The Bunny Brothers

by Astral Kairos

What if Bell arrived in Orairo but he wasn't alone? He arrives in Orario knowing more about his past and with his brother by his side. OC-Centric. Upload after accidentally deleting the story.

3. The Battle Of The Irregulars

Chapter 3 – The Battle Of The Irregulars

Nuri and Welf watched as Bell fended off an entire horde of goblins. Prior to entering the room, Nuri had stated that Bell needed more battle experience so the two kept their distance to let Bell fight more monsters and gain as much experience and excelia as he could get. Six goblins shouldn't prove to be difficult at all for Bell.

The first goblin charged at Bell, ending up with a knife slicing his head off, seeing this, the other goblins got spooked by Bell's apparent strength and staggered momentarily. This opening though, was enough for Bell to lunge forward, slicing one of the goblins at the front and killing him. As that happened, the other four had recovered and began moving to surround Bell.

Aware of what they were trying to do Bell attacked the one on his left, deflecting the dagger of the goblin and horizontally slashing at his neck, the goblin on his right and front both charge at him. The bunny kicked the one on the right sending him flying before raising his knife, as the one on the in front of him thrust forward his claws, blocking them and then bashing the monster into the wall with enough force to down him.

He spun around to look at the goblin behind him, he deflected the two attacks and quickly overpowered him, lodging his knife in the head of the goblin. Bell turns to look at the two goblinx that he had downed and approached them to finish them off.

The goblins were still on the ground and as Bell got closer there was nothing they could do. With that wrapped up and having hunted down numerous monsters, they decided to head back and turn in the loot, agreeing to meet the day after on Welf's request.

.

The following day the two rabbits followed Welf to meet Hephaestus, as agreed the day before. They went past the tower of Babel and headed to the mansion of the Hephaestus Familia. The Familia home was enormous, if not the biggest in Orario. While it didn't have quite as many members as the Ganesha, Loki or Freya Familia. They needed space for the forges, as each smith had the privilege of getting a personal one. Reaching the gate they were met by Tsubaki, the captain of the Familia and the two usual guards, who greeted Welf.

"Hey Welf, who are those two?"

Asked one of the guards, but Tsubaki was the one to answer first.

"Guests of Hephaestus-sama herself. Treat them well."

The two guards were surprised by the sudden announcement.

"W-welcome to the Hephaestus Familia home."

The two rabbits thanked them and turned to Tsubaki.

"So you two are the rabbits who saved Welfy."

Said red hair growled at her. Tsubaki came closer and observed the two.

"Quite the lookers, I feel like cuddling with ya."

The two blushed lightly before Welf intervened.

"Hey Tsubaki, hands off. As you said they are guests of Hephaestus-sama, and they are my friends, so don't be disrespectful."

Tsubaki whistled and nodded.

"Alright Welfy-chan!"

A tick mark appeared on Welf's forehead as the two rabbits tried hard to contain their chuckles. With the jokes over, the rabbits followed Tsubaki into the mansion, who then led them to the office of Hephaestus. Knocking on the door twice Tsubaki heard the Goddess allowing them in and she opened the door, entering the office, soon followed by the others. Sat on the chair was Hephaestus, she had her back to the door and was turned to the large window, that was the wall opposite of the door, reading a stack of paper.

"Thank you for bringing them here Tsubaki, Welf."

She stopped speaking with a slight smile as she spun her chair around and her eyes went from the paper in hand that she was reading to the two rabbits. Her eyes that always had a serios look softened.

"N-Nuri, Bell. It really is you two."

The two smiths turned to the named bunnies.

"H-hello Hephaestus-sama, long time no see."

They gave her a sheepish smile as Hephaestus stood up and walked over to Nuri and Bell hugging them tightly, to the shock of the two Familia members there.

"It really is you two. Y-you're still alive."

She said quietly as she slightly teared.

"Hephaestus-sama, there are others in the room."

She looked down at Bell and then to the shocked Welf and Tsubaki.

"Ahem, right. Tsubaki, Welf, could you two leave us for a second. I need to discuss a few things with Nuri and Bell here."

Tsubaki couldn't hold herself asked about the bunnies, she was known for being blunt after all.

"Kami-sama? You know these rabbits?"

She nodded.

"It's a long story for another day. While I tell them more about their weapons, you two go back for now."

The other two stared at the red haired Goddess, only after a shocked moment did Welf speak up.

"H-Hephaestus-sama? Can't we stay?"

"I'm sorry you two, but this is a matter that needs to be kept at utmost secrecy. It goes beyond the power of these weapons. It has to do with the history behind them and the purpose that they serve."

The half dwarf captain and red haired smith raised their hand.

"Even if I'm the captain?"

Asked Tsubaki.

"Even if I'm their party member?"

But the Goddess didn't relent.

"Even if you two are, I can't let anyone other than these two know."

The two nodded dejectedly and left the room downtrodden. As the door closed, Hephaestus hugged the bunnies again.

"I can't believe it, that you're still here. I knew it was you two by Welf's description but I couldn't really believe it until I saw you two for myself. I had heard from the old perv that you had went with the others to face it. I thought that I had lost my two lovable little rabbits forever. Never did I think that I'd see your smiles again."

Nuri and Bell smiled at her as she let them go.

"Sorry for not telling you or coming straight to you."

Hephaestus' smile turned sad.

"I know it's hard, but … I'm guessing no one else made it."

Nuri shook his head.

"Actually there are two who made it. Alfia and Zald made it."

Hephaestus was surprised to hear that.

"They are resting in a village far in the north from here."

She nodded.

"There is so much that has transpired in the last five years. So many things I want to talk about and so many questions."

Nuri raised a hand.

"I'm sorry Hephaestus-sama. I know that there is a lot that you want to know, but we'd rather not face it yet, I don't think we're ready."

She nodded understandingly.

"This remains a secret between us, but we've joined the Astraea Familia."

Hephaestus gasped in shock.

"I didn't think that you'd join Astraea, actually more like, I didn't expect Astraea to allow boys in her Familia."

"Well she was the one who offered to take us in."

"Hmm, I did hear that you two did save her and Lyra. What about Loki? Did you meet her?"

"Yes, we did. At the Guild on the first day."

"Really? I'm surprised you didn't jump on her, considering that she kicked you out."

Nuri shook his head yet another time.

"It wasn't her fault. I can tell that she regrets it. Besides, it was the old man's decision for things to turn out like this."

Hephaestus nodded, understanding what he was saying.

"He has lost everything that he had built over a thousand years. The loss of the Familia has scarred him. He couldn't stay, so he had Loki and Freya do that. Both Loki and Freya weren't really happy with that, or so he said."

Hephaestus looked at the sky from her window.

"I can't imagine how he felt hearing those news."

She then turned to the weapons.

"So, in the end, you're the ones who can wield those divine armaments, you also received the rest of the equipment, huh? Why am I not surprised? But if its Zeus that told you about them … that means he hasn't given up completely?"

Bell nodded.

"Neither have the other two who survived. Their illness is still eating away at them and we are working on finding a cure. Perhaps, when we find a cure, come to terms with our past and decide to open up to Astraea. Then I will tell you and the others about what happened that day against that monster."

Hephaestus could see the sorrow in his eyes and tightly embraced them again. After returning the hug for a minute, they pulled away as Nuri spoke up.

"On a brighter note, you should tell me and Bell more about these weapons."

Hephaestus took the rabbits to the forge next to her office. She admired the work of her fellow Gods with the knives and then turned to the black tachi. She proceeded to make a check up on the weapons, though there was little to do, attune them a little and make sure they weren't damaged, but other than that they seemed fine.

The advantage of the divine armaments was that due to their Godly quality they never lost their edge. She had also made a belt with scabbards on the back for Bell so he could carry his knives around with more ease.

"Umm, Hephaestus-sama? Should we also tell Goibniu-sama about this?"

She thought for a while.

"Well he had also worked on the blades you have, so you might want to take them to him next time you have a chance."

Taking that in mind they thanked the Goddess of the forge and soon left, running into Welf outside Hephaestus' office.

"You guys finished?"

The two nodded.

"By the way, I'm afraid I won't be able to come to the dungeon with you two today. I have to work in the forge."

The two nodded and waved at Welf before leaving the mansion. While they walked they thought about the boaz who had saved them and wondered when they'd be able to meet him again. Would that have even been a good idea considering Astraea's relationship with Goddess Freya and their own reservation towards the Goddess of beauty? Even so they were still grateful to Ottar and they didn't think Ottar was as bad as Eina and Astraea described him to be.

.

For the day, the two aimed to get as many stones and drop items as they could. They had also told Astraea about their ongoing partnership with Welf as it didn't feel right to not tell their Goddess. Astraea had warned the two about choosing reliable partners but she knew and trusted Hephaestus and if they had no problems then there was no reason to interrupt the party.

With the money they had now the two of them were also thinking about buying armour, forgetting that they could simply ask Welf. As of right now, the two only had shinpads, arm protectors and a small chest piece which formed the set, a mix between the gifts given to them by the villagers from their town and the starting Guild equipment and neither of which were of good quality.

Nuri looked at Bell and imagined him being in a full plated armour which made him chuckle lightly. Bell was not made for heavy armour, he was, like everyone said, a rabbit, and his strength relied mainly on his agility. The knives he used were long but thin and light, which complemented to his speed based build. So, the aim now was to find light armour.

