Enjoy

…..

This morning was never going to be a peaceful one and would probably be written in history books. After Zoro and Bell left for the dungeon, the news of someone having reached lvl 2 in only half a year was spread faar and wide causing shock everywhere. Once they had thought that Ottar was incomprehensible for reaching lvl 2 in only a year and a month but then that speed had been surpassed by Ais who did the same but in only a single year. As if that wasn't enough someone had appeared who did the same thing in only half a year. How he did that, no one was certain although there was a rumour of a lvl 1 defeating a Minotaur in head on collision, but no one believed that. How could they? A Minotaur was an apex creature among level 2s and even lower lvl 2's could only die when facing one and yet a lvl 1 defeated it!? HOW?

Naturally everyone was curious of the validation of these claims and more than anything, the celestials were the ones truly amazed and amused by this development. Most of them had come down here for only one purpose, to amuse themselves and to discover the 'impossibilities' while some others came due to various other reasons like Hestia who came down for 'fame' since not many knew of her or Loki who came down to 'play' or Miach who came down to 'heal' and much more. Now of course many of their views changed with time after getting their own familias but that bit of 'playfulness' remained. That said, there were many who simply wanted to poach the boy especially after learning of him being a member of a very newly build familia with only two official members both of whom were low level.

One reason was because the boy was special and was growing fast while maintaining exceptionally high level of battle potential while the other reason was simply because they wanted to rub it on Hestia's face. Yes, Hestia had many friends but there were also many who were envious of her while others simply wanted revenge. Afterall despite not being seen in that way, Hestia was special even among the celestials and her abilities and 'authority' could supress many of them and she had done that. Although she had gone lazy by now but there was once a time when she had run amok in the upper realm. She was wilder than even Loki and had caused all sorts of problems for various parties and some were simply envious of her 'assets', Loki being the prime example.

Anyway, the point was that they were interested and if the boy got 'seduced' by them then all the better. Coincidentally 'Denatus' was about to be held by the end of this week and naturally they wouldn't let go of this chance to cause problems for Hestia.

Thus began a hunt, a hunt relating to 'HOW?'. Naturally everyone was curious. Even if the rumours of him defeating a minotaur were baseless, there had to be a reason for this fast growth. No one was fool here. Most suspected of it being relating to some sort of skill while others related it to fast hunting speed. 'Skills' were a sensitive topic but no skill, regardless of how powerful could allow direct ascension. One had to work hard to allow the skill to display its full potential and, in this case, that 'work hard' just had to be related to dungeon and monster hunting. Nothing else could make sense.

"Sigh…..." Hestia sighed as soon as she woke up

'It's going to be a long day today'

She looked around the empty house or rather the empty room. Her children were nowhere to be seen. The room was empty except for a piece of paper on a side table. She went over to look

"We're going to dungeon and will be back shortly. Please take care of yourself"

It was a simple message and seeing how respectful the tone was used, she already had an idea of as to who wrote it. Anyway, this wasn't the first time neither would it be the last

"Well, no time to waste around. I better prepare myself and go to work", she always felt like crying whenever remembering the huge debt left to be paid. She even doubted if she could ever repay it or maybe she could be shameless and beg her friend to lessen it.

'Nononono what am I thinking?'

She made a fist in triumphant pose as if she could do anything

'Since I said I'll pay it, so I will pay it, penny by penny'

This was nothing more than a self-encouraging gesture from her part. She left the bed, took a bath, put on the work clothes and left. The sun was really bright outside alluding to the fact that she was a bit late. Perhaps she ate and drank a bit more the last night

'Indeed, a long day', she knew she would be hearing a lot from her boss today

One the way she was stopped and asked about Bell on multiple occasions on the road to her workplace.

"I wonder if I'll even be able to reach there in today's date", she whispered to herself showing no concern about their interest and intentions in 'stealing' Bell. She knew the kind of character he had and that he would never leave her unless she personally asked him to, and no one could just forcefully steal him since the guild rules were there. This was the first time ever that she felt thankful towards Ouranos and by default the guild.

