Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or Kingdom Hearts. They all belong to their respective owners.

Wow, I did not expect so much positive feedback from all of you. Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so glad that you like the premise I've been setting up. Hopefully, I can meet your expectations.

Thank you for your input about the Keyblades and Music. After some careful consideration, I've decided not to go forward with putting in music, despite the overwhelming opinion being the okay. Main reason why is because I actually tried inserting music into the fic, and I just found that to be extra work. So no music, but don't let that stop you from inserting your own music. As for Keyblades, I'm going to be sticking to the KH3 Keyblades.

I've also seen a lot of people commenting about Sora's strength, especially when they're asking if Sora can fight on even grounds or beat (insert Danmachi character). That is something you'll have to read in order to find out.

In any case, let's start this chapter!


Chapter 2: The Hearth's Key

Silence was the only noise made throughout the room. Bell owlishly blinked upon hearing this, while Hestia's jaw dropped upon hearing what she just heard.

"...W-What did you say...?" Hestia asked in shock.

"I said I'm not from this world. I've ended up here by complete accident." Sora repeated once more.

Hestia and Bell could only stare at Sora with shocked expressions in silence, before they leaned back upon recoiling in shock.

""Huuuuuuuuuuuuh!?"" both Bell and Hestia screamed.

Sora nervously chuckled while scratching his cheek.

"I-I guess the cat is out of the bag, huh?" Sora remarked.

"It's a pretty huge cat if you ask me!" Hestia exclaimed. "What you said should be unbelievable! And yet you aren't saying a single lie at what you just said. So that only means that you are-!"

"-not from this world! Oh wow, does that mean you come from Tenkai like my Goddess?" Bell asked with surprise. Sora gave a good hearted chuckle.

"Nope, I'm just a plain old human like the rest of you. I actually come from another different world entirely." Sora explained, making Hestia slightly slump onto the couch in disbelief.

"I can't believe this. There's actually a mortal who comes from beyond our world. I thought this world was the only world that existed. You're telling me that there are more worlds that exist out there?" Hestia questioned, making Sora nod at her.

"Yeah. There are plenty of worlds out there, and you can actually travel to them if you have the right mode of transportation." Sora revealed, making Hestia pale upon hearing this.

"...T-Those are so many worlds...and we're amongst them. How come we, the Gods, never realized this? We've created this world, and yet we've..." Hestia muttered. Bell also wobbled a bit where he stood.

"W-Wow, that's so many worlds. It honestly makes the world we live in-" Bell admitted in shock.

"Like it's smaller than you realize? Yeah, learning about this made me think of how my world is just too small. Though, I'd like to think that my world, or any world in general, is part of a grander scheme." Sora said, understanding their reactions.

Hestia and Bell stood there in silence for a good moment, trying to process what's been revealed to them. It was then Hestia looked at Sora with a shocked look.

"...Sora, who exactly are you? And how did you end up in our world?" Hestia asked, making Bell look at Sora with such a curious look, wanting to learn more about this other worlder.

"You want to know the story? It's a rather long story, so I'll just summarize on how I ended up here." Sora told them.

"Honestly, at this point, just hearing that detail is mind blowing. A short summarized version will be nice." Hestia said while sighing.

Hopefully, the summary isn't too mind blowing.


~ Break ~


She was wrong.

She was so very wrong.

Hestia gave a tired sigh and groan as she leaned back against the couch.

"Oh Bell...of all the people that you've met and brought here, it's someone who completely defies common sense to such an absurd degree." Hestia groaned.

"I-I'm sorry...?" Bell responded, not sure if he needed to apologize or not, but Hestia didn't pay attention to Bell's response. Instead, her mind was racing upon what Sora shared with her.

The summarized version about Sora is just too mind-blowing.

Sora hails from a world known as Destiny Islands. It's a rather small world, which only consists of a set of small islands.

Even though he comes from a set of small islands, he is one of the chosen ones to wield a legendary weapon known as the Keyblade. His role with the Keyblade is slaying the Heartless, the embodiment of darkness, and setting the Hearts free from the darkness. It's also Sora's job to make sure that the Heartless aren't wreaking havoc in the multiple worlds he travels to, and his weapon alone can decide the very fate of worlds.

It was during Sora's journey that he encountered numerous enemies who wished to use the Darkness for their own malicious purposes. The most prominent being Xehanort, and his followers known as Organization 13. Xehanort wished to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to recreate the worlds in his image out of his misplaced desire to eliminate the Darkness.

It's one thing for the Gods to create the world they live in. It's another for a mere mortal of all people to gain a power greater than a God and shape entire worlds in his image.

Which begs the question as to why she and the other Gods don't know about this!? A power that's literally greater than them exists out there, and they all sit on this world blissfully ignorant!

Even with this knowledge, this still comes second after she learns about Sora.

The reason why Sora is in this world is because he is someone who committed a taboo to nature.

Namely, using this Power of Waking to restore his friends back to life and rewrite history itself.

And because of his misuse of the Power of Waking, he ended up being rejected from his world and sent here instead. And he was asking her of all people if it was possible to leave this world. Honestly, it amazed her that being ejected to this world was the price he had to pay for practically rewriting history bringing his friends back to life. The price, relatively speaking, is a 'light' punishment that he received.

Honestly, that usage of power should be forbidden as a God using their Arcanum amongst the mortal plane! But what Sora did should be more forbidden!

But based on what Sora told her, the Power of Waking isn't meant for that at all. It was meant for traversing hearts to reach other worlds, whatever the heck that meant. That was honestly just too mind boggling for her.

If he were caught by the Gods of this world for performing such a forbidden act, he would no doubt face divine retribution for breaking the laws of life and death. Alas, he didn't do it here. Just from another world.

By the name of the God who created her and her fellow Gods, all of this was just hurting her head!

While Hestia's head was hurting from all of this information thrust upon her, Bell was focused on something entirely different.

Bell was looking at Sora with eyes full of admiration and awe.

The person before Bell is actually a hero. Traversing to different worlds while fighting the forces of Darkness and being a peacekeeper to ensure the balance between light and darkness. Sora fought numerous villains and monsters from utilizing a power that would've plunged the worlds into darkness.

He already saved the universe 3 times already from total destruction. His tales of heroism was greater than any other hero that his grandpa has told him. Even the best achievements of the heroes on his world merely scaled to countries and kingdoms. Sora scales to multiple worlds.

Bell couldn't help but look at Sora like he was a living legend before him.

Sora, on other hand, could only give a sheepish look on his face.

"I-I guess it's rather mind blowing, isn't it?" Sora asked.

"That's putting it lightly." Hestia said while heavily sighing, rubbing her forehead. "Listen Sora, as much as I would love to help you get back home after everything you've done, I'm afraid I don't have the possible method of getting you back home. Even if I were to use my Arcanum, I don't believe it would be enough for you to leave this world entirely. No God has managed to pull off such a feat, let alone going beyond Gekai or Tenkai." Hestia explained.

She genuinely wanted to help Sora with his predicament, considering how much he has contributed in saving the worlds, including theirs, from total destruction for a total of 3 times already. But even she knows that she has her limits as a Goddess, and she can't pull off half of what Sora is capable of performing.

"I see. Well, it was worth a shot asking." Sora said with a bit of disappointment, but soon shrugged it off. "Oh well, just gotta find another way to get back home."

"But how?"

"I'll figure out something." Sora said with a grin while folding the back of his arms behind his head. "Maybe building a Gummiship will help...?" Sora wondered aloud.

"Gummiship?" Hestia repeated with a confused look.

"Oh, it's a vehicle that allowed Donald, Goofy, and I use to travel to other worlds. This world wouldn't happen to have Gummi materials, do they?" Sora asked with a hopeful look.

"The only materials that I know of are metals that come from the Dungeon itself. I've never heard of Gummi material before." Hestia answered.

"Darn. Maybe exploring the Dungeon might help. Then again...I don't exactly know how to build a Gummiship. Left that up to Chip and Dale." Sora groaned.

"This is definitely a problem..." Hestia sighed while frowning. "Perhaps I should I ask Hephastois for help. She is the Goddess of Forging, after all. Though, she mainly works with weapons and armors, but maybe she can possibly extend toward making that vehicle of yours."

"Is that so? Well that's good to hear!" Sora exclaimed with delight.

"Hopefully, she has the answer. What do you intend to do now Sora?" Hestia asked with a curious look.

"I'm not sure. Until you get into touch with your friend, I might as well check out what this city has to offer. I'm also curious about checking out the Dungeon." Sora answered.

"Is that so?" Hestia said. "Well, you could check out Orario, but I wouldn't recommend going into the Dungeon as you are."

"What do you mean?" Sora responded with a confused look.

"Don't get me wrong, you seem capable of handling the monsters without a Falna, as ludicrous as it sounds. But remember, you are someone who exists outside the common sense of this world. If the Gods and people of this world discover that you are able to slay monsters without a Falna, they'll begin to question things." Hestia explained, and narrowed her eyes.

"Worse, if they discover you have no Falna and you already possess incredible strength, there is no doubt they'll come after you and do whatever it takes to have you join them. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to strong arm you into joining their Familia." Hestia told him, making Sora frown.

"That...sounds incredibly greedy." Sora pointed out.

"Unfortunately, it's the nature of the Gods to seek out anything that will entertain them, no matter the cost. That's just how they are." Hestia said with a sigh.

