Looks like mind down. He used too much magic." Ais nodded and stepped forward, only to see the boy's face and gasp.

"It's him."

"You know this guy?" Riveria asked, as Ais nodded.

"Yes. He's the boy from the minotaur incident."

"I see," Riveria nodded. "He's the one the idiot demeaned."

Ais nodded, remembering that night and thinking about how bad she had been feeling since then. "Riveria. I...want to make it up to him." She felt a little embarrassed about saying that and Riveria's next words increased that embarrassment.

"There are other ways to say that." Ais felt her cheeks growing red at that. "But I guess helping someone in this situation is the right thing to do." Ais nodded. "However, if you really want to do this, do it by yourself. I'll be going on ahead."

"Oh...okay."

"Alright, then here's what I suggest." She gave her instructions and Ais nodded, waiting for Riveria to leave before she sat down and knelt beside him.

After making sure her lap wasn't dirty, she lifted the boy's head up and placed it on his lap. "This is kind of embarrassing," she whispered. As she said that, something appeared beside her. The younger version of herself, Mini-Ais, who smiled down at him.

"He looks a little different than before." Ais nodded, seeing the armor he was now sporting. Despite it obviously being new, it was also beat up. Whatever he had been doing, he had been going all out.

"He's working hard." Years of battling monsters and getting her own armor damaged and repaired, had given Ais the fairly accurate ability to know how and what damage was done to armor. And as she placed her finger on a crack, she could almost see how the crack appeared. "This is from the horn of a needle rabbit. And this one's from a goblin's claw. This one must be from a killer ant, I think. And this one, from when he got bitten by a kobold and had to swing it off of him."

She tried to imagine those fights, seeing him fight using the armor and his Twice Critical. Despite the armor being light weight, it bore the embodiment of his inexperience. Every crack and chip, was a testament to what the boy had learned.

"He's been facing everything head on. His devotion to growing stronger, learning to use the terrain and anything else to his advantage. Proof that he's been fighting diligently again and again. He's been learning, using every mistake to improve himself." Her hands traced the armor. "And he hasn't been lax in maintaining his armor."

She imagined him polishing the armor, making sure it was perfect. But then, she remembered her past and how she would always do the same. "My black flame of hate wasn't the only thing driving me forward." She smiled, patting his head. "Your white hot passion. I used to have that too. I wonder when I lost it."

The more she stared at him, the more Ais could feel her black flame dying down. And whilst it didn't completely extinguish, something about the boy in her lap was making her feel like it was weakening. From a raging inferno, it shrunk down to the size of a candle.

Just then, a flash caught her attention and she gasped. Looking down, she saw something appear on Bell's arm. His Sacred Gear. "That's strange. I didn't think the Sacred Gear could appear when the wielder was unconscious." She reached down and touched the weapon, her hand tracing it as she found herself remembering her father's Sacred Gear.

As she touched it, it glowed and she was suddenly bombarded with something.

It was as if she was somewhere else entirely, looking through the eyes of someone else. Someone who was walking towards a bed, which had someone within it. Someone who looked just like Ais, only with different eyes and was holding a small bundle in her arms.

"Here's daddy," the Ais lookalike whispered before reaching out to hand the bundle over to her. Ais moved without thinking and took the child in her arms, holding it tight as she stared down at the bundle.

"Hello, little one." She spoke in a male voice, as she saw a tiny baby with a tuft of blonde hair on her head. "I can't believe I could love you so much, despite this being the first time I've seen you." She held her tightly, the baby letting out a few sounds whilst Ais felt an overwhelming sense of love flowing through her. "I promise. No matter what, I will always protect you."

"As will I," another voice spoke up. Ais shifted her arm around and saw the back of her hand, which was glowing green as the voice spoke. "Even if my time with Albert ends, I may end up with another. If that happens in your lifetime, I promise my new partner and I will protect you. Even if you're an old lady by the time that happens, I'll keep you safe. I swear."

The Ais lookalike smiled. "Thank you, Ddraig. I just hope she grows up happy and safe. That's all I want for her." Ais moved closer to the bed and sat down, the pair leaning against one another as the baby cooed in their arms. And before anything else could happen, the vision shattered and Ais pulled away from the boy.

