Hello, sorry that it's a bit late. I'm thinking of aiming to post on Sundays now as it's just easier for me. Saturdays are pretty hectic and recently I've been doing most of my writing over the weekend as school has just been, *gestures wildly* ya'know.

Anyway enough about me, let's get to Chapter 5.

Enjoy! :)

Posted 1/24/2021 (Day before my B-day, yay!)

Chapter 5- Preparations

A distant cave several miles outside Orario

Bell made his way through the cave, his newest falna from some minor hunting god named Ullr. The cave he resides in is probably the closest thing to a home he has had for a while. He stays here between trips, leaving for weeks at a time only coming and going for two things. To rest in-between trips and to store and grab any items he may need. He tries not to visit too many places more than once, but this cave and the town he occasionally meets Hermes at are the only places you can even consider him frequenting. However, the cave he's in now isn't all it had to offer, one could compare it to Leona's shop, a front to hold much more powerful items.

He learned there are many more secrets outside Orario after all, it may be the "center of the world" but it's not the whole world.

He walks further inside the cave, the walls slowly closing in and the surrounding air becoming damp. His senses are all that he needs to make his way through the almost rocky maze. Slipping his hand through a crack to his left, he switches a small lever, a crawlspace slowly opening up in front of him. He crawls through the small tunnel and finally makes his way into a larger and much more well-lit area. Eternal torches, as he likes to call them, line the chamber, basking it in a comfortable, warm glow. He made his way to a seemingly normal rock face on the opposite wall from where he emerged, before taking out a jagged, rock-like key and inserting it into a small crack running along the wall. He turned the key slowly, careful not to snap it in half with his increased strength. As he turned the wall shook to life as it slowly separated into three distinct parts and almost sunk into the surrounding frame. Leaving three small triangular pieces sticking out of the almost circular entrance.

He walked in slowly, remembering how he had first found the lair where he now keeps only his most important treasures.

He stumbled upon the chamber a few years before by accident. Using his heightened hearing to hear the light clanging of chisel and hammer, he made his way through the rock maze and found himself stuck at a seemingly dead end. He looked around for a while before spotting the small lever hidden in the wall. He was surprised to see the crawlspace open up in front of him and was hesitant to enter but eventually gave in to his curiosity. He then came to the "lobby," the overall look of the chamber and mechanisms reminding him of a more rough looking Knossos. He knocked on the surrounding rock walls swearing he could hear the clanging miraculously stop.

Then it seemed as if the wall was talking to him. He learned that Daedalus was not the only one who built structures within the ground. He talked to the man, an old and odd fellow named Aeric. He himself carved out a small lair of sorts within the mountain and cave Bell himself was residing in at that moment. Nothing on the level of Knossos but an accomplishment for Aeric's lifetime nonetheless.

Aeric was old. Nowhere near Fels' age but at least over a century, maybe even two. Aeric, like many great tinkerers before him, had himself the Mystery development ability. To what extent, Bell would never know as Aeric never told him. That first meeting, Bell had asked to leave some of his items with Aeric, as some of the items he had acquired from Fels, Hermes, and others among his travels simply couldn't be kept on his person. Aeric allowed him to do so and Bell found a temporary home and friend in the aged man.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

Aeric was dying. It took a lot to live such a life as Aeric had, without a high-level status or having used the philosopher's stone, as Fels did. Aeric simply fed off of the magic energy around him, with help from his Mystery development ability. However, as all good things must end, eventually even his body gave out as the human body could only absorb so much mana and convert it into life energy. Mana flows through all living things, but very few can absorb and store so much and Aeric had finally reached his body's limit. Aeric gifted Bell with the key to the workshop and told him that someday he will do much more in his life than Aeric himself ever could and that Bell's name will be remembered even among the greats even if he never returns to Orario. With that Aeric took his last breath. He never knew if Aeric was just trying to reassure him or just said that statement to him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He snapped out of his memories as he walked further into the cave turned workshop. He walked past several unfinished inventions, nonmagical and magical alike, that will never be completed. He made his way to a small compartment of the cave carved out for Bell to keep his own stuff. Aeric allowed Bell to keep what he wanted after his death but most of the things Bell found either useless or unnecessary, for him at least.

There were some interesting things that Bell did keep, such as a normal-looking backpack, that he pleasantly found out, was imbued with some sort of spatial magic. "A pocket dimension," he remembers Aeric calling it. Meaning he could fit and store an unbelievable amount of things within the backpack. Which was about the size of his chest, nowhere near the size of Lili's massive supporter pack. It would help store any of his weapons, clothes, armor, and other necessary supplies.

