: Status :
Bell Cranel - Lv. 1
Str: H-140
End: I-49
Dex: H-154
Agi: G-268
Mag: I-27
DrE: H-132
Magic(s) -
[DragonShot]
Skill(s) -
[SACRED GEAR] Boosted Gear: Status: G-222
(1st Liberation)—Skill(s):
Passives:
Affinity, Dragon Energy
Skills (cDrE-based):
Boost, Explosion, Reset
: Potential x Passion IV :
The fair [Sword Princess] entered last.
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|:[Dragon x Drive]:|
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Ais scanned the familiar tavern atmosphere of The Hostess of Fertility. As piercing as her gaze was, Loki's prized member missed the white mess that was Cranel's hair. However, it didn't stop the intensity of Bell's stare from reaching her.
Tione leaned her shoulder against Ais' in a friendly manner, "Aisu~ whatcha looking around for?"
At the inquiry, the blond blinked. "It's nothing," she decided. She could handle it even if it bothered her. She wasn't a top adventurer for nothing, after all. But still, this stare was a bit different.
"Mmh, ok!" The Amazonian parted from her shoulder for the food ahead of them, pausing before and after to follow Ais' eyes and then to pass some of the food up and down the table when requested. At which, Ais and Leafiya at her other side thanked the dark-skinned woman. Taking their favorite foods each, they all watched Bete, who spent the better part of the day after the expedition doing administrative work, drown himself in food and extra potent ale.
As a partial beastsman and an active adventurer at that, normal ale, beer, and the like had very little effect on him. Never mind his Poison Resistance.
'Wine is sweet,' Ais noted as she twirled her red drink. It reminded her of the adventurer who saved her many years ago. The piercing, bright ruby eyes of the legendary Hero,to be exact. She tilted her head. His eyes were eerily similar to the one she had saved. In remembrance of their familia's misgiving, she thought, 'I hope he's doing okay.' While not exactly her fault, it was her sole duty to slay all monsters… 'lest they rampage to the upper floors,' she tacked on, justifying her devotion to chase after every monster in her way. She knew full and well she was just lying to herself, internally.
Suddenly, the feeling of being watched returned, it was different from the perverse ones that ogled over her daily. She narrowed her gaze on the glass of her drink, rather than the drink itself. She caught that one gaze looking at her with an interest she couldn't quite place.
A red-tinted reflection of the boy she 'saved' stared back at her. A funny coincidence that she was just thinking about him. It seemed to be his curious (?) intent that reached her. He looked to be a little down but safe and sound from his appearance alone. There was some sweat on his forehead and neck. She couldn't be sure if it had come from the dungeon, the heat of his food—as a low leveled adventurer wasn't quite yet tuned for high temperatures—or well, a lot of other circumstances, really. And so, her train of thought wandered over the many imaginary cases, surrounding the fated Hero, who slain a beast far ahead of him.
Normally, the swordswoman wouldn't take a mild interest in someone's stare. For that reason alone, the whole exchange piqued at Leafiya's curiosity. Peering over her own shoulder, the half-elf too caught the ruby gaze. However, just as she caught it, the pale boy swerved back to his food, making himself small, as if he wasn't just staring at her "hero." It annoyed her to no end for some reason...
The half-elf went to rise, to confront him, but Ais' hand atop her own stopped her in her tracks. "It's okay." The Lv.5 adventurer tilted her head.
Unlike Ais, the younger half-elf couldn't differentiate the intent of gazes. It was something Ais had learned after being the recipient of Loki's perverted lechering and those of jealousy from other adventurers for years as she grew up. Bell's gaze was neither of those, thankfully.
"But..."
Ais simply shook her head, dismissively. Then, she passed her a biscuit, "Only eat here." The half-elf glanced at the owner of the pub, who was laughing loudly at the white-haired boy. Mama Mia seemed to take a liking to him.
...It wouldn't do well to get on the dwarven woman's bad side, who was a member of their rival Familia.
However, that wouldn't change her first impression of him outside the dungeon. The white-haired boy was a disgusting brute, who had gotten luckier than he should've and now had been caught ogling over her main role model.