As for Nuri, he wielded a tachi that was slightly longer than a traditional one. He focused on strength as well as dexterity, his agility was also rather high, but strength and dexterity remained his main factors. His swordsmanship was renowned as one of the strongest in his previous Familia and amongst his masters and teachers, often being compared to the Sword Hero, Albert Waldenstein by a spirit he had met a few years before.

'So I guess the two of us should look for light armour?'

Nuri kept pondering over the armour when a group of adventurers passed by. There was no friendliness between stranger adventurers and as they passed they never exchanged a greeting nor a single word. Other than Welf, the only people they could talk to were their Goddess, who was almost always out, Hephaestus, who was almost always busy and Eina, who was always about business and their safety. They thought about Ardee but didn't want to disturb her since she also seemed very busy.

But how could they make friends in a city full of adventurers? They had no clue. Bell was thinking about the same thing but was more centred on the thought of how to meet girls, due to the influence of their grampa who was always all about ladies and making a harem.

Nuri remembered that back when Zeus would attempt to corrupt either of the two bunnies' mentality, their aunt would punch him through the walls, honestly it was nothing short of a miracle the fact that he was still alive.

.

As the two reached the exit of the dungeon, the rabbits turned to the Guild to go and report to Eina their daily activities as per usual.

"Is something wrong Bell, you seem somewhat down today?"

Eina asked out loud as the two finished their report. As expected of their advisor, she had noticed the mood of Bell just by looking at him once.

"Its n-nothing really."

He quickly changed topic.

"Oh right, Eina is there a place to go buy armour?"

She nodded enthusiastically as another excuse to go into teacher mode was presented to her.

"Well, with the amount of money you are making on a daily basis, sticking to your reports. I'd say you have access to a variety of good quality armour but I'm guessing you want to keep it as low as possible in price either way, so … you'd need a cheap place."

Eina processed out loud her thoughts.

"Alright, I have just the place."

Exclaims Eina as she grabs a piece of paper and starts writing on it, as she finished she handed it over to Bell.

"It's a shop inside of Babel. I would like to take you there personally, but work is suffocating right now."

Explained Eina, as he grabbed the piece of paper. On the paper he saw clear indications to a shop.

"There are shops inside of Babel?"

Bell asked incredulous.

"Oh yes, there are lots of shops all the way up to the twentieth floor. The floors above are places where Gods and Goddess stay, but only the ones who have the money for it. By the way, the shop also appeals to rookies like you, there are plenty of equipment and items at a low price as some of the smiths there are trying to make a name for themselves."

With that the two thanked Eina and went to exchange what they had found. The two noticed yet again the progress of their status as they gathered 15,000 valis which was a 5,000 valis increase compared to the day before. Even more surprising to the two was the value of the golden egg.

Eina told them that apparently the egg was a very rare drop that went for a million valis. Though based on who and where you sell it, the price could go up. Due to that, Nuri decided to hold onto it and find a better place to sell it to at a later date.

Bell insisted that Nuri took the million valis when they'd sell it, as he was the one that had taken down the bird. Which Nuri was forced to accept as Bell used his puppy eyes technique, truly a remarkable skill to have. Looking at him, Nuri sighed. Sometimes Bell was too honest and humble for his own good, though Astraea and Hephaestus would probably call him a hypocrite if they were to ever hear that from him.

Behind them a half elf had a near mind down from the events occurring. The fact that they were still five days old rookies, making 15,000 valis, not counting the egg, was completely crazy. Not that the two noticed that is. Bell and Nuri could happily go buy better armour now, thanks to the money they had continuously saved up.

Both Nuri and Bell had personal savings and with the amount they had they shouldn't worry too much about not having the money for the amour and potions that they require. As they arrived home, they then checked how much they had saved. Bell had around 22,000 valis, while Nuri also had 22,000 valis he also had the golden egg to sell.

"I'm back!"

They heard the door open and the soft voice of their Goddess that reached their ears. The two went down to meet Astraea who was setting aside her staff.

"Ah Nuri, Bell. Have you two been well?"

The Goddess was as busy as usual, more requests from the Guild and the people were sent in and other application papers had reached her.

"Welcome back Astraea-sama."

The two brothers greeted her with a bright smile that made the Goddess forget of all her tiredness.

"It's been a while hasn't it? Did you two miss me?"

She smiled as she put the stack of papers down. She then indicated the room above with her finger.

"Come, come let's update your status."

The two left their equipment to the side of the bed, and one at the time they laid down removing their shirt.

"Was Welf with you two today?"

Astraea asked as she sat next to Bell to update his status, her mind focusing on the status as she started updating it.

"No, unfortunately he had work this time."

Bell felt the slender fingers of his Goddess moving over the form of his falna that was imprinted on his back, his status getting updated as she did so. Astraea then finished the update and placed the status paper on the table and got ready to update Nuri's status.

"Will we go buy armour at the place that Eina pointed out?"

Asked Bell looking at Nuri.

"Yes, but thinking about it, we could also ask Welf. He is a smith and I'm sure he can make some good armour pieces."

Astraea finished updating their status and handed the two the paper with their status on it.

Bell Cranel

Age: 14

Familia: Astraea

Race: Human

Alias: None

Level: 1

Strength: H120 – H196

Endurance: H172 – G213

Dexterity: I89 – H155

Agility: H134 – G256

Magic: I0 – I0

Skill:

๔̶̨͈͎̋̀͝เש̷̢̳̰̏͂͠เ̵̢̛̩̝̘̰͐ภ̵̠̭̘̻̈́є̴̵̢͖̺̪̄͑͑͗͂͘๔̵̝̹̖̪͕̓г̴̡̡̣̿̕ค̵̲̈͠ﻮ̴̫͐͑̌̓̏͝๏̷͇̞̀̐̒̂͝ภ̵̴͔̻͚̘̩̰̹̍́̾̿̈̀̽̕๒̷̼̿̿̈́͜ɭ̷͉̘͖̤̿͜๏๏̷̤̬̮̬̒๔เ̵̧̘̰̮͊͂̐̚ภ̵͎̻̹̗̠̀́̔̕є̸̫̞̘̔̾͂̅͝– -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Liaris Freese – Increased growth. Growth related to the user's feelings, stronger feelings, faster growth, renders immune to charm (weakly active)

Magic:

Cha-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Nuri Celestea Cranel

Age: 16

Familia: Astraea

Race: Human

Alias: None

Level: 1

Strength: H138 – F349

Endurance: G200 – F312

Dexterity: H105 – F358

Agility: H189 – G276

Magic: I0

Skill:

ש̷̢̳̰̏͂͠เ̵̢̛̩̝̘̰͐ภ̵̠̭̘̻̈́є̴̵̢͖̺̪̄͑͑͗͂͘๔̵̝̹̖̪͕̓г̴̡̡̣̿̕ค̵̲̈͠ﻮ̴̫͐͑̌̓̏͝๏̷͇̞̀̐̒̂͝ภ̵̴͔̻͚̘̩̰̹̍́̾̿̈̀̽̕๒̷̼̿̿̈́͜ɭ̷͉̘͖̤̿͜๏๏̷̤̬̮̬̒๔เ̵̧̘̰̮͊͂̐̚ภ̵͎̻̹̗̠̀́̔̕є̸̫̞̘̔̾͂̅͝– -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Liaris Freese – Increased growth. Growth related to the user's feelings, stronger feelings, faster growth, renders immune to charm (weakly active)

Argonaut – A hero's strike, an attack that charges up with time, white and blue sparkles appear when active, the longer it charges the stronger the power. Current charge time: 3 minutes. Concurrent Chanting: Not Achieved

Magic:

Ext_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

As they took a look at the status, they saw that there was a constant steady increase in their status. They hadn't updated their status in two to three days and the combined days of dungeon dive showed their exponential progress.

Astraea also saw the progress, she knew that this was way above average and thanks to Welf they had got a grasp of how much of an insane increase it was. While Astraea, who knew from the start, couldn't help but be surprised, almost as if Freya had slapped her across the face, but she had begun getting used to it.

Normally, a level one would have a solid increment at the start but slow down if not hit a complete dead end, after which it would take a year or more to reach a D status in just one of the different stats. Not to mention that they were gathering a lot of excelia despite adventuring only through the first three to four floors. What was also special about the boys was that they raised all the stats nearly equally. Usually people would only be able to raise a few stats depending on their specialisation.

"To think we're able to advance this quickly."

Hearing Bell's murmur Astraea nearly teared. She felt like a mother looking at her son growing up, he finally understood the abnormality of his and Nuri's growth.

"Yes, but if you can achieve that much with just the small scuffles you've had. Imagine what might happen if you were to have a true fight with something of really challenging. Once you venture deeper, things will get more eventful, but …"

Astraea trailed off.

"But?"

Asked Bell, to which she sighed.

"Bell, you are increasing at a steady speed and gaining more excelia than what an average adventurer would gain, far more than usual. You as well Nuri, you have an equally phenomenal growth. I am not lying when I say that I have never seen such jumps in status before, like never. Even amongst your Zeus and Hera Familia, there was nothing like this."

The two bunnies nodded, though it also greatly encouraged Bell and Nuri to continue do their best.

"What about magic?"

Bell asked, not being able to feign excitement as it leaked out, to which Astraea giggled softly, only answering after she got it under control.

"Are you dreaming of casting magic like in fairy tales now, little bunny?"

She asks with a cheeky tone.

"Heroic spells that can turn the world upside down in one go?"

Bell looks away from her teasing tone, after which she breaks into a contained laugh before slowly regaining control of herself again.

