Chapter 8: Skills and Spells
Later that night after Lily's celebration for leaving the Soma Familia, Bell was lying awake in his bed staring at the ceiling like a child too excited to sleep due to going on vacation with his family in the morning.
Not only were all four of them going into the dungeon for the first time together, he was going to be using magic. Sure the Servant Summoning ritual was amazing but it wasn't something he could use every day or it would probably kill him. But with something like "Firebolt" he would be able to expand his skillset even more.
He had a practical magic spell now.
He was also feeling completely wide awake.
Jumping out of bed, Bell put on his breastplate and coat as quietly as possible and made for the door.
Only for a pair of strong hands to grasp his shoulders the second he stepped outside.
"Where do you think you're going, mongrel?"
Fear. Pure unadulterated fear seeped into his body. His legs started to shake as he felt his breath slow to a crawl while his heart began to race uncontrollably. Turning his head, he saw Caster to his left and Archer to his right, both of them having placed a hand on his shoulders to stop him.
"Really now…" Archer sighed. "You're like a little kid who wants to open his new toy and play with it right away. At least you lasted for a while."
"Speak for yourself," Caster growled. "If you were gong to try and sneak out then do so straight away! Do not force me to wait this long! I have other things I have to be doing!"
"I'm…I'm sorry…" Bell said, looking down like a child with his hand caught in a snack jar.
"Well, it's not like I don't sympathize," Archer said as he spun Bell around and walked him back inside his room. "I did something similar before."
He then looked at Bell's desk where the book was still sitting.
"Oh right, mind if I have a look at the book?" Archer asked.
"Sure…" Bell nodded as he started taking off his armor.
"That armor is unsuited for you now," Caster said as Archer walked over to the book. "Take some time in the morning to go with Arde to Babel Tower and shop for a new one."
"Babel Tower? You mean Hephaistos Familia shops?" Bell asked. "I don't want to ask you for any more money though…"
"That would be unnecessary," Caster said. "You still have your personal savings, do you not? Not all the stores sell equipment worth millions. Goddess Hephaistos has stores on the lower levels that are geared toward new Adventurers. You do not think that every blacksmith Hephaistos claims produces first rate armors and weapons right away do you?"
"Ah…that makes sense," Bell nodded. Certainly there would be Level 1 Blacksmiths starting out as well that need to earn money.
"New Blacksmiths show off their wares in hopes of repeat customers to make exclusive contracts with. In short, they contract with an Adventurer to make equipment for them and that person only buys from them. Thus both sides profit."
Bell nodded his head in understanding as Archer flipped through the pages.
"Oi Bell…" Archer said. "This book is blank."
"Huh?"
Bell and Caster turned toward Archer who held the book out toward them sideways and let pages fall. Each and every single page was devoid of ink.
"Did you pick up a blank book and dream about reading it?" Archer asked.
"No way…I'm sure I read it…" Bell said as Caster walked up toward him. "Huh?"
Bell was suddenly closely acquainted with Caster's hand as it clamped down on his face and started squeezing.
"Ow ow ow ow!? Caster!?"
"You idiot…do you realize what that is?" Caster said as he lifted Bell off the floor while still grasping his head like that. "Archer. Bring that book and follow me. We're showing that to Hestia."
"What!? What's gong on!? Caster! This really hurts! Ow!"
They made their way to Hestia's room.
Hestia was still awake, reading a book on her beg under the light of a magic lamp when the three of them entered.
"W-what is it?" Hestia asked as she looked at Caster, who was standing in the front with his arms crossed, Bell who was rubbing the side of his head with tears on his face, and Archer who was holding onto the blank book. "Shouldn't you be resting for the Dungeon tomorrow?"
"This idiot got ahold of this and read it," Caster said, jerking his head toward Bell and the book. "You should understand."
Hestia took the book from Archer and looked at it before opening it and flipping through a few pages before turning pale.
