Thank you all for your kind words! You all gave me some really good ideas and thank you for coming up with chants I loved them all. Sorry this chapter took so long I got swamped with a crap ton of homework. Now for a few reviews.
Guest – Well, I'm sorry that you find this cringe. I thought I made it clear that Finn was holding back! I mean, it's not like I made Bell fucking curbstomp him, he just used plain old tactics to win. And if I'm not mistaken, it's not like Finn was injured much either. And I'm pretty sure there's a difference fighting someone who is holding backsignificantly versus a large monster trying to murderyou.
DecencyX – Thank you for the compliment and well, I'm trying not to burn myself out but I just want to keep writing and get chapters out to all you beautiful people. And I do get that reference. You can thank my middle school writing teacher for that.
CaeruleumRex7 – I'm glad you like the story so far and hope to keep you entertained. So you were the one I talked to on reddit? I was wondering if you had read this yet. Glad you enjoy it!
LilCroc – Congratulations! I will be yoinking your chants and will go back and edit them into last chapter later. Thank you so much!
NotSerious4Fun – Yeah. I will change it after I upload this chapter.
TheOne – Oh damn. You are brilliant. While I thank you for coming with really awesome chants and descriptions, I will be using LilCroc's chants as while yours would be completely perfect for a mage, I would like to have Bell using magic while mobile. Actually, Ima take your earth one. I like it! I will take your suggestion for Scorching Tempest to make up for your work. I am in love with that idea now and can't wait till I give it to Bell! But now I can't have a wind enchantment as that would be useless. How dare you have such good ideas! Keep them coming!
Enough ranting I know what you're all here for. Enjoy!
Bell woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go. It was a new day and the perfect time for dungeon diving. He quickly got up and got dressed and ran down to get a quick breakfast. After eating he set off to go meet Welf in front of the dungeon.
After a few minutes of running he saw Welf standing in his usual spot waiting for Bell to show up.
"Hey Welf!" Bell said as he slowed o a stop in front of him.
"Finally decided to show up Bell?" He joked.
"Yeah. Almost forgot about you Welf." He joked back. They had been in a party for a while now and they joked like this all the time. They became good friends in no time.
After taking a minute to catch his breath, Bell looked around at all the supporters and wished he could find one.
"Still no supporter huh?" Welf asked sadly. It pained them both that they had to leave a lot of stones behind since they couldn't carry all of them.
"Yeah. Most of the supporters in my familia are busy right now. They are going with some of the higher adventurers to make more money for the familia before the expedition and can't come with us. The rest are all in parties all ready." He told them.
"That sucks. It'd be nice to have one." Welf said. Speaking of supporters…
"Misters! Hey misters!" A voice said behind them. They both turned around and saw, a backpack?
"Down here!" The voice said.
Oh, that's were the voice came from. The voice belonged to a short girl carrying a comically oversized backpack. It was a wonder how she didn't buckle under its size.
"Are you in need of a supporter? I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about one!" The small person said energetically.
"Well, yeah actually. Would you mind joining us?" Welf asked.
"Yes!" She exclaimed. Bell however recognized her.
"Hey, aren't you that prum from the other day?" He asked her.
"Other day?" Welf asked confused.
"Yeah. The other day I ran into a prum being chased by some adventurer trying to attack her when I stepped in. She ran off shortly after." He explained. "I'm glad you're safe." He added.
"Prum? I think you have me confused with someone else. As you can see, I am a chienthrope." She said as she pulled her hood down to reveal some dog ears.
"Huh?" He said confused. Was he mistaken? He could've sworn it was her.
"Guess you were mistaken Bell." Welf said.
"I guess I am?" Bell said still unsure.
"Hi there supporter. My name is Welf." Welf said introducing himself.
"Oh right. Hello. My name is Bell Cranel. Call me Bell." Bell said forgetting that they haven't introduced themselves.
"My name is Liliruca Arde. Call me Lili." The pru-chienthrope girl said. Bell was still thinking it was the same girl from before.
"All right then, let's head off!" Welf said leading the way into the dungeon. "Come on Bell or we're leaving you behind." He said as Bell stood there still confused about everything.
"Hey! Wait up!" He yelled as he ran to catch up with them.
….
Elsewhere.
"Come on Phai-Phai!" Loki said pleading with the goddess of the forge.
"No." She responded.
"Why nooot?" Loki whined.
