Loki Familia Premise Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you a brand-new chapter! It’s Danmachi again! Since the Series STILL has a freaking stranglehold on my Muse’s throat. Chapter two and Bell meets some more of his new Familia! Not to mention he starts learning more about Magic and works to refine and improve his skills. If you’re surrounded by the Top Adventurers in Orario, then you’ll always want to improve and strive to be better. And we all know what happens when Bell sets his mind on something!

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 2 – Familia and Magic Lessons

Knock Knock Knock

The sound of someone at his door roused Bell from his slumber. He’d spent most of his day in the Dungeon yesterday and then stayed up a bit late into the night listening to Heroic Tales from Loki. Bell noted the sunlight coming in through the small window in his room and realized that he must’ve slept in a bit. He blearily stumbled out of bed, his eyes barely open, and opened the door when he reached it.

“Nya?” Bell saw a black cat looking at him. Back in his mountain village there had been several cats to help deal with mice and rats. One of the black cats had been named ‘Nya’ by the children of the village for being a ‘talkative’ cat that meowed at everything and everyone.

“Nya?” The black cat questioned, the curiosity in her voice clear.

“Nya?” Bell blinked and shook his head. With his eyes fully opened now he realized that he was looking at a Cat Girl. She had long black hair, black cat ears atop her head, and a black cat tail lightly swaying behind her. She wore a black and white outfit with gold accents, along with dark brown boots. The top was strapless, leaving her shoulders bare, and she wore a white dress collar with a small ribbon at the front like a cravat. Her skirt was white and she had two black sleeves on her arms that went from mid-bicep down to her wrists.

“Is this because I’m a Cat Person?” The girl asked with a raised eyebrow. “Not all of us speak with the ‘nya’ inflection, you know?”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry!” Bell apologized quickly to the girl. “I was still half-asleep! There was a black cat back in my village called ‘Nya’ and with my mind still hazy I just reacted and…mmf.” Bell’s spree of words was stopped when the girl lightly placed the tip of her index finger on Bell’s nose.

“I understand…it’s fine.” The girl giggled at him. “My name’s Anakitty Autumn, but my friends call me ‘Aki’, pleased to meet you, Bell.” She introduced herself with a grin.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Aki.” Bell smiled back at his senior in the Familia.

“Not that I mind the eye candy, but you might want to get dressed before you come down for breakfast.” Aki pointed out with a small grin on her lips.

“Huh?” Bell looked down at himself and realized that he’d answered his door in only his pajama pants. His bare chest was fully displayed to Aki and Bell was very glad that he hadn’t slept in just his boxers last night. “R-right…I’ll just change and head down.”

“See you down there.” Aki nodded, clearly suppressing a laugh as Bell closed his door. As she headed towards the stairs to get down to the cafeteria area herself, she giggled lightly. “The new guy is certainly an interesting character.” The fact that he was easy on the eyes didn’t hurt either. “Maybe I should thank Finn for asking me to make sure that Bell was up?” The black cat laughed lightly to herself as she descended the stairs.

-Cafeteria ~ Breakfast-

Bell could say that he very much enjoyed his new Familia. Pretty much everyone was friendly and welcoming to him. The food was good too. As he ate, he chatted with some of the other members around him. Raul was Level 4 and had been with the Familia for eight years. The young man was happy to introduce Bell to other members of the Familia as well, like Cruz Brussel, Line Arshe, Elfy Colette, Narvi Roll, Rakta, Orba, Cynthia, and Arcs. All of his more senior Familia members greeting him politely and with smiles.

“Bell,” Riveria spoke up from behind Bell after he’d placed his used dishware onto the line to be cleaned. Once the High Elf saw that she had his attention, she continued. “You’ll be joining Lefiya for Magic lessons today.”

“Lefiya?” Bell didn’t know who that was.

“I’m Lefiya.” A different Elf stepped to the side, revealing that she’d been walking behind Riveria. Lefiya had long, light orange hair that she kept in a high ponytail, even still, it flowed down her back until it reached just past her bottom. She had clear, dark blue eyes, and pointy ears like all Elves did. Lefiya wore a rosette pink cape on top of a white shirt and pink corset dress, with a purple bow hanging at the collar and matching pink shoes on her feet. Her legs were covered up to her thighs with white stockings attached to garters that disappeared beneath her dark pink skirt. “My name is Lefiya Viridis, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Cute…” Bell uttered out unthinkingly. A half second later he slapped his hands over his mouth.

“Eh?” Lefiya’s eyes widened at Bell’s compliment before a pink flush took over her cheeks.

“I…I mean…I’m Bell Cranel, it’s very nice to meet you, Miss Viridis.” Bell greeted her and bowed slightly, mostly to look at the floor instead of having to meet Lefiya’s eyes. Curse his stupid mouth!

“Y-Yes…” Lefiya stumbled over the first word and went silent right after. Her cheeks still a rosy pink from the unexpected compliment.

‘We’ll never get anything done at this rate.’ Riveria sighed lightly at the interaction between Lefiya and Bell. It was cute. But they did have a lesson to get to. “Come along, you two. We have much to go over today since Bell is just starting out with Magic.”