…

While things were getting crazy on the surface, the one centre of it all was sleeping or more like un-conscious due to mind down. He had truly outdone himself and that explosion of power even if only for a short moment, was enough for him to be out for quite a while. If the boy was awake, no doubt he would be shocked speechless to know of as to where he was. Yes, he was sleeping on grassland of 18th floor, commonly referred to as the under resort. This was truly a pictureistic place with small hills all around dotted all over by trees along with a small pond in the distance. It was like those fairy tales where the princess would be sleeping at the centre of nature's beauty except that he was no princess and this was no nature, or maybe perhaps it was since you couldn't really call the dungeon 'fake' or 'artificial'. No perhaps it was manmade but what it had turned into, no one was certain.

A young man with green hair was of in the distance, taking a dip in the lake. He had come all the way here fighting monsters at every turn. This naturally made him 'dirty' with monster blood all over.

If Zoro wanted to, he could simply take out most of those monsters without even fighting them BUT he wanted to test himself. He wanted to see how much he could do at his current level thus he didn't use his skill and only swords which were lying at the bank of said lake, already cleaned.

"This isn't so bad. Who would have known a place like this existed deep down"

It had been about three hours since Zoro reached the 18th floor. He had managed to find a city but the prices there were sky high. They were just rip-offs, but he did get a lot of information after asking around. Ever since he came to this world, the dungeon seemed like a monster den but now he had heard of places like these existing all over. A place where no monsters spawn, how convenient was that.

"Hah… truly experience broadens one's horizons but this isn't that shocking", others would be shocked about learning all this but not Zoro. Afterall, he had seen his own fill of crazy stuff and this at-most was surprising and nothing else.

"Now how long till he wakes up", he said looking towards Bell. The boy was smiling, perhaps having a dream.

"Should I just go and take a look down there?", He could feel real challenge from floors below but even though he would fight anything, anywhere but not right now. He had a responsibility to keep. Perhaps he might come off as someone boorish but in truth, he cared a lot. Especially those he considered close. Now he hadn't spent that much time with Bell and thus wasn't all that close to the guy BUT responsibility was a thing. Since he took the boy here, he would take him back as well safe and sound.

While he was lost in his own thoughts,

"Lookie whose hiere", a fellow with weird ascent spoke. Zoro looked towards a group of people; evil written all over their faces. He remembered them from that town. This was a group he had bumped into while inside that city. The group was comprised of five fellows, three males, two females. They were interested in his swords and naturally he refused but it seemed their death brought them over.

"The swords are going to be mine and so are your lives. How dare you refuse me. Do you know who I am?"

"Nope and don't care", Zoro lifted himself out of that lake and came to the bank, picking the swords and readied himself for battle.

"Hahahahaha… fine pal. DIE!?", all of them launched over at the same time. One went towards Bell; another took aim with a bow from distance while the other three took out their melee weapons and launched them over. Every adventurer had developed an instinct after fighting in this hell hole for so long. They could tell of who was strong and who was weak, and Zoro seemed dangerous to them but like they say, 'Birds die for food while Men die for wealth'. The same logic was applied here. Sure, he seemed dangerous but so what. Every monster, even weak ones seemed dangerous but were still hunted down and even if he turned out to be stronger than expected, they still had a trump card to rely upon, so all is well or so was thought but those thoughts froze, and five bodies plummeted down with a thud with one thing in common. None had a head. Nothing fancier happened, Zoro simply took a sword drawing stance and once they were in range used his full body to draw out the sword with full force. The three of melee immediately lost their heads while the proctile attack landed onto the other two, taking their lives as well.

There was once a time when Zoro hesitated in killing a woman, but he wasn't like Sanji. He had eventually managed to overcome this 'weakness' of his. After all, if a woman took out a weapon to fight and kill, it was just right for them to be prepared to be killed themselves. This was a simple logic which applied to everyone.

