Chapter 1: The new member
Flashback
Two boys sat on a porch of a house overlooking their city and the prominent dungeon that rose high above the city, a gigantic monolith of wonder and danger, waiting to be conquered.
".Grandpa says being an adventurer is all about beating ugly and vicious monsters in the dungeons and rescuing pretty girls from certain anger" a young bell comments
"I'm sure it's about more than that bell! Think about the adventure, the monster battles, leveling up, acquiring you're own skill! Joining a strong familia! Making everlasting bonds and becoming the greatest adventurer imaginable, that's what I want!" Grey proclaims looking up at the sky the sun setting over the horizon, casting an orange/red glare on the clouds making the sky appear as if it were on fire
"You think we could do something like that someday grey?"
"Sure we could! We could become adventurers together, we'd be the best! Those monsters wouldn't know what hit em! You and me bell!"
"Yeah..you and me!" Bell happily chirps, flashing a goofy grin at his friend
"Though I'll be going away for a while bell..."
"What? Why?" Bell asks in an almost forlornly manner
"I have to go on a voyage with my father back to our home on the verrian islands in a couple of days, we may not be back for a few years" grey tells bell, finding it hard to say to him, bell slumped down, with a look of abandonment in his eyes
"O-oh...ok.." He nearly whispers
Grey sits up and turns to bell, putting both hands on his shoulders
"Bell! Listen!... I promise you I will come back! No matter how long it takes! I will return! Just wait for me! We'll be adventurers sooner than you think! And we'll battle fierce beasts and meet pretty girls in no time at all! I just want you to promise that you'll get strong! Strong enough to stand up for yourself! And for those you love! And know that I'll be doing the exact same! Can you do that for me?"
Grey holds out his hand, which bell takes and looks grey directly in his copper brown eyes as grey looks back into bells ruby red ones
"Then it's settled bell! When I come back, well conquer the dungeons! Together!"
If unmistakable or not, small blue and white sparkles were seen floating off the two best friends' hands as they made they're solemn vow, but they both knew to believe in each other and trust each other like brothers...and one day soon, there dream may come true...
Present Day
Grey had finally made it, after a long trek across the sea he had made it to the guildhall to start him on his path to becoming an adventurer.
"Alright Kae, we made it back! Next step is registration, cmon!" Grey exclaims proudly pulling along his ground dragon companion who let out a brief snort of compliance
Upon entering there were any number of barbarians, dwarves, elves, cat people, mages, swordsman, Knights, atlases swordsman assassins and supporters that littered the large building flocking back and forth from the registration and payment booths.
Grey headed for the registration desk and stood in front of a pretty half elf brunette scribbling away at a documented manual.
"Hello young man! My name Eina Tulle, dungeon mission searcher and familia coordinator,how may I be of assistance?" She politely asks
"H-hi miss Eina, my name's Grey Ardell, I'm wanting to join a familia" Grey stutters
"Grey Ardell..." she scribbles in her account manual" are you new here?"
"Yes ma'am"
"Oh! Well welcome aboard! And I suppose you're friend here is your familiar?" She says gesturing to the feathered reptile
"Yes Miss, his name is Kae"
"Wow! a saurian dragon huh? Quite rare to see one, let alone tamed, and where are you arriving from?"
"The Verrian Islands"
"Hmm the Dragon's Cape, ok , last thing, what is your purpose for being here?"
"I want to be an adventurer!" grey proclaims proudly and confidently, Eina smiles empathetically and giggles a little bit
"Another aspiring soul wanting to make his mark, hmm...you remind me so much of him"
"Him? miss?"
"A boy just like you; Bell Cranel is his name" at the very mention of that name he jolts to attention
"You know Bell Cranel?!"
"Yes, I am his coordinator as well and always give him useful advice when the time calls for it or when he's just being stubborn or completely naive, why? do you know him as well?"
"Know him?!, he and I were best friends when we were kids! and I promised him when came back from my father's voyage, we would become adventurers together!"
"Well I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again, so I trust you will be wanting to join the Hestia familia?"
"The Hestia familia?"
"Yes, it's the one Bell chose to align with"
"Then that's the one I'll go to as well!"
"Are you sure mister Ardell? The adventurer's life isn't for the faint of heart or the weak of constitution, they must have the most serious mind and dedication to their craft and once you enter that dungeon there's no turning back"
Grey pondered it for a second and turned to Kae who gave him a grunt which meant' go for it!' He turned back to Eina with a stern and determined look on his face
"That's just a risk I'll have to take" he proclaims once again
"Very well, your all set! The Hestia familia is located near the edge of the village in an abandoned white chapel, good luck Grey and come find me if ever you need help" Eina shouts to the departing boy
"Thanks Miss Eina! I owe ya!"