“Yes ma’am.” Lefiya and Bell said at the same time before following after the High Elf.

Riveria led the two younger Adventurers to a quite room lined with bookshelves. Bell followed Lefiya’s example and took a seat at the table within the room and gave his full attention to Riveria. The Executive of Loki Familia wrote on a chalkboard attached to the wall for several moments before turning to face them both.

“Bell, as this is your first lesson, we will be going over the most basic information regarding Magic.” Riveria looked into his rubellite eyes with her jade green. “I don’t expect you to catch up to Lefiya’s level right away, but I do expect your best during these lessons.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bell nodded quickly to show that he understood. “I want to improve as much as possible.”

“Very good.” Riveria gave him the smallest of smiles. “We’ll begin with a brief overview of Magic and build from there. So, firstly, there are two different types of magic: Congenital Magic, which is Magic based on one's own ability and Race, and Acquired Magic, that being Magic gained from the Falna given by the Gods and Goddesses.” Riveria made sure that Bell was paying attention and was pleased to see the young man taking notes already. “Prums, Humans, Dwarves, and Amazons are not known to have Congenital Magic. Beastmen all of some innate Magic tied to unleashing their bestial nature under certain conditions, but very few are noted to possess an aptitude for a specific form of Magic. Renard are the only noted exception, having access to Magic called Sorcery that their people awaken to on occasion.” She waited for Bell’s pen to stop writing before she continued again.

“Renard…have…unique Magic…Sorcery…” Bell quietly mumbled as he finished writing.

“Most Magic requires a specific chant to activate, we call this an Incantation. There is a somewhat rare type of Magic that does not require an incantation known as Swift-Strike Magic, but in exchange for no cast time, its power is limited.” Riveria was pleased to see that Lefiya was writing her own notes as well. For her younger Elf student, this would all be a refresher, though parts of it may have been forgotten over time. “Normally, the longer the incantation the stronger the Magic is. This is not always the case, however, as some spells have varying effects that can make them powerful even if their incantation is short. When the caster becomes unable to control their magic power when using Magic, a phenomenon known as an Ignis Fatuus occurs, causing the gathered magical power to explode and damage the user as well as those in close proximity.”

“Ignis Fatuus has two ‘u’s after the ‘t’…” Lefiya whispered to Bell as she saw her fellow student stuck on the word.

“Thank you.” Bell smiled at Lefiya before writing the term properly followed by what it did.

“Magic uses Mind to cast. Mind is the term for mental energy and focus and both are intrinsically linked to Magic use. If one overuses their Mind, it can cause the individual to faint, a condition known as Mind Down.” Riveria made sure Bell understood the warning in her words. Ais had taught Bell about Mind Down and the dangers of hitting it in the Dungeon; but it never hurt to remind a Magic user of that fact, in Riveria’s opinion. “Upon receiving a Falna, people naturally have between one to three slots for Magic and can normally only learn one spell per slot, though most people tend to never have any Magic appear. For those people with only one or two slots, the number can be increased via the usage of an item known as a Grimoire, but the absolute maximum number of slots is three, even with a Grimoire.”

“Miss Riveria?” Bell raised his hand, much as he used to when learning back in his old village as a little boy.

“Yes, Bell?” Riveria encouraged her newest student to ask his question.

“If a Grimoire can impart Magic to someone, then why aren’t more of them made?” Bell was honestly curious about the amazing sounding item. Wouldn’t it be better if more Adventurers had Magic?

“Lefiya, would you like to answer Bell’s question?” Riveria looked at Lefiya with a small grin.

“Oh! Y-Yes, ma’am!” Lefiya nearly stood up at the sudden request, but managed to stay seated before turning to face Bell. “A Grimoire can impart Magic upon the one that reads it, but to create a Grimoire requires a person to have two specific Developmental Abilities: Mage and Mystery, and they both must be at an adequate rank for the process to be a success. The earliest that a person can have two Developmental Abilities is Level 3.” She let out a little breath when she got an approving nod from Riveria.

“Incidentally, Lefiya is Level 3 herself, but as she is an offense-oriented Mage, she did not manifest the Mystery Developmental Ability.” Riveria informed Bell as an example of how rare having both of those specific Abilities was.

“You’re Level 3, Miss Viridis?! That’s amazing!” Bell beamed at Lefiya brightly. He never would’ve guessed that the cute Elf had already leveled up twice.

“N-No, no, it’s nothing special…I-I was only able to get this far with everyone’s help.” Lefiya’s face was hot as she tried to deflect the praise. Her normally self-deprecating mindset when it came to her own accomplishments reared its head; only to be quelled at the bright-eyed young man looking at her like she was amazing.

“No way! You made it to Level 3!” Bell shook his head at Lefiya’s denial. “That’s amazing already! You have Magic, a Title, and years of experience! I want to be like that too! A strong Adventurer! Someone that my Familia and friends can depend on! That’s why I want to work hard and gain everything I can, just like you did, Miss Viridis!” His praise and the smile on his face nearly blinded Lefiya and she felt warmth bloom inside of her.