"Because I said so." She responded.
Behind them their respective captains just sighed.
"Is this what you have to put up with?" Tsubaki, the Hephaistos familia captain, asked Finn.
"Sadly, yes. She's very, how do you put it? Persistant?" Finn replied.
"Pleeeease?" She asked while doing her best puppy eye expression; which was odd as she hardly opened her eyes. "I'll still pay whatever price you ask!" She added.
The goddess just sighed as she knew Loki wouldn't give up. Normally she'd make any request for the right price but what Loki was asking was borderline blasphemy! She was asking her to make a first-class weapon for a novice rookie! Sure, she could do it, but it would be an insult to smiths everywhere as no one would be able to top it. And she wasn't too keen on using her skills for a rookie even if Loki kept pleading.
"I'm already lending you a ton of my high smiths for your expedition, what more do you want?" She tried to reason.
"Just this! Please?" Loki pleaded again. This was seemingly going nowhere.
"Hephaistos? Everything is clean now! Huh?! Loki no boobs?!" A short goddess came out of nowhere. She had been living with the goddess of the forge ever since she cam down from tenkai. At first, she was just a free loader but now Hephaistos forced her to get a job and she's been working to earn her fill.
"Can it shrimp." Loki retorted. She didn't have time to deal with her.
"Thank you, Hestia. As you can see, I'm a bit busy at the moment." Hephaistos told her.
"Obviously." Hestia said as she walked away.
"Where were we? Oh right! Pleeeaaase?" Loki begged.
"You're going to keep asking until I agree, aren't you?" Hephaistos asked.
"YUP!" She said.
"Ugh. Fine! Just to keep you out of my hair." Hephaistos said finally caving in.
"Yes!" Loki cheered.
"You're going to pay for it right?" She asked.
"Of course!" Loki responded.
"Alright. What weapon does he use?" She asked trying to image how it would turn out.
"He uses a sword. If I may ask, can you use mythrill?" Loki requested, knowing what it does.
"What for? Can he use magic?" Hephaistos asked.
"Yup!" Loki responded.
'A rookie that know magic? Interesting. I hope I won't regret this.' Hephaistos thought to herself.
"Alright. But this will take some time. Unless you help me." She told her.
"Do I have to?" Loki whined at the prospect of working.
"If you want to get it done faster then yeah." Hephaistos responded.
"Ughh fiiine. C'mon Finn! You're helping!" Loki said.
"But I don't have the foggiest idea how to smith." Finn said with a sweatdrop.
"Ah you'll be fine!" Tsubaki said as she followed their goddesses.
'Will it though?' Finn thought to himself as he followed them.
…
"Master Bell watch out!" Lili shouted as Bell dodged a war shadow's attack and cut it in two.
"Master Welf behind you!" She said warning Welf of a killer ant. Welf jumped to the side an swung his greatsword down cutting the ant in two.
Thanks to Lili being their eyes and watching their backs, Bell and Welf had a much easier time taking on larger hordes of monsters which resulted in more magic stones and way less injuries. With Lili being their eyes and hauling the loot they were able to reach the 6th floor easier and faster. With Lili here they might be able to reach the 7th floor.
After taking care of the monsters Lili went straight to work on collecting their stones giving Bell and Welf time to catch their breath, which was something they greatly appreciated.
"Man, having a supporter come along is really helpful." Welf said after sitting down.
"Yeah. Having someone else to watch our back while we're fighting is amazing." Bell said agreeing.
"Hey Lili, do you need any help?" Bell said offering his help.
"No, it's okay Bell, Lili's got this!" Lili told him. "This is all that Lili can do for the party. Lili carries everything while the adventures do all the work." She added.
'Huh?' Bell thought it was a bit, odd, hearing Lili talk herself down. It was his first-time hearing someone put themselves down so much. Of course, other than Raul.
"We're making great progress wouldn't you say?" Welf asked Bell.
"Yeah. Normally we'd still be making our way here. At this rate we'll get to floor 7 in no time. Maybe even floor 8." Bell told him.
"It's because you're both strong adventurers." Lili told them.
"Nah, it's because you're here Lil' E. Not having to worry about picking up the loot and hauling it everywhere is nice for a change." Welf said.
"It's Lili!" She yelled.
"Whatever Lil' E." Welf said obviously messing with her.
"Grrrr." Lili growled obviously not enjoying this.
