New Chapter
With a smile Bell sat down on the couch and placed the Grimoire down in front of him. This was it, now that he wasn't being plagued by the image of the attractive Amazon that had visited him last night, he could finally concentrate on opening that Grimoire and learning himself some magic. Opening the book he couldn't contain himself as he immediately began to read.
The Magic of the Jötunn
Bell was already entranced with just the title that was given. Despite having no idea what it meant, or who or what a Jötunn was. Either way, he was going to learn magic and with any luck it would be a powerful spell! His excitement was growing further and further making him feel like a child again.
A Jötunn is a type of entity contrasted with gods and other figures, such as dwarves and elves. The entities are themselves ambiguously defined, variously referred to by several other terms, including risi, thurs, and troll.
Wait, didn't Brok and Sindir tell him that his axe was imbued with Frost Troll souls, or something similar like that? So was a Jötunn some kind of Monster then? He had never heard about one before. Maybe Eina could shed some light on them if he asked, she was always eager to teach him more about the Dungeon and the monsters that dwelled within. He'd talk to her later about it.
Before now Bell had never really been a reader of books, not having much to read back in his home village and Grandpa usually just read heroic tales of heroes to him. But sitting down to read a Grimoire like this, it was kind of daunting to the young adventurer. But he persisted and continued on. It might be his only chance to learn Magic afterall. He wasn't going to let this chance pass him by.
From the titles of the table of contents, it seems to be a book related to Magic. Which only made him invision all kinds of fantasies in his head.
Magic is divided into inborn and acquired categories. Inborn Type means that it is obviously related to the roots of the target's qualities and race. The ancient magic race would carry potential talent, and through practice and rituals, they would be able to learn Magic early on. Although there is also the chances of the attributes being biased, but most of them are powerful and have a wide range of effects.
Bell had a hard time trying to understand it all, maybe magic was out of his grasp? But either way his biggest dream was to be able to wield magic so he wasn't about to quit just after he got started.
Acquired Type uses the God's Grace as the medium, so it is possible for the buds to grow. There are unlimited branches of path there. It is greatly affected by Extellia.
Bell began to notice a shift in the text of the book, it was different than the Sacred Text, but it also did not seem to be any variant of demi human language. There was no unified form, it was a group of complex and strange signs. Just what was a magic Grimoire? It was starting to unnerve him.
Turning the page, Bell continued.
Magic is equal to Interest. That is the primary fact that is needed for an Acquired Type. What things they care about, agree about, hate about, dream about, long about, lament about, revere about, swear about, wish about. What they believe in always exists in their body. The God's Grace only displayed the most pristine part inside your hearts.
An Image appeared on the page.
There was a face. Eyes. Nose. Mouth. Ears. It was a human's face.
It was created from the compilation of dark handwriting, it was a human's face that had its eyes closed. The face of the article.
If you want, then you just have to ask. If you want, then you just have to shatter it. If you want, then you just have to sit up and take notice of it. The mirror that does not allow any deception has been prepared.
That's when Bell saw it, the resemblance of the image that had appeared, it was his own face reflecting back in the mix of text.
Then, let's begin
The closed eyes of the image Bell's opened and he heard his own voice speak the words. The crimson eyes, that were compiled by the text, seem to penetrate straight through him as if reading his very soul. The small lips that were from short texts began to weave out words.
To me, What is Magic?
"Magic? I don't know. Something powerful. An Ultimate Move to defeat Monsters. A power to shape the world. Powerful. Uncontrollable. Destructive."
To me, Magic is?
"A Powerful Strength. A Great Weapon that can Destroy the Weak me. A Mighty Weapon that can Inspire the Weak me. It is not a Heavy Shield of a Guardian, Nor is it a Gorgeous object like Healing Hands. A Heroes' Power to completely change everything before them. Something that makes me worthy."
To me, What Kind of Thing is Magic?
"Ice, cold and freezing just like the Leviathan Axe. Powerful, violent, overwhelming. Able to turn deserts into Tundra's, freeze oceans solid. Waves of cold swallowing everything, that not even summer could melt. Colder than anything else, a winter that will never end. I want everything to become Ice."
What Do You Wish to Pursue with Magic?
"To Become Stronger. To prove myself worthy in Goddess' eyes. To be welcomed in Valhalla."
Only These?
"I want to become a Hero. That I have always longed for since that time, and which I have still dreamed upon like a fool. Like them who appeared in the Myths, a Hero that everyone praises and approves. Even if it was a shameless delusion, Even if it was vanity that would cause nausea, Even if it was a dream that would not match me to a miserable extent. I, Wanted To Become a Hero but now I want to be Hero recognised by Valhalla for my Goddess."
How Childish.
"Sorry."
But, that is me.
