Heyo! Thanks for the compliments from last chapter! I've decided for the time being I will stick to the 6 elements I've listed and as EternallyIll (hope I got your name right) said too much will clutter the story. I know some of you wanted him to have sound magic but until I can come up with a good chant for it, as I don't want to just copy and paste Alfia's, he won't have it. If I or one of you can come up with a good chant for it I will go back and write it into the story. Trust me I will. I have considered added light and dark magic and MachiMoka guessed right on what I wanted but I can't come up with a good chant. I'm not trying to be lazy but I just can't think of anything. And I'm sorry Guest but I will be including Lili but I will have her toned down a lot so don't panic. Also, I think I need to address something. I think I may have given people the wrong idea about Bell's mother's identity. Yes, it's still Meteria and no it's not empress. Sorry but the backstory behind the grimoire is not as exciting as you may think it's going to be. Anyway, onto the story! Happy reading!
"Loki! Can you update my status please?" Bell asked as he entered his goddess's room.
As usual, she was downing alcohol like there was no tomorrow. Seriously, how much can a divine being drink? Sure, they're eternal and can't get something like alcohol poisoning but still!
"At least knock first." Loki said as she set her drink down. She motioned for Bell to sit down so that she can update his status.
"Why'd you want me to update it? There's barely a jump." She noted.
"Wait. WHAT IS THIS?!" She shouted.
Bell Cranel
Human
Strength: G 280 - G 281
Defense: H 195
Dexterity: G 240
Agility: F 320 - F 321
Magic: I 0
Skills: Realis Phrase
Rapid Growth
Continued desire results in continued growth
Stronger desire results in stronger growth
Magic: Elements
Fire: Burn. Burn everything and leave nothing but ash. Fireflash!
Ice: Freeze. Ice and snow from a winters storm! Flash freeze!
Lightning: Holy lightning, rain down and smite my enemies. Lightning Storm!
Water: Tranquil rivers flow through and heal and purify those in need. Water cleanse!
Earth: May the land I stand on become my domain and obey my command. Gaia's divine will!
"You have magic now! How did you get this?" Loki asked confused as hell.
"Eh well, a grimoire?" He told her.
"A WHAT?! WHERE DID YOU GET A HOLD OF ONE?!" Loki screamed at him. Not to be rude but he was years away from being able to afford one.
"Eheh well that's a funny story actually." He said with a laugh. After explaining everything that happened that morning Loki understood.
"So. Seems like you got some pretty useful magic, Bell. Take a look." Loki said after writing down his status, minus his skill, and gave it to him.
"Wow! This is awesome!" Bell exclaimed happily. "Do you think I can go test this out?" Bell said almost jumping at the door.
"Hmmm. Take Riveria with you. She'll be more than happy to help when it comes to magic." Loki suggested. "She should be in the library." She added.
As Bell exited her room Loki couldn't help but wonder just what exactly Bell was. First he gets a broken skill and now it turns out he had a grimoire for what seems like powerful magic? She couldn't wait to ask Riveria about it later.
As Bell made his way through the manor he eventually found the way to the library and he only got lost twice this time!
"Uhm, Riveria? Are you here?" He asked as he opened a door and took a glance at all the bookshelves. There were more books here than Bell had ever seen his entire life.
"Over here." Her voice answered a few aisles down. Bell followed the sound and found her putting a few books away. "Ah, Bell. What can I do for you?" She asked as she put the last book away.
"Uh well remember what happened this morning? Well I updated my status and Loki told me to ask you for help to see what it is." He explained to her.
"Ah I see. Let's test it out in the dungeon. We don't know how potent your magic is and we wouldn't want to destroy the manor now would we?" She said. "Meet me outside in a few minutes I need to gather a few things." She told him.
