Reviews:

Noone: Thank you for the constructive criticism, I really appreciate it! That's actually some very good advice. I'll be sure to focus a bit more on improving in that regard. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story.

Guest: Agreed. So no Gork and Mork I suppose.

Click. A door closed.

Bell ran up to Nurgle who had just come out of the room.

"N-Nurgle, how is she? How is the goddess?"

"Don't worry, Bell. She's not sick or hurt. She's just exhausted."

"Exhausted… So that means…?"

"Yes, she'll be just fine."

The sun was setting outside a nearby window. The scent of flowers filled the air from all the plants growing both in the garden and inside the building itself.

Bell was inside Nurgle's mansion in Daedalus Street.

After running through the crowd on Daedalus Street, he happened to run into Nurgle. Since they were in the area, Nurgle suggested bringing the unconscious Hestia to his Familia's mansion. Alice and the other two adventurers who had helped him in his fight with the mutants were there with him. Apparently they wanted to talk to him about something.

"That's such a relief… She just collapsed. I didn't know what to do…"

"Alright, now that you know she's okay we can finally talk." The Khornate grumbled impatiently. She had taken her scary looking helmet off and was carrying it under her arm. Bell found it somewhat surprising but she had actually turned out to be an Amazonian. Unlike most other Amazonians, however, she had short hair, zero makeup or jewelry, and her eyes were a bloody shade of red. Plus she wore the full blackened brass heavy armor of the Khorn familia which was unusual in its own right since amazons didn't tend to wear any armor whatsoever. Even so she was quite beautiful in her own right despite her lack of ornamentation.

"Uh… Sure… Thank you so much for your help with those… whatever they were earlier. But what is it you want to talk about?"

"I don't know about the Slaaneshi whore or the sorcerous coward, but I want to join your party." The Khornate declared in a firm tone.

Alice rolled her eyes at the insult while the dark elf seemed to ignore it all together. "So do I!" The Dark Elf exclaimed, taking a couple steps closer to Bell until she was standing uncomfortably close to him. "You wouldn't mind if I joined your party too would you, cutie?"

Bell blushed and backed away a couple steps. "Er… Alice?" He looked to Alice hoping she would say something to help him out of this situation.

Alice just smirked at him, shrugged, and said, "I'm more than open to having them join our party. In fact, I think it would be a wonderful idea. They both fight well enough and the more members we have in our party the further into the dungeon we can go."

Bell stared at her in surprise. However, before he could say anything in response the Dark Elf stepped closer to him again and wrapped him in a tight embrace, burying head between her breasts. "Perfect, so I guess that means the four of us are a party now! I can't wait to get to know you a bit more intimately, cutie…" She said in a seductive tone.

Nurgle frowned at the sight. He knew Alice belonged to Tzeentch's familia just from looking at her, so he knew that this had to be one of Tzeentch's schemes. That worried him. Especially since Slaanesh was involved now too, judging by the presence of the Dark Elf. Plus he knew Hestia would be absolutely furious if she saw what the Dark Elf was doing at the moment.

"Ehem…" Nurgle cleared his throat before prying the Dark Elf off of Bell, whose face was now as red as a tomato. This caused the Dark Elf to pout in disappointment, which Nurgle ignored. "That's nice, I'm glad to see that Bell finally has a party to back him up when going into the dungeon. I'm sure Hestia will be quite happy as well. I know she has been quite worried about him since he has always been going into the dungeon alone up until this point. Now forgive me for asking, Alice, but might your party already have a supporter or is that position still open?"

Nurgle was planning on having a member of his own familia join Bell's party so he could keep an eye on things. If either Tzeentch or Slaanesh were to try something he wanted to know about it as soon as possible so he could intervene. Hestia was one of his friends, so he wasn't just going to let Tzeentch or Slaanesh do anything to hurt her or Bell. Not if he had the power to do anything to prevent or at the very least mitigate anything they might try.

Alice shook her head. "No, we don't have a supporter yet. Why do you ask?"

"Well in that case, I have just the supporter in mind to join your party. She should be home right now. Just give me a moment to go find her. It should only take a moment." Nurgle stated before turning and walking away down the hall.

Thump! The sound of something hitting the floor inside the room Hestia was in reached Bell's ears.

"?!"

He burst into the room and found Hestia on the floor as if she had rolled over and fallen straight down.

However, she had fallen face down in a very comical, unladylike pose.

