"Deyah!"

Bell dealt a diagonal slash from above and nearly cleaved the goblin in half. From his left side jumped a Kobold at him, but Bell raised his shield to block the attack. It was really something to be able to block a monster´s attack with a shield.
But he still wasn´t really used to it, also to hold his sword only with his right hand.

Just like Alfia had told and shown him, he pushed the Kobold´s weapon up and thrusted his sword forward into it´s chest. Instead of ripping his sword out of the monster, Bell kicked with all of his strength against it´s chest and stepped backwards in the same movement.

"Guergl!"

He swung his sword in one quick motion, flinging blood and grease from the blade, then met the next monsters charging at them, killer ants.

A wild grin appeared on his lips when one of the ants on the left side yanked backwards with a shreek when an arrow got shot into one of it´s eyes.

Thank you, Haruhime!

There was no time to talk, only to react. He caught the first monster's mandibles with his sword, then slammed the shield edge into the next monster's eyes before it could react. It was still his first day of using the shield, so he had a lot to improve.

Another arrow came and killed the next killer ant. Haruhime could help Bell much more than usual. Right now she stood in the middle of their small formation, with the supporter Lily behind her. She could focus most of her attention to the monsters in front of them, Lily kept her eyes on their back.

And just how much of a help Lily was! She moved here and there, dragging monster corpses to the side and piled them up. They never before had the chance to do this, Haruhime just lacked the strength. Also, now there was no need to wear a backpack or make sure when they put it down that the monsters didn´t destroy it. Lily showed them just how much her backpack could fit inside, even Haruhime´s backpack and there was much more room left. They were down on the 9th Floor and not even once did they had to go up!

This is amazing!

And there was something else.

"Ms. Haruhime, on your right!"

Haruhime heard Lily´s warning and jumped to the left, a monster was born from the wall in this moment. Before the new Kobold could charge at Haruhime, a bolt got shot into it´s eye.

Lily used a small crossbow that was called "Little Ballista", it was made for prums so that they could fight better. She had shown and explained the weapon to Haruhime and Bell before they went into the dungeon, so that they knew what Lily could or couldn´t do. And she had explained to them how much one bolt cost, in case it was destroyed after shooting it. Lily was visibly surprised when they told her the cost of her ammo would be deducted from the total profit before they split it up.
Haruhime was the one that said, that Lily used the bolts to help them, so it was only fair when they paid for that.

"Thank you!"

The ninth floor was really something else, a true challenge for them. The 10th floor would probably be the last one they would explore as long as Bell was level one. Eina and Alfia drilled into them, that the 11th and 12th floors were very dangerous for level one adventurers, that an overall status of B was required. While he had that, Haruhime did not. His overall status was over S 950 now. He grew in the same pace as Haruhime did, it should be slower due to his high status, but his skill allowed him to grow easier when it was high up. And Haruhime grew faster when he was close to her...she still couldn´t tell him about her own skill, it was too embarrassing for the moment.

But her overall status went past H 300 already, that made her really happy. Her magic still remained at E 502, since she didn´t use her spell in a while, there was no need for it. Haruhime had no words how happy she was, that she was able to fight next to the guy she had fallen for and was useful without a need for her magic. It wasn´t that she despised her magic, but she had to proof to herself, that she was more than just a one trick pony. Of course...if Bell would call for it, Haruhime would immediatelly use her magic for him, he was her hero after all. And maybe...he would thank her with a kiss one day...

The wave of monsters continued, as did their fight.

.

.

"Phew, that was something."

Bell wiped his forehead, they had defeated twenty-three monsters in a pretty short time.

"Bell, would you like some water?"

"Ah, thank you, Haruhime."

She offered him a small cup and smiled when their hands touched slightly. Bell smiled too and noticed that her cheeks turned slightly pink.

"You did really well with your bow."

"Do you think so?"

"Absolutely, you can move more freely now, right?"

"Yes, it really is a big help, that I don´t need to carry the bagpack."

Both turned to Lily, who was working her way through the monsters corpses. She wore the special gloves, used a knife and a tongs. They could easily see that she knew what she did, Lily was much faster and more efficient in collecting the magic stones.

"Ms. Lily, I will help you."

Haruhime made a step forward, but Lily shook her head.

"No, remain where you are."

"Huh?"

"Lily will do this alone, it is Lily´s job."

"But it will be faster when we do it together."

"Your job is to rest right now, lady Haruhime."

"Bu-"

"No buts, your offer is very kind, but I can´t allow it."

"Why?"

Lily didn´t look up from her work. "The dungeon won´t forgive it. We just fought against nearly two dozen monsters, even when master Bell did most of the work in the vanguard, you have to rest too." You used your bow constantly, retrieved your arrows after the fight and cleaned them. Now you have to rest, especially your hands and fingers. We don´t know when the next big wave of monsters will come, you must be as well rested as you possibly can."

"You...are right."

"Lily understands that you have a caring nature and just want to help. But Lily has to do her job or we will get a problem. Also, master Bell?"

"Yes?"

"Lily thinks you should give her your shield for now."

"Why that?"

