Chapter 22: Fire and Lightning

After a bit of fuss, everything had settled down and the incident was passed off to Welf as just Bell having a nightmare allowing the Smith to make his own conclusions based on what he saw and didn't pry further. The rest of Hestia Familia however, could not just leave it at that. Especially not Lily who wanted more answers as to what was going on with Bell.

Come morning, Bell joined Archer and Lily down by a creek to wash some clothes…or at least that what they told Welf and some of the Loki Familia members who saw them.

"Another dream?" Lily asked once Archer had been sure no one was around.

"Yes…" Bell nodded as he sat down on a stone with his hands folded. "I don't really remember it much anymore but it felt real. Like I was there but couldn't do anything. Like a spectator of sorts."

"…I see," Archer muttered as he glanced to the side. "It's been so long since my Summoning that I didn't think you'd get them."

"You know what's going on?" Bell asked.

"Masters and Servants are bound together," Archer said. "Our connection goes deeper than you might realize…so you may have been seeing reflections of our past as dreams."

"The past…" Bell muttered with a grimace as he rubbed his forehead.

"…What Bell saw must have been painful…" Lily began. She looked like she wasn't sure what to say but felt that staying silent wasn't enough. "Lily hasn't ever seen Bell so emotional like that."

At the same time, Lily didn't look all that surprised.

"Lily thinks Heroes are defined by their tragedy," Lily said. "If Jack was one then she must have suffered a lot. Lily already knew that but…"

She shook her head. She couldn't know what the exact details were.

"But this wasn't the first time, right?" Lily asked as she looked back at Bell. "Lady Hestia said Bell had another dream when he collapsed."

Archer raised a hand in silent apology as Bell simply gave him a wry smile back and waved it off. Sure it sucked when it happened but Archer needed to do so to survive so it was fine.

"I don't remember either it though," Bell said to Archer. "I…think it had been awful too…but it had a good ending."

Archer hummed at that as he glanced back at the camp.

"Can't imagine what it could have been," Archer said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Those two have had their share of pain as well."

"…I don't want to see theirs…or yours either," Bell sad as he pressed a hand against his chest over his heart. "I don't know if my heart can take it. And Caster might kill me if I do."

"The nature of the Master and Servant relationship makes it unavoidable. If it happens, it happens. Caster should be prepared for it but best not mention it to him if it happens either way."

Bell nodded in agreement.

The dream he saw had faded away as most of his usual dreams did. Only the painful feeling of apathy for everything, including for oneself, remained. He wouldn't be able to remember anything specific if the dream link thing happened again but he was worried that the more often it occurred, the more he would remember of the dream and intrude on his Servant's privacy.

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Archer said as he patted Bell on the back. "If it happens, it happens."

"All right…"

With that out of the way, they started washing their laundry.

"Do you think Lady Hestia found any new members yet?" Lily asked, making conversation.

"Who can say," Bell replied with a smile, happy for the change of topics. "I wouldn't be opposed to it."

"Lily wouldn't either. Lily would love to have at least on girl Lily's age around. Jack is nice but it's hard to understand her sometimes."

Lily was the one hardest on Assassin and the quickest with the scoldings while Hestia was the one who enabled and babied her the most, leaving Bell somewhere in the middle and the one who Assassin listened to without question and wanted to make the most happy.

"I wouldn't say no to more people either," Archer said. "The more people we have, the less strain it will be for you and Lily, Bell."

More regular people and less Servants means less chance for Bell to be overwhelmed by constant Mind drain for the Servant upkeep and there would be less of a need to go down into the Dungeon everyday and more time to rest. But even so, Bell didn't feel like resting all that often to begin with. He needed every waking moment to be put into trying to catch up to Archer and the others.

"We'll have to split how we do things then, won't we?" Archer asked. "Unless Caster wants to ease up on your projected goals."

"What do you want to do, Bell?" Lily asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bell asked.

"Do you want to keep trying going deeper when we get new members?" Lily asked. "Or do you want to slow down and train them like how Master Archer and Master Saber did for us."

"…Ah!" Bell let out a gasp as he stared at Lily with wide opened eyes.

The thought of Bell being the one to take a seniority role for the new members never occurred to him. Especially since with their small and relatively new Familia, the only members the goddess was likely to find were people like Bell. Familia hopefuls that had been rejected by the more established Familia and were desperate to be accepted into any Familia in pursuit of their dreams.

"Would they take someone like me seriously?" Bell asked. "Most Adventurers are older than me after all."

"You're the Record Holding Level 2," Archer pointed out. "If they don't take you seriously at first, they will when they see what you can do."

Archer then looked back toward the camp.

"Besides, you saw what the Level 6 Finn looked like. Wouldn't you take him seriously?"

Lily and Bell shared a laugh as they finished with their chores.

The laundry and talk about dreams lasted most of the "morning" so it was around "afternoon" when the three of them made it back to the camp.

Bringing their now clean linens back to their tent, Bell spotted some people standing beside their tent. Lefiya, Tiona and…

Bell choked on his breath as Archer let out a snort.

Ais Wallenstein.

"Ah, there you are!" Tiona called out with a tired looking Assassin in her arms, the girl looking as though she had given up on struggling and had given in to her captor.

An Amazon with the Alias Amazon. Tiona's Strength must be something if Assassin couldn't get free without resorting to dematerializing.

"What's up, Tiona?" Archer asked. "Did Finn need something?"

"Nah, nothing too important. I just wanted to invite Jack and your Supporter out for a bath. You know…to say, 'Sorry for last night.'"

"…Bath?" Lily repeated, tilting her head to the side.

"Yep! There's this amazing spring just a little ways away from the camp. The two from Hermes Familia are going to come along too. So how about it?"

"Do you want to go take a bath, Jack?" Bell asked.

"Can Mommy come too?" Assassin asked causing everyone except for Ais and Tiona to laugh nervously.

"Sure why not?" Tiona replied causing everyone else to sputter.