Bell yelled out as he ran over to her. He kneeled next to her, picked her up under her shoulders, and held her.

"G-Goddess! Goddess?! What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Ah, Bell… It's nothing… I tried to get up, but I wasn't strong enough…"

"Not strong enough…? I heard you were exhausted. Just what were you doing for these past three days?"

The goddess's eyes wandered off.

"Dogeza."

"Do-ge-za?"

"I did dogeza in front of a stubborn goddess who refused to nod her head up and down for thirty hours in a race of endurance…"

"T-Thirty hours…?! Just what is dogeza? Some kind of torture?!"

"No, a technique. It's the technique to end all techniques."

Hestia kept muttering "technique" over and over; she wasn't making sense. Bell broke out in a cold sweat.

"But why, Goddess…? Didn't you say you were going to a party?!"

"…This."

"Huh?"

Hestia's shaking hand reached around and pulled out the black knife that was tucked into the back of Bell's belt. It suddenly hit Bell that he had no idea what this blade was or where it had come from.

He was about to ask her where and how she got it, gut he gasped before he could get the words out. His eyes found the hieroglyphic signature of the goddess Hephaistos engraved in the corner of the sheath.

That was the only symbol he understood without being able to read it.

It was the logo on top of the weapons shop he thought he would never have any connection to, Hephaistos Familia.

"Goddess, isn't this…?"

"Sorry to make you worry… But I couldn't just sit on the sidelines. Being supported, being saved all the time… I just couldn't put up with it."

Hestia then looked over Bell's shoulder and her expression darkened quite a bit.

"Bell… Would you mind telling me why those three girls from earlier are here with you right now?"

"Eh?"

Bell looked behind him and saw the others had followed him into the room.

"Oh. Er… Right. These are my new party members. The sorcerer's name is Alice… I don't really know the names of the other two yet."

The Khornate stepped forwards first and said, "I am Ira Sanguis of the Khorne Familia." She was very blunt and to the point and didn't seem all that interested in conversation.

The Dark Elf stepped forwards next, "And my name is N'Kari, a revered title so graciously granted to me upon my birth by Lady Slaanesh. My mother is Zarakynel, who is currently Lady Slaanesh's oldest, most powerful, most devoted, most faithful, and most favored servant. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Hestia." She gave an almost smug curtsy. She appeared quite proud of her familia and her status in it.

Hestia bristled upon hearing N'Kari was from the Slaanesh Familia. "I see… And what's your interest in my Bell, N'Kari?" She asked, glaring at the Slaaneshi adventurer.

Bell looked at Hestia in surprise at the phrasing she chose to use. Then he immediately dismissed it as her being protective of him.

N'Kari raised an eyebrow at Hestia. "Your Bell? Hm… Interesting… Anyways, he's strong, he's cute, and he's very kind and polite, as far as I can tell anyways. That makes him the perfect party member for me. And if there is one thing I enjoy, it is perfection. After all, Lady Slaanesh is the goddess of perfection."

"Among other things." Hestia said in a passive aggressive tone. "Whatever…" She then turned her head and looked at Alice. "What about you, Alice? What Familia do you belong to?" Hestia already strongly suspected what Familia Alice belonged to but she wanted to make sure.

Alice pointed at herself. "Me? Oh. I belong to…"

Nurgle knocked on the door frame before walking inside. "Forgive me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I merely wanted to introduce the five of you to Liliruca Arde. She's a member of my familia and she's a supporter. Unfortunately her previous party met an untimely end in the dungeon recently and she barely made it out herself, though I'm very glad she did. It was sad enough losing three of my children at once, I would have been heart broken to have lost her as well."

"Thank you, Papa Nurgle. Lilly really misses them…" The prum girl standing next to Nurgle said in a dejected tone.

"I know, dear. We all do and that's perfectly fine. It is alright to feel despair at the loss of one's friends and family. Such feelings are only natural. But remember, death is merely a part of life. Their souls are in my personal afterlife where they will remain until it is time for them to rejoin the cycle of reincarnation. So don't worry, I promise that you'll see them again some day. So until then just remember to be happy and smile until it is finally time for you to join them."

The prum gave Nurgle a sad smile which he returned before looking back at Bell and the others. "So, since her party died recently she has been in need of a new one. She has been tagging along with some of my other children whenever they go into the dungeon, but all of their parties already have supporters. So would you four mind allowing her to accompany you?"

