Danmachi: Heroic Will
Rated; M (Blood/Gore)
Disclaimer; I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Ōmori, all rights go to him
Summary: 8 Years after Bell Cranel becomes an adventurer, everything he has built as well as love has fallen after the mysterious awakening across the globe. As a final resort he managed to travel back in time to right before he started his march to the great city of Orario to become an adventurer. Follow Bell Cranel as he fights for a future where everything that he holds dear may survive and faces supposedly impossible odds to achieve his goals.
2: Arrival of an old-new Adventurer
Normal POV
=Outside the gates of Orario=
Outside the gates of Orario, Bell was leaning against a wall, hyperventilating after running almost an entire mile without his falna. He quickly realised while running that it would be a while but decided to keep going, leading to his current predicament. He was nearly unable to move except hyperventilate.
"Man, running is so much harder without the Falna, seriously, this is ridiculous" Bell said while still catching his breath for over 10 minutes even with his youthful body. After a pregnant pause, Bell decided to go through the gates of the city and get the Falna back by joining a Familia. It was easier than Bell originally anticipated with only basic questions of 'Who are you?' and 'What do you seek from Orario, The Labyrinth City?'. Just having such simple questions for entry is what led to the city's downfall in the first place because it allowed the Kyros to infiltrate the city and assume strategic positions around it… even though the majority of them came from within the dungeon.
Once inside, Bell immediately started looking for Hestia, his goddess in the previous timeline. The natural places he first looked were the ones he was familiar with, first he went to the Hearth Mansion, subsequently realising that Hestia didn't live there yet and it was now the home of the Apollo Familia. He then decided to visit the previous hestia familia home, the abandoned church, close to the hostess of fertility.
When Bell reached the Abandoned church, a sense of deja vu came upon him, thinking back to all the moments he had with his goddess here.
Flashback:
"Kami-sama, I've returned" Bell announced to his goddess, Hesita
"Yay! Welcome back Bell-kun! You're early today." Hestia exclaimed while happily throwing herself around Bell's body. "Yeah, I nearly got killed in the dungeon today" He told her
"Are you alright? Do you hurt anywhere?" Hestia frantically asked as she searched every inch of Bell's body much to his embarrassment. As he set her down from his shoulders he told her lovingly "I'm fine Kami-Sama. I'm the only member of the Hestia Familia. I wouldn't do anything to leave a goddess stranded by the wayside."
"Okay, seeing as you've said that, I'll relax and expect you to be just fine!" Hestia replied, calming down. "Oh, Yeah! Today, I brought you a tasty treat!" She said remembering something, as she turned around she said "Ta-da" while revealing steaming potato balls.
"What's with the potato balls?" Bell asked Hestia
"I started a part-time job with the food cart here, right? A customer was full and gave them to me! Why don't we turn dinner into a party tonight? Bell-kun, you are not going to sleep tonight" Hestia replied full of pride
"That's wonderful, Kami-sama!" Bell exclaimed while happily clapping while Hestia laughed
End Flashback
'Those were the days weren't they' was what was going through Bell's thoughts as a certain goddess was sheepishly collecting her courage to approach Bell. As she started to approach him, without him realising mind you, Bell was reliving moments with his goddess as a lonely tear escaped one of his eyes.
"Young man, are you okay?" Came the voice of the goddess as music to Bell's ears. As he turned around he subsequently swiped the tear from his face as he was now facing the goddess he was looking for, his goddess.
"Hello there, Kami-sama. What did you say?" Bell awkwardly answered with a light blush to his face, realising even after all these years, he was still somewhat nervous around her. "I Asked if you were alright, you've been standing there just staring at the church for over an hour now, I was getting worried" she answered
"Oh… heh sorry I was just… um… lost in my thoughts i guess." Bell said while thinking 'Dammit, why can't I just say it without stuttering?'.
"Mmh, I wonder what you were thinking about young man?"
"Ohh… just that I was looking for a Familia to join" He answered 'Finally, without stuttering, jeez'
"Oh, really!" She said with a hopeful look. "If you're looking for a familia to join, you could join mine young man"
"Gladly… Kami-sama" He answered as he took her hand while getting his knees, to pay respect.
