Danmachi Heart of Alfhiem

by Argonaut32

Elf harem story that starts with Bell saving Riveria's life. The timeline won't change much; Loki familia will be involved with Bell from the beginning making Hestia's worst impulses flare up as new events change an older more emotional Bell. The main four women in his life are Riveria, Ryu, Eina and Alicia. Aura, Laurier and Ais will come later. Unsure about Lefiya and Filvus.

8. Night of the Magical Lap Pillows

Danmachi Heart of Alfhiem

Chapter 8

Dungeon Date and the Night of Magical Lap pillows(edited)

(Day 14 from Minotaur, 1 month as an adventurer)

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

Somebody was pounding on the church basement door. I opened my eyes slowly to see the magic clock read 730am. "One minute." I shouted out before getting up to open the door.

To my surprise, Ryu was behind the door. "Aw-ahaaw. R-Ryu." I nervously spat out surprised to see the beautiful elf showing up at my home this early in the morning.

Ryu back stepped in shock seeing and smelling Bell. He had lipstick on his face, smelled of perfume and his clothes looked damp. "Y-You look like you had a late night."

"What?"

"Your….. um, face." Ryu's eyes wandered around nervously avoiding his Ruby eyes.

"Oh no!" The memories of last night came to my mind, my body was pungent with the goddesses' scent. Frantically, I tried wiping my face. "I collapsed right after. Sorry."

"Seems like you found some friends." Ryu bit the inside of her lip and narrowed her eyes in disappointment.

"I was trying to get away." I bowed before Ryu. "Please, I wish I could say something for you, believe me."

"Try me." Ryu's ethereal blue eyes narrowed.

"Huuuuu. My goddess wanted me to take her out to dinner. We were ambushed in the amor square by eight other goddesses. They kind of forced me into a group date."

"So, what actually happened Bell?" Ryu stared at him in disbelief.

"N-nothing happened. I managed to get away. Spent all night running from them." My hands were clasped praying she would not look down on me.

"Doesn't look like it." Ryu shook her head. "Though it might explain the bad news I have for you."

"Huh"

Ryu winced seeing his innocent slow blinking eyes. "Goddess Hestia got really drunk at the Hostess last night. I saw her go into the guild hall and not come out so I am sure she is safe." She held her hands out to calm him. "Goddess Hestia may have damaged a few things and angered Mama Mia. Leaving you with a pretty hefty tab of fifty thousand valis."

"Uh…." I could practically feel my jaw ready to dislocate and hit the floor. "I-I think I am gonna be sick." I held my gut in shock. "Think that's just about all I have right now."

"S-sorry." She squealed out seeing his pale face.

"I-its not your fault Ryu." I bowed to the elf. "Please tell Mia I will stop by before going to the dungeon to drop off the valis. Suppose to meet somebody there at 9:30."

"Do you trust this person?" Ryu asked.

"I do. As much as you."

Ryu's face contorted in shock for a second before returning to her usual plain expression. "O-okay then. Please don't make Mama Mia wait. I don't want her to take her anger out on you Bell." Ryu walked back up the stairs.

"Please don't get worse." I closed the basement door and immediately went to clean myself, my clothes, and the couch.

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*Knock! Knock!*

An hour later, when I was finishing equipping my armor. Another person was pounded on the door. "Please don't be bad news." I closed my eyes and calmed myself. "One minute."

I open the door up to see a middled-aged brown-haired clienthrope man in a guild uniform holding onto goddess Hestia. "Uhhh, good morning Sir."

"Good morning, Bell Cranel. I am Rehmer. Your goddess showed up drunk in the middle of the night." Rehmer look down at the Bell with a sneer on his face.

I bowed to the Clienthrope man. "Sorry, Mr. Rehmer. I hope she wasn't any trouble. Is she okay?"

"She's fine -."

The guild employee was interrupted by goddess Hestia stumbling forward landing against my chest armor. "Goddess are you okay?"

"Why Bell? Why?" Hestia's eyes teared up as she spoke in a gentle voice and started hitting his armor.

"Goddess nothing happened last night. I spent the whole night running away."

"I don't believe you." She pouted.

"That is the truth. I escaped at the first opportunity. Let me help you get to bed. You need to lie down. You're still feeling the effects of the alcohol." I looked up to the guild employee. "Thank you for bringing her home safe sir."

"Whatever, do not make this a habit?" Rehmer scowled.

Slowly I moved the goddess back to her bedroom. I tried to lie her down and was almost dragged down with her. "Rest with me in bed Bell. Don't go to the dungeon please."

"Goddess we're just about broke now. I need to make sure we can eat and pay for my weapons." I saw her trembling frown and immediately turned around. "Goddess, I need to go see Mama Mia at the hostess before going to the dungeon. I will see you tonight."

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I nervously entered the hostess of Fertility. Ryu smiled as walked past her. The others had mixed feelings about the night before. The dwarf owner was staring me down as I slowly walked toward the counter of the bar and placed a sizable bag of coin next to her. I backed up and bowed.

"S-sorry Mamma Mia."

"I was expecting your goddess to stop by. Not you Bell. Where is she?" Mia's brow furrowed.

"Goddess is sleeping off her hangover. I wanted to make sure to pay you before going into the dungeon." I apologized before raising my head.

Mia's brow softens as she ripped the coin bag out of his hands. "She was lucky I didn't smack her. You weren't kidding when you told the girls she would blow up the bar. She drank so much that she leaked out her divinity scaring half my customers. Why did she get drunk off her ass?"

"O-other goddesses abducted me."

Mia's brow raised seeing his face redden. She heard a cute little snort coming from Ryu. "I can imagine some."

"My apologies Mama Mia. I have to meet somebody at Babel in a few minutes. I won't allow this to happen again."

"Fine get going. Don't forget Ryu's lunch. She puts a lot of love and care into them for you." Mia teased gazing sideways at Ryu.

"Mama. Stop." Ryu's eyes flared wide in shock as she held out the lunch box.

"Ryu's lunches are the best. Thank you." I walked out of the hostess and start running off to the dungeon.

Mia's leaned over the counter to Ryu. "Lap Pillows, lunches, and private training. What's next breakfast in bed?"

*Woosh!* Ryu bolted out of the bar with a broom without saying a word and started sweeping the front of the Hostess. "Hah."

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A little while later, I was nervously awaiting Eina at the northern entrance of Babel. I was frantically checking myself over for any marks from yesterday and made sure there wasn't a trace of perfume lingering.

"Good morning, Bell."

"Huh." My body shook in surprise at her cheery voice. I looked up at her and just stared with my mouth half-open. My eyes blinked slowly absorbing the beautiful armored half-elf. "M-Morning, Eina."

"Are you being a pervert again, Bell?" Eina was leaning over with her hands gripping onto a white hooded cape. She smiled bashfully seeing the stunned look on his face.

Eina was dressed in a short-sleeved green battle skirt with a leafy design around her arms and thighs. Her chest was surprisingly well hidden behind her ornate silver armor. She looked well protected behind her bulwark of armor along her hips, shins, shoulders, and wrists. Yet at the same time showing a surprising amount of skin around the joints. She had leather belts with gold fittings around her waist. A wand dangled from her left side with a shortsword in her right hand.

I could feel my face warming up rapidly. I frantically shook my hands sideways. "S-Sorry Eina, y-you look amazing."

"Thank you, Bell." Eina blushed lightly with a wide grin on her face. "It's actually second-tier adventurer equipment. Lady Riveria bought it for me five years ago when I first joined Loki familia."

"Incredible. Your outfit far surpasses mine.

Eina's ears lowered a little. "I really don't deserve to have it."

"Of course, you do." I stared back into her emerald eyes. "It Shows how deeply Riveria cares for your safety. One traumatic incident never made her even think about taking it from you. She always believed in you."

"Thank….. you." Eina's nervous smile grew wider. "I-I admit that I am still afraid. Your strength inspires me to try and I want to see how well you fight."

"I still feel weak." My shoulders shrugged upwards.

"Hardly." Eina said sarcastically. "Can't believe it's only been a month since you started adventuring. Do you still want to go back to floor eight?"

"We don't have to." I said a little worried. "I just don't want you to get in trouble or hurt."

"Don't worry about it. Let's go to floor eight. Though if I get in trouble, I guess I will need a hero to save me." Eina smiled seeing his red face. "Here, let me carry your backpack since I will be the supporter."

I took off my backpack and help slip it over her shoulders. Her hood fell off her shaking body. She quickly through it back on before entering the dungeon, unaware of the guild employee that was watching us the whole time.

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At the bottom of the stairs, Eina stopped to pack away her hooded cape. She took a deep breath. "Bell let me be the vanguard for the first six floors. I need to get used to being down here. After that, you take the lead."

"Sure, thing Eina. I will cover your back."

Eina reclined her head backward with a mischievous smile. "Don't get too distracted back there. I am rusty after all."

"O-o-okay."

"He-he." Eina smiled.

*Rustling! Crack!*

Eina's smile disappeared in an instant hearing a distant noise. She scanned for a monster and pulled out her blade. A kobold was down the path about a hundred feet, sniffing the ground.

"Errrrrrrrrr." The kobold growled hearing Eina nervously step forward. Saliva trailed from its sharp wolf-like teeth. The kobold noticed how timid the half-elf woman was and launched off its back legs towards her.

Eina's grip tightened around the pommel to help her focus her mind on the fight and blocked out her fear. She nimbly dodges under the claws and swipes horizontally with her sharp shortsword. The shortsword cleaved threw the kobold's body, from armpit to armpit, like a knife through butter. The sword destroyed the magic stone and the kobold burst into ash. "Oops sorry about the stone."

"It's fine." I shrugged my shoulder admiring her technique. "Kobold stones aren't that valuable. We can wait to floor six to start collecting stones at least."

