Chapter 7- First adventure in the Dungeon. (PART TWO)
Hello there! I intended to release this chapter on the previous Sunday (26th) but due to some circumstances cannot do it. Sorry! Seriously I got this chapter planned out from the day I released the last chapter. Well, again sorry and let's start.
There was a catastrophe moving in the dungeon from two days obliterating every monster in its path. He passed from floor after floor killing every monster in his path, even the other adventurers who saw him on this rampage were out of words at this display of power.
There was one question in their mind though,
DOESN'T HE FEEL PAIN!
Their felling was justified because he was bleeding. His fists were stained in blood, not monster blood but his own. He continued to kill every monster even with his wounded fists as if he didn't even notice his fists were injured.
Even when he passed the first ten floor his response was just "Too weak".
And after two days of continuous fighting he was here, on the 20th floor. He would have been even lower had he not slacked off on the 18th floor.
He was living the best moments of his life right now as can be seen from the delightful grin on his face, and of course this battle maniac for none other than Veldora, the one known as Storm Dragon.
He had been waiting for this moment, to rampage about to his heart's content. It felt so good to let loose after so long, now it's not like he hadn't fought after The Great War ended, he fought in their labyrinth so many times after the war but those all were sparring matches with the Floor Guardians, they couldn't be called real battles for someone such as Veldora. That's why here, in this Dungeon where you kill or be killed is the real playground for Veldora.
There was only one inconvenience and that was his human body. Rimuru has granted everyone who came here with a human body and strictly warned them to only use their real bodies when they are in the Dungeon but Veldora because of overconfidence came in the dungeon with the same human body he was granted.
It directly couldn't be called overconfidence as he wanted to ask for his real body but seeing Rimuru was busy with the duel thing, he refrained from it as he would get scolded.
Everyone have to ask Rimuru if they wanted their real bodies back as everyone's real bodies were stored in Rimuru's [Imaginary Space] and can only be obtained back by asking Rimuru.
It was not like they will get killed if their human body is destroyed because their soul will just return to their real body which is inside Rimuru, thinking this Veldora went into the Dungeon with just his human body and the result was this situation he was in.
His hands were all bloody with his own blood as he was only fighting with his fists. A normal human body cannot withstand the mighty power of a True Dragon. Even if it was a body of a level 6 adventurer it cannot withstand Veldora's power, for that reason he was only limiting his power to an extent to which this body can withstand but even with that it is still a human body and fighting for 2 days straight puts its strain on it. As a result, due to constant fighting his fists are wounded.
He was feeling pain but it was just like an ant stinging to him, so just on this note he continued just because the pain was so less. He thought his body would withstand as long as he didn't face any abnormally strong opponent.
It was a mistake. It was a mistake just because it was Veldora who calculated the amount of pain. If it was another level 6 adventurer he wouldn't be even able to move his hands, that was the condition of Veldora's fists at the moment but he continued.
As he was finished with the 20th floor he decided to go to the 21th floor and as he entered he was instantly greeted by a view of fallen adventurers. It was a party of eight each on the ground bleeding continuously because of their wounds. Six out of them were even missing a leg or a hand and said arm or leg could be seen on the ground next to them. In whichever condition they were in they were still alive…..somehow.
The most disturbing thing was that it wasn't done by a monster rather by some people, each wearing a mask and one women giving them orders.
Veldora had a relaxed expression even after seeing this, he didn't have any sympathy for the fallen adventurers and why would he? From where he came from it is 'the survival of the fittest' and those who were on the ground weren't strong enough but it was the thought of the previous Veldora.
Veldora, after living with Rimuru have changed drastically in power and in personality so he won't let them die and besides there was another thought going inside his mind,
This is just the best opportunity! I just arrived at the perfect time, finally its my time to shine. I arrived at the perfect time when a hero arrives in the manga, finally everyone will regard me as The Hero Veldora Ghahahaha!
This thought can be said the ninety percent of the reason he decided to save them.
"Revis-sama we have to transport them fast before anyone com-" One masked men who was talking to the women named Revis was cut short by a loud voice.
"Wait right there! You can't continue your evil deeds as I Strom Dr-no, The Hero Veldora has arrived. GWHAHAHAHA." A muscular man with a tanned body arrived with a very loud voice followed by a heavy laughter.
Veldora arrived with the most heroic line he could muster while giving a heroic pose. With this he was the perfect hero, at least that was Veldora's thought.
