Familia Myth: Journey to Hero Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Familia Myth: Journey to Hero! After hearing Bete’s harsh words, Bell is prepared to prove the other Adventurer wrong! The Dungeon Monsters better watch out, Bell’s emotions and determination are burning! The young man that wants to be a Hero is about to show his resolve!

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 4 – Resolve

“Weapons?” Hestia asked as Bell was preparing to leave after breakfast.

“Check!” Bell patted both of his knives.

“Armor?” Hestia looked over the light armor breastplate and vambraces.

“Check!” Bell nodded while strapping the left vambrace to his forearm.

“Potions?” She questioned next.

“Five on hand, check!” Bell tapped the side pocket of his backpack were the vials were safely stored.

“You’re ready, Bell!” Hestia beamed at him. “Go show them all what you can do!”

“Yes!” Bell smiled back, his red-eyes flaring with determination. The miniature sun in his chest, the pure burning desire to prove himself and get stronger had only grown more since last night. After a gentle kiss shared with Hestia, he was out the door of their room and heading out of the Inn towards the Dungeon.

“You’ll show everyone, Bell.” Hestia smiled out of the window as she watched her lover’s white-hair head down the street. “Time to get ready for work.” She sighed to herself. Bell was doing more than enough already for them. She needed to pull her weight too. ‘I haven’t been able to do a single Godly thing for him though.’ Hestia lamented in her mind as she slipped on her flip-flops. ‘I want to support him more. I want to help him push ahead and achieve his goals. If I can’t even do that much then I’m truly a failure as a Goddess.’ Hestia lamented her inability to give Bell more after everything he’d done for her already.

-Street-

“The Hostess of Fertility…” Bell came to a stop outside of the tavern. “I feel bad for just storming out and leaving Miss Syr so abruptly.” Bell sighed as he thought about last night. “I should try to apologize to her.” With his mind made up, he opened the door to the tavern and saw two of the waitresses from last night preparing the place for the day. “Excuse me…”

“I’m terribly sorry, but we’re not open yet.” The dark-haired Elf woman apologized.

“Oh, um, I’m not a customer…” Bell thought about how to word his request. “Is Miss Syr Flover here, by any chance?”

“It’s the white-hair from last night, nya!” The brunette Cat Girl pointed at Bell in shock. “He was having a conversation with Syr and then just left her sitting at the bar like an idiot when he stormed out, nya!”

“You will be silent.” The Elf stated while slapping her coworker upside the head.

‘So fast!’ Bell nearly gaped at the speed of the strike. He’d only been able to see the Elf’s arm blur before the smack rang out. Footsteps caught the three’s attention as Syr came down the stairs with a small lunchbox in-hand.

“Bell?” Syr looked at the Adventurer with a small smile.

“I took off in the middle of our conversation last night, I’m sorry.” Bell apologized with a short bow to the girl.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.” Syr shook her head at his apology.

“Here’s the basket from yesterday, sorry for not bringing it back last night.” Bell reached into his backpack and pulled the small basket out of it.

“Thank you, but your apology is enough.” Syr took the basket into her left hand with a gentle grin. “Here, please take this.” She handed him the small lunchbox.

“Huh? But, I’d feel bad taking food from you again.” Bell held up his hands to deny her offer.

“I want to give it to you though, please?” Syr looked at him cutely and Bell felt his resistance crumble.

“I’ll take it, thank you.” Bell accepted the small lunchbox with a little warmth on his cheeks.

“So the young man came back, eh?” Mia questioned as she walked out of the back. “Don’t you girls have work to do?” She eyed Syr, the Cat Girl, and the Elf.

“Yes, ma’am.” All three bowed before heading into the back together to get the tavern ready to open.

“Syr, should you give that to him? Wasn’t it your lunch?” The dark-haired Elf questioned the silver-blue haired girl with some concern.

“Why’re you suffering on his account?” The brunette Cat Girl asked.

“It’s because that boy is Syr’s…” The ravenette Cat Girl spoke up as her head popped around the doorframe leading into the kitchen.

“It’s not like that!” Syr refuted while shoving the giggling Cat Girl back into the kitchen.

“You really surprised me last night, kid.” Mia admitted with a grin. “Adventurers can’t get by on looks alone.” She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. “Getting stronger doesn’t make you better than others. You just focus all your might on staying alive.” Bell’s eyes widened as he realized that Mia was encouraging him in her own way. “Last one standing on both feet is the best, got that? No matter how pitiful he is! You do that and then come back here! I’ll fill you full of booze and you’ll be a winner!”

‘Mama Mia…’ Bell felt his chest swell with emotion at the Dwarf woman’s words.

“You made me say that much! Don’t you go dying on me now!” Mia slapped his shoulder, nearly making Bell stumble from her strength.

“Count on it!” Bell gave her a smile as he turned to head out of the tavern. “Thank you, see you again!” He was off with one final wave to Mia.