Alice smiled at Lilly and said, "Of course! Having a supporter would make things much easier down in the dungeon. That is if none of you have any objections?" She looked around at Ira, N'Kari, and Bell.

"Can she fight?" Ira demanded.

"I would think so. She wouldn't have been able to make it out of the dungeon on her own otherwise." Nurgle stated.

Lilly nodded in agreement. "Lilly isn't strong enough to be an adventurer but Lilly can fight. Lilly won't get in your way or slow you down in the least."

The Khornate looked her up and down for a moment. "Fine. We'll see your skills in the dungeon soon enough anyways. As long as you fight well and don't do anything cowardly in my presence, we'll get along well enough."

N'Kari took a few steps towards Lilly before bending down to get a better look at her. "Hm… You know, you're pretty cute too." She then stood up straight and said, "Unfortunately, other than my Lady Slaanesh, I'm not interested in women. But since the rest of my party, other than Bell, consists of women I suppose having one more in the party isn't going to change much." She then crossed her arms, sighed, and took a few steps back again. "This isn't the harem of men I imagined for my first party but I suppose it will have to do for now…" She muttered to herself.

Bell smiled and waved at Lilly. "Hey, Lilly! It's good to see you again. I'm so sorry to hear about your party. They were nice people. Still if you want to join our party then I have no problem with it!"

Lilly smiled and waved back at Bell.

Since Nurgle and Hestia were friends, Bell had met most people in the Nurgle Familia and was on good terms with all of them. He had met Lilly a while back when Nurgle had invited him and Hestia over for dinner. After that he had seen her and her party around the Main Guild Building and the Dungeon every so often. Though they were merely acquaintances and hadn't spoken much so they really didn't know much about each other.

"Then it's settled! Welcome to our party, Lilliruca. Well, while I'm eager to go into the dungeon with all of you, it's getting late so it's time I head back home. I'll meet you all by the entrance of the dungeon tomorrow morning." Alice stated before turning and leaving.

Ira said nothing but put her helmet back on before turning and leaving as well.

N'Kari sighed and pouted slightly. "I really want to stay and get to know Bell a bit better, but I suppose Alice is right. It's getting late so I should get back soon. Later, cutie." She smiled and waved at Bell before turning and following after the others.

That just left Bell, Hestia, Nurgle, and Lilly.

"So, since you two are here, would you like to stay over for dinner? My children are making stew tonight and they're using ingredients freshly harvested from our garden." Nurgle offered.

"Sure! Thank you so much for your generosity Nurgle. Once Bell and I are a bit better off I promise to return the favor." Hestia said with a grateful smile.

Nurgle chuckled slightly and shook his head.

"There's really no need for that. I enjoy this sort of thing, especially since I'm not able to spread my usual gifts since I'm not allowed to use Arcanum. Though I do appreciate the sentiment."

"Er, I would love to but I really need to go find someone and return her wallet to her. I was supposed to find her earlier but protecting the Goddess after the monsters got free sort of took precedence."

Bell scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed by this.

Nurgle gave him a friendly smile.

"That's perfectly fine, Bell. Dinner won't be ready for another couple hours anyways. You have plenty of time to return that wallet and come back."

Bell nodded before getting up and hurriedly leaving the room.

As soon as he was gone Nurgle sighed and looked at Lilly. "So, now you understand why I am concerned and wish to keep an eye on the other members of his party — mainly the Tzeentchian and the Slaaneshi since I sincerely doubt the Khornate has any ulterior motives — correct?"

Lilly nodded. "Mhm. The sorcerer is really suspicious, but I don't know about the Slaaneshi. She just seems interested in getting Bell into bed with her."

Nurgle shook his head.

"Lilly, under no circumstances are you to ever underestimate Slaanesh or her followers, do I make myself clear? And more importantly you are to never underestimate Tzeentch or how convoluted his schemes can be. He definitely had a hand in the formation of this party, and if he wanted a member of each of our familias to join Bell's party that can only mean he's planning to get me, Khorne, and Slaanesh involved directly. Now in the case of me and Khorne it shouldn't matter too much. I have no interest in taking Bell from Hestia and I can pretty much guarantee that Khorne won't either. Slaanesh, on the other hand… If she gets involved and learns of Bell's existence she may end up taking an interest in him. If that happens… Well, let's just say it won't be good. So I want you to report anything suspicious to me or possibly Hestia depending on how urgent it is."