"Weak… perhaps only lvl 1s? No maybe one was level 2. Ah, whatever", Zoro simply used a cloth to clean the blade and put it back in its sheath

"Come out. I know you're there", Whoever it was, had hidden themselves deeply. Even he couldn't sense them but once this party of five attacked him, he could feel someone about to help him, but the party died beforehand.

The bushes were parted, and an elf appeared with a mask over half her face looking over the dead bodies.

"Hm… wait aren't you that waitress from last night?"

Zoro remembered her since it was her taking their order. He had felt that she was strong, but it seemed he underestimated her. Being able to hide herself even from his sharp senses wasn't easy. At least he could tell that as of right now, he wouldn't be able to beat her in one on one.

Ryuu simply looked around and then at him, perplexed. She had met her share of people but none as indifferent to killing as him. She herself had caused a lot of blood bath but even then, she couldn't get used to it or more like no one could unless they had gone insane but here he was, without even a hint of remorse or guilt over killing.

'He's used to it', that was her first thought. Last night, she had seen him with her friends future husband. She had felt he was weird but who wouldn't? The guy was holding three long swords and rather obviously none were spare or backup weapons.

'Does he belong to a warring nation?', this was another thought since only in that way would his indifference make any sense.

"Why did you join Hestia Familia?", that was her first ever question. She had interacted with Bell Cranel and the boy was as innocent as it would get and that familia itself was completely new so why would someone like him join there. Even if he's low level, just his body and apparel should allow him to get into a rather well off familia

"What does that have to do with you? That said, how long have you been there?", indeed this had nothing to do with her. She simply asked out of curiosity and nothing else

"Just passing by", that was her answer. "What happened to him?", she asked pointing towards Bell. Obviously she could tell of this being mind down since no physical wounds could be seen.

"He just went a bit crazy and is down now"

"Oh…", that was her only response.

"Well, excuse me", and she took her leave.

"That… was strange", he looked towards the bodies lying around "What to do now?"

There was a thought at the back of his mind to let it be but then again, you couldn't directly shoot for stars now could you. There was a procedure and Bell just wasn't ready to see all this. The boy was like a clean slate, and it would take time for him to get used to all this.

"Should I just bury them or perhaps find a monster to chew on the-"

"What am I even thinking. Even though they weren't exactly righteous but something like that just wouldn't be right. Let's just bury them. There's a lot of plot here just for that"

And thus, he got to work

…

On the surface,

Hestia was worried sick. It had been midnight and yet there was still no new of her children returning.

"Where are they", She had been working till midnight and once she got home expecting to find her children here, they weren't. Naturally she got bad ideas, but she was also somewhat relieved. Afterall her link to them was still there so that means nothing bad had happened to them yet but still she waited and waited until it was morning and yet, there was still no news.

'Maybe I should issue a quest', she thought but 'I'm broke', All the money they made last time was spent on that party

"What to do now, what to do now, what to d- wait!"

"I know. Take's familia should be going down, maybe I should just request him"

And thus, she ran with all her might towards her good friend, Takemikazuchi or Take for short. He was one of the few she could really trust and also someone who helped her from time to time. His familia wasn't exactly big or powerful but they still had a lvl 2, no from what she had heard another one of his children had broken through so two lvl 2s.

Anyway, she wasn't going to ask him to help her find them, just look for them on the floors they would go to and so she reached his home and was in luck since his familia was just preparing to go down

"_ Take!"

"Hm… oh Hestia. Slow down… slow down. Why in such a hurry?"

"I.. hah..I.. hah..I need your help", Hestia said almost crashing into him. She was breathing heavily due to all the running she wasn't used to

"Go ahead. What kind of help"

"Cou-"

"Oh! I remember. Bell has levelled up hasn't he. Man, that was a surprise. Sorry I couldn't come over to congratulate since you know"

"Hm.. ah yes", "Anyway, this is about Bell and Zoro", she looked over at his familia members

"I might come off as rude, but could you please ask them to look for my children. They've been gone since yesterday and no news since then. Perhaps they got lost or some other reason, but could they just look for them on the floors they're going to explore?"