"In a few days, my girls should return from the joint expedition with the Loki and Ganesha Familia. I will introduce the two of you to Alise. She'll help you train."

Bell and Nuri looked at each other.

"Really?"

The Goddess nodded.

"Yep, I did tell you that you would meet them, after all to send you in the dungeon without anyone to teach you or train you much too dangerous. The reason I'm keeping you secret is for your safety, but despite how she seems, Alise is good at keeping a secret. We'll keep it a secret form the anyone else, including the rest of the Familia for now, but her along with Kaguya and Lyra will be informed so that they can help you in case you need it."

Bell and Nuri nodded making Astraea smile.

"I want you two to keep coming back, you know? Speaking about magic … Nuri, Bell, your status has something over the magic section, but it seems to be sealed, though I did noticed that it is gradually recovering. The encryption is slowly turning into legible letters."

The bunny's eyes widened slightly as if they heard something of shocking that they already knew about. The two hadn't been paying attention to the magic section, seeing it now both Nuri and Bell turned away with a sad look.

"You … know something?"

"It's n-nothing to worry about Astraea-sama."

The Goddess studied him and could tell that he knew something but she didn't detect a lie, it probably carried bad memories so Astraea decided to drop it. It would come out on its own eventually.

"Anyways, other than Alise the two of you shall be meeting the vice-captain of the Familia, Kaguya since I was going to tell both of them, I might as well just tell them at the same time. If you have problems just speak to those two and … don't worry, I'm sure Alise will be incredibly happy to meet you two, as for Kaguya, I don't think it will take long to convince her. I might not even need to."

The two looked at Astraea.

"Thank you Astraea-sama. For everything you've done so far."

"And I'll keep looking over you. Now, I'll be taking a bath to relax a bit. Unless you wish to join?"

"Kami-sama!"

Both Nuri and Astraea were startled by Bell who suddenly shouted in his stuttering and fidgeting form.

"I was just joking Bell."

"Still you are a Goddess, you shouldn't say something like that. You are divine beings that are meant to be venerated."

Astraea frowned a little before sighing. It's not like she didn't understand Bell's view, which was commonly spread amongst the people of Gekai. A perspective that Astraea didn't like and she wished to change, and she would do so starting with Bell.

"Bell, you shouldn't always put Gods on a pedestal. We have our flaws, we make mistakes you know? Even I did. Gods are no perfect beings, far from it actually, I'm no different."

Nuri noted a hint of sadness and regret in her words as she pointed out that she made mistakes in the past.

"At any rate, the two of you need to get rest. You can't just go into the dungeon every day without taking breaks. Hehe, you two kind of remind me of Alise. She's always been excited and reckless … and she still is. Luckily the status of captain has made her develop a little prudence. Anyways, you will have to get used to this, from now you'll have Alise who will be doting on the two of you like this, just like an older sister. Just remember Bell, you should be more familiar with Gods."

"Bell, Astraea is right. Even Zeus constantly reminded you of that, had he not?"

"Umm, still …"

"It'll take time but you should start abandoning that belief, it will do you no good."

"I get it."

Astraea smiled seeing the gentle lecture that Nuri provided for his younger counterpart.

"That's good. Nuri would you mind making me some tea for when I come out?"

"Of course Astraea-sama."

"Thank you."

.

The Goddess came out having finished her shower, wearing a pristine white robe and a towel wrapped around her still wet hair. She sat down on the couch with a magic item called a hairdryer in her hand.

Bell was sat across from her on the opposite couch reading a book of the tale of a hero who was considered a clown. Nuri soon arrived in the room with a cup of tea in hand, which he gently deposited on the table in front of Astraea.

"Thank you Nu-"

The rabbit then proceeded to place his hand on hers before delicately taking the hairdryer out her hand.

"What are y- Nuri, there really isn't any need for that."

The white haired teen chuckled as he moved behind the sat Goddess and started drying the hair of the diving being.

"Please don't mind it. Astraea-sama has been working hard as well. I know that you feel lonely without your Familia around, you're always out and about and when you get back me and Bell are mostly spending our time in the dungeon, Lyra hasn't been discharged yet either. I'm also doing this to repay what you've already done for us. So please just take advantage of it and enjoy it Kami-sama."

The Goddess smiled sweetly as she laid her head against Nuri's firm belly, as he stood behind her. Carefully running his hands through her hair, he dried them with the magic tool that having been turned on was emitting hot air.

"This does feel really nice. I might ask you again Nuri."

"Anytime for you Astraea-sama."

Bell who was sat opposite of them hadn't noticed the Goddess there, still troubled by the words of Astraea from before. Despite his eyes being on the pages of the book open in front of him, his mind was elsewhere thinking about the enigma that was his belief. The book whose purpose was only to hide his confused state of mind, slowly slipped out the grasp of his hands, falling down on his laps.

Nuri noticed that and turned his attention to Bell, smiling sympathetically seeing the thinking face of his younger brother. He called out to him but so deep in thought, Bell didn't notice the calls of his beloved brother. Astraea turned to look at Nuri who only sighed at the sight of his troubled sibling, unresponsive to the calls.

"Umm … ah!"

Nuri's eyes glinted malevolently, his smile turning mischievous.

"Bell~ if you don't respond I'll stuff that sweet sweet mango that you love into your mouth."

Bell's calm eyes widened in panic and jumped up from his place, looking at the surprised Goddess and the smug Nuri.

"Mou onii-sama!"

"Hahaha, Bell, it seems you still don't like sweet things."

"You know I don't."

"I'm sorry, but you weren't answering. Haa, Bell, are you still thinking about what Astraea-sama has told you before?"

(A/N: Just so you're aware from now, Haa is just when someone sighs in the dialogue.)

The younger bunny stared for a while before sitting back down looking downtrodden.

"Yes."

"Bell, it's understandable why you think that way. However, the Gods came down to experience the life of us mortals. Sure, there are some Gods who will act high and mighty, but not all of them are like that. Some prefer to be addressed like any other mortal would be. Astraea-sama is someone who thinks of it that way. Think of her feelings as well Bell. Besides I don't remember you being respectful with Zeus."

"But-"

"And don't tell me that it's because Zeus is Zeus and Astraea-sama is Astraea-sama. Certainly he was a big perv but he was still a God."

The Goddess of justice then poked and probed his stomach that rested on back of her head.

"You know Nuri, you're really no better than Bell. Astraea."

"Eh?"

"Astraea. Call me Astraea from now. It feels too respectful."

Nuri smiled and nodded.

"Right. I'm sorry Astraea-sa- Astraea."

"Hmm, that's better."

"See Bell. It's fine if you wish to stick to your belief but take in consideration other people's feelings as well."

Bell then smiled brightly.

"I think I understand now."

As Nuri finished drying the Goddess' hair he started brushing it mindlessly as he too got lost in thought only returning to Gekai to ask Astraea a question.

"Valhalla, a grand and vast hall found in Asgard, ruled by Odin in the Norse region of Tenkai. Unlike anything that is found here in Gekai, it is a magical place. When Odin deemed a warrior worthy upon their death, they travelled to Valhalla, led by Valkyries. Others might end up int the fields of F lkvangr of Freya. Not all souls are immediately purified and sent back down. Some take ages and rest in Tenkai. In places such as Valhalla."

The walnut brown haired Goddess was surprised by the sudden description that Nuri provided. She moved her head to look at Nuri.

"As time passed the people forgot the Gods. With that the people who entered Valhalla soon dwindled. As of now no one has entered the halls of Valhalla in almost a millennia. Such place is found in your region as well."

"Yes, an ancient and beautiful land called Elysium. A large and vast green meadow. It lies on the western edge of the region by a great river called Okeanos. An ultimate paradise for those who lead a righteous life. It is the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous. Ruled by Zeus, the legends that are the heroes, never die and are allowed to rest there."

"I wonder if our Familia is waiting for us there."

"Everyone in Zeus' and Hera's Familia were heroes. They are likely watching you from the heaven's above. When the time for you two does come, me and Zeus will definitely … take you there … to meet them."

The Goddess closed her eyes and rested her head against Nuri as she fell asleep. The two rabbits looked up, outside the window and into the night sky. Silence reigned in the room as the two thought of Astraea's words.

With time everything withers. Memories are lost, legends and myths are remembered but their origin distorted, even the Gods are not as everlasting as people think, no matter how much they are worshipped, they are forgotten. Not everyone, not everything, not always … but most times. The two, long thought about it, could they prove to Astraea and their Familia that they were going to become heroic souls?

.

The following morning in a shop in Babel, sat behind a counter was Tsubaki. She wore her tipical white and pink outfit which left her belly exposed, a red hakama and black hair tied in a ponytail, with her left eye being covered by a black patch as usual.

She was in the process of being punished by Hephaestus by being on clerk duty overseeing a tiny Goddess work because she had tried to sneak into her office. All to discover more about the weapons of the two rabbits. As a smith, that curiosity had compelled her.

Hephaestus was infuriated when she caught her rummaging through her cabinets. The Goddess had set her to look after one of the many stores in the Babel, but not one of the high-end ones but a newly opened one for rookies, filled up with junk.

She was surrounded by unknown level one rookies looking for cheap weapon and equipment. As the store had recently been opened, it received little to no customers. She had managed to sell a few things but because the store was used to sell stuff from level one smiths, many just looked and left. She looked over at the boxes with equipment in it, forged by lower level smiths of the Familia.