"G-grimoire?" She asked, her eyes spinning as if she was faced with a debt collector collecting on something she had no information about despite having the paperwork in her hands.
"…What's that?" Bell asked, looking slightly worried.
"Basically…it's a book that gifts its reader magic when read," Hestia sad as she sat back down and Bell started to look like someone just dumped him in a bath tub full of sweat. "It can only be made by someone who has two Development Ability that lets them create magic items with special properties. Basically someone with at least Level 3. It's a magic item that rarely has a set price and is usually sold to the highest bidder…it wouldn't be strange if it costs just as much if not more than Hephaistos's top quality items."
The same pitiful dog squeal Bell made when he learned the price of his knife made an expectant return.
"…And it loses its power after the first time someone reads it. It's nothing more than garbage now."
Bells knees went weak and he slipped and fell into Archer's arms before being deposited into a chair.
"W-what do I do?" Bell asked. "It was a lost item at the pub…"
"Listen Bell!" Hestia said as she stands up and pointed to him. "You ran across the original owner on the way home and gave it back to him before reading it. So you never brought it here. You never read it. And even if there was some mistake, it was already a blank book by the time you brought it home. Got it?"
"That's wrong!" Bell argued. "I can't just do that!"
"Bell! The lower world is not all sunshine and flowers; there are many dark, dark things. I've seen them with my own eyes. Being thrown out of home, being so poor that even buying potato puffs was impossible and starving, being forced to live under ruins…carrying an enormous debt. The world is full of injustices."
"Was that not all your own doing?" Archer asked and Hestia beautifully ignored him.
"In any case!" Hestia shouted. "That's the story so stick with it, Bell!"
Hestia crossed her arms and nodded her head as if the case was closed.
X-x-X-x-X
"Master Bell is too honest…"
The next morning, Lily and Bell left the house together to head buy some Mind Potions as well as some new armor for Bell. However, despite Hestia's insistence, Bell couldn't just lie about it. Even if he did, it would fall apart the moment the original owner tried to find it again at the pub. So they went and returned it with a proper explanation to which the pub owner, Mia Grand, said not to worry about it since the original owner would have no doubt written it off once they realized they lost it.
"If ya lost a wallet full of cash, do ya really expect the cash to still be there when you find it again?" Was how she put it.
"Well, Lily thinks that is both one of your good points and bad points," she admitted as she followed a distressed looking Bell, holding a lunch given by Syr at the waitresses' insistence, toward Blue Pharmacy. "This place is run by the Miach Familia right?"
"Yes…do you know them Lily?" Bell asked.
"Lily knows that they were a very famous Familia before, rivaling the Dian Chet Familia," Lily said. "But then something happened and the Familia dissolved or something. Lily heard that Lord Miach fell into debt saving one of his Familia members and then let those in his Familia that didn't want to be in debt leave."
"Is that so?" Bell asked, thinking about the kind god who sometimes gave him potions for free and the perpetually tired looking Chienthrope who always manned the counter alone. "I never knew that."
"It's not something they would talk about," Lily said. "Does Master Bell think Lady Hestia would talk about how much it costs for Master Bell's dagger?"
"Erk…please don't remind me about that…"
They entered a rather rundown store off West Main street tat had the Miach Familia's emblem over it and headed to the front counter pass the shelves.
"Good morning, Miss Naza!"
"Morning Bell. Long time no see."
Naza Ersuisu. Miach Familia's only member. Bell wondered if she was the one who Lily was referring to as she was always wearing a glove over her right hand which now made Bell wonder if she was hiding an injury or something.
"Oh? Who is this?" Naza said, spotting the rather tiny Lily who pulled her hood off to be polite and to show her false dog ears. "A new member?"
"Nice to meet you Miss Naza," Lily said with a bow as he false tail was wagging back and forth from underneath her coat. "Lily is a new member of the Hestia Familia."
"I see. I hope for your patronage. Please buy a lot."
"Yes. Lily would like to purchase ten normal potions and four mind recovery potions."