-Dungeon ~ First Floor-

“Alright, let’s show them all.” Bell mumbled to himself as he headed for the largest area on the First Floor. He was pretty early today, so he should be the first one to get there. That meant that all of the Monsters that had spawned from the walls overnight would be his for the taking.

“Grr?”

“Rarrgh!”

“Ssssshhhh!”

The eyes of Goblins, Kobolds and even a couple of Dungeon Lizards all snapped towards Bell when he entered the cavern. There must’ve been sixteen Monsters all gathered together here. The snarls and growls increased in fervor and pitch before the group began to rush towards him.

“Let’s go!” Bell drew both of his knives and rushed to meet the charge head on.

The first Kobold found its head nearly separated from its body by Bell’s first strike of the battle. The next was gutted as Bell kept his momentum going and lashed out with his left-hand knife. A Goblin’s neck snapped as the young man’s foot impacted the side of its small head in a strong kick. Pivoting to avoid the strikes from a pair of Kobolds, Bell was quick to stab both in the throat with a lunge and each of his knives aimed for the vital points. The Kobolds went down grasping at their necks. A Goblin struck Bell’s side from his over extension and he dropped his elbow down on top of its head. A dull crack rang out as the green-skinned monster fell to the ground dead.

“Sssshhhrrraaa!” A Dungeon Lizard leapt at the red-eyed teen only to find its underbelly slashed open. It hit the ground thrashing before going still a few seconds later.

‘Keep going! Watch, predict, counter!’ Bell psyched himself up as he dodged a Kobold’s swipe and buried his left hand knife into its chest. His right hand knife nearly split a Goblin’s head in two in the same movement.

Bell leapt over a charging Kobold, brought his heel down on a Goblin’s head with a crack, and then spun to leave a fatal laceration across the confused Kobold’s back. The second Dungeon Lizard attempted to attack from behind, but Bell switched his footing and the monster hit the stone floor. For its trouble, the lizard monster received a knife through its head instead.

“Nnnrrrrgh!” Bell brought up his right vambrace to block a swipe from a Kobold. The armor easily held up under the strike, negating damage, and Bell shoved his left hand knife into the Kobold’s lower chest before dropping his weight and splitting the dog-headed monster open in a shower of blood.

“Geh!” Two Goblins snarled as they charged together. The one on the right found Bell’s knife lodged between its red-eyes. The Goblin on the left looked on in confusion at its partner’s death from the thrown knife. The second of inattention cost it as Bell rushed the monster. His left hand knife nearly decapitated the Goblin, its head only remaining attached by its spinal column.

“Last one!” Bell bit out as he blitzed the last Goblin that was edging toward the opposite entrance to the cavern. If it had a chance to escape, the little monster would rally help from other nearby monsters and come back. The short humanoid didn’t get the chance as Bell slashed it with his knife and a spray of blood hit the floor from the large laceration across its chest. It fell with a gurgled shriek and lay still.

After a few moments to catch his breath and collect himself, Bell looked over the sixteen slain monsters with satisfaction. He was improving, this was proof! Only a week ago he’d have never been able to take on so many monsters alone. Now, he’d done it with minimal damage. He wasn’t worthless, he wasn’t trash! He was going to be the strongest Adventurer! He was going to be a Hero!

“Magic Stones first.” Bell retrieved his thrown knife from the dead Goblin’s skull and cleaned off both blades. His Guild-issued knife went back into its sheath while the Hephaestus Familia knife began cutting open the Goblin’s chest to remove its Magic Stone. The repetition didn’t lull Bell into a sense of complacency though. Eina had told him stories of Adventurers being blind-sided by Monsters when they were extracting Magic Stones. It was why Supporters were taken with Adventurer Parties after all. Not that all Adventurers treated Supporters very well, unfortunately. Only Supporters that had proven their worth in extracting Monster parts and Drop Items gained any sort of respect.

“Speaking of Drop Items.” Bell smiled as a small, sharp fang was left behind after removing the Magic Stone of one of the remaining Goblins. “A Goblin Fang! These don’t drop on the First Floor much.” He added the Goblin Fang to his backpack and continued to retrieve the last couple of Magic Stones.

-Later ~ Fifth Floor-

“Yah!” Bell drove his right hand knife through the face of a Frog Shooter. The frog-like monster died in a spray of blood as the white-haired Adventurer used its corpse to block the tongue strike of another Frog Shooter.

“Riii?” The second Frog Shooter looked confused as its dead kin moved towards it. Its confusion was ended as Bell emerged from behind the corpse and nearly bisected the second monster’s head with his left hand knife.

“That’s all three…” Bell panted as he looked at the three dead frog monsters. He cleaned off his knives for the umpteenth time that day and used the knife he’d bought from the Hephaestus Familia shop to start opening up the Frog Shooters to collect their Magic Stones.

