Hello and welcome back people. More like I'm back. Anyways, yes, I haven't uploaded in three weeks and that is due to my mistake. I had a plan ... and I fucked it. Real bad. So this chapter was initially completed two weeks ago. I intended to upload it and then explain that I would be taking a break for a week or two since I was going to the beach, where I windsurfed practically every day. For that I didn't pay much attention to the fanfic website and didn't realize that I hadn't uploaded the chapter until two days ago. Really, really sorry for that.

Now unfortunately, my chapters aren't pre-planned so I couldn't simply whip up a second chapter and post both of them to make it up for this. So I extended this chapter as much as possible. Surprisingly I reached around 25k words. Hopefully this will satisfy you a bit. This as the title suggests, is more of a fan service chapter where I delve deeper into the relationships that Bell has with the other girls.

Now for usual notes:

In this chapter I explain the past of a character, which people might find disturbing, however I feel like it adds to the harsh reality that this world presents without actually doing anything to Bell. This concept is further explored, to a certain extent by Bell a bit later in the chapter.

Now perhaps the most relevant change I'm making. The harem.

I decided to remove Loki and make her a sister figure like Kaguya, Airmid and Asfi since they won't be in the harem. Cause let's face it, she doesn't fit the role of mother figure, I might give that role to Hestia.

Instead of her I'm putting Tsubaki, cause I just love the half dwarf. Though that won't mean I will add Hephaestus unfortunately for those who wanted that to happen.

Next thing that I have to explain has to do with Bell. This was pointed out by JaySunset. Yes, it's true, why is Bell blushing? I honestly don't know and realized that I messed up. I'm not used to writing a five year old and can't get into the mind of one. My excuse is that Bell matures faster due to his intelligence. At a certain point I mentioned that he gets used to it, to fix the blushing problem. Once he grows he starts to blush a little again but not a like a tomato like in canon just a light to moderate. As for why he goes from non blushing to blushing as he grows, I'm going to say it's because over the years with Evilus he doesn't have any contact with girls except for Revis for eight years. I could just go back and correct it, but can't be bothered. Sorry for this, but I think it's a minor detail so it can be overlooked.

During the chapter you will get to a point where I present the divine tree, a supposed seedling of the Yggdrasil tree. Now before anyone says anything after they read that section, let me say that I am aware of how it goes in the mythology being a sacred tree that is home to beasts such as nidhogg as well as carrying nine worlds. I only borrowed the name and the concept that it's the tree of the world. The tree is modelled after my imagination.

There are many fictional elements, such as materials and trees. I'm saying this just in case you are confused about some of the things that I mention such as the starry sky tree and etc.

I also made a change in the prologue. Originally it said one level seven, that being Bell. Now there are two. The other level seven attacking Orario with Bell will be an OC character. He is a member of Evilus who managed to reach level seven, other than enhancing the sense that Bell is overpowered he doesn't play any major role.

Edit: I proof read it.

Now enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 5 – The Calm Before The Storm

Bell woke up early in the morning, throwing the sheets off his bed, feeling more energetic than ever before. The memory from yesterday still lingered in his head. At the next Denatus, the Gods were going to bestow him the alias Argonaut and it seemed like a dream coming true to Bell. It would still be two months till then, but he was fine with waiting.

For once in his life Bell made the wise decision to avoid the dungeon for the day and got changed in some casual clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror as he wore a pair of black pants with a white short sleeved shirt.

For today, the rabbit had first scheduled to go to the Guild to announce his level up publicly. Last time someone did it for him, but this time he wanted to be the one delivering his level up news, though it was probably unnecessary as the announcement should already be known to many around after yesterday's shout on behalf of an overeager God. After all there was only one person who could level up to three in the Olympus manor, given that the whole Familia is level four and above.

Bell left his room and reached the massive dining hall of the Olympus manor, while not as huge as that of the palace at Delna, it was still an impressive infrastructure that could house at least five hundred people. As Bell entered he quickly looked around and guessed that there were at least a hundred adventurers in it, which was nearly a tenth of the people living in the manor, without considering the servants and cleaners. The Familia itself consisted of around a thousand adventurers. The rest were probably out somewhere, in the dungeon, shopping or still sleeping.

The Hera Familia also had around the same number of adventurers and like them the whole Familia was level four at minimum. Never before had Orario have these many second and first class adventurers. They were undoubtedly at the prime of their strength, with nearly two hundred level six adventurers as well as a dozen of level sevens and a level eight, the first in all of history. Though it irritated Zeus that the level eight was in Hera's Familia and not his.

The room went quiet as soon as Bell entered before immediately exploding with shouts and cheers. Bell jumped as the life was scared out of him at the sudden uproar, causing many to start laughing, while others kept congratulating Bell for the level up. The startled bunny was then called over by the patron God.

"Bell, it'd be better if you took a break, at least for a day or two."

Bell nodded,

"oh, and after you hand in the level up letter, come back here. There are a few things we need to do."

Most of the fellow members usually left for the dungeon at around seven, so Bell decided to leave with them at seven followed by Zald. Bell chatted with the others until he and Zald had to split off to head down a different street that led to the Guild.

As he was walking Bell realized that he forgot Alfia in his excitement and hadn't met her, who was probably still sleeping since it was her day off. He prayed that no one told Alfia about that else he'd be in deep trouble. Not because she'd be angry, no she could never be angry with the bunny. Besides, he was so excited, Alfia wouldn't blame him, but she'd feel down knowing that he had forgot her.

Bell got lost in his thoughts as he remembered the last time this had happened. The poor girl had locked herself in her room crying, and even after she came out three days later, it took a week for her depression to go away. Though they later discovered that they could have avoided all the trouble by surrendering Bell to her for a day.

Bell didn't notice the time flying by and before he knew it, him and Zald had arrived at the Guild. The first time that Bell had been here with Finn and Gareth he had deflated, confusing the two seniors. Upon asking why he seemed to lose his smile, they only chuckled as Bell answered their question. Bell had expected a beautiful and imposing building that showed that the status of the Guild. Instead he had found a rather plain building that was shorter than most and was distinguished simply by the colourful banners and the large sign that said Guild Hall.

As usual Bell was unimpressed with the building, as he entered with Zald close behind him, he drew the attention of everyone within the hall. Zald then took charge and guided Bell to a counter where a chienthrope was sat at.

"Hey Rehmer, I need your hand."

"Zald? Haven't seen you in a while."

"Bell, this is Rehmer, he was my guild advisor until I got to level six. He started working here at around the age of ten. An year later, he started advising adventurers, one of the people who he was in charge of being me. He advised me for around five years, then I levelled up to six and I stopped needing an advisor."

"Yes, it's been around four years."

Rehmer then got up and leaned over the counter looking down to see a white haired rabbit looking up at him with wide red rubellite eyes. Rehmer was a brown haired chienthrope who looked to be in his twenties.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Bell Cranel."

"Ah, the Snow Hare of the Zeus Familia."

Zald nodded while Bell turned his attention to Zald.

"Uncle Zald, what is a guild advisor?"

"It's a member of the Guild that helps you learn about the dungeon and provides support in case you have any trouble. Usually level fives and sixes tend to stop seeing an advisor, since then they learnt most things and there is nothing for them to learn. They are assigned to you the moment you register as an adventurer, though one can decline the offer. As far as I'm aware the only people who always refuse to have an advisor are those who are in large Familias such as ours or those who are foolish enough to boast about it and die, other than them members of the Freya Familia tend not to have one."

Bell cutely tilted his head to the side,

"why is that? Does Freya not want them to have an advisor."

Then a new voice entered their conversation, catching their attention.

"Not quite boy."

"Auntie Mia!"

Mia chuckled and picked up Bell as her ran up to her, hugging her leg.

"Freya cares a lot for her children, but her children are stubborn, violent and fierce. They fight for her love, and they prove this to her by fighting each other and by becoming stronger. Those idiots feel like they don't need anyone's help. As Zald said, only large Familias such as yours can afford to not have guild advisors since there are many experiences adventurers. Even then both Zeus and Hera encourage them to get an advisor since it's beneficial."

Bell tilted his head again.

"But you, Anya and Ottar don't seem like that."

She looked surprised before chuckling again.

"You met Anya?"

Bell nodded,

"She giggles a lot and always tries to pat my head."

Hearing that caused Mia to laugh.

"Anyways, that's because me and the boy Ottar are different, the two biggest reasons being that: one, we are strong enough to not worry about the others. Second being that we are fine with the love we get from Freya-sama now. Anya herself, isn't very interested in Freya-sama's love. Say have you met a black haired cat person named Allen?"

Bell nodded his head.

"Yes, he scowls a lot. Though he doesn't seem that bad. Last time he kneeled down to look at me and heard him whisper 'Freya-sama's bunny, you look cute.'"

Mia stood there baffled before failing to hold back her laughter.

'Oh Allen, I'mma get you later with this.'

"Well yea, be careful around him, you hear me boy?"

Bell nodded.

Rehmer in the meantime was talking with Zald.

"So, why does he not have an advisor?"

"We kinda forgot? We were so surprised by his strength and progress. Literally every day he'd explore a new floor. We got lost in observing his progress and forgot to assign him one, not that he needed one as we had plenty of people who taught him everything he needed to know. However, we are going to increase our stay in the dungeon now, can't have Bell being the only one getting stronger and levelling up. So, we need someone to teach him instead."

Rehmer nodded,

"though I suppose there is something else?"

Zald nodded and called Bell, who hopped down from Mia's arms. He walked up the counter, Rehmer didn't hesitate to open the side, so he could enter behind the counter. Obviously, that wasn't allowed normally, but who would fault him for not stopping Bell? Besides, he couldn't reach the top of the counter as he was too little. Bell walked up to his side and presented a letter. He read the letter, now being able to confirm the rumours of Bell's level up.

"So it's true, you levelled up again?"

Bell nodded,

"alright, I will take care of that, I'll also see about finding an advisor for you. Do you need anything else?"

Zald shook his head,

"that will be all today, thank you Rehmer. Come on let's go Bell."

Bell nodded and left with Zald, waving at the chienthrope who chuckled seeing the cute waves of the bunny. He then proceeded to post his level up, causing chaos to start brewing in the Guild.

.

"Alright Bell, I will go to the dungeon now. What are you going to do?"

Him, Mia and Bell were now walking down the street.

"Umm, I don't know. Ah! Auntie, can I visit Freya?"

Mia nodded,

"sure, I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you. How about I take you to her?"

"You sure? I can always accompany Bell."

Mia shook her head,

"don't worry Zald, I was free today and I wasn't going to the dungeon anyways, I don't mind spending time with the boy."

Zald thanked Mia and left for the dungeon.

"Alright Bell, let's go and meet Freya-sama."

.

Bell followed Mia who had started heading south of Babel. The walk took nearly an hour, as the walls started to get closer and closer. They were now practically at the end of the city as Bell could even see the southern gate from where he was standing, which greatly confused him, cause last time he checked Freya's home was somewhere else.

"Auntie Mia, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise Bell."

The two turned left just before arriving at a large metal gate. That's where Bell spotted a manor. It was a quarter the size of the Olympus manor, but that was to be expected since they were one of the strongest Familia in existence.

This manor was still impressive, it was two stories high, completely purple with golden details. Above the gate and the main entrance were large metal plates with the symbol of the Familia imprinted on the surface. Looking around Bell noticed that there was a lot of flat grass, which left a lot of space to expand the manor.

"Wow! Did Freya buy a manor?"

Mia nodded,

"Just before your birthday nearly a year ago, Ottar levelled up to five, with that our Familia rank went up to A, since I'm level six, Ottar is level five and we have a bunch of level fours and threes. We decided to save up and recently we were able to afford to buy this land and build the manor on it. Freya-sama named it Folkvangr."

Bell was entranced by the manor while Mia kept walking,

"come on Bell, let's meet with Freya-sama."

Bell nodded and followed Mia into the manor. Like all manors, it was guarded but unusually, the guards wore purple and golden armour, which comprised of helmets, chest plates and pauldrons. This was unusual as the original armour used to be jet black, which Bell personally didn't like, they felt scary. For that reason Freya considered changing the colour scheme several times and had now replaced them with a purple and golden coloured pattern instead.

Mia led Bell through the manor, across its wide and tall hallways, large windows were situated on the side of the endless wall allowing light to enter. Like outside, the inside had purple walls with golden decorations and a long purple carpet that covered the whole purple stone floor.

Soon they reached the biggest double doors that Bell had seen in the whole manor. Bigger than even the main entrance's door. Both doors had a large golden Familia symbol placed over the surface. Mia then went up and knocked once, before opening the doors as the mellow voice of a woman came from inside.

The room was enormous and had a carpet going from the entrance to the centre of the room, laid out in between the large purple pillars that supported the room. At the centre was an elevated throne on which Freya was sitting on. Freya looked at Mia but jumped when her eyes moved down saw Bell behind her, who ran up to her and hugged her leg like he had done with Mia.

"B-Bell, you're back, w-why are you here?"

Her voice squeaked,

"hmm, you don't want me here?"

Bell asked with tilt of his head, a sad glint being present in his eyes, which needless to say, nearly broke her heart.

"N-no, no, no. I am just surprised Bell, didn't expect you here. Well why don't we go to my room."

Freya got up and walked down the steps that led to her throne with Bell close behind. She then moved around the throne to the end of the room where there was another set of double doors. Opening it, a lavish room came into view. It had a large queen sized bed, a desk and a large wardrobe, it also seemed to have a huge bathroom connected to her room. While Bell looked around the room in amazement Freya turned to Mia and whispered.

"Mia! Why didn't you tell me that Bell was with you."

"Just wanted to see your reaction Kami-sama."

Freya pouted,

"I would have at least gotten ready."

"My apologies, I shall leave him to you then."

Freya nodded and dismissed her. Bell then turned back to her as she went to sit on the side of her bed. Freya looked at Bell and patted the spot next to her. The little adventurer went up to the bed and jumped up onto the bed, settling down next to the Goddess.

"What brings you here today Bell?"

Bell shrugged,

"Zeus advised to avoid the dungeon for today and if Alfia saw me this morning then she'd probably tell me to take a break as well."

"Did something happen yesterday?"

"Yes! Actually yesterday I beat the Goliath!"