The ones seeing him didn't have the same opinion. What they could see was a man whose hands were in no condition to fight and continuously bleeding. Surprisingly he didn't have any wound on his body but by seeing his fist's condition alone one could say that every bone in his hand was on the verge of breaking at any time. The ones seeing him could only guess that he had a death wish to confront them in this state.
"Take care of the fool fast so we could get going." The women ordered with a harsh tone.
Seeing this Veldora was in his own thought,
Why aren't they afraid?! They should be cowering in fear that I arrived and yet wha- Then Veldora realized the condition of his hands but that realization made him all the more happy.
Gwahahaha! If they are judging me by my broken hands then I will show them the real power of a hero! The Hero Veldora!
Veldora easily deflected the attack of the coming masked man while hitting him in the gut with his already wounded hand without showing any kind of pain….well, that was not true, he immediately hid his hand behind his back with a panicked expression.
Revis while seeing this was more than shocked as the man on the ground was level 4 in terms of strength and despite that got knocked out with just one hit from the man in front of them. In that instant she reassessed the threat level of this man.
"Gwa-hahahaha! What a weakling! Now who is next?!" Veldora said while moving forward at his enemies while still hiding his hands behind his back.
"You all see those fallen adventurers. I will deal with him." Revis gave the order to the masked men and moved forward to intercept Veldora.
Veldora seeing the redhead women coming to him concentrated all his attention to her. Revis with a long sword attacked with an overhead slash which Veldora skillfully evaded by tilting to the left side while responding with a kick.
His leg, rather than landing on her chest was blocked by her sword but the force behind the kick sent her backwards creating some distance between the two.
"You are quite strong but not strong enough." Revis commended Veldora on his strength but she assessed that he was not that strong as to defeat her.
"Gwahahaha you might have to recheck that."
Crack
As soon as Veldora said that Revis's long sword gave a sound of 'crack' and broke into two pieces.
"Wha-" Revis was quite shocked by seeing this as the sword's quality can undoubtedly be said to be of a first class weapon and yet Veldora's one kick was able to break the sword in two.
But Revis's shocked expression immediately vanished as she realized something,
He is not using his hands.
Veldora's hands as can be seen were more than wounded and he has only used his legs during the fight, seeing this Revis came to a conclusion that he couldn't use hands. It was not like she only depended on her sword for fighting.
She threw her broken sword on the ground while taking a combat posture. She just didn't depend on sword skill but also was a good hand to hand fighter.
Seeing this Veldora could only think of one thing,
Oh shit!
He thought he had been hiding it well but she figured it out. When he punched the masked guy on that moment most of the bones in his hand broke rendering his hands immobile. He was still not tired in the least but as the bones broke his hands refused to listen his command. He thought as the pain was so less his body would still work but it didn't. He should have returned to the surface when his hands started bleeding, and now he was cursing his own foolishness. And so he only used his legs while fighting this women but now she figured it out.
He couldn't use any of his magic because if he did the fallen adventurers would certainly be caught in the crossfire and die and that was the result he certainly didn't want.
As his opponent has figured it out she was moving in his direction and he was sure he couldn't just handle her with just his legs. He racked his brains for what to do and he could only get to one solution.
To call his real body back.
Anybody who wanted their body back would have to consult Rimuru first but Veldora was different, he can consult someone else, this someone has always helped him with these matters. Without any further thought he contacted that being.
"Hey! Can you please give me my real body."
(No)
As soon as he asked to the being his request was immediately rejected with a cold voice.
"P-Please don't joke around. I am in a tough spot here."
(Master has allowed to take your original bodies in the dungeon but you didn't, giving you your body now would arise some consequences.)
"H-H-Hey I am sorry okay! Please I will die here."
(Negative. If you die in that body your consciousness will immediately return to you original body so there is no problem.)
Hearing this Veldora started sweating. This being never listens to him after she got her own self of being. Veldora always preferred her to be the skill she was before which helped him when he was in a tough spot. He was talking to Rimuru's skill or rather the other being inside Rimuru, Ciel.
"Hey! If I leave those adventurers be like that, they will undoubtedly die. That's not what Rimuru would have wanted Right!"
(…..)
Seeing this conversation wasn't going anywhere Veldora decided to hit at the spot where it hurts. Even how cold Ciel is she will without doubt put her master's wishes first and knowing that there is no way Rimuru would have let them die she started thinking. And as if a miracle, Veldora got his wish.
(All right. But in future you have to repay this debt.)
"Y-Yes! Of course, I declare on the name of Strom Dragon Veldora that I will repay this generosity."
Veldora didn't know and he didn't care what debt he had to repay as long as he got his body, so he replied without hesitation.