Unbeknownst to Bell, his actions hadn’t gone unnoticed in the Dungeon. Having arrived early, the teen Adventurer had gotten to almost all of the popular ‘Hunting Spots’ before the rest of the Adventurers of Orario had started their day. Rumors and amazed whispers were being spread throughout the Upper Floors of entire hunting areas splattered with blood. Floor and wall alike and areas covered with noticeable piles of the gray, ash-like dust of slain Monsters. Whoever had gotten to the spots first had massacred every monster in the area. Many assumed it to be one of the veteran Upper Floor teams. Parties of Level 1 Adventurers that had been Dungeon Crawling for a couple of years could do such things without too much trouble. However, the actual veteran teams noted that none of them were claiming to have performed the clearing of the popular hunting areas.

‘A dead end?’ Bell noted with some confusion as he entered a rectangular cavern at the end of a corridor. ‘That shouldn’t be the case.’ He pulled out his map of the Fifth Floor, keeping his ears sharp for the sounds of approaching monsters while his eyes scanned over the path he’d taken to get here. Seeing the path he’d been on before, when he last checked the map, he tried to figure out why he’d found this particular cavern. “Oh…wait a minute; I took the left route at the fork back there. I should’ve gone straight instead, that’s the path that leads to the next large cavern.”

Crack

Bell’s head shot up from his perusal of the map to notice a crack splitting the wall of the cavern not too far from him.

Crack

Crack

Crack

Crack

Crack

More and more areas of the walls and even the ceiling began to crack apart as Monsters were being spawned all at once.

“Oh shit…” Bell realized what he’d stepped into with this oddly rectangular cavern. It was a dungeon gimmick that was known to end the lives of Rookie Adventurers, even in teams of four or five, sometimes. “A Monster House!”

“Gugugu!” A multitude of Wall Shadows made their odd vocalizations.

“Riiiibiiit!” Even more Frog Shooters croaked as their single, cyclopean eyes all locked onto Bell.

“Grrraaaah!” Multiple Kobolds growled and snarled. All of them bigger and stronger than the ones from floors one through four.

Bell quickly shoved his map back into his backpack and drew his knives. A quick count, or the best he could do at any rate, showed about thirty Monsters in total. The fact that this was the Fifth Floor only made it worse as all of the Monsters here were stronger and the Wall Shadows alone could kill new Adventurers like Bell. Even if he ran back into the corridor, the horde of monsters would chase him down relentlessly.

‘I won’t run!’ Bell declared to himself. ‘I’m going to be the strongest Adventurer!’ The desire to grow stronger flared up again in him. ‘I’m going to be a Hero!’ He readied his weapons as he stared down the horde. ‘This wouldn’t even be considered a challenge by those I’m chasing after! I’ll overcome this!’ His heartrate picked up, not from fear, but in pure anticipation of the battle to come. Determination raged within his chest like an unstoppable blaze. His soul was alight with emotion as he shifted his stance. “Bring it on!” Bell roared at the horde of monsters and leapt into the fray.

A Kobold lost the top of its head first. A Frog Shooter’s tongue was cut off. Bell pivoted to avoid the blade-like claws of a Wall Shadow. He lopped off the extended arm to lower the monster’s threat level. A tongue slammed into his side and he staggered into a claw swipe from a Kobold. Grinding his teeth to stop any sound of pain, Bell spun and slashed through the Kobold’s neck. Another Frog Shooter struck him with its tongue, attempting to draw him into its mouth. Bell went along with the motion as it got him out of a pincer maneuver. The frog monster lost its tongue and then its eye as Bell used the momentum to leap over it.

‘Right, duck, back step, left, right hand!’ Bell was doing everything he could to keep pace with this fight. So many enemies and yet he was keeping up so far. The occasional attack was getting through and his jacket was becoming tatters from the claws of the Wall Shadows and Kobolds. His breastplate and vambraces were developing dents and scratches as they took punishment from the rain of attacks. The young man gave almost as good as he got though. Kobolds fell as their stomachs or throats were slashed open. Wall Shadows lost arms when their swipes missed, and not a single Frog Shooter had a working tongue anymore.

A crack rang out as Bell tossed his left knife into the glowing circle of a Wall Shadows ‘face’, killing the golem-like monster. Blocking a second Wall Shadow’s slash with his right vambrace, he punched the glowing circle as hard as he could with his free left hand. The same cracking sound appeared as his fist passed through the material and emerged from the back of the monster’s head. Using the corpse as an impromptu shield, Bell rushed a pair of Kobolds. The two dog-headed monsters lashed out at the teen, but only slashed the pitch-black body of the dead Wall Shadow. A knife gutted the Kobold on the right in a blur of motion. The left Kobold grabbed at the Wall Shadow corpse and Bell let the monster have it.

“Got you!” Bell saw the monster stagger backwards, not having anticipated the lack of resistance, and his knife nearly decapitated the Kobold. “Gah!” He cried out as the claws of a Wall Shadow sliced his unprotected lower back. He was near the very edge of the shadow monster’s reach, so the cuts weren’t nearly as bad as they could’ve been. With a grimace he blitzed the Wall Shadow, sliced off its left hand and then decapitated it with a full power swing of his Hephaestus Familia knife.