"Okay." Leafiya would follow Ais' lead but kept an eye on him. He was a very weird case, having heard only a few snippets of the research done on him. The three major leaders of their Familia were awfully tip-lipped about him as well… To have killed the Minotaur, she could only imagine what a Lv.1 had to do.
'Or what people he used to have done so...' Ais had been tracking the minotaur based on the lead of dead bodies after the directions of panicked adventurers had been very unhelpful. Despite how innocent he seemed, the few troubled spirits that she could interact with on the upper floors had hinted at something... unsavory about him, afraid of something. Akin to unfair play, she assumed as she had told Rivera, who gathered similar findings from the spirits.
No one believed the boy's 'heroic intent.' Such a thing simply did not exist in the dungeon, or at the very least, it didn't extend to those outside one's familia or alliance.
"—and that friggin' weakling! Who was he, to even think he had a chance to fight a MINOTAUR of all things!" The werewolf took another swig of his enhanced ale before belting out laughter. "Should've left the braindead trash for dead!" Like Leafiya, he seemed to reach a similar conclusion with the lack of information as their higher-ups were very tightlipped. "Imagine needing help from another familia—couldn't be me!" Never mind the fact that adventurers were to turn tail if they saw something they couldn't hope to defeat. Such were the rules of the dungeons and taught by their seniors, superiors, and the guild that oversaw each and every one of them.
There was a flash of intent, hidden to many.
The elves of the room flinched. Their ears twitched, tuning for danger. The half-elf felt herself shrink as she clenched her eyes shut. However, in response to Leafiya's more intense reaction, Ais' hand tightened. "Are you okay?"
Leafiya's eyes flared open, "Ah, sorry, yes! I'm okay, just..." She caught Riveria's composed gaze. The senior Elf kept it locked for a few more moments before turning to Finn with hushed whispers.
"—Huah!?" Bete jolted the blond swordswoman from her rapid thoughts, one of the negatives of concurrent chanting and an active (albeit tipsy) imagination. The male seemed to be looking at her… No, behind her. "Hey!" His chair scraped harshly against the wooden floor, "Hey! Was that killing intent?" Without waiting for an answer, he rushed to get face-to-face with the recipient of his annoyance.
Normally, Ais wouldn't pay a drunk Bete any mind… since he'd try to fight or talk with her aimlessly for whatever reason. There was something compelling her to look at this occasion.
The poor boy didn't even seem to have noticed him until he was in his face, "H-Huh?"
"You flea squirt! You HEARD me—Everyone heard me!"
Bete was in front of the boy, who cowered away... as much as a person could when trapped on a wooden stool, back against the counter.
Again, Ais couldn't help but draw the connection between him and the killer rabbits of the middle floors. 'Almost as cute,' she thought, imagining Bell as a child in a rabbit suit rather than in some cliche rushed romantic light (cough). Probably not nearly as deadly though.
She blinked as her train of thought diverged again. 'Maybe if they fight, we'll see how he killed the minotaur...' Although, it wouldn't be fair. Nowhere near fair, actually. Bete far outclassed a mere upper-floor minotaur.
Bell blinked once. He really wasn't paying attention to the Familia, outside Ais. Ddraig had been pestering him about Loki, seemingly on edge. Then, he turned to his female companion, "U-uhgra?"
The boy was left unable to form any words.
The grey-haired girl's wry lips curved into a smile that failed at holding back her giggles. The other patrons turned away from the scene, amused. Most of them hadn't realized Bell was the rumored Lvl 1 adventurer who killed the low-level-killing Minotaur two weeks prior. Neither did they believe the so-called 'killing intent' came from such a naïve-looking or an oblivious boy.
And they were right. It had come from the [Boosted Gear].
Taking the break in the atmosphere to her advantage, Mama Mia glared at the rest of Loki's familia. At the look, Rivera sighed, pulled a string that suddenly dropped the ceiling.
Nearly instantaneous, a trap caught the big bad wolf of Loki's elites. "Ugh! Wur da fuck this shit come from, huah old woman!?"
The Elf sighed, fighting off her irritation before gesturing towards the amazons. They nodded, dragging the struggling beastman outside.