"Planning on going down far?" Naza asked as she placed a case on the counter and started to pull out some rather expensive bottles along with the regular potion bottles Bell was used to seeing.
"Yes," Bell nodded. "Our captain hopes to hit the Tenth Floor today."
"Captain? Weren't you the captain, Bell?"
"Well, I gave the title to someone with more experience than me," Bell admitted and Naza nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't want to lead everyone into an accident because of a dumb mistake after all."
"I see," Naza said, placing the case away. "It is good not to be prideful about that."
"Here's the payment," Lily said placing a bag on the counter. "Please check it."
"Everything seems fine," Naza said as she carefully passed the bag of potions to Bell. "Here…with a little present."
"Eh?" Bell gasped as he counted twelve regular potions. "No…we can't take this…"
"It's fine…" Naza said. "Those two are not as effective as regular potions due to a mistake."
"Lily sees…" Lily said as she took a look at the top one. "It looks like too much water was added."
"Yes…please use them for smaller injuries."
"All right…thank you very much, Miss Naza!"
As they left the shop, Bell handed Lily the potions so she could put them in her back but kept one on his person at her insistence.
"Lily wonders how the mistake was made," she said as she examined all the potions.
"Maybe they were tired?" Bell pointed out. "It's just Naza and Lord Miach after all."
Lily still looked unsure but put it aside.
"Now then, Lily will show Master Bell the shop for newbies to buy armor," Lily said as they made their way to Babel Tower.
They exit the elevator onto the fifth floor and make their pass several displays of weapons with various customers making their way around.
"There are a lot of people here," Bell noted.
"Yes," Lily nodded. "This place is where they sell weapons for the lower ranked Adventurers made by the Familia's lower level Smiths. So everyone can shop here and not only the First-Class Adventurers. Today we'll try to find Master Bell a new set of armor. A full set if possible since Master Bell's breastplate and coat will not be enough anymore."
Bell nodded in agreement as he looked around and the shiny weapons and armor located in the store.
"I can't believe these are made by low level smiths…" Bell muttered as he stared at one of the mannequins displaying a shining suit of plate armor.
"Yes," Lily nodded. "Shall we look around for a bit? Lily thinks she also wants a new coat after seeing all of this. Something like this will probably make Lord Caster angry if he looks at it for too long."
She gestured to her dull colored coat that was torn and patched in various places.
"I don't think he'd care about that," Bell said.
"Lily will take no chances in making her King look bad!" Lily insisted. "Master Bell too! Master Bell should stop doing things that make Lord Caster angry! Lily is worried for Master Bell's head too!"
"Thanks…"
"Master Bell is a very kind person so Lily wants Master Bell's equipment to be suitable for him. Also, Master Bell never heard of a Hero who goes around saving people in rags, right?"
"Please stop…" Bell groaned as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment as Lily giggled. "Then let's look around and meet back up at the elevator in half an hour?"
"Lily is fine with that," she nodded before wandering toward the cloth armor area as Bell went to the light armor section.
As Bell took in the sights and sounds, he found himself in the very back of the store where massive shelves lined the walls. Sitting on all of them were armor pieces crammed into tiny boxes and stuffed together.
Bell wondered if they were just junk pieces but the boxes all had price tags on them.
"Is this the bargain area or maybe the unsold stuff?" He asked out loud as he examined the rather low prices on the tags.
There was no way a prominent Familia like Hephaistos's would sell faulty equipment so perhaps they were most likely items that were deemed not fit to be put onto display. Bargain bin was also most likely accurate as he had spotted a suit of armor going for fifteen thousand in the front and his breastplate had gone for five thousand while he saw a box with a whole set going for barely seven thousand.
A box in the center row caught Bell's eyes and he pulled it forward and lifted the breastplate from it. It was light. So much lighter than the one from the guild and although Bell wasn't completely sure but he felt it was much sturdier than it too. Holding it up to his chest, he found that it was also a perfect fit.