As expected of an Amazon's sensibilities…or rather lack of them.

"No…as a boy I probably shouldn't…no that's wrong, I definitely shouldn't."

"T-that's right," Lefiya said with a strained smile as she looked at Assassin. "It's girls only for now. The boys can bathe after."

Assassin didn't look happy about that but nodded anyway.

"Hey…you don't bathe with her at home do you?" Lefiya hissed at Bell.

"No!" Bell shot back quickly as he shook his head. "My goddess is the one who does!"

Lefiya nodded with a relieved sigh.

"Then Lily will go and look after Jack," Lily said as she set the basket down on the ground.

"Thanks Lily."

"Don't worry about it, Bell. Lily is also curious about this spring."

"Well, just like the rest of the Floor you'll wonder why such a place exists in the Dungeon," Archer said with a nod.

Lily turned toward Archer, her expectations rising before ducking into the tent and coming back out with two towels.

"Then, we'll be back in a bit!" Tiona said as she dragged Assassin away.

"Then, I'll be heading toward the cooking area," Archer said as he set the linens down. "Keep watch, alright Bell?"

"Yes."

Bell saw Archer off with a nod as he brought all the clothes into the tent.

"Feeling better, Bell?" Welf asked as he was looking over their equipment.

"Yeah, sorry for making you worry," Bell replied.

"Jeez, waking up to the sound of you crying your eyes out scared the crap outta me man," Welf said with a chuckle. "For a second I thought someone died."

"Yeah…I still don't really remember it but I think someone did die in my dream…" Bell admitted.

"Considering how you acted it must have been Jackie…" Welf said, his smile turning into a rather serious look. "Honestly, if one day she just up and disappears, I might get a case of leaking eyes too. Kid's really grown on me."

"Thanks Welf. Did you have any siblings?"

"Nope. Was an only kid. You too?"

"Yeah…though I guess I'm more of a parent instead of a brother to her, haha…"

The two of them shared a laugh as Bell started folding the laundry. He really was glad that Welf was here. The older Adventurer was someone that Bell felt more comfortable talking to than any of his Servants. Most likely because Welf was also human like Bell. It'd be nice if he became a part of Hestia Familia as well.

"Come to think of it, where did Caster and Saber go?"

"They went to check out the Seventeenth Floor," Welf replied. "Probably to make sure no one else gets a shot at it before us."

"You sound raring to go," Bell pointed out.

"Hell yeah I am. I feel strangely motivated and excited lately. I mean, I'll probably come close to crapping my pants when we actually see the Goliath but I feel like everything will go fine, you know?"

"I do."

With Caster, Assassin, Saber and Archer all looking out for them at the very least no one would die.

"You sound like you really want that Level Up," Bell said with a grin.

"That obvious huh?" Welf asked with a laugh and his own grin. "I got all these ideas in my head thanks to Saber's Gram and all these Drop Items from the Deep Floors that Archer is willing to hand over but I can't do anything about them until I get the Development Ability. I mean, I still can do some things but I can't accept this high tier stuff and make shoddy low level equipment out of it, right?"

"Welf was looking to move forward in his own way too," Bell thought as he focused his attention back on his folding. Bell himself needed this as well…for his own goal of becoming a Hero.

As the two of them got to work on their respective tasks, someone called out to them from outside.

"Excuse me! Is Bell Cranel in?"

Bell and Welf exchanged glances before Welf jerked his head toward the tent flap to say go ahead.

Bell nodded as he stood up and walked out to find the God Hermes standing there.

"Yo Bell," Hermes said with a smile. "Would you join me for a moment?"

"Huh?"

"I've been waiting for this chance. No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this chance is the reason I'm here…A chance to be alone with you. So please join me."

Did he have a message for Bell?

Well, it couldn't hurt to see what he had to say.

Bell turned back toward the tent to see Welf poking his head out to see what was going on.

"Go ahead, I'll watch our stuff," the smith said with a nod.

"All right," Bell nodded and started following Hermes as he walked toward the edge of the camp.

Bell did not yet realize just how much he would later regret this decision.

X-x-X-x-X

Lily looked around the path as she followed the Loki Familia Adventurers feeling rather out of place amongst the High Class Adventurers.

A Level 1 standing behind a bunch of Level 3s and higher plus a Servant whose skill was also around that Level as well.

Seeing how far they were out in the forest also made Lily a little bit worried.

"What happens when the Monsters come across us while we're all bathing?" Lily asked.

"Don't worry, we'll bathe in turns," Tione reassured her.

That made sense. In that case, Lily will simply leave it to the High Class Adventurers and hide when the monsters appeared.

"Here it is!" Tiona said as she spread her arms out in presentation. The Loki Familia girls simply gave her a wry smile but the four outsiders who had never seen it before were impressed, Lily included.

Clear blue water cascaded down the ten or fifteen meter height of the waterfall. The faint spray dancing along the pool's surface was both cool and refreshing. It was surrounded on all sides by the dim glitter of crystal, the view overhead a vast, dome-like canvas of leaves and branches.

"It's like a fairy fountain!" Assassin said, eyes glittering at the sight as she poked the surface of the water by the edge of the pond. "Wow!"

"I knew pools like this existed on this Floor…" Asfi began as she admired the scenery. "But I hadn't known about this one."

"Tiona found it," Ais explained. "While taking a walk."

"Yep!" Tiona said holding out two fingers in a "V" sign like how the Gods tended to do when they were excited.

And so half of the large group of girls including Lily and Assassin were going to bathe first while the rest kept watch.

"Hey! Calm down and get undressed first!" Lily said as she grabbed the squirming Assassin and removed her salamander wool cloak. "Again with the bandages!? Lily said to stop wasting them just to wrap up Jack's arm!"

"But it looks cool!" Assassin protested as Lily unwrapped the bindings on Assassin's arm. Naturally not a single wound or even a scar could be seen on the arm. "We buy it with our allowance!"

"Buy more useful things like candy instead!"