"Okay!" Bell said. Truth be told he was itching to see what kind of magic he had. He quickly got ready and decided to put on his new armor. After adjusting it to his size he equipped his weapons and headed out. He made sure to put the dagger that Aiz gave him in an easily accessible place. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it too much and wear it out but she bought it for him to stay safe and he'd make sure he would. He strapped his backpack on and headed out. He thought about hiring a supporter soon because when his backpack would get full it made it harder to move and he had to leave a lot of stones behind because of it.
Bell made his way through the manor and eventually found the exit and saw Riveria talking with Aiz. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. After taking a deep breath to calm down he walked over to them.
"Hey there, Aiz. Riveria. I have my things and am ready to go." Bell told them.
"Hello." Aiz said.
"So it looks that way. We can talk later Aiz, Bell here needs my help with something." Riveria told her.
"With what?" Aiz asked while tilting her head.
'Ah that's freaking cute!' Bell thought to himself.
"Well remember this morning about the grimoire? Bell finally found Loki and updated his status and now we're going to the dungeon to test it out." She informed her.
"Oh." She said. "Do you mind if I come along?" Aiz asked. She was curious as well to see what magic Bell had. She didn't know why but the thought of Bell and Riveria being alone together just didn't sit well with her. Mini Aiz wholeheartedly agreed with a vigorous nod.
"Sure, if Bell here doesn't mind." Riveria said without noticing the bullet she just dodged. The bullet she dodged was Aiz not talking to her for a week.
"It's fine with me!" Bell said slightly panicking at another chance to spend time with his idol. 'Yes! Please mom! Please tell me you left me with really awesome magic!' Bell thought, hoping to impress her even if a little.
"Well alright then. Let's head off." Riveria said. 'He is totally obvious.' She thought to herself. 'And too bad Aiz is an airhead and doesn't notice. She is curious to see this and spend more time with him. No? Don't tell me!' She continued hoping for something new to happen with her airhead daughter.
The trip to the dungeon wasn't too exciting. They barely talked as they had to keep walking to avoid all the stares they were getting. Most were directed at Aiz and Riveria as they were extremely beautiful. The rest were jealous glares directed at Bell for daring to hang out with them when they couldn't. Aiz and Riveria were used to this as it happened all the time but poor Bell was internally freaking out. He prayed that this magic was strong otherwise he'd be too scared to walk around alone.
After a few more minutes of walking and descending down the stairs of Babel tower they finally made it to the first floor of the dungeon. Now they just had to look for a few monsters for Bell to test his magic on. After coming up to a group of goblins Riveria asked Bell to use his magic.
"Which one should I use?" He asked.
"'Which one'? You're telling me there's one spell?" She asked confused.
"Well, yeah. There's 5 spells I can use. Although I only remember the first three. I was so excited to test it out I can't remember them all." Bell said embarrassingly. The other two were shocked hear Bell say he can use 5 spells so casually. The normal spell limit for a person to use was three and so far Riveria, Nine Hell, was the only exception.
"Very well. Just choose one and let loose." She said.
"Hmm Which one? Alright." Bell said deciding which one to use. "Burn. Burn everything and leave nothing but ash. Fireflash!" He yelled while aiming at the goblins. All of a sudden, flames errupted from his hand going right towards the goblins and burned them away leaving nothing but the magic stones. Riveria was impressed to see this level of magic when his magic stat should be at zero. This made her wonder what the others were.
"Can you use the others? I would like to see them." She asked Bell. Right now he had a blank face which turned into excitement at how cool his magic was. No one knows if he even heard Riveria but he set off to find new monsters to test his magic on. The others promptly followed. Bell went further into the dungeon and found a few more goblins to use as a sacrifice. He quickly decided on which magic to use next.
"Okay. Freeze. Ice and snow from a winters' storm! Flash freeze!" He yelled using his ice magic. Ice rose from the floor towards the goblins and froze them all over. However, they were still alive; they were now just goblin icicles. This would definitely come in handy against stronger foes.