"You are using the shield for the first time as you said. You are not used to it and should take a small break, to fight in your usual way. To relax your hand and arm, it´s better this way. Please trust Lily, she has experience."

Bell nodded. "Alright, thank you for your had work, Ms. Lily."

"Yes, thank you very much. It really is much easier with such a good supporter." Haruhime smiled.

"Flattery won´t get you anywhere with Lily."

"But we are honest."

"Please believe us."

Hah...these two seem to be too innocent to be adventurers.

Lily was in the dungeon with a big number of adventurers before, but never had she met someone that was so nice. But she reminded herself it could also be an act. She would see their true colors when the day was over and it came to splitting the money.

One by one, the monsters dissolved to ash after Lily pulled the magic stones out of them. There were four small dropp items in total among them, a pretty good haul.

"So, that was the last one, Lily is finished."

When she turned around, Haruhime stood there with a cup of water.

"Please drink something, Ms. Lily."

"Eh?"

"You worked hard, you have to rest and stay hydrated too."

Lily´s eyes wandered to the cup, then to Haruhime´s face again.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you so kind to Lily?"

Haruhime looked genuienly confused. "Why shouldn´t I? Maybe it will just be for today, but you are a member of our party."

Lily wasn´t used to the expression that she saw in Haruhime´s face, she meant every word that she said...she really was that caring."

So the prum took the cup with water and mumbled by herself.

"You two are strange..."

"Strange?"

"Mmmh!"

Lily didn´t think that Haruhime would hear her.

"Adventurers normally...aren´t that kind to Lily..."

"But why?"

While Lily leaned against her backpack, halfway sitting on it, Haruhime crouched down next to her so that Lily didn't have to tilt her head back. It was a small gesture without thinking much into it, but Lily really appreciated it, most people didn´t considered a prum´s height while they talked to them.
Bell stood a few meters away and watched over them, in case monsters approached. Lily also had to relax for a moment.
"Because Lily is a supporter."

"This is their reason?!"

"Most adventurers think that supporters aren´t worth much. That a supporter is a failed adventurer."

"I can´t believe that."

Haruhime´s tone made clear that she didn´t meant she didn´t believe Lily. But that she couldn´t believe that there were adventurers that were like that.

"But the big familias all have supporters that are part of their familias or have a contract with them?"

"Yes, the big familias or those that go deeper into the dungeon. But keep in mind that the majority of adventurers are just level one, over eighty percent of them. And Lily isn´t good or strong enough to get into stronger parties, so she has to work with "the majority"."

Lily wasn´t complaining or whining to Haruhime, she was just stating facts.

"Hah, adventurers really can be cruel."

"It is like it is."

Haruhime smiled friendly when Lily gave her the cup back.

"Then I hope it won´t just be today that you accompany us, Ms. Lily."

Bell joined her. "I hope so too."

Lily didn´t know what to say, it all looked too good to be true. Maybe she was just dreaming.

"W-We should move on, Lily has rested enough."

Haruhime picked up her bow, adjusted the quiver and nodded to Bell.

"Then let us move on."

The next monsters didn´t wait long for them.

.

.
"Phew, that really was a long day."

"Lily has to admit she is exhausted."

"Hah...I want to take a shower..."

Bell, Lily and Haruhime were in the dungeon until their supplies of water, food and potions ran out. They took breaks on the stairs between the 8th and 9th floors, one time even between the 9th and the 10th floors. Lily´s backpack had become quite heavy from all the magic stones and dropp items. It looked like Bell or Haruhime brought her luck, she had never seen so many dropp items before.

Twenty Kobold Nails.

Twelf Goblin Fangs.

Six War Shadow´s Finger Blades.

One Purple Moth Wing.

Two Needle Rabbit´s Tusks.

And even two Blue Papilio Wings, but Bell and Haruhime asked Lily that they could keep them, their familia´s captain needed them.

Never before had she seen such a haul. Sure the Kobold Nails and Goblin Fangs weren´t worth much, but it was still money. And this number of magic stones, Bell didnt say to her how high his status was, but Lily had enough experience to see that he was very strong for a level one adventurer. The sun was already setting when they came out of Babel, but there was still enough time to go to the guild to exchange what they got.

Now Lily got really nervous, the day had started so nice, both really looked out for her...but now that it came to money...Lily was afraid her small hopes could shatter again and she cursed herself for that.

Please...only one nice day...

They chatted about the dungeon, about certain situations that happened and how easy it was to fight now.

And finally...they exchanged everything they got in the guild, which took a while since they had so much.

Afterwards they sat down in a corner of the guild...

"102.000 Vals..."

"Yeah..."

"True..."

"Wow..."

All three looked at the incredible amount of money on the table. Even on their best days, Haruhime and Bell only were able do make around 35.000 Vals. Lily was the one that made this enormous difference. They could fight more easily, stay longer in the dungeon, had more time to relax, didn´t have to carry the loot...a word that adventurers used for everything they found in the dungeon.

"This is really something else...and we didn´t even sold the Blue Papilio Wings.."

Haruhime gulped, this was really much money.

Lily felt really nervous...now it would start...she was sure...they would be the same as all the other adventurers..

"So, Ms. Lily?"

"Yes, master Bell?"