Majority of this wasn't worth selling and it wasn't even good enough to be brought in the dungeon, eventually this equipment would get someone killed. Reason for which she dubbed it junk. There were good pieces from some talented smiths here and there but someone without experience likely wouldn't notice it. The bell of the door ringed as two cloaked people walked in.

"Welcome."

She greeted them with a disinterested yawn, without minding their suspicious behaviour at all.

"Ah, Tsubaki-san."

The smith raised an eyebrow as Bell momentarily brought down the hood.

"Ah, if it isn't the little rabbits."

The two of them approached Tsubaki.

"On clerk duty? What have you done to Hephaestus-sama?"

Tsubaki sighed.

"Ah, well. I snuck into her office to find out more about those weapons of yours."

The two stared at her deadpanned as she gave them a sheepish smile with a slight shrug.

"Your nature as a smith overcame that of captain of the Familia? Seriously though, didn't think you'd have it in you. I thought you'd respect her too much for such an act."

Tsubaki scoffed.

"Hey c'mon. Don't say it like that. As you said I let my curiosity get the better of me, but I can't help it. Say, now that you know why I got in trouble, would you share some details?"

The two shook their head.

"I'm sorry you got into trouble because of us, but you brought it on yourself and our stance doesn't change."

She shrugged again.

"I tried, well I give up."

She then looked around.

"But what could the two of you want from here? Armour?"

The rabbits nodded at Tsubaki's words when Hephaestus came into the store.

"Tsubaki you're not slacking off are you? Oh you have customers?"

The rabbits turned around and the Goddess recognized them immediately from their red eyes.

"Nuri, Bell. Fancy seeing you here."

The two bowed and greeted the Goddess.

"Morning Kami-sama."

She sighed.

"Seriously you two, just call me Hephaestus, I'll even allow a special exception for you and allow you to call me like Loki does."

Nuri tilted his head in thought before answering.

"I'll stick to Hephaestus for now."

The red haired Goddess then continued.

"What are you two doing here."

"We were just looking for armour."

"I see, I'm sorry but could you two wait for a moment, I need Tsubaki."

The two nodded.

"There shouldn't be a problem since I assume they know what they want, I can just pass over to one our members here."

Calling over someone, an averagely tall girl with raven hair appeared.

"Giselle, can you take care of them?"

She nodded and after discussing for a while, Nuri and Bell said goodbye to Tsubaki and Hephaestus, leaving them in the shop with the level one smith. As Giselle went to the counter, Nuri and Bell looked around the shop. The two found two identical sets of armour stuffed into wooden crates. They grabbed them and brought them to the counter, to have the girl look at the crates.

"Only 9,500 valis each?"

She wondered but proceeded.

"As Tsubaki says, you might want to check the name of the smith if you like their equipment, so you can buy from them again."

Inside the crates were the armour sets each of which were composed of a chest piece, a pair of shoulder guards, shin guards and arm guards. The fact that they were their perfect size was kind of creepy, but they took it, nonetheless.

"We'll take it then."

As they reached for their money, the two noticed an engraving on the inside of the chest plate, that read the name 'Welf Crozzo.' Bell and Nuri exchanged looks before chuckling.

"Something wrong?"

The two shook their heads and took the crates after setting down the amount of money required.

"Anyways Welf Crozzo made this armour, as I said before if you like it try buying again from him, I can tell you his pieces are decent."

Giselle assured the pair of bunnies

"We know."

"Thank you again."

.

Freya watched as the two boys left the tower of Babel and headed down to meet with a red fiery soul.

"What is the matter Ottar?"

Freya questioned the massive boaz that suddenly entered the room.

"Freya-sama, the Ganesha Familia are transporting monsters up for the Monsterphilia, though it's earlier than expected. The problem is that our scouts reported that they might be targets of Evilus."

Explained Ottar.

"Once your beloved start coming back, they will run into the Ganesha Familia transporting the monsters and there is a chance they might get caught in the middle of it."

Freya turned to watch the boaz.

"Evilus, huh? They think that they can meddle with my little bunnies?"

Ottar suddenly spoke freely for the first time, surprising Freya.

"If that were to happen, they will surely perish. They are not ready for monsters from the tenth floor and below. And we don't know what other plan Evilus has in store."

Deep in his stoic tone, Freya could feel a tinge of worry and smiled.

"No, they are not, but this should be a good test for them, to see how far they can go. They also aren't alone. The smith should be able help them. That human smith is too restricted, bound to his pride … but I'm sure that when put on the spot, he'll find his answer. No creature from the upper floors should pose a threat to him. He has experience, is a high level one and if need be, he has his magic sword. It should also suffice for them to survive."

Ottar remained silent except for a small sigh, causing Freya to glance over and with an even brighter smile than before.

"Are you worried for the two? Have they caught your attention? It seems like you care a great lot for them. Beyond the fact that I'm interested in them."

Ottar looked at the Goddess.

"I am simply trying to avoid seeing you disappointed Lady Freya."

Freya giggled at the boaz who tried to futilely hide his interest in the two.

"May I be the one to watch over them?"

Asked Ottar.

"Do as you wish. If they are about to die do save them, though you'll probably do it without me telling you."

She kept speaking with an unusually bright smile while Ottar descended the tower.

.

Welf grinned at the sight of the two approaching rabbits and waved.

"Sorry Welf, have you waited long?"

Welf shook his head.

"Nah, don't worry. Are you ready to head down?"

The bunnies nodded. They then noticed that Hephaestus was there as well.

"Oh Hephaestus, do you have time to be here?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry about it. If it's to send you three off then I have plenty of time."

Primarily, she wanted to examine the rabbit's armour and outfit, but as usual they wore cloaks making the task impossible.

"So, I heard you are going to attempt going a bit deeper than usual today?"

She asked as she smiled.

"Yes, Hephaestus-sama."

Welf nodded excitedly, he suggested the idea to Bell and Nuri since now both of them had decent armour. Besides with Welf, a third party member around, Eina could have given them the green light to go down even to the ninth floor.

"Be careful you two, don't take any unnecessary risks."

Hephaestus spoke with a worried tone.

"Of course, we won't. Please don't worry Kami-sama."

Bell confidently answered getting an approving nod from the Goddess. The group of three split from Hephaestus and headed into the dungeon. Hephaestus watched as the party of three dove into the dungeon, standing there for a while after they disappeared before returning to shops of Babel.

'Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something about Nuri's sword?'

.

With their current battle power, the group easily dispatched monsters and cleared the first three floors within an hour, eventually reaching the fourth one. As they entered the fourth floor, unlike before where they didn't maintain a formation, just stayed within the range of one another, Bell and Welf moved to act as vanguard, while Nuri stayed back at just two meders of distance from them to form the rear-guard.

Thanks to Eina's caring yet harsh lessons, the two rabbits had very clearly memorised the layout of the first three floors of the dungeon. As for the fourth floor, they wouldn't need to worry thanks to Welf, who had a solid image of the first nine floors of the dungeon. Welf was also better informed than them about any monster that they might encounter while down here, such as dungeon lizards.

"Dungeon lizards on this floor are especially aggressive, so be careful and watch out for any dark corner."

The group advanced steadily, spending a couple of hours clearing the fourth floor. Countless monsters had fallen to the party of three, their magic stones being the only trace left but they too were soon picked up by Welf. After taking a break, the group continued for another couple of hours before they decided to call it a day.

.

Bell didn't like the eeriness of the dungeon right now, nor did Nuri. Ever since the time that they had started climbing up the floors they hadn't encountered a single monster. Welf too could feel it and remained cautious as he advanced. Bell checked every corner and shadow, remembering what he had learnt from Eina, the new monster, the dungeon lizard, could scale walls and attack from above as well. Their worry dissipated as they reached a wide corridor where they saw caravans being pulled by adventurers with orange outfits and an elephant mask on their faces.

"Huh, that's weird."

Voiced aloud Welf, Nuri and Bell turning to him wondering what was unusual. That's when they noticed the crates on the caravans moving around.

"Those are monsters. They are being taken up for a rather popular event, but it's rather early for that. You see, they are brought up by the Ganesha Familia for Mons-"

They were interrupted by the loud roar of a monster. One of the cages burst open, as a silverback jumped out.

"What the hell?!"

Was what Welf managed to shout just before it charged towards them, Welf couldn't react but luckily Nuri shoved him out of the way as it crashed into the wall behind, causing everyone to go blind from the dust and dirt that was shot into the sky from the impact. Welf rubbed his eyes to clean off the dirt and looked around, still a bit dazed by the monster attack. He spotted the Ganesha Familia and one rabbit. One rabbit?

"Nuri?!"

Welf looked around frantically but he nowhere to be seen.

"There!"

That's when Bell pointed to a hole in the wall that actually led down to a floor below. They wanted to jump down to help when they were interrupted by a Ganesha member shouting at them

"Watch out!"

The two turned around to see another silverback charge. This time however, Welf and Bell were the ones who were caught by the silverback. Like Nuri, the two fell down a hole with the silverback, whilst hearing in the distance the Ganesha Familia adventurers panicking and running around in an attempt to save the adventurers caught in the chaos.

As they came crashing onto the floor, through the hole they made, they found themselves in a cubic room, with smooth stone walls, at least 8 meters tall. The room was all flat, apart from the hole in the ceiling they made and a crevice at the edge of the room. The other only opening being the entrance to the room, on the other side of the silverback.

'One way in or out.'

Was what Welf and Bell realised. Together with them were actually a couple of other adventurers that had been unfortunately caught by the charge of the silverback. Some who weren't as lucky as them, hadn't survived the fall and laid there dead.