"Does that really count as 'useful?'" Lefiya wondered.

The moment Assassin was fully undressed, she ran toward the pool with Tiona by her side and with a cheer, the two of them jumped right in.

"What have I said about diving in like that, Tiona!?" Tione shouted at her sister.

"Ehhh…but Jack did it too!" Tiona pointed out as the Servant started paddling around happily in the water

"Jack is fine because she's smaller and younger but you're old enough to know better!"

"That's discrimination!"

"Lily wonders if this was a good idea after all…" Lily sighed as she sank into the water. "Ohh…this is nice…"

The clear water washed against Lily's skin and seemed to wash away not only the filth from the Dungeon but her stress from the night before. Lily had always been a light sleeper so the sound of someone crying had caused her to be as wide awake as though someone had poured freezing water over her and seeing Bell crying from his dream…or a past memory of Assassin had hurt Lily as well.

From the way he spoke to and held Assassin after he woke up and got his bearings, it was rather obvious what he saw in his dream too. She glanced over to said girl who was entertaining herself by blowing bubbles in the water. Though the Spirit drove Lily bonkers on occasion, if she were to simply disappear, Lily's heart would probably break.

But that didn't mean Lily would suddenly go soft on her! Everyone else tended to let Assassin do what she wanted so it was up to Lily to make sure that Assassin grew up properly! That is…if Spirits "grew up" at all…

"Come to think of it…it would be pretty strange three or four years down the line when people notice that Jack didn't seem to age a day, wouldn't it?" Lily thought to herself. "M-maybe we can say that she was a pallum the entire time?"

Lily let out a sigh as she looked up into the canopy of the trees.

"Well…Lily will just ask Lord Caster about it," she decided before frowning.

"Is something wrong, Liliruca Arde?" the Hermes Familia Captain, Asfi Al Andromeda asked as she turned toward Lily.

"No…Lily just thought she saw something in the trees…" she began as what sounded like a loud scream was drawing closer. "It looked like…BELL!?"

"—EEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Indeed, the white haired boy was falling out of the sky with tears in his eyes and landed with a massive splash in the center of the pool. Though the Loki Familia's guard formation around the pool had been perfect, they hadn't taken into account someone coming in from above.

"Yay! Mommy joined us!" Assassin said as she latched onto the sputtering boy's back as he tried to get water out of his nose and mouth.

"J-Jack! Please let go!" Bell said quickly.

"Heh…so you did want to come after all," Tiona said with a smile.

"You're quite gutsy aren't you?" Tione added with an approving laugh.

"It can't be…Lord Hermes!?" Asfi suddenly shouted as she looked up into the trees.

Bell quickly made his way to the edge of the pool covering his eyes with his hands as his face was beet red.

"I'M SO SOOOOOORRY!" He screamed as he tossed Assassin back into the pool and ran.

"GET BACK HERE YOU…YOU…YOOOUUUUU!"

Lefiya seemed to have been at a loss for words as she screamed in rage and chased after him while Asfi had borrowed one of Lily's towels before going after her God who was making an attempt to flee from the tree tops.

"Aww, so he wasn't trying to join us?" Tiona asked sounding disappointed as the rest of the guards split between chasing after Bell and going after Hermes.

"There's no way that Bell is brave enough or unscrupulous enough to peek," Lily said with confidence in her Vice Captain. "Bell gets embarrassed just by Lady Hestia hugging him!"

If Lily had to guess, Hermes either tricked Bell into following him or Bell was trying to stop Hermes from peeping and fell when he failed.

Well, they'll find out soon enough when the guards came back with either of them.

X-x-X-x-X

Bell ran with all of his might as he tried to escape the furious yet beautiful forest fairy screaming bloody murder behind him.

By some miracle, despite being a higher level than he was and being powered further by pure rage, she was unable to gain any ground on him.

"STOP YOU LECHEROUS FOOL!"

"PLEASE CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME FIRST!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE AS SHAMELESS AS YOU CAN BE IN MISTER ARCHER'S FAMILIA! AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD PERSON!"

"I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY! PEASE LET ME EXPLAIN!"

Bell didn't know how long this chase had been going on but as Adventurers, something like running out of breath from just running wasn't possible thanks to the Falna, especially not for those Level 2 and above…at least not without running for hours first.

Suddenly, Bugbear, a bear-like monster that had strength on par with a Minotaur wandered its into Bell's path and turned its head toward Bell. It looked at him in surprise before Bell hopped over it without a word.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

Lefiya's scream echoed behind Bell and he looked over his shoulder just in time to see the elf bat the Monster away with her staff, sending it flying into a tree and snapping it in half.

As expected of a Loki Familia Level 3…something of that Level was nothing more than a goblin to them.

Of course that meant she could easily do the same to Bell if she caught him.

As Bell jumped out of the next group of shrubbery, his eyes widened and he slid to a stop.

"That's…"

"I GOT YOU NOW!"

Lefiya jumped out from behind him, eyes filled with rage but Bell quickly threw his hands out in front of him.

"Wait!" Bell said quickly. "I'll let you hit me but please don't do it here!"

"Why not!?" Lefiya demanded and Bell pointed at what he had seen.

In front of them was a small mound of dirt with countless weapons sticking out vertically from it alongside several wooden crosses composed of tree branches. It didn't take a genius to figure out where the two of them had wandered into.

The final resting place of some Adventurers who had lost their lives in the Dungeon.

Aside each of them…aside each of the graves were several fresh flowers, telling Bell and Lefiya that someone had only just recently visited them. Lefiya, who had been full of hellfire not even ten seconds earlier, had the flames of anger snuffed out at the sight of the graves. The two of them stared at the graves in silence before Lefiya turned toward Bell.

"I'll listen to you," she said as Bell looked at her in surprise. "But swear to me…swear on those graves that you'll only tell me the truth!"

"Y-yes!" Bell nodded as she had him sit on his knees.

