Authors Note 1: Much of this chapter will be written like a thought. So like this. Because most of this chapter is from Tiona´s point of view. I wanted to try something new.
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The feeling of fate was strong in Bell´s heart, it had to be now. The strong feelings he had towards Asterios threatened to tear his heart apart. His burning desire to fight his eternal rival was as strong as his love for Ais.
While he started jogging, Bell raised Vesta in front of his face, particles of light gathered around it and his hand.
"Firebolt!"
The fire smashed into his beloved Knife, the runes started to shine in a fiery red right away.
"Argo Vesta!"
Bell had trained a lot with Ais on his skills, in the past he was only able to use Argo Vesta for a single attack or slash, like he did with the hydra, the attack got stronger the longer he charged it.
But since he and Ais had a skill that let them share things, Bell got an idea and worked on it over the course of a few months. Ais was able to constantly cover herself with her magic, so Bell thought about doing the same thing with Argo Vesta.
The blade shone and it looked like it grew longer, turning from white to a blazing red-orange, as if the whole blade was made out of fire. It was the shortest charge he managed to do for this magic, but he held it up constantly, so the burning sword wouldn´t return to it´s smaller size after one attack.
Now Bell held a sword forged from lightning elemental power in his right hand and a burning blade in his left. From his hero set, he wore only the golden shoulder guards and boots. While he charged at the Minotaur...as it should be.
Asterios on the other hand wore thick plates around his forearms and around the wrist of the arm that was holding the Labris, his chest was also covered with a plate, this armor was a gift from Fels, it had the color of iron.
His grip around Olympus´ hilt tightened.
Let´s do this, partner!
For a moment, a feeling like a heartbeat filled Bell, coming out of the dephts of Olympus, small lightning appeared and the golden edges of the blade flashed, as if something deep inside the blade reacted.
Ais could do nothing but hang there and watch how her beloved and the giant minotaur charged at each other, both grinning wildly.
Bell had come, to save her from an evil monster.
But not only Bell and Asterios felt strange and the touch of fate or destiny. Something deep inside of Ais felt very weird, not some feeling of this all being familiar, but as if something happened with her body.
Bell...my hero..has come, to save me.
The words that Ais´ father had spoken to her came to her mind.
Ais, I can´t be your hero, I already have your mother. But some day, a hero will appear in front of you, your own hero, to save you.
My own hero...Bell!
The time went in slow motion for Ais, as she watched Bell and Asterios charging at each other. Without knowing it, Asterios was even stronger than Ottar now, if he didn´t used his magic. But sheer strength or status wasn´t everything, Bell´s skill "Oxslayer" gave him a strong boost in strength against opponents like Asterios.
As if this skill had formed on his back just for his fated encounter.
Maybe it was a dumb decision, but Bell couldn´t fight the urge, he charged forward and took Asterios´ axe head on, blocking it with both of his swords at once. The force of this impact was strong enough to produce a gust of wind and would have let even many level three adventurers faint.
Both wrestled their weapons against the other, eventually Bell jumped backwards and Asterios stopped his Labris from getting rammed into the ground. It was the opening act of their fight.
Ais could do nothing but watch while these two started to attack each other.
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"This is getting on my nerves!"
Another passage in front of Tione closed right before she got to it. She could have jumped through the closing gap, but then the Familia members behind her would be alone. And the Loki Familia didn´t abandoned their members.
It got harder for her to focus and she had to push against her berserker skill with sheer willpower. Losing herself now was not an option.
The Labyrinth changed at intervals, sometimes a passage opened to the side of them, or closed just in front of them. For a few minutes they even had to stand still, back to back, while they were locked from all sides. The worst thing possible was an opening into two directions, non of them leading towards the group of Raul or Alicia.
When that happened they had to rely on their luck and choose one path quickly.
"Tione, do you think this is the right path!?"
"I don´t! But what choice do we have!?"
They weren´t the only ones with that problem, since hardly anyone could see much, they couldn't really organize themselves either. Each group moved through the maze at random. They really could need someone to give them orders, someone who would be able to see things from above.
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Raul fell backwards with a scream, one of the vorpal rabbits had jumped at him and he tumbled over. With all of his strength, he grabbed the arm of the monster that held the dungeon weapon, stopping it from split open his skull.
"Aaaaah!"
He stabbed the rabbit monster with his short sword, again and again until it finally exploded into ash. Raul got immediatelly up to his feet and blocked the weapon of another monster. Their situation was pure horror, monsters swarmed to them from all sides, whenever a passage opened, more came. And they had to stay away from the walls, since the heads and arms of dryads grew out of it and tried to slash or grab them.
"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* Ouch..."
"Raul, Lefiya has stopped bleeding!"
Just like in Alicia´s group with Riveria, Raul´s group had taken care of the wounded Lefiya. While the wound had bled strongly, they had taken care of it with potions and healing magic very fast.
"Lefiya, sorry! This is going to hurt!"
The female Familia member that took care of Lefiya´s wounded thigh, wrapped a bandage around it after applying the healing potion and pulled it tight, Lefiya let out a pained scream.