The adventurers noticed that the silverback that had fallen with them was confused and was still recovering from the fall. The smith and the bunny were somewhat thankful to the beast as their fall was cushioned by the monster, otherwise they might had ended up like the dead adventurers.

However, what caught their attention more than the monster right now was the sound of metal slicing through flesh and the roar of a monster in pain. Bell and Welf rushed to the crevice where the sound had originated, to find Nuri at least a few meders below them. The rabbit stood in front of the first silver back. Silverbacks were monsters that spawned on the twelfth floor and were the minotaur version of the upper floors. They were rated as highly dangerous and had to be at least a high level one in order to solo fight one head on.

Nuri hadn't noticed the two companions, for he was too busy fighting a monster that at his current level he shouldn't be able to beat. He was also tired from their previous dungeon run and the impact from when the monster crashed into him, putting him at a disadvantage.

Welf and Bell were about to jump down when a noise took their attention. They had forgotten about the silverback that tackled them down, but he didn't forget them. With a loud roar, he made his presence noted to the two. Two irregularities on one floor at the same time?! They weren't in an ideal situation.

"What do we do now?"

Bell turned around when he received no response. This was too much for three level ones to handle, it'd be a different story if Welf's specialization was a warrior but he was a smith, not oriented in fighting. The poor red haired teen froze, terrorised by the sight of the white furred monster that slowly approached them.

"Welf, move!"

Bell's shout finally alerted Nuri, who turned around and noticed that they were above him. He couldn't see very well due to height level but by the roar he could tell one thing, there was another silverback.

'I need to help them, but …'

He turned to face in front where the monster was at, growling at him ferociously.

'I need to hurry.'

Back to Welf, he turned to Bell as he yells at him to focus.

"Welf! Focus Welf!"

Welf snapped out and ducked at the last second before a massive chain flew overhead. Unfortunately for them, the harnesses it wore, which were put on by the Ganesha Familia in order to restrain it and to transport it up safely, now worked against them as they now acted as armour. As Bell saw the silverback roaring, he went pale, feeling the tremendous pressure that the monster above their league emanated.

'If there is ever someone who you cherish behind you, and a monster in front of you. Be the shield that will protect your friends and family.'

At the sound of his grampa's words he stood in the way between the beast and Welf, as he got back up despite the terror. He was scared, scared of death, scared of the monster in front of him, but the reason he moved was that there is one thing he fears even more.

The fear of losing someone who is close to him, to not be able to protect his friends and family, pushed him to move. For once, their grampa had taught him something of honourable. Meanwhile, down below Nuri was pushed back, not being able to fight properly due to his fear of monsters. Both brothers had the huge monsters in front of them, both being able to move enough only to barely fight back.

Nuri too felt fear and he didn't understand, he had faced scarier things in the past, so why was it scaring him? No the answer is that it wasn't the monster that was scaring him. It was the memory that it brought back, his powerlessness and his failure.

The inability to protect Bell, his family and his friends. He had lost them once and didn't want that to happen again. Both bunnies stared at the monster in front of him when the words of Astraea reached them.

'We have our flaws, we make mistakes you know? Even I did. Gods are no perfect beings, far from it actually and I am no different. We feel just like any other mortal, happiness and sadness. We mourn when we lose someone dear to us.'

The sadness of those words spurred them to get a grip, they couldn't allow themselves to fall, to die and leave behind the Goddess that would mourn for their death. They wouldn't allow it in themselves to harm Astraea, so they prepared for battle. They would defeat the monsters and come out of it alive for their Goddess.

Other than the first time he was tackled Nuri hadn't taken any damage yet, he almost got hit a few times but he luckily avoided it at the last second. Problem was that he hadn't dealt any damage to the silverback either. Now the real battle would start. The words reminded them of Astraea, the closest person to them since they got in Orario, the person who accepted them, who cared for them and went to great extents for them, she was the person that they wanted to make proudest.

When she spoke of loss, she looked so regretful, both yesterday and the first day when she talked about Evilus. That thought was unbearable to the two. Nuri had a fire burning inside of him, a bright flaring fire, stronger than ever, the flame of his determination, he wanted to make his Goddess proud and he would do so by defeating this monster.

Bell was also convinced that he'd make Astraea proud but he would do so by showing to her that he was a hero worthy of its title, no matter who stands in front of him he would not run. Bell smiled at the thought that he made Grampa proud, he protected his friends, now he had to make the Goddess of justice proud.

'I will be a hero, just like grampa Zeus described them, just like Albert was, just like onii-sama is to me, I will be someone worthy of the title of hero.'

He got ready to fight, unaware of the blue light that shone from his back. A glow demonstrating that his falna started developing, as his will was weaved together to manifest in the form of a skill, and a unique one at that.

Only a few seconds had passed as Bell finished thinking and the silverback had waited enough, with a mighty roar it charged at Bell. On his side, Nuri sorted out his thoughts and regained his composure, steadying his breath, unknown to him he too started to undergo a change. His skill falna started glowing and evolving, as Nuri readied himself to face the monster and charged at it full speed.

.

As the battle raged on, Nuri began receiving injuries, starting with a cut just below the chest piece. As blood started leaking from the wound, the monster seemed to grow more and more excited. Until now, Nuri hadn't been able to land any major injuries, only managing to make a few shallow cuts on the skin of the silverback without any serious injury being inflicted. On the other hand, Nuri had received another slash as he barely avoided a fist which sent rocks flying, the shrapnel creating the large gash on his right arm.

During the battle, the two kept exchanging blows, but Nuri, under the pressure of fighting a stronger monster, took a wrong step, and regretted it instantly as he got hit with a punch from the silverback that didn't miss out on the chance.

Nuri had managed to raise the blade in front of him, but was sent flying into a wall at light speed, breaking the wall and leaving a crater on it as his body fell to the ground. He stood up, barely maintaining his weight. He was now facing the monster with a massive disadvantage because when he took the punch, the rabbit had lost the grip on the weapon causing it to get sent flying.

The monster moved in slowly, ready to end the rabbit. As it raised its fist, memories, all of them, flashed in his mind. Even the ones that he had locked away and forced away, they all came back to him.

In the memories he saw the hellish training he had to endure, remembering all the sword skills and techniques he had learnt, all the valuable lessons he was taught. He remembered his previous Familias, Ardee, Eina, Hephaestus, Welf, then the most important people, Astraea, Zeus, Alfia, Zald and Bell. The last thoughts successfully snapped him back to reality.

'How could I just give up so easily?'

Nuri's eyes widened as he saw the monster raising its fists just as he came back to reality and instantly rolled away barely avoiding the fist that smashed into the ground with tremendous force. His determination flaring once again, he focused on his sword that was behind the silverback, he needed to get it to have a chance of winning. His mind focused and cancelled everything out, other than the sword and the monster he was in a black void.

'If only I had my weapon.'

He pictured it in his mind, focusing on it but without forgetting the growling monster. His eyes furiously darted from the monster to the sword and back to the monster as he thought. Suddenly, the blade glowed in a blue light, he did not know what it was or what it meant, but he instinctively shot up his arm, with his hand open and extended as if trying to grab the sword. To his own surprise, the sword started lifting up, levitating over the ground before it flew back to him.

He grabbed the sword and immediately turned to face the silverback. Taking his battle stance he absorbed the air with a deep breath in. Right before charging he noticed drops of water forming on the blade as it glowed with a blue light, Nuri gazed at the blade but quickly focused on the monster in front of himself, but somehow he now felt stronger and more confident.

'After all this isn't exactly the moment to be surprised and let my guard down.'

He thought to himself. He had to use everything he had at his disposal to defeat this monster. As he finished reminiscing, two slumbering skills awoke. His back started glowing white, as his skill slot was filled with the two skills, one which had appeared years before. Nuri, now with his sword skills regained went in, battling the monster again with newfound strength.

.

'Worthless.'

That was all Welf could think about as he remained unmoving, laying against a wall. At the same time that Nuri faced off against the silverback, him and Bell were dealing with the other one. However, within just moments, Welf got hit and was sent flying into a wall.

His strength leaving him as he saw Bell continuing the fight in his stead. The other rookies that had survived the drop with them, had all fallen, slain by the silverback. Puddles of blood were all over the floor, the walls were smeared with the blood from an adventurer that had been slammed against the wall, his head crushed. Bell being the only one still standing.

Welf was a high level one yet he couldn't do anything against that monster. He felt weak and useless. The pain and fear overriding his actions. He couldn't move, his hands and legs frozen by the fear. Even the pain from the impact seemed so distant as he lost focus of reality. He wasn't even severely injured, just terrified.

Welf didn't move, leaving Bell to fend for himself. He was fond of the two, he saw them as little brothers, he cared for them, wanted to help them and repay his favour for saving him. Alas, he was useless. Despite having been an adventurer for longer, with more experience and a stronger falna, he had to be saved by them, looked after by them and when they needed him the most, he couldn't raise his hand to help them.

He lost his will to fight. The difference in power between him and the monster was made evident. He couldn't beat that thing. He was a high level one, making him qualified to fight that monster, but still he could do nothing. Pathetic and useless was how he felt. He remembers how he had left Valuta and Rakia to escape having to make magic swords, he saw as his Goddess was sent back to heaven and from that day onward he vowed to never make or use a magic sword.

After that, he met Hephaestus. She had taken him with her to Orario, where he started his life as a new smith. He didn't want recognition through his name forged by magic swords. He wanted to start the Crozzo name from scratch and build it up.