"Okay. Let's go." Eina raced forward gaining a little bit of confidence back from her victory. She started feeling nostalgic for her adventuring days as she quickly chopped off the head of a goblin and quickly whirled around to impale another kobold in the chest.

Over the next two hours, we rushed through the first six floors at Eina's pace. Only stopping to pick up drop items. Eina cleared out the majority of the kobolds, goblins, and war shadows without much difficulty. I only focused on killing the stragglers. At the entrance to floor seven, six more war shadows fell from the ceiling and began to take shape into their bipedal black shadowy body.

"Stand back bell!" Eina raised her wand in her left hand and began to chant. "Earth split asunder. Sheen of iron. Upheave the very rock and stone beneath my toe. Gnome, Incarnate of the land. Rain down your missiles and extinguish the light. - Midgard's Twilight."

Two mounds of earth were raised from the dungeon floor and were hurled toward the group of War Shadows. She used a little bit of mind to shatter the mounds into smaller shrapnel in case they evaded her magic. The war shadow's screams were instantly cut short when the magic obliterated their bodies.

"Wow, that was bigger than in the arena."

"Testing out my new skill. Makes my attack magic a lot stronger than before." Eina sighed in relief feeling the effects of her spirit healing kicking in to help her recover mind. She wiped sweat from her brow.

*Swish! Crack!*

"Ahhhh." A long tongue from a frog shooter shot out and wrapped around her waist guards. Terror started to flood her mind until the tongue went limp and released her. Eina held her chest seeing Bell pull his knife out of its eye. "Whew. Thought I was a goner with that tongue."

I bent down to examine its body and cut out the stone with my back to her. "Frog isn't that lucky, Eina. I am here."

Eina's cheeks were puffed out and red. Steam look like it would pour out of her ears as she watched Bell with a nervous smirk on her face. Her imagination was running wild at his perceived suggestion. Bell was blissfully unaware, as he cut out the stone. The frog's body exploded into ash.

I stared back over my shoulder. "Are you okay, Eina?"

"Mmmmmhmmm." Eina shook her head. "M-maybe we should take a small break before going further."

"Sounds nice. Want to split my lunch?"

"Sure." Eina cheerfully turned around as Bell rummaged through the backpack and withdrew the small lunch basket.

We sat down next to each other against the cave wall and opened up the lunch basket to reveal cut-up chicken tenders on a bed of lettuce and a small portion of rice.

*Chomp! Chomp!*

"Mmmmmm." Eina's puffy cheeks were full of the chicken. *Gulp.* "My gosh. Wow, this is amazing. Did you make it Bell?"

"No, my kitchen isn't that big or well-stocked. Ryu's has been helping me out." I stabbed a piece of chicken and lettuce with one of the chopsticks.

"Mean Bell stringing along other women." Eina glanced sideways with a pout on her lips.

"No, Ryu's just a friend. She's very nice."

"You sure she's not seeking something more." Eina questioned.

"She's rather quiet and reserved. She just worried about me like you do."

"I don't know. Training and lunches." Eina cutely leaned her head sideways. "Not many women would go to that kind of trouble."

"I pay her for the ingredients. I don't think Ryu sees me like that. I think she just feared Syr would kill me with her lunches."

"Another girl. Ha-ha." Eina chuckled loudly.

Another frog shooter heard her and came crawling from another room. I picked up a stone with my left hand and threw it with all my strength. The eye shattered and the monster bled out.

"Nice one." Eina's eyes flared wide in shock.

"Still far from replicating Miss Ais's feat."

Eina stabbed a piece of chicken out of jealousy and started eating it.. "Well yahhh mmmmshe a first-tier adveturmmmm."

I sat back down to bite my chicken from the chopstick and bit down hard on the wooden utensil. "eeee. What the? Where did it go?"

*Gulp!* "Y-you must have dropped it."

"I don't see it." I stood back up checking all around where we were sitting.

'He-he, small victory over the others with an indirect kiss.' Eina giggled to herself. She slid her tongue to the corner of her mouth for a piece of rice.

"Uhhhhhh." My face heated up, realizing she ate from my chopstick.

"He-he." Eina smiled. "It was a good meal. Let's go down…. Bell."

"Y-y-yes!" I shook my nervous face and prepared to go down to the seventh floor.

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The next two hours were an eye-opener for Eina. She always wondered how Bell soloed these floors when usually it takes three to five level one adventurers working in a group. The killer ants could not hide from him, no matter where they crawled out. He would often kick off the walls and track them down on the roof. He was even able to overcome the teamwork of the goblin elites.

On floor eight we were surrounded by seven goblin elites, five in front and two behind. Before the goblins could react, I charged forward and gutted the first one ahead of me. Then spun around and backhand gripped a knife into the skull of the next one. Before launching off its corpse to intercept a third.

Eina nervously challenged one of the elites. Her strength and agility were a little low to be fencing on this floor but she managed to parry each stab from a goblin. The goblin overextended itself and thrust forward. Eina grabbed the goblin's knife hand and pulled it down out of the way. Before stabbing her shortsword threw its neck.

*Woosh! Thunk!*

A knife flew by her head impaling a goblin sneaking behind her in the chest. Eina's looked horrified and amazed with her mouth agape.

"Eina four more are spawning to the right. Want to take them?" I shouted jumping off the dungeon floor and stabbing a killer ant in the skull on the roof.

Eina started her chant as the four fresh elites break out of the wall. "Midgard's twilight." Her barrage of earth magic annihilated all four fresh spawns. "Whew." She was starting to feel exhausted, but her skill was activated again. She stared over at Bell and palmed her forehead watching him.

With my right hand, I sliced a goblin's neck and dodged a lunge from the other. The knife harmlessly bounced off the back of my armor as I reached down to sweep its leg with my arm. The goblin fell backward to the ground and I followed it down with a two-handed thrust with my remaining knife into its gut. The elite's whole body convulses one last time before dying spread four ways.

"How the heck did you do all that?"

"Do what?" I finished off a needle rabbit with a backstab into its face. I turned my head sideways, gazing confused at Eina.

"Jumping around like a rabbit, killing monsters like nothing on floor eight. Isn't this your second time down here!?"

"Huh, guess it is only my second time." My hand raised to my chin as I stared across the empty floor. "Is that good?"

"Ye-eah." Eina stared dumbfounded.

"I don't know. Here to get stronger and pay off my weapons. Don't really think about it."

Eina watched him crouch down and start cutting out monster stones. Eina bent down to help him out while keeping an eye out for monsters.

"Hey Eina."
"Yes."

"Any idea where those blue butterflies spawn. I haven't seen any down here."

"Their extremely rare, Bell. Usually, they only spawn on floor seven."

"Hmm weird."

Eina's brow narrowed. "I don't know why Laurier was looking on floor eight. Hermes familia should know where they spawn. Their captain is a famous item maker."

"Curious. Maybe she got mixed up."

"I guess." Eina shook her head. "Do you want to go into the first room on floor nine to get your bearings? Iron tusks are extremely deadly if you let them charge."

"Sure, I am ready to challenge one." I smiled up at her as I pulled out another stone. "After that, we can make our way up."

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We descended to floor nine. The floor had bluish-green lights and was littered with stalactites and stalagmites obscuring the sides of the floor. The room was empty. Slowly we walked up to the center of the room waiting for one to show itself.

*THUD! Thud! Thud!*

Loud hoofs of a giant boar enter the room from the opposite hallway. The pig was a meter tall. Thick brown skin on its upper body with a weak low hanging belly. On its head was a black main and two giant foot-long tusks protruded from its snout. It started kicking the ground with its front legs.

"Bell it's going to charge!"

"OINK!"

The boar roared out and began its charge forward with surprising speed, shaking the ground lightly with its thunderous footsteps. I managed to dodge out of the way with Eina. The boar crashed against stalagmites, shattering the pillars to the ground. The boar shuffled its head to shake off the impact, surprisingly jumping to its feet ready to charge again.

"Bell." Eina screamed watching Bell race out to meet it. At the last second, he skidded on his knee guards avoiding being impaled by a tusk, and sliced off one of its hooves. The boar topples end over end in front of Eina. Thinking quickly, Eina stabbed her sword into its chest.

"Nice teamwork."

*Crack! Thud!*

The wall behind Eina cracked open and birthed another irontusk boar. Eina managed to jump out of the way before it crashed down on top of her. The boar turned toward Eina and cornered her against the wall. "Oink."

*Woosh!*

Eina was frozen in fear watching the boar get started to kick off its hooves. She knew she was no match for an irontusk. The boar launched itself forward. Eina felt hands grip the bare skin of her arm and her pauldron and push her away to the ground.

*Bam!*

I raced as fast as I could to push Eina out of the way. I braced myself for the charging boar and managed to catch its sharp tusks a few inches in front of my chest. "Urrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh." My teeth were barred, using every ounce of my strength to hold back the tremendous force.

My hands cried out in agony as the irontusk kept thrashing its way trying to break my guard. I managed to dig my feet into the ground to slow the boar's advance but it was still pushing me towards the wall.

Eina's breath was taken away watching the tug of war match between man and beast. Her fear evaporated as she fumbled for her sword to help him. The second her hand clenched the pommel, she froze in shock.

The boar raised its head to shake my grip, wanting desperately to impale me against the wall. My muscles were fully contracted to try to stop the boar in its tracks. Little tares were opening up in my black shirt sleeve. "I will not lose!"

*BOOM!*

"Ahhhhhhhh." The boar pushed forward. I stepped back with my right foot and twisted my torso in the same direction. Somehow I managed to pick up and throw the four hundred-pound boar into the dungeon wall.

"eee." I winced in pain. My wrists were throbbing in pain and most likely sprained. The boar was surprisingly worse off and laying on its side squealing in pain.

"Wait Bell."