Grey walked through the large village bazaar constantly scanning for this so called white chapel, walked walked for a solid thirty minutes until his feet started to hurt and so plopped down on a bench.
"Ugh! Whoo! I never knew this place was this big! I'll never find that chapel!" Grey exclaims dramatically, Kae gives out an annoyed snort and rolled his eyes, then Grey spots a cute petite girl with brown puffy hair, two small cat ears, a white and red to and a maroon miniskirt with shin length black boots and an enormous green bag on her back, which looked almost impossible or improbable for her to carry, headed in the same direction
"H-hey! Excuse me miss chianthrope!"
The little girl turns to face him
"Are you referring to me?" The little girl pipes up
"Yes! I'm really sorry to disturb you but I'm searching for a white chapel, do you have
any idea where it is?"
"Oh the chapel? I'm only way there now actually! Why are you looking for it?"
"I'm wanting to join the Hestia familia!"
Her eyes widened for a second, then narrowed in suspicion
"Well if your that insistent, come on I'll show you the way!"
"Oh thank you so much!"
While they were walking the girl constantly watched grey, with a steely, prying looked in her Amber eyes, she felt he couldn't be trusted for some reason, maybe he wanted to take advantage of the situation, trying to sucker up to a famila to sponge everything he could from them, she was unsure but she wasn't gonna take her eyes off him for a second.
"Here we are! I'm back!" The girl announces
"Hey little bit! What took you?!" A red haired man looking to be in his early twenties exclaims
"For your information welf, going solo isn't as easy as it sounds! And where the hell do you get off with that response?! You try doing this by yourself!"
"Hey! hey! Easy! I was just kidding!" He then looks at grey and asks
"Who's the kid?"
"He claims he wants to become a member of this familia"
"Oh great! We need another member for our party!" He walks up to grey to shake his hand"nice meetin ya kid! What's your name?"
"G-grey ardell sir"
"Grey huh? Good name! And there's no need for the formal crap! I'm welf crozo, but you can call me welf, who's your friend here?"
"Oh this is kae! He's been with me ever since I was little"
The little girl decides to try and touch kae, but he whips around and snarls at her, in an attempted way of saying'back off'
"Hey easy kae! She didn't mean anything by it!" The dragon looks at him then lets out a hesitant disregarding snort, allowing the little girl to touch him, which she very much enjoyed stroking his smooth prominent reddish/orange scales
"By the way.. I never caught your name miss" grey addresses the girl
"Oh! Liliruca arde"
"Well miss arde..."
"Liliruca is fine"
"Liliruca..I need to speak to the goddess Hestia I believe right?"
"Yes, and she must give you her blessing, but just so you know, this life ain't for the faint of heart, or the string of will, many would be adventurers have lost their lives doing exactly why you want to do, your life is never guaranteed and you never know what day will be your last, the dungeons are an unforgiving place, are you sure this is why you want?"
This is the exact same thing Eina said to him, so he felt this was really something he needed to take into consideration, but it his best friend was willing to take that risk, then he was as well
"Yes, it is, I promised my best friend that I would! And I never go back in my word! We promised to traverse the dungeon together and I intend not to let him down!"
Lili and welf were both shocked by the boy's resolve and confident spirit, so much so they gave him understanding smiles
"Well you certainly got the guts to stand up for it kid, but we'll see if you've got the balls to back up your big talk!"
"Indeed! But who is this grind you are referring to!"
"I believe he is in you're familia, his name is bell cranel!"
"WHAT?!" They both shout, completely floored
"Master bell is your friend?!" Lili exclaims
"Yeah I've known him since childhood"
"Since childhood?!" They both exclaim once more
"Yeah, why is he really popular around here or something?"
"Popular?! He's the town hero! He defeated a both a Minotaur and aGoliath singlehandedly all in his first month as a level 2 adventurer! And did so besting even the might of the loli familia's party!"
"O-oh...w-wow, that's great!"
Grey said halfheartedly, he couldn't believe it, bell had already surpassed him in so many ways, he felt worthless, like he had lost his one and only friend to the popularity that came with being an adventurer, like he couldn't even dare call bell his friend, like he wasn't worth of him anymore
"Heh..I recognize that look! Don't worry kid, bell's to humble and good natured to gloat, he is truly dedicated to his familia and his friends, if you really are his best friend I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you!"welf reassured him
"M-maybe..." Grey mumbles"By the way...if this is her familia, then where is goddess Hestia?"