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All over the labyrinth, fought the Expedition party, protecting each other as good as possible. But they burned through their healing supplies faster than all the other days on this floor combined.
"Doooooryah!"
Tiona´s group was surrounded by walls that were getting closer and closer. So she did the only thing that she could, using her favorite tactic.
When in doubt, forward!
Using her immense strength of a level six adventurer, Tiona hacked a was through one of the walls. Normally these would heal faster than she could damage them, but two things worked in favor for her. Her berserker skill enhanced her strength since she had taken quite a lot of damage, and someone heard her from the other side of the wall.
"Tiona!"
"Gareth!"
"Raaaaah!"
"Dooooooh!"
Both hacked their way as fast and strong as possible through the wall, in the last moment, Tiona´s group was able to escape before the hole closed again and they would have been overwhelmed by the walls. But she paid a heavy price for it, Tiona´s arms and back were covered in wounds, she had to hold her left eye closed due to a cut at her eyebrow.
"Huff...Huff...Huff..."
Gareth didn´t looked any better, parts of his armor were missing.
"Come laddy."
"Pff...Pff...Pff..."
No one said a word when they looked at Tiona, she would only later get how close she actually was to dying. Compared to her current state, Ais had looked like healthiness itself after her fight with Udaeus.
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Auh...it hurts, everything hurts...
Tiona didn't really got what was happening due to her condition or how they got here, but eventually Gareth told her to sit down. When she did, Tiona was surprised to see Lefiya next to her, the young elf clasped her hands over her mouth in horror after seeing Tiona's body. For a while now the amazon had problems to hold her sword, the ring and small finger of her left hand pointed into a direction that they shouldn´t. But Tiona didn´t felt any pain, just numb.
She heard yells and sounds of clashing, only after one of the healers emptied a potion over her body and used healing magic on her, did Tiona got her environment again.
"Eh, Lefiya...from where did you come from so suddenly?"
"Tiona, you are sitting here for half an hour now."
"Really? Hah."
"Don´t you remember?"
"No, I-OUCH! Argh, why can´t I get up?"
"Your left leg is broken."
"And why can´t I lift my weapon? Hey, what happened to my shoulder!?"
"You got a monster´s spear rammed through it, Mr. Gareth said if you weren´t such a stubborn amazon, you would have died from all your wounds."
"I don´t really remember anything."
"Mr. Gareth said you protected the others and created an escape route, not caring about what the monsters did to you during that, you saved the life or your group."
"Huh, wow."
"You are a hero, Tiona!"
"Hehe, you think so?"
"Yes! And the others too!"
"Ouch...where are we?"
"We followed the captain´s order and others came here to gather around our group, it is thanks to Raul that I am still alive."
"Hehe, maybe you should give him a kiss on the cheek as a thank."
"Not happening."
"Yeah, I guess Aki would be made then."
Tiona felt a bit silly, probably due to the painkillers that they gave her with the potion. No one from her Familia knew it, but Tiona had a new hobby since her last birthday. She and Haruhime had become really good friends over their shared love for hero stories.
The Renard hat gifted her two empty books, diaries or poetry books, depending on how she would use it. Tiona had always loved the story of Argonaut more than any other, that´s why she called Bell the way she did. And she had loved the figure Orna, wanting to be like her sometimes.
At first she had told Haruhime these books would be a waste, since she wasn´t really good at writing.
"I´m sure you will become great with enough time to practice."
And so Tiona practiced, she had at first problems to find her style, but after reading the tale of Argonaut, that was written by the ancienc poet Orna, she found her style. It was actually pretty close to that of Orna, it came naturally to Tiona.
Since she couldn´t fight for a while, Tiona stayed close to the wounded Lefiya and watched the others, she burned everything she saw into her mind.
Later, she would write down everything she saw and heard from the others. It would become her first poem, the way that Tiona wrote down reports about the Expeditions and Finn would give her this job in the future too, their musclebrain had finally found her calling.
Thankfully Tiona had practiced her handwriting, so that others would be able to read it too. She was especially happy about Haruhime´s and Bell´s praises, that this read similar to the stories of old.
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Tiona really gave her all when she wrote it into her book.
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The dungeon, the great forest labyrinth, it really got us.
Like clumsy kittens we ventured into the uncharted depths. Cautious and yet ignorant of the dangers that awaited us. Varied was the nature of the monsters, endless their number. The forest tempted us with enticements to explore its depths and capture its treasures. Unknowing as we were, we took what was offered and so aroused the wrath of the lord of this kingdom. Unable to endure our presence, the king of the forest seized his blades, called his men, and marched against us. Numberless, his servants, strong fighters, were not of great danger alone, however, they never came alone, only en masse.
It was on the 7th day of our expedition into the green depths that the terrible trap snapped shut. Those monsters we called trees or dryads circled and circled us, but it wasn't their place to take our blood. The forest itself claimed and thirsted for our blood. The trees around us came alive and closed us in, locking us in their leafy embrace. The forest showed its true appearance, a labyrinth like I have never read of any. Walls of trees and dryads, several strides high, and crowned with thorns. The change hurt many of us, some badly, including those we call "Elven Mommy".