Freya short circuited, not because he fought the Goliath nor because he defeated it but because he was allowed to do that. Someone had allowed the bunny to go against such a dangerous opponent.

"Alfia allowed that?!"

Bell nodded,

"Zald and Maxim convinced her to let me do that."

"Wait, that means you levelled up again?"

He nodded and rose three of his fingers on his right hand.

"Yes! I'm level three."

She sighed pulling him into a hug. She was happy that he had levelled up, glad that he was safe, but she was equally worried. She knew that he'd take on bigger threats, he'd have her worried anytime he went to the dungeon now.

"Other than that I just felt like seeing you."

Though there wasn't any special meaning behind the words, Freya didn't care, she felt like melting.

"Ah, Bell I love you."

Bell giggled,

"me too."

Again Freya knew that he didn't mean it that way, but she still decided to indulge herself in her head. Imagining all the things she would do with him in the future.

"I also like the new armour that your Familia has. I found the black one scary."

Freya giggled,

"is that so? I'm happy you like it."

It made her happy, but she wouldn't tell him that she did it for him. For some reason she felt embarrassed.

'Fufufu, to think that I'd feel jealousy, embarrassment and shyness just for this … no, my little bunny. To make me experience so many new emotions, you really are my Odr.'

"I should probably head back. Zeus wanted to do something."

Freya pouted but hesitantly let go of the warm bunny.

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

Bell shook his head. He got up and kissed Freya on the cheek

"Don't worry Freya, I'll be fine."

Freya was left there with the biggest blush of her immortal life, her mouth agape, not able to utter a word. Her mind had completely shut down. Minutes passed by and slowly but steadily, Freya managed to regain control of her mind,

'to think a gesture as simple as a kiss on the cheek would nearly knock me out. Ah, I just love you too much Bell~'

.

Bell walked back to the manor and headed to Zeus' office. As he entered Zeus looked up from his desk only for him to tell Bell to meet Alfia first with a tired sigh. Apparently she locked herself up in her room again when she heard that Bell left with Zald. She had been forgotten again, or so was her thought.

Bell travelled through the large manor and found his way to the room next to his. He walked to the door and gently knocked. He waited a for a bit but was met with only silence. Bell knocked again, but no sound came from within the room.

"Alfia, it's Bell."

As he said that he immediately heard shuffling and the sound of someone running around inside the room, then silence again. Bell waited until there was a metallic click and the door opened just a little. Through the open slit Bell could only see a little of Alfia's face, but her eyes were a little puffy.

"Hey Bell, you needed something?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you sulk."

Alfia panicked,

"what are you talking about Bell, I was just reading in silence, I didn't want to be disturbed, course I always have time for you."

"Alfia, I am aware that whenever you feel like I forgot about you, you lock yourself in the room and sulk."

"What?"

'awawawa'

Alfia's face went red in embarrassment as her mind went blank. She thought that she had kept it a secret, but apparently Bell knew all along.

"Since when did you know?"

"Since the first time it happened?"

Alfia felt like fainting, this was the worst thing that could happen, it meant that for the last dozen time she did it, he was aware. She let go of the door and retreated back deeper in the room, her arms limp at her side. Seeing her go back inside, Bell decided to follow in and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. Alfia slumped down on the bed, laying on her back facing the ceiling, not being able to meet Bell's eyes.

"What's the matter Alfia?"

"You think I'm weird right? The way I act, simply because I feel like you're forgetting me. Obviously you have other things to do, I know that you're not actually forgetting me. I'm always trying to have you to myself, it's just, it's jus-."

Bell climbed on the bed and jumped on Alfia, surprising as he rested his face against hers and slowly pushed his cheek against hers, his tiny arms wrapping around her neck. Alfia was slightly sniffing as the tears threatened to spill out, she didn't know what to do so she simply hugged his small body. Alfia seemingly calmed down as Bell placed his lips on her cheek for a minute, giving her a long kiss before resting his face in between her neck and shoulder.

"That's not weird, at least not for me. Everyone has different ways to express themselves. You just want me to pay more attention to you. I can do that."

Alfia felt her body warmed up, while her tears ran down her face but happily smiled. She tightly embraced Bell and rested her face on his fluffy white locks. The feeling of Bell's small chest pressed against hers made her more aware of the close proximity, making her blush, though she did enjoy the fuzzy feeling in her chest as much as she enjoyed being pressed up against Bell, sharing a moment alone with him.

.

Bell was now back in Zeus' room sat on the lap of a beautifully smiling Alfia, who happily played with the locks of his hair. The God was always amazed by how Bell could make Alfia do a complete one eighty, he was curious how it happened but decided to just drop it. As long as there wasn't an angry Alfia blowing up buildings and punching people, everything was fine.

"Bell, I'm sure that Maxim has talked to you about your weapon, right?"

Bell put a finger on his chin and thought, Alfia behind him shuddered at the cuteness of Bell's thinking position but quickly calmed down, going back to playing with his hair.

"Not really, but I do remember him talking a lot about my weapon breaking."

Zeus nodded,

"well, yeah that's the gist of it. The problem is that you keep breaking your weapon, mostly due to that skill of yours. So, in order to fix that, as well as a present for your level up, we decided to get you a durandal class weapon."

Bell jumped down but was swiftly grabbed by Alfia and lifted back up on her lap.

"Yes, however it is a very special weapon, you'll firstly have to go and pick it up from Goibniu and then take it to Hephaestus for its final touches."

Bell nodded and turned to Alfia, who knew that she couldn't stop the bunny.

"Yes, yes, you can go now, however … I'm coming with you."

Knowing there was no point in arguing either, not that he minded in the first place, Bell took her hand and dragged her out, wanting to see his new weapon as soon as possible. Alfia followed behind looking all excited and happy as she held onto Bell's hand.

.

As the pair walked down the streets, they easily drew everyone's eyes. Most women looked at Bell while the men all looked at Alfia, for one particular reason. For the first time that they could remember, they watched as Alfia walked down the street in a new white and green dress, her hair up in a ponytail that had a braided crown going around her head. A beautiful smile adorned her face and her eyes were wide open for everyone to see her stunning pair of heterochromatic eyes.

A Goddess. Like Riveria and Europa, Alfia was a women said to rival the beauty of even the most appealing Goddesses. Many hearts were completely enraptured in that second and had she not been known to turn down all proposals, many would try it now, but nearly half of Gekai, ranging from regular men to Kings, had already been turned down.

Europa was in a similar situation, so were Astraea and Freya, after all, before being Goddesses they were women, though all three turned down the proposals like Alfia, one of them wasn't interested in romance, while the two Goddesses secretly harboured feelings for someone else.

Riveria though was saved by her royal elven lineage. Anyone who wasn't an elf and approached her was hunted down by the elves, while any elf that wasn't a high-elf would never attempt to propose out of respect and loyalty, to the exception of an annoying light elf from the Freya Familia and luckily for Riveria, there are no high-elves other than her in the city.

The only occasional headaches she gets are from her father's letters where he demands her to return whilst also trying to set up an engagement for her. He had nearly twenty different high-elves handpicked for her. Obviously, she always refused and disregarded anything he says, not even bothering with replying.

Back to Alfia, she was humming and was close to start skipping, though she refrained because it would be embarrassing and it would make holding Bell's hand difficult since he was rather short. Hand in hand, the two slowly walked to the Goibniu Familia's forges, after Alfia convinced Bell to go slowly, so she could spend more time with him, after all, the sword wouldn't go anywhere.

Arriving at a large simple stone building, they looked at the sign hanging above the entrance, the symbol of the Goibniu Familia imprinted on it. Both Hephaestus and Goibniu owned multiple buildings, one which acted as the Familia home, one which contained all the workshops and forges and finally were the branch stores located all over the place, even outside of Orario in some cases, though those within Babel are the most popular ones to sell their equipment, right now however, Bell and Alfia were at the forges.

They entered, finding themselves in a large hall. On the opposite side was a long desk with a clerk sat behind it. Further behind the desk, the building extended into a long corridor with multiple doors, each one being the workstation of a different person. At the end of said corridor was a much larger door, clearly the workshop and forge that belonged to Goibniu.

"Welcome, how can I- Alfia-sama!"

The girl behind the desk panicked at seeing a level six executive of the Hera Familia, finding mild comfort in seeing Bell holding her hand. Though she noticed the unusual good mood of the adventurer as well as her beautiful smile, she had witnessed her wrath in the past and it terrorized her.

"We're here for Bell's weapon. Zeus said to meet with Kami Goibniu."

The clerk was sweating bullets, afraid of offending the first class adventurer despite her bright smile. Thankfully, she was saved by her patron God as Goibniu himself came up to the front to greet the two adventurers.

"What a pleasure to see you Alfia and of course little Bell as well."

"Likewise Goibniu-sama."

The two replied in unison giving the Gog a slight bow. He then motioned them to follow him.

"Come, the sword that Zeus has ordered for you little rabbit is ready."

The two passed by the clerk who slumped down on the desk and followed the God across the hallway straight to his workstation. Placed on an anvil was a long covered object.

"Zeus has made quite the order this time. A sword made out of durandal and mithril, to give it the unbreakable trait and the ability to channel magic. First time I ever had to build a blade like this."

"Bell does require something of special as the other weapons he used, well, they didn't make it past two months before breaking, to the exception of the mithril knife."

The God laughed.

"Then it's a good thing I made this one for you."

Bell's eyes glowed with excitement making the God and Alfia chuckle. Goibniu went up the covered object and removed the cloth over it, revealing a breath taking blade. It was a long katana with a silver white hilt, like traditional katanas it's hilt was wrapped around with a red strap, forming the classical diamond shaped gaps.

The handguard was made from the shape of three overlapping lightning bolts, which bound together formed a six pointed star. Between the handguard and the blade it had a snow white blade collar. The blade started with a rubellite red colour and gradually diffused into a jet black blade as it reached the tip. The scabbard having an identical colour pattern as the blade, only difference being the white sakura petals and golden dragons that adorned the scabbard from top to bottom. At the top of the scabbard before the handguard, was the golden imprinted symbol of the Zeus and Hera Familias.

(A/N: Not the best at making descriptions as you might have noticed when I described the dresses for Riveria and Alfia. Make your imagination spin, picture it however you want.)

Bell stared in awe at the beauty of the blade. Even Alfia looked at it with amazement, she had never seen a weapon like this one. Goibniu, who stood beside the anvil, stood proudly at the side satisfied with their reactions, as this must have been his best creation yet.

"Like Zeus asked I made a Far Eastern blade. It is supposed to be called a tachi with the blade actually being slightly longer than traditional, reaching around a hundred celches in length, adding the hilt, then it would reach a hundred ten celches. This is by far the best weapon I've made as far as I can remember. The finishing touches will be done by Hephaestus, but how about testing the blade itself before going?"

He was curious to see the bunny swinging the long blade, but at the same time he realized it'd be a bit difficult, Bell himself seemed to be around a hundred fifteen celches tall, which was rather tall for a five year old boy, but he was barely taller than the whole sword.

However, Goibniu recognized that this was meant to be a weapon that Bell would keep on using even in the distant future. It would just require a bit of time for Bell to grow taller for him to get comfortable with the sword.

Bell turned to the God and nodded, he gently grabbed the hilt and lifted the tachi in the air. Obviously the sword was no heavier than a feather to him given his level three status, but as he grabbed he realized that it would be a bit hard to get used to the balance, considering the ratio of proportions between the blade and his own body.

Luckily, Bell was known to be like Alfia, a talent monster, who could learn and adapt nearly instantly to any given situation. Sheathing the blade, Bell carried the sword as he was led to the backyard of the building. It was a large green backyard that was used to test weapons. Mannequins and targets were all over the place.

The three entered and noticed that there were many people already there, other smiths of the Familia testing their creations. Seeing their God entering they all bowed and greeted him. The smiths looked surprised at the presence of Alfia and Bell, but mostly eyeing the sword in Bell's hand. They had heard of the order that Zeus had placed and they watched in wonder as the God worked on the piece. Now they were all curious to see the masterpiece that their patron God had crafted. Though looking at the scabbard alone had already mesmerized them.

"Everyone make space, Bell here will be swinging the sword a bit."

Some of the smiths were surprised that the sword was meant to be for the kid, of course he was well known and shouldn't have a problem swinging a sword that large with his falna and he did walk out carrying the sword in his hands which should have dropped a hint but it still surprised them that it wasn't for someone like Alfia.

Goibniu nodded at Bell, signalling him to go on. The rabbit walked to the centre of the backyard, in front of him at half a meder's distance were ten dummies. Bell unsheathed the blade, a choir of impressed sounds was made as the blade shone under the sun.

Bell gently placed the sheath down on the ground and got into a regular stance which was called 'seigan no kamae,' in the Far East. He took a deep breath in and uttered two words.

"Awaken thunder."

Bell had never seen what the spell actually did so he wasn't sure what to expect, since last time it lasted a second before immediately unleashing it on the Goliath. His body was enveloped in white lightning, as lightning bolts swirled and danced around his whole body from head to toe, he also felt his strength increasing. Being a mithril blade, the sword also was affected and had lightning bolts surge over the surface of the blade.

The others stared, stunned by the demonstration of the lightning enchantment. Alfia too looked astounded since she, like Bell, never actually saw the spell in action. Bell then raised the blade and with one smooth slash from left to right, he decapitated all the dummies, he then proceeded to perform a simple combo of consecutive moves. Bell realized that the enchantment had improved not only his strength but also his agility and dexterity.

Every time he swung, Bell would leave bright red and black arcs behind, together with the visible residual of the white lightnings from his enchantment that sparked in the air for a short while before dissipating. Grabbing the scabbard, the blade made spun making a full rotation and returned into the scabbard.

Bell put the sword down and proceed to run up to Goibniu, hugging the God, much to the surprise of everyone, though Bell was known to be respectful he was also carefree with Gods and Goddesses. He looked up with a bright smile and thanked the God.

"Thank you so much Goibniu-sama for this amazing sword! I love it, I swear to take good care of it!"

Goibniu laughed heartily and ruffled his hair.

"Make sure you take great care of it Bell. It is my pride and I hope that it will serve you well. Now scurry off to Hephaestus, otherwise the sword won't be complete."