Sora didn't like this. Their greed for entertainment sounded similar to the villains he fought against in his journey through the worlds. And to think there are so many of them residing in this world. Then again, if the Gods were at the level of villains he fought in the various worlds, Orario would turn into a city of chaos in mere moments. So perhaps they had some level of restraint.

"In any case, you certainly don't want your cover to be blown. People aren't supposed to know about the existence of other worlds or the fact that you're not from this world. Actually, you already broke that rule just by telling me and Bell."

"Yeah, but I trust you and Bell to keep it a secret. You seem like good people that I can trust." Sora said with a grin.

"Sora..." Bell quietly said with awe, feeling touched that Sora has trust in him already, despite just knowing each other for not even a day just yet. Hestia also gave a smile of appreciation.

"I'm quite happy to hear that. Getting back on topic, you need to blend in with our world if you truly want to protect your secret. In order to do that, you need to join a Familia and gain a Falna." Hestia explained.

"Join a Familia, huh? I remember Bell asking me to join you guys while we were on the way here." Sora recalled.

"Y-Yes. We might be a small Familia, but we would love for you to join us Sora." Bell said with a hopeful look, really hoping that Sora would join them so he could fight alongside such a legendary hero.

"Sure, count me in." Sora immediately replied without a second thought.

His swift response caught Bell and Hestia off guard.

"R-Really!?" Hestia said with excitement.

"Joining a Familia is like making group of close friends, right? That shouldn't be too hard!" Sora replied with a grin. In his view, joining a Familia is like forming a close-knit bond with other people. How could he not say no to that prospect?

"I suppose that's one way to look at it, but yes, joining a Familia means forming a family-like bond amongst each other." Hestia explained as she stood up from her couch.

"Now that you intend to join us, I need you to take off your shirt!" Hestia declared.

This caused Sora to look at the Goddess with a flabbergasted look.

"I'm sorry, what?"


~ Break ~


After explaining to Sora about how the whole blessing process works, Sora finally understood what she meant by that request. Thus led to him taking off his shirt and laying on the bed while Hestia is pricking her finger to drop her blood onto Sora's back. As she was performing the ritual, her eyes widened in shock upon what she saw, before she focused back on writing on the parchment.

When she finished, she looked at the Falna sheet carefully and offered it to Sora. Sora looked at the sheet.

Sora

Level 1

Strength: I0

Endurance: I0

Dexterity: I0

Agility: I0

Magic: I0

Skills

Keyblade: The user has access to the power of the Keyblade.

Guardian of Light: Increase parameters against darkness-based opponents. Increase user's affinity in light-based magic. Increase resistance to Curses & Darkness-based Magic.

Link to All: Create temporary Skills and Magic for user and ally when fighting together.

Magic

Key to Mystic: Access Swift Strike Magic Spells.

"Ah what, don't tell me I lost my strength again!?" Sora complained, seeing the numbers on his stat sheet.

"Again...?" Bell repeated while looking confused.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Everyone who receives our blessings start out at zero, no matter how strong they are. They can be an infant or an adult who can lift a boulder above their body. So you shouldn't worry about having your stats going back down to zero. You still have your current strength." Hestia reassured, making Sora sigh with relief.

He already lost his strength 3 times already. Wait, Riku did tell him that he lost his strength when he arrived at Castle Oblivion. So 4 times.

Honestly, losing his strength is more of an annoyance at this point, rather than a dramatic setback.

"Still though, I've never seen a mortal already have 3 Skills and Magic when they gain a Falna! Maybe 1 Skill and Magic, but that's a rarity! And you have magic that lets you use multiple spells!? You practically beat a majority of adventurers here with your ridiculous Skills and Magic!" Hestia pointed out, making Sora give a sheepish laugh.

"Is that so...?" Sora said.

"Amazing...so this is the power of a Hero...!" Bell muttered with awe while looking at Sora's sheet. Sora's eyebrow couldn't help but twitch at that phrase. It felt very similar to someone who said that to him, but he couldn't put a finger on who.

"Right, Bell! It's your turn!" Hestia said while pointing at Bell.

"Oh, right!" Bell said as he quickly took off his shirt and made his way towards the bed, leading to Hestia update his Falna.

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength: I77 - I82

Endurance: I13

Dexterity: I93 - I96

Agility: H148 - H172

Magic: I0

Skills:

Magic:

"My Agility went up by a lot!" Bell happily said.

"Huh, so that's how it works..." Sora muttered while looking at Bell's stats. "So is 40 points a lot or something? I was thinking you get 100 point increase after each day."

"Having a 25 point overall increase is usually the average growth for your normal adventurer. There are some who have more than that, and they're considered the rarity." Hestia explained to Sora. "And 100 overall point increase per day? That's just ridiculous."

"Is that so? I've also noticed Levels. Do adventurers Level Up to grow stronger?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Level Up is the process of getting stronger. The higher the Level, the stronger you are. Though, reaching higher Levels are difficult. Just reaching Level 2 already puts you in another class entirely." Bell explained.

"I see. So is there like a Level 99 here?" Sora asked, making Hestia look at Sora with disbelief on her face.

"Level 99? What kind of Levels are you thinking of? The current adventurer who has the highest Level is the Captain of the Freya Familia. He's the only Level 7 in Orario." Hestia answered.

"Level 7? That's the highest one can reach?" Sora asked curiously. Hestia hummed while folding her arms.

"Well, supposedly, you can go beyond Level 7. But it's practically near impossible to achieve it. The only person I know of who has reached Level 8 is the Captain of the Zeus Familia, who has unfortunately passed away. There was also a Level 9 in Hera's Familia if I recall correctly." Hestia recalled.

Sora's eyes widened in shock upon hearing that name.

"W-Wait, Zeus!? You know Zeus!?" Sora asked in shock, making Hestia grimace.

"Yes, you could say that, considering that we lived on Olympus. Though, why do you look shocked upon hearing Zeus's name?" Hestia asked as she took a drink from her cup, her throat a bit dry after explaining a lot of things. The Zeus and Hera Familia is a legendary Familia that anyone knows, except for Sora, considering how he's not from this world. However, Sora's reaction says otherwise, which made her curious to his reaction.

"It's because I've encountered Zeus on Olympus!"

Hestia practically did a spit-take upon hearing this.

"W-WHAT!?" Hestia screamed in shock. "H-How is that possible!? Olympus is located in Tenkai! No mortal is capable of entering Tenkai, without being dead! Only Gods and Goddesses can freely enter and exit the place! How in the world did you manage to enter Olympus off all places!?"

"Wow, you've actually managed to enter the where my Goddess lived?" Bell asked with shock and awe.

"Bell, now is not the time to be impressed!" Hestia exclaimed. Sora, on the other hand, just looked a bit confused.

"Wait, you have to be dead to enter the world of Olympus? I was pretty much alive alongside Donald and Goofy. Hercules was even alive. And I was pretty sure anyone from the City of Thebes could've reached Olympus if they tried hard enough. Well, just reaching the entrance anyway." Sora explained, remembering the City of Thebes in the world of Olympus.

One could theoretically reach Olympus if you're able to climb the mountain that reaches up to the Olympus's entrance. But that's rather difficult unless you're a Keyblade Wielder. Or you had a flying mount like Pegasus.

"W-Wait, there are living mortals capable of reaching Olympus's entrance!? Huh!?" Hestia was practically pulling her pigtails.

"L-Let's calm down a bit Goddess." Bell said while kneeling down to his Goddess while trying to calm her down. "Urm, Sora, could you explained a bit more context please?"

"R-Right. Though I'm confused though. You say that Olympus, which is located in Tenkai, is only accessible to Gods and Goddesses, while souls of mortals are managed there as well. The people who are deceased are actually going to the Underworld." Sora explained, making Hestia blink upon hearing this.

"Underworld? What in the world is that? Are you perhaps, referring to Hell, where the sinners are punished for great evil deeds and crimes?" Hestia asked.

"Is that what it's called? I was told that's where souls of the dead go, both good and bad." Sora explained.

Hestia groaned while rubbing her forehead.

"Hold on, time out. This is getting way too confusing and inconsistent based on what we both know." Hestia said while holding her palm out to Sora.

"Let's start over. We both know Zeus, yet you claim that he's in Olympus. Okay, that could explained why he disappeared for so long, which is rather concerning. But there has been no news about that. I know for a fact that all mortal souls are managed in Tenkai, but you claim they go to the Underworld. The fact that you manage to enter Olympus, let alone Tenkai, without any repercussions is rather concerning. Which is strange, because the news would've been spread on how a mortal has entered Tenkai. One of the Gods should've descended down here and spread the news about it..." Hestia summarized while furrowing her eyebrows in thought, trying to figure this out.

"There's a lot of inconsistencies..." Bell muttered, trying to wrack his brain on trying to solve this mystery. Sora scratched the back of his head as well.

"Yeah, this is confusing. But the fact that we both know Olympus means that I should find Hercules in this world." Sora said, happy to know that this world is connected with Olympus.

"Hercules?" Hesita asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, Hercules. He's a God from Olympus. Not to mention, Zeus is his father." Sora answered.

Hestia looked at Sora in shock once more.

"W-Wait, you said that Hercules is a God? I've never heard or met him before during my entire time on Olympus. Trust me when I say I practically know everyone from Olympus, but I've never heard of Hercules before." Hestia pointed out, before she honed in on one particular detail. "And did you say that he's the son of Zeus? Are you perhaps referring Hercules as a part of Zeus's Familia?"