"Is that so? No problem. Afterall if we won't look after each other then who would", He then looked towards his familia captain, a buff dude named Kashima Ouka

"We'll try but we won't go too down below", Ouka was expressionless. He too had met Bell once and was shocked after learning his fast level up. That said his own familia mattered much more so he wouldn't put them in an unnecessary danger for someone else

"That's fine, that's fine. Thank you and I will repay it", even though the chances were low, she still hoped for these fellows to find Bell and Zoro

"Then we will be off Takemikazuchi sama", said an enthusiastic black-haired girl named Mikoto and the group headed towards Babel

….

Bell had woken up not too long ago. The first thing he saw was jungle all around and a lake not too far away.

"Oh, woke up", he saw Zoro coming over with some strange kind of fruit and water

"How long was I out for and-", he looked around perplexed. "Where are we?", he couldn't remember any such floor full or vegetation.

"It's been a long while, more than 24 hours in fact"

"What!? That long", it was hard for him to believe that but since Zoro said that it should be right. He didn't seem like someone who would joke around

"What do you expect? The energy you expended was tremendous so naturally you would be out for quite a while", Zoro handed that fruit and water over to Bell. This was a strange looking fruit possessing extreme amount of sweetness but was enough to fill the stomach for now.

"So sweet, what is this? I've never heard of thi-", Bell suddenly remembered one of his lessons on survival with Eina. Eina had taught him about many things and ways to survive inside the dungeon, naturally that included the foods. Afterall to survive for long inside this place, you would need a lot of food and water. From what Eina told him, a strange kind of sweet fruit growed inside dungeon on 18th floor.

He looked around and once he saw the top, couldn't speak anymore.

There was no sky, just humongous crystals lining up the upper part illuminating the entire place,

"Wh… Where are we?", he asked that but

"You already know, don't you? Why ask then?"

"Just for confirmation. So, this is the 18th floor, so beautiful", Bell had heard about this place but seeing was believing. Even though he was inside the dungeon, deep below the floors he used to be at but still couldn't help but admire the scenery though there was a hint of fear in his voice. He was afraid and why wouldn't he.

"How did we get here?", he asked the most logical question but

"I just felt like going down to take a look and that's how", got the most illogical answer.

Wait now that he thought about it, Lily had told him about Zoro's weakness, if it could be called that

"He's bad at directions", that's what Lily had said, and Bell didn't take her seriously. Even if she was right then how bad could it be?

Now he knew

"Did you by any chance get lost?"

"…", Zoro just looked at him and then ignored him

'So, he is lost', he screamed inside

'But still, he managed to get down here. There should have been a lot of monsters on the way and yet'

'He's incredible', this was Bells very first evaluation. Truth be told, Bell had gotten over his head after that level up. He also knew that he had broken the record and thus he had subconsciously started to think of himself as special but that point of thought was destroyed after he lost.

He lost against someone who had just gotten his falna and that someone had managed to make it all the way down here on the very first try. Bell was overwhelmed but also exited since someone like that was actually part of his familia

"Well, if you're ready then get up. Go and take a bath and then we'll be going back. Hestia should be waiting"

"Ah! yes", his train of thought broke, Bell looked at him and after some hesitation

"Um… can I ask something?"

Zoro looked at him, "Go ahead", he said

"How did you beat me? I mean I had higher level, higher stats and I even used all my skills and yet I lost. How?", This question was all over his mind right now. Sure, he lost but why when he stood at higher stance

"Hm… how to say it? Let me think"

Zoro scratched his forehead as if trying to think of right words

"Well first, your in-experience. You have good stance and abilities, but you don't know how to utilize them to maximum capacity"

"Then there's the fact of in-balance between your body and mind"

"And then there's the fact of you wasting a lot of power"

"There are all kinds of reasons, but everything comes down to two concepts, experience && control and you lack both"