I ignored Eina's pleas and raced after the boar weaponless before it could get up. I spotted a stalactite on the ceiling above the boar and jumped to kick it loose. The stone column dislodged from the ceiling; smashing the boar underneath.

*Crash!*

"Whew." I sat down against a nearby wall to catch my breath.

"Bell." Eina raced up with his knives and bent down to examine him. "Are you hurt?"

"Just…. Hu-hu. My hands. Hu-hu."

"Hold still." Without a second thought, Eina grabbed Bell's hands and closed her eyes. "Respond to the contract, light of the forest. Follow my order and heal the wounds of those that seek your Mercy. – Dio Luna."

Eina finished her chant. I could feel the spell working to correct my wrists. It wasn't a perfect fix but the soreness was manageable. "T-thank you Eina."

Eina was a little delirious from the spell. She didn't have the healing development ability and had to pour extra mind into the healing spell. She stumbled forward into Bell's chest.

"Eeeeee." Even with the armor, I could feel her small shapely body in my arms. Eina's perfume was an intoxicating flowery smell. My chest was rapidly beating from the impromptu hug. I knew it was an accident and I didn't want to stray from Riveria, regardless of the voice in my head. "E-e-eina."

"Thank you, Bell." Eina sat up with a blush on her face. "Sorry."

"It's o-okay. Probably isn't a good place for a nap. Maybe we should get out of the dungeon."

"Yes." Eina shook her head.

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Three hours later, we made our way out of the dungeon as the sun was setting. Eina waited by the northside entrance as I went to cash in our drop items at the Babel Tower exchange.

I found Eina shuffling against the outside with her hood over her head. I handed her a pouch with twenty thousand valis. "Here you go."

"Huh." Eina stared at the pouch held up against her hand. "Bell, why are you giving me half? You did most of the work."

"You still went in the dungeon with me and risked your life. I probably wouldn't have gone past seven alone."

"I just got in the way." Eina smirked staring at the ground.

"No, I learned a lot. Plus, I had fun being with you E-Eina."

Eina grabbed the coin bag with a smirk seeing his innocent smile. "I had fun too, Bell. Even if I was scared the whole time."

"You did great. I just hope you don't get in trouble."

"I will be fine." Eina tapped his chest plate with her pointer finger. "Maybe on my next day off. We can plan a non-painful date."

"….."

"Ha-ha-ha." Eina chuckled seeing his face match the reddish hue of the sky over the horizon. "Just teasing Bell. I guess I am your advisor."

"O-o-oh."

"I have to go home and rest up for work tomorrow. I am sore from all this extra movement. Please take it slow and stop by sometime before you go to floor ten. Please!"

"I promise. Would be too afraid to die and upset my advisor?"

"Smartass. He-he." Eina chuckled. "Good night."

"Night Eina." I waved as she walked up the north road.

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"Goddess," I called out a little while later entering the church basement.

Surprisingly she was midway through cooking dinner. I smiled seeing her prepare a meal of eggs and shredded potatoes. "Evening Bell. I was wondering when you would get back."

"Sorry had fun trying out floor nine today."

"Wow, that's amazing. Do you want a status update tonight?" She asks shuffling the food from the pan to a plate.

"Maybe tomorrow night, goddess." We sat down to eat.

"Bell." She winces a little before continuing. "You didn't do anything with those other goddesses did you?"

"No goddess. I ran away like I said when I found an opportunity. I spent most of the night trying to get away from them. They were weirdly determined." I took a bite of the cooked potato.

"Whew." Hestia sighed with a smile. "Sorry, I caused you so much stress with the money and with me getting drunk last night. I promise I won't do it again."

"Don't think mama Mia will give you that choice, but I would prefer it doesn't goddess. Please trust in me to make the right choices." I smiled back at her. We finished the meal talking about my adventure in the dungeon. Leaving Eina out of the conversation.

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(Day 15)

Again all alone on the western wall. I was getting ready for my daily routine. "Eina's probably too tired from the dungeon. Maybe I pushed her too hard." I laugh nervously and started my morning stretches. "Though I need to push myself harder and be my own supporter. I can't force her in there with me. I need to catch my strength up to my speed though."

I started to ponder my training for the day. "I don't think pushups are gonna cut it. I can't leave the city without a pass and there aren't many trees to climb around here." I scratched my chin before locking my eyes on the battlements. The parapets were about neck height while the crenellations were waist level. I tilted my head to the side to study the wall. A weird idea came to my mind.

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Freya stared down from the top of Babel, at her beloved bunny rabbit. She was entranced if not confused by the action he was doing along the wall. She flashed a smile over to her giant Boaz champion. "Ottar."

"Yes, lady Freya." The Boaz walked up to her side by the balcony.

"Can you tell me what my beloved is doing on the wall? Rather unique." Freya pointed in his direction with a wide smile.

Ottar found Bell hugging the battlements. His feet were braced against the wall with his hands holding his entire body weight. Ottar turned his head to the side, as Bell jumped to another battlement and then to another without touching the ground. His unique training regime confused the veteran adventurer. "That's a new one, my lady. Even for me."

"Fu-Fu-Fu. Marvelous."

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*Thud!*

"Come on I need you to work on my armor, Tsubaki." Gareth slammed the counter of the Hephaestus blacksmith shop. The original clerk was hiding in the back after he got his familia's captain.

The half-dwarf female had her arms folded over her chest looking annoyed. "Look Gareth I am gonna need another day or two. You did a number to it on your last trip and I am swamped with orders."

"I need to get back into the dungeon." Gareth growled.

"Are you drunk?"

"No."

"Surprising." Tsubaki's brow furrowed. "What's got you all worked up lately? This isn't the first time you pestered me."

"I need to beat the hag and take down Uduaes." Gareth muttered.

"You getting level seven would help me out too." Tsubaki smirked. "I don't understand. Why didn't you go on the mini-expedition?"

"Had to babysit?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "Not buying it, Gareth. I am sorry, but you should have given me a heads up. You told me to take my time."

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It was getting close to noon when I arrived at the Hephaestus shop. I skipped out on the dungeon because the new workout made my body extremely sore. My hands were roughed up so much that I had to pour a few potions clear the many cuts and calluses. My bones ached and my muscles were throbbing all over my body. "Next time I am wearing gloves."

*Ching!*

I saw Tsubaki arguing with a massive dwarf at the counter. Tsubaki was eager to cut off the frustrated Gareth and looked up with a smile. "Ah good morning Bell."

Gareth turned halfway to stare at the boy he had been hearing a lot about lately. His brow raised looking at the innocent-looking teen that's been of interest to the Loki familia. "Good morning, Miss Tsubaki. Is this a bad time?" I smiled at her. A little intimated at the muscley dwarf's stare.

"Not at all. Don't mind grouchy. What can I do for you today Bell?" Tsubaki asked giggling at his nervous face.

"I was wondering if Welf was in today. I need to get my gear fixed and make a deposit."

"He should be here any minute. He was talking with Lady Hephaestus." Her eyes lingered on the black leg like drop items in Bell's hands. "What are those things Bell?"

"Oh, these are killer ant legs." I placed them on the counter for her to inspect.

"Eh?" Both dwarfs recoiled in surprise. Tsubaki eyed wandered to Gareth. "You ever hear of an ant leg drop item."

"No." Gareth picked one of the legs up to inspect it. "They usually shatter under my pinky."

Tsubaki smirked seeing the scared look on Bell's face. "He-he. You found a new drop item. How did you manage that, Bell?"

"One kind of fell on me." I scratched the back of my head.

"How did you know about the legs?" Tsubaki's brow raised,

"I didn't. I was kind of desperate. My supporter tried to kill me on floor eight and stole my knives…" My voice trailed off.

"Oh. How the hell did you survive that Lad?" Gareth raised his voice slightly. His mood slightly improved.

"I kind of ripped its head out of its body and used the legs to kill the elites. Before help arrived."

"Dam boy that's amazing. Ha-ha." The Gareth laughed heartily.

"T-thank you, Sir."

Gareth approached with his hand out. "Here I was still thinking Loki was full of shit when she said you killed a dragon in the arena."

"Eh" Tsubaki's eye widened in shock. She had to readjust her fake eyepatch. "What are you getting on about Landrock?"

"Loki said he and Eina killed a dragon during monsterphilia. Was told he almost bled out from another monster attack after." Gareth shrugged his shoulders.

"Dam maybe I should hold onto you tightly." Tsubaki leaned over the counter to tease Bell. Her cleavage was on full display. "Hah." She bellowed seeing two red faces.

"How do you know Loki and Eina, Sir."

Tsubaki leaned her head against the counter. "You don't know the strongest dwarf in the world, Gareth Landrock. He's a Vice-captain of Loki familia."

"My apologies." I bowed my head.

"Knock it off Lad." Gareth casually smacked Bell's shoulder sending him off balance into a set of armor. Gareth helped pulled Bell off the stand while avoiding Tsubaki's stare. "Sorry. He-he-he.

"Better be, Gareth." Tsubaki growled.

"It's okay." I said with an embarrassed tone, feeling like a child in the old dwarf's grip.

"Hah!" Gareth noticed Bell's reaction. "Regret drinking all night or I would have sat on the couch with the shrimp and the hag."

"P-please don't call her that."

"What?" Gareth was surprised to see the boy pouting out of anger. Tsubaki snickered from the counter.

The door opened up and the red-haired smith Welf Crozzo entered the store. "Morning Tsubaki, What's going on here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Gareth's just pestering me and Bell. Your late."

"Oh, my bad. Goddess wanted to ask me something about my status. Nothing big." Welf shrugged. "How are you doing, Bell? Hope you weren't waiting too long. Don't want to keep you from the dungeon."

"No, not at all. I wasn't planning on going into the dungeon today."

Welf stroked the back of his fiery red hair. "I can't blame you after that mess with your supporter. Glad you cleaned the guts off the armor. Be easier to fix it."