"At first, here are 2.000 Vals, that should cover your broken bolts."

"Thank you..."

And then...he pushed 40.000 Vals to her.

"Huh?"

"I know we agreed on 25%...but neither Haruhime nor I feel well with that. We only were able to stay so long in the dungeon because of you. Never would´ve we been able to make this much alone. So we think 40% is only fair."

"But..."

Haruhime smiled, somehow Lily had problems to look at her when she smiled like that, it was as if she tried to look into the sun.

Her eyes wandered from one to the other, but while they looked friendly and gentle, they looked also adamant about this. She got the feeling that these two wouldn´t accept a no.

Lily was afraid...she was really afraid of them.

Please don´t toy with Lily´s heart...

What she was afraid of, that these two only seemed to be nice, but would betray her later or treat her like everyone else.

"So, Ms. Lily?"

"Lady Haruhime?"

"Would you...like to go with us tomorrow too?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we both are."

Bell nodded. "You are the best supporter we could wish for. It really makes things a lot more easy and your experience helps us a lot. So please, can we go together again?"

For Lily, Bell let it sound like they didn´t hope for just a day.

A second look at the mountain of money before her helped her decision.

"Alright, Lily will go with you again."

Bell and Haruhime smiled brightly.

Ack! These smiles are too much for Lily!

.

.

"I´m happy that you two found such a good supporter."

Miach and Nahza had listened to everything that Bell and Haruhime had to tell them about the day.

Bell grinned. "It was really something else to move in the dungeon like that, it felt like a real party."

Haruhime agreed with him. "But it felt like she was holding back a bit."

Nahza´s tail moved slightly. "That is to be expected. You didn´t know each other, she had to be careful..."

"Do you know to which familia she belongs?"

"We didn´t ask her."

"You should do that, tell her it is my order to ask her."

"Lord Miach?"

"I just want to be sure that you two don´t get caught into something shady."

"Understood, but she really seemed to be nice and professional."

Miach smiled in a special way. "This is the speciality of shady people. I don´t judge her without knowing her, but better be safe than sorry."

"We will be careful, lord Miach."

"But the day in general was good?"

"Oh right! We completely forgot!"

Bell took the purse out of their backpack.

"Our share of today´s dungeon trip. 60.000 Vals!"

""60.000?!""

Their god and their captain were both equally amazed.

"This is amazing, you made so much."

"Wow...this isn´t just a little bit. Especially since you two are level one..."

Haruhime smiled. "But it is all thanks to her, without Ms. Lily we never would´ve made so much."

Nahza smirked slightly. "It really is amazing...but..."

"But?"

"We also made quite a lot today..."

"Oh?"

Nahza held the pestle up that she made from the unicorn horn.

"Thanks to this thing and the blue papilio wings that you brought us, the quality of our potions increased again. We made 35.000 Vals today..."

"Wow!"

"How wonderful!" Haruhime clapped her hands.

"Phew, two blue papilio wings and 95.000 Vals in one day. We are really starting to become a better familia."

Miach looked at all three of them. "I am proud of every single one of you three."

"Bell, you really became strong in this short time. Haruhime, you are doing a wonderful job and you keep growing beyond yourself. And Nahza..."

"Hm?"

"Nahza, you really became a wonderful captain in this short time. I am really, really proud of you."

The way he spoke to Nahza was a bit different. Nahza looked like she wanted to say something, she gathered all her courage, opened her mouth...but then she hesitated again.

"Lord Miach! I...I...l...I..."

"Yes, my dear?"

She lowered her face and just mumbled.

"Thank you..."

The god nodded. "Bell, can you help me in the kitchen with the dinner?"

"Of course."

Haruhime remained on the couch when Bell got up and looked at Nahza. The chientrope´s tail moved heavily, her heart was probably pounding really fast.

"Ms. Nahza?"

"Hm?"

"You can do it, I´m rooting for you." She whispered just to make sure that the two men didn´t hear her.

"That´s easier said than done..."

"But still."

Nahza smiled wryly. "Did you said it to Bell?..."

Steam came out of Haruhime´s head when she lowered her face. "No..."

"Hah...I guess we should both gather our courage..."

Haruhime glanced to Bell and Miach, then to Nahza again.

"If you want to, I can ask lady Alfia if we both can sleep at her house one night, so that you have the evening alone with lord Miach. I could also stay at the Takemikazuchi familia´s place one night, when Bell stays at lady Alfia´s place."

"Hah...thank you...but give me some time...I need to prepare my heart."

"So do I."

Both women looked at each other and smiled.

The evenings with the little family were wonderful. It was really fun to sit together, talk and just hang out with each other. Bell and Haruhime were really happy that Miach was the god of their familia and Nahza was their captain. The next day they met Lily again in front of the entrance to Babel, she told them which family she belonged to when they asked about it. Miach didn't say anything about it, even though he was a little worried inside. It wasn't the name of the god Soma, but his familia that worried him a bit.
Another week went by...which turned soon into nearly a month...then the quiet time should come to an abrupt end.

It seemed like Bell and Haruhime were messing with the wrong people when they protected Lily.

Lily had really hoped her small dream of being in a party with two nice adventurers would be a bit longer, before the harsh reality got them.