“I…I…thank you very much, Bell.” Lefiya couldn’t keep looking at him. The sheer positivity he was showering her with was too much! Her face felt like it was burning! For the first time in a long while, Lefiya felt some pride in her accomplishments and in the place that she’d earned within Loki Familia.

‘Bell will be good for Lefiya, and her development.’ Riveria thought to herself, seeing how much Bell’s praise was affecting Lefiya. Her protégé would improve greatly if she could simply gain confidence in herself, and the courage to place her trust in her allies on the battlefield. “Now,” She got the attention of both teens easily. “We will go over basic magic control before starting meditation.”

“Meditation, Miss Riveria?” Bell couldn’t help but speak up curiously.

“The first step to becoming a good Magic user is to gain knowledge, both of Magic and of oneself.” Riveria explained and Lefiya nodded along with her. “Know yourself and you will know your Magic, your Mind, and be able to see your current limits so that you can push beyond them.”

“Oh…” Bell marveled at Riveria’s wisdom and the woman nearly cracked a smile at seeing his rubellite eyes sparkling.

-Courtyard ~ Afternoon-

“Uh…why’re so many people here?” Bell blinked at the much higher number of people today. Ais was there, of course, but with her was Tiona, Tione, and Finn. Seeing the Captain himself was the biggest surprise of all.

“We’re all going to help you train, Bell!” Tiona answered with her usual bright and sunny smile.

‘That explains why they all have their weapons.’ Bell had noticed Tiona holding her large double-bladed weapon that she called Urga. Tione had her twin kukri knives on her hips. Finn’s spear was in hand, the length dwarfing the Prum’s height and making Bell wonder how the Captain wielded it properly.

“It’s no good to only train against a single opponent.” Finn shook his head with a smile. “You’ll develop some bad habits if you only ever fight Ais and her sword.” He tapped the butt of his spear against the ground. “So, today, you’ll be sparring against a spear, twin knives, and an esoteric weapon.” Finn grinned, briefly running his hand through his blonde hair when Tiona grumbled about her Urga being a masterpiece. “No Magic right now, we’ll get to that later.”

“Yes, sir.” Bell nodded and drew his sword.

“Good form. I see that Ais has taught you the basics well enough.” Finn nodded as he stepped forward first, the three girls moving off to the side to watch. “Let’s begin.” With those words Finn’s spear was heading for Bell’s shoulder.

“Urk!” Bell managed to parry with his sword at the last second, knocking the spear wide. He was absolutely certain that Finn was moving at a snail’s pace compared to the Captain’s normal fighting speed.

Bell was given no leeway, one thrust of Finn’s spear flowed into the next seamlessly. Bell was hard pressed to keep up with the strikes, parrying and backstepping to avoid swipes, thrusts, and jabs from seemingly every conceivable angle. All the while, Finn merely walked forward as he pressed his advantage. Knowing that this wasn’t good enough, Bell applied more of what Ais had already taught him.

“Hm?” Finn raised an eyebrow as one of Bell’s parries was followed up with the new Adventurer stepping forward instead of back.

Bell had moved closer, putting him out of range of the spearhead, now he just had to close enough distance to put Finn in range of his sword. The Prum wasn’t about to make it so easy though. The shaft of the spear slammed into Bell’s hastily raised arm with a solid thud. Bell nearly staggered but managed to keep his feet. He thrust his sword forward and Finn parried it with the shaft of his spear. The long weapon may as well have been a short stick with the ease at which Finn controlled it. Bell tried to press a barrage of attacks on Finn, but the spear always redirected his blade easily. When Finn had apparently seen enough, the spearhead met Bell’s sword, seemingly out of nowhere, and pushed the Level 1 backwards.

“You know what you’re doing, Ais has taught you striking and parrying quite well.” Finn praised both Bell’s growing skills and Ais’s teaching. “But how’s your footwork?” Finn took a step to the side, and then a second. “If I step here…” A third step and his spear struck out again. Bell sidestepped and tried to move in for a counter. This was knocked off course by Finn’s spear, the two weapons clashed three more times before Finn easily pushed Bell backwards. “Very good. Now, I step again.” Finn moved in the opposite direction this time, his feet practically gliding across the ground as he struck out with his spear.

“Hn…” Bell struggled to keep up, trying to match the pace of Finn’s steps and his rate of strikes was proving to be a monumental task. But if Bell faltered, Finn would easily take his back and be able to end the spar.

“He’s doing better than I thought he would.” Tione commented on Bell’s performance. “You must be a pretty good teacher, Ais.” She smiled at the blonde. Everyone had seen Ais and Bell’s sparring by now. The only reason it was effective was because of Bell’s never give up attitude. Tione found it commendable of their newest Familia member.

“Great job, Ais!” Tiona hugged Ais with a cheerful laugh. “Bell’s doing great for a newbie!”

“Mm…thank you, Tione, Tiona.” Ais had a small, cute smile on her lips from the praise. Watching Bell spar with Finn made a new feeling rise up in her chest. She didn’t know the name of it, but she thought it might be pride. Pride in having helped Bell improve. She’d always been focused on getting stronger herself, but helping someone else grow stronger brought with it a new sense of improvement for herself.