"I know for sure that Hercules is a God. Even Zeus claimed that Hercules is his actual blood-related son, not like how you Gods do it for your Familia." Sora pointed out.

"T-That's impossible! God and Goddesses are not able to conceive a child at all! A lot of Gods and Goddesses have tried conceive a child, but there are no results! How did Zeus manage to succeed in having an actual blood related son!?" Hestia questioned.

"W-Wait, they can't? Then how...?" Sora muttered in confusion.

This is getting way too strange and confusing. His and Hestia's definitions of Olympus is completely different to one another. Hestia claims she knows Zeus, yet she doesn't know about Hercules, who is well beloved by practically everyone in Olympus, except for Hades. Hercules is Zeus's full blooded son, not a mortal who is claimed by Zeus. It's as if they're talking about two different people and places...

Sora's eyes widened when he realized something.

He immediately dug into his pocket and took out his Gummiphone. He began to search through the Gummiphone, hoping to finally solve this confusing case.

"Sora? What's that? And what are you doing?" Bell asked in confusion.

"I'm going to finally solve this confusion between us. Where is it...Where is it...found it!" Sora exclaimed as he finally found what he's looking for.

"What did you find?" Bell asked.

"Does this Zeus look familiar to you?" Sora asked while holding out his Gummiphone to Hestia.

Before Bell and Hestia was an image of Zeus, who's apparently in selfie with Sora after the whole battle with Hades and the Titans. He and Sora were both showing thumbs up while showing the stars behind them.

Hestia leaned into the Gummiphone, and then blinked with confusion.

"Wait...that's Zeus?" Hestia asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Sora nodded.

"...Why does he remind me of my grandpa?" Bell muttered while blinking at the God of Lightning.

"He looks nothing like the Zeus that I know of. Yet you speak the truth. But how...?" Hestia muttered.

"Wait, you say this isn't the Zeus you know?" Sora asked, which Hestia nodded.

"He isn't the one I know. But you're telling the truth..." Hestia said, her head hurting once more. "This is just getting way too confusing. How come there are 2 Zeus? There's only 1 God with one unique name of their own. I suppose mortals can adopt the name of the Gods and Goddesses to honor them, but this Zeus looks just as divine as any other God, yet he doesn't look like Zeus I'm familiar with..." Hestia spoke while looking absolutely lost and confused.

"So there are two versions of Zeus?" Bell asked, making Sora scratch the back of his head in thought.

"Beats me. Maybe it's just coincidence that there are two Gods named Zeus and both come from different worlds with the same name?" Sora suggested.

"Two versions of Zeus? One Zeus is a headache to deal with already..." Hestia groaned. "Still, another version? Is this another complicated detail to the worlds that you travel to? Next thing you'll tell me is that you have another version of you running around."

"W-Well..." Sora trailed off, his mind immediately thinking about Roxas, his Nobody.

Hestia's eyebrows twitched heavily and gave a tired sigh while covering her face with her hands.

"It's just one headache after another with you...!" Hestia groaned in her hands. "Argh, forget it! We'll talk about this more later! It's just going to last all night if you have to explain everything to make sense! I need to sleep off this entire headache after listening to you! Goodnight!" Hestia exclaimed as she collapsed face first into the bed while groaning in exhaustion.

"I think this is why Donald kept on discouraging me from sharing information about the other worlds." Sora weakly chuckled.

"I-I don't blame him. Everything you revealed is quite mind-blowing, to say the least." Bell admitted, before he stifled a yawn. Sora followed with a small yawn of his own.

"You know, I think we had enough excitement for today. Let's get some rest for now." Sora said, finally want to get some shut eye after everything he has been through.

"Rest does sound good..." Bell tiredly remarked as he and Sora went to gather the pillow and blankets needed for sleeping and turn in for the night.


~ Break ~


After turning in for the night and getting some rest, the Hestia Familia was ready to start a new day. Hestia, after sleeping off the headache, declared that they'll talk about the two versions of Zeus and Olympus at a later date, seeing how it's just a complicated topic to discuss in the morning. For now, she told the two to simply go to the Dungeon and gather valis for them to use, while she went off to do her job at a Jagamarukun stands.

Sora and Bell's first task to do for today was register Sora to the Guild so he can properly begin his career as an adventurer. The two walked through the front doors of the building and approached Eina.

"Good morning Miss Eina!" Bell cheerfully greeted.

"Oh, good morning Bell. Good morning to you to Sora." Eina greeted the two. "I take that you're here to finally register Sora?"

"Yep! You're looking at the newest member of the Hestia Familia." Sora said with a grin while jabbing a thumb to himself.

"That's great to hear! If that's the case, here, you'll need to fill out these forms in order to register to the Guild. Normally, I would take you to a private booth and give you the standard Guild orientation, but considering that we went through it yesterday due to your severe lack of knowledge, I believe I can make an exception to this." Eina told the two.

She truly did have Sora sit through the Guild orientation to educate him on what he's missing about the affairs of the world and Orario. It would prolong everyone's time if they were to do it again.

When Sora finished filling out the forms and handed it to Eina, the Guild employee examined the papers and nodded.

"Everything seems in order. Now then, with that, you're now officially an Adventurer. That being said..." Eina stated as she looked straight into the eyes of Sora.

"Please do not go on adventures." Eina told Sora, making Sora blink upon hearing this.

"...I'm sorry, what?" Sora repeated, confused with what Eina said. He's registered as an Adventurer, but yet she's telling him not to go on adventures? He remembers Eina saying that to Bell, but he thought it was just telling him not to do anything reckless.

Eina bit her lip while looking a bit sad.

"Perhaps I should elaborate more on that. Being an Adventurer means you're already risking your life when you delve into the dungeons. Even more when adventurers decide to risk too much and go beyond their limits. I've seen plenty of newcomers lose their lives when they become too reckless during their times in the Dungeon. I don't want that terrible fate to happen onto you or anyone else for that matter. For that, you should always prioritize in safety, even if it means running away." Eina explained.

'So that's what she meant.' Sora thought in realization.

Certainly, he can understand her perspective on why she's saying this. The business of an Adventurer in this world means gambling your life for the sake of gaining valis and fame for your Familia. Eina truly had a caring Heart if she didn't want to see the people under her care perish.

Still, she's under the assumption that Sora is like everyone else when they start as a Level 1. She doesn't understand that true extent of Sora's strength.

"I'll...keep that in mind." Sora awkwardly said with a bit of a nervous grin.

"Good. With that being said, since you and Bell are both beginners, both of you should focus on being on the first four floors. Sora, I know you were rather lucky, having managed to take down the minotaur off guard, but such a miracle won't happen twice. So rely on Bell to be your guide through the floors that you explore since you're new." Eina instructed both Sora and Bell.

"W-We'll keep that in mind." Bell said while stiffly nodding, inwardly thinking that Sora wasn't really lucky when he took down the minotaur, but his own strength and skill. Not to mention, Sora has pulled off plenty of miracles during his journey.

"Alright then. If that's the case, you two are free to go! I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors." Eina told the two with a smile.


~ Break ~


The two departed from the Guild and made their way towards the tower known as Babel, where the entrance to the Dungeon was located.

"An adventurer shouldn't go on adventures. That's quite an oxymoron, right?" Sora remarked with a grin.

"Y-Yeah, it is. But Eina isn't saying out out of malicious intent. She truly wants everyone she's advising to live another day." Bell said.

"Yeah, I can understand where she's coming from." Sora said, before he gave a small chuckle. "Still, it feels kind of weird having people underestimate my strength. Most of the time they leave it up to me to fight the Heartless without any question."

"To be fair, Level 1 adventurers are generally not strong enough to handle monsters that come from the deeper floors. And they're not wielders of legendary weapons like you." Bell pointed out with a weak grin.

"I guess. Still, it feels kind of weird that I'll be fighting monsters that aren't Heartless." Sora hummed in thought.

Bell gained a curious look on his face.

"So how do the Heartless compare to-" Bell said, before he froze when he felt a chill run up his spine, and he turned around to see who was looking at him. It felt like the eyes of a killer was on his back.

"Something wrong Bell?" Sora asked with concern.

"N-No, it's nothing..." Bell replied. Perhaps it was just his senses playing with him.

"Um, excuse me…"

Bell yelped in surprise as he turned around to see someone standing behind him, while Sora jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the girl as well.

The girl currently wore a white blouse with a light green knee-length skirt. On top of that is a salon apron. Her simple blue-gray hair is tied into a tight bun on the back of her head, but a ponytail sticks out from the center of it. Her eyes were the same color as her hair.

"O-Oh, sorry, can I help you?" Bell asked.

"Oh...yes. Here, you dropped this." the girl held out a magic stone to him.

"A magic stone? Huh?" Bell said as he looked back at his pouch tied to his waist.

"Huh, could've sworn we exchanged all of the magic stones yesterday." Sora commented while scratching the back of his head.

Bell took the magic stone from her with a thankful expression.

"Thank you for going out of your way!" Bell thanked with gratitude.

"Oh, no. Don't mention it." the girl said, before she gained a curious look on her face.

"Are you already heading to the Dungeon at this hour?" the girl asked.

"Yep, I thought I'd get to work a bit early today." Bell said, before his stomach growled in hunger. He immediately flushed red in embarrassment. Sora simply chuckled while scratching his cheek.

"Guess we forgot about breakfast." Sora remarked.