Bell was confused. Sure, he understood but kinda not. Seeing that Zoro simply took out a small knife. This knife belonged to that archer

"It's better to experience then to listen. Attack me with your full power, NOW"

Hearing that Bell hesitated a bit but eventually complied. He took out his knife and rushed forward for a straight swing, Zoro just stood there and once that attack neared, he simply used the tip of his knife to stop that attack. A shockwave occurred but nothing much. His full powered attack was stopped just like that

"See here", Zoro said pointing towards the tip of his knife "When you attacked, a point of concentration was formed, a single point where all of your power was concentrated. I simply hit that point and all that power was dispersed along the blade thus removing the impact"

Bell was still confused

"In fact, it's a strong technique but it doesn't fit slash attacks. This technique is actually best suited for spearmen and those who use staffed weapons rather than those who use bladed ones"

"Why?"

"Think about it, a bladed weapon has many attack, but the main premise is always a slash. Now that slash can be utilized in million ways but after all for the most part it relies upon speed rather than power and there's a lot of surface to cover while a spear relies upon power much more than speed and that tip is small so not much surface for power to disperse thus the impact can't be dispersed. Now which one do you think would be more difficult to block head on, a sharp slash or a powerful impact?"

"Hm… an impact, I think"

"And why is that?"

"Even if you did block a spear, you would still be thrown backwards and since the power is concentrated on the tip, it could easily break through your defence while a slash is sharp, but it doesn't have that tip, so the concentrated power is on a flat surface", said Bell after thinking over for a bit

"Yes. I don't know who taught you this technique but they're either a spearmen or someone trained by a spearman"

Bell now had some understanding. So that's how all his attacks were stopped. He had made a habit to concentrate all the power on flat surface and that was his downfall.

"If you want to use that technique, then do so while using an impact attack rather than a slash one. You do know how to, don't you?"

"Ah yes. It like just ramming into someone with the tip rather than the blade"

"Exactly"

That he understood but that wasn't the only thing he used. After all he was still faster and stronger so even if the impact was dispersed along the flat surface, the power that he had put behind should still have thrown him over

Looking at him in such thoughts, Zoro laughed "Hahahahaha, I know what you're thinking. Do you remember the stance I used to block?"

"Yes"

"That stance is the key. My aim can disperse the impact, but your power is still higher and that said, have a cow running at full speed ram into a tree, what would be the result?"

"The cow would be stopped so long as the tree has strong foundation and can handle the initial impact. The same applies here, I dispersed your initial impact force and what's left is your strength but what would it matter if you can't even use it"

"But doesn't that mean-"

"Yes, if my technique was anything but perfect then that impact would have destroyed my arm and I would have been thrown over. This technique is useful but only if your opponent doesn't surpass you in power by too huge an amount. Even though I don't have that many stats, my foundation and controls are solid so I can deal with you"

"As for speed, it's even simpler. If I can sense, my body can react accordingly and that's that."

This was the first time Bell had heard of anything like this.

"Don't just use one part of your body during a battle. Use your entire body weather it's for attack or for defence. That would give you several times more power, speed and force. Also, your senses are just passable, make them stronger so that nothing can catch you off guard"

"Yes", Bell said respectfully. He felt as if he was listening to a combat teacher. He had learned under Aiz but that was more of battle learning than training.Aiz was never this comprehensive and perhaps she never would be. After all her character was just like that, aloof and distant.

"Anyway, enough talking and get ready. We're moving and going back", just then Zoro remembered something

"Whose emblem is this?", Said Zoro showing Bell a familia emblem. He got this emblem from that lvl 2 fellow from those who attacked him

Bell looked over and after some time, "Where did you get it?"

"You know whose it is"

"Yes, a crescent moon with a wine jar at the centre, there's no doubt. This belongs to Soma Familia"

"Soma Familia… I think I've heard of it somewhere"

"It's the familia Lili is part of"

"Oh, that little girl. Yes I think I heard it from her"

"So where…..?"