Hestia stared at the two of them in surprise. "Nurgle?"

He looked at Hestia with a smile. "I'm sorry Hestia. I know I should have asked first before adding a member of my own Familia to Bell's party as a spy. I'm just worried. Between that dagger and those monsters getting free, I'm concerned what Tzeentch has planned for you and Bell. I wish I could do more to help you two but I can't do anything that would put my Familia in danger. So unfortunately the most I can do is sneak you two out of the city to somewhere safe if things get too bad. But for that to even matter I need to have at least some warning that something bad is going to happen so I can get the two of you out of here before it happens. You know how dangerous my siblings can be."

Hestia was silent for a moment before sighing. "Nurgle, I really appreciate it but I can't just flee the city. I owe Hephaistos a lot of money for Bell's new dagger and I need to pay her off. But… If worst comes to worst, even if I have to stay, you can still get Bell out of here. As long as he's safe from Tzeentch and possibly Slaanesh that's all I really care about in this situation…"

Nurgle frowned at her. "Hestia, if paying off that debt is really that important to you then I can help you find a decent job outside the city and help you send the money to Hephaistos. Considering the circumstances, I'm sure she would understand after I explained the situation to her. If something like this really does happen, you will need to flee the city with Bell. Don't be so naïve as to expect either Tzeentch or Slaanesh to spare you just because Bell is no longer with you. They won't. They'll be angry that he got away and they would definitely take it out on you. Trust me when I say, you don't want that."

He looked off to the side as if losing himself in his memories.

"You have no idea what horrors they're capable of committing against those they believe have slighted them. Slaanesh especially. I promise you, she is not a goddess of pain just for show. Back in the Warp I have seen her and her followers commit atrocities that would drive most mortals insane just from witnessing them. Tzeentch isn't quite as bad as her, but if he is angered by Bell fleeing the city then I guarantee he will do far worse to you than just killing your mortal form and banishing you from the mortal realm. He will make you wish that he had simply killed you."

His tone was extremely serious and grim. He meant every last word of what he said and Hestia could tell he wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. That fact actually frightened her quite a bit. So she looked at the ground and muttered, "Alright… Thank you, Nurgle… But if that ever happens I'm definitely going to pay back my debt to you, both for paying my debt to Hephaistos and for getting me and Bell out of the city. Though, I sincerely hope it never comes to that…"

"As do I." Nurgle agreed.

[The Next Day]

Bell jumped out of the way as a Silverback tried to crush him with its fists. He retaliated by rushing forwards, jumping, and slitting its throat open with the knife Hestia had given him the previous day. It grasped at its throat with its hands and gurgled as it choked on its own blood. After that it didn't take long for it to collapse to the ground and start disintegrating into ash.

Bell honestly couldn't believe it. Just yesterday he had been fleeing in terror from a Silverback just like this one, yet here he was hunting them on the lower 12th floor with the rest of his new party just like how he used to hunt goblins on the lower 4th floor just a few days ago. It was insane! He couldn't believe how fast the cursed dagger Tzeentch had given him was helping him grow. Still, he wasn't going to complain since it was going to help him catch up with Aiz all the sooner.

Ira raised her axe above her head and brought it down like an executioner as she chopped the head off of a seriously injured Orc that was lying dying on the ground. It disintegrated into ash moments later leaving behind only a magic stone as its head disintegrated into ash along with the rest of its body.

Bell had been confused the first time he saw this happen since adventurers in the Khorne Familia were notorious for their ability to claim the skulls of monsters they killed. However when he asked about it, Ira explained that the skill actually had stages of development and for level one adventurers like her it was exceedingly rare for skulls to drop. Only after becoming level three did the skill make it so skulls would always drop if the adventurer in question decapitated the monster before they died. Thus the reason she didn't have any skulls adorning her armor. She simply hadn't earned any in the dungeon yet nor had she participated in any of the wars Khorne waged with other kingdoms, so she hadn't managed to claim any yet.

N'Kari seemed to be in some sort of beautiful bloody dance as she carved up Imps and Bad Bats with her ornate twin falchions. It was absolutely captivating to witness. Bell was actually having to force himself to focus so as to not be distracted by the way N'Kari fought. Though she seemed to be intentionally avoiding killing her enemies right away and instead seemed to be enjoying causing them pain and making them suffer. She would kill the monsters, of course, but only after putting them through excruciating pain. It was almost like a cat playing with a bunch of mice just before devouring them.