She panted, unsure what the heck had just happened. "What was that?" But she was broken out of her confusion, by a light moan coming from the one she was holding. He was awakening, the Sacred Gear fading as he did.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open and he slowly came around. That was when he saw her, though his vision still seemed a little blurry. "Mom?"

'So you don't have one either,' she thought to herself as she shook her head. "Um...no, sorry but I am not your mother." Bell blinked, as his vision began to clear and he finally saw who she was.

"Ms. Ais?" Bell asked, wondering what was going on. "Am I...dreaming?"

"This isn't a dream either." Bell heard this and seemed to realise what this meant. And suddenly, his eyes shot completely open and his whole body went ridged. 'He stopped moving. Why did he stop moving? I did what Riveria told me. What did I do wrong?' Mini Ais started running around, panicking as she tried to figure out what to do next. 'That's right. I need to apologise.' But before she could even utter a world, Bell suddenly shot up and started running. He let out a high pitched scream, as he catapulted himself up the tunnel towards the surface.

Ais and her smaller just stared at where he had disappeared and slowly, her usually stoic face changed to a mix of sad, annoyed and angry. "Why...does he always run away?"

Bell shook, as he lay curled up on the couch with his head in the pillow.

"I can't believe it," he groaned. "I RAN AWAY AGAIN!" He felt like a complete idiot. She was gonna believe he was a total weirdo now. He should have stayed behind and thanked her properly. Thanked her for saving him from the minotaur and looking after him whilst he was unconscious. He felt like a total fool.

All his moaning finally awakened Hestia, who got up and yawned as he got off the bed. "Bell, what's wrong." She then spotted something on the floor. The book that Bell had been reading. "Is this because of that book?" She reached down and picked it up, looking it over for the first time. And when she did, her eyes widened as she opened it up and flicked through the pages. "Oh no. No way!"

Bell heard this and looked up, seeing Hestia with the book. "What's wrong?" She turned to him, looking terrified.

"This is...a grimoire!"

"G-grimoire?" He had never even heard of such a thing, as Hestia flicked through the pages and gulped.

"Simply speaking, it's a book that forces magic onto the reader. Only someone with the rare skills of Wizardry or Arcanum can create something like this." Bell could hardly believe it, as Hestia kept flicking from one page to another. "No wonder you awakened your magic. Bell, where did you get this grimoire?"

"I borrowed it from a waitress at the tavern. She said it was left by someone and I could borrow it, so long as I promised to bring it back." It was then that he realised how much trouble he might be in. "Don't tell me...it's very expensive." Hestia didn't dare look at him, keeping her back to him as she answered.

"Equal to a first-class piece of equipment from Hephaestus Familia. Or even more." Bell's eyes went wide, as he imagined some of the more expensive pieces of gear he had ever seen at the store and how long it would take to pay something like that back. "Also..." She turned to show him the now blank pages of the book, "the grimoire only works once. Since it's given you the magic, its power is now gone."

"What have I done?" Bell fell on the sofa, his head slumped down as it tried to figure out some way to fix his mistake.

Hestia sighed and put the book down. "Listen, Bell." She gave him a serious look. "You happened to meet the book's owner and gave it back to him. And the book's power was already used up before you read it."

"Wait, what?" Bell looked at her in shock. "Why are you trying to cover this up!? That's so evil!"

Hestia huffed, "there are a great many things that are beyond textbook answers, Bell. The world is full of irrationalities!" Bell rolled his eyes before grabbing the book.

"In any case, I'll go explain the situation to those that lent me the book." But this resulted in a gasp from Hestia, who reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Bell, don't be so honest. You really think an apology will fix this." Bell tried to pull his arm free, Hestia holding on tight and getting dragged along the ground by him. "This world can be a cruel place! Even more cruel than the gods!"

"Don't go trying to act all wise and all-knowing now!" Bell growled, pulling his arm free and rushing up the stairs. "Things have gone too far to just pretend nothing happened. All I can do is bow my head and bet on dogeza!"

And Bell's magic is here. Bet you were all expecting Firebolt, huh. Well considering he'll be getting something like that later, I figured I'd give him something else to play with. Tell me what you think about it. 