So he told her how Hermes had called him out and Bell had followed him into the forest when the God started climbing up a tree. Unsure what he had wanted, Bell followed him without thinking, trying to get him to come back down.

However, Hermes didn't listen and kept on going until they were right above the pool. Bell tried to pull Hermes away but the branch he had been standing snapped, which caused him to fall…

"And…you know the rest…" Bell muttered as he lowered his head.

"So you're blaming it all on Lord Hermes?" Lefiya asked.

"No. Regardless of what happened I still saw…everything…so I'll accept your punishment…"

As soon as Bell said that, a heavy blow knocked him on the back of his head. Lefiya had struck him with her staff without any hesitation at his words.

"There, now I'm satisfied," Lefiya said as she held her hand out to him.

"I'm sorry…" Bell said as he took her hand and allowed her to help him up.

The two of them walked up to the graves and offered a prayer for their souls and an apology for disturbing them before leaving the clearing in peace.

X-x-X-x-X

"It would seem as though the Monster Rex will not spawn today either," Caster said with a sigh as he and Saber were watching the Wall of Sorrows from the staircase leading to the Eighteenth Floor. "Perhaps it was wrong to rely on the established pattern so much."

"You admit that you have acted too hastily then?" Saber asked as Caster scoffed, not bothering to respond to the question.

"Let us return to the camp."

Saber shook his head before following after Caster.

When they descended the stairs, it was already "night" time. The two of them had spent nearly the entire day waiting for nothing. Well, not quite nothing. They had more knowledge of their battlefield now at the very least.

When they arrived back at the tent, they found the others looking rather worried.

"What has happened?" Caster demanded as he realized that Bell and Archer weren't around. Archer could be passed off as working in the cooking area but Bell? "Where is that mongrel?"

"Bell got chased by Miss Lefiya into the forest after he fell into the bathing area," Lily explained as Assassin nodded her head. "But they haven't come back yet."

Caster let out a long breath through his nose, his nostrils flaring with impatience and annoyance.

"He must have gotten lost," Saber said simply. "Since we were on the Seventeenth Floor, he couldn't tell which trail to follow back to the camp."

"Should we go look for him?" Welf asked.

"There is no point in searching for that fool haphazardly in the darkness," Caster said as he looked around for a moment and picked up a fallen glove that belonged to Bell. "Arde."

He then held it up to Lily's face and she understood what he wanted her to do.

"Ummm…Lily is not a Bloodhound, Your Majesty," Lily said but Caster simply narrowed his eyes at her as if to say "Get on with it."

Letting out a long resigned sigh Lily took the glove in her hands.

"Your scars are mine. My scars are mine," She chanted as a pair of dog ears popped up on her head. She then brought the glove to her nose and sniffed it. "Eww…Lily thinks this glove wasn't washed…and that Bell could use a bath himself."

Tossing the glove back onto Bell's things, Lily walked out of the tent and started sniffing at the air.

Lily's magic was not just an aesthetic change. Her senses also changed to suit her form and as a Chienthrope, her sense of smell was much stronger than usual now.

"This way," Lily said, pointing toward the forest. "It's faint since Bell fell in the water earlier but Lily can somewhat pick it out."

"That will be enough," Caster nodded before turning toward the others. "Wait here in case the fool returns before us."

With that said, Caster followed Lily into the forest for a few minutes before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That is enough," Caster said. "I will lead the way from here."

"Lord Caster will?" Lily asked, her false ears twitching. "Oh! Come to think of it…Lily remembers Bell saying that he can somewhat feel the location of Lord Caster and the other Servants. Is the reverse true as well?"

"Of course," Caster nodded. "It is as though an invisible rope is tied between us. I cannot ignore that mongrel even if I wanted to. The act was merely to not arouse suspicion in Crozzo. Let us make haste."

"Yes!"

And so the two of them entered the forest as well with Lily trailing behind Caster at half a step.

As they walked, Lily kept on glancing at Caster's back, a question clearly on her mind.

"What is it?" Caster asked. "You have my permission to speak."

"Umm…why is Lord Caster himself going to search for Bell?" Lily asked after a moment. "Lily could have gone with Master Saber right? There was no need for Lord Caster to do something as trivial as this."

"Indeed, it would seem as such, wouldn't it?" Caster acknowledged. "But the fact that I am taking on this task myself should tell you otherwise."

Lily's eyes widened as she gave him a hesitant nod, only just now understanding the implications of his actions.

"There is an overgrown weed in my garden," Caster explained. "I caught whiff of it last night but it has buried itself into the roots. I am quite unhappy right now so I feel the need to pluck it out myself once we find the boy and the lost elf."

"Y-yes…" Lily nodded again. Lily looked around at the dark and uninviting woods around them before whispering, "Please be okay Bell…"

X-x-X-x-X

"…Umm, Miss Lefiya?"

"…Don't say a word."

Bell wasn't sure how long they had been walking but it was already "night" time.

Being unsure where the camp was without relying on his connection to his Servants, Bell decided to follow Lefiya's lead as he didn't want to give them any more reason to be suspicious of him and his knowledge of Heroic Spirits. However…she seemed to be at a complete loss as to where their camp was.

They did run rather far after all…

Monsters growled in the distance but none came near them. The road back was unclear. And the deep, dark, spine-tingling forest all around them quickly brought reality down on them hard as they stood there in their cold sweats, silently wondering what it was they should do.

"Should we just wait for rescue?" Bell suggested.

"Uu…it might be for the best…" Lefiya agreed with a sigh.

A moment later, both of their stomachs started growling at the same time. Neither of them had anything to eat for lunch and it was well past dinnertime now.

To save energy, they decide to rest at the base of one of the larger trees and see if they had anything on them to eat. Bell rummaged around in his belt bag while Lefiya checked her own pockets.

Bell found two slightly soggy grilled rice balls that had found their way in his bag somehow. Did Archer put them in there sometime during dinner last night? Bell thanked his Servant for the foresight but felt that it was a bit overprotective to make sure Bell was carrying some sort of food with him at all times along with his potions.