The danger was manifold when the king called to hunt and we should be his prey. We were scattered, scattered throughout the maze, not knowing where our comrades were. Nobody knew what to do, so we fought, fought and bled for each other to live. That was it when I heard his voice. "O brave comrades-in-arms, do not despair and follow my voice! See that light and follow its path, in the end you will find your comrades! Follow the light and unite your ranks! The king's head shall be mine!"
Our weapons banged against the mighty claws of the wooden monsters. Nevertheless, a furry avalanche poured into our prison, the minions of the king of the forest. We followed the commander's call and took up the fight. Fighting back to back, we did not despair, manifold were our enemies, manifold was the heroic blood we shed. But we are the Loki Familia! We won't go under!
As our commander said. "Up, up you children of Loki! Spear shall he shattered! Shield shall be splintered! We will not quietly go into the night! We will not fall without a fight! So hold your ground! Hold your ground!"
And we screamed, screamed with our commander who took it upon himself to challenge the king alone.
Our credo never changed.
While we draw breath, we fight!
I was there when the tree king fell. That one towered above all other Treelords, crowned with golden foliage, and wielding a sword of ironwood as befitted a king. I was there when that proud old dwarven warrior took up the fight. The Tree King filled the full width of the labyrinth passage and roared at the top of his voice. I was there when that dwarven warrior charged forward with his axe, that one weapon the tree things hated more than anything else. The dwarven warrior drew the Tree King's attention, blocking the mighty sword with his axe. sword blows that would have destroyed houses. Fire magic was not possible to use, the space was too cramped. So he did it alone without flinching. This brave dwarven warrior who some consider a true monster but has such a noble soul and kind heart. I witnessed when he finally dug his ax into the Tree King's skull and defeated the monster. Blood and tree sap ran down his body, a golden laurel wreath fell at his feet, that was all that remained of the tree king.
I was there, I saw it all and memorized it all, as it my profession now when I´m not fighting at the front line.
My profession is to fulfill the dream of every adventurer and young hero, I can hear them yell.
Witness me!
And so I do it, like my role model, one of the three great poets, Orna, I will witness them and tell their stories, the story of the proud and brave adventurers of the Loki Familia.
I didn´t saw everything with my own eyes, but we would tell the stories afterwards and I memorized it all.
They told me about the fight to protect our Elven Mommy, that had to fight with the toxine in her ridiculously well stacked body. As much as I loved her as a fellow Familia member, I couldn´t help but curse her like my sister or our golden princess.
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Curse to all those with big breasts! They don´t matter at all!
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But I heard about that fight, they told me how all fought together and protect the ones not meant for the frontline. And I heard the howl. It was our wolf, the strong wolf of our Familia that received a nickname in the Familia. Fenrir or Fenris did we call him, since he was Loki´s follower and the strong wolf of our Familia.
The one we playfully called Fenris howled. Loud and heard everywhere! We hear your howl strong wolf! It was like a wake-up call for those of us who were beginning to despair! As long as our wolf howled, someone was still alive and continued the fight. He was a whirlwind of destruction, the others didn't get everything that was happening and what they were fighting, there were just too many monsters.
However, in the end, they were all alive, some badly injured, but alive. And no one hurt worse than our mighty wolf. Hail to you Fenris! He lost two claws from his left claw while protecting our elf mommy. Like me, they had to pull a spear out of his body, it had pierced one of his upper arms. Part of the left ear was missing, making him look like a street mutt. And yet he refused most help, forcing our healers to tend to those who weren't as strong as he was.
Oh how he snarled at them that losing two fingers is nothing compared to the pain he would feel when he lost more companions. He really is a big softy deep down.
If he was more my type and not taken, I might have fallen for him myself. But not in this life.
His wife would say something later when she saw the silver fingers replacing his two claws.
"This is the proof, love of my life. It's visible to everyone what I've always known. You may have fingers of silver and a tongue of lead, but your heart... it's made of gold."
We would always call him our wolf or Fenris. But the gods would later call him Argetlam, the silver hand. Everyone in the Loki Familia would know how he lost two of his fingers and got them replaced. A story of bravery and self sacrifice.
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And then I was told a story and witnessed another, these two let my amazonian blood boil.
My sister.
My sister, our proud Amazon warrior, unequaled in the use of her weapons, curse her large breasts! Like me, she searched her way through the maze, the group found our elves Mommy and Fenris´. She didn't stay with them, making sure her comrades got there safely before running back into the maze. Her heart cried out to her and we Amazons follow our hearts. It cried out to her to hurry to her love, our commander. I never understood how exactly she found him, she claimed her heart was connected to his, personally I think she followed her ears and his scent...yes my sister can smell our Commander.