This conversation got over in seconds due to [Thought Acceleration] and as soon as it did dark aura started surrounding Veldora's body rendering anyone unable to see what was happening. Veldora's human body immediately turned into dust particles as a crack in the space opened up from which came the exact copy of a man who was previously there.
There was a difference though, because this was the original body of the Storm Dragon Veldora. Immediately as he came, he released his full aura without any restrictions without realizing the consequence of it.
It was only for seconds but that seconds were enough to shake the entire 20 floors of the dungeon by being exposed to his enormous aura.
"GWAHAHAHAHA! I have arrived, now then wo…men…..come at…me…..huh?" He started with a heavy laughter and a loud voice but his voice started quieting down after each word and by looking at what he has caused.
The masked men were all down showing no signs of even moving a finger, they were all dead. The women who he was facing was on the ground out cold but surprisingly she was still alive.
(Idiot. Who told you to release your aura?! If I wouldn't have protected the adventurers with a barrier, they would all have died as well.)
Shit! Veldora totally forgot about it, he released his full aura just out of reflex and this happened.
As if to make matters worse,
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?!" Chloe came at the exact moment.
She left Bell immediately after she sensed Veldora's aura. After getting out of Bell's sight she tapped on to Veldora's aura and instantly teleported herself to where he was. It would have taken her quite a lot of time if she would have decided to travel by foot so she choose this method.
As to why she didn't decide to teleport right in front of Bell because she knew Bell was not good at hiding things and if she would have teleported in front of him it would inevitably be known to public through Bell and that would have caused her popularity to rise more in turn giving her more problems.
But now she was standing in front of the one who caused her to go through that much trouble and she was angry, really angry.
Veldora could also sense her anger and decided to make excuses,
"Oh, I was just saving the adventurers from evil people and….and…." Veldora pointed at where the evil people were only to find that except the adventurers no one was there.
"Where did they go?" The killed people and also the women were all gone .
"Oh, if you are talking about those who were lying there, as soon as I called out to you, some more people came and took them away." Chloe answered Veldora's question.
"Why didn't you stop them?"
"First answer me who told you to release your full aura."
"It was just…..just…"
(It seems I need to attend to some different matter now.)
He was going to just ask Ciel for a right answer but before he could she decided to leave.
H-Hey! T-Traitor! How dare you leave me in this spot.
(I am not to blame here. I already told you it could cause some consequences yet you decided to comply with it and I need to attend to another consequence which your actions caused.)
She refuted back with a cold answer while giving certain pressure on the word 'your'.
Which consequence can be more severe than this one? He was left with this question as Ciel left him to his own fate and with a scary Chloe.
If he didn't know the real meaning of fear and powerlessness he was knowing it now. Bell Cranell had had only one thought in his mind,
HE IS GOING TO DIE!
As soon as Chloe left him he was chased by a minotaur. He couldn't understand how it came on the upper floors as it was said to be the monster spawned in the deeper floors but yet it was chasing him.
As if that was not enough, he was now cornered nowhere to run. Death was mocking at him that 'you can't escape'.
Is this how his story ends? His first adventure in the dungeon ends in his death? His dream of catching up to his familia for which he trained and now when he finally came into the dungeon, he is going to be killed like this, in this pathetic state, cornered.
There was also some sense of relief in his heart that if he dies he will not hold back his familia but there was also some anger, he was angry at himself was being this weak to be cornered.
No! He can't die like this, he wants to be stronger, become like his fellow members, become a hero.
But who is he kidding? He is a level 1, he can't just take on a level 2 minotaur by himself.
As if the feeling of powerlessness he had when he joined a familia of so many level 6 adventurers was not enough, he was feeling it now, the worst feeling of powerlessness.
He didn't want to die, that thought was repeating in his heart repeatedly and as if to answer his call,
(Do you want power.)
He heard a voice in his head out of nowhere, he tried to see where it came from but there was just the minotaur standing and no one else.
"Who are you?"
(That is not your concern. But do you want power to overcome this situation.)
He didn't know what this voice was but if it can take him out of this situation than anything is okay.
"Yes"
(Understood)
As soon as that voice resounded his own consciousness drifted into darkness.
There stood Bell still in front of the minotaur but something was out of place. The feared expression on his face was returned to normal. Not even a single expression can be seen on his face. His usual red eyes had something more to it though, his eyes were calculating the best course to kill his enemy. Thousands of calculations in seconds were being carried out but seeing from his expression it couldn't be said to be Bell's doing…because it was not.