As the hyper-focus of the battle completely took over, Bell didn’t notice the condition of his weapons, nor of his body. He was fighting to reach his dream, his goal, to keep his promise to his Goddess. He stabbed a Frog Shooter in the head, killing the amphibian monster easily as they had little protection from weapons. A Kobold found its bite attack interrupted as instead of Bell’s arm, it bit his knife blade. The splatter of blood from its ruined maw was the last thing it saw as the point of the knife traveled through its mouth and into its skull. Bell yanked the blade out and met the strike of a Wall Shadow’s claws with it. With a crack the metal blade snapped and went sailing off to the side.

“Shit!” Bell cursed and ducked under the follow up swing. He used the right hand knife to split the Wall Shadow almost in half. Catching the shadow beast on what would’ve been the collarbone of a human and then slashing straight down. The golem-like monster fell to the ground and the circle that was its face stopped glowing as it died.

“Rrrrrraaaaggghhh!” A Kobold charged at Bell’s back only for the red-eyed teen to throw the handle of his broken knife into its face as hard as he could. The dog-headed Monster yelped in pain as the handle impacted its face. The charge stalled, Bell reached back over his shoulder and dug into his backpack. Right on top, exactly where he always kept it; was his back up knife. He pulled the blade free and brandished a knife in each hand again. The staggered Kobold only saw a flash of silver before the blade passed through its neck and sent it to the ground.

“Riibiiit!” The last Frog Shooter cried out, trying to leap at Bell to slam into him since its tongue had been cut off a while back in the melee. Bell juked to the right, buried his right hand knife into the frog monster’s head as it passed and watched it collapse to the ground dead.

“Gugugu!” The last two Wall Shadows rushed him together. Bell ducked and weaved around their blows. The two monsters had no issue fighting together like a well-oiled machine. Bell felt a wound open up on his cheek as the knife-like claws of one Wall Shadow grazed him. He stabbed the arm and wrenched it into the path of the other Wall Shadow’s incoming attack. The first Wall Shadow lost its right arm as the second unintentionally hacked it off.

“Aaaahhh!” Bell roared as his Hephaestus Familia knife was buried into the head of the one-armed Wall Shadow. He blocked the other Wall Shadow’s claws with his right vambrace, losing hold of the knife that was stuck in the dead Wall Shadow. He leapt at the monster, parrying its retaliatory swing with the Inferior Grade knife. The top of the knife broke off from the force of the blow and Bell realized he was running out of ways to fight. Without being able to stab and the top portion of the knife gone, he switched his target. With a swing that used the entire strength of his body, Bell slashed the broken knife through the Wall Shadow’s chest and cracked its Magic Stone.

“Gu!” The Wall Shadow’s sound was cut off as it exploded into black ash-like dust as the Magic Stone crumbled to nothing. Bell hit the ground on his knees, huffing and panting to try and get his breath back. The adrenaline was wearing off and his body was coming down from the intense battle high. With it came all of the pain and aches he’d been able to ignore in the heat of battle.

“Ah…ow, fuck…. Damn it…” Bell hacked and coughed as the pain wracked his body. He slipped off his backpack, heavy with Magic Stones and some Drop Items from his quest to prove himself. He pulled one of his Potions from the side, popped off the cork, and drank it down in a single go. Feeling some of the pain ease, Bell took a second Potion and drank it down too. “Still not enough?” He grimaced as the aches persisted and he still felt open wounds from various claw attacks. He downed a third Potion and after a few seconds sighed in relief as the last of the lacerations healed up. “That was the last one…” Bell breathed heavily while noticing his supply of Potions was empty now. After almost a full day of Dungeon Crawling, including the extra hours he’d gained by setting out early this morning, he was tapped out now.

The tired, still roughed up young man slowly got to his feet and retrieved his only remaining weapon. Now that he had time to stop and look it over, the Hephaestus Familia knife was nicked along the edge in multiple spots. The blade was probably almost dulled from all the action it had seen today. With a grimace he cleaned the blade off as best he could with his ruined jacket. He started collecting the Magic Stones from the scattered bodies of the Monsters all over the rectangular cavern.

“I should really look into a Supporter. I almost tripped on some of the bodies during the fight.” Bell mused as he extracted a Magic Stone from a Wall Shadow and watched the body disappear before moving on. His backpack was almost full to bursting from his long day and he was dreading the long trip back up to the surface. His body still ached from a combination of damage and exhaustion. Through all of it though, there was still a small smile on his face. He’d proved to himself that he had what it took to achieve his dream, his goal wasn’t impossible! “It’s just going to take a lot of hard work to get there.” Bell chuckled lightly as he picked up another Kobold Nail that had been left behind after the Monster’s body had vanished into dust.