.

.

"Hmmm~Hmmm~Hmmm~"

Lefiya hummed slightly while she combed her hair, sitting in front of the mirror in her shared room. She had woken up pretty early again, it really was a nice day.

"Mmmh..."

Lefiya chuckled slightly when she heard a noise from the other bed in her room. Filvis wasn´t what one would call, a morning elf. She always needed a bit time to fully wake up. Because of that, Lefiya was the only person that was able to see something really precious...the sleepy Filvis.

"Mnaaaah...mjam...Mnnnnh!"

Filvis yawned and stretched herself.

"Good morning, Filvis."

"G´morning...Lefiya..."

The sight of Filvi´s head, with a large amount of bedhair...Lefiya could melt because she was so cute.

"Did you sleep well...big sister?"

Filvis stopped for a moment, then she chuckled. "I did, little sister."

Lefiya had needed her part of the unicorn horn for something truly special. One half of her part was imbedded into the rod that Filvis used, the other in Lefiya´s staff. While their weapons were at a special elven armory to incorporate the unicorn horn, Lefiya and Filvis had held a special elven ceremony.

Filvis had her hair color problems when it came to elves, except with her own familia, most notably Lefiya. But it had been bad in her past, especially with her own family. Black hair was a very bad omen and usually meant some kind of curse. This was one of the reasons Filvis came to Orario...she didn't have a family of her own anymore. She was cast out, although she still wore her last name... but it had no meaning. This was one of those things that Lefiya didn't like about her people... it had been much the same for Ryu with her people.

And so, Lefiya and Filvis had sworn something by moonlight, they were now sisters, not in blood but in heart. Lefiya had promised Filvis that she would take her to her home forest again, on the one hand to watch the light spectacle that happened there once a year, and that they watched together every year. On the other hand, also so that her mother could do something. Lefiya had written letters to her mother and Analaya Viridis had seen very clearly how much Filvis meant to Lefiya.

She had agreed that the Viridis familia would adopt Filvis as one of their own. So Lefiya would really have a big sister. Blood was important to the elves, but there were things far more important. Deep and true feelings.

Lefiya´s family knew Filvis, every year they went to Lefiya´s forest to watch the light phenomenon together. Lefiya told her family beforehand, that she would punish everyone with "that glare", in case they would treat Filvis different because of her black hair.

Filvis and Lefiya loved each other, not in a romantic way, but like sisters did. They had already used a special word in elfish to call each other, it meant a very special friend. And while the women in the Astrea familia sometimes called each other sister, it was meant in a different way again.

So many meanings for the same word, fascinating.

"Hmmm..." Lefiya stopped to comb her hair for a moment.

"Lefiya?"

"Filvis Viridis...that sounds funny. Ehehe."

"Mmmh...it is still a bit too early for that."

"Bu-u-ut only a little biiiit! Hah, I can´t wait to welcome you in the family."

"Hah...a family..."

"They will all love you, trust me! Ooooh, Fina will be so happy!"

"Your little sister?"

"No...our...little sister. Hmm...or would you be the little sister as the newest member of the family?"

"M-Me? Your little sister?!"

"Hmm...has a nice ring to it. Filviiis...please call me big sister!"

"Not happening."

"Mouh...just once?"

"I am the older one here! Enough teasing now."

"Hehe, your bedhair is cute."

"Lefiyaaaaaa!"

"Hehe, sorry sorry...big sister."

Lefiya Viridis often couldn´t fight the urge to tease Filvis. But even when she got often teased by her, Filvis thought that Lefiya was most of the time really cute. During one of their trips to the Wishe Forest, Filvis had seen a picture of Lefiya as a child. The small Lefiya sat at a table, holding a fork, wearing a pink dress and was happily eating her birthday cake. Filvis thought she would get diabetes...the picture was just that cute.

"So, I will go and take a shower, don´t take too long to get up, Filvis. We have a lot planned today."

"Don´t worry."

Filvis put her feet on the ground, went into her slippers and prepared her bed like every day. Soon after she took care of her hair in front of the mirror, a bit ashamed that she had so much bedhair again.

Now that she was fully awake, due to Lefiya's loving taunts, Filvis once again displayed the dignity inherent in elves. After taming her hair, Filvis also went to the bathroom to take a shower. It took a while, the appearance was really important for elves.

Today would be the first day that they used their changed weapons together in the dungeon.

.

.
Lily really enjoyed the trips into the dungeon with Bell and Haruhime, and not only because she made between 20.000 and 30.000 Vals on a normal day, their first day was the best they had. She was really happy to make so much money, but the way she made that money was the best. Bell and Haruhime really were as nice as they seemed to be, they treated Lily friendly and with respect. Sometimes they even took their time to stretch out the breaks a bit to chat with each other. Bell told Lily that his father was indeed a supporter and that he even had reached level four, he only kept the familia a secret for now. So his respect for supporters was serious, he also showed her his sword, that this was all he had left from his father.
She understood that this sword was important for him, even when it looked really cheap in her eyes. But for a level one adventurer it should be enough.