“Guh!” Bell hit the ground and heaved for breath.

“Can you stand?” Finn asked with his spear resting against his shoulder. The Prum wasn’t even sweating or breathing any heavier than normal.

“Y-Yes, sir.” Bell pushed himself up and held his sword at the ready.

“Excellent.” Finn praised Bell’s tenacity with a smile. “Tiona, tag in.” He walked over to where the girls were while Tiona literally leapt at Bell with her Urga overhead.

“Let’s have some fun, Bell!” Tiona cheered with a beaming smile.

“AH!” Bell skipped back three times and watched as Tiona’s massive weapon split the ground where he’d been standing.

“Good dodge!” Tiona grinned at Bell, bringing her Urga to bear. “If you’re unfamiliar with your opponent, dodge and study their abilities and moves! An Adventurer never misses a chance to gather information in battle!” The Amazon nearly blurred as she closed the distance. The swing of her huge weapon sliced through the air and Bell had to parry as best as he could.

“Hrkh!” Bell nearly choked on his own breath as Tiona’s swing shoved his arm aside painfully. His entire body whipped around and he found himself hitting the ground with a grunt of pain. The new Adventurer saw the next attack coming and rolled to the side, leaving Tiona to bury one of the blades of her Urga into the ground. He swung at the Amazon, hoping to strike her when her weapon was trapped.

“There you go!” Tiona laughed brightly at Bell’s quick learning speed, even as she made his jaw drop by lifting herself with just her arms. Her hands were still on Urga’s handle, but Tiona was now holding herself horizontal with just her arm strength alone. Bell’s blade passed through where her body had been and struck nothing but air. “Dodge!” Tiona lashed out with a kick and it was all Bell could do to jerk backwards while raising his left arm to block.

“Oof!” Bell hacked out as just a glancing blow of Tiona’s foot knocked him backwards and flat on his back.

“Monsters never stop attacking until you kill them, so you can’t just lay around!” Tiona’s feet touched the ground and she pulled her Urga out of the earth with ease, only to come at Bell again.

“That idiot is going too far…” Tione facepalmed at her twin’s actions. Bell was rolling along the ground trying to dodge the repeated swipes and jabs from Tiona’s weapon.

“She does have a point though.” Finn remarked, watching the spar with calculating eyes. He’d step in the second that it looked like Bell would actually be injured. “Monsters have no concept of mercy or holding back normally. Bell should be prepared to continue fighting even when he’s knocked to the ground, beaten, and injured.”

“Mm…” Ais made a noise of agreement as her golden eyes followed the one-sided spar.

“Hah!” Bell thought he saw an opening and thrust his sword forward at Tiona’s feet.

“Whoa!” Tiona backstepped and the tip of Bell’s sword missed stabbing her foot. “Breaking an opponent’s rhythm is a good strategy!” She praised Bell with a bright smile as he shot to his feet and pressed his newly made advantage. Tiona easily blocked Bell’s sword with her Urga. The sheer size of her weapon made it able to partially play the role of a shield.

‘Faster…stronger…’ Bell knew that he had to keep pressure up on a power fighter like Tiona. Otherwise he’d just be knocked on his ass again and be left scrambling away from her attacks. He went for a thrust, only to have it blocked by Tiona’s Urga again. Not to be deterred, Bell stepped to the side, angling his body and his sword to slip past the Urga’s massive upper blade and strike at Tiona’s face.

“Nice!” Tiona laughed and spun her Urga by the handle. The spinning of the heavy weapon knocked aside Bell’s sword easily, and nearly knocked him to the ground again if he hadn’t let go of his weapon. The sword hit the ground and Tiona stopped her Urga’s motion, leaving one of the blades resting just above Bell’s collarbone. “That was great for a newbie, Bell!”

“Th-Thank you…Miss Tiona…” Bell was breathing heavily and could feel the sweat on his forehead. Two spars back to back, both against high-level Adventurers was quite the exercise. Not to mention the sheer intensity it was for him. To Finn and Tiona, this was more akin to playing around, but to Bell it was nearly a life-and-death fight to survive. “You’re so strong…it’s incredible…” Bell breathed out. “I want to get that strong…someday…”

“I worked hard!” Tiona beamed at Bell, raising her free hand and flexing her arm. Below her soft-looking bronze skin, muscles bulged noticeably and gave a hint of the insane strength that Bell had experienced. “You’ll get there if you keep working hard, Bell!” She encouraged him with a bright and warm smile. “I’ll help you too!”

“Th-Thank you, Miss Tiona…” Bell really wished he hadn’t stuttered on the first word. But he was truly touched that Tiona would offer her help so wholeheartedly like this.

“Just Tiona is fine, we’re Familia and friends!” Tiona’s smile could light up a room, Bell was sure of this fact.

“Thank you, Tiona.” Bell felt his face grow warm but pushed it aside.

“Aww, you’re blushing, Bell.” Tiona giggled at him. He was a cute bunny!