The girl giggled as she told them to wait for a bit as she ran into the building behind her. After a short moment, she ran up the Bell with a small basket filled with bread and cheese.

"If this is okay… I mean, the café isn't open yet, so all I can offer is my breakfast..." the girl offered.

"Eh? No, no, no. That's your breakfast! I can't accept it!" Bell frantically tried to turn down the offered food for the girl's sake.

The girl pouted as she pushed the basket towards him.

"I can't leave you hungry like this. It would make me sad as a person to do that. So please, Mr. Adventurer, accept it, for me." the girl pleaded.

Bell wilted a bit as he looked at the basket before him.

"W-Well...if you put it like that, I guess I can't say no..." Bell said as he accepted the basket from her.

It was then a mischievous smile creeps over her face and leaned in her face just a few inches from Bell, too close for Bell's personal liking.

"Mr. Adventurer, I'm giving you my breakfast for today. So in exchange, please come eat dinner at the bar I work at." the girl stated with a cheerful smile, making Bell gape at her a bit.

"...I-I guess I'll be seeing you tonight then." were the only words that left Bell's mouth.

"It's a deal then! I'm sure I'm going to make a lot of money out of today!" the girl cheerfully said, making Bell wilt even further upon being pressured to spend a great deal of money on food.

"If that's the case..." Sora spoke up, after being silent on watching the two interact. "May we know your name so we can call on you when we arrive? My name is Sora by the way." Sora introduced himself.

"My name is Bell Cranel. May I know your name as well?" Bell introduced himself as well.

"It's Syr. Syr Flova. I'll be waiting for your return!" Syr introduced herself before she ran back into the bar she's working in.

The two watched the girl run inside the building, and decided to make their way towards their destination as well. As the two walked towards Babel, Sora playfully elbowed Bell.

"Way to go Bell. You got a girl waiting for you after a hard day's work." Sora teased with a grin.

"I-It's not like that at all!" Bell screamed while flushing red.


~ Break ~


Not a day has passed, and Sora and Bell are back at the Dungeon once more. Once they arrived at the base of Babel and walked down to the entrance of the Dungeon, they were making their way through the first floor.

"Back here again, huh?" Sora commented while looking around the surroundings of the first floor.

"Yeah." Bell nodded in agreement.

"So when do we expect monsters?" Sora asked while looking around the hall.

As soon as he asked that question, the walls began to crumble, and a goblin began to crawl its way out of the wall. Sora blinked at the phenomenon of how a monster comes to be in the Dungeon.

"Is that how monsters come to be in the dungeon?" Sora curiously asked, making Bell nod at Sora.

"Yes. Monsters are born from the dungeon are fully grown. Here it comes!" Bell exclaimed as he prepared himself as the Goblin began running towards their direction. Sora saw the Goblin and materialized his Kingdom Key, ready for the goblin to come his way.

But it didn't exactly raise any alarm bells for Sora. As soon as the Goblin got within range, Sora simply swung his Keyblade to the side with one arm, knocking the Goblin to the side of the wall and slump on the floor, dead from the hit.

Silence was made before Sora turned to Bell.

"...What, that's it?" Sora asked while turning to Bell. Bell weakly chuckled while scratching his cheek.

"Well, these monsters are designated for beginners who start their first day on the dungeon. So I'd imagine they're no problem for you, considering your experiences" Bell explained.

"Man, even Shadows put up more of a fight than these guys." Sora commented while looking a bit disappointed at the first enemy encounter in the dungeon. Then again, the first floor monsters were made for beginners. So it's practically a walk in the park for Sora.

"Shadows? You mean War Shadows?" Bell asked.

"War Shadows?" Sora asked with a confused look.

"Yes, they are monsters that appear on the 6th floor. Supposedly, their bodies are made out of physical shadows and are quite flexible. Physical attacks don't work well against them, and you need to hit their weak spots in order to kill them." Bell explained.

"Sounds a lot like a Shadow Heartless." Sora noted, curious to see what these War Shadows look like. And they're on the 6th floor...

"Well, we won't get much done here! C'mon Bell, let's get through the floors as fast as we can!" Sora said as he began running ahead.

"Ah, please wait Sora!" Bell called out to Sora.


~ Break ~


With Sora's presence, they've completely breezed through the 2nd and 3rd floor of the Dungeon, and they were almost reaching the end of the 4th floor in a short amount of time. Any monster that got in their way were instantly killed thanks to Sora. And when a larger number of monsters began to show up, that's when Bell took part in the fight, though mostly fought the monsters that weren't paying attention to Sora.

"You're amazing Sora...you handled these monsters like they're nothing!" Bell said with amazement.

Throughout the entire trek through the floors, Sora made short work of the monsters with his skills in swordsmanship, as well as his own strength and speed to completely overwhelm the numbers in front of him.

"Well, these guys aren't that big of a deal. These monsters are really straightforward and weaker compared to low level Heartless, and they die in just one stroke."

"I see..." Bell muttered, and he soon saw the entrance to the fifth floor down the hall. "Ah, looks like we reached the end of this floor..."

Sora saw this and nodded, and began walking ahead.

"Cool, let's keep exploring!" Sora said while moving forward, making Bell turn to Sora in surprise.

"Eh!? Wait, are you sure? I mean, I'm sure you can handle it, but for me-!" Bell tried to protest, but Sora turned to Bell with a laid back smile.

"That it's too dangerous for us to handle based on what Eina said. Well yeah, if you were fighting alone. But you got me by your side, and Eina really doesn't know how strong I am. Besides, I saw you how you fought the enemies here, and you seem to handle yourself just fine. And from what Hesita told me, you can gain a lot of excelia by fighting stronger enemies. That's how I grew stronger during my adventures." Sora told him.

"You make a good point, but..." Bell said while looking a bit hesitant, his memories flashing back to yesterday.

"Ah, the minotaur, right? Well, that was just a very unlucky case, as they normally don't belong up here. Besides, even if it does happen again, you got me to watch your back." Sora said with a reassuring smile.

"Sora..."

Bell was happy to hear that Sora was here for him and watching his back. But he soon felt a part of him that wished that wasn't the case as well. Having to rely on Sora to bail him out of dangerous situations didn't sit right with Bell. He hated feeling helpless and having to be constantly saved.

Bell clenched his fist when he reflected upon this. These feelings soon lit a fire up in a bell.

"Right. Let's go then! I'll make sure to conquer the fifth floor as soon as I can!" Bell said with determination.

"That's the spirit! Let's go!"

"Right!"

The two then made their way towards the fifth floor.

The monsters this time were stronger than what Bell was used to fighting from the previous floors, and there was a higher spawn rate. It was this time that Sora decided to let Bell do most of the fighting, as he wanted Bell to gain the excelia from fighting the monsters. He said to focus on the monsters in front of him while he watches his back. He'll step in when things get tough, but Bell hasn't run into that sort of trouble just yet. For now, he's playing the role of watching Bell's back to make sure he isn't surrounded.

They fought the monsters on the floor for a good period of time.

The last kobold screamed in pain, before falling to the floor lifelessly. Bell gave a light exhale as he wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

"Way to go Bell! Looks like you are good enough for these monsters on this floor." Sora praised Bell with a grin on his face. Hearing this caused Bell to smile upon hearing this.

"You think so? I'm still having a bit of a tough time fighting against them. And nowhere near as easily on how you took care of your own." Bell said, recalling how Sora watched his back when they were surrounded by a group of monsters, but Sora easily dispatched them.

"Yeah, but this isn't about me, it's about you. And besides, this is the challenge you need, right?" Sora asked.

"I guess." Bell gave a small chuckle, before looking around the fifth floor. " "Hm...we've fought on this floor for quite a while now. I think we should call it a day..."

"Really? I thought we could go a bit deeper." Sora pouted, still wanting to go down and see this War Shadow.

"You might be able to, but I don't exactly want to risk fighting against stronger monsters that's too much for me to handle..." Bell said while looking a bit sheepish.

Sora frowned, seeing how Bell is correct in this regard.

"Maybe you're right..." Sora said. He wanted to go further down, but he didn't exactly want to risk Bell's life for the sake of his curiosity. He could go further down without Bell, but that can be done anytime. For now, he just wanted to get a good feel of the Dungeon.

"Alright, let's call it a day then. I'm sure we'll go down to further floors next time." Sora said, deciding the next course of action. Bell nodded, as he and Sora turned around and started heading back. As they were, Bell turned towards Sora.

"Hey Sora?"

"What's up?"

"How strong are the Heartless compared to the monsters from the Dungeon?" Bell asked with curiosity. Sora blinked at the question, and hummed in thought while folding his arms.

"Let's see...I would say-"

Before Sora could say anything, darkness began to form around them, and popped out creatures that Sora was too familiar with.

Shadows, Soldiers, Flutterwings, and Large Body Heartless began filling the hallway. And there were numerous of them in front of Sora.

"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed in alarm.

"Eh!? You mean the monsters you fought in various worlds!?" Bell exclaimed in alarm while grabbing his knife and went into a battle stance. He looked at the Heartless with a shocked look, as he never saw these monsters before in his life.

"Yeah! Be careful Bell! These guys are lot more tougher than what you usually handle!" Sora warned.

"R-Right!"

Bell's heart thumped with anxiety and fear. So these are the monsters that Sora had to deal with from his own world. And all of them looked quite dark and demonic compared to the other monsters he usually deals with!