Chapter Text

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions. Hope you enjoy this chapter. 

Bell panted, as he ran as fast as he could with the grimoire in hand.

He prayed the tavern was open and that the owner of the book hadn't arrived yet. He didn't know how he was going to fix this, but he knew he had to be honest and accept the consequences. So, as the tavern came into view, he rushed in and slammed the door open. "Ms. Syr! Ms. Syr!" The waitresses jumped, as they turned to glare at the white haired intruder. "Ms. Syr, are you here?"

"Oh?" Syr raised an eyebrow, "Good morning, Bell. What's your business today." She got her answer, when Bell raised the book she had given him and had a look of utter terror on his face.

"Ms. Syr. This is a grimoire! I didn't know it was a grimoire and I read it." He looked to be on the verge of tears, as Syr stared at the book and blinked several times before realising what he had just said.

"My goodness," she looked away. "You've certainly made a big blunder there."

"What?" Bell asked, sweating. "Why are you acting like you had nothing to do with this?" Syr hid behind her serving tray, her eyes sparkling out from behind them as she tried to look cute.

"It's none of my business."

"But you're the one who gave it to me!" He cried, only for the book to suddenly be pulled from his grasp.

"You're being too noisy, kid." Mama Mia frowned, as she held the book high out of reach. "My morning customers expect things to be quiet this early."

"Mama Mia," Bell gulped. Mia then opened the book and flicked through it, nodding as she did.

"Yup, this is definitely a grimoire. Or was one, at least." Bell gulped, wondering how long he would be washing dishes if Mia got into trouble with the owner. "Oh well." She slammed the book shut, "can't be helped now that you've read it." She threw it into a nearby trash can. "Never mind."

"Yeah...but..."

"The guy who lost it is responsible," Mia stated. "If they cared about it, they wouldn't have left it in a public place."

Syr nodded. "She's right, Bell. Even if you hadn't taken it, someone else would have seen what it was and taken it for themselves."

"Exactly," Mia agreed. "I doubt the owner's gonna bother coming back for it. They would have guessed what happened the minute they realised they lost it and would have likely cut their losses." Bell wasn't sure how he felt about that. "It's useless to worry about it. Just count yourself lucky and forget about it." Bell kept growing, still worried he was gonna get into trouble whilst Mia frowned. "Be a man and stop murmuring! Why don't you go visit the dungeon!"

"YES MA'AM!" Bell cried, as Mia returned to the kitchen and Bell glanced over at Syr. The waitress gave him a smile, Bell smiling back before the touch started laughing.

"Well, I'm sorry for causing a fuss." He turned to leave, "I'm off."

Syr nodded before turning to the counter. "Ah, Bell!" She rushed over and grabbed something from behind it. "I fixed you a lunch again today." She held up the lunchbox, "Will you please take it?" Bell smiled before taking it.

"Of course."

"Keep up the good work," she told him and he nodded before heading out.

Meanwhile, across town, someone else was hard at work.

In a small curio shop, a male pallum that looked just like Lili, stood in front of a counter where a gnome was inspecting a piece of jewellery that he had...acquired. He inspected the golden band and nodded, as he turned to the Lili lookalike. "This is very good. Let me see...how about forty-eight thousand Valis?"

"Sure," the pallum nodded. That amount made her smirk, as he put the band down.

"How do you want to be paid?"

"The usual way." He nodded, but then gave the pallum a serious look.

"Hey, you. You'd better not get involved in any dangerous business." The Lili lookalike frowned, as he crossed his arms and glared at him.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"There's a rumour among adventurers that pallums with sticky fingers are stealing money and items." Lili glared at him. "I'm not suspecting you, okay? The pallums are said to be multiple different women. I know it can't be a man like you. I'm only saying this because most of the items apparently stolen, are of the same type you've brought me in the past."

"Is that so," he replied. "Well I don't know anything about that. And honestly, I say the adventurers are pretty much the same as the pallum they're blaming. Nothing but thieves and blackmailers. Those women must be copying their acts. So I say, look who's talking." The gnome said nothing and just paid the pallum, who marched out of the shop before pulling up his hood.