“No, no…I’m just hot from the spars!” Bell denied, looking away from Tiona.

“Hehe…Tione, your turn!” Tiona waved to her sister while heading back towards the sidelines with Ais and Finn, a smile on her face.

“I know,” Tione drew her twin kukri knives and took up a stance a couple of meters in front of Bell. “I’ll give you time to prepare yourself, Bell.” She allowed with a grin.

“Thank you, Miss Tione.” Bell gave her a short bow and shook out his arms. Both still had the shock of dealing with Tiona’s powerful strikes and the sheer weight of her Urga. He clenched his fists a few times, trying to make the feeling go away, and only picked up his sword once his arms felt mostly normal. Taking up a ready stance, Bell called out to Tione. “Ready!”

Tione moved forward quickly, both of her blades at the ready. Bell went for a horizontal strike, looking to force Tione to backstep and stall her charge. Tione saw through this with the ease of experience as her left kukri stopped Bell’s blade cold. Her right hand flashed out and rested the blade of her second knife against his neck before he could try and free his sword from the deadlock.

“You’re dead.” Tione spoke plainly. “An opponent with two weapons can occupy your weapon and still attack.” She pulled her kukri away from Bell’s neck. “You need to be able to break a deadlock quickly. Barring that, use your foot work to always keep the occupied weapon between you and your opponent’s free hand.” She instructed Bell with what was common sense to her, but invaluable knowledge to him.

“Yes, Miss Tione.” Bell nodded resolutely and reset himself. “Can we go again?” He requested, his rubellite eyes nearly glowing with determination.

“You want to go again?” Tione knew Bell had tenacity, but after defeating him so easily, she sort of expected him to take her words and mull them over, rather than continue to spar.

“Yes, please!” Bell nodded resolutely. “I want to get stronger! I want to do better! I want to stand where you’re standing! To be someone that you can depend on! That the Familia can depend on!”

“Oh?” Tione grinned at Bell, taking up her stance again. “You have a long way to go then, Bell!” She moved in the blink of an eye, striking Bell’s sword out of the way with one kukri while the other aimed for his neck again.

“Nnkh!” Bell shifted his footing, angled his body so that the blade passed just over his head, and then put all of his weight and power into a thrust. The sound of metal grinding against metal was heard as Bell’s sword moved against Tione’s kukri and aimed to stab her.

“Hmph.” Tione’s grin was wide as she brought her trapped kukri down, forcing Bell’s sword down and putting him in a disadvantageous position. She wasn’t expecting Bell to shoulder check her in the gut though. The new position allowed Bell to free his sword, even if his lunge didn’t make Tione take a single step backwards. At Level 5, she was so vastly stronger than Bell that even his best punches and kicks wouldn’t so much as bruise her bronze skin.

“Grrnh!” Bell swung his freed sword upwards, showing off a fierceness that most wouldn’t expect from his looks. Tione easily parried the swing and struck with her second kukri. Bell put her advice to good use, sidestepping into her opposite side and pressing her with fast strikes meant to keep her blade occupied.

“That’s better…” Tione grinned, her Amazon instincts beginning to wake up as Bell fought harder. “But not enough!” With a flash of metal and a clang, Bell’s sword went flying away and hit the ground well out of his reach. Both of Tione’s kukri were resting on Bell’s body; one at his neck, the other against his stomach. “I win.” Tione smirked at him, the look in her eyes made Bell’s face heat up.

“That was so fast.” Bell blinked at having not had any time to react to Tione’s move. “You’re amazing, Miss Tione.”

“That was nothing.” Tione shook her head. “But I like your tenacity, Bell.” The Amazon removed the blade at his neck. “If you keep getting stronger, and never lose that fire and ferocity…” She trailed the back of the kukri blade against his stomach, going lower. “Then you’ll be a very interesting man.” The tip of the blade teased the button on Bell’s pants as Tione smirked at him. This was Bell’s first experience with Amazon flirting, and his face was burning up.

“Y-Yes, Miss Tione…” Bell would admit to being a little flustered as Tione took a step back and sheathed her kukri with a grin on her lips.

“Ah, Bete, would you like to join in on Bell’s basic training?” Finn called out to the Werewolf man that had watched the last spar.

Bete had gray hair, orange eyes, grey wolf ears and a grey wolf tail. He was notable for having a blue tattoo on the left side of his face and a muscular physique. Said physique was shown off by his opened grey jacket with white fur at the collar. He had black pants with a tan belt, and wore white greaves on his shins and matching white vambraces on his forearms.

“Hell no,” Bete scoffed as he started walking away. “Small fry don’t deserve any help. The weak will always be weak.”

“Bleh! Shut up, Bete!” Tiona stuck her tongue out at Bete while making shooing motions at the Werewolf. “You wouldn’t be able to help anyway!”

“Tsk! Shut up, you dumb Amazon!” Bete growled back at Tiona before walking through a nearby door and roughly closing it behind him.

“Well, Bete is being his usual self.” Finn sighed at the Executive’s attitude. “Don’t let it get to you, Bell, he’s like that with most people.” He assured their newest member.