To become a famous smith, but not of magic swords. He wanted to make a weapon of a quality that even Hephaestus would acknowledge. So he had struck a deal with her. Whilst his Goddess and saviour, Welf had also fallen in love with her during his time in the Familia. Saying that if he succeeded in this endeavour then, Hephaestus would become his.

He had made such a bold statement, so much resolve, confidence and hard-work. He had it all, but it amounted to nothing. As it was tested, it revealed that he didn't have any foundations set for his beliefs. Without the strength to back his ideals up, he could do nothing in the face of a stronger opponent.

He had ambition, a great one at that, but an ambition is just an idea. without the power or strength to support it, it means nothing, it will go nowhere, it will get you nowhere. However, having power without ambition is equally useless. Without an ambition, power does nothing, you can't guide it or use it. You just go straight in one direction until you hit a dead end. One requires both in order to succeed.

Welf kept thinking of his failed aspiration, his inability as a smith, as a party member, as a friend and as a brother to the two. Little did he know of them, but that didn't matter, they didn't treat him differently despite who he was and he was sure they knew of the Crozzo name, still they had fun and fought together. This is what Welf wanted to find in a party. Now that he had it, he was about to lose it. That's when his eyes wandered down to his belt. There where the belt was, laid a small magic dagger.

'I vowed to never make or use one again.'

He thought, but that's when he flared, angry at himself for his own foolishness.

'Then why did I bring it?! For an emergency. Is this not it?! How many times will I hesitate? No, that's enough, I did nothing the whole time. I can't and won't put my pride before my friends!'

He got up and grabbed his magic sword just as he saw Bell go flying.

"BELL! I'm coming!"

.

While Welf was down Bell fought the monster with everything he had, but he was having a hard time. Despite the paralysing ability of his knives, he was considerably weaker compared to the monster and had a lower stats than his brother, as the weapons were living weapons they got stronger as he got stronger, but if he was weak, then the weapons too would be weak.

Compared to his brother, he wasn't inferior in only status, but also in skills and technique as he had little training in the use of his weapon, nor could he make use of a skill to power up an attack to a heroic scale that it could turn the tides.

He would not last long at this rate. His fight resumed when the silverback charged at him roaring thunderously. The monster charged straight at Bell, who reacted by bracing himself. He got bashed and was sent flying a few meders back, tumbling across the floor of the room.

.

Meanwhile, with Nuri, the tide of the battle had started to turn in the rabbits' favour. The silverback's body was littered with cuts, most were shallow but there were also a few deep ones. As the silverback attempted to grab the boy with both his hands, Nuri sheathed his sword before slashing horizontally.

With one swift motion that drew a violet arc, he had severed all of the fingers of the monster trying to grab him, along with the chain and the metal piece covering the chest of the monster. His near death experience caused him to remember of his time before the loss of his previous Familia.

His desire to protect overcame his regret, accepting the past experiences, which allowed him to regain his ability to fully use his techniques and styles with the weapons he had mastered. Sword technique that he refused to use after it failed to protect his family, one that now returned him to the state where he used to be compared to the Sword Hero.

Nuri then saw an opening, a golden opportunity to end this, he charged at the monster. The silverback sent a punch with its right hand but Nuri side stepped to his right and tilted his body so that the back faced the ground and spun his entire structure, his blade followed the motion and with the gathered momentum, it spiralled anti-clockwise, severing the silverback's arm.

Nuri then twisted his body back upright before landing and jumping up as the silverback reared back to smash the area he was at. The rabbit then thrust his sword downward, stabbing the folded leg of the silverback, the blade went in through the top of the knee and all the way down to the foot of the monster, which interrupted the attack of the silver furred monster as it roared in pain. The silverback then swung his arm across, to which Nuri responded by retrieving the blade and barrel rolled away to avoid the arm.

The silver back turned to punch him again, but seeing it coming, Nuri raised the blade with the point looking downwards as he moved his sword to his left, deflecting the only arm the silverback had left. The fist that was deflected missed the rabbit and slammed into the wall behind. Taking this opportunity, Nuri turned left and swung in a wide diagonal arc, with that action the arm of the silverback, that was extended in an attempt to hit him, was cut off completely turning the tables.

The monster had no arms and one leg was incapacitated, leaving it no chance to fight against the bunny anymore. However, Nuri remembered what he had been taught by his advisor Eina. She kept chewing at his and Bell's ear for being irresponsible and to never let your guard down for the dungeon was relentless, merciless and sly. He had learnt the hard way that 'the finishing blow is when one lets his guard down the most, and is when he is most predictable.' Monsters had no sense of reason, but they weren't necessarily stupid.

The rabbit waited and observed the monster. Which then tried to lunge forward with its maws open. Nuri jumped above its head and landed on top of him. He looked down and speared the blade into the back of the monster's thick neck, killing the large monster. Exhausted he fell down to his right knee, supporting himself with the tachi that rested on his left, impaled into the monster.

In that moment he knew he had to go help Bell and Welf, but he couldn't, he was too exhausted, he wasn't just out of breath and out of stamina but he was bleeding from his many injuries, some superficial but some of them were rather serious. It didn't help that he also just noticed that he had a large rock shard stuck in his arm where the shoulder guard didn't cover.

The potions were just in his pouch but he didn't even have the strength to reach for the potions. His concern focusing on Bell, he asked himself if there was anything he could do. Otherwise at this rate Bell would die, he mustered his strength, removed the shard that was stuck, and gulped down two potions, slowly the potions started to heal him, but that wasn't enough.

"BELL! I'm coming!"

Hearing that, Nuri smiled and trusted that he was safe with Welf. He decided to rest for a bit, potions healed wounds but didn't recover stamina, it used it instead and right now he couldn't stand. Hoping that Welf had everything under control Nuri decided that he'd rest until he had enough strength to go and help them, if necessary.

.

Bell slowly stood up after he had been sent flying by the silverback's arm swing. Devoid of rationality or thoughts, he raised the now heavy knives. He charged straight in, as the monster brought its hands above its head, but it was too slow.

Bell was already in between his hands and body, jumping up he stabbed the shoulder, leaving the silverback momentarily staggering as the power of the knives not only paralyzed the monster, but it also froze the wound before exploding with a small fire blast. The effects though were too weak and within seconds the silverback swatted Bell with the other arm, he raised his arms only to be sent flying across the floor of the room yet again.

When he looked up, he saw the silverback already charging at him again. He stubbornly wanted to block it using his arms again, thinking the armour would tank most of the hit but remembered the words of his brother.

'Don't block. We shouldn't become reliant on our equipment.'

So he lowered his arms and rolled to the side as the silverback came crashing into the wall. Seeing this as an opening Bell rushed in, climbing the silverback from behind before jumping with knives in hands, he reared them back but before completing his action he was surprised by the silverback who grabbed him and flung him sending him crashing into the wall. He landed with a loud explosion that sent dust flying everywhere. The air was shot out of Bell's lungs, his ribs and many other bones were broken on impact with the stone wall.

The leather straps had been ripped apart and his armour had entirely come off, leaving him with only his clothes. The pain was getting to him and the feather like knives now felt heavy, letting its grip on the hilts falter, causing the knives fall to the ground.

He had cuts and bruises everywhere, blood surged up and out of his mouth, caused by the puncture in his lungs by one of the broken ribs, his white hair and skin had been stained with blood from the many gashes. The silverback though, didn't have too many injuries and none of them were severe apart from the one on the shoulder. Looking at it, the monster seemed almost unfazed by its injuries.

"BELL! I'm coming!"

Bell opened his eyes and looked up at the sound of Welf calling out to him. He was sat against the stone wall, dazed and on the verge of collapse, the sounds not making much sense to him. His dizzy mind could only make out a red haired teen standing in front of him. Welf had dropped a few potions for him as he raised his magic sword and slashed at the monster.

Bell heard the monster roaring in pain while he drank the potions that were on the floor and looked past Welf and at the silverback. The silverback was covered in flames, burning through it's flesh. The fire had cut through the ground itself, scorching it black. The red dagger in the smith's hand turned grey then begun cracking before shattering into dust. Welf had once told them of magic swords, a weapon that could rival the strongest spells of high levelled mages. Bell though had little knowledge on them as Welf didn't seem thrilled to talk about them.

"W-Welf, you're okay."

He smiled weakly to which Welf nodded, throwing away the dagger, now only dust.

"Sorry, I just laid there doing nothing and I'm afraid that was the last use. No more magic sword."

Welf then grabbed Bell and slung him over as the monster burnt.

"Alright, let's go."

That's when he remembered that Nuri was still down fighting and they had to find him.

"We have … to."

"Oh damn, yeah, we have to fight it Bell."

As they were discussing the monster roared enraged. The two turned to look at the monster, the flames that had been enveloping it were extinguished. Luckily, the fire had done some significant damage, melting half of the face, burning off its skin and thick fur as well as rendering one of its arms useless as it was burnt to a crisp.

The armless monster was now certainly weaker, but it wasn't any less dangerous as it still retained much of its strength. Enraged and desperate, it broke the ground it stood on with a stomp and grabbed a stone, flinging them at the two.

Welf grabbed Bell and jumped out of the way to evade the massive projectile that was sent flying towards them, but the large bullet couldn't be avoided and sliced the smith's arm. The two of them backed up against the wall, never letting their eyes off the silverback. The two adventurers and the monster stared at each other without making a move. The silverback recuperating while Bell and Welf thought of a way to take down the monster.