"Go take a bath and get fresh. We'll be going back"

Bell still wanted to ask but Zoro had avoided the topic twice now, so he simply stayed silent and went towards the lake. Though he had an idea of as to how Zoro got this emblem since he did saw some mounds, as if someone was buried there.

'Maybe…..', he thought and took of his clothes and entered the lake

…

It had been two hours since Bell and Zoro left the 18th floor and started walking towards the surface. They had managed to reach the 12th floor when suddenly,

"Immediately run. There are too many"

They saw a group running over some distance away being chased by a big monster party

"Ouka!?", Bell exclaimed. He naturally recognized the big man. They had even gone to a quest once together

"You know them?"

"Yes, they're part of Takemikazuchi familia"

"Are they friends"

"Yes", Bell said with no hesitation

"Well, they why stand here. Let's go", they had been walking for quite some time and the number of monsters they came across wasn't much so suddenly seeing such a big party motivated Zoro. He liked fighting and here was a chance so why not.

With that both of them rushed over

A monster who was just about to bite one of the lower members of familia was suddenly struck. It was something like light projectile and dispersed right after. Ouka was shocked and looked over. He saw two fellows coming over and immediately recognized them,

"Bell… Don't come over there are too man-",

'Wait. Why don't I pass these monsters up to them? I mean they are coming over of their own accord so it wouldn't be wrong, right', he was searching for excuses to justify himself for what he was about to do. While he was in thought, the two came over and directly engaged the monsters. Seeing that, all the hesitation left him, and he screamed

"Mikoto. Take them back. I'll stay here and try to hold the monsters with their help"

"But-"

"Go. Chigusa is too injured. It's not like I'll die right away"

"Then I-"

"Lead them back. This is an order" and with that Ouka too jumped in that monster party, engaging them.

Mikoto bit her lips and eventually didn't say anything and immediately left

Ouka had thoughts of fighting a great battle and getting gravely injured but it didn't happen. The two fellows especially that green haired swordsman were too strong. Bell was fast and was taking out monster after monster while Zoro was clean. None of his attacks missed the target and every time he swung his swords, many monsters would fall dead all around him.

'Isn't he just lvl 1 then how?', that was his first thought but then he forced himself out of it and started fighting as well. It didn't take too long, at most an hour before the entirety of the Monster party was killed off.

'They're too strong', Ouka too fought but didn't do even close to as much as them

'Perhaps he really did kill a minotaur at lvl 1', Ouka was looking at them as if they were monsters.

"Thank you very much for your assistance", that was one heartful gratitude. Ouka was certain that without their help, his entire familia could have been wiped out

"Don't mention it", said Bell accepting his thanks

"Well then, let's go", said Zoro

And with that, the party of three moved towards the surface, without knowing the kind of disaster they left behind. Perhaps it was oversight from their part or perhaps it was simply the lack of information, but they left all the monster stones there. Naturally some monsters came and ate those stones, resulting in the birth of many irregulars which caused a huge disaster and also a lesson for them and everyone else

…..

AND CUT

Here's the fifth chapter. Honestly I had thought of adding the evilus in all this but after thinking it through, didn't do so since that plot would be left for another time.

Anyway, some of you aren't happy or more like don't think that Bell should have taken that long to reach lvl 2?

My answer is simple, I didn't want to corner my future self. I want Bell to level up fast but within the boundaries of acceptability and so that, other new members who would join later on would be able to at least SOMEWHAT keep up with that pace. Honestly I don't want to be sarcastic but it seems to me like Momo has cornered himself and doesn't know what to do. Bell has grown TOO fast, and I won't do that since I know I won't be able to handle that in the future

Anyway, his training has officially begun, and I've gotten many comments regarding that captain issue. Perhaps I'll decide in next chapter of as to who the captain is going to be.

And it has been about three days… maybe four days since Zoro came over and things are going to pick pace. Perhaps there would be some time skips in between like one day, or one week and so on to keep their growth continuous.

Thankyou for reading this and I'll see you good fellows in the next one