It was Ciel. As to how she was able to take control of Bell or even talk to him was because they were in the same familia. It was relatively easy for her, Rimuru already had a Soul Corridor with his subordinates but as in the case of Bell, she was able to from something akin to a soul corridor with him by tampering with the falna they received.
As to why she was able to take control of his body was because he was really weak. If she would have tried to take control of someone as powerful as Veldora or Milim, even she wouldn't be able to do it.
A small smile could be seen on Bell's lips or rather her lips as to why, because she was planning for this outcome from the beginning.
Even when Veldora left to go in the dungeon, she already noticed that he was going with a human body but didn't stop him and she derived from calculation that with Veldora's power that body will only be able to survive for two days and it was not hard for her to know that her master will concentrate on development of Bell after the Duel. She had been with her master for so long and can exactly predict what action he takes at what moment.
She also knew Veldora way too well and deduced that he will release his aura and Chloe will leave Bell for that reason. Bell being cornered by a minotaur was not predicted though, but even this miscalculation worked out well as his feeling of powerlessness made him easy to control and birthed something more in him.
She didn't want to let Bell face a minotaur of level 2 but because of miscalculation the result was this. There was no way Bell a level 1 would be able to face a level 2 therefore she decided to take action.
She deduced this plan just to make Bell stronger, not that she had any personal intention to do so but just because he was good towards her master and was the member of the same familia.
With the smile on her face faded she moved towards the minotaur faster than the speed of a level 1 adventurer and stabbed the minotaur on its neck with full force ripping apart its neck which resulted in scattering of blood all over Bell's body.
Now that she had taken care of the miscalculation and at the same time birthed a seed for a new skill she immediately left Bell's body.
Bell's consciousness returned as soon as Ciel left him just to find blood all over him and a magic stone in front of him.
Now, out of reflex of seeing blood scattered all over his body he immediately started to run while screaming while not knowing what happened in this place.
Two adventurers arrived at the exact same time seeing the boy run away. One of the adventurer, a women picked up the magic stone left behind by the boy.
This women was a level 6 adventurer, The sword princess Aiz Wallenstein. She had been killing monsters on the 15th floor when the entire dungeon shook confusing her and in that moment of confusion, the minotaur, who was just killed escaped from that floor. She had been chasing that minotaur to end up here on the 5th floor.
Did he kill that minotaur?
That boy indeed was covered in blood indicating that he killed the monster but that doesn't explain why he ran away. There was also a point that it was the 5th floor where mostly level 1 adventurers fought.
Whatever the case was, she had to apologize to the boy for the trouble and maybe if she asked him what happened, he will clear her doubts about what happened.
5 hours later.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH!" A loud shriek resounded in The Hestia Familia's Home. It was their goddess herself who was responsible for the loud noise because she was just seeing something crazy.
She was looking at her Familia's only level 1 adventurer's status and that was what made her shocked. It went something like this,
Name- Bell Cranell
Affiliation- Hestia Familia
Race- Human
Level- 1
Strength- A769
Endurance- A699
Dexterity- B563
Agility- S998
Magic- None
Skills- Liaris Freese
Continues desire results in continues growth
Stronger desire results in stronger growth
Predictor
Exact calculation predicts the future movements of the opponents.
High speed decision making.
I was standing beside Hestia seeing the results myself and I too was shocked. No level 1 adventurer would grow this much just on their first trip to the dungeon. This is just unbelievable.
"R-Rimu-chan t-this skill 'Predictor' it says that Bell-kun can predict the future movements of opponents, is it the same as Chloe's ability." Hestia asked me a very stupid question.
"Of course not dummy, his future attack prediction depends on calculations while hers skills directly affects time for the same purpose." I explained to Hestia who was confusing Bell's new skill with Chloe's. The difference in their skill is like heaven and earth and still she doesn't understands.
"B-But even so, with this skill he will be able to predict others attack, wouldn't it like make him invincible." She was again getting the wrong idea.
"You are not quite right. Yes, he will be able to predict their attacks but only if his calculation is 'exact' if he even make a single mistake in it then his prediction will go wrong. Or if you throw him in a fight with a level 5 or 6 adventurer, no matter what tactic he uses or how many attack he predicts, the opponent will just be able to take him out with brute force." No matter how you look at it, this skill still had flaws but it nonetheless is a great skill.
"A-And t-this 'Liaris Freese' it says that he will grow strong as long as there is desire to grow stronger. Isn't it absurd." She again exclaimed but this time about his other skill.