Bell nodded and detached himself from the God before grabbing the sword and strapping it to his back. The sword now rested slanted on his back, with the hilt protruding from behind his right shoulder. Bell slipped his hand into Alfia's, getting a giggle from Alfia, and after the two thanked the God again, they left the building heading towards Babel.

Unlike Goibniu, Hephaestus preferred staying over in the office she had in Babel instead of her own Familia home, or the workshops. She stayed over so much that she went as far as to have a small personal forge built connected to her office.

Whilst walking Bell and Alfia stopped by a food stand and grabbed a jagamarukun before resuming their path. As they kept moving, Alfia would take a glance at Bell every so often and internally coo at the sight of Bell nibbling on the jagamarukun he held with one hand, like a rabbit would with his carrot, while the other held onto hers.

She gently squeezed his hand, basking in the warm feeling of his soft little hand that she wrapped with her own hand. As Bell finished his jagamarukun Bell let go of her hand, surprising Alfia as she felt the heavenly sensation fading. She wasn't paying attention to anything as she was on cloud nine, so it took her by surprise. Her shocked face turned to look at Bell simply going to a trash can, much to her embarrassment.

She stood there watching Bell go when suddenly someone tall and burly bumped into him, but weirdly, or not, depending by whose view it was, the person who fell to their backside was the person that crashed into Bell.

Alfia, who looked softly at the rabbit from the place she was standing from, had a sudden tick mark grow on her forehead as her eye twitched in anger. Whilst Bell seemed unfazed it was still unacceptable to her, but Bell wouldn't want to see her mad, so Alfia had to use every ounce of her willpower to stop herself from stomping up there and slugging the soul of the poor guy who bumped into Bell straight back to Tenkai.

"Sorry sir, I didn't see you."

The guy just waved it off.

"Ah Bell, don't worry about it, I was the one who crashed into you."

Alfia on her side was still trying to hold herself back.

'Don't slug him, don't slug him, don't … slug him. Think about Bell. Think about Bell.'

Though that didn't work as she saw the image of someone bumping into him. Luckily for the guy, who was unaware of the imminent danger, Bell, soon returned back to Alfia taking away her attention from the accident in an instant.

"Bell! Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Did you get scratched? Bruised? Should I just punch him already? I should kill him, right? Do you need a potion? Do you want to go to Dian Cecht?"

Bell smiled and placed his hand back into the palm of hers, calming her down.

"You worry too much! Let's go to Hephaestus, I want to get the complete sword as soon as possible!"

She smiled back at Bell and set on just enjoying the time she had with him, the two soon went back to walking towards Babel. The two arrived at the tower boarded a floating platform going up to the eighth floor of Babel.

They knocked on the golden framed red door. Hearing a voice coming from inside telling them to enter, the two opened the door and went in. The room was a large office, with the wall opposite of the door being actually a whole window. At the end of the room before the window wall, was a long antique desk, with a red haired one eyed Goddess sat on a velvet red chair behind the desk. Said Goddess looked up and smiled at the two guests.

"Alfia, you're looking good, better than ever actually."

Alfia did a small bow,

"thank you Hephaestus-sama, you seem to be doing well. As for me, well, I suppose that I'm happier than ever today, though that's only because of him."

Alfia pointed at the white haired boy next to her, prompting the Goddess to turn to Bell.

"So you're the famous rabbit, I might be the only person in Orario who has never seen you actually and my, you really look like a bunny, just as cute as well."

Bell bowed to the Goddess and thanked her. One thing that Alfia did notice was that Bell had no apparent blush. Perhaps he was getting accustomed to women due to her and Riveria. He did see them naked a handful of times already.

"Thank you, my name is Bell, Bell Cranel."

"Well Bell, show me the sword that you brought here. I'll add the finishing touches."

Bell nodded and undid the strap holding the sword attached to Bell's back and placed it on Hephaestus' desk. She inspected the sword and seemed impressed with it.

"Gotta give it to Goibniu, this is certainly quite the masterpiece. I don't think I could manage anything like this."

The Goddess of the forge then turned back to Bell.

"Has Goibniu told you what's so special about this blade?"

Bell nodded,

"that it's made using durandal and mithril."

The red haired Goddess raised an eyebrow at that.

"That's all?"

Getting a nod from Bell and Alfia, she sighed.

"Zeus and Goibniu, those old geezers. This sword is much more than just that. It's a living weapon, something that has never been made before. Other than the durandal and mithril, the blade was made using the blood and hair from Zeus, Hera and your hair as well Bell."

Alfia and Bell looked completely taken aback. Come to think of it, Bell could remember that the day he levelled up, Zeus did pluck a hair out from his head, much to his protest.

"Now, the only thing that is left is the enchantment and I will need a drop of your blood Bell. After that you will have to go to Zeus and have it bound to your soul with a status update."

Bell looked ecstatic and probably couldn't wait to swing the blade around, much to the exasperation of Alfia, cursing his battle junkiness.

"I probably won't be done for a while, how about you go and have a walk around, maybe lunch and come back in a couple of hours?"

The two nodded and thanked the Goddess before going back down the tower, leaving the sword with Hephaestus. The two stood in the plaza before Babel near the entrance to the dungeon. The place was filled with people, mostly rookie adventurers who, exploring only the first ten floors, decided to come back to the surface for a lunch break. Alfia turned to look down to her right side where her hand was as she felt Bell tugging at her hand.

"Alfia, let's go to that place!"

Alfia only gave him a confused look, tilting her head slightly.

"That tasty restaurant, how was it called? Ah yes, the Ox Steakhouse!"

Alfia giggled, Bell just loved a good old juicy steak. She remembered the first time they went there a year ago. Bell had devoured a huge steak, she remembers how he immediately took out a small notebook and wrote down the place between his favourites.

.

The Ox Steakhouse owned two stories of the building it was located in and had a large balcony on the second floor that could accommodate at least five tables. Recognising Alfia and Bell, they were obviously treated to the best place. This was for three reasons: one, because they were good patrons of the restaurants, two, to maintain their relationship and three, to obtain Bell's favour. It was known that business like restaurants and food stands often battled for the attention of the rabbit.

The two sat under the sun, overlooking the street from their table. A soft breeze passing by that made Alfia's hair flow with the wind. Alfia noticed Bell looking at her instead of the menu and wondered why that was, though she did appreciate the attention.

"What is it Bell?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing, just thought you are really pretty."

Alfia went beet red,

"t-t-thank you B-Bell."

Soon a waitress came and took their orders before Bell and Alfia turned back to each other and spent time talking until their food arrived. Bell had ordered a large juicy steak like usual, while Alfia went for something lighter, a sandwich along a plate of chicken salad.

While they were eating Bell heard Alfia grunting in anger, so he looked up from his plate to see her scowling. Her face was looking at him, but he could tell that she wasn't mad at him by the direction in which her eyes were looking at. Taking a quick glance back inside the restaurant, he noticed that many of the other male customers were looking at her.

Bell knew very well that Alfia disliked attention just as much as she used to hate sound, mostly if it was due to men being attracted by her. Not that Bell could fault them, after all he was told many times by Hera and Zeus that Alfia was a beauty that rivalled even the most beautiful Goddesses, which would obviously entail unwanted attention.

Bell then slid his hand across the surface of the table and reached for her hand, which got the attention of Alfia. Bell giggled and squeezed his hand. He didn't know what exactly this was meant to do, but Zeus and Hera had instructed him to do this when Alfia was angry or displeased and since it seemed to always work, Bell never questioned the two Gods.

Alfia's expression softened as she looked at Bell's toothy grin. It was as clear as day that he was trying to comfort her by taking her attention off of the stares. She smiled at Bell when she felt his hand squeezing her gently.

"Thank you Bell."

"Hehehe, as Maxim would say, wouldn't want you to blow something up."

Alfia scoffed at the remark,

"besides remember what Grandma Hera said, they are not worthy of you, so don't mind them. Just focus on something else."

Alfia giggled,

"Alright,"

'then if you don't mind I will focus only on you Bell.'

Having finished her dish, Alfia simply spent her time by looking at the cute bunny before her eating the steak, replying whenever he asked a question with an absent minded 'mmh.' Sometimes he'd nibble on the steak to savour the taste, which was incredibly adorable to watch, nearly causing her to faint from the cuteness overload. Moments like these were the reason that she had trained herself to stop her nose from bleeding since it tended to happen often in the past. However, sometimes he really was just too much to handle.

"Alfia-sama, your nose is bleeding."

A waitress passed by and whispered so that only she could hear, notifying her of her reaction. The staff here were all female and trusted by the Zeus and Hera Familia. They were also privy about her and Riveria's feelings for the bunny since they had a talk about it in the restaurant and sometimes asked for tips which the waitresses were happy to give.

Did they think it was weird for Alfia and Riveria to feel that way? No, it was unusual but they wouldn't judge. They believed that love was a beautiful thing that shouldn't be restrained by age or the fact that they were blood related. It's not like they were the first that found themselves in this situation. This is why Alfia and Riveria got along very well with the staff here.

"Crap."

She muttered under her breath as she took a tissue that the waitress passed to her to wipe her nose. She then turned back to Bell but sighed in relief as it seems like he hadn't seen anything, too concentrated on eating the steak in front of him.

After Bell finished his steak and Alfia paid for the tab, the two thanked the staff and left, but not before leaving a large tip, courtesy of Alfia. The two took their time to walk towards Babel, arriving at Hephaestus' office at around two in the afternoon.

.

"You've arrived at just about the right time. I finished the enchantment just now, I only require a drop of your blood Bell and we'll be done."

Bell nodded and grabbed the pin that Hephaestus gave him. He pricked his finger and a drop of his blood fell on the blade of the tachi. That's when Hephaestus, Alfia and Bell witnessed something they had never seen before. Over the blade, the lightning bolt shaped runes, that were carved into the blade, started glowing. The lightning bolts glowed bright blue over the red section of the blade and like the blade, they diffused into a bright white as it reached the black point of the blade.

The pulsating glow from the runes really made it feel like the blade was alive. The runes died down, but started glowing again whenever Bell held the tachi in his hands. Bell looked at the sword, mesmerized by the beauty of it. Alfia was also very interested to see the sword in action.

"Make sure to tell Zeus to bind it to your soul, got it Bell?"

The rabbit nodded,

"alrighty, then you can go."

"Thank you so much Hephaestus-sama!"

Like usual Bell went to hug Hephaestus' waist, drawing a laugh from the Goddess, at the same time it caused Alfia to tilt her head in confusion. She could've swore that Maxim told her that Bell hugged Mia's leg yesterday. Now he was hugging Hephaestus at waist level, now Hephaestus was smaller than Mia by nearly fifteen celches, but it still seemed to much of a difference.

Now that she thought about it, wasn't Bell smaller yesterday? Though she soon dropped the thought thinking that it was probably the effect of the falna forcing a growth spurt like his status, besides, the sooner he grows, the better.

The two then walked back to the Olympus manor and as Alfia expected Bell immediately ran to Zeus' office as soon as he stepped into the manor surprising the guards by the gate. Alfia sighed before following Bell and reaching the door to Zeus' office, where Bell and Zeus were already talking. Currently, in the room were Hera, Europa and Anastasia who had just decided to accompany the captain and Hera.

At Bell's request Zeus updated his falna and successfully bound the weapon to Bell's soul. Zeus took the status sheet and was surprised to see a few points increase, given that Bell hadn't done anything ever since he levelled up and it had been only a day.

"Alright Bell, the sword has been bound to your soul. I'm surprised, even though you haven't done anything today, your status still went up by like two points for each ability."

Bell turned to Zeus,

"the ability really works on overdrive."

Everyone in the room nodded.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day Bell? There are still around four hours before dinner."

Bell turned to Europa with a bright smile.

"Train of course!"

They all sighed in defeat, looking up at the heavens. They had hoped for a different answer but expected it all the same. Then they turned to look back at Bell only to find him gone. They turn away for a second and before anyone knows it, he runs off. They all walked to the window and looked down at the courtyard where the training field was to see Bell already taking practice swings.

'How the heck did he get down there already? We're on floor twenty, the tallest floor in the tower, no of the manor.'

Alfia followed shortly after, having decided to stay by Bell's side, she brought out a book before sitting on a bench. She'd take a peek at Bell swinging the sword every so often before returning to her book with a smile. For nearly five hours Bell trained and practiced, not only with his new tachi but also with his knife and spear. He only stopped when him and Alfia were called over for dinner.

.

The following morning, Zeus together with Hera had gathered, the captains, vice-captains as well as Alfia and Zald in his office at the Olympus manor. They all entered and sat down on as Hera and Zeus were skimming through papers. Seeing that they were all present Zeus cleared his voice and spoke.

"Morning to you all. Today I called you so that we could discuss what we found out about the organization that Bell and the others met in Altena. As you know, I had Hermes investigate into the matter and gave me whatever he managed to gather."

This got the immediate attention of the other six people sitting before him.

"Hermes managed to find a few members and uncovered the presence of the organization here in Orario. He discovered that they indeed have two bases here in Orario, one in the city, one in the dungeon. Aside from that they only have two allies, though we don't know who those two Familias are yet, but my old friend is working on it. Alas, we want you six to head down into the dungeon."

As everyone expected Alfia was the first to get up and protest.

"Why should we all go? I'm sure that we don't need the six strongest members to all go into the dungeon."
"Alfia, each floor of the dungeon is very big, there is a lot to explore and we don't know neither how deep you'd have to venture nor how strong this organization is, sure Bell took care of them. However, we all know that Bell can't be used to gauge the enemy and it was a branch outside of Orario. Here in Orario they might have members that reach level six if not even higher, we can't take risks. And it won't be just the six of you, each of you has been assigned a team of ten. The sixty six of you will have to search from the first floor to the fiftieth if necessary."

Alfia never mentioned it explicitly, but it was obvious that her reason for wanting to stay behind was Bell and it seemed like she grew more worried hearing that nearly seven dozen of them would be going.

"Alfia, we know you're worried about Bell, but he'll be fine. Heck, as he is now he could solo all the way to floor twenty five, take down the amphisbaena and come back safely. Besides, there are many here who can protect him and not only us, but there are also Freya, Loki and Ganesha all ready to jump in head first to save Bell."