"Oh no…I think I love it…" Bell said as he looked through the rest of the pieces. It may have only the first armor he really looked at but now he can't imagine wearing anything else. It was light, felt sturdy, simple in its silver and red design, and cost only ninety-nine hundred Valis.
He was indeed in love with it.
Flipping the breastplate over, he found a signature on it.
Welf Crozzo
He may be only be a newbie smith but Bell already loved his work. If Bell ever needed something else, he'd try to find more stuff from this smith. Satisfied, he walked over to the counter to pay.
"Wow, Master Bell looks very gallant!"
"Thanks. Your new coat looks nice too, Lily."
After buying the new armor, Bell borrowed a stall to change and then waited by the elevator for Lily. She came up wearing a new white coat with pinkish sleeves and a bright smile.
"It's almost time to meet up with Master Archer and Lord Caster, right?" She asked as they got onto the elevator before someone else needed to use it.
"Yes," Bell nodded. "Caster was organizing his treasury and Archer was making some provisions to take into the dungeon…and for Goddess in case she gets back before we do."
"Ahh…Lily understands. Lily doesn't want to come home to a starving and crying Goddess either."
Bell chuckled as the doors open and they made their way to the entrance of the dungeon area.
Bell watched the various parties of Adventurers go into the dungeon, filled with energy and excitement for the day ahead as they waited for the two Spirits to show up.
"Ah, Lily sees them."
Sure enough, the Golden King and the Red Archer came through the entrance with the latter wearing a small pack.
"Good, the two of you look presentable," Caster nodded. "You remember today's objective, correct?"
"Yes!" The two of them nodded in unison.
Today's objective was to simply try out Lily's new skill and Bell's new magic. If the results were adequate they would then try to make their way beyond the tenth floor before returning to the surface.
"Very well. Let us descend."
They entered the dungeon through a corridor that was a bit out of the way and proceeded as Lily navigated with her map.
Before long they came across a pair of goblins.
"Cranel," Caster said simply and Bell eagerly stepped forward with his arm outstretched.
"FIREBOLT!"
Electric flames carve sharp lines in the air before striking the closest goblin and exploding in its face, burning it to ash save for its magic stone.
"Arde."
Lily then pulled up her sleeve and revealed a tiny crossbow, one of the Little Ballista series that the Goibniu Familia created for Pallums. With hands showing familiarity with the weapon, Lily quickly loaded in a small bolt and fired it, scoring a direct hit in the second goblin's skull.
"Well?" Caster asked as Lily ran over to the goblin to carve out its crystal.
"Umm…I don't think it used up all that much," Bell said. "It's fast and strong enough to kill a Goblin in one hit but…I think we need more testing on stronger enemies."
"Lily felt it was a bit easier loading the crossbow," Lily said as she pulled the tiny Magic Stone fragment out of the corpse, allowing the body to vanish into black mist. "And the loader seemed a bit easier to pull but other than that Lily feels no different."
"Hmm…perhaps with a ranged weapon like a crossbow the effects are smaller," Caster said. "Cranel. Give Arde your knife."
"Eh?" Both of them let out a noise at the same time.
"The knife works for anyone of Hestia Familia," Caster said. "We will have Arde fight the next monster alone with it."
"Don't worry," Archer said as Bell handed a very nervous looking Lily his dagger. "I'll keep any others off of you."
"Y-yes…" Lily nodded as she handed Archer her pack which the man lifted rather easily despite its bulk. "Lily will do her best!"
The next group of monsters were a trio of Kobolds. At Caster's order, Bell blasted two of them with magic, disintegrating them just like the goblin from earlier before Lily charged forward, knife in hand as the hieroglyphics engraved into the blade began glowing.
"Lower yourself and slide!" Caster ordered and Lily obeyed, her body sliding underneath the Kobold's swing. "Swing upward!"