The Bell made up of the text within the book, finally smiled. And Bell fell unconscious as his mind was overwhelmed with the abundant knowledge of the spell that Grimoire had gifted to him.
Bell let out a small groan at the weight currently rested on his stomach, cracking and eye open he saw Loki sitting atop of him, bottle of booze in her hand as she casually went through the magic Grimoire he had sat down to read. Wait, he did read it right? That wasn't just some really weird messed up dream!? If he couldn't even get through a Magic Grimoire than how was he supposed to learn magic!?
"So you read it hmm?" Loki smiled down at him. "I thought you would have much sooner, but I guess you've been preoccupied?" She questioned. "Going out on dates with Naaza, I mean." She laughed as Bell's face heated up.
"I-It's not like that Goddess!" Bell tried to tell her, recalling his own thoughts that it might have been a date on his trek home after taking Naaza most of the way back. "We just came back form Melene and we were invited to the pub by one of the waitresses!" He tried to defend.
"Melene huh? How are Brok and Sindri?" She asked casually.
"Oh, they packed up their shop and came to Orario, we helped them move." Bell said awkwardly, Loki was still sitting on him. Loki nodded in understanding, she had figured as much that the two dwarves would move to Orario since Bell was here. "I didn't expect you to be by today, Goddess." He told her.
"Eh, why not!? Huh, don't want to see me since you've got big boobed Naaza!?" She declared in a drunken slur, sloshing the bottle of alcohol in her hand to the point it spilled and landed on his shirt. By this point she was straddling him, booze soaking through his clothes that sloshed from the bottle as she seemingly broke down about 'itty bitty titties'. "Oh." She perked up. "Right! You don't care about the size of a woman's boobs!" She laughed lunging forward and pulling his head to her chest.
After a few moments of embarrassing struggling, Bell managed to maneuver his way away from the intoxicated Goddess. Given the time of day he had to ask.
"Is something wrong Goddess?" Bell asked, making her turn to look at him with a tilted head. "I mean, not to imply anything or not but it looks just before noon." He told her. "I was just curious if there was something bothering you." Loki stared at the boy for a few minutes before smiling and leaning back on the chair.
"Just have a meet up with another Goddess, in truth I really don't wanna go it's gonna be a pain." She told him. "Booze just helps me deal with her is all." She rolled her hand in a leave it alone motion. "Well since you read the Grimoire, you'll have a spell. Whip of that shirt and turn your back, you gotta memorise the Incantation before you start throwing off spells like Riveria." Loki grinned.
Hastily, Bell did as instructed and soon he once more was looking at his status. Only one large change stood out for him, not having been to the Dungeon since the attack of the Minotaur.
Name: Bell Cranel
Age: 14
Alias: none
Familia: Loki Familia
Race: Human
Level - 1
Strength - I - 72 - I - 112 [Valkyrie's Gift +75 - H - 187]
Endurance - I - 98 - H - 125 [ Valkyrie's Gift +75 - G- 200]
Dexterity - I - 85 H - 105 [Valkyrie's Gift +75 - H - 180]
Agility - H - 101 - H - 168 [Valkyrie's Gift +75 - G - 243]
Magic - I - 0 [Valkyrie's Gift +75 - I - 75]
Skills:
[Valkyrie's Gift]
[While worthy of Valhalla, a boost to all stats is applied, the more worthy of Valhalla the greater the boost]
[Einherjar Heart]
[Fast Growth Skill matching the fighters spirit. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's determination to win. ?er?k ?at? - Not Achieved.]
Magic:
[Breath of Thamur] -
[Chant: Ender of things, giant of ice, lend me your breath.
Freeze them to a silence deeper than death.
Even the affluent perish in this cruel world.
The inescapable deeds of the past life declared by Gods.
As water runs high from low, take away all life.
Show me a world standing still as though itself had frozen.
Show me eternal, ultimate beauty indestructible, unassailable.
I reject understanding, I seek perfection.
Life gathers, undulating, reeking, displaying the horror of its procreation.
I will not accept it, I will not understand it.
I long for the scenery of pure white.
I long for a beautiful world of death.
I long for a world where creatures are buried and closed off.
I long for everything to stop.]
Loki smiled as she watched Bell look on in glee in what he saw, the boy taking in every line of his new magic incantation. Loki herself was impressed, that Chant was impressive not to mention that a spell named after a Jötunn? Seriously, how much was this kid following her own mythology here? Sure some of her Children had taken on the titles of the old times, but none had truly embraced it like Bell seemed to be doing. In all her time away from Tenkei, Bell was the first one she had met, that was worthy of Valhalla. Just who the heck was this kid?
