"Bell, are you ready?"
"Yes, goddess."
"Mou Bell...you could call me by my name...you know?"
He smiled over his shoulder. "When the duel is over, I promise you I will."
"Bell...you are not trying to raise a flag here, do you?"
"A flag?"
"A term that we gods use."
"Oh...okay?"
"Not that important, I will start now."
"Please do."
"Ufufuf...don´t worry...I will be gentle."
"Ahm goddess...where are you moving your hands?..."
"Juuuuust a bit of skinship between a goddess and her child?..."
"Ah..ahm..."
"You...don´t like it...when I touch you...Bell?"
"No..that isn´t what I mean...but..."
"But?"
"This is...Ais´...property..."
"Haaaaaaa?! What do I have to hear from my formerly innocent Bell?"
"Formerly?"
"I see what happened here...that week at this Mansion here spoiled you! I bet she seduced you!"
"Goddess, you are wrong!"
Hestia looked into Bell´s eyes, she wasn´t angry...she just feared that Bell and Ais moved on...too fast. "Bell...this is...important...please tell me...you two...didn´t do anything...like...c-c-climbing...the stairs to adulthood?"
"No, we will wait with that. It is far too early for us."
"Thank goodness...My heart is not ready...for grandchildren..."
"Th-Th-That is WAY too early, goddess! I´m only fifteen!"
"If I´m informed correctly, it isn´t rare on the country side to have children at sixteen."
"But still...too early..."
"Ehe...that is enough for me, Bell."
Hestia had accepted that he chose Ais, now she just wanted those two to grow closer together, into a healthy relationship.
Bell sat on a chair in an empty room of the Loki Mansion, Hestia sat on the bed behind him. He had taken his shirt off, so that Hestia had access to his back. They had trained in a truly hellish way for a whole week, Bell had fought against all of the level six adventurers of the Loki Familia, except Ais. They had even fought with Riveria...and that was a very unique experience. Bell and Ais were too reserved to attack her for real, Riveria had scolded them and attacked them with serious intention.
For Ais, Riveria was like a mother, and Bell had an enormous respect for her. The fight had ended in a lucky...or unlucky way, depending on the point of view.
Riveria had hastily stepped back and bumped with her back against Bell by accident. She lost her balance and was about to fall, Bell closed his arms around her in a reflex and caught her. It was the first time in Riveria´s life that she was hugged by another man than her father.
As they stood there, they looked like lovers. Riveria couldn´t help but blush fiercly, as did Bell...and the tiniest squeak escaped her lips before she could stop herself, thankfully only Bell heard that. She looked into his eyes, Riveria was helpless for a moment, against the feeling of being held in strong arms of a man...feeling his hardened chest against her back, noticing his scent...her knees almost got weak.
"H-Hey!" Ais walked fast to them.
Bell and Riveria snapped out of the moment and separated from each other.
"Ah..B-Bell...you have my thanks...for catching me..."
"N-No problem..."
Ais walked to Bell and hugged him protectively, while she pouted slightly, it wasn´t like Ais got jealous over other girls having contact with Bell...but she had the urge to...well...mark her territory?...Or something like that.
She looked at Riveria. "Bell is...my boyfriend...Mom..."
Hnnngh!
Riveria wanted to grab her heart...Ais only called her "Mom" when she was upset...but it was so adorable...
At the evening of this day, Riveria would lay in her bed without falling asleep for a long time. She thought about the situation and blushed again, cursing herself for acting like that...especially with her little girl´s boyfriend.
But she couldn´t deny that the feeling of being held by Bell...had been nice...she even dreamed about it...and was even more ashamed of that.
.
Runes of light flickered in the air before Hestia´s eyes, they represented Bell´s status...and the runes moved and moved...and moved.
This is the biggest jump in status he ever had...
"Hnnngh." Bell gritted his teeth, his body felt strange.
"Hold on, Bell!"
Hestia could see that "Liaris Freese" looked different from before, it shone way stronger and...had a light green touch in it.
Does that mean, the skill is reacting to her?
In her mind, Hestia sighed a bit, Ais Wallen-whatever-it-is..."marked her territory"...pretty well...