They told me that these two were fighting together, our commander wanted to send them away but my sister refused. There was only so much my sister could endure, and though his heroic struggle touched her heart, she could not bear it if he died. There are few in our family who are better at team fighting, even I can't fight that well with my sister. The only ones who surpassed them are our golden princess and the one I call the Argonaut. I think he was a little pissed off with me about the name I gave the white bunny monsters.
Together they are said to have managed to defeat the king of the forest labyrinth. But my sister didn't just come for that reason. She had borrowed two magical swords from the Cyclopean blacksmith. One produced flames, the other a wave of ice. Each alone didn't do anything against the walls, but that wasn't their plan. She swung the flaming sword and charred the thorns above the passage. Before they could regenerate, she swung the icy blade and blasted the thorns.
The sudden difference between flames and ice was too much for the plants. Our commander agreed to her plan, he jumped up, rammed his spear into the wall from above and balanced on it while my sister waited below and fought any monsters that might attack him. Now our commander could see the maze from above and where we fought.
He studied it, silently watching the movements until finally he spotted a pattern. His thumb is said to have twitched the whole time. Many great battles were fought that day, we defeated all that the maze unleashed against us. And yet, the greatest deed was our commander's. He fought against the labyrinth itself with his mind. Soon he began shouting orders to us about where to go and when to wait. With an increasingly sure hand, he guided us through the labyrinth. No mortal before him or after him would ever be able to do that, to face the labyrinth with his mind and not his weapon. Not to the exit, this was sealed, no, he led us to the middle, to the big tree.
We carried those who couldn´t walk. Our elves protested when our wolf carried the elven Mommy, but he yelled at them to shut up about it, that they didn´t had much choice, but I have to mention, he had wrapped an extra cape around her, so that he wouldn´t touch her body in any way and cover the rip that Alicia had to cause. And what we saw there made my blood sing.
I saw him that day. That warrior we all began to call Argonaut. We all saw that scene that seemed straight out of the epic. Our golden princess was bound with chains of black iron to the trunk of the great tree. And in front of her, he fought the black beast. Oh, how great were his horns! That beast we called the Minotaur, stronger than any we've ever faced. Our young hero fought against the beast with a sword of fire and one crowned with lightning. I myself once felt the blow of this monster, as did our wolf and my sister. Truly I tell you, it hurt like hell.
I don't know how long they had been fighting when we got there, later I would learn that they met almost after the creation of the maze, well over an hour and a half. And yet, as if it were the will of fate... it was all just a preliminary skirmish. The stage was set! The spectators gathered! O ye gods of earth and heaven! Watch them, see them! Witness them! Our young hero yelled at us nobody dare interfere! This is their fight and theirs alone. I sometimes wonder if our golden princess is sad or jealous that she has to share the young hero's heart with this huge, black, muscular minotaur.
I will try to keep my words short, but even if I filled this whole book, it wouldn´t come close to the fight we saw. .
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Bell didn´t knew how long he had fought with Asterios at this point, he noticed shortly on the side how the party finally caught up to them, all of them looking tattered and some wounded. Only very few monster followed them, the floor had exhausted itself.
But all that he could think about right now, was the big minotaur in front of him. Bell and Asterios had the time of their lives.
"Firebolt!"
An explosion of fire enveloped Asterios, it dealt no damage to him, Bell could only hope to use it as a smoke screen. Not only had Asterios a strong resistance to magic due to his strength and natural immunity of a minotaur, but his resistance to fire was especially strong. It was as if fate strengthened both of them against the other. Or it was just their wish, deep down in them that drove them forward. For Bell, Asterios was the first opponent that let him feel like a true adventurer and drove him forward.
And for Asterios, Bell was the first opponent that faced the warrior in him, not the monster.
"Bell, let's stop the pre-banter, let's get started!"
The Loki Familia looked surprised about Bell´s reaction, they saw this wild smile on his face. Just like with many smiles and expressions that were reserved for Ais alone, this smile would he only ever show towards Asterios.
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I asked many of my party members about their impressions and thoughts about the fight that we were allowed to witness. There are two sayings in ancient texts that appear again and again and now for the first time I truly understood them. Like Orna had written in her poem, something that big shouldn´t be allowed to move so fast.
The Minotaur, I know that his name is Asterios, but for the purpose of the sound, I will call him "The Minotaur" in my poem. The minotaur was a warrior, a monster and a force of nature all in one. He knew how to use his enormous, muscular body to his advantage. Sure, he was slower than our young hero, but every blow and stomp from him was devastating. I felt them once, so trust me on that.
One would think, that this is a big chunk of cow meat, like my sister likes to call him, but for something so big he was pretty fast. Not nimble like his opponent, but fast anyway.
And the second saying that I read before, was that if the supernatural faced each other, they got pulled down to a normal level. But only in their eyes. We all experienced this at some point, when he went a level up, the monsters seemd to move slower than before and their attacks were weaker. But from the look of it, our young hero felt like his opponent was on his level. Both were equal to each other, but you had to remind yourself that our young hero was one of the three strongest adventurers in the city. I witnessed a fight between them before in the city, our young hero was much weaker back then, but the Minotaur only had one arm and was half dead.