Alfia still looked uneasy until Hera jumped.

"And it will benefit both you and Bell."

"How so?"

"Well going into the dungeon will make you stronger. Wouldn't it be safer for Bell if you were stronger? You'd be able to protect him better and if you find their bases it will be easier to destroy them, making it a safer place for everyone, including Bell."

Everyone turned to Alfia as Hera finished speaking and they could've sworn that an exclamation mark had appeared over her head for an instance and her eyes glowed with a fire they had never seen before.

'You've become too easy Alfia.'

The silver haired woman stood up and grabbed both Europa and Anastasia dragging them out before turning to the male adventurers.

"Move it you three, we're going to the dungeon. We're not coming back until we level up and get the location of the enemy base."

She marched out, still dragging Europa and Anastasia with her. Maxim and Flint chuckled before following. Zald sighed and stretched before turning to the Goddess next to Zeus.

"You had to say that."

She shrugged,

"it was too convenient. If it has to do with Bell she'll do anything. Besides, we can't have only Bell getting stronger and Alfia hasn't been in the dungeon for practically two years. If she has it was either for Bell, in which case she only went down to floor twenty at best, or it's because of a quest, which she always rushes in order to get back next to Bell. She has barely gone up by three hundred points in these two years. She might have already reached level seven by now if she hadn't stopped going to the dungeon."

Zald raised an eyebrow,

"how much is she at right now?"

"Has all B's except magic which is at S."

"Tch, she still made more progress than me."

Zeus laughed,

"to be fair, you're not much better than Alfia when it comes to Bell. I remember that one time where he disappeared for a day and you went crazy. Literally tore apart the dungeon only to find that he was with Freya."

Zald looked away a little peeved,

"tch, forget it old man."

"Get moving else Alfia will come here with a gospel at the ready."

Zald shivered and started running making the two Gods laugh before they returned to their duties. Meanwhile, Bell was back on the training field, slashing at invisible enemies. He relentlessly swung the sword with fluent and precise moves.

He only stopped when he was interrupted by the appearance of a black haired woman. She was wearing a black shirt with bright blue trims and a cream coloured skirt that reached down to her thighs. Hanging at her waist was a sword with a silver scabbard and a black hilt. Her long hair was tied in a single long braid. She approached Bell as he sheathed his tachi.

"Hey Bell."

"Morning Alyssa!"

Bell waved and ran up to her, giving her his trademark hug and smile.

"Training this early in the morning?"

He nodded,

"no dungeon today?"

"No, I wanted to visit Loki, Shakti and Astraea. Ah, Alyssa will you spar with me?"

She giggled and nodded, without wasting time, the two took their position and looked at each other.

"Let's see what our Bell can do."

Bell then dashed and charged at Alyssa. She put up her sword and blocked the attack, but was surprised by the strength of Bell. Not expecting the attack Alyssa was blown off her feet and fell back dragging Bell down, who landed with his face planted in her bosom.

"Kya~"

"Sorry Alyssa, are you okay?"

Bell slowly got up and sat on the ground, Alyssa laid on the ground for a while before getting up on her butt.

"Yea, I'm fine, just didn't expect that much strength from you."

"Umm, Maxim did mention that my raw strength is equivalent to a level higher than what my falna says."

She pouted,

"mou, at this rate you're going to surpass me soon."

Bell smiled,

"then I will protect you."

Alyssa stared at Bell taken aback with a slight blush that adorned her face but soon turned into a giggling fit. She grabbed Bell and pulled him back into her bosom, rubbing her face on his white hair.

"You're so adorable Bell. Remember you promised alright? When you get stronger than me you'll protect me. You'll become my beloved hero right?"

Bell nodded enthusiastically.

"Ehehe, you really want to become a hero don't you?"

"Of course, I promised Grandpa Zeus after all."

"Then we must get you all trained up and ready to go."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before separating and helping him up to his feet. The two returned to their initial positions and prepared to spar once again. Like before Bell dashed and Alyssa blocked, without falling this time.

Alyssa side stepped as a slash from Bell came down, before the blade could the ground, the blade rotated changing its direction, the edge pointed at her ankles and sped forward. She jumped up before the blade flawlessly returned into its overhead position striking metal as she blocked the attack.

'As expected of our little prodigy. His technique is phenomenal, his moves are precise and are minimal, not wasting any energy. His strength is also abnormal. Then there's the sword. That Zeus, he really went over the top for that weapon, but it's for Bell so that was to be expected.'

After a while Bell jumped back and pouted at Alyssa, who squealed at the cuteness.

"You're holding back too much."

"But you'll get hurt otherwise."

"I know, but it won't be training otherwise. I won't get stronger if I don't get hurt."

"I suppose you're right. Ready Bell? I'm going to start getting serious."

Bell nodded and took a defensive stance.

"Here I come!"

With greater speed than before she charged at Bell, barely blocking the hit. Bell felt the weight of the strike making his arms tremble. The sword then slid to the right as Alyssa spun around extending her leg. Bell duck down getting his cheek grazed as he wasn't fast enough to dodge it completely, but he smiled. This is what he needed to get stronger.

As the clock indicated that it was eleven in the morning Bell decided to stop and drank the potions that Alyssa gave him to heal himself from the several cuts and bruises that he received during the sparring session with Alyssa. Bell was resting sat on Alyssa's lap, he stretched out and found himself drawn into a hug from behind. Alyssa's head rested on his own, her arms straddling Bell.

"Never change Bell."

"I don't plan to."

She giggled at the certainty in his voice.

"Bell, this world is atrocious and you will have to face many cruelties."

Bell noticed the seriousness in her voice.

"No matter what happens, promise me you won't change. No one would want that. Not me, not Alfia, Europa, Zald, Zeus or Hera. Make sure that you become the hero that this world needs."

Bell nodded and leaned back, resting his head on her bust while she turned her face and rested her cheek over his fluffy hair, still holding onto him tightly. The two stayed there for a while, sat in the backyard, basking in the rays of the sun without moving.

"Alyssa? Why did you become an adventurer and join Grandma Hera?"

"Are you sure you want to hear it Bell? It is a horrible story."

Bell nodded regardless.

"I joined ten years ago after my village was wiped out. It was a sunny day when we were attacked. Not by monsters, but by people, bandits. The sunny blue sky quickly turned red and cloudy. Fires sprung all over the place as people were cut down. My sister quickly hid me in a hatch under the dining table. Through the gaps I could see the bandits breach through the door, they killed my father and ripped the clothes off my mother and sister, raping them while I hid under the hatch. They kept going for two days, then once they were done, they killed them, dropping the dead bodies there on the ground. For two days they suffered at the hands of those savages. The bandits though didn't seem to want to leave, I was starving, not having eaten anything for two days, that's when I heard the sound of fighting. Hera-sama passed by and seeing the inhumane savagery she decided to avenge the villagers. I ran out and when she found me she offered me a place in her Familia, so I joined them."

Bell had turned around and tightly embraced Alyssa who sobbed. Bell was used to it, he had went around asking the same questions to many members in his Familia, majority of the stories weren't pretty. The first one which was from Zald had caused him to faint, the second one from Anastasia made him tear up like a fountain. Eventually he heard so many that he became accustomed to them, but he never stopped feeling bad about it.

Bell gently caressed Alyssa's back as she kept on sobbing, holding onto the rabbit for comfort. Eventually noon approached and the two separated, deciding to head out and eat something. They walked down the southern main street and as usual the place was filled with people, the smile had returned on Alyssa's face as she held onto Bell's small hand, to avoid getting lost.

A few minutes later Alyssa felt her hand move up and down, catching her attention. She turned her head and saw an adorable sight that made her coo. Bell wanted to see if there were any interesting places but since he was so short his sight was blocked leading to him jumping up trying to look over the shoulder of the people around him.

Alyssa kept on giggling as she pulled Bell's hand, dragging Bell close to her. Bell looked at the giggling Alyssa wondering why she had just pulled him towards before her hands went on his hips and was lifted up into the air. Alyssa then deposited Bell on her shoulders and moved her hands to his legs, to make sure he doesn't fall off while Bell wrapped his arms around Alyssa's head.

"Woah, you're so tall, I can see everything."

Alyssa giggled with mirth.

"So have you found a place for us to eat?"

Bell put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun whilst looking around until he spotted a café that attracted his attention.

"There!"

Following the short finger of Bell, she saw the building that Bell was pointing at. An establishment that easily stood out, most buildings were either made of simple wood with special magically enchanted clay, bricks or stone. The more luxurious ones being made with marble or other high class materials.

This one however, was made out of a black glass like rock material that she heard Bell call onyx obsidian, which caught her attention, Bell somehow always knew the weirdest of information. However, hearing the name obsidian confused her, as she was aware that obsidian was a strong material, but she didn't understand how they'd use it to make a building. The material was not malleable, it shattered and was incredibly sharp, making it dangerous, reason why it is used to make arrowheads.

"Bell what exactly is onyx obsidian? Cause I'm pretty sure that you don't make anything other than weapons out of obsidian, if not something of ornamental."

Bell had a glint in his eyes hearing the question,

'oh Hera, is he going to turn professor mode on me?'

Indeed he was and when he did, everyone doubted and speculated about Bell's age.

"Glad you asked Alyssa-chan. As you know obsidian is a natural volcanic glass, that forms when the lava from a volcano rapidly cools off with minimal crystal growth within its structure. While it is quite hard it is but glass, as such it is brittle and can easily shatter. However, it is great to use for arrowheads as it's nearly three times sharper than even diamond."

Alyssa looked amused at Bell's sudden change. He was taking a little too much from Riveria. Though as long as he didn't become as strict as her it'd probably be fine. Probably.

"Now, as for the onyx obsidian. It is a material which is made by the magical enchantment of black obsidian using a special magic item. Through this process the obsidian's endurance is greatly increased and it's structure altered in a way that it can be used to be shaped into objects without breaking or shattering. It also completely changes the effect that weathering has on the obsidian, nearly nullifying the negative effect of weathering on the material. It becomes a great material but it is obviously hard to come by and expensive. Which is why I'm really interested in seeing this café that is mostly made out of this material, floor, ceiling and walls."

Alyssa giggled when Bell said the last sentence, as his wise and professional aura and impression completely crumbled as he turned back into an excited five year old boy, expressing his desire to sate his curiosity.

(A/N: Clearly, I am not a geologist so whatever is written there is whatever I could come up with. If it's wrong, well you can sue me, I don't care. As for the Onyx Obsidian it is obviously made up, a fictional material of the world of my fanfic. What is the point? I don't know, just to add to the story and Bell's character.)

Alyssa didn't know what was so interesting but Bell tended to get pretty weird sometimes, taking interest in the most unusual things. Either way she decided to play along with Bell and headed towards the café, with the bunny still on her shoulders.

'Café Obsidian'

Alyssa looked at sign hanging from the wall.

'Ain't that an original name.'

The two sat down and having placed their order it left Alyssa admiring the cuteness of Bell as he looked around and examined the wall. After that she hung out with Bell, following him around for a couple of hours until they passed by the Guild. There was a commotion as adventurers gathered around. In the hall of the Guild laid a few dead bodies and a couple of people with injuries that ranged from mild cuts to severed limbs.

"Alyssa-san!"

A guild member called out to the black haired girl, running up to the duo.

"What's going on?"

"A large group of enhanced monsters seemed to have made their way up from the lower floors to the upper floors. We need a high levelled adventurer for this emergency."

Alyssa nodded and looked back at Bell.

"Bell you've been ordered to take a rest for a while longer, so how about you return to the manor. Though maybe I should accompany you back?"

Bell pouted at her unnecessary concern.

"Alyssa, I'm level three, I can handle myself. I'll head back to the manor without a problem."

Alyssa stared at him, Bell could still feel the uncertainty until someone spoke up.

"If you want I'll look over him for a bit."

They turned to the trickster Goddess walking up them.

"Loki. That's perfect, you haven't seen Loki in a while, right?"

Bell nodded,

"thank you Loki."

She simply waved it off.

"Haven't had a chance to talk to Bell since he levelled up and Finn, Gareth and Riveria really want to see him. Mostly Riveria."

Alyssa giggled and thanked her again before taking off at lightning speed. The monsters that had wondered up probably wouldn't be there in a few minutes. Seeing her vanish the red haired Goddess turned back to the bunny beside her.

"Were you on a date with Alyssa?"

Bell tilted his head and looked at Loki with a confused look.

"What's a date?"

"Oh, umm, it's another word for outing, but you only do it with people who are close to you and you greatly care about."

Thinking about what she had just said Loki sweat dropped lightly.

'This might lead to problems. I'll have to apologize to Riveria and hope she doesn't roast me nor freeze me for giving him such a basic explanation. Not that it will be an explanation in her eyes. Heh.'

"Then next time I'll ask Riveria on a date!"

'Or maybe not. You better thank me Riv-chan! I just got you a date. Hehe!'

Loki decided to act as if it was normal and changed the subject.

"Wanna come to my Familia home?"

"Kinda felt like getting a jagamarukun."

She chuckled and nodded,

"jagamarukun it is then. Come on, I know a good one."

Bell then followed Loki around the city until they arrived in a large avenue. The two had passed a few jagamarukun stands while walking but Loki clearly had one in mind as she simply ignored those and had Bell follow her. Eventually Loki looked up and sniffed, a quiet 'ah' escaping her lips, clearly having sniffed the intended target.

Sure enough, the stand that Bell arrived at was bigger than the other ones, with a bold and colorful design which was very eye catching. Loki walked up to the vendor and ordered two jagamarukuns, but when Bell asked what flavor Loki simply said that it was a surprise.

Bell continued to eye Loki suspiciously whilst waiting for their order to be ready. His attention, however, was snuffed by someone else as he felt a finger gently tapping his shoulder. Bell turned around and raised his head to meet the gaze of a blushing and fidgeting … Shakti?

Bell had always seen her as a confident and authoritative entity which established law and order. As such, seeing her acting more like Alfia was quite unusual. Though he had heard that Alfia was rather similar to Shakti before he was born, supposedly, she was much fiercer and much more violent. Now it was happening to Shakti as well. Was it his fault?

"H-hey Bell. Haven't seen you around lately."

Bell tilted his head.

"It's only been a couple of days though?"