Following Bete's exit, Finn stood, which ultimately made him look shorter than when he was seated. Although not a soul would make mention of it to Finn the Braver, a title akin to a modern hero. He strolled up to Mia's counter and bowed a little, "I apologize on behalf of our familia." The half-dwarf woman only grunted. She wasn't expecting an apology. Then, she caught the upward tug of Finn's lips as he turned to Bell. Finn had something planned. Unsurprising. "And, to you, Cranel-san, once again." She only allowed it because he'd apologized publicly.
Again, the ruby-eyed boy turned to the waitress, "Huh?" Mia wasn't the only one expecting nothing for the trouble. He turned back and fumbled with his fingers, unable to match gazes. "I-I mean, it's okay..." He was no one special after all, especially compared to the blond before him and... His eyes glanced at the other blond of Loki's group. Just as quickly, he turned to the ground.
The [Pallum] hummed. 'The boy wasn't like this in the presence of his Goddess.' The 42-year-old blinked, 'And vice versa.' If only he knew...
The blond's lips widened into a charismatic smile, "Let us treat you for your troubles." Bell's head shot up to the smile, the menu behind him, and the pouch of valis the short man set out for him.
"A-Are you sure? You've already... healed a-and reimbursed us for the minotaur, e-even though it wasn't really necessary to go that far..." Bell's eyes widened as he realized he may come off ungrateful, "Not that I'm not thankful!"
"Please," Finn said simply.
The freshly orphaned boy could only nod, meekly. His gaze drifted over the rest of the gathered Loki familia. It stopped at Ais for a few moments before he continued. The boy couldn't help it. She was a mysterious beauty with the power he sought to reach.
"Great!"
And from there, it went downhill, ale and all.
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|:[Dragon x Drive]:|
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"Bell-kun!" Hestia's curvaceous body bobbed as she came to a stop, calling out for her Child. "Bell!" Looking every which way, there was no hint of his unblemished white 'halo'... Heh, Bell was an angel, after all! No wait—! "Bell!" Another pang of guilt flashed through her. "Bell!" She stopped again to catch her breath.
The Goddess of the Hearth feared for the worse. Her beloved child was naïve, incredibly so. He could've been kidnapped! He was far too cute of a boy after all! Or worse, he could've been killed!
...Or even worse than that, some unworthy hussy stole his innocence that only belonged to her before she did! Welllll, she probably wouldn't steal it. 'O-Only if Bell took too long to take hers!'
With that thought, she hurried to search a new area
However, there was a tap on her shoulder. "Bwauh?" It was a blueish-gray-hair maid. What did a girl who hopefully didn't know Bell want with her? The thought of the opposite angered her a bit and it leaked into her response, "What?!"
"Uhm," the maid started, taken aback, "are you Bell Cranel's Goddess?"
All her anger and thoughts came to a burning, crashing halt, as she answered, "Yes! Please show me to him!"
"W- What happened to my precious Bell!"
A happy-go-lucky cat-maid girl oblivious to Hestia's growing outrage, bounced excitedly, "He drank and drank until he couldn't, nyahaha!" She skipped away, moving to bother her coworkers in the kitchen.
Hestia's molten gaze fell upon the one who brought the goddess to him. "A-Ah, Bell-kun was dragged into drinking by the Loki Executives." The maid glanced away towards the sleeping boy. "F-Finn-san paid for the room, drinks, and food."
"Hmph! That cardboard cutout Loki better not have any funny ideas!" The busty Goddess nudged Bell's shoulders a few times. "Bell-kun, Bell-kun!"
"Ojii-chan, wake me up later..." The Goddess leaned down to his ear, whispered something. Not even a second later, he shot up, "Ah! Kami-sama, I'm not sick!" The red-eyed Longinus user blinked, taking in his unfamiliar surroundings, "H-H there, Flova-san..."
The said girl put a hand to her cheek with a sparkle in her eye, "Ara, you didn't call me that last night..." The maid expected Bell to go rigid, but his Goddess did so as well! She hid her trembling lips behind her other hand. Too funny—this was all too funny!
Messing with the adventurer was simply too easy! A Goddess too? She was asking for trouble, but she couldn't help herself, hunched over internally with laughter.