"Yeah, it is absurd." But this time I couldn't say a thing. This skill was absurd as Hestia says but what was his desire? I didn't know so I decided to ask the person in question.
"So Bell why do you desire to get stronger?" I asked Bell who was looking at us sitting on the bed.
"W-Well, because I want to catch up to you all, I am the only level 1 in this familia and if I don't get stronger I will just hold you all back." He replied a little embarrassed.
Oh, I see. He thinks of himself as the weakest link in our familia so that has been weighing heavily on him so he wants to get strong. I should have been more considerate of his feelings.
But even as this considered, that still doesn't explain this level of growth in one day.
Chloe did explain to me she had to leave Bell alone because of Veldora and Bell said he didn't remember anything after one minotaur chased him. I did scold Veldora for his recklessness until he started crying. Veldora did wanted to say something though, but it seemed like something was keeping him from doing that.
But isn't it too much to have been a coincidence for this much to happen?
Suddenly something clicked in my mind, the base for Bell's skill 'calculation'. Things started making sense now. I walked away to my office leaving Hestia and Bell to have a chat with the person who I thought was pulling the strings.
I sat on my office chair and started my conversation.
"So how are you Ciel?"
(I am doing pretty good master. I think the weather is good as well.)
"Oh yeah, it is. Moving on, don't you think Bell's skill 'Predictor' has many things to do with 'calculations', I wonder whose strong point it is?"
(Yes master, I wonder about that too.)
"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"
I lost my temper and shouted inside my own mind. It all makes sense now, I was already thinking that Veldora releasing his aura and Chloe running off after him while leaving Bell alone couldn't be a coincidence. And when the word 'calculations' stood out I became certain of it. It was her.
"Do you have something to say for yourself?"
('Ahem' 'Ahem' 'Cough' 'Cough')
"Don't you dare try to shrug it of. You put Bell's life in danger."
(Negative. I saved his life instead.)
"OH, so you accept it was your plan."
(….)
"Don't you stay silent now. I want to know exactly what happened."
After that I extracted every last bit of information out of her. How she created a plan to make Bell strong and the minotaur ruined her plan so she herself had to posses his body and fight it.
(But the miscalculation turned out to be a good thing as the feeling of powerlessness at that moment in Bell and his desire to catch up to his familia birthed his skill 'Liaris Freese')
"But how were you able to reach out to him, as far as I know we don't have a soul corridor with him?"
(It was easy. As master and Bell Cranell are in the same familia and are blessed by the same god, I was able to use that connection to form something akin to a soul corridor with him….. Just had to tamper with the falna system a little.)
"H-Hey! Wouldn't Hestia understand if you tamper with the falna."
(I covered my tracks very well master. She will not understand.)
"A-All right but what about his other skill 'Predictor' and why does it have 'calculations' as its base which is your specialty?"
(As for the skill 'Predictor', even if he doesn't remember anything, his body still experienced the events when I was in his body and was able to accumulate that total experience in the form of the skill 'Predictor' and therefore that skill has 'calculations' as its base.)
"O-Okay I understand but what about his all status reaching A?"
(Oh! That was a mixed outcome of the skill 'Predictor' and I also changed some mechanisms in his body as to make him more agile and-)
"Wait right there! How can you change body mechanisms of others people without even asking the person! Don't you have any shame. Won't he have body problems in the future."
Ciel was saying something outrageous again. I mean, changing body mechanisms to make him stronger, I know her intentions were good but isn't it like doing illegal operations.
(First of all master I would like to point out that I am quite hurt that you are being so rude to me and no, he wouldn't have any problems as I have just made him a little strong.)
"All right, sorry. Just let me ask you one more question, why are you making Bell stronger?"
(That is a very simple answer. As master and everyone will go home after clearing the dungeon, this familia will have some problems and so I am just creating a reliable captain for the future after we leave.)
Oh, I see. She was thinking that far ahead. We will indeed leave this world after our goal is complete so she was just thinking for the future. But Bell, the captain, isn't he too timid to become a captain? Well I guess I will just have to focus more on his development from now on.
But how the minotaur ended up on the 5th floor? Well, who cares anyway. Thinking that I ended my conversation with Ciel and got back to my work.
I was also feeling bad for Veldora who just got caught up in Ciel's scheme, I think I will treat him to some lunch as an apology.
And here it ends! I know I changed many things from the original and it wouldn't be called a fanfic if I didn't change anything. Sorry for people who were looking forward to Aiz and Bell's meeting. It will happen in the future. I know it was a little complicated with all the technical stuff, at least for me.
Plz leave a review about how the chapter was?