And there were so many of them, far larger than any other group of monsters that Bell had to deal with. It was like dealing with a monster parade that Eina told him about, but that wasn't encountered till the middle floors! And Sora had to deal with these on a daily basis!? No wonder Sora was considered a Guardian of Light!

'Sora's an expert at dealing with these, so maybe I should...' Bell thought, taking a safe distance and let Sora handle this, seeing how Heartless are a Keyblade wielder's business.

Before he could even take a step away from Sora, his instincts told him to turn around, and his eyes widened when he saw a few Heartless spawning behind them as well, but not as numerous as the ones Sora is facing.

Bell's eyes widened. There's no chance of escaping...he had to fight!

Sora charged forward and began slicing his way through the horde of Heartless heading his way. This left Bell to his own devices as a few Shadow Heartless began to leap their way towards him and attempting to slash him, but Bell immediately moved to the side and slashed it with his knife. It was sent flying towards the wall, but it soon melted into the ground and made their way towards him.

Just as they were making their way towards him, the Soldier Heartless attempted to kick him, forcing Bell to jump to the side once more to avoid a hit. He then slashed at the Soldier Heartless, delivering a clean cut on its side. The Soldier staggered back a bit. Before Bell could make another move, he felt a scratch against his right leg, making him wince in pain. He looked down, and his eyes widened when he saw the Shadow Heartless beginning to rise out of the ground to attack him.

He immediately swung his knife once more to swat the Heartless away, this time hitting its head. The knife managed to cut through the Shadow this time, dispersing it into darkness.

That only took care of one Shadow Heartless, but there were more of them, followed by Soldier Heartless.

He gritted his teeth as he raised his knife in preparation.

Meanwhile, Sora was cutting through the numerous Heartless with each strike of his Keyblade. As he was doing so, his mind was running through a few things.

'Why are the Heartless running rampant here? I thought after defeating Organization 13, the Heartless activity should've died down greatly. And this number of Heartless is abnormal. They don't show up in great numbers like this before...' Sora thought, as he pointed his Keyblade towards a Large Body Heartless and launched a Firaga spell, impacting the Heartless and having it disappear.

'That could only mean that someone here is controlling or attracting the Heartless. But who...?' Sora thought with a confused frown, before he focused back on the battle as he leaped into the air and delivered a slash to the back of the Large Body Heartless.

It was then Sora decided to take things up a notch if he wanted to speed up the process of eliminating the numerous Heartless surrounding him and Bell.

"Try this!" Sora cried out as he entered his Second Form, changing his clothes' color schemes to match his previous clothing. He performed a series of slashes in front of him to cut down the Heartless, and then swung down his Keyblade to unleash his Explosion, causing swirls of light to appear around him and strike the surrounding Shadow, Soldier, and Large Body Heartless. All of the Heartless were obliterated by the swirls of light. He thrusted forward through the crowd of Heartless, before he unleashed his Ripple Drive to destroy the surrounding Heartless and knocking a few Large Body Heartless up into the air.

He then jumped up into the air to cut down the numerous airborne Flutterwing Heartless, and then drew them all in with his Magnet Burst, before exploding out the energy, killing the Heartless in the process.

When Sora landed on the ground, he saw more Heartless flooding the hallway and towards him.

'Something definitely strange is going on here...' Sora thought with a frown as he took off to fight the numerous Heartless before him.

Just as Sora was focusing on his own battle, Bell was certainly facing the battle of his life right now.

Bell heavily panted after he finished off the last Soldier Heartless with a stab to its chest. There were multiple scratch marks on his body, and could feel the impacts from the kicks delivered by the Soldiers. He was fortunate that he only had to deal with the Shadow and Soldiers, as the Flutterwing and Large Body Heartless were all on Sora's side of battle.

He glanced behind him and his eyes widened at the sight of Sora effortlessly cutting his way through the greater horde of Heartless without looking any worse for wear.

'...So this is Sora's strength as a Hero...' Bell thought with awe. 'I knew he was strong, but I never imagined he was this far in strength.'

Even so, even with the respect and awe towards Sora, he soon felt frustration well up within himself.

'...Even so...I'm struggling with a small group of low level Heartless, while Sora is handling a monster parade ahead of him like it's nothing. Can I truly...?'

Before he could finish that thought, he felt a thump on the ground, and turned to see a Large Body Heartless appear before him.

Bell grimaced at the Large Body Heartless. He was already struggling with the Shadows and Soldier Heartless, now the big Heartless comes? But he soon gripped his knife tightly. He needed to focus on surviving.

Bell attempted to stab it, but his blade just bounced off the Heartless body, much to his surprise. The Heartless swung its body around, swiping Bell aside with its palm. Bell cried out in pain as he was sent tumbling towards the ground.

He saw the Large Body Heartless proceeded to pat its belly while giving off a gesture of what seems to be laughing. He gritted his teeth in anger and frustration, but stood up once more.

His mind was trying to figure out how to harm the Large Body Heartless. Its own body is capable of bouncing off attacks. Then how was he supposed to...?

Before Bell could continue his train of thought, the Large Body Heartless began to charge at him with its front body ready to crash into him. Bell's eyes widened and forced himself to roll out of the way, causing the Large Body Heartless to crash into the wall behind Bell, and fell down to the ground

Bell saw the exposed back of the Heartless, and decided to risk it and slash once more, hoping for the knife to hurt the Heartless. Fortunately, it did, as it dug into the Heartless's back. He took this opportunity and proceeded to deliver multiple slashes onto the Heartless. Before he could continue, the Heartless stood back up and stomped onto the ground, making Bell tumble back when he felt the shockwave from the stomps.

'Even after so many cuts, it can still keep going...!?' Bell thought in shock.

The Heartless turned around and began running towards him once more. This time, it leapt onto the ground and began sliding towards him. Bell's eyes widened at this, and jumped to the side to avoid the incoming charge. However, the Large Body curved its trajectory and was heading towards him once more. This made Bell jump to the side once more.

'How do I beat a Heartless that's mobile and take a hit...?' Bell thought.

He decided to take a risk.

Just as the Heartless closed in on him, Bell jumped to the side once more, but his body was close to being hit. But Bell swung his knife to the side and dug into the back of the Heartless. He was soon caught into its momentum and was moved along with it. He felt his body being dragged along the ground alongside the Heartless. As he and the Heartless were moving down the hallway, he forced himself to climb up on the Large Body's back, and then stab the knife into the back of the head of the Heartless.

The Heartless wailed around as it was trying to get Bell off of it, but Bell stubbornly held on. As he was doing so, he looked up, only to see the back of Sora fighting off the Heartless.

"Look out!" Bell screamed in panic.

Sora heard Bell and turned around, only to see Bell riding on the back of a sliding Large Body Heartless. He immediately leapt to the side, letting Bell and the Heartless to slide past him. Sora then blinked at what he saw.

Bell and the Large Body Heartless were barreling straight through the Heartless horde, causing them all to be knocked aside, run over, or just killed by the impact. All the while Bell was screaming throughout the entire ride.

The Large Body Heartless soon made its way through the Heartless horde, and crashed into the wall of an intersection of the Dungeon hall. The force of the impact caused Bell's momentum to be pushed onto the Large Body Heartless's round body, and immediately bounce off of it.

Bell grunted as he landed back onto the ground, but he made himself stand up. He saw the Round Body Heartless weakly pick itself up, staggering as it did. But it soon collapsed onto the floor, dispersing into a puff of darkness.

Bell breathed a bit too heavily, feeling his heart beat rapidly upon what he just experienced. He cautiously looked around him to see if any more Heartless were going to appear. When he turned around, he saw Sora finish off the last Heartless and is running towards him.

"Bell! You alright!?" Sora called out to Bell.

"I-I'm fine! I just need to catch my breath is all..." Bell answered, though he winced from the injuries he received from the Heartless.

"You don't look so good. Hold on, I'll get you patched up real good. Heal!" Sora held his Keyblade in front of Bell, causing a green light to envelop Bell. Bell instantly felt the injuries fade away from him and felt good as new.

"Wow...your healing spell is amazing...!" Bell said with awe as he looked at himself. His body looked as good as new. This was far more stronger than any potion that he used for his injuries.

"Yeah, it has gotten me out of a pinch more often than I could count." Sora said while nodding.

When Bell stood up, he looked around their surroundings with a worried look.

"Still...why are Heartless showing up now of all things? I've never seen them before during my time here in the dungeon. Do they follow you wherever you go? Bell asked.

"Normally, yeah. The Keyblade is what attracts the Heartless. Although..." Sora trailed off in thought.

"Although?"

"Heartless don't show up in such a large number. Not to this degree. Sure, I fought Heartless in very large numbers, but those were rare events. And after I've defeated Organization 13, the Heartless activity should've died down. So something fishy is going on in this world." Sora explained.

"That does sound strange. It's rather worrying to know that Heartless are crawling around in the Dungeon besides monsters." Bell said with a worried look. It was such a struggle to fight the Heartless, and they were low level Heartless to boot!

"Ah, don't worry too much about it. The fact that I'm here means I'm here for a purpose, which is to protect this world from the Heartless threat! All I need to do is figure out the source of these Heartless, and your world should be safe and sound!" Sora declared with a grin.

"You make it sound so easy..." Bell said with awe, seeing how saving the world from Darkness is such a regular occurrence for Sora. Just saving the world is an achievement that no one could easily achieve, and yet Sora treats it like it's part of the job.