Now they fought at full strength against each other. I have to admit that I felt a weird tingle in my body and my legs felt a bit wobbily while I watched this handsome, strong, young hero fighting. Dear heavens Argonaut is so strong! Hah, a shame that he is taken.
And the foulest Minotaur's mighty lapis rose over his head and smashed down with meteoric power. But alas, behold, the young hero's body arched round the ax's smile, and his heroic foot collided with the black monster's face. Our young hero was truly of great strength. That minotaur didn't even flinch when my sister attacked him with great zeal last day. And now see how his face was deformed and flung to one side. Truly I tell you, that kick was strong enough to shatter walls! And that Minotaur took it, took a step backwards, but caught himself. They never stopped grinning or smiling. Truly I tell you how I love this smile of our young hero! It wasn't that smile he showed our golden princess, it was wild. A true warrior!
His beastly foe pursued the young hero, whose hand spat balls of fire. This was his passion, the fire, a part of him.
I was told by his goddess. Hundreds, thousands - How many words of flame have slipped out of his mouth?
Firebolt.
His real only magic and it meant so much to him. Sadness. Anger. Fear. Bravery...No one would´ve expected one word can be expressed in countless ways. But I saw them, saw them all when he fought. This wasn´t only magic, this was a part of him. Our young hero is the firebolt, it is his existence. He is a bright light that drives the others forward, like a ship that carries the heroes. There is a reason why we call him "The Argonaut" now, while I was the first one to do it.
I once heard him mumble in his sleep in the camp, that a day without a firebolt is a sad day. Yes, he mumbled that in his sleep while lying in the arms of our golden princess.
It was an important part of his way of fighting, of his fights against the Minotaur. We all once saw how he obliterated a whole castle with it.
There was something we all agreed on. Their fight had something personal. Some said it was passion itself, some called it the truest rivalry. Only those who witnessed this fight on this day, would understand his skill, and of course, his soul.
Bell Cranel. The Argonaut. The young hero. The true warrior. The adventurer. The practitioner of infinite firebolt. The firebolt sommelier.
Without getting sick of it or ever backing down, he keeps challenging his opponents and obstacles. He keeps pushing forward, overcomes himself. He shook the world of people that witnessed him.
He was already known and mentioned in the same breath as our strongest ones. People saw him equally to our "Fianna Exists"-yelling commander, Finn Deimne or "Who is a Mom?!"-elven Mommy, Riveria Ljos Alfr.
There were a few of us that saw our golden princess bound to the tree and wanted to free her, but she shook her head. Apparently it wasn´t uncomfortable for her to hang there and she wanted to see her beloved fight without getting distracted.
I have to mention that there is one among us that has a closer relationship to the young hero, than the others, except for our golden princess of course. It was easy to see that neither that young hero nor the Minotaur held back their blows. This was no friendly practice match, nor was it a relentless life-or-death struggle between mortal enemies fueled by sheer hatred. This was a competition between rivals, both intended to defeat the other and to settle their score. Flowing blood or breaking bones didn't stop them and what was wise not to get involved in this fight. As I wrote, supernatural strength seemed weak when met with something of equal stature, yet both were beyond what mere mortals could achieve. When the minotaur's ax hit the ground, it split him in two.
When his massive foot hit the ground, he created a shock wave that knocked even some of our weaker ones down. When the young hero summoned his fire, he created waves of heat and lightning that even hit us. We kept our distance from them as far as we dared. But in our hearts we promised them one thing. We will witness you!
About the person I mentioned, the young hero had a second rival in the past, had it up to this day, even when his rival was the only person who saw it that way.
The relationship between those two was very adorable at times. Our elf mage didn't like him, really. She saw him as a reflection of herself, only better and stronger. It drove them on without knowing it, just as it drove us all. She wanted to get stronger, she got stronger but was still emotionally weak at times. That time we don't talk about when she wasn't well, he was there for her. He was the shining hero, the white knight, the gentleman she needed, who saved her. She would have been forgiven if she'd lost her heart to him, but that didn't happen. The young hero helped her, rescued her and pushed her more forward.
When our elven mage returned to us, she had truly changed, she even got along with our wolf. And it was that elf magician who now stood in our ranks and cheered him on at the top of her lungs. As she had done when he and the Minotaur first met. The one we now call his sister. Sometimes I imagine they're a bit like the story of Argonaut and his sister Feena spoke it would fit. But he knows how I'm sitting here now and writing this story, like my role model Orna once was, maybe we're all just born again. Excuse my humor, it's my first story.
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"Beeeeeell! Kick his aaaaaaaass!"
Lefiya didn´t cared if her words were vulgar for an elf, she had to let these feelings out.
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Faster than Bell could react, hammered Asterios´ lapis down and got Vesta at a bad angle. Bell had no other choice than to let go of his beloved knife, which turned back to it´s original form after he let go if it. If he had tried to block Asterios´ blow, his wrist would have been shattered. Did he flinch or try to flee? No, he took Olympus with both hands and jumped forward. Asterios´ axe was still lowered, so Bell dealt a long slash along his arm. The minotaur´s skin was so tough, that it was only a shallow wound and didn´t bled mouch. .