Lefiya also fished out what looked like a bottle with two crystal like things hanging from a small plant.

Lefiya made a face as if she was reluctant to eat them. Were they important for some reason?

"Umm…if you'd like you can have one of these," Bell said as he held one of the rice balls out to Lefiya. "Archer seems to have snuck them in my pack when I wasn't looking. They're a little soggy though."

"…Is it okay?" Lefiya asked as she accepted it.

"Yeah. I don't usually eat much so one is usually enough to fill me up."

"Then…thank you."

The two of them proceeded to quietly eat as they kept a look out for any monsters that might have shown up.

Since the rice ball was meant to have hot water or broth poured over it before eating, it wasn't particularly good. It was cold and some of the drier parts were still hard and crunchy but it was enough to satiate them for the time being.

Once they finished, Lefiya stood up and looked at the tree they were resting beside.

"I'm going to climb this tree to see if I can't figure out where we are," Lefiya explained to Bell. "…Don't you dare look up, okay?"

"Y-yes…" Bell nodded, realizing what she meant as he looked down at her skirt.

"I won't forgive you with just a bonk on the head if you do."

"I won't! I really won't look up unless you tell me to!"

Lefiya looked as though she wanted to know why she would tell him to look up but just shook her head as she crouched down and jumped straight up into the tree branches. Bell almost followed her with his gaze on reflex but quickly grabbed his head to force his gaze on the ground level to make sure no monsters showed up.

As a Level 2 his night vision was better than it ever was but he would still have liked some sort of light. Maybe he should invest in one of those Magic Stone lamps that he saw in that one tool store before.

As he thought to himself, Lefiya suddenly landed back down beside him, her expression rather grim.

"Did you not find it?" Bell asked but Lefiya quickly held up her hand.

"Sorry but please be quiet," she whispered. "I need to think."

After a minute, she turned back toward Bell.

"You heard of the Plant Monster things that have been seen in Orario, right?" Lefiya asked and Bell nodded. "I saw some of the people who were responsible for bringing them up to the surface. I want to follow them to get some information."

Bell nodded in understanding. He felt that he might just get in the way and was about to propose that he would try to find his way back himself but at the same time felt that it wasn't a good idea to just let her go off on her own…

"So please follow me for a moment," Lefiya said, making up his mind for him. "And keep quiet."

"Got it," Bell nodded as they dashed through the trees, Bell keeping up with Lefiya as she went through her mental map of the area. The two of them ran through the dark and thick trees and brush while doing their best to be as silent as possible in their steps.

Bell glanced down at his left hand as they ran, looking at the Command Spells hidden by his glove. Worst comes to worst…he could use one to summon a Servant to his side even if it meant exposing them to Lefiya.

Lefiya suddenly came to a stop and held her hand out for Bell to do the same. About fifty meters in front of them were a pair of figures wearing long dark robes that concealed everything about them from their race to their sex. These extremely suspicious people were enemies of Loki Familia? Of Orario?

The robed people were watching their surroundings as they made their way through the dense trees with Bell and Lefiya following them at a distance. Not too close to be spotted but not too far away to lose them either. Times like this Bell wished Archer was here. He would have been able to keep track of them no matter how far they were away.

Eventually they had reached the end of the forest and had drawn close to one of the walls of the Floor.

The forest had grown considerably sparser. Everything merged into one main path. The trees and shrubberies all but gone, and even the branches and leaves overhead had thinned, leaving no more room for them to hide themselves.

Bell's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. A large open field with blue crystal pillars over two meters tall were scattered here and there. It looked as though it was once some place important like a ritual place or something.

As their targets made for the Dungeon wall Lefiya turned to Bell as if to say she was still going to follow them. Bell still wasn't sure if he would be able to do anything to help but he wasn't willing to leave her to do this on her own so he nodded and planned to follow her.

Leaping free of their cover, they dashed straight forward through the Crystal Grove. They jumped from one crystal to the next, silently darting in and out between the pillars.

When they landed on a large patch of dirt without any crystals growing out of it, the ground suddenly collapsed, creating a giant hole right where they were standing. In hindsight, it was a rather obvious pitfall trap.

The two of them screamed as they started falling. Above them, the hole closed up, telling Bell that it wasn't just a pitfall trap.

Miraculously, both of them landed on their feet. Not quite on solid ground but in some kind of light-purplish liquid which rose to around their waist with their added mass. A strange hissing sound caught Bell's attention and it was quickly followed by a stinging pin on his skin. The two of them yelped as their clothes began to melt against their skin.

"Acid!" Lefiya shouted, her voice echoing in the hole. It wasn't potent enough to eat away at their flesh and bone instantly thanks to the Falna, but it would definitely only be a matter of time before their skin fell off like their clothes were beginning to.

Bell quickly scanned his surroundings. The hole was around seven meters in diameter and about ten meters tall. The walls weren't dirt or stone but made flesh-like, like they were in the belly of a beast…and the liquid was its stomach acid.

Something bumped up against his leg and Bell turned around.

"Gah! Bones!" He yelped as he stepped away from it. "An…Adventurer? Then…"

All around them were countless other floating bones, pieces of armor, weapons and staves, all either floating in the acid or extending up from the ground. Just how many people had fallen victim to this trap?

"Some of the bones are cracked…" Lefiya pointed out, hand over her mouth in disgust. "They didn't simply die from the acid…something struck or crushed them."

Bell looked back up toward the direction they fell from and saw something moving.

"M-Miss Lefiya…" Bell began as Lefiya turned toward him before following his gaze up.

"…What…what is that?" She asked.

Something was slowly peeling itself away from the fleshy walls of the hole, lifting its upper body and enveloping them in its massive shadow. As Lefiya and Bell gazed at it in terror, the monster hanging upside down from the top of the hole peered at them from its humanoid torso.