The dagger in Lily's hand swung upward in an arc, slicing clean through the monster's arm below its elbow. As it howled in pain, Lily got behind it and stabbed the knife into the back of its neck, causing it to fall forward on its face onto the ground as Lily was standing over it, panting heavily.
"Amazing Lily!" Bell said as reached down and pulled the knife out of the corpse.
"Ahh…Lily was super scared!" She said with a sigh. "Lily is not used to fighting in the front!"
"You still did great," Archer said as he returned the pack to Lily who quickly rummaged through it for a water container for a quick drink. "What was it like?"
"It felt like Lily didn't have to think," Lily said as she closed the container. "Like Lily entrusted everything to Lord Caster and her body could react on those orders alone."
"I see…" Caster muttered. "A skill that lets a leader manage the user down to the smallest detail outside of an overall command. It is of little use with only one user but if one were to get a half dozen or so…"
Caster then trailed off with a shrug.
"Regardless, there is no point in forcing you to play a role you are neither suited for nor comfortable with. A rear support suits you better than a front line fighter."
"Lily wholeheartedly agrees with His Majesty's judgement!" Lily said without missing a beat.
"Nevertheless," Archer said as he held out a small dagger in his hand toward Lily. "Best to keep one on you in the unlikely event something jumps in the middle of us."
"In the Upper Levels, that shouldn't happen," Lily said. "Not unless the entire dungeon completely changes…but then everyone would have bigger things to worry about at that point."
"Should we keep going?" Bell suggested. "I think the magic doesn't take much out of me at all."
"No doubt due to the upkeep of our summoning," Archer said. "Like this, your magic status will keep growing simply from us existing and in turn, makes your Firebolt stronger."
"Really now, what a convenient system," Caster huffed. "The spell both moves and fires quickly and by simply going about your day without even using it, you may eventually be able to fire a spell that can level a building with a single breath."
Bell's eyes began shining at Caster's words and he resolved to work as hard as possible to make that a reality.
The party made fast and constant progress through the dungeon floors. Spurred on by Caster, Bell and Lily dispatched everything that came their way. Sometimes Caster had Lily fight alone, causing her supply of bolts to run out but they were easily replenished by Archer's magic, and other times Bell was fighting alone with conditions such as no using magic or only using magic.
"I had planned on calling for a camp earlier…however the two of you had surpassed my expectations for the day," Caster said as they stood at the entrance to the tenth floor and looked down a long staircase toward the misty level below. "I shall remember to adjust it accordingly."
"Lily feels great!" She said pumping her tiny arms. "Lily feels like she can keep going without a break."
"Me too," Bell agreed. "Maybe just one more fight before camp?"
"There's no need to rush," Archer said. "You're both probably still in a high from making it all the way down here. Let's wait here at the entrance and have some food."
Though they were still full of energy, both of them obeyed without complaint.
"Wow, I still can't believe that I can use attack magic now," Bell said with a happy laugh as he looked at his hand while holding a wooden bowl in his other hand. "I mean…I always played around as a kid while tending the field with Grandpa about using magic but now it's reality."
"Well, save your excitement until after you eat," Archer said as he placed a ball of fried rice into Bell's bowl and then poured hot water over it, allowing it to split apart and reveal grilled bird meat and veggies inside.
"Master Archer's food is as fragrant as always," Lily said as she basked in the scent of her bowl happily with her tail swishing back and forth. "Even though its just rations for the dungeon."
"This would still keep for a long time," Archer said. "Just cook the ingredients then pack it into rice and fry it to keep the insides fresh. Then just pour hot water or broth over it and you got an instant and filling soup."
Caster ate his food silently as he looked at a page containing details of the tenth floor that he had gotten from the guild.
"But still…" Archer muttered as he looked around. "It's pretty difficult keeping track of time in the dungeon, isn't it? There's always a source of light and depending on how many fights you get into you can lose track of time if you don't have a good sense of it."
"Yeah…" Bell nodded as he glanced back down at the Tenth Floor. "Maybe we should go back after taking a look? I don't want to leave Goddess alone for too long."