Shakti looked surprised as if she hadn't noticed at all.

"I-I suppose. I just wanted to see you."

Loki giggled from behind Bell.

"Ah, how another one has fallen before the mighty charm of the bunny."

Bell turned at her and looked at her with a confused tilt of the head, while Shakti burst into a tomato waving her hands.

"Loki-sama, don't say that in front of him."

"Don't worry he's as dense as a brick. Gotta give it to him though, he's five. You and the other ladies need to give a bit of time to grow."

Shakti could only hide her beet red face with her hands whilst Bell looked at the two with a thoughtful face, scratching his chin. Luckily for Shakti the vendor interrupted them as he delivered the orders of Loki.

The Goddess took them and paid before handing one to Bell. The bunny looked at the golden piece of jagamarukun in his hand. He looked back at Shakti and Loki, who looked back at him expectantly. Bell shrugged and proceeded to take a bite of the potato puff. The breading was perfectly crispy, inside the potato puff was actually wrapped with strips of bacon which was absolutely delicious.

Bell smiled in glee much to the appreciation of every lady that was observing the renowned bunny, attentively observing the cutest facial reaction of the boy. The ladies promptly squealed whilst observing the bunny. Loki was smiling before turning back Shakti who was covering her mouth and nose.

"You gud?"

"This is dangerous. The cuteness is otherworldly. The overload could kill someone."

Loki burst laughing, knowing how true that statement was. Shakti nearly jumped as she felt a supple hand grabbing hers. She looked down and saw Bell holding her hand with a dangerously bright smile.

"Can you walk around with me onee-chan?"

Loki looked at Shakti and was prepared to catch her in case she fainted. Shakti on her side looked behind, Ilta was there holding her thumbs up at her. Shakti nodded at her conveying her thanks before turning back to Bell.

"Sure, I can spare some time."

"Yay!"

So the group of three started walking around but that was soon foiled by a groan originating from Bell.

"Umm? Be- hiiii!"

'So cuteeee!'

Shakti had turned to look at Bell who was now pouting. Oh how she wanted to lunge at him and straddle him but she'd get arrested by her own Familia for assaulting a child. So with the last vestige of her pride she restrained her inner desire.

"It's so annoying that I'm so small, I can't see anything."

Shakti began giggling before a light bulb lit up in her brain. There was something that she had always wanted to try.

"S-say B-Bell. Want me t-to carry you?"

Bell suddenly turned and smiled brightly.

"Really?!"

She nodded and crouched down as Bell jumped onto her shoulders, wrapping his slender arms around Shakti's head. She stood back up and giggled again as she heard Bell, seemingly satisfied.

"You're so tall onee-chan. This is great!"

With that problem out of the way, the group of three continued their trek walking around the city. Shakti glanced up and looked at Bell, his gaze being concentrated on the people.

"What's on your mind Bell?"

"I was just thinking how peaceful it is. Isn't it great to watch the people going about their day with a happy smile?"

Shakti smiled lovingly at the kindness and purity of the bunny sitting on her shoulders.

"Hmm. It is, this is why I joined Ganesha-sama's Familia. He is the God of the masses. His goal is to become a sort of force that will ensure law and order in the city. I also like to see this peace and wish to maintain it. That is why I want to get stronger. That and my sister."

Bell slightly straightened as if remembering something.

"Oh right, speaking of which, you still haven't presented your sister to me. You said she's called Ardee and that she'd be around my age now. We could go to the dungeon together!"

Loki who stood beside Shakti turned to see a bead of sweat slowly trailing down Shakti's face.

"Bell? Have people ever told you that you're unusual?"

"Unusual? Weird? Insane? Yea, there is a wide range to select from."

Shakti laughed nervously,

"yea, Bell. People don't normally enter the dungeon at five years old and they certainly aren't level three. You really shouldn't use your own standards on other people, no matter what it is."

"Umm, alright, though I still don't get why?"

"Y-yea, d-don't mind it Bell. J-just don't m-mind it."

Loki simply looked the other way whistling without a care in the world, only hoping to avoid being included in that conversation. Shakti briefly looked at the sky darkening to an orange shade.

"Time really flies. Sorry Bell but it seems like our time is up, I have to get back to patrolling otherwise I won't hear the end of it from Ilta."

Bell nodded and quickly hopped off her shoulders.

"Bye Bell. Please take care of him Loki-sama."

Loki straightened and brought her hand to her head in a military salute.

"Don't worry captain! I'll look after the bunny!"

Bell giggled seeing Loki being herself. The two waved at her as she left them and headed towards babel. Now alone Loki turned to Bell,

"want to head to my house now Bell?"

Bell nodded and followed Loki, heading eastwards, crossing half of the distance to the gate before arriving at a large three story house. It was fenced off by an iron gate, as a large emblem with the symbol of the Loki Familia was on the main door of the building. Loki and Bell entered the house, which unlike a manor, it had no guards. The building housed the thirty members of the Loki Familia and was home to the red haired Goddess.

The Loki Familia was competing with the Freya Familia, due to the rivalry that was born between them, and they were losing, badly. While Freya was an A rank Familia with around a hundred members, Loki was a high D rank, with only thirty members. Freya, however, didn't only have the advantage of the numbers but of quality as well. Loki had three level fours the rest being level twos and ones. Freya on the other hand, had a level six, a level five, three level fours and the rest were between level one and three.

Freya Familia had also recently purchased and moved into their own manor. Familias with manor were the ones viewed as most powerful and currently the only ones with a manor are the Zeus, Hera, Osiris, Freya, Adonis, Harmonia and Hebe Familias, also being the only Familias with first class adventurers.

Bell followed Loki into the building, eventually arriving at door which led to the office of the captain. Loki didn't even bother knocking and flung the door open, startling the people inside it. Obviously, she was met with an equally loud response as the voice of Riveria shouted at the 'useless Goddess.' Though the voice soon stopped emitting sound as it saw the next person who entered.

"Bell!"

Riveria ran up to the boy and scooped him into her arms, tightly embracing the bunny. She didn't waste the chance to rub her cheek against his. Finn and Gareth also lost their interest in the Goddess and went to greet Bell instead.

"Bell-kun, it's good to see you, heard that you levelled up again after wreaking havoc on the seventeenth floor, destroying even the Goliath."

"You ain't slowing down are you lad?"

Bell giggled,

"That's right Finn and no, Gareth I'm not planning on slowing down."

A resolute answer, which impressed the four currently in the room.

"So any reason you wanted to come here?"

Bell turned to the trickster Goddess and nodded.

"I wanted to see you since it had been a while, other than that I wanted Riveria's help with my enchantment spell since Alfia can't help me due to a mission in the dungeon."

"I'm sure Riveria won't have a problem with that, now, I'm also interested, mind if we tag along Bell-kun?"

Bell shook his head.

"I don't mind."

.

The training field of the Familia was tiny compared to those that Bell was used to, being smaller in area than even the hall of the Guild. However, they were an up and coming Familia, they had to go with that they had.

Bell stood on the rim of the training yard, with Riveria, Loki, Finn and Gareth being close behind. Bell chanted the two words and lightnings enveloped him fully. Gareth and Finn observed with great interest and turned to Riveria for her thoughts. Though the moment the four looked away from Bell they suddenly heard a large thump.

They whipped their heads back to Bell only to find that he wasn't where he was standing before. They then followed the origin of the crashing sound of before and found Bell smashed into a wall. They ran up to him whilst witnessing Bell getting up as if it was nothing while the wall in which he had crashed was crippled and soon collapsed.

"Bell! Are you okay?"

Riveria's hands flew to his face, cupping his cheeks before she started checking him for wounds.

"I'm fine, I was just experimenting with the spell and found out that I can do some really cool things. Things is that I'm not used to and I can't control. Sometimes when I lose control it even goes berserk and it implodes."

"What do you mean Bell-kun? And what were you experimenting?"

Bell walked up to the training field again and raised his hand. Then from his hands lightning bolts shot out.

"As you can see, I can shoot the lightning bolts against an enemy. I don't need a chant since it's all incorporated into the one spell I cast earlier. The spell allows me to manipulate lightning, so I can use it enhance myself, defend and attack."

Bell then fused a few lightning bolts together and swung it around like a whip. He then aimed at a dummy and swung at it, the whip wrapped around the dummy, had it been alive it would have gotten shocked, and then as if the temperature suddenly rose, the whip melted into it and cleanly cut the dummy in half. The other four witnessing this were left shocked, with their mouths gaping open.

"That is, not, an enchantment spell, it is just too versatile."

Loki looked at Finn with a raised brow and then pointed at Bell,

"you're telling that to him?"

Finn blinked once, then twice and finally sighed,

"you've got a point."

"So what were you trying to do this time?"

Riveria asked curiously,

"I wanted to see how to use the lightning to increase my speed. Though I can't control it properly yet. I'll show you."

Bell then aimed at the lone tree in the backyard a few meders away. The eyes of the four adults focused solely on Bell. Then he sped forward as lightning zapped forward but vanished, as if he was too fast to see. The boy then reappeared, smacking into the tree half a second later. The only trace of him and his magic being the sizzling lightning trails that followed the path he went on before disappearing seconds later. Riveria quickly ran to Bell and healed the small bruise on his nose. The others being close behind.

"Damn lad, you're so fast that I can't see and I am a level four."

Bell regained his orientation and turned to Gareth.

"It's not that I become too fast, I am visible, it's just that I turn into the lightning zaps you see."

The others were left shocked, though it explained how he went so fast. If he temporarily took the form of a lightning bolt, then he could get anywhere in right about a second.

"I need to get used to it, then I need to learn how to control the input and output so that I can select the distance, stop at will and use it as I please. Until I master this, it would be a hindrance in battle. I also need to learn how to immediately get my bearing when I get out of the lightning form."

As always Finn was surprised to see the five year old bunny think about it critically, analysing any and all faults and possible ways to fix such faults.

"Can I train here?"

Loki nodded,

"sure, besides, I doubt that Riveria could allow you out of her sight when you are experimenting with your spell if Alfia isn't around, since she is the only other one who is skilled enough with magic. Plus, it will help Riveria as well."

"How so?"

Asked the jade haired high elf.

"Well, you can keep healing him infinitely, which will raise your magic ability at the same time as he trains. A win-win situation."

The others nodded understanding what Loki meant. Seeing as there was no problem, Bell and Riveria started their training while the other three went back inside. From there, for the next two hours, Bell would smash into walls continuously, making Riveria worry, feeling her heart ready shatter whenever Bell crashed head first into a wall.

The noise drew the attention of the other Loki Familia members who looked with interest. At first they were shocked by the training but soon became impressed by Bell's determination whilst also giggling at the usually stern high elf's worry. Her feelings towards the rabbit were no secret to the fellow Familia members and they enjoyed seeing her more honest, caring and lovesick side instead of the scary and serious side they were used to.

It took two hours of continuous crashing before Bell decided to call it a day, making Riveria sigh in relief, her heart beat slowing down. Seeing Bell soaked in sweat and dirt, an unusual grin appeared on her face as she took Bell's hand and dragged him back inside the building towards the girls' changing room.

"Alright Bell, let's get you all cleaned up."

Bell nodded and started undressing as they reached the changing room. He then noticed that Riveria was also stripping.

"Are you getting in too?"

"Of course, I've got to clean myself up as well and you're going in too, I'm not going to miss the chance."

She then grabbed Bell's hand and dragged him inside the steaming hot bath. No one was inside other than the two of them, much to the joy of Riveria as it meant that she could spend time alone with Bell and pamper him all by herself.

.

Riveria slid the door open as warm trails of steam escaped the room before them and the temperature of the bath house engulfed them. Riveria proceeded in, her hand wrapped around Bell's tiny one dragging him to a stool. Riveria had him sit down before sitting herself down right behind him.

She grabbed the shower head and started cleaning Bell, rinsing him with water before picking up a bar of soap. She stared at Bell intently, her gaze kept going from the bunny to the soap then back to Bell's smooth white skin. She gulped as the thought of touching and rubbing him all over the place entered her mind.

'No, lewd. I'm not defiling Bell. I am not defiling Bell. But … maybe a little. Hehehe, no. But … just a little can't hurt right?'

She rubbed the soap bar before slowly inching her hands closer to Bell's pearl white skin. Her fingers grazed the smooth surface, slowly bringing the rest of her hand until the palm was resting on his back. She gently moved the hands around Bell's back.

Right now Riveria felt incredibly naughty. Elves were very reserved, more so when it came to high elves, mostly if it was a princess and now, she was sat naked behind a boy, touching his skin perversely. Her hand slowly moved to the front and started caressing his chest.

'Well since we're here, it won't matter if we get a little handsy. Hehehe.'

Riveria shook her head and looked around to see if someone was present but no one other than her and Bell were in the bath house. Her ears twitched as she carefully listened the surrounding environment for any trace of people coming in, but alas nothing of the sort was heard by the level four elf.

Riveria felt incredibly lewd right now and couldn't help it. She had an opportunity to have him to herself and since she already did this much she wanted to go a bit further. Up until now, Riveria had always been reserved, even within her Familia she'd take a bath when no one was present. The only exception being when she was with Bell and Alfia. However, with Alfia around she never did anything which was too daring.

Now she was alone with a naked bunny in front of her. She slowly leaned forwards and pressed herself against Bell, her breast squishing against Bell's soft back. The feeling of this skinship sent jolts up the elf's body. She wrapped her arms around his arms and body, placing her head on his and with her face planted in his fluffy white hair, she started sniffing it. Her thighs made contact with Bell's and closed around the bunny as she completely caged him in and straddled him.

Without realizing it she was grinding her hips lightly against his back as she slowly started to pant. This combined with the small moan that escaped her lips alerted Bell. Not that he understood the implication of her actions, he simply realized that Riveria was lost in thought and Bell really wanted to get the soap off so he could jump into the bath. His head tilted upwards, barely catching a glimpse of the closed eyes of Riveria who was sniffing him.

"Umm, Riveria? Could you wash my hair? Or should I do it myself. I want to get into the bath."

Riveria's eyes snapped open in shock as she looked down at the rabbit. She strained a smile and nodded.

"O-o-oh, r-r-right. Yes. Of course. I-I'll wash your hair. We really should g-get into the bath s-shouldn't we? Hehehe."