"Hey Welf, Take these." Tsubaki threw ant legs to him. "See if he wants something made out of those killer ant legs. I will buy them for ten thousand a piece if you don't want to be the first to tinker with them."

"Do you think you could make something Welf?"

"Hmm. I can try. Want to go to my forge in the east side of the city." Welf suggested

"Sounds like fun." I followed Welf out of the shop towards his blacksmith workshop on the other side of the city.

Gareth leans over to Tsubaki. "Did he seem defensive of that elf, Riveria?"

"He-he-he. I think he has a crush on her."

"You serious. She's probably six times his age." Gareth was dumbfounded staring back at Tsubaki's smile.

"Riveria brought him in here to find a smith. He changed the design of the knives to an elf one as soon as I mentioned it as a possibility." Tsubaki leaned on the counter-pressing her large bust forward with her head supporting her chin. "Bell's eyes were constantly wandering to sneak peeks of her and his face was red the whole time."

"Ha-ah. Ahhhh-ha-ha-ha." Gareth's laughter was heard even in the street. He couldn't contain himself having come across a gold mine.

.

.

.

Eina was midway through her shift at the guild hall, trying her best not to fall asleep again. Desk work was extremely boring, but usually, Eina found it to be rewarding. Lately, her thoughts couldn't get off of being in the dungeon because of Bell. There was no challenge to her job and it was even more boring around noon when most adventurers were in the dungeon.

"Uh-um." The clienthrope section leader Mr. Rehmer came up behind her. "Eina."

She nearly jumped out of her chair. "Whew. Sorry. You scared me. What do you need Mr. Rehmer?"

"You are to report to Royman's office immediately." With a stern expression.

"Yes Sir."

Eina quickly walked up the stairs to Royman's office and nervously raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Come in."

Eina hesitated at the tone of the guild head's voice through the door. She entered Royman's office, as the fat elf guild head is pouring a glass of soma wine for himself. The pungent smell filled her senses as she found her seat across from his desk. Royman takes a swig of the wine, before sitting down across from Eina with an evil smile. "Eina. Eina. Eina." Royman slowly shuffled his fat head.

Eina felt a cold chill down her spine. "What can I do for you Mr. Mardeel?"

"Care to confess Eina?"

"What do you mean Sir?"

"Is it in your blood to be stupid?" Royman watched the half-elf recoil in horror. "I received information that you are going into the dungeon. I thought I told you to stop being an adventurer."

"W-who told you this?"

Royman started tapping the desk with his pointer finger. "No use trying to deny it Eina. You were spotted going into the dungeon."

"I only went down one time and it was during my day off, Sir. Hardly see that as a reason to spy on me." Eina started to tremble in her seat.

Royman drinks a little from his glass. "I very much doubt it was only one time."

"It was!"

"Enough. I have looked over your records about this Bell Cranel. You seem to be forging his progress."
Eina's fingers rested underneath her neck. "I am offended Royman-Sir. I would never do such a thing."

"Cut the goblin guano, Eina." Royman hit the desk with his fist with a scowl on his lips. "It is obvious that you are trying to entice Lady Loki into stealing your boyfriend by forging his progress. There is no way an adventurer has made it to floor eight in a month unless you have been helping him this whole time."

Eina hid her clenched fist trying to remain calm. "I only went into the dungeon once, because I felt horrible that his supporter tried to kill him. You can ask Rose about his progress and Loki would not steal anybody. Who would even suggest such a crazy thing?"

Royman had trouble dislodging his fat body from the chair but managed to stand up and brace his hands against the desk. "Goddess Hestia filed a complaint against you, calling you a cheater. Tell me is that why you have been late and tired for work because you were trying to seduce him."

"No!" Eina stood up outraged. "I have been managing to keep things professional. I am just worried about him being the only person in his familia and I am trying my best to keep him alive. That is my job! That's why I-."

"Absurd." Royman didn't allow her to finish. "You have been neglecting your duties for your boy toy this whole time. As of today, you are fired from the guild."

"What!?" Tears started accumulating in the corners of her eyes. "That's not fair. You're not even trying to listen."

"I don't care for your lies. I will not have anybody undermine the guild's power, especially Lord Ouranos, with petty attachments. Go back to being an adventurer or go use those ridiculous things in the pleasure quarter." Royman pointed at Eina's chest and laughed under the effects of the alcohol.

"How dare you!?" Eina lunged for the wine glass out of anger and splashed the fat elf with the potent liquid. "You blind corrupt pig of an elf." Eina stormed out of the office before Royman could call the guards. She cleared out her locker and desk before walking home with tears trailing down her face. She ignored everybody, especially men that might try and take advantage of her emotional state, and ran directly home.

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.

.

"Welcome to my humble workshop Bell. Sorry, it's a bit of a pigsty." Welf smiled leading Bell into a black soot-stained wooden shack with a large furnace. There were rows of weapons hanging from racks. Anvil, grinder, and workbench filled the middle of the shop. Welf placed his great sword against a wall. "Sit down and make yourself a home. Give me your knives. I will sharpen them first. "

"Oh, ok Welf." I handed the blades over to him. Welf flips them around to study them before sitting down at the grindstone. "I also have the twenty thousand for the payment."

"Just place it on the table." Welf started pumping the petal to make the stone wheel start to spin. One by one he starts grinding the blades against the stone sending sparks flying. The shack was full of metal screeching sounds as he tried to fix the imperfections from many battles.

As he was repairing the blades. I was looking at the many weapons on the wall. "Mind if I pick this one up."

"Go for it. None of them sold." Welf said in a disappointed tone.

I grabbed a longsword off the rack and gave a few practice swings with it. "Don't understand. Seems pretty awesome to me."

Welf finished up on the grindstone. "Nobody wants my normal weapons. They all want magic swords. Surprised you're not asking for one."

The longsword fumbled from my grasp. I managed to catch it before it damaged it and placed it back on the rack. "I would rather have magic of my own. Also, I don't want to upset any elves."

"I second that. Man, I thought that waitress friend of yours was gonna kill me. Seemed to have a greater interest in your well-being." Welf grinned wide.

"R-Ryu is very nice. I owe her a lot for keeping me alive and helping me out."

"You have that half-elf advisor too. You seem to have a couple elven girlfriends."

"I don't think they're interested in anything outside of a professional relationship."

"You sure." Welf grinned mischievously.

"E-e-elves are naturally strict with physical relationships. I-I do like them both and they are very beautiful. I just don't want to lose either of them out of my life trying to be selfish. Especially because there's another woman on my mind."

"I hear you, buddy. Theirs is a woman that's constantly on my mind too. Trying to impress her is nearly impossible. Is why I am trying to get better at making weapons?" Welf twisted the blade back and forth to judge his work.

"These seem great. Why don't you show her what you can make?"

Welf shook his head. "Nah. These blades wouldn't even qualify as third-tier weapons. The minotaur horn was good quality and yet even your blades wouldn't cut it. The only way to impress Lady Hephaestus is with a first-tier weapon."

"You're in love with a goddess?" My head leaned to the side out of curiosity.

"Something wrong with that."

"No. P-personally I don't think I could fall for a goddess, even as beautiful as Lady Hephaestus. Be constantly afraid of insulting them plus someday I would like a family."

"Need to watch out with you around her." Welf chuckled. "I am not really looking to carry on bloodline anyways. Surprised you want my gear."

"I-I did speak to Ryu. She at least doesn't seem to be bothered with you being my smith as long as you don't make those magic weapons."

"That's a first." Welf stared surprised. "Here give me your chest piece. Need to fix those dents." Welf waited until he took off his chest piece and walked over to the blacksmith bench.

"Ryu talked about those blades being used to destroy elven forests. She didn't seem to care much because they were past events and her homeland wasn't affected." I recalled. "W-why do you not make magic blades?"

"I hate them for many reasons. Do you know why the Crozzo bloodline can make magic blades?" He says inspecting the armor for any faults.

"No"

"There was an ordinary man who was my oldest Crozzo ancestor. He risked his life to save a spirit from a monster. Spirits are the favored children of the gods. The spirit used its blood to save my dying ancestor."

"So that means…?"

"Yes, the Crozzo family has the blood of a spirit running through our veins. The blood saved his life and gave him the gift of magic and the ability to create magic swords." Welf started using a flat metal pick and a hammer to knock out the smaller dents in the chest piece. "These abilities weren't passed down until the gods descended and gave their blessings to mortals. The blood activated via a skill." Sweat starts to trickle down his face as he started hammering the bigger dents with more force.(1)

"The Crozzo family got greedy. They sold their gifts for nobility and wealth in the Rakia kingdom. The elves watch their homes burn and spirits cursed those blades. All of the blades shattered during a battle and the elves got their revenge. The Crozzo's lost their ability to create more weapons."(1)

My face went pale, "But you can make those blades."

"No idea why? I enjoyed my granddad's lessons on forging weapons. Once my family found out they forced me to craft them. They wanted to make me into a tool to regain their nobility. Weapons are not political tools. A wielder is supposed to trust their weapons. Magic swords always break eventually leaving the wielder behind. Dream of a weapon clearing the path rots people from the inside. I hate them and refuse to make them."(1)

Welf was dripping with sweat after finishing repairing the armor. "Looks great Welf."

"Thanks, so what do you want to do about those ant legs? Any weapon would not be as strong as the minotaur knives. I could make throwing knives or try to reinforce your armor. Have to experiment."

"Would you be able to make a bow?"

"Got skill in archery, do you?" Welf smirked testing the flexibility of the leg.

"A little bit. I use to hunt small game around my grandpa's farm. The bow I had would not be good against monsters."

"Hmm." Welf scratched his chin. "Give me a few days to tinker with it to see if it's capable of being made into a bow. If I can't I won't charge you a thing. If I am successful I will only charge you for the bowstring and arrows."