Alice was casting magic from the sidelines. Every once in a while a monster or two would manage to get close enough to attack her, thus forcing her to use her side sword to kill them instead of using her magic. This seemed to annoy her every time it happened. Using magic was clearly her preferred method of fighting which was understandable since she was a sorcerer.

Lilly was also standing off to the side firing bolts from her little wrist mounted crossbow. She wasn't doing much damage to the monsters, to be honest. However, she was a supporter so that really wasn't her job in the first place. If any monsters got too close to her then Bell, Alice, or N'Kari would usually kill it for her. Ira, on the other hand, usually didn't help Lilly in most circumstances since she thought Lilly should be capable of defending herself.

All in all, their battles on the 12th floor were going very well. They all worked together surprisingly well. Bell had been worried when Alice suggested heading all the way down to the 12th floor but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

[Later]

"What floor?!"

"Agh!" Bell let out a scream. The cause of his pathetic scream was a frowning Eina Tulle fuming with anger and glairing right at him.

Bell had made a triumphant return to the Guild after prowling the 12th floor with the assistance of Hestia's Knife and his new party. He'd gotten the money from all of his magic stones and drop items at the Exchange and went to give his adviser an update with a big smile on his face. But the second he said "12th floor," Eina had thought he was joking at first but his good mood came to an abrupt end as soon as he convinced her he was being serious.

"What is with you?! Does nothing I say stay inside that thick skull of yours?! Going from the 5th to 12th?! Are you insane?! How could you have even survived going that deep to begin with?! By all rights the monsters on the 10th floor should have ripped you to shreds, let alone the 12th!"

"S-s-s-s-sorry!"

Wham! Eina slammed both of her hands down onto the table. Her emerald eyes burned, her head leaning to the side. Bell was little more than a frog being stared down by a python.

Eina was angry because Bell was showing no concern for his safety and was lightheartedly entering deeper floors. He was adventuring, and that's where she took exception.

"Tell me, just who was it that was nearly killed by four Minotaurs only one week ago?"

"Uh, m-me?"

"Then just why are you doing this?! Do you not understand how dangerous it is, after all you've been through?!"

"I-I'm sorry…!" Bell said, his eyes filled with tears. This was by far the angriest he had ever seen her. Eina was going all out. Her desire to keep Bell alive was turning her into an ogre.

A newbie adventurer with not even a month of experience going deeper than the 5th was tantamount to suicide.

The dungeon layout became more complicated after the 5th level, not to mention there were more powerful monsters. Had Bell been alone as usual then there was a chance he wouldn't have made it out alive. Though with how high his status was at the moment there was a very good chance he could have survived the 12th floor on his own though not without quite a bit of effort on his part.

"You don't seem to understand the word 'dangerous.' Not even close. I'm going to fix that right here and now!"

Bell let out another pitiful cry, as he had become all too familiar with Eina's Spartan-like style of "guidance" in the past few weeks.

Bell had seen everything she taught him in the field, but being able to say "I understand, leave it to me" to his adviser was entirely another matter. Bell rushed to explain.

"Please, wait! I, um, grew quite a lot since then, Ma. Eina!"

"'Quite a lot' is quite a claim from someone who's only gotten to grade H!"

"N-no it's true! Several of my basic abilities are already at B and my agility is already at S!"

"…S?"

Eina froze on the spot, her eyes open wide.

She didn't understand what he said at first, but when she sorted it out she raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Do you think you can fool me, making that kind of claim?"

"It's true, all of it! Maybe I'm in some kind of growth spurt but I'm growing stronger very fast!"

He felt bad for keeping it secret but for some reason he really felt that he shouldn't tell her about the dagger Tzeentch had given him. He was probably being paranoid but he really didn't want to get her involved with Tzeentch's schemes if he could avoid it. So he kept it to himself.

"…Really?"

Eina cast her bewildered gaze at Bell as he nodded with all his might.

She hadn't been his adviser long, but she was able to tell when the boy in front of her was lying.

And according to her intuition, Bell was telling the truth. But for some reason she got the feeling there was more to the story that he wasn't telling her.

"…Really, S?"

"Y-yes."

Eina put up her hands, palms forwards, as if to say "wait a minute."

From H the grades above it were E, D, C, B, A, and finally S. She counted them out on her fingers, nodding to herself, saying, "Hmmmm." One more time — E, D, C, B, A, S… Six again. Same as before.