And Haruhime told her about her first tries to support Bell, also that she succeeded more poorly than right. That she was really amazed about all the things that Lily did, the big and the small ones. That she always had an eye on the walls and for new monsters, how she dragged the corpses away so they would have no problem to fight.

Lily allowed herself a small, proud smile after these words.

"This is Lily´s job as a supporter."

For the probably first time in her life, Lily was afraid out of another reason. Her heart did strange things when she was in the dungeon with Bell and Haruhime...Lily had fun, she felt good..she...started to really like these two.

It wasn´t even a whole month...what are they doing with me?

Since she wasn´t used to that, Lily was a bit afraid of her feelings, due to her loneliness, she feared to get attached to someone. And while she tried to hold Bell and Haruhime a bit away from her, these two tried their best at the same time to get closer to Lily. They wanted more than a permanent contract with Lily, they wanted her to be a permanent part of their party.

Deep inside her, Lily wished the same, but she was afraid to bring people that were so nice into danger. When she thought about her familia...

Please, you gods in heaven...let Lily have this bit of fun, they are so nice...

.

.

There was a saying among some adventurers.

What happens inside the dungeon, stays in the dungeon.

It didn´t mean that one would attack someone and they would be friends on the surface. It meant...when someone got attacked inside the dungeon...there were normally no witnesses. And it was rare that someone escaped a trap laid out by other adventurers.

And some people said, no monster inside the dungeon could be as cruel as the people above.

Some "people" even said, it was too peaceful for a far too long time now on the surface. People had stopped fearing monsters for the biggest part, there were less problems than during the time before the gods descended. So people became more cruel than they were in the past.

And as long as it happened in the dungeon, some adventurers were okay with killing others to make a bit of profit. Only in some cases, did these people choose the wrong target or the wrong method.

.

.
"KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

"Aaah!"

Haruhime covered her ears when another wave of sound hamered down on them. It was their third time on the 10th floor now and she really disliked Bad Bats. These monsters were able to fly, had sharp fangs and could create sound waves that disrupted the concentration of adventurers. They were a huge problem for magic user, but even more for a beast person like Haruhime. And to her bad luck, Haruhime´s kind was blessed with very sensitive ears.

"Ow, Ow, Ow!"

So for her, these shreeks were actually painful and she couldn´t hear what Bell or Lily said. So she was unable to use her magic in case something happened, but also her bow. Haruhime was helpless as long as bad bats were close. So while Bell fought against the monsters that came from the front, Lily aimed with her small crossbow and shot down the bats, thankfully there were never more than a few bats.

And Bell...he lived a dream right now.

A beautiful maiden in distress was behind him, one that he had fallen for. And he stood between her and a horde of nemesis monsters. His grandfather, Zeus, had teached him about the monsters that were called, Orcs. That Orcs were the nemesis or natural enemies of female knights, shrine maidens or female mages in the past. Thankfully Bell was too young back then, so his grandfather spared him the details. All he knew was that Orcs liked to target these kinds of women, wo he would protect Haruhime and Lily with all he got. In his mind, Lefiya Viridis was also behind him...asking him to protect her from these vile fiends!

A part of him felt bad that he had fallen for two women, Bell still didn´t know what to make with this situation...

Fighting against Orcs demanded a different tactic from Bell. He couldn´t use his shield, if the tried to block a club from an Orc, his arm would probably get shattered. So he had to use speed and strength. The style was different from his fight against Aisha, even when his sword wasn´t heavy enough for it, he used the style that Alfia had shown him, the one that was used by "Uncle Zard". Zeus told him that since all members of the Zeus familia were his children, they all were basically Bell´s uncles in a way. He never met Zard, but Zeus and Alfia told him stories about him. That he was the one that killed the Behemoth, just like Alfia killed the Leviathan. The heavy style was perfect against opponents like Orcs.

Bell imagined that a bulky, shadowy figure moved behind him and did the same movements as he did. He used all the attacks that Alfia had shown him...the sight of her with the giant wooden sword, that Zeus had carved out of a tree was a bit funny. But Bell was wise enough to never tell her that, she said that even when she loved Bell more than anything in the world, she would still bonk his head if he laughed about her. Zeus had shared his wisdom with Bell, he said that a woman clad in armor with such a giant sword wasn´t something funny, he said that it was alluring and tempting in its own way. Bell didn´t understand his grandfather back then and even today, nothing about Alfia was alluring or tempting in his eyes. But well, Bell was her "son", he was unable to see Alfia like that.

"Master Bell, a swarm of Imps on the right!"

"Got it!"

Bell turned into the direction and raised his left hand.

"Thunderbolt!"

The actinic blue lightning burst out of his hand and pierced more than one imp. He had to be very careful with his magic on the 10th floor. Due to the fog that was everywhere, his clothes and body got wet, as well as Lily´s and Haruhime´s. There was a chance that his lightning might jump over to one of them in case he would choose a target that was too close. Thankfully, that only applied to the lightning variant of his spell. There was no danger for the thunder variant, since there wasn´t much lightning in it. Also Bell would never use this variant of his spell to a target that was close to them. For a short chant, the destructive power was very strong, but also the mind cost.
Also, the thundering sound would hurt Haruhime if she was too close when he used it. Not that the lightning was quiet. But she said she would bear with it, as long as it came from Bell, she was fine with it.