"B-B-B-BELL!" Minding his bandages, her hands banged across his torso. "What did you do!?"
"I—" He paused, trying his best to fight the hangover and remember.
However, before he could even sort out his memories, a stoic voice cut in, "He spent most of the night drinking ale, sharing and comparing hero stories with Tiona-san and Ais-san from the Loki Familia." She made no mention of all the crying, handholding (how sinful!), and confessing he did like pooping in the farm once because he couldn't hold it in. Some of which Syr felt guilty for having a hand in.
"R-Ryu!"
The Elf's eyes narrowed towards her longtime friend, "That's enough messing around, Syr. Mia-san wants you in the kitchen. We are about to open soon." She turned to Bell. Both Hestia and Bell held their breaths, unconsciously. After a few moments, the sharp elf turned around, "Please leave before we open."
"Y-Yes, sorry for the trouble, uh Ryu-san..."
"Ah, right! Thank you for watching over Bell."
The elf gave a Curt nod and went to open the door. But, Syr popped back in, a wrapped breakfast in hand and a sly smile on her face. "Syr..."
"Oh," The silver-haired girl wasn't expecting Ryu to still be there. "Hehe... Last night was a lot of fun! So, I wanted to repay Bell-kun..." The teasing girl Syr was no longer sly and playful as she passed the wrapped box to Bell. "Be sure to visit again." She was almost shy, even.
Before the recipient could muster a response, Syr left.
"A-Ah..." That girl gave him mixed signals or was a great actor. He decided he think about this later when the hangover was gone… Gosh, I won't drink again...
Ryu Lion gave him one last glance before leaving the familia pair alone. She still couldn't figure out how he bypassed her defenses to shake her hands the night before. He would mostly certainly be someone she would keep an ear out for.
Syr seemed to take a liking into the boy; it was different from her usual interest. While the elf had never seen Syr lovestruck, she could count that out... It was too improbable, and illogical. Syr was much too guarded and free-spirited. If anything, she must've been fishing as to how he defeated the minotaur.
Speaking of which... It probably had to do with what rested in his left hand. She only felt it as he held hers, trying to thank her for a glass of water.
She shuttered.
Ancient, chaotic, and unfathomable power. It roared into her core and beyond even that. She had stilled instantly. Thankfully, Syr was there to misunderstand and explained that elven culture didn't take too well to handholding.
The elven maid shook her head to clear her thoughts as she closed the door. There was much work to do, as always.
"—Bell!"
A hand went to his head for a salute. "Yes, Kami-sama!"
"You're mine, you got it!?" He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, but since it would appease his Goddess, he nodded vigorously. Hopefully, she wasn't still mad at him... "Let's go home, Bell-kun." And so, hand-in-hand, they left. "Sorry about last night, Bell. I..."
He was honestly glad she wasn't mad. "It's okay, Kami-sama!"
Families fight. His older sister figure and his brother figure had done so. His grandpa had too. As long as they made up, it was okay, which they always had. They never fought with him though. He bit back a nostalgic smile. They had spoiled him rotten, or he easily did as he was told.
He'd figure out why his Goddess was mad after this whole situation was behind them. Hopefully, the hangover would be gone too... His sister was right about the effects of alcohol. 'I... had only doubted her 'cuz of how much Ojii-san and Bova-oniichan drank!' He swore to himself he definitely wouldn't be drinking that anytime soon.
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|:[Dragon x Drive]:|
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"Oh no!" Hestia glanced up at the sun through the crack of the basement half-window, "I'll be late to work!" The minute goddess hurried back and forth in the 'master' bedroom. It wasn't long before the short woman slammed the door open. "Bell-kun~!"
"A-Ack!" His hands fumbled with a bowl he had nearly tipped over in surprise. He stabilized the contents and held it before his Goddess.
She blinked, "What's this for?"
The young boy turned his gaze away. His hands fiddled with themselves as he spoke, "I just thought you should take some leftovers?" He peered up at her with his unbelievably innocent red eyes, "You must be bored of eating the same stall food... So, here you go!"
The twin-tailed Goddess was so taken aback that she had passively grabbed ahold of the warmed bowl when it was pushed towards her. How could she refuse him and his happily expectant gaze!