"Calm down you two." Bell said trying to make sure Welf lived to see tomorrow. But he had to admit that it was fun seeing them interact like this.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop." Welf said. "For now."
"Come on. There's still monsters to kill." Lili said as a few monsters turned around a corner ready to fight them.
"Let's go!" Bell said as he drew his sword and charged at them.
"Right behind you!" Welf said drawing his great sword.
"Wait for me!" Lili said shortly after and took off behind them.
….
"45,000 valis?!" The 3 of them yelled.
"This is more than double the amount we usually get!" Bell and Welf said not believing their eyes.
"You two are amazing!" Lili said.
"I never realized how important having a supporter is. Well done, Lili!" Bell said.
"Please, I didn't do much!" Lili said not used to being praised.
"Nonsense, you lugged all those stones and loot for us Lil' E. Normally we'd have to leave a ton of things behind but with you here we don't have to worry about that!" Welf said adding his two cents.
"You guys would've been fine without me! Anyway, it's time to divide the loot." Lili said getting nervous.
"Here we go. 15 for you, 15 for you. and 15 for me." Bell said handing out 15,000 to everyone.
"Hell yeah! Now I can get that hammer I've had my eyes on!" Welf said as he eyed his share.
"Uh!? Uh!?" Lili said confused as to how much she got. Surely, they did their math wrong? Right?
"Excuse me, I think you gave me too much." Lili said and immediately regretted it. She could've gotten so much and now they're going to take it all back!
"Uh, no? I have my 15 thousand. You Welf?" Bell said double checking his pouch.
"Got my 15 thou' here too." Welf said.
"Wait, you're sharing it evenly?" Lili asked confused.
"Well, yeah? We never would've made this much without you Lili. Don't you agree Welf?" Bell asked his friend.
"That's right! Like I said, we usually have to leave loot behind. You carried everything for us and more than earned your share Lil' E!" He told her.
"Uh, wha?" She was left stunned by their kind words. No one had ever been that nice to her before.
"It's been fun working with you Lili. Do you think you could join us again?" Bell said holding his hand out for a handshake.
Lili definitely was not expecting such kind words and actions. She looked over at Welf who was smiling at her in approval. Maybe these adventurers were different. She shook Bell's hand still thinking about what just happened.
While they were walking out of the guild exchange a certain goddess of beauty had her eyes on Bell. She had been surprised at seeing a new soul color and enjoyed watching it grow as he grew. It was a kind soul that had gotten brighter as he formed more friendships and met new people. She wanted him all to herself but there was one small problem stopping that; he was in the Loki familia and Loki would not like having one of her members stolen by her. So she was forced to sit back and watch from a distance.
"Ara, he's made a new friend I see." She said happily. She loved to see her favorite soul shine more when meeting new people. "Ah, I just can't help myself." She said to herself as she made her way to her large bookshelf. She was searching for a grimoire that would help him grow exponentially. She was reaching for one then stopped.
"No, this won't do. From what I hear he already has useful magic." She said as she walked away from the quick-cast grimoire we all know.
"Maybeee, this one." She said as she grabbed another one.
"I'm afraid of what this one will cause with him and the blonde, but I'll deal with it later." She said excitedly. She knew that she could deal with a certain princess when the time comes, but for now, she wanted to see just how her new toy would entertain her.
(I'll admit, I'm not too excited to write in Freya interrupting with our favorite couple but it would be too out of character for her not too. Unless you guys don't want me to? I'll have to change the later part of the story a bit and this part a bit then to see how fast I can get our favorite ship to sail but I wouldn't mind doing that. Let me know what you think cuz I don't know if it's been done before and I wouldn't mind writing our favorite ship with little distractions.)
Back with our rabbit, he had just parted ways from Welf and Lili and made his way back to the manor. He was going to go back to his room and take a quick nap but a few of the members called him over to eat with him. He gladly made his way over and sat with them. He didn't know if it was completely true but he heard that eating with others made food taste better and so far it's been true. After a few minutes went by Finn, Riveria and Gareth had made their way down to eat and they joined Bell to talk about his magic.
"Hey there. Mind if we join you?" Finn asked him.
"Of course not!" Bell said motioning for them to sit down.
"Thank you." Finn said as he sat down.
After a few minutes of small talk Finn got down to business. He wanted to see first hand how good Bell's magic was and at the rate he was growing Bell would be joining them on expeditions in no time.