"Right here..." A tiny voice chimes in from behind grey, and he turns to see a petite girl with coal black shiny hair, tied back into two long pigtails, her face, cute and delicate with two sapphire blue eyes, her white dress cut off at the shoulders and ended at her thighs, she also wore white gloves and a blue each crossing over her arms and accentuating her rather large bust for a girl her size
"G-goddess!" Grey stutters disbelievingly
"Yes? What is it you're here for?" Hestia inquires
"Oh great goddess Hestia, I-I know this is gong to sound presumptuous, but I would like to-"
"I know! You want to join my familia! But my question is..." she stands on her tippy toes and looks him dead in the eye boring her prying sapphire orbs into his skull
"What do you want with my precious bell?"
"...excuse me?"
"You heard me! What do you want with my bell?!"
He and I made a vow with each other when we were kids, we told each other that would would become adventurers together and conquer the dungeons! But I heard that bell has already become so strong and I was losing hope that i'd ever see him again, but I can't give up! I made him a promise and I'm not going back on it!" Grey proclaims
"Mm...I see, you're dedication to my bell seems well rooted, but what makes you think you have what it takes? It takes more than a petty sense of pride and spirit to traverse this unforgiving dungeons! How do you plan to prove yourself useful? How do you propose you prove yourself the best?"
Grey felt trumped, like his childhood ambition was torn to shreds by a few cruel but true words, but then he remembered, he had never given up, and that's what had pushed him as far as he had come in his life, it was pure determination and his best friend that brought him back to the city to challenge the dungeon! And he wasn't gonna let this hold him back!
"By getting stronger! Plain and simple! There's no other way! And I'll do everything in my power to prove myself to you goddess! I pledge to serve you and your familia to the best of my ability, I Grey Ardell solemnly swear to the beautiful goddess Hestia!" Grey proclaims heroically, bowing in front of Hestia in a sigh of undying respect and loyalty, Hestia was taken aback by his firm resolve, nothing was gonna stop this kid! Even Lili and Welf were shocked by Grey's dedication
Hestia's face was unreadable for a second, but then a faint smile crept across her lips
"Very well, Grey Ardell..in the name of the divine power within me, I give you my blessing, but to get too excited, you better promise to take care of your familia! They are everything you have, and it's your job to protect and ain't them just as much them doing the same! Are we clear?"
"Yes goddess!" Grey happily proclaims once more, Hestia lays a hand on his silvery/grey hair and lets out s brief giggle
"You may rise" with that he stands and beams a Cheshire grin at them
"What must I do first?" Grey asks, expecting an arduous task
"Well, you first task is to enter the dungeon with you new party, but you'll have to wait till bell returns-" just then the door squeaks open and a boy with snowy white hair, red eyes and a tan jacket with baggy dark greyish black pants walks in with a hand full of potato croquettes, no doubt about it...it was Bell
"I'm back!" He announces
"~BELL~" Hestia joyously exclaims pouncing onto him, wrapping her legs around his torso, nuzzling his face furiously
"Haha! I'm happy to see you too goddess! I brought you all croquettes!"
"~Oh Bell!~ you're such a charmer!" Hestia coos as she lets go and takes the treats, giving bell a quick peck on the cheek, Bell then looks up to see Grey stand as stiff as a statue with wide stunned eyes
"G-grey?" Bell stutters
"Bell?"
If it were destiny, the best friends rushed each other and embraced each other as if it were a century since they saw each other.
Oh my gods Grey! I thought you'd never come back dude!" Bell exclaimed ecstatically almost tearing up at Grey's return
"I made you a promise Bell! And I wasn't going to take it lightly! But I guess it doesn't matter now..I've heard about everything you've done, your already better than me so I guess there's no point in trying to become an adventurer now, but I'm still gonna try to reach you!"
Bell felt a little guilty for leaving his friend behind, metaphorically speaking, but it was never his intention to do so, he just wanted to be close to Aiz.
"Grey, what could possibly make you think I would leave you behind on purpose? Our vow has kept me going, but so has my ambition to reach a certain girl...how could I forget about my best friend and our childhood ambition? No one will replace you grey..no amount of popularity or no skill level could light a fire in me like our friendship!"
Bells words touched Grey...even though he was much stronger than he was as a kid, at heart he was still the same pure hearted, if a little naïve, Bell Cranel
"You haven't changed a bit Bell! I'm proud of you!" Grey raised his hand for they're signature shake and bell responded by initiating it
"Well bell, mister Ardell here just joined the familia! And he seems quite anxious to prove himself to us! What say you guys take him to the dungeon for a little initiatory exploration?" Hestia states biting into one of the croquettes, giving Grey a bemused smile and a challenging, good natured glare
"Well you wanted your chance Grey! Whadduya say? Ready to take on your first monster horde?!" Bell inquires, with gusto
Grey looks upon all of the smiling faces of his new familia then gives them a determined look with his Cheshire grin
"Hell yeah! Let's go!"