Thinking about this made Bell look a bit downcast.

"You're amazing Sora, to be able to take on the equivalent of a Monster Parade on your own. I truly have a long way to go if I'm even struggling with such a small number..." Bell quietly said with a gloomy look, feeling bitter at his current strength.

If he can't even handle low level Heartless this easily...then what good is he...?

Sora noticed the look in Bell's eyes, and realized what that look meant. After all, he felt those kind of emotions too at some point.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself Bell! I think you fought the best you could do!" Sora declared while clamping onto Bell's shoulder.

"Eh?" Bell responded with surprise.

"We all gotta begin somewhere! And just because I'm strong, it doesn't mean I've been in the same place as you." Sora said with an understanding look.

"R-Really?" Bell responded with surprise.

"Yeah. I never told you how I started my journey, didn't I? I only told you where I came from and my role as a keyblade wielder. Well, my journey started when the Heartless attacked my home and sunk it into darkness. It was during that incident that I was weak to protect everything and everyone precious to me. My best friend Riku ended up succumbing to the Darkness, and Kairi lost her Heart in the process. I couldn't do anything about it, even when I got the Keyblade." Sora solemnly recalled how his journey began.

"No way...!" Bell muttered in shock and horror.

Sora frowned a bit at the memory, but he gained a soft smile.

"Even if I was weak at the beginning, I didn't let that deter me. I was more determined to find my friends and set things right. So I've travelled to different worlds in search for them. I fought a lot of Heartless and villains along the way, many of them quite strong in their own right. But I couldn't have gotten far without the friends by my side. Goofy was there to watch my back and shield me from harm. Donald was reliable with his magic and got me out of tough situations with his magic. And so many others helped me alongside my journey." Sora recalled with a fond smile on his face.

Bell looked at Sora in silent awe upon hearing this.

"My heart, at the time, may have been weak, but it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then and don't forget me, then our hearts will be one. I couldn't have gotten this far on my own. My friends are my power!" Sora declared with confidence and passion.

"Your friends are your power..." Bell quietly said in awe upon hearing this, seeing how Sora has admitted that he's not strong on his own, but the friends he made on his journey. It made the path of a hero less daunting as he expected, if a legendary hero like Sora had help from the friends he made during his journey.

Sora gave an encouraging grin.

"Sure, it may seem a bit disheartening to have a hard time against the Heartless, but you're just starting your journey. You can't be too hard on yourself for that." Sora told him.

"I-I guess. But what about the Heartless? They're strong in their own right, and I don't want to be a burd-" Bell tried to point out, but Sora cut off.

"Then get stronger then! The Heartless may be tough to fight for now, but you can show them that you're not a pushover if you push yourself to become stronger!" Sora told him with a confident look.

"Y-You make it sound like I can become stronger..." Bell weakly answered, the self doubt slowly leaving him.

"I don't think. I know." Sora told him.

"R-Really?" Bell asked with surprise. Sora nodded at him.

"Yeah. As long as you put your heart to it, then anyone can achieve their goals. And I'll help you along the way. After all, it's only natural for Familia to help each other out, right?" Sora pointed out with a grin, making Bell's eyes widened upon hearing this.

To think Sora already has this much confidence and faith in him. A hero who recognizes that he can become better. A hero who is willing to help him in his own journey to become stronger.

A hero who sees him as a friend to help out.

And going by Sora's principle, that means that he is already a part of Sora's power. Does that mean if he were to become stronger, then he'll become more reliable to Sora? He'll become someone that Sora, a legendary hero in his own right, will rely upon in battle against the Darkness?

Recognizing all of this made Bell wipe away the self doubt and criticism within his head. Instead, he soon felt invigorated by Sora's encouragement.

"Right! I'll become strong as soon as I can so I can fight the Heartless alongside you! I want to become a worthy hero to fight by your side, just like your fellow Keyblade wielders and your friends!" Bell declared with determination.

"Yeah! We'll show the Heartless and everyone else that the Hestia Familia isn't someone to mess with! We're all in this together as a Familia." Sora said, before he held out a hand towards Bell.

Bell looked at the hand offered to him by Sora. He slowly placed his hand on tops of Sora's hand, unsure on where to go with this gesture. Sora, on the other hand, knew where to go with this.

"All for one, and one for all!"


~ Break ~


After they exchanged the magic crystals, and a quick scolding from Eina after learning about exploring the fifth floor, they two decided to go home and inform Hestia on what has occurred in the dungeon.

"The Heartless are here!? How and why!?" Hestia asked in shock.

"That's what I want to know. But one thing is for sure, is that the Heartless showing themselves is not a good thing. I need to figure out where they're coming from, and I need to get rid of them." Sora said with a serious look.

"The Heartless are monsters in another league of their own..." Bell commented with a troubled look.

The Heartless are stronger than the monsters he usually had to deal with on his own. Normally, defeating a Goblin takes about a single hit from anywhere. For a Kobold, it takes a well aimed strike to kill it.

The Shadows and Soldiers Heartless? They were more stronger and durable when compared to them, not to mention more varied in their abilities. He never fought a monster that can melt into the ground and pop out to strike. And the Soldier Heartless were able to utilize their claws and kicks far more effective than your average Kobold. And they coordinated well in groups.

And the Large Body Heartless. It honestly felt like he fought a monster that belonged a few floors further down.

"This is bad. We already have our hands full with the monsters of our world. Now we have to deal with monsters that come from beyond our world as well? Give me a break!" Hestia groaned.

"It certainly does sound worrying, yeah. But don't worry Hestia, it's my duty to make sure the Heartless don't cause any further harm. So it looks like I'm going to be sticking around for a while and try to figure out where the Heartless are coming from." Sora said.

"It's reassuring that we have a Keyblade wielder to help resolve this issue. Still, it doesn't hurt to be careful! You may be able to handle the Heartless on your own, but Bell struggled with the low level Heartless, and he needs all the strength he can get to defend himself from the Heartless. Speaking of which, Bell, let's update your status!" Hestia declared while turning to Bell.

"Right!"

Soon after, Hestia was on Bell's back as she was updating his Falna. As she did, her eyes widened in shock upon the numbers that she saw. After carefully writing down his updated status onto the parchment, Hestia handed the parchment to Bell.

Bell looked at his updated status, and his eyes widened in shock.

"...Eh? Goddess? A-Are you sure this is right?"

Sora leaned in and looked at the parchment.

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength: I82 - G282

Defense: I13 - H153

Dexterity: I96 - H195

Agility: H172 - F307

Magic: I0

Skills:

Magic:

"Huh, didn't expect that." Sora commented while blinking at Bell's updated status.

"I went over 400 points!" Bell exclaimed with surprise.

"I know you and Bell fought monsters and Heartless in the dungeon. Yet what did you make Bell do, Sora!?" Hestia questioned, making Sora nervously chuckle.

"Well, we explored the fifth floor. I let Bell do most of the fighting since I won't really gain much excelia from monsters I have an easy time with. Then we were approached by Heartless and fought them. Then later on, Bell ended up riding on top of the Large Body Heartless and pretty much barreled straight through a majority of the horde. I guess using a Heartless to harm other Heartless counts as excelia..." Sora recounted.

"That's something I don't want to do again..." Bell muttered, shuddering at the experience as he found himself moving through a horde of Heartless.

"Really? Riding Heartless is a useful technique in battle." Sora pointed out.

Back in Jack Sparrow's world, he used the Vaporfly Heartless to fly in the sky and shoot down the Heartless. He found that pretty fun to ride around in the sky.

Hestia's eyebrow heavily twitched while Bell sweatdropped upon hearing Sora's remark. Another ridiculous detail of one of Sora's ridiculous adventure throughout the worlds.

"I shouldn't be surprised at this point..." Hestia sighed as she turned to Sora. "In any case, let's update yours as well."

"Right!" Sora said as he laid on the bed after taking off his shirt. After updating it, she handed the sheet to Sora.

Sora

Level 1

Strength: I0

Endurance: I0

Dexterity: I0-I1

Agility: I0

Magic: I0-I2

Skills

Keyblade: The user has access to the power of the Keyblade.

Guardian of Light: Increase parameters against darkness-based opponents. Increase user's affinity in light-based magic. Increase resistance to Curses & Darkness-based Magic.

Link to All: Create temporary Skills and Magic for user and ally when fighting together.

Magic

Key to Mystic: Access Swift Strike Magic Spells.

"Huh, not as big as Bell's..." Sora commented. "I guess the enemies were to weak for me to gain that much excelia, while Bell's experiences has led to a huge gain..."

"Y-Yeah, that could be it." Hestia stammered a bit, before she cleared her throat.

"In any case, this growth should be celebrated! Bell! You've been invited to a bar, right? Let's check it out and see how good the food and drinks are!"

"R-Right!" Bell said while nodding.

"Cool! I'm starving, and I'm curious to see what kind of food they have." Sora said while eagerly curious to try out the food.

"Right! You two go on ahead while I take care of a few things." Hestia told the two, making the only two members of her Familia nod at her as they left the room and went up the stairs.

As soon as they left the room, Hestia carefully waited a for more seconds to make sure they left the room. She then sighed after confirming that they're indeed upstairs. She then turned back to the sheets before her before carefully writing something on them after recalling them from memory.

She really needed to confirm if the Skills weren't playing with her eyes.