It was the only exception to the solid red of the hole, its skin a sickly shade of yellowish green. Its chest and abdomen, too, were colored in vibrant, venomous hues. Instead of arms, it boasted two long, fat tentacles dangled downward like quivering snakes. Its long lower half writhed and squirmed, attached to the wall like some kind of parasitic worm. Its head consisted of nothing but a colossal eye and a strange crown-like organ floating around it. The eye itself was connected directly to its neck with the crown encircling it like the mane of a lion.

It was disgusting to look at, its coloring far different from that of the countless other monsters they'd fought.

"The…new species…?" Bell asked, unable to keep the fear from leaking out with his voice. The ones that Archer fought down in the Deep Floors?

"It's…one of those Violas!?" Lefiya exclaimed next to him although Bell had no idea what she was talking about. "One with a parasite? They used one of them as a trap!"

The massive eye spun around for a moment before centering on them. As one, the two of them leaped back as two tentacles slammed at their feet from the creature's body, splashing acid everywhere around them.

"Are you okay!?" Lefiya shouted.

"S-somehow!" Bell called back as steam was rising from their clothes and hair. "Look out!"

The tentacles lashed out again, splashing the acid everywhere as well as sending the fallen equipment and bones flying. Bell had no idea what to do. He hadn't had the chance to ask Archer how these things fought and since the Guild didn't have any information about them, neither Lily nor Eina had any advice about them.

He couldn't really rely on his instincts forever either. Due to his fast growth, his overall combat experience was rather low. The only intelligent thing in the Dungeon he probably truly knew how to fight was were the Minotaurs.

He had no information…so he had to fall back on what he did know.

"Pay attention to your opponent. Keep track of everything they do to find a tell for their attacks. Their position, their stance, their eyes...figure out what you can use to take control of the battle and turn the tide."

Saber's words rang in his head as he tried to analyze the creature in front of him while dodging each attack and keeping enough room between him and Lefiya so they don't dodge into each other by accident in the dark. However, he had absolutely no idea where to begin.

"Watch its eye!" Lefiya shouted.

"What?"

"It's eye! It looks before striking!"

Bell looked up at the eye and saw it was pointed directly at him. He quickly jumped back just as the tentacle slammed down below him.

"I-I did it!" Bell said. Sure he had a hint, but he felt that it was still a victory.

"It looks like that is its only method of attack!" Lefiya explained. "We need to find out what we can do to damage it! You attack that wall and I'll look for an opening to hit it with a spell!"

"Got it!"

Unsheathing his Hestia Knife, Bell launched himself immediately at the wall, dodging incoming whips as he unleashed slash after slash upon its fleshy pink surface. Now that he knew how to avoid the attacks, his confidence was growing even though he felt his shoes and pant legs slowly melting away.

If he was alone he probably would have started panicking or have used a Command Spell to summon one of the Servants to save him. But Lefiya's presence and orders gave him something to focus on other than his body being slowly eaten away.

However, his attacks against the wall did not seem to be bearing any fruit while the tentacles were moving faster and faster.

"But compared to Archer and Saber…this is nothing!"

As he thought that, the tentacles suddenly stopped as a golden light formed underneath Lefiya. A Magic Circle, telling Bell Lefiya was beginning her attack.

However, the monster, which had been alternating its attacks between the two, was now focusing its eye solely on Lefiya as the crown-like organ on its head began to glow an ominous blue.

From the glowing blue crown encircling its eye came a devastating wave of high-frequency sound.

"Huuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

A piercing cry meant to immobilize its prey who had no way of training their ears against such attacks.

The noise was deafening, splitting their eardrums, and the only thing they could do was scream as their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. It was a thousand times worse than the Bad Bats on the Upper Floors.

"LOOK OUT!"

Lefiya's scream made Bell jump backward on reflex, feeling a burning sensation on his back. His foot was caught against something when he jumped and sent it flying up into the air in front of him. A silver shield. A parting gift left behind by one of the fallen Adventurers that came before. A high tier equipment that miraculously hadn't been dissolved by the creature's acid.

"If you cannot defend, dodge. If you cannot dodge, defend! If you cannot do either, then prepare yourself to take it and minimize the damage!"

Bell grit his teeth as he grabbed the shield and prepared himself. The tentacles smashed into the shield and took most of the blow, protecting Bell's unarmored body but the sheer power behind it sent him flying back, crashing into the wall.

His vision was blurry. His ears were ringing. His fingers snapped. Every single bone in his body was crying in pain. But the pain was good…it meant he was still alive. By some miracle, the shield protected him and he was still alive.

He had to get back up before something happened to Lefiya too. Though he couldn't hear or see properly, he could still tell that the elf girl was still fighting on her own. A mage normally needed to remains stationary when chanting but he could just barely make out Lefiya's body moving in the darkness, illuminated by her Magic Circle as she desperately dodged while chanting.

Bell's arm reached out blindly, grasping for something…anything to help him to his feet…and he touched something. Lifting himself up, he realized it was a massive axe…another gift left behind from someone who did not deserve such a fate.

Lefiya let out a scream, causing Bell to look up just as she was caught by a tentacle and tossed into a wall, the Magic Circle disappearing with the interrupted chant. As she hit the wall and fell into the acid, the monster's tentacle rose up once more.

Bell didn't think. He acted.

Returning his knife back to its sheath, he picked up the axe in his hands and lunged forward.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!"

X-x-X-x-X

Lefiya's eyes opened wide as she saw a screaming white shadow race toward her and slam into the tentacle just before it hit her. Bell had found a massive axe not unlike Gareth's and had swung it with every last ounce of his strength into the creature's whip, sending it off course and missing Lefiya's body by scant centimeters.

Bell's feet touched the ground for only a second before he leapt at Lefiya, axe still in hand as he slammed it into the tentacle that had wrapped itself around her wrist, severing it and causing the tentacle to squirm around, showering blood everywhere like a decapitated snake.

Now free, Lefiya looked up and found herself staring at Bell's back. Dressed in all black, Bell's white hair stood out all the more in the darkness as he glared at the monster above them. The creature's eye, now bloodshot in pain and rage, glared back down as its crown started glowing again.