"Sounds good to me. Thank you very much." I picked up my blades and armor and shook his hand before leaving his workshop.

.

.

.

Having traversed the backroads of the northeast district with dozens of leased-out workshops for Hephaestus familia. I found my way to the main east road by the coliseum. I was slowly walking up the road by the mega structure when an idea came to mind.

"Ganesha familia's home is around here. Wonder if they will let me see Lily?"

Twenty minutes later, after getting directions from street vendors. I found the Ganesha familia home by a giant elephant masked statue of Lord Ganesha. I shook my head. "Couldn't have been any more obvious Bell."

"Halt state your business." A guard at the entrance stops with his spear held outwards to bar the way.

"Um, Hello. My name is Bell Cranel. I was wondering if I could visit a friend. Liliruca Arde was imprisoned a few days ago."

"Let me ask the captain. Stay here."

To my surprise, the Azure-haired captain Shakti and the Lord Ganesha followed after the guard a few minutes later. I was starting to get nervous like I did something wrong and bowed my head.

"Afternoon Lord Ganesha and Miss Shakti."

Ganesha smiled wide recognizing the boy. He went directly up to Bell and squeezed him tight in a hug. "I am Ganesha. My boy, I am glad you recovered from the dragon fight. You have elephant-sized pair of balls on you. What can Ganesha do for you Bell?"

My body was shaking being embraced randomly by a god. "A-aha-aahh, Lord Ganesha could I speak with Lili?"

"Restrain yourself." Shakti pulled Ganesha off of Bell.

"I am Ganesha."

"The world already knows." Shakti rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Sorry, Bell. Lily was taken back by her god."

"What!? No!"

Shakti's brow raised. "Why do you care about somebody that tried to kill you?"

"Lily did it out of desperation. She has been trying to get out of Soma familia. That is why she set that trap."
"I am Ganesha. What could have possibly justified setting a trap in the first place?

"My advisor told me they give new recruits an addictive wine that makes them desperate for money. Lily has been continuously abused and misused by her familia. I want to help her."

"Can you prove that, Bell?" Shakti grimaced. "Are you sure it wasn't just a sob story to elicit sympathy?"

"Uh."

"I am Ganesha. I believe him Shakti. However, without proof, my hands are bound by the guild on this matter Bell." Ganesha brought his fist up to his heart. "I am sorry child of Hestia. We can not do anything, especially with the familia in morning over dear Hashana."

"Hashana!"

"Do you know something Bell?" Shakti narrowed her eyes. "He was murdered by a woman in the dungeon."

"He went out like a man." Ganesha teared up with a smile of awe on his face. "Oof."

*Thud!*

Shakti elbowed Ganesha in the stomach. "He was seduced by a murderer and left in a defenseless position you idiot."

I recoiled in shock seeing a god struck by one mortal without hesitation. "N-n-no, miss Shakti. I don't know a thing. I just remember Hashana was the first nice person I met in Orario. He gave me a lot of helpful advice when I arrived last month."

Shakti smiled warmly at Bell. "Hashana was a gentle guy yet strong. Though obviously easily misguided. Still, he didn't deserve that fate." Shakti bowed her head. "Sorry, we can't be of help Bell."

"Thank you for your time."

"I am Ganesha. Be strong young one. I look forward to seeing you grow." Ganesha waved Bell off.

I started walking in the direction of the guild along the main roads. My thoughts shifted to my meeting with Hashana. 'Did I convince him to meet a woman in the dungeon that killed him? He laughed when I said I was hoping to find a girl in the dungeon. What am I gonna do about Lily?'

.

.

.

(Floor 18)

Loki familia was packing up their camp on floor eighteen. Preparing to make their ascent to the surface. Riveria pulled Finn aside.

"What now?" Finn said angrily, still mad about floor thirty-eight. He was barely able to get any sleep with Tione trying to sneak into his tent and constantly harassing him.

"I want to pull Ais aside and spend a few hours with her down here. We need to figure out what she knows about the red-haired tamer. Something clearly triggered her."

"Alright, Riveria. Not coming back down. So don't get eaten. We will see you tonight." Finn informed the other five members of their party and started marching to floor seventeen.

Riveria walked up to the aloof blond swordswoman. "Ais, follow me. We're gonna spend some time alone down here."

"Okay, Riveria." Ais pouted thinking about jaga-maru snacks.

"Can I stay?" Lefiya ran up to them.

"When did Ais shrink and grow elf ears? I will speak with her alone, Lefiya." Riveria scolded the young elf. Lefiya pouted with teary eyes but knew better than to talk back to a high elf.

"Come on Lefiya. It's only floor eighteen. They can handle it." Tiona tried to gently push her towards the entrance.

"What about last time?" Lefiya pleaded.

"Enough." Alicia pointed to the entrance. "Lady Riveria gave you an order. Don't make them carry you." Lefiya stubbornly resigned herself to following the rest of the group.

Ais and Riveria walked into Riviria to check in with Bors. Bors begged to try out smithing the Uduaes black sword to the point that Ais felt bad and gave it to him. A little later Ais and Riveria walked back to the floor 17 entrance. "Ais follow me into the tree line for a little bit."

"Okay." She followed after her adoptive mother.

Riveria sat down against a tree near the river and Ais did the same. Riveria patted her lap. "Lay your head Ais."

"Huh." Ais twisted her head to the side and responded with a soft confused tone.

"I want to talk. I need to know what's bothering you. Clearly, that woman got to you." Ais hesitated but laid her head down on Riveria's comfortable lap. It was a sight that nobody on Gekai would witness the mature elf princess giving a lap pillow to an equally beautiful blond sword princess.

"What is this?" Ais asked innocently staring into Riveria's jade eyes.

"A lap pillow, it can help with a head injury, mind down, or just for people you care about a lot." Riveria started running her fingers through Ais's golden hair. "Surprised you gave that sword to Bors."

Ais scrunched her face up into a nervous pout. "He really wanted to be a blacksmith when he was little. I couldn't say no when he asked like... That."

"Suppose we can always come back and get it another time." Riveria giggled. She stared down at Ais with worried eyes. "Ais what is troubling you? I haven't seen you like that in years."

Ais's golden eyes glazed over. "She... called me Aria."

Riveria held her face in shock for a minute before resting her head against the tree. "Ais you are not alone anymore. You are family. Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya consider you to be as well. Never forget that."

"Yes. Sorry, Riveria."

.

.

.

(Guildhall early evening)

The sun was starting to get low as I entered the guild hall to find Eina to see if she could help. I was looking around all over for her, but couldn't find any trace of her. Misha and Rose were giving me weird looks from the counter, so I walked up to them when the line.

"Hi, Rose. Misha." I said with a smile. "Is Eina in at all?"

Both women exchanged confused glances. Rose narrowed her eyes. "You don't know Bell?"

"Know what? Did something happen?"

Misha stormed around the counter with an angry scowl and clenched fist. "You got Eina fired idiot!" Misha swiped her hand toward Bell's face expecting he would move out of the way to show his guilt. A small crack rang out in the guildhall. Bell was too stunned to move and her hand smacked his cheek hard enough to make her hold her wrist in pain.

I was unfazed by the hit since she didn't have a falna, but I felt like a blade was sinking into my chest. My mouth hung open and my eyes were struggling to not tear up. "H-how?"

"Unbelievable." Misha stormed away angrily.

Rose cheeks were puffed out as she grimaced in pain. "Maybe you should go ask her Bell? Eina has been getting in trouble lately because she's worried about you."

"I w-will." *Woosh!* I ran out of the guild hall the fastest I could and raced up to Eina's apartment.

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.

.

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

"Eina open up. Please!" I kept pounding the door desperate to make sense of this all. My heart rate was picking up with every agonizing second.

*Creak!*

A teary-eyed Eina answered the door. Her uniform was ruffled and her hair was all over the place. Her cheeks were wet from crying. She smelled like alcohol. I was mortified by her sad state. "Eina?"

"Get away. *Hic* Don't w-want to see you again." Eina cried out. Drawing the attention of her neighbors.

"Eina, please tell me anything I can do to fix this?"

"Go away! *Hic*

*THUD!*

Eina slammed the door in my face. Leaving me speechless at the door. My head hung low. My heart felt like a cracked open egg thrown into a river. "What happened?" I motioned to knock again but held off and walked away down the nearest alley.

Eina was crouched down to the floor holding her head between her knees, resting against the door. Tears trailed down her face uncontrollably in her drunken state. She was not in the right mind to think rationally. Eina's ear drooped low as she passed out by the door. "Bell."

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.

.

I continued to traverse the alleyways to the south until I found myself walking past a small familiar courtyard with a tree. I ignored it and continued to the road with my hands in my pockets.

"Bell." Syr spotted him through the kitchen and ran out front to meet him on the west road. "Are you okay?"

"Not really. I don't want to bother you with my problems." I tried to flash a smile to her but failed.

"Nonsense, I don't mind. Come on in. The bar isn't busy at the moment." Syr encourages with a cute pout.

I didn't have the willpower to deny her and followed Syr into the near-empty Hostess. Of course, she forced me to order food, courtesy of Mama Mia. Thirty minutes later I was sipping on my drink with an empty pasta plate next to me. Syr was sitting across the table with a drink in her hands "Sorry, mama insisted."

"It's fine Syr. I was hungry anyway."

"Oh good. I think Mama likes you." Syr smiled wide.

"Ahhh." I stared at the dwarfess cleaning a mug with a serious expression on her face. "I-I will take your word for it."

"He-he." Syr raised her hand to her lips to stop herself from laughing out loud. Her eyes softened. "I haven't seen you in a few days. Where have you been?"

"Been busy in the dungeon. I should thank you for helping with Lily the other day."