"This is so cool!" He yelled completely overjoyed with his magic. And he still had one last spell that he remembered! He set off once again to find more monsters to sacrifice leaving a confused Aiz and excited Riveria.
'How does he have multiple spells?' Aiz thought to herself confused.
'Finn's going to have a field day when he finds out about this. What other spells does he have?' Riveria thought already imagining Finn thinking up countless ways to use Bell on expeditions when he gets strong enough.
Bell kept on going until he found some killer ants wandering around. He decided to use the other spell.
"Holy lightning, rain down and smite my enemies. Lightning storm!" He yelled as lightning crackled on the ceiling and came crashing down and fried all of the killer ants. All that was left was the magic stones and a small field of electricity. A killer ant that was outside the range walked into it and got electrocuted as well and turned to ash. Bell took a gamble and walked into it and surprisingly was fine. It looked like at least Bell wasn't affected by the electric field. This would also be useful in the future.
Bell was even more amazed at what his magic can do. If only he had remembered the rest of his chants!
The other two had caught up and witnessed everything and were even more surprised. Riveria definitely sure that Finn would have a field day coming up with plans. Aiz was even more surprised. 'How does he have such powerful and useful magic at level one? What would it look like when he gets stronger?' She asked herself. She didn't know why but she was a bit excited to see how strong his magic could become. Bell, however, wasn't finished yet and took off to use his magic like a kid with a new toy. Aiz, noticing what this would lead to voiced her concern.
"Do you think we should stop him?" She asked Riveria.
"No, let him. This will be a good learning experience for him." Riveria told her. "Besides, we're here so nothing too bad will happen to him." She added.
"That's true." Aiz said.
After a while of Bell running around and testing his magic, he finally slowed down to catch his breath. The others were right behind him.
"Having fun?" Riveria said with a smirk knowing what was about to happen.
"Hah. Yes. I'm just trying... trying too… t- agghh." He said as he fell unconscious due to mind down. The other two knew this was going to happen with how much magic he was using and not resting to replenish mind or using a mind potion. Now though, they had trouble deciding what to do next.
"Uhm, Riveria? What should we do now? We can't exactly just drag him back home." She asked.
"Well we could just wait for him to wake up." She said. "Although I would like to go back and talk to Finn and Gareth on what I just saw. He could be very useful in the future." She added.
Aiz, for reasons yet unknown to her, was happy to hear that Bell might be joining them in the future and let out a small smile. Riveria saw this and was happy to see Aiz smile again, even if it was a small smile. Quickly thinking of something to help her out she enacted her plan.
"Aiz, I'll be heading back home to talk with Loki and the others about Bell's magic as it could be a valuable asset in the future. Stay behind and watch over him so he doesn't get attacked." She told her hoping she wouldn't question this questionable situation.
"Okay." She said.
'You really are an airhead, aren't you?' Riveria thought to herself. 'That makes this next part easier.'
"You know Aiz, there is something you can do to help him recover faster." She said hoping Aiz would do. If all goes well, this will be something Finn and the others will find hilarious and tease her for a long time coming.
"What is it?" Aiz asked, eager to help.
….
After Riveria told Aiz what to do she left to the manor leaving a confused Aiz behind. She had listened to what Riveria had told her to do and placed Bell's head on her lap.
'It's, a little embarrassing to say the least.' She thought to herself. 'But it feels, nice.' She added.
Even unconscious, Bell was as comfortable as he'll ever be. At least until the next lap pillow. To add to it, Aiz started petting his hair as she found it extremely comforting. If she was being honest, she was a little jealous that Bell had such amazing magic. If she had it, her goal would have been that much easier to reach. Saving her mother would seem more like a possibility than a dream at this point. But after having Bell on her lap and playing with his hair, she couldn't find it in her to feel upset anymore. It felt as if her soul was being cleansed. She felt her black flame die down tremendously. It was almost all gone when Bell started waking up.
"ngh… Where am I?" He asked confused as to what was going on.
"Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I think I'm alright." He answered. 'Wow, when did my pillow get so comfortable? Wait, where am I? Aiz? What happened? One minute I was using my magic, the next I passed out?' He was having a hard time piece together what had happened.
"Say, where exactly are we?" He asked her.
"The dungeon." She replied, still petting his hair.
"The dungeon?!" He said jumping up as if expecting a monster attack. After realizing that he was fine he relaxed.
Aiz however, didn't like that. As soon as his head left her lap it felt cold, like something was missing. Mini Aiz agreed with her. She became sad when he got up.
"Did I pass out or something?" He asked her.
"Mind down." She just said.
"I'm sorry?" He asked, hoping for clarification.
"Mind down. It's what happens when you use too much magic and pass out." She said.
"Oh. I messed up didn't I?" He said after understanding what had happened.
"You have no idea." She said coldly.
'Did something happen? Wait, I don't see a pillow anywhere. Does that mean I was?' Bell thought before asking her:
"Was I on your lap?" He asked her as he remembered where he woke up.
"I-I don't know what you mean." She said as she turned her head in embarrassment. Sure, she liked giving Bell a lap pillow, but she can't just admit to it right? Right? Well as long as he doesn't find out, she'll be okay.
"Did you give me a lap pillow? I woke up with something soft on the back of my head." He continued.
'He knows!' She thought to herself as she was slowly panicking. Mini Aiz was in no better shape either as she was worried whether or not he liked it and if she did it wrong.
"Let's go home!" She said, hoping to save herself from more embarrassment.
"Uh? Well, okay. I think I need a nap." He said agreeing with her.
The way home was very quiet as Bell was on the verge of passing out as he still hadn't fully recovered from the mind down and Aiz kept remembering how good it felt to give a lap pillow and wondered if Bell wouldn't mind another one. After reaching the manor they said their goodbyes for the night and went to bed.
The next morning Bell went to Loki's room for a status update.
"Loki! If you're not too busy, can you update my status?" He said knocking on her door.
"Yeah, come in!" She said letting him in. After going through the same procedure of updating his status she freaked out again.
"Holy crap! Just what are you?" She said as she finished updating his status. She then wrote it down and passed the paper over to Bell.
Bell Cranel
Human
Strength: G 251 - F 310
Defense: H 195 - G 230
Dexterity: G 240 - G 270
Agility: F 321 - F 380
Magic: I 0 - G 200
Skills: Realis Phrase
Rapid Growth
Continued desire results in continued growth
Stronger desire results in stronger growth
Magic: Elements
Fire: Burn. Burn everything and leave nothing but ash. Fireflash!
Ice: Freeze. Ice and snow from a winters storm! Flash freeze!
Lightning: Holy lightning, rain down and smite my enemies. Lightning Storm!
Water: Tranquil rivers flow through and heal and purify those in need. Water cleanse!
Earth: May the land I stand on become my domain and obey my command. Gaia's divine will!
"Damn kid, you're growing fast. Keep this up and I see a rank up in the future!" Loki said encouraging him.
"I will, goddess!" Bell replied happily.
"Oh, before I forget goddess, is it alright if I form a party with a member of the Hephaistos familia?" He asked making sure it was alright.
"Phae-phae's kid? Sure. I don't mind and I doubt she will. Our familias are close if you didn't know." She said, easing his troubles.
"Okay, I was just making sure. See you later goddess!" Bell said. He quickly took off as he had promised to meet Welf today to join his party. Loki on the other hand took his status sheet and set off to find Finn and the other two. Riveria had already informed them of how Bell's magic worked and they waited to see exactly what it was when Bell got his status updated. Bell made that much progress in 1 small trip to the dungeon, imagine if he went a while without an update or worked a long day?
To say they were surprised would be underselling it. They were completely blown away by his update. They had to sit back and wait to see how Bell turned out. But right now, Loki had something important she wanted to ask them three.