Many returning Adventurers and Parties gave Bell a wide berth as he trudged his way up the stairs to Babel’s basement. The teen looked like he’d gone through a war to their eyes. Torn clothing, soaked in blood, bruises visible on his body, disheveled would be putting Bell’s current state mildly. The white-haired Adventurer’s black backpack was swollen and looked heavy, hanging on his shoulders. His red-eyes showed a level of exhaustion that some of the older Adventurers knew well after an unexpectedly harsh day in the Dungeon. But to the observant one’s, the fire in the young man’s gaze was staggering. It was a conflagration of determination and satisfaction as he made his way up the large spiraling staircase one step at a time.

“BellAAAAAHHHH!” Eina noticed the white hair of her favorite Adventurer and greeted him. That greeting quickly became a scream of worry and fright as she saw the state he was in. No one in the Guild had ever seen Eina move so fast before when she literally hopped over the long counter that separated the Guild into the worker’s area and the public space.

“Good afternoon, Eina.” Bell gave the Half-Elf a small, tired smile.

“Bell,” Eina was quick to guide him over to the meeting areas and help him onto a couch. “By the Gods, look at you, I’ll get you a Potion right away, are there any severe injuries anywhere?”

“No…I’m alright, Eina.” Bell flinched slightly as his body reminded him that he was notalright. “Maybe one more Low Potion wouldn’t hurt.” He amended while looking down.

“What am I going to do with you, Bell?” Eina sighed when she realized that his clothing made his condition look worse than it was. “Stay put, Mister.” She gave him a look and Bell nodded instantly. The Half-Elf walked across the Guild and spoke with one of her coworkers briefly. Some Valis was exchanged and a blue potion was handed over to Eina. She took the Low Potion and headed over to Bell at a brisk walk. “Drink, Bell, we’ll worry about your report afterwards.”

“Thank you, Eina. I’ll pay you back once I exchange my Magic Stones and Drop Items.” Bell promised as he accepted the Potion and drank it down.

“Don’t worry about it, Bell.” Eina waved him off. “I don’t care about the money. I just want you to be okay.”

“Oh…” Bell blinked as the last of his injuries healed up thanks to the Potion. He felt his cheeks warm up at Eina’s honest words and couldn’t help but once again notice her warm personality and beauty.

“I…I mean…” Eina’s face was red as her mind caught up to her words. Even her pointed ears were red from her blush and Bell inwardly thought she looked really cute right now. “Report! Yes! Let’s get your report started!” Eina grabbed a blank form and a pen from the edge of the table between them. Anything to distract from what she’d just said to Bell.

“Well…” Bell started to tell her about his day in the Dungeon. He didn’t get far before he was stopped.

“You went to the Dungeon how early this morning?!” Eina’s green-eyes bore into Bell’s red intently. “No wonder you’re in that state! Why would you add so many hours to your normal day? When was the last time you ate?!”

“I’m fine, Eina, I promise! I took a lunch with me and everything!” Bell raised both of his hands to try and placate his Dungeon Advisor. He couldn’t tell her he’d done so to prove Bete Loga, the Level 5 Adventurer from Loki Familia, wrong about him being weak or trash.

“Continue…” Eina let out a heavy sigh as she picked up the pen again. So Bell told her about his long day in the Dungeon and how he’d cleared out most of the popular ‘Hunting Spots’ on the first five floors. Needless to say, Eina was shocked at what Bell had done single-handedly. ‘Bell’s too new to pull that off solo. His stats should only be around H Rank by now. How could he clear out entire areas by himself? The areas on the Fourth and Fifth Floors should’ve been too much for an Adventurer with barely over two weeks of experience!’ The Half-Elf thought to herself, but her sharp eyes detected no deceit in Bell’s gaze. The rabbit-like young man couldn’t lie to save his life, she knew that much. ‘That just makes it more unbelievable that he pulled it off!’

“I was almost finished for the day when I ran into the Monster House.” Bell continued his report and Eina’s hand jerked, sending a line across the paper from the sudden motion.

“MONSTER HOUSE?!” Eina exclaimed loudly without thinking. “That’s insane, preposterous, there’s no way! The one on the Fifth Floor?!” The Dungeon Advisor had slammed her hands on top of the table between them, stood up to lean over it, and got in Bell’s face.

This unknowingly gave Bell a rather up close view of her generous bust, even under her Guild Uniform her breasts bounced from the sudden movement. Her shapely rear was also being ogled by several of the Adventurers that had whipped around to stare at the source of the yelling. It wasn’t every day you heard the term ‘Monster House’ screamed loudly in the Guild building, after all.

“How are you still alive, Bell?” Eina questioned with their faces incredibly close to each other’s. “Did you run? Was a Party nearby that helped you out?”

“E-Eina…” Bell’s face was redder than it had been when he’d gotten splattered by the Minotaur’s blood. “I just fought until all the Monsters were dead.” He leaned back instinctively and nearly gaped when Eina leaned over further, her knees literally on the table, to follow him.