“Oh, alright, I guess?” Bell was curious about Bete’s attitude for sure, but the Werewolf didn’t seem like the type to sit down and talk.

“Bell,” Ais stepped forward while drawing her sword and then switching it out for her blue scabbard. “Let’s spar with Magic now.”

“Yes, Ais,” Bell quickly jogged over to his sword and picked it up. With a second to focus, he activated his Magic. “Frost!” The powerful chill wrapped around Bell’s body, forming his makeshift ice armor over parts of his torso and shoulders. A cloud of frozen steam wafted off of the ice while a frigid fog drifted from Bell’s blade.

“Tempest.” Ais activated her own Magic and was surrounded by swirling green wind.

“This is gonna be great!” Tiona cheered, eager to see the spar.

“Bell has improved his Magic control really well in only a few days.” Tione noticed as the frost wasn’t spreading out in every direction this time. It was focused entirely around Bell and his sword.

“Yes,” Finn nodded with a grin. “It seems as though letting Ais instruct him was the correct call.” The changes in Ais may not be noticeable to everyone yet; but to Finn, Riveria, and Gareth who had watched Ais grow up, there was a notable change in her demeanor, if a small one.

The first clash between Ais and Bell resulted in a burst of snow as Bell’s ice was shredded and scattered by Ais’s wind. The snow flew away from the impact point of Ais’s scabbard meeting Bell’s sword. Tione and Tiona both rubbed their arms a bit as the frigid wind blew past them. As the flakes of snows began to drift down through the air, Tiona stuck out her tongue to catch one, giggling when she managed it. All the while Tione just rolled her eyes at her sister.

“Hmnh!” Bell unleashed a wave of ice at Ais with a swing of his blade. Ais’s wind-coated sheath broke through the Magic as she stepped forward and got into Bell’s guard. “Gah!” Bell staggered back as he took a strike from the scabbard and the ice covering his left shoulder shattered.

Ais aimed her next strike towards Bell’s midsection, but was pleasantly surprised when Bell used his Magic for defense. Ice practically exploded off his body in sharp spires, helping to kill the momentum of Ais’s swing and force her back as the spears tried to stab her.

“Very good, Bell.” Ais smiled lightly at Bell’s application of his Magic. The spears of ice shattered and Bell was back on the attack.

“Tah!” Bell thrust his sword forward, the frigid fog rushing from the blade towards Ais and forming into a wave of sharp ice. Ais had no trouble shattering the incoming attack and Bell changed tactics. His sword moved along the ground and he channeled his Magic into the swing.

“?!” Ais blinked when the ground between her and Bell froze over instantly. Her Ariel pushed back the ice, preventing her feet from being frozen to the ground, but that didn’t do much for her footing on the rest of the ice.

“Hyah!” Bell brought his sword down in an overhead slice even though he was a few meters from Ais. A wall of ice rushed from the attack, spires of frost raced across the frozen ground towards Ais looking to impale or freeze, perhaps both.

“Mm…” Ais leapt over the attack, her physical stats alone made that easy. She came down on Bell in a controlled fall, using her Wind Magic to glide gracefully through the air.

Wind-covered scabbard met frost-producing sword and an explosion of bitingly cold air and snow flew in every direction. Bell was forced to one knee from the strength behind the blow. Ais pressed her advantage, lashing out with a kick that struck Bell squarely in the chest, shattering the pseudo ice armor with ease. Bell hit the ground and rolled to get back to his feet.

“…Huh?” Ais was about to give chase when she felt the weight on her left foot. Looking down, the foot that she’d used to kick Bell’s chest was now encased in ice. ‘He’s learning so quickly.’ Ais looked back at Bell, noticing his labored breath coming out in frosted clouds, and was proud to see his sword was at the ready for another exchange. Green wind shattered the ice around her foot and Ais leapt forward to continue their spar.

‘Miss Ais is so powerful…’ Bell thought as he blocked her scabbard with his sword again, being pushed back by Ais’s greater strength. He poured more Mind into his spell but he couldn’t freeze her scabbard, the wind swirling around it scattered his ice faster than it could build up. ‘Maybe this?’ Bell froze the ground beneath his feet and behind him. Using Ais’s strength against her, he let himself be pushed back, sliding backwards on the path that he’d made. “Yah!” Bell swung his sword the second his feet hit unfrozen ground and another wave of ice and frost rushed towards Ais.

‘That won’t work.’ Ais jabbed her scabbard forward, her Ariel blasting the wave of frost apart. Bell had tried this multiple times now and she always overcame it. She only understood his intentions after the wave of ice ended. “Oh.” Ais was surrounded in thick ice. Walls of ice boxed her in from every direction except the one facing Bell, because her wind had scattered it.

“HYAH!” Bell swung his sword overhead and released a massive amount of ice towards Ais. With her only option for movement being straight into the oncoming attack, Bell was confident that he’d finally land a blow.

“Ariel.” Ais whispered and the green wind surrounding her exploded into a fierce gale. The walls of ice where reduced to powder snow in an instant and Ais easily out sped Bell’s Magic. She came in from his left side and her scabbard crashed into his hastily raise guard. Naturally, Ais won out and sent Bell skidding along the ground from her strike.