Bell is heads over heels for her... She smiled. Good for them.
She moved her hands a bit while the runes still moved, slowly...very slowly...the runes started to come to a hold and sank down in Bell´s back. Hestia took the special paper that was lying next to her on the bed, placed it on Bell´s back and drew a circle with her finger.
It took a few moments, but finally the updating of his status was finished, never before had it took so much time.
"So Bell...here."
"Thank you."
He took the paper from her and looked at his status...Bell remained silent.
"Bell?"
"So much..."
"Your biggest leap by far."
For now he only looked at the attributes.
.
.
.
Bell Cranel
Belongs to: Hestia Familia
Level: 5
Strength:10 to B666
Endurance: 10 t0 S900
Dexterity: 10 to A701
Agility: 10 to A713
Magic: 10 to B603
.
.
.
He had started his training with every stat at ten...this leap was immense.
Bell noticed his high points in endurance. "Ha...so it was really worth it to get beaten so often..."
"Bell? You don´t sound really happy."
"I am...goddess...I am...but..."
"But?"
"Will it...be enough?"
"Are you afraid?"
He took a deep breath. "To be honest...yes. We will fight against two very strong opponents...our lives are at stake. I could...lose Ais...I..."
Hestia hugged Bell from behind. "Bell...my dear, adorable, cute, little Bell...you are doing great...you two will do great. I´m very sure you two will win. Look...with this status it would be possible to level up to six, after doing a great deed."
"Yeah...but I..."
"You want to max out your status again, right?"
"Yes...and what kind of great deed do I have to do, to level up from five to six?"
"Something big, I am sure of that...that to say...Bell...we have to keep this a secret, except from the Loki Familia."
"Why?"
"Because...you made the biggest way from five to six...in under two months."
"There were special circumstances."
"Still...I want to keep you save."
"Thank you...goddess."
"I will go now Bell, use the evening and tomorrow to recover...and the day after tomorrow you will kick the butts of those two...together with your girlfriend."
"Have a safe trip, goddess."
Hestia waved one last time and left the room, at first she would go to Loki to show her the results, normally that wasn´t something she would do, but the situation was special. Both gods would have a long talk this night, Finn, Riveria and Gareth were also there. Loki and Hestia wouldn´t watch the duel,
on this day they had a mission on their own to do.
.
"Bell?"
"Ais? Come in."
"Tiona and Tione are with me, is that okay?"
"Of course."
He still sat there and was brooding over.
"Yaho Argonaut, how did it go?"
Bell showed them the paper, all three of them looked amazed.
"Wow! That is amazing!" Tiona beamed all over her face.
"Truly impressive." Tione took a good look at the paper.
"Bell...you did good."
"It was thanks to you, to all of you." Bell smiled slightly. "So ahm...thank you, for...beating me up."
Even Tione giggled a bit.
"The next time, we train normally, I think your body won´t last otherwise...and it wasn´t that much fun."
"Mhm." Tiona nodded and agreed with her sister.
The four of them talked for a while about the training and how incredible it was that Bell´s status had risen so much in just one week. The potions he got from Fels added, an amount of nearly 300.000.000 Vals was spent in one week for Bell...and it wouldn´t end here, since Fels sent a message that the "things" he worked on are finished and he would have them delivered tomorrow.
Tione lightly poked her sister and nodded to the door, it was easy to see that Bell was troubled.
"Okay you two, don´t stay up too long, if you want to do something tomorrow or just relax, say so."
"Nighty night you two."
After the twins left, Ais locked the door and turned around to Bell, he had put his face in his hands and sighed.
"Bell?"
"I´m sorry Ais...I..."
She stopped in front of him and waited for a moment, until he raised his face from his hands. Ais gently hugged his head and just stood there, soon he returned the hug and put his arms around her waist.
"You are...frightened...right?"
"Yes...I can´t deny it...I´m very afraid...afraid...of losing you."
Her hug tightened a little bit, for once Bell didn´t minded that his face was gently pressed at her valley...he didn´t felt embarrassed...he enjoyed the feeling.
"Bell...I trust you...absolutely."
"Ais..." His hug too, tightened a bit.