“Bell…that’s impossible…even experienced Level 1 Adventurers that’ve been Dungeon crawling for years don’t usually survive a Monster House solo.” Eina informed him as she defaulted to a professional tone in her shock. “It usually takes a Party of five Level 1’s at minimum to clear out the Fifth Floor Monster House as a request. Some Level 2’s take it on as a challenge when they first Rank Up. You shouldn’t be alive right now.”

“But that’s what happened…” Bell didn’t know how to tell the truth any better than he already had.

“You’re serious…” Eina’s hands were on his chest now, over his damaged breastplate. “You can’t lie this well, your eyes are even honest. She retreated back to her seat slowly, stunned by the truth in Bell’s gaze. Her favorite Adventurer had just flipped one of the facts of the Dungeon on its head. “I’m honestly trying very hard not to freak out right now.” Left unsaid was the freak out she’d already had and the somewhat embarrassing closeness they’d shared in front of dozens and dozens of witnesses. She was just going to continue to ignore that entirely until everyone forgot about it.

After a few minutes for Eina to settle herself, she wrote down Bell’s encounter with the Monster House. The report was longer than normal this time, actually needing a second piece of paper to write it all down. When they were finished with the report, Eina still gazing at some of what she’d written in disbelief, the two began talking as they did on many occasions.

“Your Guild-issued knife and your back up knife both broke this time.” Eina hummed thoughtfully. “Usually an Adventurer with your amount of experience wouldn’t have to worry about replacing your Guild-issued weapons for a few more weeks.”

“It was a good knife,” Bell agreed as he lamented the loss a bit. “Even my Hephaestus Familia knife is in need of some serious maintenance after today.”

“That’s not to say anything about the state of your armor either.” Eina eyed the dented and scratched up breastplate and vambraces. “You might have to take an extra day off from the Dungeon to get them fixed and buy some replacement knives.”

“I probably should,” Bell admitted as he also looked over his armor. The cost to restore it to almost new condition was probably going to be a couple thousand Valis. Not to mention the cost of two more knives.

“Please don’t do anything reckless like this again, Bell.” Eina implored him with a worried look on her beautiful face. “I’m not sure my heart can take the shock.”

“Sorry, Eina…” Bell bowed slightly to his Dungeon Advisor, offering her a sincere apology for worrying her. “I’ll do my best not to get into a situation like that next time.”

“Thank you, Bell.” Eina grace him with a beautiful smile and Bell felt his heart thump in his chest again as his cheeks gained some color.

The two parted ways after that. Eina needed to file the report and inform her higher-ups that the Monster House on the Fifth Floor had just been cleared. That was the kind of thing that was posted on the large bulletin board in the main lobby for Adventurers. It took a full week for a Monster House to ‘reset’ after being cleared, and the one on the Fifth Level could reappear in any path that led to a dead end on that floor. It would give some Adventurers peace of mind to know that they didn’t have to worry about running into the Monster House for a few days at least.

“Next!” The woman behind the Exchange window called out and Bell stepped forward. He took off his backpack and removed the six Kobold Nails and the two Goblin Fangs he’d gotten during his trip. He placed them in the normal tray first and asked for the larger drawer to be pushed onto his side for the Magic Stones.

“Here we go,” Bell upended his backpack over the larger drawer and a rain of Magic Stones quickly filled the bottom.

“Holy crap!” The woman blinked at what the Ideal Rookie, a nickname the Guild Workers had coined for Bell, had collected in a single day. “You really don’t do anything by half, do you kid?”

“…Sorry?” Bell apologized with a confused look on his face and he pushed the drawer back to the other side.

“No, no, it’s a good thing!” The woman assured him as she collected the Drop Items first. After several minutes of collecting, weighing, and adding up the Magic Stones and then calculating the full total of Bell’s loot, the drawer was pushed back over to his side with a sack of Valis in it. “The Drop Items were worth 6,600 Valis and the Magic Stones were worth 14,700 Valis. That brings your total to 21,300 Valis.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Bell collected his money and placed the sack into his backpack before heading for the exit. He was already going over the expenses that would have to come out of this money in his head. After weapon and armor repairs, plus buying two more knives, and then restocking his Potions, including a potential Mid Potion, he wasn’t going to be left with a lot. ‘Maybe I’ll hold off on the Mid Potion for now? It would leave a lot more for saving.’ He pondered as he headed for the Hostess of Fertility to return the lunchbox to Syr.

-Hostess of Fertility-

“Oh wow…they’re super busy.” Bell blinked at how lively the tavern was tonight. It was even busier than last night when the Loki Familia showed up.

“May I help you?” The dark-haired Elf asked politely.

“Ah, sorry,” Bell apologized for taking up her time since he wasn’t a customer tonight. “I was just coming to return this to Miss Syr.” He held up the lunchbox to show her.