Lily agreed with Haruhime on one thing, the color of these lightnings was pretty. And it was so useful, while not as strong as her hidden magic weapon, Bell could use this spell very often.

With his sword in one hand, his white hair and the lightning magic used with his other hand, Bell really felt like the grandson of Zeus!

Grandpa, witness me!

Bell raised his sword and attacked another Orc. They were tough opponents, a challenge that Bell enjoyed. But they never risked anything, they always fought as safe as possible, so they remained close to the stairway to the 9th floor.

But the dungeon was the dungeon and there were things that they couldn´t control...or await.

"Ooooooy, Ardeeee! I have a giiiiift for youuuuu!"

Lily froze when she heard this voice.

"Wha-?!"

Several sacks were thrown at them, each one of them twitched. Lily heard light shreeks when the sacks hit the ground, two of them opened...and showed killer ants that had their limbs cut off and were slowly dying. Haruhime didn´t hear anything, due to the bats shreeks and Bell was focussed on his fight against the Orcs and Imps in front of him. But Lily saw the adventurers very clearly...and knew them.

"Have fun with thaaaat! We will get through your belongings after you died!"

Lily´s eyes widened in horror, they were close to the stairs to the 9th floor...so the shreeks of the dying Killer Ants could be heard up there. The special trait of the Killer Ants, was that they called for their brethren when they were dying. The more screeched, the more reacted to it, as if the dungeon was breeding them for that moment. Eight sacks were close to them, eight dying Killer Ants. And due to the monsters in front of them, they had nowhere to escape!

"Master Bell! Master BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!"

She screamed at the top of her lunges to get his attention, while she backed away and moved closer to Haruhime. Lily was about to drop her enormous backpack, but she got a problem with that, two items were hanging on the backpack. One was Bell´s shield, the other was something long and hard. Bell wanted to add something again to his arsenal to use from time to time when they faced a monster that would demand that.

A spear.

He had read so much about famous heroes that used spears, like Achilleus, Leontus or the famous "Child of Light" Setanta.

For Bell this spear would give him more range than his sword had and he could focus on one point, it was easier to use such a weapon against some kinds of monsters. But for Lily, this spear was much longer, she would´ve to use both hands to hold it, while Bell could also use his shield with it. But he had no chance so far to test it out. Abandoning equipment could be necessary to get out of danger and even when the spear cost a bit over 20.000 Vals, Lily would shed no tear to throw it away.

But the problem for their small party was, they had only Bell to fight in close combat. With the orcs and imps in front of them and the Killer Ants rushing from behind, they were in a pinch.

Lily was afraid, so much that it came close to panic. Just for a splitsecond came the idea up in her head to abanbdon these two and hide somewhere...she immediatelly hated herself for that. Bell and Haruhime were really nice to her all the time, and Lily didn´t only liked them because she had now reached 2.000.000 Vals savings. Just 8.000.000 more and she would be free from the Soma familia...

"Ms. Lily, can we escape to somewhere?!"

"No, our escape route is gone!"

Lily threw the backpack to the ground and took the spear. She didn´t make herself any illusions, she wasn´t strong enough to fight against Killer Ants from the 9th floor. Since she was a supporter, her status was really low. Lily fired an additional bolt from her crossbow and killed the last bad bat with it. That was at least something, now Haruhime could take her hands from her ears.

"What shall we do?!"

At least, Lily could defend herself a bit with the spear.

Bell glanced quickly over his shoulder.

"Haruhime! Do "that" to Lily!"

"Understood!"

"What do you two mean?!"

"Lily! We have to buy Haruhime some time!"

"I don´t know what you are planning!"

"Magic! She will save us if we can buy her time to cast her spell!"

"U-Understood!"

It would be nice if monsters from different floors would attack each other, but the dungeon wasn´t so nice. Instead it looked like even more Orcs and Imps came.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU HAVE THEM!"

Huh?!

Lily turned her face to Bell, it looked like a flip was switched inside him. They backed away into a corner, so that no monsters could come from behind, Haruhime had her back to the wall, Lily was in front of her, Bell three meters in front of Lily. For her it looked like he was in for the fight of his life...which was probably true. He raised the sword with his right hand, lightning cracked around his left hand.

Haruhime folded her hands like in prayer.

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"Grow. That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes."

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A bit of golden light already started to gather around Haruhime.

"Lily, stay behind me!"

"Understood!"

Bell raised the hand that was encircled by lightning. Four Orcs led the charge, followed by at least a dozen Imps and too many Killer Ants to count them...and much more followed after them.

"Thunder-Bolt!"

Lily had seen this variant of Bell´s spell before, but it was always quite the show. A wave of thunder washed forward, lightning crackled inside the wave. The monsters ran right into it. With loud shreeks, the Imps got roasted and crushed. The Orcs howled loud, dropped their dungeon weapons and staggered. The Killer Ants got it worse, some of them started to burn from the lightning, others got their eyes destroyed or their chitinous armor cracked. Bell told her that this variant consumed as much mind as twenty normal thunder bolts. He used the moment he got from it and charged at the Orcs, slicing them up or ramming his sword into them.
It might look like a cruel tactic, but lives were at stake!