In the meantime, unknown to them, Nuri had begun trudging his way up, sustaining his weight with the sword to get to where Bell and Welf were fighting. With the magic stone of the monster he killed in his pouch and a restored sword style, he made his way up following the corridor that led to the room above him.

.

"Let's beat it together."

Those determined words from Bell shocked Welf.

"How will we beat it?"

"With onii-sama's help."

"But … Bell, Nuri is facing a silverback all alone, shouldn't we be the ones who need to go and help him."

Bell however shook his head.

"I believe this experience will be beneficial to onii-sama, to find himself and the answers to his troubled mind. I trust that he will come to our aid. We just have to stall for time. Once he arrives, the three of us together will slay this monster."

Bell explained to him, giving him a bright smile. Welf contemplated the decision, not understanding how it could be beneficial but ultimately decided to put his trust in both of the rabbits and rolled with it. Bell who had regained enough strength to stand, got off Welf. He was ready to start attacking the monster before it got sick of sitting idly when Welf spoke.

"Say, you scared Bell?"

"Yes, I am?"

Bell responded, almost questioning, his brow arching up in confusion.

"Good, I would've felt left out otherwise."

Welf spoke with a grin. Bell returned a smile before turning to look at the monster that had been growling at the two adventurers, still panting from the overbearing pain. Bell and Welf nodded at each other and started surrounding the beast. The silverback saw them getting closer and grew alarmed, roaring in rage. It decided to target the bunny as he was closer and moved to intercept him.

Bell raised his knives, which he had grabbed when he started surrounding the monster. As ape got closer and closer it raised its fist and sent them crashing into the ground in a missed attempt to flatten the boy.

Bell dashed forwards and slashed diagonally down with his knives, slicing deep into its arm. The bunny jumped back yet again as the silverback tried to use its jaws to rip him apart. The monster seemingly distracted by Bell allowed Welf to approach from behind and used its broadsword to slash at the ape's leg, right behind the knee, causing it to fall on its knee.

The silver furred monster disregarded Welf and tried again to bite Bell out of desperation, but was pushed back by a fist hitting its face. Not intending to risk it, Bell and Welf backed up from the injured monster that was flailing around its sole arm. It roared with murderous intent before turning around and aiming for Welf.

The silverback swung with its massive arm forcing Welf back, who unfortunately ended up tripping on the body of a fallen adventurer. Bell saw this and quickly dashed forwards, but too late did he realize that the monster had set a trap and he had fallen right in it. As he got within its arm's range, he was caught off guard when the monster turned around with its fist already reared and prepared to launch a punch.

'It was a trap?!'

"BELL!"

Welf shouted with panic in his eyes. The arm of the silverback extended from its folded position intending to kill the rabbit. Bell's eyes widened in shock at his imminent death, but before it could land a blue wheel, produced by a blade clad in water held by the older rabbit. Nuri spun forward and with the momentum of the circular motion of the front flip Nuri cleanly sliced off the arm. As he spun past Bell he landed face first, his legs going up in the air at his abrupt stop.

"Onii-sama!"

Bell's eyes widened in surprise. Despite his less than stellar landing, as he was obviously exhausted and used most of his remaining strength to perform the move, Bell was amazed as he watched Nuri utilize a sword technique he hadn't tried since the fall of the Zeus Familia.

'Water breathing style! Actual Breathing styles. Onii-sama can use them again … wait focus Bell! Not now.'

Bell shook his head and focused on the monster roaring in pain, glancing back to Nuri as he got up sluggishly.

"Bell, Welf sorry for being late."

"Haha, perfect timing Nuri."

This gave Welf the chance to recover, immediately getting up and joining the two rabbits in encircling the furry ape, distracted by the pain of the loss of its other arm. The first to act was Nuri who dashed forward swinging the blade horizontally, an arc of water following the blade as he cut across the chest of the monster.

Seeing it stagger back, Welf grabbed the axe of nearby adventurer and swung it downwards, on the back of the monster, roaring in pain the monster bent back. The smith then used his broadsword to stab the leg he hadn't injured. Welf quickly got back as Bell saw the opening he needed and rushed in.

He punched the monster, that was already having problem standing up, causing it to fall on its back. With the monster downed, Welf, using his superior strength, jumped up, letting his weight and gravity pull him back down and onto the monster.

His sword pointed downwards, Welf fell onto the chest of the monster and the large blade sunk into its flesh just above the core of the monster, purposefully missing the magic stone as the damage was enough to kill it, after all, the magic stone was both money and proof of their actions.

The monster that struggled with all its might finally died, its head falling back to the ground with a loud thump. Bell fell to his knees next to Nuri who had collapsed after forcing his body beyond its limits. With a sigh of relief the rabbits took this chance to rest up.

Welf got off the corpse of the monster and ran to the two, frantically searching for any wounds and gasping in shock when he found more than a few serious injuries. The smith then grabbed bandages and potions, causing Nuri and Bell to wince in pain as Welf started patching the two up.

"What about the silverback that you were fighting?"

Asked Welf curiously, to which Nuri smiled and produced a magic stone in his hand. The size of the magic stone shocked Welf but soon started laughing heartily, still finding it hard to believe he killed it.

"We did it."

Said weakly Bell.

"And thank you Welf, for … backing me up."

"I couldn't just leave you. If anything I'm sorry I took so long. Speaking of which, Nuri what was with your sword, it was all … watery."

"Oh that … it's a long story for another time."

The three then headed back up with Nuri and Bell supporting each other as Welf guarded them, looking out for monsters with sword at the ready to strike down anyone who got too close. Halfway up during their trip to the surface they came across a group Ganesha Familia members who had been desperately searching for the missing adventurers. The armed group escorted them out, constantly apologizing for the incident.

.

"You got involved in the accident of the Ganesha Familia and took down the silverbacks?! And you!"

Eina pointed at Nuri with an accusing finger.

"Defeated one on your own?! You then brilliantly decided to face another one despite your horrid state?! And let's not being with the other reckless fool!"

Eina shouted incredulous at the report given to her by Welf, though they felt she was being wuite unfair to them. She never reprimanded Welf, but that could have been because he wasn't her charge. The smith then promptly presented the two magic stones as evidence after explaining why Bell and Nuri were in their sorry state.

The news she shouted had attracted the attention of the other adventurers, curious at what they heard the advisor shout. The pair of bunny siblings sat on a bench across Eina's counter while Welf dealt with the report and exchanged their magic stones.

Nuri was mostly fine now, he had to be bandaged around his stomach and shoulder but other than that he was just tired, Bell on the other hand got bandages wrapped around his head, chest and arms, with a few minor wounds and bruises where they applied an ointment to treat it.

The appearance of the silverbacks had shook Bell down to his core and was by no means an easy victory, he had barely survived and had it not been for Welf and Nuri's timely intervention he wouldn't have made it out.

They also had to tell their eventful day to their Goddess, she probably wouldn't be happy if she heard of the danger the two ran into. Hopefully she could overlook it and praise them for their results instead. Bell only wished he wouldn't cause trouble for her Goddess as he simply wanted to make her proud.

The armour of both the boys had been completely wrecked, there was nothing left other than the chest plate, which was in a really bad shape. The armour itself had protected the two to a certain degree and without it the outcome of the injuries could have been more serious. Mortal perhaps. But improvements could be made. They'd have to ask Welf to make it again, not that he knew that the two were wearing his armour.

As for the rest of the adventurers that had been caught in the accident with them, a recovery party would be sent and the bodies of the dead adventurers would be recovered, with the respective Familias being informed.

None of the rookies that were with the group of three had survived. Bell and Welf remembered some of them dying on impact before they could even get back up. Seeing that, Bell felt powerless, he couldn't save any of them, he knew that of course, that he wouldn't have been able to save them … but it still felt bad.

'If only I was stronger.'

Nuri could read it off of his younger brother's face, but decided to stay silent. The two white haired boys sat on the benches, waiting for Welf to return while they rested. It wasn't long before Welf was back with a few bags of valis.

"18,500 valis each."

Said the smith with a smile. The two grabbed their share and got up to head home, with Bell supported by Nuri. While exiting the Guild Welf turned to them with a smile.

"Phew, got to say, that was quite the adventure no?"

The two were left bemused by Welf's positivity.

"Oh yeah, do you two have a weapon you'd like? I really want to thank you for saving me continuously, so I was thinking of making you something. Hephaestus-sama has suggested a secondary weapon. She said that you two didn't want to keep relying on your special weapons alone."

The two nodded.

"I guess just a normal double edged weapon would do for me."

Welf nodded at Nuri's request before turning to Bell.

"I'd like a dagger, easy to carry and move around with, besides I already have two knives. I am used to them and as of now I don't want to start trying out a new weapon."

Welf nodded and made a mental note.

"Well, you two should really take a few days of break from the dungeon, in the meantime I'll spend my time making you your weapons."

The two thanked him when Welf turned to them again.

"Heading home now?"

The two shook their heads.

"We'll head to the Blue Pharmacy for a final check-up before heading home."

Welf nodded and waved them goodbye as they parted ways at an intersection. Nuri then dragged himself and Bell down a poor, small and empty street in the back of a rundown block. Hidden behind many buildings was a small wooden rundown store.

The Blue Pharmacy. They entered the store, where they were met with a panicking blue haired God. Seeing them in shambles caused the kind God to rush over and drag them to the back, to instantly tend to their wounds. The two thanked the God for his service before paying him and heading home.