"Come on, I'm going to need to give you my blessing so you can grow, we're going to my home… eh… that abandoned church" She said sheepishly.
"It's okay, I don't mind, as long as I have a familia to join, even if I'm the first member" Bell smiled "Wait, how did you know you're the first member?" She asked.
"Ehh…" 'Shit I didn't mean to say that' "I just guessed it, since I don't see anyone else around" 'Smooth Bell, she definitely won't think you're stupid now' he thought bitterly
"hmm, okay! Let's just go inside so I can give you the blessing."
"Alright, Kami-sama, I'm coming!"
Bell's POV
=30 Minutes later, inside the abandoned church=
As I hear Kami-sama gasp, my mind is reeling about what it may be, did I actually retain my stats? Or was it something else that is surprising her? "Kami-sama, what is it?"
"Uh… This can't be. This… this is just… What?"
"Kami-sama, what's wrong?" I genuinely want to know if my suspicions are true.
"Young man, who are you if I may ask? And where did you come from?" she suddenly asked as she got off my back, clenching her tiny hands around a piece of paper, my status paper i realize.
"The name is Bell by the way, Bell Cranel, and I came from a Village called Tenby. It's a one weeks journey away from Orario on foot. I came here to become an adventurer. What is so weird about that?" I asked with a straight face, even though I was panicking on the inside. I spent an embarrassingly short amount of time trying to figure out what to say when my goddess sees my stats, right now… I am officially clueless on what to do, great right?
"Well, Bell. Judging from your status update, either you're just an abnormally lucky adventurer, or you are lying to me… wait no, you can't lie to a goddess, we know if you lie."
"Goddess, I am really confused about what you're saying, can I take a look at what's got you surprised?" I carefully asked to try to get a look at my status
"Ohh… right, here this is your starting status, Bell" Hestia gave me the status paper. As i take a look at it, my face falls slightly when i realize that all my basic stats are reset to I-0, as well as my level to 1. This is going to take a lot longer than I originally expected, well, I'm just going to have to change the timetable a little bit… by a few years. Great, I barely have that luxury in my situation.
As my eyes slowly read the paper, my confusion was reaching an all time high, 'Why did I retain all of these if not the stats? Is it because these are not like the stats that enhance the body slowly throughout time but you actually manifest them both in body and mind? Well at least I still have the most important one, Liaris Freeze. Without that this mission would be impossible' Hestia seemed to notice that I was deep in thought and decided to interrupt.
"You seem to be catching on to why I was so surprised, and why I asked you about who you are"
"Yes, Kami-sama. But it isn't unheard of for an adventurer to start off with something like this though, I mean, one of the first childs of Loki, Gaelia, started out with Cinder ella, a type of transformation magic."
"Yeah, don't remind me of that flat chested goddess, Bell. By the way, you also have skills, two at that! How do you explain that, hmm?"
"Well, it isn't unheard of for an adventurer to start off with a skill, maybe it's possible for one to start off with 2?"
"You may be right but here is the kicker, you've got a Development ability, which may I say is ONLY earned after leveling up, so it's impossible for a level 1 to get one."
"Ehh… honestly I have no idea what is going on here Kami-sama. I'm just as surprised as you, I'm also tired so could I prepare myself for bed, Kami-sama?" I asked as I put the status paper down on a table next to the bed.
"O-of course, how silly of me not to realise it, well you can take the sofa, got it. I'm a virgin goddess you know, so don't get any ideas" she said as I quickly pulled my hands up in a feigh surrender "Kami-sama, don't get weird ideas, I just met you. So it wouldn't be right to go anywhere near that" I said as i slowly exited up the stairs with my toothbrush and toothpaste.
As I was starting to walk up the stairs, I quickly glanced at the Status paper nearby on the table.
Name: Bell Cranel
Lv 1
Status:
{STR} I-0
{VIT} I-0
{DEX} I-0
{AGI} I-0
{MAG} I-0
Magic:
Firebolt
Skills:
Liaris Freeze: Precocious maturation. The effect is maintained so long as he maintains his feelings, and the effect is heightened depending on how strong these feelings are. Bonus effect: Unknown
Argonaut: Heroic strike, the possibility of turning any situation around with an overwhelming amount of force
Development Abilities:
Mystery: I
Hestia's POV
=Meanwhile inside the abandoned church=
"These stats, they are not normal, and this ability, i've never heard of it. Liaris Freeze, Precocious maturing, what does that mean?"