Liaris Freese: Rapid Growth. Continued desire results in continued growth. Stronger desire results in stronger growth

No, it wasn't playing with her eyes. It's a Skill that Bell has, and it's a rare Skill to boot.

Bell's status update is completely abnormal, something that was beyond her expectations. She honestly thought with the Skill that Bell gained, it would be a small boost to his growth, like an additional 25 point increase to the overall increase.

She couldn't be any more wrong. There was something that Bell is desiring so strongly that it affected the growth to this extent.

This could only be attributed to Sora.

Speaking of Sora, her mind drifted to the other worlder. The presence of Heartless showing up in their world is unprecedented and worrying. Heartless are unknown and foreign existences, and she's worried how it'll affect this world. She's especially worried, considering how the Heartless are capable of sinking their world into Darkness.

Thankfully, Sora is here to fend off this threat, as he has a duty to vanquish the Heartless. Hopefully, the business between Sora and the Heartless would remain inconspicuous, and not affect anyone.

She had mixed feelings regarding Bell fighting alongside Sora, as it exposes Bell to the dangers that Sora will face.

Hestia frowned when she came to that one particular thought.

Bell fighting alongside Sora.

Hestia fished out a crumbled up sheet and started to unfold it. As she did, she once again read Sora's Falna to make sure that she's reading it right.

It had the correct stats updated. She didn't miss any Skills or Magic. But there was one particular Skill that kept bothering her.

Link to All: Create temporary Skills and Magic for ally and user when fighting alongside user.

Just having that Skill alone is just ridiculous in her opinion; A Skill that creates Skills & Magic. Being able to create new temporary Skills and Magic for others when fighting alongside Sora is something unheard of.

Little did Bell and Sora know that she actually left out a few more crucial details to Sora's Skill.

Link to All: Growth Booster & Skill and Magic Creation. Increase growth to allies who fight alongside the user. The strength of growth is based on the strength of bond between ally and user. Creates temporary Skills and Magic for ally and user when fighting alongside the user.

This Skill is by far the most absurd Skill that she has even seen, even more ridiculous than Bell's Liaris Freese. It strengthens the people who fight by Sora's side, in addition to giving Sora and his friends new Skills and Magic to work with.

She had to write out those details from Bell and Sora.

If the two learned about it, she has no doubts that Bell and Sora might blab or leak such information to others, due to them being too honest for their own good, and both wouldn't be able to lie about their skills to other Gods. The Gods will be on the hunt for both Bell and Sora if they ever come to learn about these skills.

Not to mention, it will diminish the effects of the growth if Sora comes to learn that his bond with Bell might seem like nothing more than a booster for Bell to use. Bell's own growth will diminish if he comes to learn about this, seeing how his feelings are nothing more than a booster as well.

That's why she kept it a secret.

That's why she gave out only a small detail regarding Sora's Skill, so Sora can technically tell the truth of his skill if Gods come to question Sora. The fact that it can manifest between him and others means Sora's Link to All will eventually be revealed, so she had no choice but to reveal that aspect early on. Sure, the smaller detail already paints a target on Sora's back, but considering the fact that Sora is essentially a walking excelia booster is going to have practically every God hunting down Sora to no ends, even more than Bell. All she could do is hopefully limit the damage.

Hestia quickly tossed Sora and Bell's status paper into the hearth, letting the fire burn it away to ashes, as she followed Sora and Bell outside.


~ Break ~


The Hestia Familia made their way towards the Hostess of Fertility. When they reached their destination, they took a good look at the building before them. It was made of stone, and it was two stories tall. The interior, however, looked quite deep. It looked to be the biggest bar in the area.

When they looked inside the building, they see a stout dwarfess, probably the owner, behind a counter and a group of young cat-people girls in aprons serving food and alcohol to customers, alongside what appeared to be a green haired elf. It appeared all the staff were female.

From the crowd, a familiar person spotted them at the entrance.

"Oh, Bell, you came!" Syr cheerfully greeted as she approached the Hestia Familia.

"Y-Yes, we're here." Bell nervously greeted, as he came back to meet with, what he admitted, to be a very cute girl. Though, he could feel a certain stare digging into his back.

"Who is she...?" Hestia questioned quietly while eyeing Syr.

"The reason why we came here in the first place." Sora simply answered while looking around the bar, taking in the sights and the various foods being served around. He and Bell missed how Hestia was fuming behind them.

"Now seating three!" Syr called out to the dwarfess behind the counter. She led the three to the counter, which is shaped like a long L, and they were placed at a small corner at the end, with the wall behind them. Bell sat next to the wall closest to him while Hestia sat right next to him, and Sora was sitting the furthest out.

"So you're Syr's guest, eh? Ha ha, you got a charming face fer an adventurer. Your friend has quite the charming face as well!" the dwarfess laughed, while Bell's cheeks went a bit red in embarrassment, while Sora sheepishly chuckled while scratching his cheek.

With that, the three ended up ordering their food. Since Sora and Bell are still underaged, they were given fruit juice while Hestia was given ale to drink with. They've also started ordering their food as well, with Bell getting the pasta, Hestia getting meat skewers, and Sora was quite curious to try the fried fish.

"Man, this is good!" Sora cheered while digging into the fried fish. "What method did you use to cook this? I want to learn how to recreate this back home." Sora asked the dwarfess.

"Oh, Sora, you can cook?" Bell asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I helped out at at this restaurant called Le Grand Bistrot. Little Chef has helped me cook the food during my time there. Ever since then, I've picked up on cooking." Sora explained, recalling the times when he helped out in the kitchen.

"Oh hoh, is that so? Sounds like you got quite the tongue and talent if you worked as a chef at a restaurant before. Think you can take my recipes just by asking?" the dwarfess asked with a challenging smirk.

"Hm...you're right, it doesn't sound fair if I try to take a recipe from you. I can share a few recipes of my own in exchange." Sora offered with a smile, not at all intimidated by the dwarfess.

"Hah! You got quite the guts kid, having the gall to offer me recipes despite the fact that I have more experience than you! But I like that!" the dwarfess laughed. "Sure, if you have the time, feel free to share whatever you know. I'll be the judge to see if your recipes are worthy of being added to my menu! In return, I'll happily share cooking techniques and tips with you!"

"Sounds like a deal!"

Bell could only look at Sora with an astonished look, seeing how he's unintimidated by the woman before him. Meanwhile, Syr walked up to them with a tray held to her chest.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Syr asked.

"It's quite overwhelming to be honest..." Bell answered while looking around the bar, seeing so many people around enjoying the food and drinks. He then noticed Syr standing behind the counter while leaning forward with interest.

"What about your job?"

"The kitchen is a little busy, but the others have everything else covered. Things are slowing down a bit, too." Syr said, and then shoots a pleading look towards the owner.

The owner raises her chin in a jerking nod, giving her the okay.

"Well, first let me say thank you for this morning. The bread was delicious."

"No, no. You coming here tonight made my empty stomach worth it."

"Don't you mean it was worth it to force us to spend a lot on dinner?" Bell couldn't help but ask. He noticed the price of Sora's order, and it was quite pricey.

Thankfully, with the minotaur magic stone and the haul they made from today's Dungeon dive, they made a decent income for today. So Bell isn't stressing too much about money at the moment.

"Sorry~" Syr giggled. "So, what Familia are you in?"

"We are in the Hestia Familia. Sora is someone who recently joined us, and this is my Goddess..." Bell introduced, though he noticed how Hestia looked a bit red due to how much she was drinking.

"Oi, Bell~. Stop flirting with the waitress in front of you~! You could be doing that to me instead~!" Hestia slurred.

Bell could only give an apologetic look towards Syr while Sora was tending to Hestia, doing his best on trying to help her in her drunken state and prevent her from drinking any further. Syr could only giggle at the sight.

As the two were trying to tend to their drunk Goddess, the front doors to the bar opened. Immediately, they've begun to hear voices pick up around them.

"Loki Familia...!"

"One of the top Familias in Orario?"

"Look, it's all the top members of the Loki Familia...!"

A group of people consisting of a red-head woman, a short blonde looking boy, a regal green haired elf, a dwarf, a pair of amazons, an golden haired elf, and a sole human walked into the bar.

Hearing this, Sora turned to Bell.

"Urm...who's the Loki Familia?" Sora asked with a confused look.

"You don't know about them?" Syr asked in surprise. "They're the most well known Familia in Orario. There's not one person who doesn't know about them."

"W-Well, Sora is new to the city. He came far from here, and his knowledge about a lot of things outside of his home is quite limited." Bell hastily explained to Syr, covering up Sora's otherwordly status.

"Ah, that explains it." Syr said while nodding in understanding.

"To answer your question Sora, the Loki Familia is one of the top Familias in Orario. They're considered the best of the best, alongside the Freya Familia." Syr explained.

"Is that so? They must be quite strong." Sora remarked while glancing at the Loki Familia before him.

Bell tried to get a good look at the Familia as well. But the restaurant was quite crowded, and his own seating prevented him from getting a good view of the Loki Familia. The only person he could make out is the back of a blonde woman's head, but nothing more.

Before he could move from his seat, he noticed how Hestia was rather quiet while starting down at her cup.

"G-Goddess...?"

"Oi, waitress. Can you give us the bill and take out? I don't feel so hungry anymore..." Hestia quietly said, but loud enough for the people around her to hear.

Syr blinked upon hearing this, before she nodded and walked off to go fetch the requested items.

"Hestia? Is something wrong?" Sora asked with concern.