"Indeed," Caster nodded as he rolled up his notes and placed them into a pocket of Archer's bag. "I would rather not return to a crying goddess screaming to the heavens about her solitude. We will have both you and Arde fight one Orc alone and then return."
"Yes!" The two of them replied dutifully.
As if the dungeon was answering their wishes, the moment they descended to the Tenth Floor, cracks start forming in the dungeon wall as various body parts of monsters start forcing their way out of them.
"It's a Monster Party!" Lily shouted as a small force of monsters dropped down in front of them.
A Monster Party was when a large amount of monsters were born in the dungeon at once. It was thought to happen whenever the number of monsters on the floor was low so the dungeon decides to spawn more to replenish the numbers in mass.
"Arde, take the rear," Caster said calmly. "Archer, Cranel, remain in the front. Fortunately for us, there are two Orcs in the midst."
He then opened his stone tablet and glanced at the two orcs. Golden light constricted around them, restraining their movements in a flash.
"Arde, Focus on the bats above us. Cranel, the imps. I give you free reign with your magic. Archer…do as you wish."
""Yes!"" Lily and Bell nodded while Archer merely nodded as he formed his bow and several arrows.
The battle was both chaotic yet organized. Small bolts, silver arrows and red flames flashed all across the battlefield with the occasional burst of yellow light.
Once an Imp had jumped at Caster from behind only for the man to lazily lean his head to the side as a blast of flame shot past him and struck the monster which was then followed by a quick apology from Bell.
Lily nimbly had her dagger in a reverse grip in one hand while skillfully loading bolts into her crossbow with the same hand as she stood behind Caster and shot down any bat that got near him to try and screech at him while Archer covered Bell with a blanket of arrows to keep the boy from getting mobbed but not killing any of them so that Bell could gain the excelia from delivering the final blow.
Finally, only the two immobilized Orcs remained.
Lily dropped her pack and readied her crossbow and knife while Bell quickly got into position as the golden light died down. The two charged forward as the orcs squealed in anger. Lily let a bolt fly and struck the orc in front of her in the hand. She clicked of her tongue as she loaded another bolt and quickly jumped to the side as the orc slammed the ground where she was standing. She then fired another shot into the monster's leg and sent it to the ground. She then mounted the downed monster from behind and jammed the dagger into the side of the orc's neck, causing it to let out a gargling noise and flail weakly before falling limp.
Bell reached his orc before Lily's first bolt hit, slashing at the orc's arm before it could react and then held his hand out to it.
"Firebolt!"
A wave of crimson lightning lashed out over the orc's back, setting the monster on fire as it squealed out in pain and fell forward as a charred corpse.
"Master Bell is so mean!" Lily complained. "He makes Lily's hard work look like nothing!"
"Ahaha…I'm sorry…" Bell said quietly as Lily walked over and pounded on his breastplate with puffed up cheeks.
"Now now, both of you did well," Archer said, pulling Lily away from Bell as she crossed her arms and turned away from Bell in a huff. "Come now Lily…"
"You did well considering your position," Caster said to Lily who stopped pouting and started smiling. "Once we retrieve the Magic Stones we will return to the surface."
"Yes!" Lily nodded as she started to get to work.
"She's like a little puppy eager for your praise…" Archer noted to Caster who huffed.
"The King's praise is one of the world's greatest treasures," Caster said. "It is only natural for a former thief to work hard to obtain as much of it as possible."
"Humph," Archer made a noncommittal noise and turned to look at Bell who was helping Lily stack the bodies together so she could work more efficiently. "What do you think? Think he could handle another Servant?"
"…No," Caster said after a moment. "Now that he has another magic spell, I am more adamant on him waiting until he Levels Up before summoning another one. It is another powerful tool at his disposal and summoning another Servant would cripple the tool's utility at this point in time."