"Good luck at work, Kami-sama!"
"A-Ah, right— Thanks, Bell-kun!"
And before she knew it, the short goddess was making her way to the food stall. Her thoughts were still surrounding her only familia member. After each step, her face only grew increasingly red.
"Ah, Bell~" Her hands went to her warmed cheeks. In her imagination, it was Bell who held her instead. He was a bit taller. Older too. His shoulders were broader. And the rest of his... body was one far too worthy for a virgin Goddess like herself.
Or, perhaps, one just perfect enough to take this perfect virgin Goddess'—
Then, his left hand went cold. Cold as steel, the red dragon scales that made up the [Boosted Gear] now held her, inching into her skin—
"Hestia!"
She recognized that voice. It wasn't Bell but rather her... "Boss!" To top it off, she even gave a salute. Or at least, she tried. Her arm smacked against the stall owner's. At the end of her arm, there was a chilled glass. It had nearly spilled at the sudden movement.
"Awake?" asked her boss sarcastically with a small frown.
"Ehehe, sorry."
"Here," the large woman passed her the outstretched drink, "I heard about your child. Is he alright now?"
The Goddess beamed, "Bell-kun is still recovering a bit but he'll be more than okay in a day or two!"
The woman narrowed her eyes, "Now, you have no reason to slack off these days. Got it?" At Goddess' following salute, she rolled her eyes. "I'll be off to drop off some supplies elsewhere."
"Alright!"
And before Hestia knew it, an hour passed. Only a few customers plagued her, at which she was thankful since she could continue to mull over Bell's status.
"…Yo," The miniature Goddess would never forget that voice and who it belonged to, especially her flat chest, "Lolibigboobs." She could only grit her teeth at the 'insult.' It was such a stupid insult. How was having big boobs an insult?! Her jealousy was so unbecoming!
Instead of clapping back, the shorter woman bit back a sigh and merely greeted the red-headed Goddess, Loki, with a customer-service smile. The red-head had nursed Bell back to life. "How may I help you this beautiful morning, dear beloved customer?" There was a twitch in one of her eyes, noticing the famous Ais Whateveritwas. It took a lot out of her to not growl at the blonde beauty.
Loki grimaced at the fakeness, "First off, ew." She moved to open her mouth, recalling what she came by for—only to scoff and turn away slightly. She mumbled, "the 'rivalry' we have- that's just between us, okay?"
"Wha—" her blue eyes widened, "of course! Pssh, I knew that." Loki was a lot of things. Petty was surely one of those things, but she wasn't the type to go after a tiny Familia, even if it was Hestia's herself. The trickster Goddess would wait until the mini-Goddess gathered her forces before crushing her if nothing else. It would feel much better that way. Knowing that divine washboard for many millennia, she'd get off on it as the bloodbath went on.
The cocky shapeshifter would eat her skimpy shorts when all her "mischievous" plans fell to ruins around her! Hestia hmph-ed internally; there were contingencies to be made. A lot of people held the Greek mythos in disdain. While the Goddess of the Hearth had nothing to do with almost all of it, just by her siblings' relations alone, she was a target. An easy one at that.
Being in an impossible coma and floating within the void for who knows how long didn't even give her pity points!
Meeting Bell was certainly a present though!
Even if she shouldn't be alive...
The last thing she could remember before that was being struck down by an inconceivable beast of endless forms and power. She had taken the blow that had meant to wipe out the gathered group of people from various
She realized something. 'Aah... That probably explains my distaste for shapeshifters, huh?' It wasn't just the fact that Loki was often so antagonistic to her own family. That Hestia could stomach, even if barely. Her family wasn't perfect either, to say the least.
However, unlike the troublesome bunch of Hestia's family, Loki never once tried to reciprocate the goodwill the Norse had shown her on occasion after occasion. Even Hestia's nephew, Ares, would get along with his siblings and cousins.
Even if that included a lot of sparring or tactical… mind games. Bleh.
"Yeah, well, I can never know when it comes to your flabs of fat for brains! And then..."
Immediately, the pint-sized Goddess took offense to that, ignoring the rest of what Loki had to say. You couldn't just live as long as she did without being smart!