"Hearing Loki is here just spoils the mood for me. I don't exactly like dealing with her." Hestia answered while letting a small annoyed scowl form on her face.

Hearing this, both Sora and Bell exchanged looks with one another. Seems like Hestia and Loki don't really like each other if it causes a damper on Hestia's mood, especially if she's drunk.

"We should get out of here then. We don't want a fight to erupt between two Goddesses, especially with a top Familia..." Bell suggested, making Sora nod at him.

"Yeah. Plus, I think she had enough to drink..." Sora noted, seriously concerned with a drunk person before him. He needed to give her a stern lecture on how one should be careful with their drinks.

"You're leaving already?" the dwarfess asked with a raised eyebrow while Syr walked up to the group and handed them the bill and basket.

"Yeah. We don't want to cause a scene in your bar if Hestia doesn't like to deal with Loki. Looks like recipe exchanges will have to wait another time." Sora said with a sheepish look as he handed them them the valis and put the food into a basket.

"It's quite a shame. But I expect you to come back here and spend more money if you want to make it up to me." the owner told them with small grin. "The name's Mia Grand by the way."

"I hope you come back soon." Syr said with a hopeful smile.

"We promise we'll come back another time as soon as we get chance." Bell said as he helped Sora lift their Goddess up from her seat.

With that, the Hestia Familia hastily made their way out of the restaurant without anyone noticing.


~ Break ~


Ais could only sigh at the sight before her.

It was supposed to be just a simple and enjoyable night out with her Familia after an expedition into the Dungeon. Gareth heartily chugging down his drinks, Riveria trying to calm down the rowdy group, Tiona cheerfully enjoying the atmosphere and food, Tione trying to flirt with Finn, Finn politely turning down her advancements, and her Goddess Loki trying to cope a feel from her, which is met with a good smack to the head.

And Bete...

He just ended up ruining the mood. It wasn't even half an hour, and already, Bete somehow managed to get himself drunk within a short amount of time, and began spewing off how low level adventurers should be thankful that they bothered to save their sorry ass, and how low level weaklings don't belong to the Dungeon.

Honestly, the amount of times Bete has kept spewing this kind of nonsense has honestly made her tired of hearing this. And judging from the rest of her Familia, they didn't exactly look so amused with his drunken ramblings either.

"That should be enough. You should shut your mouth, Bete." Riveria told Bete with a stern and cold tone. "Letting the minotaur escape was our fault. As such, any deaths that happened in the upper floors will squarely fall onto us. The fact that you heartlessly laugh at the deaths of others is utterly shameless, especially during this time of dining."

Ais is grateful that Riveria is the voice of reasoning to all this chaos.

"Oooh~, as expected from the prim and proper elf. But what's the point in trying to protect useless weaklings? Trash is trash, after all." Bete sneered.

"Oi oi, this is just spoiling the drinks..." Loki spoke up. Even she's finding it distasteful.

"You're one to talk Bete." Tiona said while folding her arms. "I remember you saying that to the boy we've met on the 50th floor, who has instantly proven you wrong on how many Virga he took out. So much for a weakling that you perceived."

"And I can recall how he took out more than you. How sad that he did more work than you, despite considering yourself an elite." Tione mocked.

"Shut up! That brat just got lucky is all!" Bete growled in outrage.

"Sounds like the words of a sore loser~!" Tiona sang.

"Why you!" Bete snarled as he leapt up from his chair and tried to pounce onto the twins, but the twins were expecting this as they coordinated themselves into trapping Bete in a rope and hanging him up in the middle of the room. Leaving the drunk werewolf to scream and flail angrily in the air.

And with that, the laugher resume and the mood was becoming lighter.

"It's quite a shame the young lad didn't join us. I'm quite curious to learn more about him. His abilities were quite unique." Gareth remarked while taking a drink from his cup.

Hearing this caused Lefiya's eyes to dull when thinking about it.

"Ha ha...unique..." Lefiya muttered while looking at her cup.

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Riveria said, before she turned to Loki. "Did he have any plans ever since he left the manor?"

"I've tried to ask him that, but he said that it's nothing we should concern ourselves with, and walked off to who knows where." Loki snorted. "Guy was too tight lipped about a lot of things."

Ais stayed silent upon hearing this.

They've met a boy during their time on the 50th floor. He had very strange clothing, along with abilities that puts Lefiya and Riveria's casting time to shame. Something that caused Lefiya to be met with a lot of aghast, while Riveria was quite intrigued by the boy's abilities.

She wanted to learn more about the boy's strange abilities, wanting to learn where he got the strength from. But he said that it was classified and not meant for outsiders to know. She supposes that everyone has their own secrets, including hers. But she felt disappointed that she couldn't find out how he got so strong in the first place.

Still, the appearance of the strange boy was just as strange as the monsters they've encountered on their way up to the 5th floor of the dungeon.

During their chase after the minotaurs and going through the 6th floor of the dungeon, just as they were about to reach the stairs going up to the fifth floor, she and Bete were suddenly encountered monsters she has never seen before.

They looked like they were War Shadows, but their appearance looked completely different compared to the usual War Shadow. It had a more humanoid body structure and had two glowing yellow eyes, different to the one eye that War Shadows have. Not to mention the crooked antennae that are quite long and fall back behind the monster.

Normally, War Shadows are no match for her and Bete's level of strength and thought they can deal with them quickly. But the two were proven wrong, as these new monsters showed off abilities they've never seen before, and worked quite well together. This ended up stalling her and Bete for a good amount of time, but they managed to kill the monsters.

Still, for upper floor monsters, a group of them working together showed that their strength that belong to the middle floors, or even the lower floors if she was being generous.

Was it some kind of new variant or enhanced species of a War Shadow?

Even if that was the case, enhanced species from the upper floors do not show up in such large numbers, nor do they have this strength that far surpass middle floor monsters.

The sudden appearance of this strange boy and the dark monsters is just too strange.


And that's a wrap to this chapter.

Honestly, at first, I wanted to type out Sora explaining about his story to Hestia and Bell. But I soon found that it was a chore to deal with, so I've decided to skip the nitty gritty and summarize what Sora has explained and move the plot along. Also, Sora gave a very summarized version of his journey. He didn't really describe the worlds he travelled to, so expect Bell and Hestia to ask a few things about Sora's journey.


(Sora's Link to All)

Did you honestly think that Link to All was just a Skill that creates Skills and Magic when fighting alongside Sora? Nope, think again.

It's been repeatedly stated how Sora's heart is able to connect with so many people, and Sora keeps saying that his friends are his power. So I've decided to conceptualize Sora's friendship power into a Skill, Link to All.

At first, it WAS going to be a Skill that creates Skills and Magic between Sora and other party members, just like in the Kingdom Hearts games. But then I thought what Sora can do to influence Bell to grow stronger, because I like Bell as a protagonist as well. I don't want Bell to be overshadowed by Sora.

So I figured, why not a Growth booster? It explains why Sora's party is able to grow and keep up with him when they go fight Heartless. Before Donald and Goofy met Sora in KH1, they were struggling to fight off Soldier Heartless. But by the time of KH3, they were able to keep up with Sora and fight the ridiculous opponents he faces. Hell, Sora claimed that Donald or Goofy alone could take on an individual Titan from Hercules's world. The same monsters that gave Zeus, a God, trouble.

Sora's party needs to be strong in their own right to help out Sora in his fights, which helps prove Sora's principle of his friends being his power.

In any case, Sora's Link to All is essentially an inverse Liaris Freese. Rather than boosting the user's growth, it effectively boosts the people around the user based on the bond between the user and partner, rather than personal feeling.

Basically, I'm going to crank up Bell's already ridiculous growth even further than he ever did in canon.


(Heartless Power Level)

Now then, I hope that I set the right Heartless for Bell to fight when fighting alongside Sora. Considering how he's currently a beginner, I thought giving him the Shadow and Soldier Heartless, and a Large body Heartless as the 'boss' was a good starter enemy for Bell to deal with. And it was his first time dealing with Heartless, so he was inexperienced as well. So it was pretty much a tough fight for Bell to be in.

Honestly, I'd like to think that low rank Heartless are far more stronger and dangerous compared to Upper Floor Monsters from the dungeon. If I had to compare, I would put Shadows to be a a few floors stronger compared to a Goblin from the first floor. I'd also like to imagine that Heartless can take far more punishment compared to your average monster.

I remember reading a review how Heartless are "world killers" and how they're dangerous beings. I can certainly acknowledge that. However, I feel that's more of a conceptual type of power than pure power.

To simplify, the Heartless destroying worlds is basically the equivalent of them finding the world's self destruct button (consuming its heart), rather than pure power destroying the world itself, like how Goku's Kamehameha can totally destroy a planet at full blast. It's like a human piloting a robot and hitting the self-destruct button. They certainly destroyed the robot, but only with a button rather than punching the robot itself.

Because if Heartless were at literal world killer power, I'm pretty sure that everyone except Sora in the story would die immediately. That wouldn't make a good story now, wouldn't it?

Honestly, trying to understand/justify/categorize Kingdom Hearts Power Levels is more harder than comprehending the Kingdom Hearts plot, lore, and universal rules. I'm going to write the way Heartless are in my story. End of Discussion.


Fun Fact of the Day

Sora's Skill, Link to All, is actually the name of a Kingdom Hearts OST, and comes on when Sora dealt the final blow to Xehanort. So I figured that this was the best name for Sora's Skill.