“Ack!” Bell hacked out as he lay on the ground. He panted as he tried to get his breath back. He’d really thought he’d had her there for a second. ‘I should’ve known that she was keeping her level of power closer to mine.’ It made perfect sense for Ais to hold back after all, otherwise he’d get nothing from their training except being unconscious after the first strike. ‘Her Magic is much greater than mine…I’ll need to work even harder to catch up.’ Bell was determined to get stronger, to do better! He was part of the Loki Familia too, so he couldn’t bring shame to them. ‘I will stand on their level someday! I will be a Hero!’ He swore to himself that he’d accomplish his dream, no matter how hard he had to work to do it!

“…You did well.” Ais smiled gently down at Bell, her breath forming little white clouds in the air from the cold that covered the area.

“Thank you…Ais…” Bell breathed out, his breath slowly returning as he ended his Magic and the chill around his body vanished. The ice that had reformed over his torso and shoulders cracked and fell to pieces as Bell sat up. “I still have to work a lot harder to catch up to all of you.”

“That was awesome!” Tiona cheered leaping across the frozen ground to engulf Ais in a hug. There were noticeable frozen areas on her pareo.

“It was a good spar, but maybe next time you don’t hit us too?” Tione commented as she and Finn walked over, both of them with frost on them.

“No harm this time.” Finn chuckled as he wiped some of the frost off of his shirt. “But control is a very important aspect of Magic, especially when fighting in a group. We’ll expect you to remember that in the future, Bell.” The Captain pointed out to the newbie.

“Yes, Captain.” Bell stood up and rubbed the back of his head, seeing all of the ice and snow everywhere. He sheathed his sword and bowed to all four of them. “Thank you all very much for working with me today.”

“No problem! It was fun!” Tiona beamed at him. “I’ll spar with you any time, Bell!”

‘Cute…’ Bell thought, smiling back at Tiona. He was glad that he hadn’t just blurted that out like he’d done with Lefiya. He didn’t need any more awkward moments with his new Familia.

“Just keep it up, and you’ll get better.” Tione had a small smile on her lips. “Just keep that ferocity and drive and you’ll go far.” The look in her eyes made Bell feel like he was being sized up by a predator.

“I have no doubt that you’ll become a great member of the Familia, Bell.” Finn nodded to the teen. “You have a strong desire to grow, learn, and improve. That will take you far as an Adventurer, especially if it’s tempered with knowledge and reasoning. Do not be daunted by the long path that is growing stronger, we’ve all had to walk it before and we continue to walk it to this day. Everyone moves at their own pace on this path, but the ones that see it through are the ones that never give up despite the unending distance.” The Captain spoke with the air of experience and an undeniable charisma that had made ‘Braver’ Finn Deimne one of the most widely known Adventurers both in and outside of Orario.

“Yes, Captain!” Bell nodded with a bright smile of his own. He’d just gotten great advice and encouragement from Finn! One of the most famous Adventurers ever! This was a great day!

Bell had only been with the Loki Familia for a short time…so he sometimes still got a little starstruck by the Executives of the Familia.

“We can spar whenever you like, Bell.” Ais offered him, her small smile was adorable and Bell really liked seeing it.

“Thank you, Ais, I’ll come to you when we’re both free.” Bell smiled back at his main tutor.

‘…Why does my chest feel warm?’ Ais wondered, gently placing her hand on her breastplate. It had happened suddenly, right after Bell smiled at her and agreed to train with her more. In her mind, a seven-year-old version of Ais looked at Bell’s smile as the warmth lingered in Ais’s chest. ‘Bunny…’ The little Ais declared with a happy smile.

-Loki’s Room ~ Evening-

“Back for another Status Update already, Bell?” Loki grinned as Bell removed his shirt and she got to enjoy seeing his toned body again.

“Yes, Loki.” Bell smiled at his Goddess. “I’m hoping that I improved again since I trained hard with Finn, Tione, Tiona, and Ais today.”

“Well, we’ll find out in a second.” Loki chuckled, patting the stool in front of her. Bell sat down as Loki sat behind him on her bed. “Oh, you’re just so cute every time that I see you, Bell~” Loki’s hands drifted over his back, tracing the contours of his muscles. “My hands just slip and go off on their own.” She giggled as her hands moved to his front and ran over his abs and chest.

“Goddess…” Bell wouldn’t admit that he was blushing a bit. Loki was affectionate, and it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy her soft hands on his skin.

“Hehehe…alright, alright, time to get your Status taken care of.” Loki laughed, removing her hands from his body. It was so nice to have a child that didn’t deny her affections! Bell had no qualms about her wandering hands, within reason, of course. She’d even told him that a single word and she’d stop touching him at all. Bell had blushed adorably and had notably NOT asked her to stop at all. If anything, the young man seemed to enjoy her touch which made Loki even happier. ‘My Snow Bunny!’ The Trickster Goddess declared in her mind, a smile on her lips as she poked her finger with the needle and let a single drop of her blood touch Bell’s back.