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We all saw it and many felt a chill. It was like that first fight we saw...or had we already seen two fights? Others would have to determine if it was possible that that red minotaur and that black one were the same, perhaps the young hero knew. Then as now, the young hero grabbed his sword with both hands and faced this inhuman opponent. And how he smiled and grinned! I got goosebumps from it! My sister would tease me it might be because of my Amazonian blood but I understand why our golden princess fell for him and he won her heart.
Our eyes followed as it seemed history was repeating itself. Instead of a tower, the young hero was thrown up the big tree. The Minotaur followed him, the young hero roared as I have never heard him roar, and rushed down. We'd all seen it before, attacking a Minotaur head-on wasn't a wise idea. And just as history seemed to be repeating itself, the young hero fired a bolt of fire at his feet and leapt through the flames, over the minotaur's head. Apparently he was flying, his lightning sword arcing and drawing a long bloody line down the minotaur's back, drawing a thunderous roar from him.
Oh what a maneuver! So simple yet elegant! Elegant! But the Minotaur was not helpless or stupid, let me tell you, he knew how to use his massive body and natural weapons. When the young hero's feet touched the ground, the Minotaur crashed to the ground immediately afterwards, shaking the earth. We saw the young hero stumble for a moment, nothing more was needed. Instead of his huge axe, the Minotaur fired his fist. Truly I tell you, a siege ram would have been gentler on the young hero's face.
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"Bell!"
Ais yelled out from her place when she saw with what force the fist smashed into her lover's face.
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Blood ran down the hero's face, he jumped backwards and grabbed his sword, they charged again. I've seen berserkers in combat before, like my sister or myself, but I'll tell you, these two weren't. In their rage and skill they were only more terrifying to behold because they were in control. They exchanged thundering punches and bone-crushing slashes, but made no attempt to kill the other. It was a contest of skill and who gave up first. Never before have we realized that the young hero could carry such pride. He fought for more than one thing that day and for more than one person. This was between him and his rival, but also to prove himself to his princess. He fought for her, himself and his rival. We saw him spitiing out blood and swinging his sword again, it looked less lightning followed the path of the blade, maybe the magic ran out again.
His half-gilt sword rose and fell, was turned, parried, blocked and pierced. That mighty ax called Lapis swung round and round and round, up and down, over and over again. Our elven mage screamed in terror as the ax caught and ripped the young hero's armguard from the young hero, then his breastplate. His shirt went with them and his muscular torso was exposed to us. And truly what a sight it was! More than one maiden from our ranks blushed at the sight of his sweaty muscles. One thing worth mentioning that never made it into the books. The smell. Both were sweating profusely, and while the minotaur's exhalations smelled animalistic, our young hero's was very stimulating, at least to me. But if my sharp eyes did not deceive me, then not only for me. Even our elf mommy gulped and blushed.
But the young hero was not at a loss for an answer, his sword was faster than the minotaur's axe, and so he cut and stabbed faster. Retended him in the same coin. With a roar, the monster tore the loose armor from its upper body, both shortly thereafter lost their last armguard, as their upper bodies were uncovered and naked. Oh you should have seen all of our young hero's bruises, flat cuts and bumps, yet he was very handsome and didn't flinch.
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"Hah...Hah...hah..."
Bell felt the sweat running down his body in streams, the hilt of Olympus felt wet. But losing his shirt and armor actually helped a bit to cool his body. He didn´t saw it, but Ais bit down on her lower lip by this sight.
Asterios raised his lapis again and charged forward once more.
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Oh what an unrelenting struggle! Neither of them showed signs of fatigue. Attack followed attack, and the young hero felt the fist of the minotaur or was grazed by the horns more than once. And the minotaur's body and head felt the hero's foot or fist often enough. However, as inhumanly strong as they were, their equipment was not. Though strong, she could only take so much. Our young hero gradually lost his boots, leg armor and even parts of his pants. Any clothing left to him would have been just enough to be worn on the beach! I wondered if he would fight like those past Olympian heroes if he lost his pants too. What a sight that would be! Truly heroic, fighting naked with only his sword in hand. But the Minotaur also gradually lost his armor until all he was left with was his kilt and long belt. I won't write many details, but the Minotaur lost even this. And we all saw one thing very clearly...it was a male Minotaur...a very male one.
Most elves of the party turned away or covered their eyes. The scene before them became slowly very...lewd. Asterios was a monster and seeing him naked wasn´t the problem, but what they saw swinging around was a problem for them, especially since Bell was also nearly naked. The only ones that could bear with it and keep watching, were Riveria and Lefiya. But there was an elf among us, the one who is friends with the siren and wears two blue feathers in her hair, the one who is like a big sister to most, if my eyes weren't deceiving me, she glanced at the two from time to time and...had a slight nosebleed. My sister always suspected that some elves were secretly a bit perverted, at least by elven standards.