"Hey Bell, tomorrow we would like to join your party and see first hand how your magic works. Don't worry, we won't get in your way and will only interfere if a situation arises. What do you say?" Finn asked. He didn't like being so nosy but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a bit curious to see how his magic was.
"Sure, I'd love to!" Bell said excited at the prospect to show off in front of the captain.
"Excellent!" Finn said happy that he agreed.
"So lass, how far have you made it in the dungeon?" Gareth asked wanting to know how far Bell had made it into the dungeon.
"Uh well, since we added a supporter we started to explore the 8th floor a bit." Bell said a bit shyly. They had gone to deeper and way more dangerous floors on a regular basis so something like the 8th floor was nothing to them. They on the other hand were surprised. First at learning that Bell had formed a party of his own and second that he was already at the 8th floor. Sure, his status was barely enough to make it their relatively okay but he had barely been adventuring almost a month now!
"The 8th floor? I'm impressed." Finn told him. "Who's in your party?" Finn asked. He needed to know if his member's party was safe and more importantly if his life was safe in their hands.
"The first member is my friend. A smith I met a while ago from the Hephaistos familia." Bell begun by explaining Welf a bit. 'A Hephaistos smith? I suppose that's fine.' Finn thought to himself. "And recently we added a supporter to our party from the Soma familia I believe." Bell added. 'Soma familia? I haven't heard great things about them. I think I'll look into them a bit.' Finn thought trying to remember everything he knew from that familia.
"Who else?" Finn asked.
"Well, that's it." Bell said shyly.
'That's it? I guess a party that size should be fine on the 8th floor.' Finn reasoned. 'I'll need to talk to this supporter.'
"That's alright. Is that your reward from today?" Finn said pointing at Bell's bag of coins.
"Yeah. This is my share. 15,000 I believe." Bell said.
"15,000? Don't tell me you cheated out your party members." Finn warned.
"What? No! This is my share. Together we made 45,000 valis. We split it evenly." Bell told his captain.
'45,000? For a party of 3? I find that hard to believe, but my thumb isn't telling me he's lying about it either.' Finn thought a bit surprised by it.
"Very well." Finn said.
"I'm going to head to bed." Bell said as he finished his food and took off to get ready to go to sleep.
"That seems a bit much for a low-level party to make." Riveria said voicing their thought aloud.
"You think? Oh well, good for them. Though I'll admit I'm about worried about that supporter." Gareth added.
"Yeah. Soma familia right? I haven't heard that many good things about them. We'll have to make sure she's not one of them." Finn said.
A few feet away from them at another table a certain sword princess had heard what they were talking about. But she was mainly focused one 1 minor thing. 'The 8th floor?' Her curiosity was peaked when she had heard Bell say he was exploring the 8th floor. She wanted to see just how fast Bell was improving.
….
Morning had come fast and the rising sun signaled the start of a new day. Bell hadn't slept as much as normal as today the top three were going to be watching him in the dungeon. Sure, this meant that they probably wouldn't die with them around, but he was still nervous. After his 'tragic' mind down Riveria had told him what happens when he uses too much magic and also what happens if he were to mess up the chant. The last part scared him more as if he used too much magic he'd simply pass out, not explode!
He found himself ready before the others and just waited by the front gate for the executives. While waiting he heard the sound of a sword slashing through the air and looked for the source of the sound. He eventually found the source; it was the sword princess practicing. He was watching from afar completely entranced by her and her skills when the other 3 eventually found him and decided to mess with him.
"You know it's not nice to stare right?" Riveria told him in a stern voice.
"HAAIIII?!" Bell yelled in surprise. The other two were too busy laughing to make fun of him.
"What's going on?" Aiz said appearing right behind Bell, causing him to scream in surprise yet again which led to the other two falling to the floor while laughing even harder.
"It's nothing Aiz. We're just laughing at Bell's expense." Riveria said.
"Okay?" Aiz said a bit confused. She was wondering why they were laughing but she was mostly focused on why Bell was still scared of her. Mini Aiz was sad that she might've scared him. "What are you doing this early?" She asked. Usually, she's the only one up and around in the morning.
"Oh, they were interested to see Bell's magic and so we're all going to go watch Bell and his party." Riveria informed her.
"Oh. Can I come?" She asked.