"Yeah, I get where you're coming from," Archer said as Lily waved Bell away, saying that he didn't need to help with her job. "He could fire several spells off without rest right now. We still have two mind potions after all of this. If he were to summon another Servant then it'd might limit him to only a dozen or so."
"Indeed," Caster nodded as he looked around and saw a few other parties coming down from the Ninth Floor. "However…the boy's growth is unnatural. Only a few days ago, he was floundering around to take down a pair of Kolbolds on the third floor. Now he can devastate a dozen imps on his own. It is like walking away from a potted sprout for an afternoon and coming back to see that a rose has already bloomed."
"Got a point there…" Archer admitted as he leaned back against a tree. "Hard to believe he's a fourteen year old kid. Graced by a goddess or not."
"Master Archer, Lord Caster, Lily has finished!" Lily said as she and Bell ran back to them with a bag filled with Magic Stones.
"Very well," Caster said as he turned toward the exit. "Then let us return to the surface."
X-x-X-x-X
The trip back up was rather uneventful with only some token resistance here and there but when they exited Babel, night had already fallen on the city.
"We should hurry home," Archer said. "Lady Hestia's probably back already. We can exchange the stones in the morning."
"Good idea," Bell nodded. "Now that we're back out, I feel really tired."
"Lily wants a bath and maybe a light dinner before bed," Lily chimed in. "Maybe take out from the pub if Master Archer is too tired to cook?"
"Don't worry," Archer said. "Compared to you and Bell, I didn't do anything. Maybe a sandwich and some soup?"
"That sounds really good right about now," Bell nodded.
"All right, I'll bring it up to your rooms when done. When we get back, say good evening to Hestia then head upstairs to wash up."
"Yes Mama," Lily said with a smile as Archer rolled his eyes at her.
"At least make it Papa."
"But Master Archer is more like a Mama than a Papa~"
Bell was really happy. Gone were the days of having nothing but leftover potato puffs from Hestia's stall as their only meals and now they had decent meals thanks to Caster's constant trips to the Business districts' casinos and Bell being able to go further into the dungeon to claim more valuable Magic Stones with the help of Archer and Lily.
Bell suddenly stopped walking as a cold chill wrapped itself around his body only for it to suddenly vanish as soon as it arrived. He looked around for what might have been the cause. Turning around, he saw that Caster has stopped as well and was glaring back up at the Babel Tower with his dark red eyes.
"Your Majesty?" Bell asked. "Is there something wrong?"
"It is none of your concern just yet," Caster said as he turned around and continued walking. "Get a good night's sleep and prepare yourself. You will continue your spar with Archer in the morning and then return to the Dungeon once more."
"Understood!" Bell nodded dutifully as he ran to catch up to his Familia members, the cold chill completely forgotten.
When they finally arrived back at the Hestia Familia Home they were greeted by a sobbing Goddess.
"I MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH!" Hestia said as she dived at Bell who dodged her by reflex and hugged Archer's legs instead. "I was so used to seeing one of you around when I got back that coming home to a big empty house is so SAAAAAAAAAD!"
"That is your duty as a Goddess," Caster said unsympathetically as he walked past her and Archer. "As a Goddess, you are to put your faith and trust in your children that they will come home from the Dungeon."
"I know that!" Hestia said as she finally released Archer who quickly dusted his pants off. "It's just that this house is too big for a single person alone at any point in time! Hearing my footsteps echo in the empty halls is too lonely!"
Caster let out a long sigh as they entered the house.
"Have no fear, I shall be working from the home for the next few days," Caster said. "Arde's passive skill is enough for her to provide more support for Cranel in the dungeon and the active component is merely a bonus."
"Yay! You're the best, Gil!" Hestia said with a smile.
"…I told you not to call me that…"
"Lady Hestia is so different from Lord Soma that it almost bothers Lily," Lily said as she shook her head. "But, Lily prefers this. It is much warmer."
"I know right?" Bell asked with a chuckle.
And thus ended another day for the Hestia Familia.