'What have I done?! I was grinding my hips against his back! I was pleasuring myself! I am such a lewd elf! I even moaned! What is wrong with me?! I defiled Bell!'

The last thought kept lingering and repeated itself endlessly in her head. She had committed the gravest and highest of crimes, a terrible taboo, she had stained the purity of the bunny. She had defiled the holy rabbit. Her life seemed drain out, her eyes looking dead.

As Riveria wordlessly finished washing his hair, Bell took a bowl and dumped a load of water over his head before getting up. He turned around and looked at Riveria, nearly jumping seeing her depressed state. It felt like a repetition of Alfia. Bell couldn't stand it and decided to return the favour.

Since she did it for him, he should also do it for her, right? He took his stool and ran behind Riveria, sitting himself before grabbing the soap and parting her long jade hair. Bell's hands landed on her back and started going up and down, snapping Riveria out of her dreadful daze.

"W-w-w-what are you doing B-Bell?!"

"Washing you of course! You did it for me, so I'll do it for you. Just relax!"

Riveria though was finding it very hard to relax, as she concentrated on the feeling of Bell's hand moving over her back. Bell was aware of the elves' strict reservation when it came to touching people directly with their own skin, but believed it to be false since literally every elf he knew didn't mind if he touched them, though it was mostly girls. Bell kept moving his hands, going from shoulders down to her butt, which made her jolt every time his hands touched her lower cheeks.

"Hii!"

Feeling Bell's hand go down to her butt and to her hips made Riveria squeal in surprise.

"Is something wrong Riveria?"

She shook her head before looking down with a flushed face.

"B-B-Bell, c-could you d-do the f-front as well?"

Bell nodded and his hands went from her hips to her stomach, caressing her skin with soap soaked hands. The bunny moved from her belly to her thighs and then slipped his hand in between her legs making Riveria moan.

"Ahh~ B-Bell?!"

"Yes?"

"Umm, n-nothing, continue."

Bell moved his hand in between her legs until he was done and traced her body up to her mounds, cupping them and rubbing the soap over them. He wasn't really groping her, but it sure felt like it to her, which she appreciated secretly. Riveria groaned loudly as seconds later Bell let go and started washing her hair instead. Whilst he did that Riveria had time to reflect about what had just happened. Luckily for her she had very long hair which gave her plenty of time to reflect.

Riveria felt embarrassed, horny and lewd. Very lewd. However, she wasn't ashamed. Was it wrong to feel good from having the person you love caress you? Riveria was a sucker for romance and always longed to find her one and only love. Besides, if no one knew, no one could reprimand her, as such there would be no problem, so she basked in joy and pleasure as Bell kept 'servicing' her.

Having finished washing their bodies, the two went over to the bath. However, one dark thought lingered at the end of it all. She felt bad about what she did. Was it wrong to have taken advantage of him like that? Was it really not wrong to feel good from that? Had she corrupted the pure bunny? Did he hate her?

She slowly sat down, sinking down in the water, with those questions faintly accompanying her, making her grow nervous, gradually making her question herself. Bell though was the key to this dilemma, as he easily washed the impure thoughts out.

His presence alone brought untold happiness to Riveria, now he entered the bath with her, but to her surprise and joy Bell decided to sit down on her laps, leaning back on her chest, his head nestled in between her two breasts. Bell slowly tilted his head upwards and looked up at Riveria with a soft smile almost as if he knew of her insecurities and was trying to hearten her. She once again found herself hugging the bunny from behind, resting her forehead on his.

"Thank you Bell."

The bunny simply conveyed his response with a low hum.

.

Bell had stayed over at the Loki Familia home for dinner and was now sat on Riveria's lap in Finn's office, with Loki, Finn and Gareth also being present. Their light chatter was interrupted by a knock on the door, revealing Alyssa as it creaked open.

"Alyssa, here for Bell?"

She nodded looking at Bell.

"Yes, it's already late, me and Bell should head back home."

Bell jumped down causing Riveria to pout slightly as the comfort she felt suddenly left her. Bell quickly ran to stand next to Alyssa, grabbing her hand. He turned around and waved his free hand.

"Bye-bye!"

They all waved back as Alyssa and the bunny turned to leave before Bell stopped and quickly spun back to look at Riveria.

"Oh right, I almost forgot! At nine in the morning tomorrow! Riveria let's go on a date!"

The reactions varied from Loki simply turning to him with a sly smile, Alyssa looking at Bell dumbfounded, Finn and Gareth trying their best to hold their laughter in and the cutest one, according to Bell, was Riveria. She was sipping on her tea when Bell made the announcement causing all of her royal gracefulness to be quickly flung out of the window as she sputtered and turned into a cherry in a matter of milliseconds, the redness spreading to the tips of her elven ears. Finn swore that the steam coming off her skin raised the temperature of the room by a degree or two.

"W-w-w-w-w-what?!"

'Awawawawa'

Riveria's mind was spinning uncontrollably.

"B-B-Bell, d-do you know w-what a d-d-date is?"

He nodded,

"It's an outing with people who are close to you and you greatly care about, no?"

Riveria felt a sudden warmth spread through her knowing that Bell cared about her and he considered himself close to her, but that was not exactly true. Which posed the question,

"Bell, who told you that?"

The bunny raised his finger and pointed at Loki. They all turned to the vermillion headed Goddess who shrugged.

"What?"

Riveria though wasn't about to throw away such an opportunity and displaying the full might of her shyness, she poked the tips of her index fingers together, slowly and barely forming a coherent sentence.

"S-sure. Y-yes, that's g-great. D-d-date, let's g-go on a d-date t-t-tomorrow."

Bell nodded happily and left with a still astounded Alyssa. As soon as the door closed Riveria stopped holding back and melted down in her chair. Loki started giggling drawing the attention of the top three of the Familia. She looked at the high elf with a mischievous smile and gave her a thumbs up.

"Hehehe, be grateful Riveria. My slip up granted you a date with your bunny."

"I-I-I never thought this would happen, buy t-thank you Loki."

"Sure, sure. Now go to your room and get your beauty sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow, oh and do dress up nicely for the occasion. I'll let you borrow a dress if you need."

Riveria nodded and quickly left the room, allowing the remaining three to burst out laughing uncontrollably and boy, they wouldn't calm down for another minute or two. As their last round of laughter came to an end, Loki used her hand to brush the edge of her eye, as a tear of mirth threatened to spill down.

"Hahaha, ah, ahem. R-right, speaking seriously though. Finn, Gareth, don't tease her too hard lest you want her to sneak up on you in the middle of the night during your sleep and have her run you through with a kitchen knife."

The two stared at her and gulped.

""R-right""

.

Bell woke up in the Basilea manor as the night before Alyssa had taken him back to the Hera Familia home instead of the Zeus Familia home, out of the desire to spend some more time with Bell. The rabbit got up and quickly cleaned himself before leaving his room and heading down towards the dining hall to have breakfast.

On his way there he bumped into Astraea, who was currently staying at the manor until she could start a Familia and get a home for herself. The Goddess of justice was carrying a box containing files of people signing up to be adventurers and looking for a Familia. She was working hard on finding members that fit her criteria. Being the gentleman that Bell was he offered to help the Goddess and took the box from her hand.

"Thank you Bell."

"No problem!"

The two entered the bustling dining hall and sat down next to each other. Whilst eating Bell observed as Astraea took the numerous pages, each with the picture of a different person on it and flicked through them. She'd read the page, sometimes she'd stop and contemplate for a while but ultimately all ending up in rejection.

"Astraea-sama? Why is it that you always reject everyone? Whether it is by looking at their application page or when they ask you directly. You seem determined to start a Familia yet you always reject them."

The beautiful Goddess sighed.

"As you know I have a very strict criteria. I am particularly interested in their traits, specifically their personality. I also look at their goal and desire. Why they came to Orario and why they want to become an adventurer. If they meet my standards then I will let them join. In my Familia I don't want someone who is simply looking for money, fame or glory."

Her calm demeanour vanished as she pulled a couple of pages and presented it to Bell, clearly irritated. Bell picked up the pages and saw that they were applicants who were looking for a Familia and had specifically asked for Astraea.

"Then look at these people!"

Bell tilted his head and shrugged,

"what about them? They seem to have decent skills, they're not bad candidates."

It was clear that her frustration grew.

"Look at their reason for asking to join my Familia! It's ludicrous!"

The reasons varied between 'love at first sight', 'beautiful Goddess', 'seems capable' and so on.

"Oh, ahem. Yes, I see. However, I noticed that when you see a male you don't even consider it."

"I intend to form an only girls Familia."

"Why?"

"Because … I don't like males and I feel uncomfortable. I'm a virgin Goddess, Bell. My reason is simply petty. It is only because I don't want any males around me. Perhaps in the future once my Familia has grown and I get accustomed to Gekai and Orario."

Bell tilted his head again,

"but you don't seem that uncomfortable around me? Or is it that you'd prefer if I stayed away?"

Her eyes widened in surprise as she grabbed the adventurer's hands with hers.

"Of course not Bell. You're an exception and I love having you around."

She then drew Bell in a tight embrace.

"It's all thanks to you that I've come this far. Preferably I would want for you to always stay by my side."

Bell smiled,

"I'll try my best, though I also have to go to the dungeon."

She giggled and nodded,

"except when you have to go to the dungeon."

Bell then looked at the clock and realized that he had to hasten or he'd be late for his date.

"Oh, it's already eight o'clock. Sorry Astraea gotta go. I'll help you look for a member later."

"Where are you off to this early in the morning?"

"A date with Riveria."

The Goddess pouted at Bell.

"Mou, lucky elf."

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't jealous but it also presented an opportunity she couldn't miss as she correctly assumed that Bell didn't know the true meaning of a date and that even if he did, he wouldn't grasp it since he was too young.

"Say Bell, would you have time tonight to take this lonely Goddess on a date as well, later in the night?"

Bell had jumped down and was walking away when Astraea asked him out on a date. He spun around and with a warm smile that made her blush, he nodded.

"Sure."

.

It was nine o'clock when Riveria arrived in the plaza by the fountain in front of Babel. It was the usual meet up location for her and Bell whenever they went to the dungeon. However, unlike usual she wanted to try to dress up differently. For some reason, Loki being the weirdo that she is, she had a load of dresses at the ready for Riveria. The high elf decided to ignore this weird fact and played along going with a simple white blouse and a white and jade long skirt with golden trims.

She shuffled nervously waiting for Bell to arrive, though her nervousness was quickly turning to irritation, her beauty had certainly attracted the attention of many and she could feel the gazes of the people walking by, some who had even stopped just to take in the exotic appearance with their eyes.

Riveria was the only high elf in all of Orario, she was incredibly popular and the fact that she was a princess only made it even rarer. However just as Alfia, she didn't like getting attention, especially if it was because they were entranced by her beauty, she hated when people stared at her, to the exception of a white rabbit. Her beauty was for the rabbit only.

"Riveria!"

She turned around and smiled at the approaching bunny. Her attention was instantly snuffed away by Bell as her irritation turned to shyness.

"Good morning to you Bell."

"You look prettier than usual."

Riveria blushed heavily at the simple praise and she really didn't know whether to berate Zeus for turning him into a walking disaster, both because of his strength and charming abilities, or if to thank him for that. However, she couldn't deny that she loved getting praised by him.

"Ahem, so, shall we get this date going?"

The bunny nodded,

"so, where were you thinking of taking me, my little rabbit?"

"It's a surprise."

Bell took her hand and led her forward. She curiously eyed Bell, allowing him to lead her to his secret location. She was so focused that she hadn't realized that they had arrived until Bell stopped in his tracks. She looked up and saw the Olympus manor.

"Why are we here, Bell?"

He didn't say anything as he led her through the gates and into his room.

'N-No way, is he s-skipping all the steps and going straight to the b-bedroom. I still haven't p-prepared my heart for t-this!'

Her heart pounded as he led her closer and closer to the bed, only to then go past the bed. She kept looking at the bed as they went past it and headed towards the wall. Bell put his hand on the handle and opened the door next to his bed.

'Pretty sure that wasn't there before.'

A blinding light came from the room, causing Riveria to raise her hand to shield her eyes. What she saw once her eyes adjusted took her breath away, her mouth opening wide in awe. It was a large octagonal room made mostly of glass, which could easily house up to a hundred people. Inside it, it was as if she walked into a different world. Numerous exotic plants and trees that she had never seen before beautified the room.

Flora and fauna coexisted in this room, different plants from all over the world were structured in rings. As Bell led her through the greenhouse they arrived at the centre. There were sakura blossom trees, golden mist trees, starry sky trees, platinum oak trees, golden osmanthus trees, eternal jade trees, titan breath trees, orange maple trees, fireglow maple trees and wisteria trees all planted around the centre, forming a colourful ring. All of the trees were colossal, standing at nearly forty meders with vibrant flowers and leaves, so bright that they seemed to be glowing.

However, what shocked Riveria beyond belief once she saw it, was the tree at the centre. It was incomparable with the trees around it, standing at nearly seventy meders. It's wood was a snow white colour with multiple jade green and admiral blue veins, thousands of sturdy branches spreading into the sky, carrying millions of glamorous rainbow coloured flowers which shone, sending rays of light in every direction.

It was a sacred tree, only found in single digits in elven forests. On the other hand this sacred tree was bigger than anything that she had ever seen and the flowers and the wood were different as well. It was bigger and more beautiful than even the one that she had seen in the Alf forest.

"Had this place built for me a few weeks ago. Ever since then I've started planting and brining small animals into it. Then there is the sacred tree, as to how I obtained it, well I found the seed in an ancient ruin. Though as you may have noticed it is an unusual sacred tree, thus I named it the divine tree. This place is only the first step of many."

"I-It's beautiful. W-Wait, did you say only the first step? Of many?"

"Mm, it's a secret. However, this tree will grow much bigger, so will the others. Moreover, there are many more species that I want to grow. The problem here is that there is no space and the conditions aren't right for some species of organisms here. The divine tree is quite the problem, Hera and Zeus estimate for this tree to grow into a huge tree, much bigger than any building in Orario, Hera thinks that it will grow taller than Babel. When Loki saw this she theorized that it may be a seed of the Yggdrasil tree."

Riveria nearly fainted at the news she received.