As he did, he whispered something and his body changed. Soon, he was a she again and Lili frowned. She felt nothing but hatred, as she thought about all the adventurers that had crossed her over the years. But then, she thought about another. The one who had shown her nothing but kindness.

Guilt began to wash over her, as she thought about what she had done with his knife. Stealing it when his back was turned. She had done stuff like that multiple times, but this even made her actually feel bad.

And then there were all the things she had done since they started working together. Skimming some of the loot and stones, so that she ended up with more than what Bell heard. And buying only half the potions she had been paid to buy, instead watering them down to increase their number. If Bell took too bad of an injury, those potions wouldn't do a thing.

She had played him for a fool and risked his life, but she had to. She had to get out. She had to protect herself or the Soma jerks she worked with would eventually get her killed.

Speaking of jerks, a group of adventurers spotted her stepping out of the back alleys onto the main street. They smiled, seeing her heading off and knowing she had probably just done some business. That meant she had money. Money that rightfully belonged to them.

"If you want to prevent mental fatigue from overuse of magic, this Mentality Potion is a must have."

Bell was currently in the Miach home, which also doubled as a pharmacy and store for potions and other items that could help in the Dungeon. After his little Mind Down incident, Hestia had suggested seeing his usual potion suppliers about the issue. and so, here he was. "Alright. How much?"

Naaza smiled. "I can give you these two for the surprisingly low price of nine thousand valis." Bell flinched, that number feeling rather large since it was only two vials. But he knew he was going to need them. Anything can happen in the dungeon and it was better to have something that could save your life, even if it was expensive.

"Naaza," he sighed, "I'll take them." Naaza smiled, as Bell placed a bag of valis on the counter.

"Thanks, Bell. I love you." Bell didn't feel the love, as he took out the valis he needed and packed away the potions somewhere safe. He then headed out before could convince him to buy something else, the young adventurer rushing out of the store and heading towards the Dungeon.

Hopefully, Lili wouldn't have arrived yet. He didn't want to keep her waiting and miss out on as much earnings as possible. But as he arrived in the circle around Babel Tower, he heard a commotion and looked up. "Who cares. Just hand it over!" Looking towards the voice, he spotted a bunch of adventurers gathered around one person. And that person...was Lili.

"Lili already gave you everything she's got, just like always. She doesn't have any money to give people in her Familia. Not a single valis now." Bell quickly realised those people had to be members of the Soma Familia. And by the looks of things, this wasn't just a friendly interaction between members.

"Lili!" He rushed forward, only to feel someone grab his shoulder.

"I knew it was you, little brat!" He spun Bell around and the adventurer recognised him instantly. It was the man he had seen that night, who had been attacking the Pallum he had mistaken for Lili. "So, you're hanging out with that shortie now?"

Bell glared at him. "She's not the Pallum you were chasing after." The adventurer heard this and blinked, laughing as if Bell had said something funny.

"So you don't know. What a moron. Keep acting stupid, then." He shook his head. "More importantly, how about lending me a hand. We'll fool that shortie."

"What?" Bell asked, as the guy smirked.

"I'm not asking for free. I'll give you a share of what we steal from her." Hearing that made Bell's whole body shake.

"Why'd you say that?" This confused the guy, who smiled.

"All you need to do is say yes. Think carefully. It's just a supporter, right. A parasite that isn't worth any help. You'll just suck them dry and throw them away." Bell's anger began to build at those words. He wanted to punch this guy out. But he thought better of it and raised his head.

"I'll never help you. Lili is my teammate!" The guy looked shocked and staggered back, almost like Bell had actually punched him.

"Damn, you little punk." He turned to walk away, "you'll regret siding with her." Bell watched him go and frowned, wondering what the heck was going on.

"Master Bell?" He looked around and saw Lili, right there beside him. She looked worried, as Bell remembered what the guy had said.

"Lili?" What had he meant when he said Bell was acting stupid? Was there something Bell didn't know.

"Are you okay?" She asked, noticing his still shaking hands.