Eina was now officially confused. She didn't completely doubt Bell, but that rate of growth sounded like it came out of a horror story.

Eina had guessed grade H because that was the highest ability level for adventurers with Bell's amount of experience. Well, for adventurers outside of the Khorne Familia due to the practically suicidal extremes they pushed themselves to on a daily basis, thus the exceptionally high mortality rates in the Khorne Familia. But since Bell wasn't in the Khorne Familia, H was the highest believable amount of growth over that span of time, and that was only for the really gifted individuals.

G was already ridiculous, and anything above F… That was just too fast, no matter how she thought about it.

If Bell had been a warrior before he'd become an adventurer, with combat training of some kind and decades of experience, then she might have been able to accept it, maybe. But he was a farmer. Still, he didn't look like he was lying at all. Though she still felt like he wasn't telling her something…

"Hm-hm-hmmm…" Eina hummed in thought as she stroked her chin with her pointer finger, not able to figure out which was true.

Bell sat there silently, watching her as if she could explode at any moment.

"Hey… Bell."

"Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Would you mind showing me the 'status' on your back?"

"…Huh?!"

A high pitched gasp escaped Bell's throat as he looked at Eina's serious face.

"It's not that I don't believe what you're saying, it's just…"

She looked away, shaking her hands back and forth, trying to make sure Bell didn't get the wrong idea.

She felt that the most reasonable explanation was that Bell's goddess, Hestia, had made a mistake when transcribing Bell's status.

Or perhaps there was a serious misunderstanding somewhere. The idea that Bell had improved to grade B stats, let alone grade S, was just that inconceivable for her.

Eina wasn't going to believe a single word out of Bell's mouth until she saw undeniable proof.

"B-but the number one thing that adventurers aren't supposed to reveal is their status… right?"

All the city's adventurers were under the jurisdiction of the Guild and were forbidden from giving out personal information to anyone, including Guild employees. Their levels and Familias were reported, but nothing more than that.

There were also adventurers who had special skills and magic. The relationships of the gods and their Familias were constantly changing. Today's friend might be tomorrow's foe. Information was tightly protected to cover potential weaknesses.

"I give you my word that I will not tell a soul what I will see. I'll take full responsibility if your status becomes public. If that happens, I swear I will obey you."

"Obey…? Hang on, Ms. Eina, you can read hieroglyphics?"

"Yes, but only a little. I think I can read enough to understand statuses, though."

Eina had attended her fair share of school and had excelled in theological studies. She could certainly read and write simple hieroglyphs.

"If I don't see it with my own two eyes, I will never clear you to go any deeper than the 5th level."

"That would definitely cause a lot of problems for me…"

"I promise I won't look at your magic or skill slots, so please?"

"I don't have any skills or magic anyway, so that wouldn't change a thing… but okay."

Bell gave into Eina's request as she bowed forward and clapped her hands together.

Eina had done so much to support Bell in the past; he felt that she deserved his complete trust, just like Hestia. Bell had no reason not to take her at her word.

"Well, um… I'll take off my clothes now?"

"If you're embarrassed enough to blush, don't check with me first! You'll make me uncomfortable, too!"

Both of their cheeks flushed red as Bell stood up and faced a far corner of the wide room. A flustered Bell unhooked his armor and quickly pulled off his undershirt.

Rather than immediately focusing on the status engraved on the boy's back, Eina's eyes were drawn to his remarkably chiseled back muscles for a brief moment. Shaking her head a bit, she forced her eyes back to the hieroglyphs.

Her pointed ears turned a light shade of red as her eyes scanned the markings left to right.

Bell Cranell

Level One

Strength: H-196—B-742 Defense: H-101—F-394 Utility: G-225—B-765 Agility: F-331—S-955 Magic: I-0

No way…

She couldn't believe her eyes, her jaw dropped slightly in shock. With the exception of Magic, he was definitely strong enough to keep up with monsters on the 12th level. Eina tended to judge adventurers by their defensive ability, so Bell's comparatively low "Defense" grade made her a bit nervous. However, his hit-and-run combat style fit very well with his ability levels, so she came to the conclusion that he dodged most attacks anyway.

The fact that his "Agility" was already at grade S made her a little nauseous.

I can't believe it…

Eina lightly coughed in her throat. It was the sound of her concept of "common sense" being broken; a cold chill worked its way up her spine. Working at the Guild and advising many adventurers, Eina knew how abnormal Bell's growth rate was.