“I see, that is responsible, but I’m afraid Syr is busy with customers right now.” The Elf explained to him. “If you’d like I can take it and place it in the back so that Syr can collect it later.”

“That would be great, thank you very much.” Bell smiled at the beautiful Elf and handed the lunchbox over to her. “I’m Bell Cranel, I’m afraid I don’t know your name yet.”

“My name is Ryu, Mr. Cranel.” The Elf introduced herself, her grey-eyes seeming to search his for a moment before softening slightly. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Sorry for taking up your time when you’re so busy, Miss Ryu.” Bell apologized and excused himself, heading back out of the tavern.

“Nya? Did the white-hair make a pass at you, Ryu?” The brunette Cat Girl questioned with a teasing grin. “I didn’t think he was the playboy type, nya.”

“No, Anya, he didn’t,” Ryu shook her head at the girl. “That young man is probably a good fit for Syr.”

“Less chatting and more working, the place is packed!” Mia shouted to her waitresses from the bar. Anya rushed off to serve customers while Ryu speed walked into the back and placed the lunchbox off to the side. She picked up a tray of meals that was ready to go and headed back out onto the floor to serve them.

-Inn-

“What’s that, Goddess?” Bell asked as he noticed a piece of paper in Hestia’s hands.

“Just an invitation to Ganesha’s Banquet of the Gods.” Hestia set the invite aside. “I’m not sure if I should bother going, honestly.”

“Why not?” Bell tilted his head. A celebration hosted for Gods seemed like it would be a good time.

“It’s not really a big deal, though I guess I wouldn’t mind going if Hephaestus was there.” Hestia seemed to be thinking about her niece’s presence especially, for some reason. ‘Bell lost two knives today and his best knife is going to be out for repairs along with his armor tomorrow. If Hephaestus was at the Banquet maybe I could ask?’

“I think you should go, Hestia.” Bell hugged her close, making Hestia smile and lean into him. “You deserve to see all of your friends and have a nice night.”

“You spoil me, Bell.” Hestia giggled happily. “But I don’t have anything to wear to such an event. I already know certain Gods and Goddesses that would enjoy commenting on that too.” She pouted at the mere thought.

“We have some savings,” Bell mentioned with a warm grin. “Or you could use some of the money I made today to get a nice dress for the Banquet.”

“Bell, you earned that money, we should try and save it for the essentials.” Hestia looked up at him with a shake of her head.

“I can make more in the Dungeon and you’ll have the dress for a long time too, it’s not like you’re going to throw it away after a single use.” Bell chuckled and gently squeezed her in his arms.

“Of course not,” Hestia shook her head at the sheer idea of being so wasteful. “But, still…”

“I’ll go with you on my day off tomorrow, if you want?” Bell offered before he seemed to have a thought. “We could even make a day of it and eat out at a nice place too.”

“Like a date?” Hestia’s eyes filled with love and joy at the idea. They’d never been able to afford any kind of fancy date in their relationship given the tiny size of their Familia. She adored the simple little dates they had gone on, like walks through one of the parks in Orario and trips to the bookstore closest to the Abandoned District to look and read a little.

“A date.” Bell agreed with his lover before kissing her forehead softly.

“I love you, Bell.” Hestia beamed at him and placed a loving kiss on his lips.

“Love you too, Hestia.” Bell returned her affection once they pulled away from each other’s lips.

“Let’s update your Status, after the day you had I bet you’ve grown a lot.” Hestia smiled as she got out of his arms.

“I hope so…” Bell gave her a lopsided smile. “Clearing that Monster House cost me my jacket, shirt, two knives, and I’m not sure I can salvage the pants.” He made a joke at his own expense.

“Come on; let’s take care of this and then the rest of that later.” Hestia patted the Queen sized bed in their room.

Bell removed his black sleep shirt and lay on his stomach on top of the soft mattress and blankets. Hestia straddled his back as usual and began the update. She blinked in shock at what she saw from his Excelia, that Monster House was terrifying even from this perspective. She guided the Excelia into the Falna to let it grow and watched as the numbers climbed from the new infusion of experience.

“There we go,” Hestia finished the process as the glow from Bell’s back faded away. “You really did grow by quite a bit this time, Bell.” She handed the paper over to him so he could see for himself.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – H 172 > G 284

Defense – I 98 > H 191

Utility – H 187 > G 297

Agility – G 256 > F 362

Magic – I 0

Magic

-

Skills

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-Status-

“421 from today…” Bell nearly gaped at the boost he’d gotten. He knew that he was growing faster nowadays, but this level of improvement usually took weeks or more, at least he was fairly certain it did. Not as if he could ask, since telling anyone else your Status wasn’t very wise in Orario.

“You did an amazing thing today Bell, so the Excelia was equally amazing.” Hestia smiled at him, inwardly just as surprised that Liaris Freese was increasing Bell’s growth by so much.

“I’m still worn out from it too.” Bell admitted as he covered his yawn.