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"Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion."

"Grow."

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Lily remained behind Bell, she held the spear and waited. The only thing she could hope for, was aim at the eyes of a monster that she got by surprise. If she tried to stab a monster directly, nothing would happen. Her strength stat was just much too low to be a danger this way. Some adventurers thought with enough planning and tricks, they could take on stronger monsters. But status was sometimes all that matters. To penetrate the skin of an Orc, she would at least need a strength stat of 550 or more, otherwise her stab would just bounce off the skin, for the Killer Ants of the 9th Floor, 400 would be enough...but her strength stat was below 50...

"Yaaaah!"

A Killer Ant that was confused due to the magic, staggered into her direction. As fast as possible for her, Lily thrusted the spear into the right eye of the Killer Ant. The monster shreeked shortly, than it collapsed. Low strength or not, a stab through the eye was bad for most monsters. Lily needed two tries to rip the spear out of the eye and got back.

Bell was like a desperate whirlwind of destruction. He killed the monsters as fast as possible. Lily saw now with her own eyes how strong he was, she was sure he was at the upper end of level one. Where it was necessary, he fired his lightning magic, but he used his sword as much as possible. The backpack was behind Lily, close to Haruhime´s feet. She would empty all the potions they had if necessary. The monsters drew closer, the dungeon felt its chance.

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"Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above."

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Haruhime raised her hands over her head, her voice gained strength. She wasn´t afraid, her hero and a new friend were in front of her and protected her. So it was her job to cast her magic, they would all get out of here, she was sure of that.

I am not afraid. Not when Bell is with me. Hah...I love you, Bell.

Bell moved left and right, he used his sword with both hands now. He felt his mind getting hazy, using too much magic could kill him, in case he got a mind down from that. He didn´t have time to think, only to act and react. Everything went by so fast, his field of view was filled with monsters. On the side he had noticed that some adventurers had thrown something at them, then the killer ants came. Alfia had told Bell about this, it was a dungeon ambush! But who that was or why they got attacked, he didn´t know. Not that it mattered much at the moment, all he could do was kill monsters as fast as possible.

He tried to be everywhere at once, whirled around, sliced, hacked, stabbed, thrusted, chopped, slashed and did whatever he could. When she had the chance, Lily used his spear to stab a monster´s eyes. She wasn´t used to a spear, but it looked like she was a natural when it came to that. Lily thrusted this weapon forward as if she was born to do it. Every thrust was perfect, quick, accurate, without mercy and devastating. She lacked the stats to kill the monsters in the normal way, but she never missed an eye. The length seemed to be perfect for her, maybe Prums had a thing for spears. He had heard about the captain of the Loki familia also using a spear.

"Killer Ants on the left!"

Blood spurted when the spear sank into another eye. Lily quickly learned how to get her weapon free again, whirled it around to get the blood off, then she waited for the next chance. But even when she was a natural with the spear, if she had to face a monster in direct combat, she would die. But as long as Bell was in front of her, they had a chance.

The problem was, Bell wasn´t what adventurer slang called a "tank". He didn´t have the equipment to block so many monsters. His strong point was his dexterity, but he couldn´t risk moving away too much.

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"Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you. -Grow!"

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The light whirled faster and faster around Haruhime. As if the dungeon felt that she was getting close to finish her chant, the monsters roared and charged forward.

"Master Be-"

Crack!

Bell wasn´t fast enough, an Orc´s club came down and broke his right wrist, smashing the sword out of his hand.

"Ack!"

Bell staggered back and raised his hand.

"Thunderbolt!"

The Orc´s head vanished due to the actinic blue lightning bolt. But more monsters rushed forward, Bell had no time to pick up his sword.

Three needle rabbits wanted to use this chance and jumped at him. He would be overwhelmed within seconds!

"Master Beeeeeell!"

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"Uchide no Kozuchi!"

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Lily´s field of vision turned golden from the light that appeared around her.

And suddenly, everything changed...for her.

Huh?

The monsters and Bell, suddenly moved slower than before. Lily saw the club coming up, that could end Bell´s life or at least cripple him. The Orc moved very slowly, as if on purpose.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

It felt like in a dream, Lily moved much faster than she planned to. In one moment she stood behind Bell, in the next she was on the Orc´s chest, the spear pierced right through it´s body and magic stone.

"Gurgl!"

"Eh?!"

Lily blinked surprised when the Orc turned to ash and crumbled. Instead of falling down, Lily landed on her feet in an elegant manner. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she exploded forward, using the spear like a lance and speared the needle rabbits, that wanted to attack Bell, in turn.

"Woah!"

It felt as if she got pulled by the spear. Her attack was too strong, she whirled the spear around to throw off the corpses of the monsters.

"Ahahahaaha!"

A loud laughter exploded out of Lily´s chest. She felt great! Never had she felt better!

"Raaah!"

In a very unladylike way, Lily roared and charged into the monsters. Her spear...not Bell´s spear anymore...her spear whirled and stabbed around, striking down monster after monster. In Bell´s eyes, she looked like he had imagined the legendary saint, Fianna.

"Lily! Don´t run too far ahead!"