His growth was more than through the roof. It was otherworldly.

— A Skill?

The possibility popped up in the back of her mind.

Maybe he has a Skill that explains his impossibly fast growth. Maybe that's what he's not telling me about, She thought to herself with a twinge. The only way to check… was to go back on her promise.

If it's just a quick look…

Her eyes glanced below Bell's abilities and took in the hieroglyphs.

She had already come this far. It was too late to look away now. Wanting to know what was inside a treasure box after peaking through the lid must be a trait of demi-humans.

Her curiosity was piqued; she looked at his Skill slot.

… Ahh, nope.

She couldn't understand what was written.

The amount of complex characters was too much for her to make heads or tails of it.

It could be that his goddess, the overprotective Hestia, might have put an extra layer of protection over his status so that others couldn't read it even if they had a chance. Eina didn't have a full understanding of hieroglyphs' size and stroke order, and she didn't realize that Hestia's "protection" was actually just her own bad handwriting.

Eina had a newfound respect for Hestia and her strategy for keeping Bell's status a secret.

"Um… Ms. Eina? Are you finished yet?"

"A… Ah! Yes!"

Eina's ears jumped as Bell's still-embarrassed voice reached them and she noticed the situation. Eina laughed out of her own embarrassment as she looked away from Bell's status and bowed a few times in apology.

It's true… She groaned to herself.

There was no way she could withhold permission to enter the 12th level with a status like that. As long as he was careful, he should be able to go there safely. Though she didn't like the idea of him going that deep alone.

"Bell, I suppose I have to clear you for the 12th floor but I would much prefer if you didn't go that deep alone. I would appreciate it if you could find a party to go with you. Even having a supporter at the very least would be better than going down there all alone."

"Huh? Oh, I already have a party. Er… I probably should have told you that sooner."

Eina's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? Since when? If you don't mind me asking, who all is in your party and what are their roles?"

"W-well… There's Alice Divinato, she's a sorcerer… Uh, I'm honestly not sure what Familia she belongs to, it's just never come up I guess. Then there's Ira Sanguis from Khorne's Familia. She's obviously a Khornite berserker. There's also Liliruca Arde from Nurgle's Familia. She's our supporter. Last, there's N'Kari from Slaanesh's Familia. She uses twin falchions."

Eina's blood ran cold as she realized Bell had one member from each of the Ruinous Four's Familias in his party. That was arguably more dangerous than going into the dungeon alone. If it was just Khorne and Nurgle it would have been fine since neither was likely to stab him in the back or do anything that would put him in harm's way. Well, as long as he didn't do anything the Khornite deemed as cowardly. But having a member of Tzeentch's Familia in his party was a very bad sign, and having a member of Slaanesh's Familia in his party was just asking for trouble.

She really wanted to tell him to leave that party immediately, but she couldn't. She remembered how Bell had been saved from the Skulltaker by the Oracle of Fate just a while back and she was now absolutely terrified that he was likely caught up in Tzeentch's schemes. If that was the case then the formation of this party was likely part of Tzeentch's schemes, whatever they may be. If so then Bell leaving the party was extremely dangerous. Then again, just letting Tzeentch's plans play out was likely just as dangerous but still. It was clear that Tzeentch didn't want Bell dead, not yet anyway, so as much as she didn't like it she decided it would be better for him to remain in his party for the moment. At least until she could figure out at least part of what Tzeentch had planned for him and could think of some safer solution to this mess.

She adjusted her glasses and sighed.

"Alright… I suppose that is a decent enough party. Just… Just be careful." She muttered.

— However, she did have one other problem with him going that far down.

"..."

"W-what is it?"

Fully dressed, Bell heard his voice waver as Eina's eyes traveled his body from head to toe. Her gaze was overwhelming.

But it didn't look like she doubted Bell's ability or strength.

She wasn't looking at his body; she was looking at the poor excuse for armor that was covering it.

"Bell."

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"…Huh?"

End Notes: This took a bit longer than I intended to get out. I guess I just got a bit side tracked by other stuff. Sorry about that.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as if not more than I enjoyed writing it! Constructive criticism is always welcome! I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong after all.

Stay safe out there everyone!

Edit: Changed it from Nurgle suggesting buying Hestia's debt from Hephaistos to him offering to help her find a decent job outside the city and helping her send the money to Hephaistos. I just thought of it and it made more sense to me than the alternative.