"I'm fine. I just got into an argument with somebody." Lii nodded, though she didn't look convinced. "I saw you arguing with people as well. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Lili frowned. "So, you saw that?" The look on her face was all Bell needed to see, to know just how unhappy Lili was about the whole situation. But before Bell could say anything, her frown was replaced by a happy smile. "Please don't worry about it. as you can see, Lili's fine."

Bell frowned. "Lili, who were those pe-"

"Let's go to the Dungeon, Master Bell." Lili began to march towards the tower of Babel, Bell right behind her. "We need to make up for the lost time from yesterday. Let's go." But as she said that, her mind was going over what had happened before. The members of her Familia were getting more and more demanding. It wouldn't be long before they did something Lili wouldn't be able to talk her way out of. If she didn't find a way to free herself soon, she was going to be in serious trouble. "Lili thinks it's about time."

Eina was currently in a high-end item shop, performing her duties as a Guild Worker to make sure the stores weren't doing anything to unscrupulous.

She had to make sure the items being sold there were of a quality fit for the prices they were selling for. And she had also heard of a rash of theft lately, meaning that some of the items in the stores could have been stolen and sold to the store without the owner's knowledge. It was up to her and her colleagues to uncover the truth if they were.

So far, Eina hadn't found anything out of the ordinary. The store seemed to be working on the up and up, so she didn't need to worry about anything. However, as she passed by a shelf, she noticed a bottle on it and looked over to see the label.

Soma Familia.

Eina stared at the bottle and remembered Bell's new supporter was from this Familia, then remembered the incident the other day involving the Soma Familia. She had been worried ever since then, but she still didn't have enough information about them to be absolutely sure of the danger.

Eina let out a sigh and took a closer look at the bottle, only for her eyes to suddenly go wide. "What!?" She cried, staring at the price. "Soma cost Sixty-thousand Valis!?" She almost passed out from shock. "Isn't it just liquor? That's more expensive than Bell's Armor set." She frowned, trying to think of how long it would take her to save up in order to buy this. She had enough money saved, but she wouldn't be able to live for two months if she purchased it. "Hmm..."

"Eina, is that you?" The half-elf gasped before spinning around and seeing someone walking towards her. A green haired high-elf, who smiled at her with an almost motherless expression.

"Lady Riveria!" She smiled, Riveria nodding as she got closer.

"As I thought. It's been a long time." She took a moment to study the girl, "you've gotten very beautiful in the meantime. I almost didn't recognise you." Eina felt herself become flustered at the praise, the girl unable to do anything but babble for a few moments.

"Th-thank you. Your flattery is too much." Riveria laughed at this.

"Enough for the formalities. We're not in the elf village right now."

"But...you're...royalty."

Riveria sighed. "I don't expect you to be casual with me. My point is, you don't need to be over sensitive." She looked around. "So, what brought you here, Eina? I've come to replenish my items, but I don't think this is somewhere a civilian would do their shopping."

"Oh, I'm here on business. The place seems to be working under the regulations." But then her eyes glanced back at the bottle, which made Riveria hum as she looked at it as well. 'I must avoid a harmful rumour from spreading at all costs. If people think a guild receptionist is connected to that Familia, it could cause problems. I need to keep the investigation secret, but...' "And, well, a friend of mine recommended this liquor to me. I thought I might try it, but it costs more than more people pay rent."

Riveria took a closer look at the bottle and realised what it was. "The godly liquor. Yes, many people in my Familia enjoy it."

Eina nodded, still trying to come up with a proper way to ask about it. "Lady Riveria. Is there anyone...who is addicted to it or has somewhat unusual symptoms, amongst those that enjoy this liquor."

Riveria hummed, "I haven't seen anyone act beyond common sense. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've heard some interesting things about the Familia that produced this. I don't suppose you're familiar with them."

Riveria sighed, "I have heard of a few instances of it." She hummed again, as she gave Eina a look. The girl gulped, fearing she had asked one question too many. "I'm sorry. I don't know too much about the Familia."

"I see."

"But I know someone well versed about them." That made Eina blink, as Riveria stepped forward and picked up the bottle. "Will you come with me, to the home of my Familia?"

Down in the Dungeon, Bell and Lili had made their way down and were now down on the ninth floor.