For a few minutes they just stood there and held each other, at some point, Bell moved his face upwards and looked at Ais.
"Ais...I love you."
"And I love you, Bell."
They kissed with closed eyes.
.
.
Ais sat down next to Bell on the bed, both holding hands, she wanted to give him other thoughts.
"Say Bell...ahm...when...is your birthday?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Ahm...actually...two days ago..."
"What?!" Ais looked shocked as well as a bit upset. "Why didn´t you tell me?!"
"The training...we didn´t had time."
"Mou...Bell...you dummy..." Ais used her secret weapon against Bell...she pouted.
So cute..
"Ais..I´m so-!"
She didn´t let him finish his sentence, but kissed him again. After the kiss she leaned her forehead against his chest, gently squeezing his hands.
"I wanted to celebrate your birthday with you..."
"We ahm...can still...do that after...the duel."
Ais glanced up to him with her other secret weapon, puppy eyes. "Promise?"
So adorable...
"I promise."
"But...I have to give you something..."
"You don´t need to."
"But I want to! Mother and Father always gifted each other something...and me."
"Your mother and father?"
She nodded, so far Bell didn´t dared to ask about Ais´ parents. Ais tilted her head a bit and was in thoughts about what to do.
"Bell?"
"Yes?"
"Could you...close your eyes?"
He nodded and closed his eyes, he heard and felt that Ais was letting his hands go and standing up.
"You...can open...now..."
Bell opened his eyes...and froze.
Ais was standing in front of him with a bright red face, glancing to the side bashful...she had pulled up her shirt and revealed her bare breasts to him.
"A-A-Ais?!"
"Happy birthday...Bell..."
"What are you doing?!"
"Ahm...you like them...don´t you?" She only glanced to him out of the corner of her eyes.
"Ah..I ahm...I mean...I..."
"You can touch them...if you want...just...don´t stare...too much..."
"Ais?!"
The strangest thing about the situation might be her intention. Her intention wasn´t of a lewd nature...it was just that Bell really liked them.
"Ais...I don´t think...tha-"
Ais lost patience, she let go of the hem of her shirt, grabbed Bell´s hands and pressed them against her breasts.
In that very moment...Bell found enlightement.
So...soft...so...heavenly...so...perfect...
It couldn´t be compared to any other feeling, Bell didn´t moved his hands, he could just stare at the heavenly mounds that his hands touched, and Ais´ deep red face.
"Ais..I..."
"Bell...does that...cheer you up?"
He was equally red. "I...am ashamed...to say that...but...yes..."
A happy smile bloomed on her face, she was glad that her idea worked.
"Ehehe, see? I knew it would work, calming you down."
Bell blinked up to her...she really was an angel.
"Ais...I love you..."
"I love you too."
She leaned down a bit and kissed him again, sighing into the kiss when his hands twitched a bit. Bell had never thought that touching Ais´ body for the first time would be like this...surprisingly for him...it didn´t felt lewd...just...wonderful.
He only moved his hands a little bit, squeezing gently from time to time...the softness was to die for, but not only Bell enjoyed the feeling, it felt very good for Ais too. After about five minutes, Ais lowered her shirt again and Bell took his hands away.
"So...you liked it?"
"Yes..." He still moved his hands a little bit...the feeling was beyond this world.
"I´m glad." Ais smiled.
"Ais!"
"Eep!"
Bell suddenly moved towards her and gently pushed Ais down on her bed, the fear and every bad feeling about the duel broke it´s way. He kissed her, not in a passionate way, but with strong love, she returned the kiss all too happy.
For a long while, both lied on the bed, kissing and cuddling until they fell asleep in each others arms. Whenever Bell would feel stress or fear...he just had to remember this precious moment...Ais was truly his angel.
.
The next day went by in peace, both used the time to cuddle a while in bed after waking up. Taking their time to have a good breakfast, walking around a bit and cuddling more. Later, Ais demanded to give Bell a lap pillow in the garden, under a tree..she wouldn´t accept a no from him.
No bad thoughts came to them on this day, and when the night came, they slept in each others arms and were filled with love and the thought about protecting each other.
.
.