"A spell like that is going to take time to Master, Bell." Loki inclined causing Bell to turn back to her. "Don't do something stupid and childish and go running off into the Dungeon and trying to cast it like some moron, it'll only get you killed." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "If I hear you have, I won't be happy." Bell swallowed nervously at the gaze. "Only once Riveria has given you the okay, are you allowed to use it freely? Understood?"
"Y-Yes Goddess." Bell nodded.
"Give it a few days and I'll have Riveria work out a timetable for teaching you, until then go explore the Dungeon with Naaza. Just don't do anything stupid okay."
"Okay." Bell smiled as Loki leaned over and patted him atop the head. "Good work out there, Bell." She smiled causing Bell to beam up at her before she left with little more than a wave over her shoulder.
Loki frowned slightly as she stood outside the two story building. She didn't like this one bit. She knew Freya had been watching her… watching Bell more likely. This no doubt had something to do about her little Rabbit. For whatever reason, Bell had caught Freya's eye, she should have known this confrontation was coming. Folding her hands behind her head she looked up, already knowing Freya was looking down on her from the interior of the second floor.
The door to the building opened before her causing a scowl come to her face as she was forced to crane her neck up to look at the tower of a man standing before her. Ottarl.
"Yo, ya big lug, the wench in?" Loki grinned as she gave a two fingered salute from her forehead. The twitch in his eyebrow was the only evidence he was furious at her but he simply stepped to the side allowing her entry before he himself left, Loki noticing he was heading for the Dungeon. She was surprised that the big guy wasn't sticking around.
The first thing Loki noticed about the interior was that it was completely void of life. Not a single patron was present and it seemed that the owner was out. This wasn't Freya's usual MO. She would have been at the centre of attention just enjoying that fact that every living being around her was drooling as they looked upon her. Heading for where the Goddess of Beauty would be Loki set a nonchalant look on her face, no need for Freya to be reading her like an open book.
Heading up the stairs she entered into the large room housed with numerous tables and chairs, all void of life just like downstairs. It should have been filled yet, only a single solitary figure sat across the room looking out the window, wrapped in a deep purple cloak to hide her features from everyone and anyone. Loki approached, her footsteps causing the Goddess across from her to glance her way. That gaze could melt the minds of mortals and deities alike, however Loki was more than aware of Freya's innate ability to charm anything with a mere glance.
"What's up, what's with all the cloak and daggers, couldn't it have waited until the God's Banquet that Ganeseha is holding in a few days?" Loki asked sliding a chair out from the table and sitting back in it, the goddess tilting it back as she crossed her arms as Freya simple stared straight at her. "I hear even the Shrimp is going to be there this time, she's only just recently descended from Heaven, Oh I'm going to make a laughing stock out of her." Loki laughed to herself, imagining how she could pull off torturing Hestia in front of the other deities.
There was a cold silence for a few moments before Freya pulled back the hood of her cloak revealing her face.
"You know exactly why you're here Loki." Freya stated cooly. "Don't pretend you don't have something of mine." Loki's eyes opened slightly and narrowed dangerously. "Don't worry, I won't be taking what's mine, not just yet." Loki's hands pulled into fists as Freya smiled. "I'll let you raise him, for a little while longer." Loki's teeth grit together… she was acting as if she could take him from her whenever she damn well pleased.
"I think you have something mistaken Freya." Loki replied as she relaxed somewhat, the last thing she wanted was for Freya to get under her skin. "My Child belongs to no one but me." Freya leaned over the table, her delicate hand cupping Loki's cheek and rubbing it gently.
"For now." Freya stated mockingly as she rose from the table. "Just remember Loki, I will come for what's mine." The Goddess once more pulled up her hood to cover her features and headed for the stairs. "I do hope it will be a peaceful exchange… I'd hate to see all of your Children to find themselves without a Goddess." Loki's eyes flared open in anger as she rose to her feet, her chair flining back as she stood up.
"That a threat Freya!?" Loki growled. "If I'm going back to Tenkei then I guarantee I'm dragging your fat ass back with me!" Freya simply glanced over her shoulder with a slight smirk.
"My, my, Loki." Freya spoke. "You seem very protective of him? Are you willing to risk everything for him?" Loki grit her teeth. "I am." With that Freya descended down the stairs.
"Slut." Loki cursed.
"I heard that." Freya's voice drifted back up the stairs.
"Well it's true!" Loki snapped back.
The tension was thick in Finn's office at the top of the Twilight Manor. The blonde Prum sat behind his desk, his thumb was throbbing as it tended to do when danger was closing in. Loki was frowning, arms crossed as she leaned on the wall glancing out the window that looked over the courtyard of the Twilight Manor, eyes focused on the children going about beneath her gaze. Riveria despite her usual calm manner was pacing back and forth, chewing on her thumb as she tried to understand the situation. What Loki had just come home with was certainly troubling.