"I don't see why not." Riveria said. "Anyways, it's about time we head off. Let's go." She added as she made her way out. The rest soon followed afterwards.
Even though it was early in the morning, Orario was still busy with adventurers heading to the dungeon for an early day. Standing in his usual spot was Welf who was now accompanied by Lili which were in another argument. Who knows what it was this time. Bell just cleared his throat loudly which alerted the two to the first-tier adventurers behind him which made them freeze for different reasons. Welf froze as soon as he saw Riveria knowing that she might just blast him right there and then for what his ancestors had done. Lili froze because she thought they knew what she was and was done for.
"Hey there you guys. Meet Finn, Riveria, Gareth and Aiz from my familia." Bell said with a sweatdrop from their antics. "You guys, meet Welf and Lili." He said to his familia members.
"Hey, I know I suggested we should get new party members but I wasn't expecting your top members." Welf said trying to laugh it off.
"No, they're here because they want to see exactly how my magic works." Bell told him.
"Oh. Wait, why don't you just try it at your place?" Welf asked.
"Because we happen to like our home and don't want it full of holes." Finn said bluntly.
"Oh, right." Welf said.
"Well, let's head on in." Bell said.
"Okay." Welf agreed as they entered the first floor.
Just a few yards away we can see three people following our rabbit and his party.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Said one of them.
"That's because you're stupid." The other replied. "Plus, I'll follow the captain anywhere!" She said. Oh, it's the twins.
"Hey who you calling stupid?!" Tiona shouted.
"Come on, we're going to lose them. Hurry up Lefiya!" Tione said as she dragged her sister along.
"That Human!" The elf said before chasing after the other 2.
…..
It had been 2 hours since they had entered the dungeon and this overpowered party was barely on the 8th floor. So far only Bell's party have been doing all the fighting protecting everyone. Finn had suggested for them to do this as a practice test for when Bell eventually joins them in their expeditions. Bell didn't think he would be joining them anytime soon but Finn told him to do it either way. It was more exhausting than usual for Bell because his job was to jump back and forth from the front to the rear to keep everyone safe while Welf cleared the way with Bell joining in every now and then. Lili would normally be barking out orders but she was too intimidated by Finn and the others to say a word. She just collected the stones and let them do all the work.
"I know who you are, prum." Finn said as he helped her with a stone. For a second Lili faltered as she was disguised as a chienthrope and tried to play it off but Finn wouldn't let her.
"Don't. I did a little research on you last night. A sneaky prum with sneaky hands stealing all sorts of items from adventurers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to turn you in. My member sees you as someone he can trust and as his captain, I have to make sure he's safe. He's not like the adventurers that have mistreated you in the past. Though I know you already knew that." Finn told her. "Don't cross him." He warned.
Bell didn't hear any of this, Finn made sure of that, and instead continued jumping from monster to monster swinging his trusty sword and cutting the monsters in two from left to right. After taking a few minutes to catch his breath and recover his mind, Finn had had him use his magic in many different ways to see the potential it can bring, Bell wanted to keep going but saw that Welf also was having a hard time.
"Hey Finn, is this all you needed? I'm sorry but I think me and Welf are spent." Bell said still out of breath with Welf the same way.
"Yeah. I hate to admit it but I need a break." Welf said embarrassed that this was all he could do in front of the first-class adventurers.
"That's quite alright. Please forgive me. I wanted to test your limits with this plan while you're exploring a new floor to see how you can adapt. Believe me, I am impressed with how you two handled it." Finn said praising the two. "It may seem weak but it's best to admit when you're tired and need a rest. Being too tired to fight can cause problems if you're surrounded by monsters." Finn added. "Take a break for now, we'll head back soon." Finn said.
"Are you alright?" Aiz asked Bell.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just out of breath." He reassured her.
"That's good." She said with a small smile. For Bell it may as well have been the sun as he thought it was so bright.
'So obvious.' Riveria thought with a smile. She had been impressed with Bell's progress as he had improved his magic and was able to chant faster than last time he did. All he needs is to improve his sword skills. Thinking of a way how, she remembered what had happened this morning. 'Hahaha! You'll have to forgive me later Bell.' Riveria thought with a smirk. 'This should be fun!'
"Hey Bell, I noticed that you could use some work with your sword skills." Reveria said as she walked up to Bell and Aiz. "Wouldn't you agree, Aiz?" She asked.