Eight days had passed, the big day was here.
.
.
Bell and Ais stood with their backs to each other, rustling of clothes filled the room. Both were busy putting on the last parts of their armor, Bell had a bit trouble since he had a few new pieces.
"That looks...strange."
"Can I look?"
"Sure."
Ais turned around and looked at Bell. "Ehe...Bell, for me you look like...a hero."
"And you look...like a princess."
She smiled and stepped closer to him. "Let´s win this, Bell."
"Yes, we will win."
"And after that, celebrating your birthday."
"That reminds me...when is your birthday?"
Ais blushed a bit. "Ahm...in two days..."
"What?! Our birthdays are that close?"
"It looks like it." For some reason she glance to him...a bit shy.
"Bell?"
"Yes?"
"After the duel...before the celebration...there is something I want to talk to you about."
"Okay, it seems to be important."
"It is important."
They kissed each other for a last time before leaving the room. The Loki Familia would escort them to the arena, the Hestia Familia would wait there.
.
.
The clashing of weapons filled the air, large and small weapons were used. Often one could hear the buzz of bowstrings and arrows. It was a warm day on a small island, far away from Orario.
Warriors of various races fought in a huge areal against each other, formerly it were old temple grounds, but now they had a new usage. Made out of white stone, the temple was a shining example of greek architecture in the past. Even with one half collapsed, it still looked majestic. And the broken pieces on the ground made the perfect environment for the two big groups of warriors.
The warriors who fought here weren't really going to hurt each other, but they weren't squeamish either, all in all about thirty people.
Each of the warriors wore armor that resembled those of the old greek heroes in the past, simply because they liked the design. The fighting was intense and sometimes brutal, but nothing compared to the tormenting fights that happened in Orario at Folkvangr.
No, these two groups of warriors fought against each other to reach martial perfection and get as strong as possible. Many of the warriors were human, but also a few beast people among them, more in the second group than the first and also two dark elves with short white hair in the second. One thing distinguished them,
the first group contained of only men and the second of only women...for a certain reason.
The leader of each group circled around each other, focussed on the battle. The man was a tall human with blonde hair and blue eyes, he had a sturdy build and was the symbol of a greek warrior. He wore leather sandals, together with a wide leather kilt. He used a breastplate and bracers, but no shoulder armor or gauntlets, but a helmet with a comb made of horse hair, dyed red. In his right hand he held a spear and a shield with his other, in addition a sword in a scabbard at the hip.
His opponent was a tall woman, a cat person. What made her very unique was her haircolor, it was a mixture of green and blonde, what was amazing about it was, that this was her natural haircolor. She wore a different kind of sandals and a green tunic, except for bracers she had no real armor on her body. Instead of a shield or spear, she used two short swords to fight against the man. She was the best archer in both groups, but she had to be able to fight in melee too. Since she was more of a speed type, heavy armor was useless for her, so she evaded every attack of the man or blocked with her bracers and swords.
"Tired, Atalanta?" The man grinned under his helmet.
"Are you feeling hot, Achileus?" She showed him a smile.
Both fought each other often and teased the other whenever possible...and loved each other like brother and sister.
All over the temple grounds fought people, sometimes man against man, woman against woman or man against woman.
A bit away from the battlefield there were a few houses ... or rather huts. Some of the warriors liked it more simple and preffered a hut over a house. One house was different from the others, it was a bit bigger and had an upper floor.
On the veranda stood an old looking man with a long white beard and watched the warriors fight, he was proud of every single one of them.
"Mylord?"
A young woman came out of the house and spoke to the old man.
"Yes my dear?"
"She said it will start soon."
"Ah thank you my dear."
He showed her a smile that let the young woman blush, she had a bit trouble dealing with him.
The man looked to the warriors again. "Oy kids! It´s starting soon! Come together!"
A loud choir of voices answered him, all of the warriors stopped the fighting and returned to the points were they had put down their stuff. Nearly all of them drank some water and wiped various body parts with towels, before they walked to the big house.
While the warriors were busy returning, the old man followed the young woman inside the house.
He grinned. "Your rear is as beautiful as always."