...Not that she was old! Damnit, she was eternally young! She was even 'blessed' with a new body since coming back to earth. In any case, she wasn't like old Loki's hagass, perving on familia like the shape-shifting weirdo that God...dess she was, which reminded Hestia of her younger brother and his reverse zoophilia fetish.
'W-While the former could be said about myself, that's only because my familia is only Bell at the moment!' Bell's oblivious self was to blame in any case! Never locking the door, filled in the gaps of the wooden door, nor noticing her perceptive eyes...
"Anyway!" Hestia bit back a groan since her company was still there for some reason and turned towards Loki's companion, "You're here for your usual then?"
"Mmh." When the blonde gave a nod and an admittedly cute noise of affirmation, the 'young' Goddess wanted to throw her hands up in frustration. The quiet girl was mostly perfect—something Loki could and would never forget to remind the world. A part of Hestia could very well accept that it was Ais of all people that Bell would fall for.
NOT!
Bell was hers forevermore; he just didn't know it yet!
As she fumed with envy, her practiced hands moved without thought. They grabbed the plump dessert with a paper wrapper and sprinkled on extra powdered sugar, coating one side evenly and seamlessly. And as she flipped the dessert in an overly complicated maneuver, she imagined herself glaring at Ais behind her bright and peppy customer service expression. With but a flick of her wrist, she lathered the plain side with a sweet syrup. She loosely folded it and finished wrapping it in a single move.
"There you go, dear customer! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!"
Titans, she hated making that order. If she did it any differently, her boss would somehow find out, flame her and then report her to Hephaestus for insubordination or something. It wasn't as if a dungeon-junkie like Ais would care if her overly sweet order was made normally or whatever.
So, what if Ais had only noticed the stall because she had made it that way for a group of excitable children!
'D-Don't look at me with those sparkly eyes of amazement!'
"Thanks."
Ugh. The monotone girl just had to open her mouth. It wasn't like Hestia was doing it for her. This was just a matter of not being reported and lowering her friend's standing for Hestia's own mistakes.
"No, thank you for returning!" Loki made gagging noises at the words—not like she needed the disgusting reminder that the walking and talking smelly wooden plank was still there—and went to respond, only to stop. The redhead then turned herself and Ais away. As if she was hiding the cuteness that was munching Ais away from Hestia... as if she hadn't seen it many times before. "Until next time, dearly beloved customers!"
Seeing Loki miss a step was almost worth lowering Hestia's diminishing pride. The twin-tailed Goddess sighed. The day couldn't get worse than it already had...
"Hestia~"
...She really shouldn't have expected anything less with how the day was going.
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|:[Dragon x Drive]:|
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Aes: Geez, this chapter didn't want to be written. I'd like it to be at least 2x longer, but it would be a couple more months before it'd get another 1k words in the best scenario. You guys waited long enough as is... Sorry for the long wait in any case.
I'm off to return to either Cry Havoc or one of my other DxD stories.
Edits: not much
[Words: 4,979]
Reviews: Again, my bad about the lack of content. I have a lot planned and working up to it hasn't been and isn't gonna be easy for me. Honestly, I consider this story my best written project, and I'm trying to keep as such, while juggling life. The latter hasn't been easy during this covid, somehow.
OSR fanatic: Thanks for the info! I'll refer to it later when they make their appearance.
SkellZero: Thanks for the kind words! Personally, I'm not really into the idea of having Albion as a partner or having such an obvious 'gear.'
Vercingetorix Rex: Yes, Bell essentially has stuff in the form of dragon/longinus bullshit, lol. Issei will be coming back; nothing major though. The harem on the other hand, Haruhime will basically be the Asia of the group, but yes, she will be in it. The other Goddesses, especially Ishtar, are on the fence. Freya's relationship will depend on what I decide to do with Syr.
ProjectIceman: haha about that... sorry to make you wait quite a while once again. I actually heard a story about Odin castrating Loki and so 'he' deciding to become a woman, so Imma just go with that, which happened before Loki was imprisoned in Hell. I can't wait 'till Loki realizes who was in the gauntlet. Hope you enjoyed!