"Mmmm. Yes." She said after thinking about it.
"Yeah. All I know is what my grandfather taught me and what I taught myself. He always said that there's always more to learn." Bell said.
"Hmm. That is very wise of him. But the point still stands, you could learn a few tips." Riveria said.
"Yeah, that'd be great." Bell said.
"Well, why don't you have Aiz teach you?" Riveria suggested.
"Aiz? Teach me?" Bell asked in disbelief.
"What do you say Aiz?" She asked her.
"Hmmm. Sure?" She said. "It could be fun." She added.
"Wait Really?! Uh in that case, I'm looking forward to it!" Bell said happily.
"Hm." She said with a nod of her head and another small smile on her face. She never trained with anyone other than the top three, but seeing Bell so happy made her want to try her best. Both her and mini Aiz were looking forward to it.
"NOOOOOOO!" A shrill voice echoed through the dungeon. Immediately everyone leaped into a defensive stance.
"Shut up!" BONK!
'Ouch.' Everyone collectively thought.
"Who's there?!" Finn shouted.
"IT'S ME CAPTAIN!" Tione shouted rounding a corner.
"Sorry everyone. These two wanted to stalk you." Tiona said casually walking next to her sister with her hands behind her head.
"TIONA! Don't word it like that!" Lefiya whined to her friend while carrying a large backpack.
"Ughhh." Riveria sighed trying to stop her headache. Gareth found the situation funny and just laughed while Finn wasn't the least bit surprised at the reasoning, at least from Tione.
"Stalking? Stalking who?" Aiz asked.
'I wonder who?' Everyone thought while looking at Lefiya and then at Aiz. At least Tione was obvious, which, granted, didn't make it any better.
"Why do you have a backpack Lefiya?" Finn asked her.
"I don't know. Tione made me carry it." She explained.
"It has our things Captain! I thought since we're all here we can spend some time on the lower floors." Tione reasoned.
"Hmm. Well there's a better time and place to ask this, but I guess we still need more valis." Finn thought outloud. "Yeah sure, why not? Let's just go back and get our things and then we'll head down there." Finn told them.
"Not to worry! I packed everything!" Tione said handing everyone their things.
"Wait, where did you get this?" Riveria asked as she looked through her things and saw everything that she usually takes.
"Not important!" Tione said cheerfully.
"I suppose we'll just head back to the surface then." Bell said knowing that they'd be useless on the lower floors.
"No, come along with us. It should be a great learning experience. We'll show you all the way to floor 18 then head back to the surface as I need a few more things." Finn told them.
"Are you sure? We'll only slow you all down." Bell said not wanting to be a burden.
"As much as I'd rather not admit, he's right. We're only level 1 and are nowhere near as fast." Welf said. Lili quickly agreed with them.
"You'll be fine. Plus, you'll all be going down here one day and it's best to learn everything first hand." Finn reasoned. "The middle floors should be a walk in the park with all of us here and you three supporting." Finn said.
"… Well, if you two are okay with it?" Bell asked his party.
"No arguments here! Though if I die Hephaistos won't be too happy with you." Welf joked.
"Me too." Lili said.
"Well, it looks like we have your answer Finn." Bell said to his captain.
"Excellent. Let's go." Finn said leading the way.
…..
After a few minutes of walking, they made it to floor 10. The first thing Bell noticed was the fog.
"This is the fog of the 10th floor I've heard about so much?" Bell asked.
"Yup. Though this is the first time you've been here right? Don't get too intimidated, it only gets worse from here." Finn said nonchalantly.
'Worse?' Bell thought to himself.
Worse it did. The fog only got thicker and thicker as they walked through the 11th and 12th floor.
Upon entering floor 13 Finn warned them that the middle floors were different from the upper floors, with different monsters too. The first thing they saw was an Al-Miraj.
"Mister Bell?" Lili asked.
"Yup that's definitely Bell." Welf responded.
Everyone just snickered at Bell being compared to an Al-Miraj.
"That's an Al-Miraj!" Bell yelled.
All of a sudden, the Al-Miraj's face turned angry and pulled out an axe.
"Oh, mister Bell is angry." Lili said trying to hold in a laugh.
"Calm down Bell!" Welf said and then proceeded to laugh which in turn caused everyone to laugh. Even Aiz was laughing at Bell's expense, which Bell normally would have thought to be the best thing ever, if he wasn't about to be gored by the small rabbit.