As soon as they got there, the monsters began their attack. But Bell wasn't worried, as he raised his hand. "Dragon Flare!" He cried, as his hand ignited and unleashed a blast of fire towards the monsters. Bell focused on the Killer Ant's head, having the flames strike it and remain there so it couldn't call for help.

Lili gasped, as Bell rushed forward with his knife and Sacred Gear at the ready. As the burn ant fell to the ground, Bell slashed at another before punching his Twice Critical into another's head. He currently had his strength stat boosted and as he punched another in the stomach, the whole thing exploded as Flash smirked.

More monsters began to scuttle towards them through a tunnel, but Bell wasn't worried and raised his hand. "Dragon Flare!" The fire exploded out of his hand and flew towards the tunnel. When it reached the entrance, it grew larger and filled the whole tunnel.

The monsters stared at the fire wall and stopped, the wall remaining still for a few moments as Bell finished off the monsters already in the room. And when he was down to the last one, he mentally commanded the flames to move towards them.

Its sudden movement shocked the monsters, who didn't have time to escape before the fire passed over them and burned them all.

Bell finished off the last monster and turned towards the tunnel, snapping his fingers and making the flames disappear. This revealed the slightly burned carcasses. Some of the monsters were actually still alive and charged forward, but the damage done to their bodies meant they didn't stand a chance against Bell as he sliced them apart with ease.

Lili saw all this and was amazed. "Master Bell," she almost whispered as Bell's Bayard returned to normal. "That was..."

"Yeah," Bell nodded, "pretty cool, huh?"

"So you've awakened magic?" Lili asked, Bell nodded. "And you can use it to make fire walls?"

"Not just fire walls," Bell smirked. "Fire swords, whips and anything else I can think of. I haven't had a chance to come up with a lot of special attacks, but I bet I'll be able to do all kinds of things with more practise. But I gotta be careful. Using too much power could make me fall into mind down."

"Yes," Lili nodded, "you should be careful." She looked over and burned bodies and found they were too hot to touch. She would need to wait for them to cool before she harvested them.

Bell watched and as he saw that the place was free of monsters, he brought his hands together and focused. "Dragon Flare." The flame appeared in his hand and he thought about what he could do with it. He then imagined an actual dragon and suddenly, it took the shape of the dragon head he had seen during his little dream.

He smirked and imagined the rest of the dragon, the flames reshaping to be a smaller dragon head with the whole dragon body along with it. The beast flapped its wings and hovered above his palm, Bell amazed at how easily forming something like that was. All he had to do was imagine it and the flames copied his thoughts perfectly.

He then thought of something else and the flames reshaped into a killer ant, then a goblin and a silver back. He tried to think of other monsters and suddenly, he was thinking back to that day Ais had saved him and the flames transformed into that of a minotaur.

He gasped, the flames disappearing as he closed his palm and panted. The memory of that day was still crystal clear within his mind. He had to get those thoughts out of his head or he would be driven insane with fear.

"Dragon Flare." The flame formed again and this time, he tried to imagine something else. And whilst the minotaur memory was currently blocked out, he found himself remembering that day and the one who had saved him.

The flames flickered and transformed into a perfect replica of Ais, the flame girl slashing her sword through the air and spinning the way he imagined she thought. Gracefully and amazing. He kept watching and smiled, until he heard a cough that made him jump and look around at Lili.

"Master Bell," she frowned as she stared at the flames. "You really shouldn't be wasting your Mind like that." She looked annoyed and disappointed, Bell cancelling his spell as he looked around and saw she had finished harvesting everything.

She turned away from him with a huff and Bell frowned, whilst remembering what had happened outside. He couldn't wondered if this was connected to that and got up to follow Lili, as they headed down a hallway in search of another monster. All the while, Lili refused to look him in the eye.

Eina stared up at the large towering castle known as the Twilight Manor, the home of the Loki Familia.

As they stepped inside, Eina saw several Loki Members she had seen at the guild from time to time. They all gave Riveria a curt nod, not even giving the guild receptionist a second glance as they made their way towards one of the common areas.

There, they found only one person there. The famous Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein.