Something happened that most didn't expect, in order to explain it I have to explain something else first. The weapons we wield were created to ward off dungeon monsters. There was a legend among the blacksmiths about Roland's miraculous sword, the Durandal. Following this legend, the name came about for that special quality in weapons that is so important to us. Durandal. Weapons forged in the hottest fire, by the best smith's hand, should be unbreakable. And our young hero's sword was something special. We learned the limits of Durandal that day that from this point in the dungeon, Durandal would no longer suffice. We shall never forget the look on the hero's face...nor the scream that echoed across the square...it was not the hero's scream, but that of an old man.
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The time went slower for Bell, he could neither believe his eyes nor his ears. The sound broke his heart, the sight nearly his soul. Asterios´ lapis collided with Olympus...and shattered the blade, broke the blade in many pieces.
Wha-
His body reacted before his mind did, he jumped forward with the rest of Olympus in his right hand and stabbed Asterios´ wrist, causing him to dropp his weapon like he did in the past.
It hurt to see Olympus destroyed, but he had hope it could be repaired like Zephyr. He wanted to drop the broken sword, but couldn´t open his hand.
"What the!?"
Bell tried to open his hand, but nothing happened, it was as if his fingers were glued to the blade. No. As if electricity caused his muscles to clench his hand. Lightning started to gush out of the hilt, where it went over into the blade. Asterios kept his distance for the moment. More and more lightning washed out and Bell´s heart pounded like it had when he first received Olympus.
He got blinded when a ball of lightning shot out of the blade.
"I`M BAAAAAAAAACK BABYYYYYYYYY!"
"Huh!?"
It was the voice of an old man, a voice that sounded so much like his grandfather! The ball of lightning shot upwards and circled around for a moment. Bell didn´t knew it, but while the blade was made out of elementium, elementium that got it´s power from the king of olympus, the hilt belonged to an very old sword from the past.
The sword had belonged to someone else, a person that would never be known as a hero...but a clown.
"It´s been so looooong! Finally some fresh air! Oh! Who are you!? Oh my! Geez, a man again!? I want a beautiful maiden for once! You don´t even look girlish enough to statisfy me! What a waste!"
Bell´s body twitched and spasmed, he got goosebumps and his heart felt like it wanted to explode. He screamed. Bell screamed on the top of his lunges, it was a feeling that he couldn´t keep within himself, it felt like energy was overflowing inside him.
"Ha! You are as energetic as ever, partner! Oh it´s a minotaur again? Man you sure don´t have luck with cows! Anyway, you know how it goes right? But don´t expect me to go back into the sword again! My wonderful personality was nearly gone and I´m not as young as in the past anymore!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about!"
"Hurr Hurr Hurr! Just feel it my boy! The weakened strength of a greater spirit!"
Energy and lightning shot through Bell again and he screamed. Screamed when he jumped towards Asterios and raised his fists, fists that were covered by lightning. It wasn´t a sudden boost in strength and magic, the ball of lightning just somehow forced Bell to let everything out he had inside him.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
And in his mind, Bell Cranel yelled out. A name came to his mind, he didn´t knew from where he knew it, it was just there.
Let´s go...Jupiter!
And the voice like his grandfather´s answered. Let´s go, Partner!
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There was a day when the gods got goosebumps in Orario. The day when our golden princess and the young hero fought against the warriors of the goddess of love. On that day, everyone witnessed the magic raging through the young hero. He looked like a young Zeus surrounded by lightning. And now very similarly, he ran towards the roaring grinning minotaurs, his fists again surrounded by lightning, as he sometimes does. Every elf and beastman in our ranks had to cover their ears. Each punch of the hero was accompanied by a titanic thunderclap, as if he were pummeling his opponent with the fury of heaven itself.
And to many's dismay, the Minotaur took the blows and answered in kin. Blows that could break bones, shred flesh, and pulverize walls fell on the young hero's flesh. When their fists collided, we heard cracks and gusts of wind whipped around us. Any technique or skill was forgotten. Both rivals yelled at each other. Fists hit faces, hit ribs, hit arms and legs and stomachs. Faces were flung back and forth, blood and saliva flew non-stop, sweat poured and spattered from their bodies, and yet they only accelerated. There was no more dodging, no tricks. Only raw strength, violence and condition. Whoever fell first would lose. No pardon was asked, none granted, one would fall, one would win. So we believed. This will be the end of my part, my hand hurts now from writing so much.
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"Gah!"
Bell´s head snapped to the side after Asterios´ umpteenth murderous punch, blood flew from his lips. He gritted his hurting teeth and punched at Asterios´ jaw in return. His lightning had run out for now, he felt an mind down getting closer, but he would not lose like this! Asterios didn´t deserved to win in such an unstatisfying way. And Bell wanted to win himself.
"Daaaaaah!"
Hammering punch followed hammering punch. Face. Shoulders. Arms. Chest. Stomach. Legs. There was only one place that both didn´t aimed for, a place that would spared in a fight among true man. His left hand hurt like hell, something in there had to be broken and at least two rips. But Asterios didn´t looked better, his black fur was red and wet from blood, his and Bell´s. For every thundering strike of Asterios, did Bell land five hits. He had the bigger target and his punches didn´t dealt as much damage as Asterios´.