"That's an Al-Miraj!" Bell said as he stabbed the monster. It may be a higher-level monster, but its defense was poor. That's why they attack in groups.
A few more Al-Miraj popped out of nowhere which were promptly dealt with by the executives. After a quick warning by Finn to stay alert, though everyone could still see that he was holding back a laugh, they continued onwards.
A little while later, a couple of hell hounds showed up and started shooting their magic at the group.
The twins and Aiz were at the front taking care of the monsters and slicing through their attacks like it was nothing. A stray hell hound had circled around the back and was about to shoot its magic at the unsuspecting Lefiya when Welf intervened.
"Blaze forth, Heretic Magic! Will o' Wisp!" After Welf finished his chant the hell hound had an ignus fatus and exploded.
"Wow! That's handy!" Bell said.
"Isn't it?!" Welf said proudly. It may be 1 spell but it was definitely handy.
"Impressive." Finn said. He thought if he ever had to fight against something or someone that uses magic he'll call on Welf.
(HMMMM!? Wonder it that'll ever happen?!)
"Thank you!" Welf said while helping Lili out by picking up some stones. He may not be able to help out by killing the monsters but he can at least act as a supporter and help carry the stones.
After an hour of walking they made it to floor 17. Luckily, there weren't many minotaurs that spawned and the twins and Aiz as usual took care of everything. While Bell wasn't fighting, he was still scared as hell, especially remembering his first encounter with a minotaur. It wasn't a pleasant memory he wished to relive.
Luckily for them, Goliath hadn't respawned yet and they were able to walk through to floor 18 without a hitch.
"And here we are! The Underground Resort!" Tiona shouted happy at the prospect of not having to fight anymore and so that she could relax.
"Wooow." The three-party person said in awe of the scenery.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Finn asked them.
"You can say that again." Welf replied.
"Yeah. I remember the first time I was here." Finn told them remembering his first time there.
"How many decades ago was it?" Gareth joked.
"Too many." Finn laughed. "Come on. Even though it's beautiful and monster can't spawn here they can still wander in here from the upper and lower floors." He told them.
"Where are we headed?" Bell asked him.
"We are going to the town." Finn replied.
"Why there? Everything's expensive down there. We can just camp out here as usual, can't we?" Tiona complained.
"While Tione is an apparent expert packer," Tione smiled brightly clearly proud from Finn's statement, "I doubt even she could pack out tents." Her smile quickly dropped.
"Don't worry about it. Everything's on me this time. I've been pushing you all too much, I'll admit. So let me at least do this for you all." Finn told them.
"Thank you, captain!" Tione said happy that her beloved was being so nice.
"You sure Finn? I've had my eye on some weapons there." Tiona said.
"Don't make me go broke please." Finn said tiredly.
"No promises!" Tiona giggled.
After some more walking and admiring the scenery, our party found their way to the town and headed straight for an Inn. Their plan was to spend the night and show the new party around a bit more before returning to the surface. On their way there the veterans noticed that the lackluster town was even more quiet than usual. Had something happened?
Upon arriving at the Inn they were planning on staying they noticed there was a large crowd in the entrance which was odd. Finn went to check it out quickly losing Tione which didn't last long as she cleared a way for everyone who quickly followed eager to see what the commotion was about. After making their way to a room they found the "leader" of the town, Borris, standing outside a room.
"Borris, what's going on?" Finn questioned him.
"Huh? Oh, Finn. It's terrible. There's been a murder." Borris told him.
Annnnd done! Wow this took way longer than I had planned. I wanted to get this chapter done way earlier but I got writers block and got stuck at the first half of the story. It didn't help that I was swamped with homework. I wanted to make this chapter end after fighting Revis but it's almost 3 am and I have a full day later today. I will be going home for the weekend and won't be writing during that time. I hope you liked this chapter and enjoy it until I can get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Thank you all once again for coming up with chants as I loved them all and am sorry that I can't use them all. What do you think about the question I asked earlier regarding Freya? Want a Freya just like cannon that will do everything she can to get Bell? Or, would you like a Freya that just wants to see Bell and would encourage him to get with Aiz? Sorry if it feels like I'm copying Suahltoh's Soulmate story as I had an idea of something similar in my fic although I will admit he did it way better than I ever could. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will patiently wait until I drop the next one.