"Hey guys, I need to ask you for something. It'll be something serious and a little secretive." She said.
"What is it Loki?" Finn asked. He was surprised to see his goddess ask for something and this time it didn't seem like alcohol.
"Bell's status updates have been immense since he got this skill and I can tell that this is only the beginning. Call it godly intuition but something tells me that these jumps will seem like nothing in the future. For that, I need to ask you all something. Please let me get a weapon for Bell!" She said. She may drink a lot and loved to play tricks, but she wasn't stupid: she knew that Bell would keep growing at a fast rate and seeing how his sword looked this time and remembering how Aiz was she was scared that he would burn through weapons and might get in trouble in the dungeon if his weapon broke.
"A weapon? I don't see what's wrong with that." Finn said not understanding what his goddess was saying.
"You're not getting what I'm trying to say. Bell will keep growing and soon he'll outgrow any sword we would give him. That's why, I want to make a special ordered weapon for Bell." She said a bit scared as she knew how much one would cost and that they just got back from an expedition.
The other three weren't totally against it. They understood what she meant but getting a special made weapon for a newbie? That might be pushing it a bit.
"I know this will push us back a bit for future expeditions, but please! Let me do this for him! I know what you guys usually think of me, and you're right most of the time, but I don't want to see any of my children die! I love all of you, and Bell is no exception. He's going to keep running and I want him to know that I'll have his back!" She pleaded.
Now this shocked them. They weren't planning on saying no, but hearing their goddess beg them to let her help Bell they were ready to throw their savings if it meant helping their goddess. It was a refreshing sight to see the normally relaxed Loki show emotion for her children. It reminded them of why they joined her familia and why they loved her so much in the first place.
"That's perfectly fine Loki. We weren't going to say no. But it is nice to see that you do care." Finn joked to lighten the mood.
"Of course I care! What? Do you think I'm just a no good alcoholic? Don't answer that." She said. That caused them to laugh and then things went back to normal.
"I'm guessing you're going to want a specially made sword right? I can talk to Tsubaki if you want." Gareth told her.
"No, well yes I do but that's not who I had in mind." She said.
"Who'd you have in mind?" Finn asked curiously.
"Don't get mad! I was hoping to talk to Hephaistos." She said trying not to anger her captain.
"A weapon made by Hephaistos herself? You really were serious, weren't you?" Finn said. "I'm sure it'll be a great weapon but we're going to have to postpone the next expedition for a while. Plus we were planning on asking her to let her smiths join us next time. Do you think this will put a stop to it?" Finn asked. While he didn't want to deny his goddess's wishes, they needed the Hephaistos familia smiths for the next expedition.
"It should be fine. I'll talk to her about this when I go see her and see if we can work out a deal. She kind of owes me a small favor and this could be a good time as ever to call it in." She noted.
"Then you have no objection from me." Finn said. As long as he could keep striving towards his goal and keep his familia safe he wouldn't mind if the familia bank lost a few million valis. Plus, going down and collecting more money meant that he could have more time to train his members and prepare them for anything. The other two also didn't seem to mind as they agreed with Finn. With that out of the way, Finn and Loki headed off to go talk to Hephaistos about the expedition and Bell's new sword.
…
Back with the rabbit, Bell found himself walking through the first floor with Welf. He had been waiting outside the dungeon for Bell and was happy to see that his new friend had showed up.
"So how deep are we planning on going?" Welf asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's just play it by ear and see what happens." Bell told him.
"Alright man! Let's let loose!" He said as he unsheathed his great sword and started attacking a few unlucky goblins. Bell laughed at his antics and followed behind him as they made their way through the dungeon.
….
"20,000 valis eh? Not too bad man!" Welf said as he held his half of their earnings.
"Yeah! I usually make around 8,000-10,000 myself and being in a party is way easier. Although I wonder how things would go if we had a supporter? We had to leave early since our bags got stuffed." Bell said.