"Ryu stopped her. All I did was notice she used magic. Though if you want to thank me. We could always find a room to snuggle up in for the night." Syr winked.

"Uhhhhhhhh. I-I don't t-think that would be appropriate." I nervously decline her offer afraid of the angry pout on her lips. "I think goddess would attack the bar. My savings can't sustain another blow."

"Ahhh, so that's why you're ignoring my advances. You're scared of your goddess." Syr chuckled. "I heard what happened this morning. Is that why you're upset?"

I was thankful that she didn't press for answers. I liked Syr, but not in the same way. I couldn't bear any more bad news today. "Partially. It has been a rough few days."

"Sure it's not that bad, Bell." Syr propped her arms on the table and rested her head. Staring forward waiting for an answer.

"First wanted to help Lily, but she was taken back to her familia."

"Sounds like she got off easy." Syr mocked.

"The reason she stole from me was to pay off her debt to her familia. She has been desperate to get away from them and can't escape. I somehow got my advisor fired from the guild and she hates me now. My goddess's tab practically bankrupted me and I heard somebody was murdered in the dungeon. I think it was my fault."

"Doubtful Bell."

My chin fell to the table feeling depressed, spreading my hands outwards to the center of the table. "I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if this was all a mistake. Feel like I should go back to farming."

"No. I can't allow that." Syr reaches out to grab his wrists. "It's just a rough patch."

I looked up into her silver eyes from the table. "I can't figure out what to do. I want to help Eina and Lily. Constantly broke and making enemies. I told Hashana my grandpa's perverted wish when I came here and he was murdered by a woman in the dungeon."

"Bell some things are just out of your control. You're definitely not responsible for that man's death. I think your goddess is the reason for your money problems. I don't know enough about Lily and your advisor to understand why that's your problem. Maybe you just need to clear your head."
"I don't feel like going into the dungeon."

Syr taps Bell on the head softly. "No dummy. They are more things than the dungeon. Maybe escaping the world with a book will help you gain another perspective on how to solve your problems."

"Don't think I can afford one at the moment. Pretty sure I use my last valis." I flashed a sarcastic smirk back at her.

Syr ignored him and pointed to the bookshelf behind with an ornate silver book. "How about that one over there on the shelf? A customer left it here."

"I shouldn't if it belongs to somebody."

"It's fine. Mama Mia doesn't like it here either. Maybe something in the book can help you out. Please will you take it?" Syr pouted adorably.

"Okay, I will take your advice Syr." I agreed desperately wanting to make somebody smile today.

Syr jumps up to go retrieve the book and brought it over to the table. She held it out to Bell. When he went to grab it she threw it on the table and embraced him in a hug. Pushing her curves into his chest. "Wish I could do more to help you, Bell." Syr teased in a seductive tone.

"Y-y-you have done a lot for me S-Syr."

"Syr customers are piling in. Get to it." Mia shouted

Syr pouted holding Bell at arms-length. "Fine." She rolled her eyes at Bell. "I got to get back to work. Just sleep on it okay. Sure, tomorrow will be better."

"T-Thank you, Syr. G-good night."

.

.

.

A little while later, I made it home and got cleaned up as the sun was starting to set. Goddess still wasn't home, so I cracked open the large book on the coffee table.

"I can't believe I took it. Guess I might as well read it since I have it. Will return it in the morning."

I look it over trying to understand the language. "Looks like it's about magic." My eyes started to feel heavy like they were being forced shut. I felt like my mind was being sucked into the book. My consciousness was stripped from my body and I collapsed overtop the book onto the table.

"Let's begin." A large white apparition that looked and sounded a lot like me appeared in a dark void. "What is magic to me?"

"I don't know. Something great and mysterious. Something I've always yearned for."

"What does Magic mean to me?"

"Power. Great power. A grand weapon that will inspire my weak self. A heroic power to clear obstacles in my path."

"What kind of thing is Magic to me?"

"Fire. A strong ferocious flame that will never die. A beacon of hope to send out to the woman I love."

"What do you seek with magic?"

"To become strong like her. To reach out for her heart with the speed of the divine. Faster than anyone else. To catch her and share my world with her."

"Is that all?"

"If I can. If I can. I wish to be a hero. For the one, I have been chasing with my foolish heart. I want to be heroic enough for her to notice me."

"Such a child."

.

.

.

"Bell. Bell."Hestia was gently trying to push him awake for the last ten minutes. She didn't want him to hurt himself in the weird position he fell asleep.

"G-goddess." My eyes slowly flashed open as my conscious starting coming back to me.

"Who else would it be?" Hestia pouted.

"Sorry goddess. What happened?"

Hestia snickered seeing his cute face. "Not used to reading and got drowsy. Eh?"

"Sorry I must have gotten carried away." I raised my head off the book.

"Do you still want your status updated?" Hestia smiled wide.

"Yes, goddess."

I followed her to her bedroom and laid down with my shirt off. She straddled her small body across my back and retrieved a needle that she switched out after last time.

"Can I read the book after you're done?"

"I was gonna give it back to a friend in the morning. Syr thought it might help clear my mind." I nervously replied back.

"Syr!? Urrrgggh."

"Goddess. Syr's just a friend." I stared back over my shoulder with an annoyed look.

"Better be." Hestia whispered. "I haven't seen a book that old in a while." Hestia stabbed her finger and a droplet of divine blood fell to Bell's back.

"You really love books don't you goddess." I giggled until jolted in pain. I felt something prick into my back. "Ouch was that a needle?"

"Mosquito." Hestia deflected. She pinched her temple staring at his crazy growth until she noticed something inscribing something at the bottom of his falna.

"Everything okay goddess."

"Magic. There is magic in your status." Hestia stared dumbfounded at the first slot of his magic being filled in.

"What?" The information didn't click right away. Then, I jumped up really fast with her still on my back sending her toppling over to the edge of the bed. Hestia managed to stop her fall by grabbing the bedpost and rolling herself backward.

"WWWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT!?" My voice echoed throughout the basement, excited to see magic in my status.

Bell Cranel Age: 15 Race: Human

Level One

Strength: B767...A801 Defense: C685...B725

Dexterity: B749...A817 Agility: A817...A899

Magic: I0 Luck: I

Skill ()

Magic ()

Firebolt – Swift strike magic

"Magic!" I stared down at my status sheet amazed. "I finally have magic. Fireb-." Goddess Hestia places her hand across my mouth.

"Don't say it bell. There is no chant listed. You might destroy our home." She warned.

"Oh, okay goddess." I was smiling ear to ear. Finally, some good news of late. "I can't wait to try it out." I eagerly pull my shirt back on and searched around for my shoes.

"Calm down Bell. It's not gonna go anywhere. Just wait until tomorrow."

"Eh, tomorrow." I tried to plead with a pout on my face.

"No Bell. Go to bed."

"I guess your right Goddess." I said in a low voice and prepared for bed. A few hours later, I woke up too eager to use my new magic. I snuck out to the dungeon without armor and only one knife.

.

.

.

(Babel)

"Ah, fresh air." Tiona stretched out her body after exiting the dungeon with the rest of Loki familia. "Nothing better."

"I thought you were a battle maniac." Tione deadpanned toward her sister.

"It's always stuffy in there after a week or two. Plus leaving it means we were successful and I can get a real bath." Tiona smiled wide.

"Guess you're right. I can't wait to get cleaned up and sneak into captain's bed." She got lost in her lewd thoughts.

Finn felt goosebumps rise on his arms hearing Tione from afar. He nervously addressed the familia. "Good job everybody. Let's get back home and report to Loki."

They started walking north to the north of the roundabout. When Alicia noticed a familiar white-haired boy racing toward Babel from the west.

"Finn."

"Yes Alicia."

"Do you mind if I wait for Lady Riveria at the tower? I wanted to check on something." She asks timidly.

"I guess but I will send guards after you if you don't show up in a couple of hours."

"Okay, Finn." Alicia split off from the group and raced back to the tower. Avoiding the confused looks from her familia.

"Wonder if she is going to meet a boy?" Tiona joked with a soft nudge into her sister's stomach. Aki thought she noticed somebody earlier and smirked watching her friend race off to the tower blindly.

.

.

.

Alicia didn't notice him in the lobby and the elevators were quiet. She sped off down the stairs of the dungeon. She arrived on floor one to see a curious sight. Bell was standing still looking nervous on floor one. She hid around the corner. Keeping her eyes on him. 'What is he doing? Why doesn't he have armor on?'

My heart was beating out of my chest in anticipation. One hand gripped around a knife. The other clenched up in a ball looking for a target until a familiar green mass shifted across the room. Its yellow eyes lock onto me.

I tried to control the smile on my face and calmed myself as the goblin growled from afar. I thrust my arm up and spread my fingers and yelled out at the top of my lungs. "FIREBOLT!"

*Wooosh! Boom!*

Scarlet flames erupted from my hand into an electric inferno. The goblin was consumed in a firey explosion. The goblin collapsed to the ground and burst into ash.

"YAHOOOO!" I jumped up in triumph.

Alicia was completely bugged-eyed. Her eyes felt like their gonna fall out of their sockets. She pulled back in time to avoid his gaze. "No way. There wasn't even a chant. What have I been doing all my life? Riveria has a hundred-word chant for one of her spells and he just instantly destroys something." She collapsed to the ground in shock.

"Firebolt, Firebolt, Firebolt." Three more goblins burst into flames as I started racing down the hall, excited like a little kid. I slashed a Kobold's neck and launch another spell at a terrified goblin. "Firebolt."

Alicia's eyes flared wide in shock hearing the diminishing echoes of him casting his spell endlessly. She peered around the corner. The boy was gone. "How long can he keep that up?" Concerned for his safety. Alicia started racing after him trying to find the path he took. "Surely he's not going deeper."

An hour later she found him racing through the seventh floor and dipping down the stairs to the eighth. "This needs to stop now. He's gonna have a mind down."