“Then let’s head to bed, I’ll snuggle you to sleep.” Hestia promised with a gleam in her eyes.

Bell slept like a log while using Hestia’s breasts as a Divine Pillow again that night. Hestia was happily snuggling close to him the whole night. The two both wore smiles of contentment throughout the night and into the next morning.

-Next Day-

“What the hell did you do to these, kid?” One of the blacksmiths at the Hephaestus shop near the Guild building questioned Bell as he looked the damaged armor and knife over. “You climb into a Monster’s jaws or something?”

“Uh…not exactly?” Bell rubbed the back of his head remembering the Monster House.

“The good news is the armor, vambraces included, and the knife are all still worth repairing.” The blacksmith shook his head at the teen, sending his shaggy, dark-brown beard swaying slightly. “Come back tomorrow afternoon to pick them up.”

“Yes, sir, thank you.” Bell bowed to the blacksmith in thanks. He smiled as he left the shop and saw Hestia waiting for him outside. “All done, we can head to the Tailor shop now.”

“Okay~” Hestia was practically walking on air as she and Bell walked hand in hand down the street together. A day out with Bell! How could this get any better? Buying a dress and getting it fitted and then a meal at a nice restaurant! She’d make sure the night ended with lovemaking too! “Hehehehe~”

“What’re you giggling about, Goddess?” Bell asked with a curious tilt of his head.

“Just how happy I am about today, Bell.” Hestia smiled warmly at him as they approached the Tailor’s shop.

The bell over the door rang as they entered the shop. Clothing was on mannequins along the walls and there were rolls of various fabrics and other materials behind the counter. The woman behind the counter smiled pleasantly at them.

“Welcome, how can I be of service today?” The woman asked, her auburn hair tied back and her brown-eyes looking between the two of them.

“I was invited to a celebration, but I don’t have an appropriate dress to wear.” Hestia informed the woman of her situation. “What I’m wearing is the best I currently own.” She motioned to the dress she’d worn especially for her and Bell’s date today. It was a simple, white summer dress that went down to her shins, it had a collar and through it a simple blue ribbon was tied into a loose bow. Her feet were covered by matching flat shoes to finish the outfit.

“Yes, yes, I see.” The woman nodded as she looked over the outfit. “While you look beautiful in it, Goddess, it’s not for formal gatherings. I’d be delighted to assist you.”

“I’m in your care,” Hestia smiled back as she was ushered onto a raised stand and a curtain was closed around them. She stripped off her dress and let the Tailor measure her so that whatever dress she chose could be properly fitted.

Over the next hour and a half, Hestia tried on almost a dozen dresses and asked Bell for his opinion on each one. The dress she decided on, seeing how much Bell liked it on her too, was mostly dark-blue in color. It had a spiral of navy-blue frills that went around her body and separated the bottom of the dress into the dark-blue color and a light-blue that made up the other half. It was strapless and showed a large amount of her cleavage. She’d grinned happily when she saw Bell almost unable to look away. A pair of heels to go with it would make it a perfect dress for the Banquet.

The Tailor promised to have the alterations done quickly and Hestia would come back tomorrow to try it on again to make sure it was perfectly fitted. Sure it wasn’t some fortune-breaking gown like some of the Goddesses would be wearing, but it was beautiful, tailored, and both she and Bell liked it. That meant far more than the price tag to Hestia. Still, at right about 10,000 Valis, it wasn’t something cheap that could be derided by the other Gods either.

“Time for dinner~” Hestia nearly sang as she and Bell headed for a nice part of Orario and a good restaurant.

“I’m looking forward to it, Hestia.” Bell smiled warmly at her and Hestia felt her heart beat strongly in her chest.

After a lovely meal and a slow walk back to the Inn to take in the city at night, it was little surprise to Bell that Hestia practically jumped him as soon as the door to their Inn room was locked behind them. He carried her to the bed and their clothes were off in short order. Hestia took both of Bell’s hands in hers and interlaced their fingers. She was on her back sharing a love-filled kiss with Bell as they made love. Hestia would never get tired of this. The Goddess of the Hearth, Home, and Family reveled in the love they shared as she wrapped her legs around Bell’s hips to keep in deep inside her when they reached their peaks together.

Bell was content beyond words as the two of them lay in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Hestia was laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat as they cuddled. He ran his fingers through her long, silky black-hair while he held her close. The two of them would fall asleep without even realizing it, warm and comfortable in each other’s embrace.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Boom! Bell slaughters his way through five floors of the Dungeon and gets quite the boost for doing so!

He met Ryu and made a good impression on the beautiful Elf woman!

The new Hestia Familia home will be ready soon too!

Now, what’s next for our rabbit-like Adventurer?

A certain Familia will be hosting their yearly event soon! Right after their God hosts his own Banquet!

Will things still happen during the festival? Will new things be revealed in this AU version?

Will Hestia still have to do Dogeza for thirty hours?!

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you think with a review!

Until next time, later!