But Bell didn't falter as he raised his right arm out toward it.

And then…just for a moment…another body seemed to overlay itself over Bell. One who stood strong and tall even in the face of certain defeat…even in the face of despair. One who did not give up and would sacrifice his body with a massive shield spell without hesitation so long as the ones behind him would come out unscathed.

And then…

"Firebolt!"

A spell without a chant.

Flaming bolts of lighting shot forward toward the creature, blasting it head on in its eye.

"Firebolt! Firebolt! FIREBOLT!"

Again and again, the burning lightning struck the creature until…

"GYAAAHH!"

Ignis Fatuus.

The creature's magic had been interrupted and its crown exploded in a fury of sparks, disintegrating it and removing its method of controlling them.

"So similar," Lefiya thought as she noticed a smile forming on her face before forcing it down with resolution. "Both of them are just trying to act cool…"

She then stood up, staff at the ready as Bell quickly forced down a red potion and prepared himself.

"You are closer to him than you realize," Lefiya muttered as her Magic Circle formed underneath her. "So I'll believe in you!"

"Yes!" Bell nodded as he looked over his shoulder toward her with a smile.

Even if his fingers were crushed beneath their shield, even if his body was rent limb from limb, he was going to keep swinging that ax, and he was going to protect her.

Their last stand has begun. The boy with his borrowed axe and the girl with her song.

"Unleashed beam of light, limbs of the holy tree!"

Lefiya took off running the moment she began her spell and the tentacles immediately followed her. However Bell wasn't going to let them come close to her. Eyes following the enemy's movements, he smashed and batted each tentacle away before they could even come close to Lefiya.

"You are the master archer!"

Lefiya realized a flaw within these New Species. The reacted to magic no matter what. Exploiting this weakness was how they were going to survive. With Lefiya chanting her magic behind Bell, the boy became all but invisible to the Monster. It would strike at Lefiya without taking into account the younger boy who was fast enough to react to its attacks and protect her.

If it was something that could think for itself rather than rely on pure instinct, it would have focused down Bell first and the Level 2 would eventually fall without a way to defend himself. With Bell gone, Lefiya would have been quick to follow.

But with Lefiya's magic acting as bait to draw its attacks, this gave Bell a larger window to execute his skills and protect them both. In the creature's eyes that were completely focused on the girl, the boy might as well have been invisible. A combination of Bell's agility and Lefiya's Concurrent Casting. Without either of them, both would already be dead. In the stomach of this monstrous creature, the efforts of a boy and a girl sharing similar hopes and dreams bore fruit.

"Loose your arrows, fairy archers…!"

As she neared the end of her chant, her magic power rising sharply, the trap monster increased its efforts, throwing everything it had at the mage to stop her song.

"I won't let you!"

But Bell held it back, axe flying as he kept the two flailing tentacles in check.

"Damn!"

He launched himself at the swinging tendril. Though his attack came from the side, the shock was still enough to send his body flying with the mythril axe drawing an arc across the air as it sailed away.

But he had done it. He had managed to protect her as the tendril shot through Lefiya's hair and hit the wall behind her, leaving her completely unharmed.

"Pierce, arrow of accuracy!"

The chant was complete as a brilliant golden light shined in the darkness.

"ARCS RAY!"

Light exploded upward toward the monster.

The monster attempted to escape but it was no use. The magic tore through the monster's tentacles sending it flying up into the lid of the trap. But that's where the magic stopped. The trap was specifically made to trap Adventurers after all. It must have enough resistance against magic to defend even against Lefiya's Level 3 magic boosted by her Skill. Even if the creature was being burned to ash, the lid of the trap would not open.

Then…a strange sound echoed around her. The flesh-like walls around them were closing in, attempting to crush them before they could escape, even if it meant crushing its main body with them.

Lefiya couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it. All their efforts were not going to end here!

And then…

A soft ringing bell echoed in her ears. A foreign sound completely out of place in their environment. She turned around and saw Bell struggling to his feet, glowing wisps of light wrapping around his right hand, illuminating his bloodied and battered body.

With a grunt of pain, Bell forced his boy forward, dragging a foot as he made his way to Lefiya who was still forcing all her magic out toward the lid of the trap.

"I'll help…" he said through grit teeth as he used his left hand to support his shaking wrist.

Lefiya realized her mouth was open and quickly closed it as she gave him a nod and turned back toward the lid, her magic burning even brighter as she did.

The bell's chime grew even louder with each passing second until…

"FIREBOLT!"

A massive light on par with Lefiya's Arcs Ray erupted from his hand. Fire and lightning joined together and burst forward blasting through the monster and the lid, creating a large pillar of light that illuminated the entire Eighteenth Floor.

As the light died down, smoke was all that remained as Lefiya quickly turned toward Bell and caught him before he fell face first into the acid again. Using what little strength she had left, Lefiya held Bell close and leaped out of the hole with him in her arms before the walls could close in on them..

"Haah…haah…hey…are you okay?" Lefiya asked as Bell nodded his head, seemingly too exhausted to speak.

Though he had consumed a potion, its grade must have still been rather low as most of his wounds had opened up again.

She had to get him back to the camp before-

"What's going on here!?"

A voice called out from behind her.

Turning around, Lefiya saw a pair of men in robes running toward her.

"Evilus…!" She gasped.

"That's…Thousand Elf? Loki Familia!?"

"Venethes was defeated!?"

"Hurry, release the Violas!"

They had recognized Lefiya in an instant and were already moving to attack. Out of the frying pan and into the fire it would seem.

As if on cue, the brightly colored green Violas sprouted around them in a circle, trapping the two exhausted Adventurers between them.

"This is where you die Adventurer scum!"

"If I can just get Bell out of here at the very least…!" Lefiya thought but then…

"…So this is where you were, mongrel."

At the words of a new party, golden lights appeared by Lefiya and Bell's feet as the boy paled in fear.