"Damn! Although it's a shame that we had to leave a ton of stones behind. Do you know any supporters in your familia that wouldn't mind helping us?" Welf asked him.
"I'll ask a few if they're not too busy. What about you? Know anyone you can ask?" Bell asked.
"Nah I doubt it. Hey this is my turn. If you find anyone, bring them. If not, we'll be fine. We'll just have to get bigger backpacks!" Welf joked as he turned to head home. "See you tomorrow bro!" He said before disappearing around a corner.
Bell just slowly laughed and turned to make his way home. He knew a couple of the supporters of the familia and wondered if they would mind joining. He had to ask them. He was almost home when suddenly approaching footsteps alerted him.
"Oof!" A short prum yelled as they crashed into Bell.
"Huh?" Bell said totally confused to the situation.
"Get back here you stupid prum!" A man said as he swung a sword at them. Bell stopped the blade with the dagger that Aiz had gifted him.
"Huh?! Just who the hell are you?" The man said as he pulled his sword back. "Do you know this prum?" He asked.
"No, I don't." Bell replied.
"Then why'd you stop me?!" He asked clearly pissed off now.
"Well when I see a psycho swinging a sword down on a defenseless person I think the right thing to do is stop them." Bell said.
"Stupid kid. Think you're hot stuff huh?" The man said as he readied his sword.
'Crap. From his swing I can tell that he's stronger than I am right now. If we fight I don't know if I can win.' Bell thought to himself looking for a way out of this problem.
"Alright then, die!" He yelled as he began to charge at him.
"And just what do you think you're doing?!" A voice called out to them. They turned around and saw Finn standing a few feet away with his spear ready.
"Loki's brat? Shit." The man said.
"If you want, I can show what exactly this 'Brat' can do." Finn threatened as he pointed his spear at him.
"Forget this, I'm out of here!" He said as he ran away.
'Phew! That was terrifying!' Bell thought to himself as he put his dagger away. "Thanks Finn!" He said. Finn however, wasn't quite finished yet.
"Do you mind telling me what happened here? Bell?!" Finn asked. Scratch that, demanded.
"I-uh, well, the thing is…" Poor Bell, tripping over his own words.
"What happened?" Finn asked again.
After quickly calming down Bell told Finn exactly what had happened earlier. Finn just sighed as this wasn't anything new in Orario. Things like this happen all the time.
"Well, at least you're not dead." Finn said. This made Bell nervous as Finn just said that so casually.
"Come on, let's go home." Finn told him.
"Hold on let me make sure that prum is alright. Are you okay?" Bell turned around but saw no one there. He looked around but there was no sign of anybody around.
"Was somebody here?" Finn asked.
"Yeah. There was the prum who that guy tried to attack. I tried to stop him and things went on from there." Bell explained.
"Agh. It's sad to see a fellow prum fallen into the dark side of Orario." Finn said.
"Dark side?" Bell asked confused on what he meant.
"Exactly. There's a lot more to Orario than just the dungeon Bell. You'll learn as time passes on. There's no need for you to know about it right now so don't worry too much about it." Finn said trying to keep Bell away from that side of Orario. He was far too young to learn all the bad things that go on in the walls of Orario.
"Alright." Bell said as he followed Finn back to the manor.
On their way back Finn asked Bell about his day to pass the time. When they made it back, they ate dinner and went on their way.
As Bell went to bed, he started to wonder if his magic could help him become a hero like the ones his grandfather loved. But more importantly, he hoped that having this magic would help him get closer to Aiz. He decided that he was going to master all his magic spells and get stronger so that he can get closer to Aiz. As he drifted off to sleep, his back where the skill slot was reacted to his feelings and glowed in respect to it.
And another chapter done! I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as I could because as writing this it is 12 am and that means I am now 2 decades old. That's right! Today is my birthday! I wanted to start it by giving you guys a new chapter. I'll try to get a second out later tonight as well since I have an easy day today. I hope you all have a great day and Shadow out!