But both felt it, the end was near. It was time to settle this.
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"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!"
"ASTERIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!"
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Both put all of their remaining strength in this one last punch. The full force of a level seven adventurer collided with the cheek of the black minotaur. And the strength of one of the strongest monsters in the dungeon hit with everything in Bell´s face. Their was a loud crack when both of their hands broke by the impact and they were thrown back.
Bell landed close to Ais´ feet, Asterios a few feet away, the ground shook when his massive body hit it. Both had given their all and were at the end of their strength. The result would be clear, the one of them that would be able to stand, would win. Both tried it. Bell nearly managed to get up to his feet, before his leg gave in under him and he fell back to the gras again.
Asterios gritted his teeth, pulled himself up, staggered and fell back too.
They glared at each other, trying to pull themself towards each other with powerless hands.
But they didn´t moved, not one of them had any strength left and their bodies screamed to take a break.
Yet both were too stubborn to admit the outcome.
A draw.
Bell and Asterios had fought at full strength against each other and they were equal. There was no hatred or grudge in their eyes, even when they glared at each other. Only respect and determination.
A few members of the group, including Ais, chuckled when Bell yelled out.
"I will not lose next time! I will get you for sure, Asterios!"
"Back at you, Bell! Next time I will get you!"
Finally, the effect of the magic item ran out and Ais jumped down from the tree, she could have freed herself at any time. She landed with elegance next to Bell and smiled, going down to her knees.
"You fought well, my hero."
"Irkh...Ouch...Ais..."
As if it was the natural thing to do, well for them it was, Ais gently lifted up the groaning Bell´s head and placed it on her thighs.
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Alicia looked startled up when a shadow flew with enormous speed over the group.
"Watch out!"
But the shadow was too fast for the others to react to and smashed onto the ground next to Asterios...landed elegant on two claws.
"Honey!"
Eh!?
Alicia watched, thunderstruck. A beautiful siren with blue and golden wings landed next to Asterios and nearly fell onto his chest, a worried expression on her face.
"Honey, are you okay!?"
H-H-Honey!?
Ray tried to hold Asterios, but it was not possible with her wings, that got red from his blood. The minotaur raised his head slightly.
"Ray...why did you come?"
"I was worried about you!"
"Why?"
"Hello!?" She pointed with her wings at his tattered body.
"Ouch...I´m sorry."
Alicia blinked way too many times as she and everyone else watched the interlude between Ray and Asterios. She had heard from Ray that she was in love with someone but never got to know who it was, since Ray was too embarrassed.
It was him!?
She couldn´t know that Ray at first had fallen in love with Bell, but this would never be and Bell was taken. Things had happened. Alicia saw how Ray glanced to Bell and Ais.
"Does this help him?"
Ais looked at her thighs. "Yes, he recovers faster then."
Since no one ever proved Ais´ thesis to be wrong, she believed in it.
The two fated rivals ended in the same positions. With their heads resting on the thighs of their beloveds. It was hard to believe at first that Asterios had feelings for Ray, but he had noticed that Bell got stronger since he also fought for someone else than for just himself. Asterios couldn´t describe with words how he felt for Ray, since he didn´t knew enough words for that.
But he liked her, more than the other Xenos.
So, the fated duel of the two came to an end. It was a draw.
Fate would demand that they faced each other again. It was Bell who would win the next time, after that...Asterios. And Bell...and Asterios. Both eternal rivals agreed on the term, that whoever would win two times in a row, would be the victor.
There would never be one.
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While she gently stroked the hair of her brutally beaten love, Ais felt really, really weird.
I have found...my hero!
It felt like...a seal deep inside her body got undone. Or, as if her spirit half finally was matured enough and followed her wish and will, to open the path to a possibility that she didn´t had before. Covered by Bell´s head, no one noticed that her lower stomach glew for a moment. Her body reacted to the wish in her heart. This man was her beloved, her hero.
With this man...she wanted to have children.
And Bell, he could really need a hot bath now.
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Authors Note2: Instead of writing endless "Raised his sword" and so on, I wanted to tell about their duel how Tiona would write about it. Half lyrical, half her normal words, since it is her first story.
About what Ais was feeling, I thought a while about how to do a certain thing for Ais, since she ins´t human. It was never explained in the story how Aria and Albert were able to do what lead to Ais´ birth. So I thought it would make sense when it has basically something to do with her wish for it, since she is half spirit.
Next chapter for this story will be the last part of the Expedition, taking care of the wounded, giving Bell his chance for a long, hot bath, together with a chatty old spirit.
But the next chapter to write will be for Change of Fates, the second lover besides Haruhime will soon be reveiled.
After that, Blood of Zeus.
Well you know the rotation.
After that, Blood of Zeus (Ero), "The Benevolent Mistress´ rabbit" and yes, that will be an kind of orgy, since I was asked it so many times.