Well, it's a skill that I have never heard about from either the guild or another god. Also on top of that, he has the rarest development ability of them all on the get go? I really want to dig further into this but something tells me it is definitely a bad idea.
"Ugh, this is both exciting and scary knowing that my child, the very first one has such a good start, but that may not be such a good thing, after all, with the wargames existing, any Familia can challenge mine in order to take Bell if they learn of his potential with this kind of power." I quietly mumbled to myself. I have to warn him, I really don't want to lose this one, after all it's taken me so long to finally find someone willing to join my familia.
Normal POV
= Morning after=
"Kami-sama I think this is enough for one dive into the dungeon, after all i'm not going that deep"
"I know Bell, I know, but I don't want you to die in there and leave me alone after your first day!" The goddess complains with a cute pout. "Anyway, I'm going now, Kami-sama. I might be gone longer than expected since I want to make up the lost time in the dungeon after registering with the guild"
"Okay, Bye Bell-kun, Good luck and don't die!" Bell chuckles as he hears her scream, then he begins his run towards the guild office. Should he join up with the guild though, that's the real thoughts that are going through his mind at this point, after all. The previous time he did, and leveled up in a month and a half. That garnered a lot of attention from other familias on his potential, leading to Apollo challenging Hestia to a wargame. This time around, he's going to have to level up even faster than before so he can be prepared for the immense power that the Kyros have. That will mean even more attention.
Bell eventually decides to register with the guild, mostly because he is definitely going to need Ouranos' trust and help in the future once he decides to reveal the grave situation that is coming. After all, revealing it now would only cause trouble, since he still doesn't know the exact source, just that he accidentally triggered it down on floor 100 while passing through 6 years from now.
As Bell got closer to the guild while in deep thought, a pair of lecherous silver eyes locked onto Bell from the top of Babel tower,
"My, my, that is interesting indeed. I have never seen such a beautiful color from a child. That color reminds me of Glistering starfire. It's glowing so brightly. Ohhh, I need to keep an eye in this one. Ottar!"
"Yes, my lady" A big boar like man entered the room and answered
"Keep an eye on that one" she commanded as she pointed towards Bell trying to squeeze through a crowd outside the guild office. "Of course my lady, you wish is my command" He answered as he left to pursue the task. As he left the woman quietly wondered how wonderful it is to finally witness a color she has never seen before. She will not miss this chance for something new and interesting from the usual bland and boring.
Bell's POV
=Guild Office=
"Finally, that took way too long. Why are there even this many people here today?" I quietly mumbled to myself while breathlessly walking towards the counter.
"That may be because there is a massive Hephaestus sale today, They managed to get their hands on a lot of high quality materials, so much that once they were done crafting weapons with it, there were so many that they needed to clear space for other orders that have come in" I heard a familiar voice from behind the counter
It made sense then why so many people were outside Babel tower that the line was extending this long. After all Hephaestus familia equipment made with high quality materials can cost millions of valis, I mean my Hestia knife did cost 200 million valis… but it was made by Hephaestus herself so it was somewhat understandable.
As I realized that I never answered the familiar voice behind the counter I turned around so fast I nearly lost my footing and fell, after recovering I was greeted by a familiar smile.
"Hello there, I would like to register with the guild as a new adventurer." I calmly announced to the young half elf before me
"Of course, Here is the required documentation. Just write down your name, age, level and familia so you can get started." She handed me the piece of paper.
As I sat down at a nearby table, I started to fill in the form. 'It's been a long time since I saw her, after all she died in the battle for Orario 6 years from now. I really missed her' I sadly thought as I remembered the painful memory.
Flashback:
"Bell! Has everyone escaped into the secret passageway?" A woman answered through a magic communication device I created
"Not everyone, You're not here Eina. Come on, everyone else is through so get down here" I answered anxiously
"Bell… I'm sorry but this is where I have to say goodbye, the tunnel has collapsed at the entrance so I can't get in"
"No… EINA NO!"