A small horde of goblin elites appeared before me. "FFIREBOLT!" I launched a blast in the middle that was bigger than the others. It blasted two apart and shocked a few others. I raced forward and jumped on the shoulders of one of the elites. Impaling its skull through the top before jumping off its shoulders to avoid a slash. I landed on the last goblin's body crushing it to the floor. "Firebolt!"

The goblin burst into ashes under my feet. "Whew, maybe I should take a br-."

*Thud!*

The wall summoned three more goblin elites in front of the unconscious Bell. They eagerly shuffled forward with their knives drawn looking forward to gutting the boy for killing their comrades.

"That idiot!" Alicia screams out. "Freeze, binding chains of winters – Niflheim's Shackles." Three small pillars of ice shot out of the ground and impaled the goblins. Killing them instantly.

Alicia wanted to kick him badly for doing something so recklessly stupid. "He would be dead if I wasn't here. Lucky idiot." She looked at the rabbit-like boy lying innocently on the dungeon floor. She blushed seeing the cute rabbit sleeping innocently on the dungeon floor. "I swear if anybody sees this, I am gonna hurt him."

Alicia sat down on her knees and nervously grabbed his head and placed it upon her lap. 'Is this how that waitress did it? She did speak of him as being worthy of her time. Surely, he can't be as bad as I have treated him. He did help save my life and, in the arena, -.' She remembered seeing Bell being impaled by the plant thing and shook her head to prevent her eyes from tearing up.

She regained her composure and started running her fingers through his soft white hair, feeling incredibly conflicted. "Floor eight already. You have been working extremely hard."

Unknown to Alicia she was being watched by a giggling high elf and a confused blond. They rushed to the scene when they heard the magic and were amazed to see Alicia bend down to give Bell a lap pillow.

Little Ais started to get extremely jealous and was trying to push the real Ais forward. She started to walk forward until Riveria held out her hand. "Just give them a few minutes... Ais."

Alicia saw the red tint of the knife and picked it up. "Mino-taur." She studied the red blade and was surprised by the elvish design. Her cheeks burned even more. She tilted her head sideways confused looking at the knife. Her eyes traced down to the smith's mark.

"CROZZO!?" Alicia scowled angrily. Her eyes expanded feeling his soft head nuzzle against her thighs.

My head started shifting back and forth as my consciousness started coming back to me. My head was pounding, my eyes were fuzzy and half-open. I started seeing the neck and ears of a beautiful elf. "An illusion."

Then my heart started to sweat and pound heavily. The beautiful mirage turned into a very angry elf woman with my knife pointed towards me.

"Explain!" Alicia shouted.

"Whaaa?" Fearing being skewered by my own knife. My head pressed instinctively into the incredibly soft ground trying to get away. My hand flailed around and grabbed something round.

"Ahh." A slight moan escapes Alicia's lips feeling his hand on her ass. She threw the knife uncontrollably a few feet away. "Y-y-you pervert."

My mouth hung open realizing what I was grabbing. I released the soft warm butt cheek and pressed my head back further into her thighs fearing retribution. She jolted in a panic. Sensing my only chance to escape this weird dream. I jumped up and rolled to the nearest path.

*BAM!*

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.

.

Riveria was barely able to hold back the frustrated blond. "Ais stop already."

"Let me go."

"Ahhhhhh." Riveria heard Alicia shout out. She lost her grip on Ais. Ais fell forward surprised at being let go.

*BAM!*

Ais felt something impact her armor. Bell's head had smacked her weirdly shaped adamantite breastplate and knocked him out cold. Alicia ran up to them and jump backward seeing the two first-tier adventurers. "Ais. Lady Riveria."

"All good, Alicia." Riveria beamed a huge smile. Alicia's anger completely melted away seeing her idol's rare happy expression.

"Hi." Alicia blushed.

"Did we interrupt?"

"No. I was just trying to protect him. He passed out from a mind down, my lady." Ais already squatted down to look at him.

"Hmpf." Riveria bent down next to Ais to study his condition. "Quite the head injury." Riveria kneeled down on the ground and started touching his face.

"Lady Riveria, what are you doing!?"

"We have to help him. He's bleeding a little." Riveria patted the pockets of the jacket and felt a vial. She pulled out a red health potion and forced it down his throat, expecting it to close the small head wound completely. "What the?" The potion didn't completely heal the small wound. "Alicia, heal him."

"Yes, Lady Riveria." Alicia started her healing chant. "Sacred light of Mani, cleanse the broken and wash away the corruption that afflicts them. – Ithildin's Blessing(2)." The wound sealed up on my forehead.

"Hmm. He's still unconscious." Riveria bit her lip. She shrugged her shoulders coming to the conclusion that she was already touching him and grabbed his head and placed it on her knees.

"Lady Riveria! What are you doing?" Alicia screamed out in shock.

"Lap pillow to help him recover like you were doing. Besides it's been ninety years since I held a rabbit." Riveria smirked at Alicia's shocked face. "Want to help your man recover, Alicia?"

"He's not my mine." Alicia protested.

"Guess it's just a coincidence that you split off from the others to chase him down here. Nice of you to watch after him and give him a lap pillow after a mind down." Riveria suppressed her laughter with her hand.

"Yes. I was right to be worried. Here let me help, so you don't have to touch him." Alicia justified. Alicia got closer to support his shoulder. She tried to take him off of the princess's lap, but Ais copied her and grabbed his other should, and pulled him over to her side.

Riveria's held out her hands to stop both of them. "I am too tired to use magic. Do not hurt him further!" Alicia and Ais resigned themselves to a portion of his head.

Riveria shook her head. "So, he acquired magic and came all the way down to floor eight to test it out."

"His spell is absolutely absurd." Alicia pouted. "He's been using it since floor one like a child in a toy store. Lost track of him a few times."

Both Riveria and Ais were taken back. Riveria was about to say something when all three women started feeling a drum against their thighs. They looked down to see a Bell staring with his mouth and eyes flared to their limits with his face completely red.

Riveria smirked with a light blush on her face. "Are you okay Bell?"

My heart was racing like it was gonna pop out of my chest. So the three women above me could hold on to it. I took a deep breath. "Huuuuuuu. This is clearly a dream." I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

Ais was completely confused why the two elves were giggling. "I don't understand. This isn't a dream."

My eyes sprang back open and my heart started racing again. "Wait! This is r-real."

"Do you have a heart issue?" Riveria asked out of concern.

"N-n-no it just gets overwhelmed by b-beauty." I stuttered out. Alicia held her temple hiding her face.

"He-he." Riveria chuckled while reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a blue potion and handed it to Bell. "Drink this funny rabbit."

"O-o-okay." I sat up and gulped the syrupy blue liquid down. My headache started to fade away. "W-what h-happened?"

"Seems you had amind down." Riveria stated with a wide grin.

"Mind down?"

"You overused your magic. Idiot!" Alicia spouted.

"S-Sorry." I got up and bowed to the three women. "Thank you for saving my life again."

Riveria stood to her feet and crossed her hands at her pelvis. "Don't worry about it Bell. Just glad you're alive. How about you show us your magic?"

"O-okay." I blushed nervously. I noticed another goblin lurking down the hall. I aimed my hand towards it. "FIREBOLT!"

*Woosh! Boom!*

The goblin was enveloped in crimson flame a second later and fell to the floor. Riveria and Ais were blinking slowly with their mouths agape, trying to process his chantless magic.

"See it is absurd." Alicia cross her arms and shook her head.

"Wow!" Riveria nodded her head. "I can see how you got carried away with that spell. Chants often slow down mages and drain mind rapidly. Yours is immediate and drains it slowly. You need to be mindful of your magic use or you will fall unconscious again."

"I will try R-Riveria." I bowed my head hiding my nervous grin. I stared over towards Ais and remembered something from earlier and started to remove my jacket. "Um, Ais."

She tilted her head confused. "Yes, Bell."

I offered her my jacket with a blush on my face. "You might want to cover up."

All three women looked confused until the two elves looked under Ais's armor to see half her breast was sticking out. "Pfft." Riveria snorted. "Ais he's right your missing part of your shirt."

"I am sorry for looking." My face was steadily getting redder holding out the jacket.

"ooooooooo." Ais's mouth was wide open until she grabbed the bare skin of her breast under the opening. *Swish!* She grabbed the jacket and held it against her armor. "Thank you." Ais blushed.

Riveria wasn't used to smiling this much. She pinched her cheekbones gently to control herself. "Want to make up for worrying us, Bell?"

"Anything!" I begged.

"I don't really feel like fighting. Little tired. Get us out of the dungeon with just your magic." Riveria ordered.

"Huh."

"Think of it as training."

"O-okay." I shook my head rapidly. "Need to find my knife."

Alicia whispers into Riveria's ear when Bell went back into the other room. "My lady, that blade is made by Crozzo."

Riveria's good mood shifted immediately. She instinctively grimaced in disgust but reasoned that Bell didn't know about him. "We will talk about it another time."

Over the next hour, I escorted the three Loki familia women out of the dungeon. The whole way out of the dungeon I was embarrassed being watched by the three women. Riveria gave a few pointers along the way to conserve mind and tips for recognizing symptoms of a mind down.

Most of the way up she was speechless and quiet watching him obliterate each monster in their path. This level of growth confused Riveria to her core.

.

.

.

We arrived at the top of the staircase under Babel. The tower was abandoned except for the four of us. "That spell is something else Bell. May not be powerful but its utility and speed are undeniable." Riveria congratulated him.

"Thank you. All three of you for helping me out and for saving me."

Alicia smiled. "Don't mention it. Though I would rather not see you unconscious for a third time."

"I will try everything to avoid that happening again." I assured her.

"BEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!" A familiar loud scream came from the west side of babel. Goddess Hestia was waiting by an archway having woken up to use the bathroom.