The young woman was wearing a simple summer dress, completely different to what she normally wore in public or in the dungeon. And as the two stepped into the room, she looked over at them and a slight bit of an expression appeared on her face. "Oh, Riveria. Welcome back."

"Hello, Ais." The high elf moved over to her table and placed the bottle of Soma on it, whilst Ais turned to Eina and looked curious.

"Who is...this person?"

"She's almost a relative of mine." Eina blushed at being considered a relative, which wasn't too far off the mark. Considering Riveria and Eina's mother were close, they pretty much were family.

"I'm Eina Tulle," she told the Sword Princess.

Ais hid half her face behind her knees. "I'm Ais Wallenstein." Eina stared at her for a moment, getting the feeling that the young girl was feeling down about something.

As Riveria opened the bottle, Eina leaned closer. "Um, Lady Riveria. Don't you think Lady Wallenstein seems a bit depressed?"

Riveria giggled, as she whispered back so Ais couldn't hear. "See's having a few issues with a man that she's been trying to speak with. But every time she's close to him, he seems hellbent on running in the opposite direction?" This surprised Eina, since she always heard that it was usually the opposite way around. Normally, Lady Wallenstein was the one getting chased and making men upset if they're ignored.

She glanced back at Ais, who had he feet up on the chair and her knees covering half her face. 'Guess Bell really doesn't stand a chance. Too bad for him.' Riveria poured the Soma wine into a glass and pushed it towards Eina, the smell it gave off making Eina's entire body feel like it was floating. "Whoa. What a refreshing scent."

Riveria nodded. "I've smelt it often enough, but the sensation never fades."

Eina couldn't agree more, but thought about something. "Um, Lady Riveria. You said someone would know about the Soma Familia?"

Riveria nodded. "Relax, she'll come when she smells the liquor. Why don't you try a sip before she bursts in and takes it all." Eina nodded and took the glass, tentatively bringing it up to her mouth before taking a slight sip. As she did, she couldn't help be feel like she was tasting the nectar of the gods.

"Whoa," was all she could say. The sweet flavour was too strong for her taste-buds, but it went down softly in a smooth way. The aftertaste was incredible and was burning itself into her mind. She would likely never taste anything sweeter. "It's delicious."

"Isn't that smell...SOMA!" Someone burst into the room, Ais and Riveria not even flinching at the loud banging of the door. When Eina looked over, she saw a goddess leap into the room whilst clapping her hands together. "Ah, I knew it!"

"Goddess Loki?" Eina asked, glancing over at Riveria as the elf nodded.

"Riveria. Did you buy it?" Loki sat down, "what a good daughter you are."

"I paid for it," Riveria replied before nodding to Eina. "But she wanted to buy it." Loki looked over at her and Eina gulped before bowing.

"I'm Eina Tulle. Nice to meet you."

"Enough with formalities," Loki smiled before a sinister expression appeared on her face. "But looking at your uniform, you're clearly a Guild Worker." Eina gulped, "so what does the supposedly neutral Guild, think it's doing here?" Now Eina was really worried.

"No," she tried to explained, "I..."

"She's my guest!" Riveria explained. "I won't allow any insult to her." Loki hummed, her sinister expression vanishing.

"I see. So you're Riveria's guest. Apologises. I got a little too suspicious there."

"No, don't mind it. Please."

Loki smiled, as she grabbed the bottle and poured herself a glass. "Now, now, Eina. You've brought what I love. It's clear you want something from me, so ask away. A good bottle of Soma is worth answering any question you might have. Just don't be disappointed if I don't have the answers you're looking for."

Eina nodded. "Please, tell me everything you know about Lord Soma and his Familia." Loki raised an eyebrow and took another sip of the wine.

"Soma, huh." She finished off her glass and let out a hiccup. "I'm not close to that fool, but I'll shoot my mouth off. What do you want to hear?"

Eina gave her a serious look. "Do you know the cause of the strange atmosphere, surrounding the Soma Familia?"

Loki blinked. "You don't beat around the bush, do you. Alright, where should I begin." She poured another glass. "I love a good drink. Probably more than most gods and mortals. And after an infinite loop of getting drunk and vomiting, I finally met this liquor one day." She raised the glass and smiled. "I should call it fate. One sip and I was in love. I got so immersed, I started collecting Soma drinks throughout Orario. That's when I heard an interesting story."