"Bell, please they are almost through the magic barrier, so please… just let me just say my piece."
"O-okay, Eina, please just… Don't die on me, I've already lost too many people I care about."
"Bell, these last 6 years have been the best years of my life, meeting you and guiding you through your adventures… no matter how reckless you got" *Laugh* "These years have been simply put, incredible. You have broken all my expectations, and become the most important person in the whole city too me"
"E-ein-na…" *sniffle* " Please, I don't want to lose you too… first Lili, then Welf, Not you too okay… NOT YOU TOO!"
"Bell, it's already too late, I just want you to know before it all ends… I… I love you!"
All of a sudden screams of pain could be heard from the other side of the device as the Kyros were mercilessly tearing Eina apart, piece by piece.
"EINAAAAAA, NOOOO… no… no, no, no! NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAIN! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Bell screamed in despair as tears were flowing down his cheeks at an alarming rate
"Bell, I'm sorry. She didn't deserve that" Finn said as he came up with a beautiful golden haired girl
"Why… WHY DO I LOSE EVERYONE I CARE ABOUT? YOUR FAMILIA IS JUST FINE WHILE ONLY ME AND MY GODDESS REMAINS IN MINE. TELL ME FINN, AIS, WHY!?" Bell screamed in despair at the newly arrived pair.
"I don't know Bell, and I really am sorry, but we need to move. It won't take them long to find this place." Finn calmly told Bell
"Bell, if you need a shoulder to cry on, i'm here for you" The Gold haired woman told Bell after a while
"Ais, right now I just need to be alone. You still have everyone you care about, while I have lost the majority of them" I said as tears continued to shamelessly flow down my face
"Okay, just remember, the offer still stands"
"I'll-" *sniffle* "I'll think about it" Bell said ending the conversation as they started the March towards the wilds
End Flashback
As I realized that i was finished with the registration documents, I quickly removed the tears that had escaped my attention earlier and went back to the counter
"I'm done with the registration documents, here" I handed the documents to Eina. "Thank you, let me just go through them… hmm, Bell cranel, age 14, level 1 and in… Hestia familia? Never heard of it, is it a newly formed familia?" She asked
"Yes, I'm the first member, is there something extra I have to do?" I ask even though I know very well that I need to hand a familia registration form to Hestia.
"Yes, here, this is a familia registration form that your goddess has to fill in. This part here, you can tell your goddess is not required because low ranking and newly formed familias don't need a symbol since it's only used in large purchases or brands for their products. May I also recommend you to get an advisor since you don't have any familia members to teach you about the dungeon?"
"Of course, but can I ask for a certain person though?" I asked full well knowing that i'm definitely going to ask her
"Of course, Who would you like to be your advisor?"
"Ahh, her name is Eina, Eina Tulle"
"Ohh, what a surprise, that's actually me" she said as she gave me that famous smile that I have missed so much.
"Ohh really, what a coincidence!" I said in feign surprise
"Well, since you're a new adventurer and probably want to go down into the dungeon today, I will give you a crash course from the first floor through floor 5, but don't go above floor 4. That is basically suicide for new adventurers. Let's go into one of the back room so I can give you advice on the monsters you will face"
"Okay, looking forward to it!" I answered while following her, this is really giving me a sense of deja vu, heh, that's kinda funny considering this has actually happened before.
"Here we are, so is there anything particular you want to know before we begin?"
Hmm, today I'm only diving through floor 1 to 4, maybe 5 if my sword skills prove to make it too easy, ohh yes, the layout would be good to know. As I found out the hard way after the fall of Orario, always pay attention to your surroundings, and gather as much information about every nook and cranny of a potential battlefield, no matter how small the danger may seem. Underestimating small things is what led to countless deaths of adventurers and nearly my own. The dungeon is also woefully unpredictable, like that time I met a minotaur at floor 5 even though they don't spawn lower than floor 17. Honestly, the dungeon is completely unforgiving to rookie mistakes and unlucky adventurers.
"Eina, could you show me the map layout for the first 5 floors for me to memorize? After all, from what I hear the dungeon is unpredictable and knowing my way around would be a tremendous help in a pinch."