"We're home Astraea-sama."

As they entered the building, the rabbits called out to the Goddess.

"Welcome back you t-"

Bell and Nuri turn to the Goddess and were about to smile when she suddenly shouted.

"What happened to you two?!"

The two simply gave her a sheepish smile instead of the originally planned bright smile.

"Hehe, we got in an accident."

"What happened?"

Bell and Nuri then recounted their meeting with the two silverbacks after they broke free from the cages of the Ganesha Familia. Astraea was surprised by what they had accomplished and quite intrigued by the battle saying that they may have unlocked something in their falna, and they certainly had a jump in stats after the battle.

Bell Cranel

Age: 14

Familia: Astraea

Race: Human

Alias: None

Level: 1

Strength: H120 – G212

Endurance: H172 – G283

Dexterity: I89 – H180

Agility: H134 – G298

Magic: I0 – I0

Skill:

๔̶̨͈͎̋̀͝เש̷̢̳̰̏͂͠เ̵̢̛̩̝̘̰͐ภ̵̠̭̘̻̈́є̴̵̢͖̺̪̄͑͑͗͂͘๔̵̝̹̖̪͕̓г̴̡̡̣̿̕ค̵̲̈͠ﻮ̴̫͐͑̌̓̏͝๏̷͇̞̀̐̒̂͝ภ̵̴͔̻͚̘̩̰̹̍́̾̿̈̀̽̕๒̷̼̿̿̈́͜ɭ̷͉̘͖̤̿͜๏๏̷̤̬̮̬̒๔เ̵̧̘̰̮͊͂̐̚ภ̵͎̻̹̗̠̀́̔̕є– -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Gloriosum Liaris Freese – Increased growth. Growth related to the user's feelings, stronger feelings, faster growth, renders immune to charm. Effects are exponentially increased based on how dangerous the situation is or the desire to protect someone arises. (active)

Codex Of The Guardian – Increases stats of the user when protecting someone. The more the user is injured while protecting someone and the more people he is protecting, the higher the increase.

Magic:

Ch-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Nuri Celestea Cranel

Age: 16

Familia: Astraea

Race: Human

Alias: None

Level: 1

Strength: H138 – F307

Endurance: G200 – G262

Dexterity: H189 – F310

Agility: H105 – G275

Magic: I0 – I88

Skill:

๔̶̨͈͎̋̀͝เש̷̢̳̰̏͂͠เ̵̢̛̩̝̘̰͐ภ̵̠̭̘̻̈́є̴̵̢͖̺̪̄͑͑͗͂͘๔̵̝̹̖̪͕̓г̴̡̡̣̿̕ค̵̲̈͠ﻮ̴̫͐͑̌̓̏͝๏̷͇̞̀̐̒̂͝ภ̵̴͔̻͚̘̩̰̹̍́̾̿̈̀̽̕๒̷̼̿̿̈́͜ɭ̷͉̘͖̤̿͜๏๏̷̤̬̮̬̒๔เ̵̧̘̰̮͊͂̐̚ภ̵͎̻̹̗̠̀́̔̕є– -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Gloriosum Liaris Freese – Increased growth. Growth related to the user's feelings, stronger feelings, faster growth, renders immune to charm. Effects are exponentially increased based on how dangerous the situation is or the desire to protect someone arises. (active)

Argonaut – A heroic strike, an attack that charges up with time, white and blue sparkles appear when active, the longer it charges the stronger the power. Current charge time: 3 minutes. Concurrent Chanting: Not Achieved

Incarnate Arms – Ability to move weapons or objects by sheer will at the cost of mind.

Divine Star Blade – Passive skill that allows the user to be able to use light effects, breathing styles and infuse magic in the blade.

Magic:

Ex-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

To say that Astraea was surprised beyond belief was an understatement, her eyes were wide in shock at the sight of the status. She uttered no words as her mouth refused to let any slip out of her lips. The already unheard of Liaris Freese had now evolved even further, Nuri had awoken a dormant skill as well as developing a new one, based on Bell's information, while the little bunny's desire to protect had given birth to a new skill of its own.

She looked at the sky, her mind was in a frenzy as she looked up at the ceiling. She then returned to the paper and contemplated the information in front of her for a long time, more unimaginable things kept happening whenever the two came back from the dungeon.

The Goddess of justice calmed down and looked at the papers with their status once again, mostly focusing on the abilities. Those that Nuri had were impressive and useful, the one that was manifested by Bell had also surprised her, as it had an effect very much expected from Bell, an effect very much appreciated by the Goddess.

Never had she seen or heard of Bell's or Nuri's skill before, not from one of her children and certainly not by anyone else. Nor did she expect the two of them to develop so quickly. Time and time again, the two broke through their limits surpassing the Goddess' expectations. She kept thinking and the more answers she came up with, the more questions came to her.

"Nuri, Bell."

Astraea called them with an unusual seriousness to her tone.

"You two are reckless sometimes. Too much. Far too much. Why did you go so far when you could have ran?"

The Goddess looked at them with worry in your eyes.

"Because my Goddess is the star Goddess of justice that presides over the peace of Orario."

The Goddess was surprised at the name mentioned to her by Nuri as he talked with a dramatic and poetic tone, which reminded her far too much of Hermes for her taste. Seeing her reaction Nuri chuckled before his expression softened and the bunny portrayed a smile on his face.

"But with all seriousness. Astraea, we are your children and your Familia. You who is the symbol that maintains order, protects the people and saves the city. We wish to be members of the Familia in its truest sense as well as keep ourselves to the path of the hero that we strive for, both for you and Zeus. For all of our fallen and breathing friends … for my teachers and masters. Both me and Bell promised them, and you.

The adventurers with us might have been dead and us … helpless to save them … but what if we ran and the silverback assaulted another group of unsuspecting adventurers? … Besides in that moment the monster was blocking my way to Bell, as such it needed to be removed, that was most of the reason why I couldn't back away.

To be part of your Familia and be worthy members we will fight. To the last drop of blood, to the last breath, to the last wisp of our strength. But we're undeniably weak and unless we break past our limits and push ourselves to the extreme we won't be able to survive. Yes, we always return in such horrid states, but we don't wish to sadden you with our deaths Astraea.

You talked about your mistakes, your past and the fallen members with such stinging pain in your voice, you have suffered for long and you still do, but we won't add ourselves to the list that breaks your heart. And I'm sure that goes for the other members of the Familia as well. Just as you love us, we love you Astraea and we wish nothing more than see you happy … and there is no better way to do that, than to return alive every day to you.

However, we must also adhere to our duty and honour the fallen members of the Astraea Familia, they aren't dead for they live on within our hearts, our memories and we carry on their wills … their dreams.

Bell and I may have not known them, but they are still members of the Familia and we will fight for their sake, to not waste their sacrifice, to not let their hard work go in vain. For that we wanted to thank you and prove ourselves as well as help you carry this burden, you know you don't have to do this alone."

Astraea had started sobbing while the bunny spoke and before long she felt the tears run down her face. She watched the smiling Nuri, who finished talking and brought her in a gentle hug. Bell smiled brightly as well, standing next his brother as he joined in and wrapped his arms around Nuri and Astraea.

"You two."

She spoke quietly and softly.

"You just started your life and even more so your adventure, you can't go around facing every challenge head on like that, ready to put your life on the line any day just like that, you got it? I appreciate your effort, but remember what you told me … the thing I want the most is the one that will make me happiest and that is for you two to stay alive and come back to me."

The two nodded with an even softer and brighter smile.

""Thank you Astraea/Astraea-sama.""

The Goddess sat down on the couch with a sigh as she wiped away her tears. Her sigh soon turned to a happy smile, as she motioned Bell and Nuri to come closer, giving them their status paper.

"Either way congratulations, to the both of you for your hard work. I'm really happy and proud of you two. You keep amazing me in the most unusual ways. As for you Nuri, other than the evolution of your skill, you have two new abilities, they seem powerful and quite useful so use them carefully. Also your magic spells are gradually returning, though I'd like to ask I won't press you on what they are for now."

""Thank you again Astraea/Astraea-sama.""

.

Freya had kept watch from her room, atop of Babel, following the siblings to their home. There she spotted for the first time the Goddess who had snatched away the bunnies from her, playing with 'her Odr's'. She was gobsmacked by the revelation though it soon turned into envy, the feeling filling her. Those boys were the first to ever make her feel envious, she wanted them, more than anything. Her attention not budging even as Ottar entered the room.

Still, the identity of the Goddess of justice perplexed her. She who couldn't stand men, had now recruited the two boys in her Familia of her own will. Had it been anyone other than her, Loki or Ganesha then she would have taken them by force. Astraea though was someone she couldn't afford to pick a fight with, even if her strength was inferior to hers.

"Freya-sama."

"What an exciting fight."

She said with a giggle as she remembered the exhilarating battle.

"Indeed, the results were completely unexpected. They have blown through my expectations and are a lot more powerful than I initially thought."

Freya looked amused as Ottar talked for nearly five times longer than needed and with a strange excitement hidden in his voice.

"It seems like the smith has also found his answer. Well done Ottar."

The boaz bowed.

"In regards to Evilus … they've been of great service but their use has come to an end, they also dared to harm my beloved bunnies. Make sure to punish them for unleashing the silverbacks on my little ones."

Ottar bowed again and left the room, grabbing his swords before starting his hunt, leaving Freya alone to watch Astraea spending her time with the rabbits.

~To Be Continued