"There is no other choice Loki." Rivera declared stopping her pacing. "You need to bring him into the Familiar, officially." The elf told her.
"Bell's fine for now." Loki spoke up, not taking her gaze from the window. "She has no intention of making a move quite yet. She made it very clear about that."
"You're risking a lot by keeping him secluded still." Finn spoke up, since hearing the news of Loki's meeting with Freya, his thumb hadn't stopped throbbing. Something was coming. "If not to bring him in, at least take him from the Pleasure Quarter. There are rumours that Ishtar is planning something and should she find that Bell is currently Freya's intended target..." The Prum trailed off.
"What Ishtar and Freya do isn't our business." Loki huffed raising her thumb to her mouth beginning to chew on the nail. "Plus, Bell isn't one to get mixed with the woman over there, he's much too innocent." She smiled. Riveria sighed as she glanced at Finn who shrugged his shoulders in response. It seemed as though Loki had made up her mind on this.
"Bell finished his Grimoire too." Loki started up again after a pause of silence. "He'll need you to start teaching him. I'm worried that he'll do something stupid." The click of Riveria's tongue echoed in the office causing Finn to chuckle lightly.
"It would be much easier to train him, if he was here under our roof!" Riveria growled as she gripped the bridge of her nose in frustration. "What kind of spell was it?" She questioned.
"No idea." Loki replied, giving an all to familiar trickster smile. "He's just full of surprises, isn't he?" The Goddess already knew of the Jötunn Thamur and had an incline of what Bell's new magic could do.
"Hyaa!~" Bell threw the axe he had been given, it's power feeling slightly different ever since he had taken it back to Brok and Sindri. More powerful maybe? It was certainly different. The blade of the axe impacted the kobold in its chest freezing it completely solid in a matter of seconds. Raising his hand up, feeling the familiar pull the axe dislodged but, instead of just pulling free of the kobold, a burst of power shot forth from the axe exploding the frozen kobold into nothing but chunks.
Bell was surprised as he caught the axe in his hand, having learned to do it without fearing being hit now it was just instinctual. He was still looking at where the kobold had once stood, whatever Brok had done to it with his hammer, had made it stronger somehow. Once more Bell was completely enamoured with the axe he had received from his Goddess.
From what Sindri and Brok told him on their way back to Orario, the axe could do much, much more than what it could do now. It would just take time for Bell to grow to a level that the axe's power wouldn't overwhelm him. Not a moment passed where Bell didn't wonder why Loki had chosen to give the axe to him and not to someone more important like Finn or Riveria.
Currently, Bell was on the fourth floor having decided to go down to the Dungeon once more on his own before his trek down with Naaza and Welf the following day. It would be their first time going down together and he was looking forward to it. It wouldn't just be him and Naaza anymore, they'd have Welf with them in case something else happened. With the strange abnormalities that Bell had encountered since becoming an Adventurer, he had more experience than most as a Level 1.
Crouching down next to the frozen chunks of Kobold, Bell saw the magic stone untouched on the ground and picked it up quickly placing it in his bag as he raised back up to his feet. Going any further down on his own wouldn't do him any good and only get him a lecture from Naaza and Eina so staying on the fourth floor was his best bet.
His ears perked up as he heard scuttering along the passage ways. Bell raised his shield up just in time, the mechanism coming to life as the golden shield shot out just as the Dungeon Lizard leaped down at him from the ceiling, using its own momentum Bell spun, causing the monstrous Lizard to be thrown to the ground. Swinging down with his shield he pinned the monster to the floor before driving the axe down resulting in the monster turning to ash.
Bell smiled lightly, he was really getting used to fighting as an Adventurer. Sure he never imagined himself with such weaponry, but he was getting used to it. His new armour from tsubaki and Welf didn't weigh him down so he was still able to utilise his speed and agility. The only thing next… was his magic. While excited, he knew that his Goddess had given him the warning to not try it unsupervised to make sure nothing happened. He was excited to see what his magic could do and how Riveria was going to be training him to use it.
"You've gotten stronger."
"EHHH!" Bell leaped, letting out a cry of surprise as the large Boaz man stepped from the shadows of the cavern. His height towering over the white haired teen who looked up at him, recognition finally kicking in. "It's you!" Bell announced happily as the Boaz continued to stare down at him.
"New armour." The large man stated. "Well crafted."
"Yes." Bell nodded happily, he didn't expect to run into the Boaz again on such a high floor. The last he had seen of him he'd been heading for the lower levels, somewhere Bell had yet to venture too. "I have to thank you again, for all your help last time. Your instructions have come in useful." Bell bowed his head to the large man.
"Come." The Boaz instructed causing Bell to blink as he looked up, only to see the man already walking away. Hastily, Bell followed after even after realising that the man was leading him down to Level 5, perhaps even lower still.