"THE WORLD TREE?!"

Bell nodded,

"then how do you plan to keep all this with you. You'd need to find a place for the divine tree, move the existing trees and …"

Riveria started babbling but was stopped by Bell as he gestured for her to stop with his open palm.

"It's a secret, but let me tell you that it has to do with the mystery developmental ability. I don't have it yet, though I am hoping to get it. The end goal of this … I can't tell you yet. Reason is, it's a surprise. Which I will show you and the others once I achieve my goal."

It was cryptic, what was the bunny trying to do with this treasure? Riveria didn't know and it was pointless to try and stop Bell at this stage. He probably got the green light to do as he wishes from Hera and Zeus already.

"Anyways, Zeus said that on a date, you make precious memories. So I decided to show you this. Both as you, Riveria and as an elf, you love nature. You yourself wanted to see the outside world, always wishing to travel the world to see all of it's sides, both good and bad. It's beauties and atrocities. You're part of the reason I started this project. Hehe."

Bell grinned as Riveria looked at him with teary eyes. She was beyond happy, she was overflowing with joy and love. Hearing he did this for her, even if only partially, moved her heart. She dropped to her knees and hugged Bell tightly as the tears started flowing down.

"Thank you Bell. Thank you so much."

Bell stroked her back as she let out her tears of happiness. Bell briefly told her to wait there as he retreated back into the manor before coming back with a basket and revealing to her that they'd have a picnic under the divine tree.

Since it was still early the two decided to walk around so that Riveria could watch what Bell had built and brought together. Walking hand in hand, the two passed under the giant trees and lush plants that populated the room. The jade haired high elf looked ecstatic as she got to observe hundreds of new things which she hadn't even seen before. She was mesmerized by the beauty of the nature inside the room, some of the plants and trees even emanated magical power which made Riveria really feel at home.

Until noon arrived, the two moved through the paths, observing the vegetation and what small creatures Bell was able to gather, the rarest amongst them being two silver ice phoenix, shocking Riveria as she believed it to be simply a legend, a tale of an ancient monster. Yet here it was, a creature that apparently was natural as it did not carry a magic stone at its heart.

"Bell, how do you know that it is not a monster?"

"Me and Zeus observed it for weeks. One of the two died, probably of old age. Initially we thought that it was a monster since it turned into ash, but when we went to check later, there was no magic stone. We also discovered that the legend is true, it is reborn from it's ashes. From the charred ash, a baby phoenix was born. As to how a completely new one is born, that is still a mystery. For now, it's just these two and we still don't know how to increase their population. It may be impossible. For now."

Riveria stared at the two phoenix's as they flew overhead, leaving a trail of silver frost in their path that soon disappeared.

"I'm hungry, how about going back to the diving tree to eat?"

Riveria nodded.

"Thank you Bell. You're showing me the world that I always wanted to see. Some things which I doubt I'd have ever found even if I travelled the world for a century. I'm truly grateful to you Bell."

The two headed back and bathed under the sun, eating, sharing stories and news. They laughed and relaxed under the divine tree, spending hours basking in the comfort of being near each other.

.

Bell was leaning his tiny back against the cool wood of the divine tree, looking down at the face of Riveria as she rested her head on Bell's laps. The rabbit gently patted her head, moving his hands through the jade locks as Riveria blissfully received the lap pillow.

Seeing how it was getting late, Bell decided to shake the high elf's shoulder to stir her awake from her deep slumber. Jade eyes fluttered, slowly opening and focusing on a white haired figure looming above her.

"Time to go already?"

"Time to go already."

Bell affirmed to Riveria as she pouted, hesitantly sitting up, leaving the soft and warm comfort of the bunny's lap. The two left the greenhouse and Bell's room, soon reaching the gates of the manor and passing through them. The bunny decided to accompany the high elf back home, stopping in front of the Loki Familia house.

"Thank you Bell. What you showed me today really opened my eyes at the diversity of this world. It was beautiful and all I could ever ask for. Know that if you need my help, I'll always be available."

Bell smiled cutely,

"of course. It was fun, thank you for coming Riveria."

Bell waved at Riveria as she entered the building.

'Time to go back and see Astraea.'

.

Astraea was still sorting through stacks of papers when she heard a knock at the door of her room. She got up and gracefully walked up to the door, twisting the knob before opening the door to see who was requesting her presence.

"Ah Bell, is it time for our date already?"

He nodded,

"wait for me down in the hall, I'll be down as soon as I'm ready."

Bell followed her orders and sat on a couch in the main hall. Luckily it didn't take long and a few minutes later Astraea came down. Unlike her usual white and grey dress, she wore an elegant white sleeveless blouse and an indigo coloured pleated skirt that reached down to her ankles. She had her hair braided around like a crown, letting the rest flow loose beneath the braided crown.

"Sorry for making you wait Bell."

He shook his head,

"don't worry about it Astraea, you've been very busy lately, working hard on starting a Familia. I hope this will help you relax."

She smiled with a charm that put many Goddesses of beauty to shame.

"Thank you Bell. So, what do you think about my appearance?"

"Hmm, you look beautiful."

Astraea giggled and went down to hug the bunny as she couldn't resist the urge to do so. While being hugged Bell heard the rustling noise of paper and noticed two sheets of paper in her hand.

"What are those?"

Seeing where he was pointing she brought the sheets of paper up and waved them in front of Bell.

"A secret I wanted to talk to you about it over dinner."

"I see. Well let's go eat, do you have anything in mind?"

Astraea thought for a moment.

"Well, there is a very nice place called Heaven's Meat. People say that the food there is really tasty and the place is also nice. Just didn't feel safe about going in that area alone since it's far away. Today though I have a reliable escort. Think you can manage that Bell?"

He jumped up and straightened himself.

"Of course I can! I shall protect you no matter what!"

Another giggle escaped her lips.

"Then my knight in shining armour, lead the way."

Bell took her hand and started heading down south, towards the restaurant. As they set foot outside, Bell noticed the sun was already about to sink below the tall walls of Orario as the orange sky slowly turned darker and darker, the night slowly creeped up as the stars took over night sky.

The streets were still filled with people as the magic lamps turned on. During the night, the city would come to life even more than during the day, dying down only once it reached midnight, to the exception of the red light district and the Business Quarter, where the work hours are just starting. Bell and Astraea made their way through the crowds of people, as the Goddess pulled him close to her to avoid losing each other in the mass of people.

An hour later the two arrived at the restaurant. Usually it shouldn't take more than half the time it took them this time, but the amount of people really made it hard to navigate, slowing down their walking speed.

"There really are a lot of people, I don't think I will get used to Orario anytime soon."

"Well there are nearly five million people in Orario. The number of adventurers are also quickly increasing. As of right now there are already fifty thousand adventurers in Orario. There might be a hundred thousand by the end of this year. There are many Familias but only our Zeus and Hera Familias have adventurers in the four digits. This makes me realize just how many Familias there must be in Orario. There are around forty eight thousand adventurers split across a few hundred if not thousand Familias. I don't think Tenkai had this many people, but don't worry you'll get used to it. It hasn't been long since you descended down to Gekai."

She smiled at the bunny squeezing his hand.

"I suppose that with you around I will be able to settle in quicker."

Having arrived at the destination the two walked up the five steps to the entrance before opening the door and entering, being promptly greeted by a human waitress wearing a classical black and white maid outfit.

"Good evening. How many are you in?"

"Just the two of us."

The two followed the waitress as she sat them at a table on the balcony of the second floor. It was always a special occasion for restaurants to receive important figures such as Gods or popular people such as Bell, the most well-known rabbit on the face of Gekai.

The two placed their orders, Astraea going for the chef's special while Bell went for a good old steak again. The two chatted and enjoyed each other's company, with Astraea inquiring about the date with Riveria, where she also discovered about Bell's greenhouse. Being shocked upon learning the existence of both the phoenix's and the divine tree.

"I'll take you there tomorrow."

She nodded before being interrupted by the arrival of their food. Bell looked at the steak and it looked really inviting, the smell causing him to almost drool. Without wasting anymore time, the two started to eat. Astraea maintained her elegance even whilst she was eating, drawing the eyes of many.

Bell recounted his experience in Altena and in the dungeon whilst eating, observing as the sun finally set beneath the tall walls of Orario. To Astraea it felt very romantical, she just wished for Bell to be a few years older, to truly have a romantic date.

As they finished their dish, Astraea brought the two sheets of paper from before up, placing them on the table. The two sheets were two application sheets from two different people. Bell watched as Astraea presented the pieces of paper with a wide smile.

"Who are these two?"

"Why don't you take a look?"

Bell took the two sheets of paper and started scanning them, reading carefully what was written on it. His first thought being how nice the calligraphy of the applicants was. He slapped his cheeks, shaking his head and concentrated. The first read 'Alise Lovell', the image showed a cute girl that had long hair tied in a pony tail.

"Alise Lovell, ten year old, has green eyes and fiery red hair."

He turned to the other sheet.

"Gojouno Kaguya, eleven years old, Far East, so the name is Kaguya. Black hair and violet eyes. Huh, to think that someone from the Gojouno family clan would come here."

Astraea curiously looked at Bell.

"Do you know about her?"

"Not her specifically. However the Gojouno family clan is very famous in the Far East being one of the most trusted and strongest members of the Amaterasu Familia. They often carry out dark jobs for the Amaterasu Familia, as you know the Far East like Rakia is nation with a patron God, that being Amaterasu. I'd say that you should expect Kaguya to become a very capable adventurer. Considering her background, she should be very strong, both in weapon handling and physical strength. Particularly her technique with the blade should be very refined. As for Alise, I don't have any idea."

"I see, that does help me a lot. You speak like you know a lot about the Gojouno family."

"During my training period in the Far East I met many masters, some being from the Gojouno family. Amaterasu-sama herself has helped me greatly in improving my own sword style by inviting masters from all over the nation. I suppose you are interested in recruiting these two?"

She nodded with an excited smile.

"Yes, I can finally see myself starting a Familia. I actually met these two girls at the Guild. They seemed interested in joining my Familia despite the fact that they'd be the only members. They also seem to be confident in helping me achieve my goals. Though they wanted to have some time to think about it."

"Did they something about justice?"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Yes! They showed great resolve and a desire to protect the people. They both had different views of justice and what should be done, but I accepted both ideas. They are two interesting girls. Kaguya believes in saving the many over the few, while Alise wants to save as many people as she can. Kaguya is very calm and refined, while Alise is cheerful and lively. Always jumping around. Hehe. Besides their honourable goals to carry out justice and save people, they are also pretty girls that I can't leave in the streets."

Bell nodded,

"I'm happy to see that you will start a Familia soon. You should go see Hera for tips. You will also have to find a place for your Familia, one that you can call home. To not speak about income, but since you'd be a new and small Familia, your rank should be low, consequently the tax should be very low. There is no need to take care of the administration since there are only two members and you don't have any high level adventurers going on expeditions."

Astraea stared at Bell with a deadpanned face. She blinked a few times as she observed the rabbit mumbling about her needs when starting a Familia. After listening carefully she came to a conclusion.

"So, in short you're saying that it should be simple. I just need money, right?"

Bell stopped and looked up at Astraea, nodding resolutely.

"How much would it cost to buy a manor though?"

Bell chuckled,

"That's too soon Astraea-sama, you probably would want at least a dozen members with them being at least level two or three before thinking about affording a manor. As for tax, that depends by the rank, achievements and how much you make. If you truly become a law enforcement Familia like you want to, I'm sure that the Guild or at least Ouranos-sama will give you benefits and a discount on everything including taxes."

"Umm, thank you Bell. Sorry, this was meant to be a fun time, but I ended up using you as an information trove."

"Don't worry about it Astraea-sama. You've been stressing over this for a while. Besides, I'm happy that I'm able to help you. Soon you'll be able to take your first step towards your goal. As I said before, you want to become a self-policing force like Ganesha right?"

She nodded,

"as a Goddess of justice that is my wish yes."

Bell tilted his head.

"Then what about as yourself?"

Astraea blinked, turning to look at Bell, fixing the gaze of her indigo coloured eyes on the adventurer's ruby red ones.

"I-I never thought about it that way. But … I suppose that I want to start a Familia that I can cherish and treat like a true family. To watch as the children who bear my blessing grow into fine adventurers. Into people that I can be proud of."

Astraea smiled softly looking up at the sky. Bell observed her smile, feeling weirdly entranced by the Goddess before him.

"Let's go Kami-sama, I have a place I want to show you."

The brown haired Goddess nodded and followed Bell as he headed towards the entrance. She stood besides him and was shocked to see him pay the tab, though she wasn't the only one.

"Bell, there was no need to, I co-"

Bell raised his hand and stopped her from continuing.

"Zeus and Hera taught me to always pay for a lady, mostly if it's a date. It's just natural, besides, you have your set of problems now that you're going to start a Familia. You'll need all the money you can get. I'm a level three adventurer of the Zeus Familia, a five years old boy, I have lots of money and have little to buy."

"But those time you buy something don't they cost hundreds of thousands? Like the greenhouse?"

Bell giggled, realizing how inexperienced Astraea was with money. Also indicating that she herself didn't owe a lot of money.

"Yes Astraea-sama. It costed in the millions."

The Goddess nearly tripped.

"Huh? MILLIONS?!"

Bell started laughing.

"I suppose you don't know, but I still have a lot of valis. Around in the seven digits."

Astraea had stopped in her tracks and stared baffled at Bell's back as he walked as if what he said was an everyday thing, which it was.

"Then I'm practically poor!"

"Hehe, for now yes. It's hard to earn money, mostly for a God, unless they are Gods specialized in trading areas like Hephaestus-sama or Goibniu-sama, that and the prices here in Orario are absurd to be fair. Otherwise people wouldn't have so much trouble."

Astraea picked up the pace and returned to Bell's side, eyeing him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"You might not be aware of it since you haven't walked around a lot, nor been informed about it, but you see, in reality, only two thirds of the people here are wealthy and only half the city is wealthy, per say. A quarter of it is abandoned, the other quarter you could call it a slum by how poor the people who live there are. There are no roads, only dirt paths, the building are badly designed and made of old and broken wood. People die in the streets everyday and crime, well, it can't be described. People who are desperate and poor turn to crimes to survive. However, there also those who enjoy committing crimes and given the poor situation take advantage of it, doing as they please. Even if the Zeus and Hera Familia were to try to do something, the results of our actions would be limited, even if the Guild was to support us."