The three women all listened intently, even Ais appearing invested in the story. "What is it?"

Loki smiled at Eina and took another sip. "This wine. The wine they sell for so much...is actually a failed batch. the wine that couldn't cut it for Soma. His mistakes."

"This?" Eina looked down at the bottle and remembered how amazing the single sip she had had was. "This is considered a failure?"

Loki laughed, as she swirled her glass around. "Doesn't it make you wonder what the finished product is like, when the failures are so delicious? It drove me mad, wondering. So, I broke into Soma's place." The three mortals gave her a frown, "don't give me that look. I didn't intend to steal anything. But Soma's Familia members refused to even let me pass the front gate. I had to sneak in, so I could talk to Soma. And when I found him, I asked for the real Soma Wine. I offered him all the money our Familia had in return."

"Oh did you now?" Riveria asked, raising an eyebrow as Loki giggled.

"Relax, Mamma. He didn't go for it. I was rejected. No real Soma for me." She leaned forward. "But I'll tell you something I did get. The truth about his Familia." Eina leaned forward. "Turns out, the guy never wanted to start a Familia in the first place."

"Really?" Eina asked, "then why did he?"

Loki finished off another glass. "All Soma cares about is his hobby. He has no ambitions, no schemes, no desires outside of making his little drink. But, you can't make wine without the right ingredients."

"It's an expensive hobby," Ais realised.

"Exactly," Loki smiled, "so he founded his Familia and tasked them with making as much money as they could. And to make sure they make as much as they can, I bet he's given them an incentive. A reason to make as much as they can. Tell me, Ms. Guild Worker. If Soma's not selling it, where do you think all those bottles of his wine go?"

Eina's eyes widened. "Don't tell me...those are..."

"That's right," Loki smiled. "Unlike most Familia, it's not a god that the children are worshipping. It's his wine that they devote their lives to."

"I see," Riveria nodded. "In other words, he baits his children with the finished product."

Loki nodded, "that's right. Only the top donators get the prize. It's a competition within the Familia."

Suddenly, everything made sense to Eina. Why the Soma Members always seemed so desperate to make money. They were jonesing for their precious wine and if they didn't make enough, they couldn't have their thirst sated.

"It sounds like a deadly poison," Riveria stated.

Loki nodded. "But it's different from a deadly drug." She swirled the wine around. "It moves you so much, your whole body begins shaking. You want to take another sip. But one sip is never enough. No matter how much you have, you run out before your thirst is quenched. In the end, you end up like every other drunk when you wake up." She took another sip. "So, in summary. A stupid hobbyist god runs his Familia in a laxed way, using his special drink to control them, and the members thirst for it. With all those factors mixed together, a creep Familia is born." The half-elf frowned, as Loki finished the last of the wine. "Ms. Eina."

"Yes?" She asked, seeing the serious look on Loki's face.

"Just in case you know someone working with this group, I suggest you warn them." Eina blinked. "I've also heard rumours of people that have gotten involved in the Soma Familia. They tried to get back at Soma for stuff that happened, only to be given something as an apology. The finished product."

Eina's eyes widened. She could only imagine what that would lead to. Her mind then flashed back to Bell, as she imagined him being offered that drink. All it would take would be one drop and Bell could be lost forever. "No."

Loki finally got up and seemed to have lost all the seriousness in her expression. She then turned to Ais and sighed. "Seriously, girl. How long are you gonna be depressed?" Ais huffed, giving a pouty face that made Loki laugh. "I know. Let's go update your status. Haven't done that since you got back." Ais nodded, the two getting up and heading to the door.

They left the two elves alone, Riveria seeing the fear in Eina's eyes. "Don't worry. I'm sure whatever happens, that friend of yours will be okay." She knew she wasn't really saying anything to confirm that, but she didn't have enough information to really help Eina.

But before she could say anything else, Loki's voice echoed through the entire manor. "YOU'RE LEVEL SIX NOW!"

Again, I know most of this is canon, but I swear things will start shifting around in time. Hope you still enjoyed it.