"Ahahahaha! Understood! Take thaaaaaat!"

For the first time in her life, Lily felt like an adventurer, a strong adventurer on top of that! The tip of her spear found the weakspots of every monster, Lily knew them from her experience. And now she could show how much better she was than most of the adventurers she went into the dungeon with! The exception were Haruhime and Bell again.

"Thunderbolt!"

Bell´s spell pierced and cremated a few Killer Ants that rushed towards them. Due to Lily´s onslaught, he had a chance to pick up his sword with his left hand. He thanked Alfia in his mind, she had insisted to train him fiercly with his left hand too, for exact situations like the current one.

Thank you, Mom!

Now he had to use magic with his right hand, which hurt a lot due to his broken wrist.

"Bell!"

"Haruhime?"

"A potion, here!"

She came quickly from behind, holding her bow in one hand. A small tornado of death and slaughter, going by the name Liliruca Arde, whirled past them and slaughtered the monsters en massé.

"Here, drink."

"Thank you, Haruhime!"

Bell drank the potion, the following sound was quite nasty. He hissed when his wrist snapped into position again. It wasn´t completely healed, but for the biggest part.

And then, Bell and Lily fought together against the monsters, while Haruhime supported them with her bow. She looked especially out for new bad bats.

Right now they had a fresh level two Lily, Bell with a complete S rank status and Haruhime in the backline.

Which meant it wasn´t nearly enough against this enormous wave of monsters.

They fought and fought and fought. Bell´s mind became blurry at some point, his arms hurt. Somewhere behind him was Haruhime, Lily also fell back when the golden light around her faded away.

Will we...die here?

There were only monsters in front of them...

And then...

Golden light.

.

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For Bell´s hazy mind, it looked like two goddesses of destruction and purity came to their rescue. Rays of golden light, arrows of blazing orange and more smashed into the ranks of the monsters.

He looked up.

Surrounded by an aura of golden light...maybe it was magic...she was there. Lefiya Viridis. Holding her staff in her right hand, she sent beams of fiery orange into the mass of monsters. The beams rose up and bombarded the monsters. At her side walked a black-haired elf, sending out golden rays and incinerating the monsters by the dozen.

"Go to the wall, we´ll take care of this!"

What a voice! What strength! Bell fell for her even more than before. That grace! This wild beauty! How the light of her magic surrounded her, how the resulting wind tugged at her clothes! How casually she used her staff to knock away smaller monsters that got too close! Bell reminded himself that Lefiya was a level three adventurer, the black haired elf at her side must be Filvis Challia, she was even level four according to the guild records...

So it was no wonder that both blasted the monsters with such playful ease.

If they hadn't shown up by accident or fate, Bell, Haruhime, and Lily would be...dead now.

Or maybe they heard some adventurers talk about how much profit they expected to make from their trap. As members of the Astrea familia, they couldn´t stand there and don´t help.

And while they destroyed the monsters, they still had the grace of the elves. Especially Lefiya...she was just perfect in Bell's eyes. And so beautiful...as beautiful as Haruhime.

After three minutes, they were done. Not one monster was left and the dungeon became quiet again.

Both elves split up to the end, Filvis remained a bit away from the three young adventurers, Lefiya went to them.

"Are you ok-...Ah! It´s you again!"

Only now did she saw who they had rescued.

"Bell Cranel! It´s you again!"

Lefiya rushed towards him, she couldn´t believe that she met him again.

"What are y-"

Eventually, the mind down hit Bell and he fell forward.

"Wha-!"

Lefiya´s body reacted on it´s own...she catched him in her arms.

She blinked a few times...looking at the human that she held.

That she held!

That she touched!

And...she didn´t feel disgusted by it!

Eh...Eeeeeeeh?!

"Be-auu..."

Haruhime stumbled to them, but her body also gave in. Lefiya couldn´t catch her too. She stumbled when Haruhime fell against her.

.

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H-How did this happen?!

Lefiya was sitting down on her legs, Bell Cranel´s body became limp and he slumped to the ground. His head ended...on Lefiya´s thighs. While she helt the unconcious Haruhime pressed against her.

She didn´t kick or shove them away, her body didn´t react in the way that she had expected it to.

Why do I have no problem touching them?!

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Author´s Note: Thank you again for the Reviews, I am happy that people can enjoy this story.

As you noticed, I will change it a bit, how Lily joins the party. And don´t worry, Bell will soon get his chance to shine. He won´t need someone to rescue him all the time, but this all builds up to something.

To answer a few questions:

Stravy: Lefiya will slowly notice that something about Bell is special...and about Haruhime.

Mr. Fluppy: The timeline is a bit different from the original, because Bell doesn´t have Liaris Freese, so he will grow slower than in the original story. I like it more when he does something awesome while he isn´t extremely overpowered or too strong. Also I want the whole party to shine.

Second question, yes it is his sword.

About the three Bells. The first one with the two daggers is the Bell of the original story line, since here he uses a sword. The one with fire, blade and shield is how Bell imagined him to look when he hoped for a cool first alias the "Burning Fighting Fighter". The third one is an easter egg, it´s basically Kirito from SAO, since both have the same voice actor.