Astraea realized that the current situation wasn't all flowers, no, as a matter of fact it was much worse than she thought.

"Right, there aren't really man professions or jobs that pay a lot."

"No, there aren't. Usually it'd be people working in rich areas, owning an establishment of some sort. Other professions range from being a chef or an artist. However, these are all things that you need to have studied for a long time. The most that you could do is get a part-time job as of right now. Even in professions such as adventuring or blacksmithing there is a great difference."

Bell sighed.

"It all depends by level, ability, quality and conditions. A high levelled adventurer can make a lot of money easily but a rookie adventurer can barely sustain oneself. The only reason why a level one in a Familia like the Zeus Familia is rich is simply due to the reputation and amount the Familia itself earns. The same goes for me, as many say, I'm unnatural and it is true by all means. If you take a look at other level threes, the most they could afford saving is about a hundred thousand valis, five hundred thousand at most if they are lucky. I am wealthier than most level fours in our Familia. Even then, Zeus Familia doesn't have anyone below level four, well, except for me. The difference is enormous, which is why levelling up is an incredible breakthrough and people tend to try and rush it, which leads to many reckless adventurers dying. A tip of advice I'd give to those two girls you're interested in. People believe that being an adventurer is the quickest way to start a new life, but it is much harder than one might think."

Astraea listened carefully, learning the harshness of this world.

"The same goes for blacksmiths. A new unknown blacksmith, probably wouldn't even be able to find someone to sell his pieces to at the start, unless they are truly a prodigy. On the other hand, the other end of the spectrum has blacksmiths that could easily make ten millions with one item. It's unfair, but that's how it is."

Astraea looked down at her feet thinking about what Bell had just taught her.

"Thinking about it makes me feel ashamed."

Her head snapped up in shock at the words of Bell.

"Don't take it badly Astraea."

She noticed how he had dropped the honorifics for the first time.

"It's just that I feel so different, like I cheated. Everyone works so hard, yet I can do all that in a short amount of time. To not mention the favourable support I get from my Familia and the Guild."

Astraea came behind him and hugged him tightly, stopping him in his tracks.

"That's not true Bell. You work harder than anyone I've seen before. You take risks that no one would. You fought a minotaurus at level one, twice actually. Fought hordes of monsters alone. A level four monster while being only level two. Soloed a monster rex. Bell, you've always been working hard. You face threats that no one would face. You're always fighting someone or something that is above your level. You show courage that no one else would. You face situations that would make anyone else run in fear or freeze on the spot. People support you because they love you, because they trust you and care for you, it is something you have earned. There is no one more deserving than you. Your achievements are yours alone."

Bell shook his head.

"No, I tried other things like drawing, building, cooking, even blacksmithing. You name it and every time I'd manage to make something of incredible. Or so people say. People praise me, but it feels unfair."

She sighed at the stubbornness of the boy. She grabbed his shoulders and spun him around so that he was facing her and crouched down. She gently reached for his chin and lifted his face, staring straight into the rubellite eyes.

"You have talent, so what? Bell, even if you have talent, unless you work hard for it, there is no way that you'd be who you are now. That you'd reach the heights that you reached now. Tell me Bell, is it wrong to be better than others? Because I personally don't think so. You are not corrupted by it. You haven't become drunk because of it. You certainly don't flaunt it and don't abuse others with it. No, you are honest, humble and selfless. If anyone deserves such power and talent it is you. It doesn't matter if you hold more power and talent than others, what matters is what you do with it. I want you to be confident in yourself. I want you to be strong, so does Alfia, Riveria, Zeus, Hera and all the others. They all believe in you, they have faith in your ability, in your heart. We always will, no matter where you are, no matter what you become, we'll be with and by you. Never forget this Bell."

As she said the final lines, she placed her hand over his heart, bringing her forehead against his. Bell nodded as a tear escaped his eye.

"Thank you Astraea, I'll make sure I remember."

She smiled before weakly flicking his nose.

"By the way, I like how you call me now. No more honorifics from now."

"Alright, Astraea."

"Good, you were taking me somewhere?"

Bell nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her with renewed vigour.

.

Almost as if to prove Bell's point earlier the duo runs into a problem after taking about ten steps. Bell and Astraea were walking through the dark streets, going towards the eastern outermost ring of houses of Orario, technically the poorest area in the city. The two now found themselves surrounded by a group of seven people, who clearly didn't have any good intentions seeing their lustful gazes and the weapons in their hands.

"Hello beautiful, wanna come along to have some fun. Or do you prefer to strip naked for us here on the street? Don't you feel like giving the kid and the people here a show?"

Astraea felt repulsed by the man in front of her, Bell looked at her, seeing for the first time as scrunched up face that depicted her disgust. She had never seen anything but her smile ever since he had known her. This was the first time that he had witnessed a change. And he didn't like it.

Bell was sure that Astraea's confidence and comfort in opening herself to other people, which she had built over the past year, would crumble after this incident. Hopefully it didn't affect her starting a Familia since the two joining were girls, but Bell was sure that she'd have trouble trusting male members for a good number of years. The thing that bugged Bell the most though was that their attitude was aimed towards a Goddess, though deep in his heart it was the fact that it was Astraea that deeply bugged him.

"How can you be so rude to a Goddess?"

"What of it kid? That makes this catch all the more valuable. You don't get to own a Goddess every day. You wouldn't understand. What have they done for us? Every day is a day in which we might die, why not live every day as if it was the last and what better way than violating a Goddess and pretty one like this one at that."

Bell had always looked up to the Gods and it made his blood boil that someone would dare insult them and he talks as if adventurers don't let their life hang on a thread every time they go into the dungeon. However, for reason unknown to rabbit, he felt an even greater anger surge within him, knowing that they dared to slander Astraea with such vile words and thoughts.

Astraea felt terrified, their lustful gazes would haunt her for a long time. However, she had the utmost faith in Bell, who reassured as if reading her thoughts. She felt a warm hand slipping into hers. She looked down at Bell.

"Don't worry, I promised to protect you right? These people don't respect the Gods and they dare to defile you with words and minds. Clearly they don't have falnas, so even if there were a hundred it wouldn't be a problem."

Bell was five, but he was really unique. He grew differently when compared to other people, he was more mature than most people that she had seen. Always maintaining a clear mind. She was entranced by the boy who looked firm and unwavering, so much that she hadn't noticed his lips moving, nor did she hear the words the slipped out of his lips.

Her mind only returned to reality as Bell vanished in the form of a blue flash. Astraea wanted to look around to search for Bell, only to be able to look up once and be distracted by the shape of the body of the thug from before laying on the ground unconscious at least ten meders away from his original standing position, looking around once she noticed all of them following suit, laying on the ground knocked out at good amount of distance. The rabbit on the other hand was in front of her with a smile, his hands clasped behind his back.

"See, took care of them for you. I did say that I'll always protect you."

Bell had used his lightning enchantment. He wasn't able to move freely with it yet, however, he had plenty of control, at least enough to use the spell to slam into the people at the speed of light, just like he did with the walls during his training. It wasn't efficient but it was convenient back up.

Astraea was shocked, but it was short-lived, as she smiled, who was she kidding, this was Bell. This wasn't surprising, no not at all. She had heard far much more shocking news about Bell, so she didn't pay it any mind, instead she raised her hand, offering it to Bell.

"Well then, will you keep escorting this defenceless Goddess."

Bell nodded and took her hand to lead her to the previously intended destination.

.

Bell was carrying the Goddess in his arms when he landed on the top of the wall that surrounded Orario, after having jumped off the tallest building before using the damaged spots on the wall to use as stepping stones.

He set the Goddess down and walked to the edge sitting down on the battlement of the wall. Astraea followed Bell and sat next to him grabbing onto him, afraid that she might slip and fall down. She looked down at the bunny pouting. If he had been half a meder taller then she could lean on his shoulder. Bell then pointed to the sky, Astraea followed his finger and her eyes widened in awe.

She watched the starry sky, a sea of white, yellow, red and blue stars amidst the bright and colourful sky. It was night, but instead of the usual black, the sky was a shade of purple and light blue, as it approached the horizon Astraea could see a streak of gold. At the centre of it all was a bright white bluish moon.

"This section of the city is abandoned and doesn't have any light sources nearby. With a clear sky we can see the true beauty of the sky together with the endless swarm of stars that are out there."

Astraea had no words as she took in the scenery before her. Simply bringing Bell closer and leaning her face down on his fluffy hair.

.

Astraea carried a sleeping bunny on her back as she entered the gates of the Basilea manor. In the end Bell was still five and his energy limited and after reaching a safe distance from the manor, Astraea offered to carry Bell, though he wanted to protest he was too sleepy and ended up snoring softly, slumped on the Goddess' back. Taking out both Astraea and Riveria on a date had exhausted him.

"Astraea-sama, where have you been? Is that Bell?"

The Goddess in question turned around to see Alfia walking towards her.

"Back so soon Alfia?"

She nodded,

"whilst no one levelled up, we did find clues that might lead us to a base of the Necro Phantoms, but there is still no solid lead. I really hoped to get it all done in one go."

"Fufufu. I see, I wish I could help you, but alas, I can do little for you but leech off you."

"Please don't say that Goddess, Bell would have been sad if we didn't help you back then. You're also helping us to take care of him."

Astraea giggled and nodded,

"yes, Bell is very selfless. Right, you were asking where I was. I was on a date with Bell."

Alfia froze, shocked at the revelation.

"He actually went on a date with Riveria earlier this morning as well. I have to say, he revealed quite a few surprises and taught me about the horrible reality that Orario is facing."

Alfia was curious but was equally worried for the Goddess.

"Did something happen?"

She hesitantly nodded,

"W-We. Sigh. Let's put Bell to sleep before that."

Alfia nodded in agreement and the two dropped Bell off in his room, tucking him under the sheets. As they made their way into Alfia's room, Astraea recounts her encounter with the group of seven, remembering what they said. Alfia was obviously furious and her desire was nothing short of murdering those men, if they could be called that.

"Seeing that you are fine I suppose Bell saved you?"

She giggled,

"yes, my little rabbit came to my rescue. Hehe, my bunny hero."

The two giggled before Astraea told her what she saw, or more precisely what she didn't see. Astraea then told her about the possibility of starting her Familia, showing her the two girls that she taken an interest in. However, through the conversation it was obvious to Alfia that this incident had scarred her.

"Are you going to be fine?"

"I will, thank you. However … you're right that I'm scared. For now, my only solution to the problem is to raise an only female Familia like Hera and Artemis are doing."

Alfia nodded understanding where this was coming from, the fear was already deeply rooted.

"Well, you must be tired as well. It's better if you go and take a rest. Tomorrow you should talk with Bell and start contacting those girls and see if you can finally start your Familia."

Astraea thanked the level six adventurer and left for her own room.

.

For a few days Bell had managed to rest and spend his time in places which weren't the dungeon or a live battlefield of some sorts. Instead having fun and making memories with Astraea, Alyssa, Alfia and Riveria. However, as Bell was, this couldn't last forever.

The bunny woke up and peered from the window of his room down to the entrance of the manor. There, with his enhanced sense of vision, Bell spotted three men shouting at Zeus, they were clearly having a fight. The three men handed Zeus a letter before departing, leaving an enraged Zeus, who stomped back inside.

Bell wasn't initially surprised. Considering how Zeus acted, it wouldn't have been weird if he had made some mistakes that had offended others, but as he kept watching, Bell noticed that Zeus himself seemed unusually mad about it.

Not being his problem the bunny just shrugged and decided to proceed with his plans, he'd ask about that later. That is until he opened the door. Maxim stood there and revealed that the problem would actually end up being his as he was summoned by Zeus to his office.

"Did I do something?"

The two were walking silently when Bell turned to Maxim and decided to ask the question. Though the captain simply shook his head,

"probably not. I can't see you doing anything of wrong. Besides you are very much loved by everyone. If anything, they are either fighting over you or Zeus intends to ask you to help him. Though I can sense that you will have to bear the responsibility for something that Zeus did. I have to admit it though. Zeus seemed unnaturally emotional about it."

The two entered the room to find Astraea, Hera, Europa, the two vice-captains, Alfia, Zald and most executives at the present, including Alyssa, who waved at Bell with a smile.

"Why did you bring Bell here as well?"

Alfia asked suspiciously.

"I can confidently say that Bell should be treated as an executive. He has a room and clearly is really important to everyone, he's already treated like an executive. Besides we keep involving him in our schemes so why not have him just promoted to executive so that he is in the know. He also isn't only skilled with his blade, but also with his mind."

Everyone agreed, but Alfia wasn't satisfied.

"You haven't answered my question truthfully."

"Right, right."

Zeus smirked, evilly, some would say.

"We're having … a Wargame!

To Be Continued~

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Again, sorry for the sudden disappearance.

Now ... QUESTION TIME!

How were the moments shared between Bell and the girls?

Who do you think was brave enough to declare a Wargame against the Zeus and Hera Familia?

More to the update of the Harem. Ais and Ardee are still in question. I will think about it in the future. However, should I add Alise, cause I love the girl even more than Tsubaki. So, should we put Alise in as well?

Now perhaps one of the most important questions of this fanfic. You see, following how the story goes, Alfia will get Bell's first kiss and Riveria is in second.

However, my question is about Bell's first time, you get what I mean. With how I vision the story going, Bell's first time can only go to two people, but Alfia is not one of them. It will either go to Revis during the Evilus arc period or to Riveria since she is the first person he spends time alone with after he is freed from Evilus as he stays with Loki and Riveria at the start. Riveria would act due to her feelings for Bell as well as being scared of losing Bell. Alfia is outside of Orario and won't appear for a while, which makes it impossible for her to 'claim' Bell before Riveria loses her cool. That is unless you people want Revis to get him first during the eight years he stays, forced to stay, with Evilus. So, who do you want, Revis or Riveria?

There is probably more that I had to ask or mention, even in the author note, which I probably forgot, but doesn't matter.

Next chapter is in TWO weeks, this time I won't mess up, hopefully.

This is it, see you next time.