The blue glow emanated from Bell’s skin as the Falna appeared. Loki looked through Bell’s Excelia, seeing his sparring with the Executives today as well as his lesson with Riveria and Lefiya. Scholarly pursuits could also count towards growth in the Magic stat, which was the only reason it was recorded in Bell’s Falna. She moved the Excelia into his stats and watched the numbers rise as his Falna grew stronger from his effort and experiences.

“They really roughed you up a bit, huh?” Loki grinned after finishing the update. She placed a blank paper onto his back and copied the numbers over with a circle of her index finger.

“It was good training.” Bell nodded before accepting the new Status paper from Loki.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 46 > I 70

Defense – I 78 > H 109

Dexterity – I 37 > I 61

Agility – I 41 > I 66

Magic – I 60 > H 102

-Magic-

Aurora – Ice Magic – Enchantment

Incantation: ‘Frost’

-Skills-

Eilíft Frost – Provides protection from cold along with Ice and Water Magics and makes all Ice Magics the user casts use less Mind while significantly increasing their power.

-Status-

“Defense and Magic are both at H Rank now!” Bell exclaimed upon seeing the growth. It was proof that his sparring with Ais and the other Executives was paying off! That all of his hard work was getting him just a little closer to his dream!

“You’re growing pretty well, Bell.” Loki praised him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder. “But these first few ranks are somewhat easy to get to at first. Especially when you’re sparring against Level 5 and Level 6 Adventurers.” Her hands gently ran up and down Bell’s abs as she spoke. “Most Adventurers can have at least one Basic Ability hit H Rank within about two weeks of Dungeon crawling. The fact that you have two of them at that rank already, and you’ve only been in the Dungeon once so far, proves how hard you’re training to get stronger.”

“Thank you, Loki…that means a lot.” Bell smiled as he looked at his Status. “But I still want to get better. I want to get stronger. I want to stand where Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Captain Finn are at. I want be someone that the whole Familia can depend on!” The sheer desire in his words made even Loki blink at his declaration.

“With that kind of determination, I’m sure you will be, Snow Bunny.” Loki nuzzled her cheek against Bell’s with a bright smile.

“Goddess!” Bell sputtered at Loki’s sudden affection.

“Hehehe!” Loki giggled as she pulled away. “With you here, Bell, maybe this place won’t be so boring while the others on the upcoming expedition.”

“Is that why so many people are busy?” Bell had noticed quite a few of the Familia members heading out into Orario and coming back with supplies over the last couple of days.

“Yep!” Loki nodded to him, leaning back on her bed with her arms supporting her from behind. “The Familia is trying to push deeper into the Dungeon and get to Floor Fifty-Nine. That’s almost untouched territory, only Zeus’s Familia got down that far back in the day. So now, we’re going to try and get down there ourselves and then push even further to uncover even deeper floors!” Loki declared with a bright laugh at the success of her Familia and ‘children’ in the endeavor.

“That’s amazing.” Bell couldn’t even imagine going so deep into the Dungeon. “How long will they be gone?”

“Hmm…about two weeks, maybe three if everything goes well and they’re able to explore a bit deeper.” Loki replied after thinking about it for a bit. “As long as everyone comes back safe and sound, I’ll be happy.”

“Right.” Bell agreed with her wholeheartedly. He didn’t know everyone in the Familia yet, but he didn’t want any of them to die even if they didn’t know each other. He knew that was naïve, people died in the Dungeon practically every day, but still.

“Well, that means you have two or three weeks to improve while they’re on expedition and surprise everyone with your growth when they get back!” Loki encouraged Bell with a smile.

“Yes, Goddess!” Bell smiled back at her, his rubellite eyes burning with determination to grow stronger. He had a dream to reach and a promise with Loki to improve himself and his sword too! He wouldn’t stop, would never give up, he was going to become a real Hero!

Speaking of Heroes.

“So, I’ve told you Siegfried’s tale, and I’ve told you about the Valkyries and the Einherjar of Valhalla, so…how about tonight, I tell you the Tale of Beowulf?” Loki offered with a grin, knowing how much Bell loved the tales that she told him.

“Sure!” Bell eagerly turned around on the stool to face Loki.

“Sit, sit.” Loki patted her bed in front of her, signaling Bell to sit on the large bed with her.

Bell did so without a thought, eager to hear another Heroic Tale that he didn’t know yet.

He would be surprised to wake up the next morning in Loki’s bed, both of them having dozed off late in the night.

-End Chapter-

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Bell is giving it his all to grow stronger and be a Hero!

Sparring with multiple Level 5’s and even a Level 6 is both educational as well as good for stat growth!

Magic lessons with Riveria and Lefiya too! Bell calls Lefiya cute without thinking and both are adorable shy beans about it! Kek!

Bell is certainly getting some female attention in Loki Familia, and not just from Loki herself. A few young women have shown an interest in the newest member of the Familia!

Little Ais has declared: “Bunny!”

With the majority of the Familia about to go on expedition, Bell will be on his own for the most part as he Dungeon crawls through the Upper Levels. How much can Bell grow in the time that they’re away?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!