"Goddess." I tensed up in shock feeling the life drain from my face. "W-w-what are you doing here?"

"I thought I said to wait until morning. Not sneak out with more women." Hestia marched directly up to Bell until she was practically staring at his chin from below.

"More?!" The three women stared dumbfounded.

"Goddess that was a misunderstanding and nothing happened that night."

Riveria was bewildered but chose her gut to trust Bell. "Goddess Hestia, all that happened is we found Bell in the dungeon. Everything is fine."

"Why don't I believe you Riversomething?" Hestia eyed the high elf suspiciously.

"How dare you offend lady Riveria?" Alicia barged past Bell. "After we saved his life."

"What!?" Hestia's head rapidly scanned back and forth for answers.

"We found him unconscious on floor eight from a mind down. What are you teaching him?" Alicia mumbled angrily.

I could feel goddess's anger boiling up. "S-Sorry Goddess I was just excited to finally have magic." I pleaded for lenience with my hands out.

"I told you to not leave me alone. Not get yourself killed or run off with some girl."

"Enough Lady Hestia." Riveria didn't like how she bullied Bell. "Maybe he would have known about mind down if you actually recruited people. Instead of sending him in there alone day after day. I am not happy at all to see Bell almost get killed again, at least we found him. As for his love life, I don't think any of us has the right to tell him what he can do or not do."

My heart felt like a punching bag. I was sure she misunderstood.

"Come Alicia. Ais, we have to get back to the manor." Riveria ordered. The two blondes followed her toward the north.

"Uummm, Riveria." I asked timidly.

"Yes, Bell." Riveria glanced over her shoulder.

Alicia's eye was twitching in annoyance. "Are you really gonna ask Lady Riveria for something after all that Bell?"

"Enough Alicia!" Riveria scolded the blonde elf. "Is something wrong bell?"

"I-I was wondering if you c-could check on Eina." I bowed my head.

She tilted her head sideways confused. "What happened?" She could see the eyes strained when he raised his head back up.

"I am not sure. I heard Eina lost her job. I don't know what I did but her friends blame me and she threw me out earlier when I tried to ask her." I was trying to prevent my eyes from glazing over in front of her.

"You don't know a thing." Riveria questioned in a serious tone.

"No, I don't. If I had known she was in trouble I would not have allowed her to go to the dungeon with me."

"Dungeon!?" Alicia said in disbelief.

"Hmmm." Riveria looked over to Goddess Hestia, to see her jolt in fear. She narrowed her eyes noticing her nervous demeanor and took a guess at what might have happened. "I am sure it's not your fault Bell. I will go check on her. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

"If there is anything at all I can do to help. Please name it." I offered.

"Eina is our responsibility. We can help her out. Thank you. Good night." Riveria turned around and started walking at a fast pace to the north. Ais and Alicia hurried to keep pace.

They arrived at the intersection to the manor a few minutes later. "Ais, can you go report to Loki and Finn of our safe return. I am going to Eina's apartment." Riveria asked.

Yes."

"Can I go see Eina?" Alicia requested.

"Fine let's get going." Riveria and Alicia rushed to the west as Ais walked towards the manor to report to Finn.

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.

.

Riveria and Alicia noticed the lights were on in Eina's window. Some of the furniture was pushed over or out of place. The interior looked like it was in disarray with things thrown all about, unlike Eina's usually obsessive-compulsive nature.

Riveria and Alicia pounded on the door for a while with no answer. "I'm worried." Riveria was debating on breaking in to find her. Finally, the door slowly opened.

Eina reeked of alcohol. She was delirious, drunk, and depressed. She looked like she was crying all day and didn't care about her unsightly appearance.

"Eina are you okay?" Riveria pinched her nostrils feeling overwhelmed by the stench.

"W-wah you want River Lady?" She mumbled out slurring her speech. *HIC*

"Bell told us what happened. He is worried about you Eina." Riveria hurt to see her in such a state.

Eina started tearing up. "I made bunny man sad." *HIC* She stumbled backward and was caught by Alicia

"Come on Eina. Alicia, let's help her get cleaned up and into bed to sleep this off."

"Okay." Alicia helped her into the shower. Riveria slept in the extra room while Alicia shared a bed with Eina.

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.

.

(Day 16)

Sunlight was shining on Eina's face. She started stirring hearing people moving around outside. Her head started pounding as a hangover was starting to afflict her. She started rolling around holding her head and found herself up against something soft. She started patting at the soft mass with her free hand.

"Explain Bell." Alicia whispered in a soft affectionate voice in her sleep.

"Eh. Ehhhhhhh." Eina shrieks out in surprise. Alicia stirred from her slumber. "A-Alicia what are you doing here?"

Alicia pulled away from Eina's touch with a red face. "S-sorry we just got out of the dungeon last night. We were worried about you when we heard you lost your job. Me and Lady Riveria came to check on you and found you drunk."

"My apologies." Eina held her head still holding her head.

"Don't be."

Riveria was already on her way up the stairs when she heard them wake up. She nudged the door open while holding a tray with three cups of tea. "Good morning. Or should I say afternoon? You two finally awoke."

"Lady Riveria, why didn't you wake me? I could have made tea." Alicia looked alarmed seeing the princess taking over a lower role.

"Don't worry about it. You two needed rest. One of the few times I get to act like a housewife or a mother." She smiled at the two shocked elves.

"Why not accept Lord H-?" Alicia was cut off.

"Don't ruin my mood, Alicia. You already know my thoughts on that pompous prideful ass of an elf. Already wasted a century turning down men. I can wait a little longer until I find my... hero." Riveria chuckled walking over to Eina's bedside and placing the tray on the nightstand. She distributed the cups to the women. "Are you okay, Eina?"

"No, I am not Lady Riveria." Eina's ears lowered. "It's been a stressful week and B-"

"Oi." A yell came from outside. Riveria stuck her head out the window to see the red-haired trickster waiting outside. "Are you gonna let me in or what mama?"

"It's unlocked just come on up Loki." Riveria shouted down to the goddess.

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.

.

Loki barged into the bedroom all smiles. "Ais-pu said you were all over here. Heard that you lost your job at the guild Eina baby."

Eina grimaced. "It's my fault. I should have listened to Rose. I have been too worried about Bell going into the dungeon all alone, that I ignored orders."

"Bell told us you went into the dungeon with him. Never expected you to go back in after all these years." Alicia stated.

"Eh, that's a surprise. Rabbit boy helping you conquer your fear." Loki looked at Eina with interest.

"Hardly, but seeing him jump around killing hordes of monsters on his own was quite the experience to see. Especially with the iron tusk." Eina took another sip.

Riveria almost spat out her drink. "He's on floor 9!"

"Are you serious?" Loki's head recoiled. Alicia scratched her ear thinking she was going deaf.

"If anything, he will probably conquer floor nine the next time he's down there. He grabbed an iron tusk with his bare hands and threw it into the cave wall."

*Cough! Cough!*

This time Riveria did choke on her drink and pounded her chest. Alicia sat back down seeing Riveria hold her hand up to calm herself. "That can't. He hasn't been an adventure a month."

"Dam I want to see that." Loki snickered. "So why did you go down with him?"

"It was my day off and I worried about his safety. The last time he went his supporter tried to kill him on floor eight." Eina recalled.

Riveria struggled to find her seat, feeling like she doubled her age in a second. "I think I gonna be sick." Riveria massaged her temple. "How did he get out of that one?"

"Blind luck and determination. His armor was covered in dents and blood. The prum supporter threw a smoke bomb and monster lures at his feet and stole his knives." Eina said with her head still hurting.

"Where's the supporter?" Riveria asked raising her tone.

"In jail. Though Bell wants help free her from her familia somehow."

"He clearly has a death wish. Just like last night." Alicia stated.

"How did you meet Bell last night?

"He had a mind down on floor eight alone. Idiot." Alicia muttered.

Eina closed her eyes to calm herself. "Swear he's gonna give me gray hair. He has been desperate to get magic."

"Don't worry Alicia protected him until he woke."

"Can we steer this conversation away from the rabbit or am I destined to lose all my elves to him?" Loki said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at their red faces. "What do you want to do now Eina? Do you want to level and go on the next expedition?"

Eina shook her head rapidly. "I am not ready for something like that Goddess Loki. I was barely able to control myself on the upper floors."

"No rush Eina. I am sure your parents would like to know if you are going back in or not." Riveria suggested. "Why don't we go see them?"

"I suppose it has been a few months since I went to the Fey village by Melen to see them."

"I wouldn't mind seeing my oldest friend." Riveria turned to Loki. "Loki do you think we can get a few passes for a couple of days?"

"Should be fine. We don't have anything important scheduled for a while. Though Gareth found out about the bunny's skill and wants to challenge Uduaes. Doesn't want you to level up before him." Loki smirked.

"That might be a little difficult. Ais took him down. She will probably level when she gets her status updated." Riveria smiled.

Eina spits out her tea as Loki jumped for joy. "Ais-pu gonna be a level 6. What brought this on?"

"It's a very sensitive conversation. I am gonna have to talk with you, Finn, and Gareth about it later. Let's just say something inspired the opening of an old wound in her heart."

"Gotcha. Riveria." Loki's excitement vanished as she walked over to the window to reflect on her troubled child.

*Knock! Knock!*

Loki looks out the window and stared at the newcomer. "Hah! Well, that's cute." Riveria followed her gaze towards the entrance and tilted her head in agreement.

...

1.) Book 4

2.) Mani is the Germanic moon god. Ithildin means moonlight in LOTR elvish.

3.) Page 35 of Ryu Familia Chronicle. Ryu call Royman Corrupt, oozing money and power. Wallowed in debauchery and fat. He's enjoying himself at casino where the owner does perverted things to women by cheating them or their families into debt.