"M-Mylord!" She covered her butt with her hands, she had learned pretty fast to protect her rear from his hand.
But seeing her flustered was even better for him.
Soon they arrived in a huge room, that took nearly all of the ground floor. The room was dominated by a large mirror that stood on a wall. There wasn´t much furniture here, two large arm chairs and a few pillows on the ground to sit on. One of the arm chairs was already used, by a very beautiful woman.
She looked up when the man entered the room, then her eyes wandered to the young woman.
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Have you harrassed Liliana again?"
"I-I would never do that!"
"Liliana, has he bothered you again?"
"N-No mylady...just...complimented...my rear..."
Irgh..
The man froze when the woman in the chair showed him THAT glare.
"You are the only one for me, my love! Your beauty has no equal in heaven or the surface. Not even the eternal flower blossoms as beautiful as your smile. No goddess of beauty gets even close to your elegance!"
"Hmm..." She smiled. "Charmer...alright, you pass."
Phew...
"Now sit down, dear."
"Of course, my love."
The young woman, Liliana left into another room and returned shortly after with a tray, filled with snacks and the finest wine she could get.
"I hope what I have prepared is to your liking."
The woman in the chair smiled. "Thank you, Liliana."
Liliana was the only elf in the second group if one won´t count the two dark elves. And not only that, Liliana was a high elf and one of the few non-warriors here.
The woman faced the big mirror and snapped her fingers, the mirror became dull, but soon a scene filled it. It was an arena, viewed from above. The scene changed and the mirror followed the movement of a young boy, with a blond girl next to him.
The old man smiled lovingly. "Bell..."
"He looks...resolute."
"Of course he does! He is my grandson!"
"Zeus...you don´t need to yell."
"I´m sorry Hera...I´m just so...excited."
"Oh trust me, I´m excited to see that fight too."
A voice came from the door. "Oh it´s really starting...man that looks like a real party!"
One by one, the warriors...or rather...the two Familia´s...joined their gods in the big living room. The mortals sat down on the pillows, the man next or behind Zeus and the women next to Hera. Depending on the rank and liking, they sat closer to the gods or further away.
Achileus sat right next to Zeus, Atalanta on the other side of Hera, as was fitting for the two captains. The whole new Zeus and Hera Familia´s were now present in this house, it is a very long story how it came that they lived on this island now. And how they re-started their Familia´s,
currently both had only one level five as their captain. Which was actually pretty amazing for Familia´s outside of Orario, but the island they lived on also contained monsters...so...
"Did you two had fun?"
"Yes, lady Hera."
"Did you kick his butt?"
"A little bit..."
Hera gently patted Atalanta´s head, which let the cat woman blush a bit. "Then you did good, my dear."
"Th-Thank you..."
Zeus grinned to Achileus. "You let the girl win? Wise decision."
"I can´t say I let her win...my big sister is really strong."
"Don´t call me that...Achileus..."
"Ehe...sorry, sorry."
A few members of the Familia´s helped Liliana in the kitchen and brought snacks and drinks for everyone. But soon, all eyes were drawn to the mirror when Bell arrived at the arena.
"Go Bell!"
"Kick his butt!"
"Fight for your girl!"
"Make him pay!"
"Peel off his fur!"
"Achileus...cat people don´t have much fur..."
"Ah don´t be like that, big sis!"
The mood got very lively, pretty fast. All of them would cheer for Bell and Ais, watching the duel with the mirror. It was a good thing that Zeus got messages from Ouranos and Hermes...it was the only thing that kept him from...doing something...after Freya..did that.
Zeus made a gesture and a tiny part of the mirror showed another scene, two goddesses that walked into a certain direction.
"Looks like Loki and Hestia would like...to talk to Freya."
"Judging by Loki´s expression...I would say something else."
Zeus leaned back in his chair and looked at Bell...how he longed to be there for him...talk to him.
Bell...you can do it.
Hera frowned a bit and looked curious at Bell´s back. "I wonder what he carries in these bandages."
"I´m sure we will see that."
.
.
.
.
Authors Note: This chapter is a bit short than usual, since the next is longer. Originally I wanted to make it one big chapter, but then it would take too long to write.