"Ehhh… i'm surprised, you're the first adventurer that actually shares my belief on the importance of knowledge before venturing too deep. Hah, seems like this adventurer-advisor relationship will be a good one" She said with a smile, before it faltered
"But Bell, unfortunately the map for the dungeon floors was destroyed in an accident a couple of days ago. And since no adventurer wants to waste his or her time on mapping the floors. We have no means to replace them"
Hmm, this could be an opportunity… mapping the floor could help me in the search to unknown areas as well as find out more about the dungeon and it's secrets for my mission. Well it's already decided then for me.
"Eina, by any chance, since i'm a new adventurer… I could map the dungeon, floor by floor with accurate descriptions and drawing of the floors and it's monsters. It will take some time since i'm going to map these floors as I explore them throughout my journey, but it will solve your problem."
"Really? Are you sure you would use your time for such a task?" she asked with eyes filled to the brim of hope
"Yes of course, this would also do me good since it will allow me to know what i should at least expect from each floor and it will also help me memorize the layout of the dungeon."
"Well, if you put it like that, there is no reason for me to decline. I will take down the request from the board and inform the guild that you will take this task as part of your journey as an adventurer"
"That sounds good, but aren't you going to teach me what you can to prepare me?"
"Of course, but I warn you. No one has been able to uphold my expectations so far." Eina said with a dark look in her eyes
"It's fine, I got a feeling I've got what it takes, right? heh" I said with a worried smile while preparing myself for the worst.
Normal POV
=1 hour later=
"Thank you Eina, see you later after the dungeon!" Bell thanked Eina as he started heading towards Babel tower. 'Thank god that's over, she's just crazy when it comes to what she expects us adventurers to remember. I mean we may be able to use magic but we aren't some storage device for information.' As Bell ranted in his head he continued his merry way towards his first adventure… in this timeline.
Once he reached Babel tower he watched as the huge crowd was splitting up, the majority going into the Hephaestus store, while the rest headed down into the dungeon
It's been so long since Bell has been able to explore the dungeon, the last time was right before the fall of Orario. And if he's being honest with himself, he's quite excited for it, for this is a new adventure for him even if he has some advantages. For now, he decided that he's going to keep leveling and getting stronger in order to prepare for the Kyros Awakening.
As he was walking down into the dungeon, he let his thoughts go back to the golden haired girl he remembered. After all, Ais is the reason he got this far, and very well is one person he can't wait to see again.
When Bell reached floor 1 of the dungeon, he prepared both his dagger and pen and paper for documenting anything interesting as well as the layout of the dungeon. He couldn't help to get excited for exploring the dungeon once again. He started to move forward as his new adventure began.
That was Chapter 2, I've managed to complete my outline for the story that I plan to write, it's going to be a long way to it's completion but I hope it will be worth it for everyone.
Just as a side note, the reason Bell didn't know the layout to the lowest floors is because it's been such a long time since he paid any attention to them, this means that he has forgotten the majority of the monsters as well as the general layouts of the lower floors.
Anyway I also wanted to respond to a couple of comments and give my thanks for the Reviews from the last chapter:
anEnthusiasticNerd: Well written, good introduction and foreshadowing. One small nitpick, it's mentioned in the LN that the gods came down over 1000 years before the start of the story.
Author: Thank you for the review and feedback, I'm glad you liked it as well as I am very thankful for the lore check, I've already updated the first chapter fixing the issue. When it comes to the lore I'm not really the most well versed in it, after all I'm still reading the LN 9 and forward so I may forget a few details here and there. Any reviews that help with spelling mistakes, lore mistakes etc. is greatly appreciated and thank you for reviewing!
Knight8: I always liked the time travel concept, hope you continue, will Aiz be the main pairing yet?
Author: Thank you for the review and it makes me happy that you liked it and yes, I plan to continue this story even if it doesn't get any attention, I personally love writing stories about series or books I like and this is the first one I decided to publish. As for your question, I've already updated the pairing with the main pairing as Bell and Aiz, although I plan to have side pairings like you may have noticed in this chapter ;)
The rest of the comments were mistakes with Bell's stats and as well as lore mistakes, once again I must thank all of you for Reviewing so quickly and helping me polish my story, See you next chapter!