Several golden staves poked themselves out of the lights and from each one a massive tower of flames sprung forth, sending the Violas reeling back as the lights begin revolving around Lefiya and Bell like a protective circle, pushing the monsters back.

Then a golden figure landed beside the two of them and Lefiya recognized him as Bell and Archer's Familia Captain. The one who called himself Caster.

"Y-your Majesty…" Bell spoke up but was silenced by Caster's glare.

"Silence," Caster cut him off as Bell's jaw snapped shut. "I am extremely unhappy with you right now…but as you exposed the weeds and pests that have been scurrying about, I shall forgive you for the time being."

The man opened the stone tablet he was holding as several golden runes appeared around him.

Immediately after, dozens of portals appeared around them, each one extending a different magic staff that was of the same level as Lefiya's Forest Teardrop…no some were even greater. Each one lit up, several spells being prepared dozens of times over, illuminating the Dungeon floor as if the stars in the night sky had suddenly came down to shield them.

"Begone!" Caster shouted and all at once each stave fired off their spell in a orchestra of magic.

Arrows of light. Tendrils of flames. Bolts of lightning. Shards of ice. Blades of wind. With a single word, countless spells were launched forward into the night, striking each of the Violas and reducing them to ash within seconds.

Lefiya could only stare in amazement at the sight.

This was the man who took on the mantle of 'Caster' just like how the master bowman who journeyed down to the Deep Floors with Lefiya had taken up the mantle of "Archer."

"H-hiiii!"

The two robed figures let out a scream as they bolted into the darkness.

"…As expected of trash…" Caster muttered as he held out his hand to catch two bottles that fell out of a golden portal. "Thousand Elf."

He then held out the two bottles to Lefiya who recognized them as high grade potions.

"Watch the boy."

It was more of an order than a request but Lefiya nevertheless nodded her head as she took the potions from the man before he rushed into the forest to chase after the members of Evilus.

"…I'm so dead…" Bell muttered as Lefiya helped him drink the potion.

The elf could only let out a soft chuckle as she thought that Bell was more afraid of his Captain than of the monster that nearly ate them.

X-x-X-x-X

Two screams of pain rang out in the night as the robed men were tossed onto the ground, their legs shattered and the front of their robes torn.

"Explosives…" Caster muttered as he held two belts full of bombs in his hand. They had been wrapped around the two men's torsos like vests, ready to be lit at any time to allow themselves to be used as a human bomb. "How agonizingly droll…"

He then flung them to the side before a staff fired a golden arrow at them, detonating them in the distance.

"If the two of you wished to die…there are far less painful ways to do so than to draw my ire," Caster said as the stone tablet disappeared into his treasury and was replaced by his axe. "But first…I shall draw out every last bit of information I can from your bodies…but your corpses will do just fine if you are not in the mood to talk."

The two in front of him, one human and one elf, tried to crawl away but Caster stepped on the broken leg of the elf and drove his heel into it while slamming his pommel into the human's.

The human screamed in pain while the elf simply grit his teeth and bore it.

"Why!?" The elf shouted spraying spit everywhere. "I know that look in your eyes…! You hate the gods above too don't you!?"

The elf was answered with a golden axe to his face.

"Do not assume to know me," Caster said as he wrenched the axe out of the corpse. "Now then…"

He turned toward the human who let out another shriek of pain and fear.

"Hmm?"

Caster raised his gauntleted hand up toward his neck and a knife harmless bounced off the golden armor. The same could not be said for the human who had no way to defend himself as blood shot out of his throat.

"To dare strike at the King," Caster began as his eyes narrowed at a figure perched up on the tree branches. "And to dare stand above him…such crimes beget only death, mongrel."

"Typical Adventurer," the hooded figure wearing a strangely patterned mask said. "So arrogant."

They then drew out a red Magic Sword from their robes.

In a flash of light a ball of flames shot forward at Caster who barely moved as it crashed into his hand, scattering the flames in front of him in an explosion.

Through the flames and smoke, Caster spied the figure returning the Magic Sword into their robe, clearly thinking that he had finished him, only to lurch forward in pain when a silver bolt embedded itself into their back.

"Again!?" The figure hissed as they turned toward the direction it came from.

"Arrogance only applies to the weak, fool."

Caster shot forward axe at the ready. With a might swing he cut into the robed figure, sending them crashing through the branches and into the forest floor.

As he landed back on the ground, a tiny figure climbed out of the brush.

"Lord Caster!" Lily shouted as she ran up to him. "Are you injured?"

"Do not insult me, Arde," Caster said as he shook his wrist. "An attack of that level is nothing to me."

"Of course," Lily nodded as she breathed a sigh of relief as she loaded a bolt into her crossbow and pointed it at the pile of robes on the ground. "A-are they…"

"They fled," Caster growled as he walked up to the robes and lifted them up. The body that was supposed to have come with them having long disappeared. "A rat who scurries away when the lion appears."

With a click of his tongue and a scowl, Caster tossed the robes to the side and into Lily's outstretched hands.

"Your assistance in that matter was unnecessary, Arde," Caster said as Lily lowered her head slightly. "But not unappreciated. Let us return."

"Y-yes!" Lily nodded as folded the robes in her arms and started following him before stopping. "Hmm?"

"What is it?" Caster asked as Lily walked over to a bush and started pushing aside the leaves.

"This…" Lily said as she held up a tiny red orb with a letter D carved into it. "The symbol doesn't match any script Lily knows of…"

"Hmm…" Caster let out a small hum as he took the orb, his eyes seeming to shine as the crystal reflected off of them.

"Does Lord Caster know what it is?" Lily asked.

"…Perhaps in due time," Caster replied as he deposited the orb into his treasury. "For now, let us head back to Cranel and Thousand Elf and return them to the camp. We should not be seeing any more of those vermin any time soon."

With another nod and one last look at the charred corpses, Lily gave a small shudder of fear before following Caster back through the forest.