As such this will be his main storage item as he looks to what he will take back to Orario. He of course needed his weapons. Since he couldn't use the Hestia Knife (even before he gave it away), or even think about buying another weapon of its caliber, he had few impressive weapons. The weapons he kept on his person were mediocre at best and probably weaker than Ushiwakamaru and Ushiwakamarunishiki, but seeing as none could match him in speed or strength, 'Outside Orario…' he mused, '…I'm probably good keeping these on me,' he finished, looking at the blades now held in his hand. He then looked over his other equipment. Fels had allowed him to keep the reverse veil he used during the Xenos incident and he kept it on his person almost all the time. What could he say, it was a great cloak and it sometimes paid to be invisible. Especially for certain….aspects of his line of work. He can't say he enjoys killing. But even he sometimes believes those he dispatches deserve death. However, what he hated about himself is how easy it came to be.

He remembered his first assassination contract a few years ago. At first, he avoided them like the plague, but after witnessing so much crime, corruption, and death on the streets he thought he could handle it. With the harvest seasons coming to an end and after spending most of his money on a boat to ferry him to the Far East in a few months, he needed money. And kill contracts paid really well.

His only objective was to take out the head of some rival gang. All he had to do was knock out the guards and kill the boss. His employers didn't want to be tied to the boss' assassination so he had no backup. He also knew better than to question it, lest he be the next one on his employer's list.

It was easy to get into their hideout. Just a few days of stakeouts and reverse veil straight into the supply room. Locking the basement door behind him he quickly knocked out the guards surrounding the room. Just two guards flanking the boss and the boss himself left. He saw his opportunity when his target was looking over some stolen goods, he approached silently, calming his breath in hopes of calming himself down.

It didn't work.

He quickly knocked out the two guards before dashing into the shadows. As a knife user, he already used hit and run tactics.

His target whipped around, knife in hand looking around trying to make Bell out in the shadows. He nudged one of his felled guards with his foot but the man didn't wake.

Bell saw an opportunity and quickly ran to tackle the man, he seemed to expect it and swung his knife toward Bell. Bell easily jumped over the man, his reverse veil hood falling off, revealing him to the boss, as he landed behind the man and spun, Bell's knife going for the man's throat. However, he stopped himself, he couldn't plunge his knife into the man's neck. He couldn't be a murderer. Heroes don't kill, right?

His target, whether because he knew Bell wouldn't kill him or was unafraid of death, took that slight pause as Bell was on the verge of freaking out and plunged his knife into Bell's gut. Bell quickly regained his composure as being stabbed tends to reorganize one's priorities and kicked the man away, sending him flying through the opposite wall.

Bell cursed to himself as he failed to act but was rather proud he wouldn't need to kill the man. He slowly limped to the newly made exit only to freeze in his tracks. He saw there, his target out on the street holding a little girl by her hair, a smaller dagger pressed to her throat. Bell limped out, he knew that this was his fault. The mob boss was a level 3, while rare and obviously no match for a level 4 like Bell, Bell's hesitation was going to get someone else killed. Bell idly wondered if he could use Firebolt but without Argonaut, which would alert the man to Bell's intentions, it was imprecise and somewhat widespread. He would just burn the girl alive.

They stared at each other, the girl crying in his hold. Pleading toward Bell, asking him to save her and he had no intention of not doing so. The bystanders just watched anxiously, obviously no match for the level 3 and 4 in front of them. The mother crying and yelling out for somebody to do something, but they knew that would only get the girl or themselves killed, not all of them had falnas after all. Bell cursed his luck, he was going to have to kill the man. He also thought about throwing a knife and killing him but Bell didn't have throwing knives at the time or knew how to throw them. So he could just miss and hit the girl or just miss and the guy maybe kills the girl in a panic.

Bell had one option, he charged. Bringing out as much of the level 4 speed he could while sporting a stab wound to his gut, Bell appeared in front of his target in the blink of an eye to a normal spectator, his blade shooting forward, but it was too late. By the time Bell's blade sunk into his victim's throat, the girl's throat was already slit. Bell quickly removed the knife from the man's throat hoping he would bleed out faster, he made sure to twist it slightly as he pulled. He quickly grabbed the girl from his target's arms and applied pressure to her wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding but inside he knew it was already too late. Her mother who had watched all of it happen quickly collapsed, the bystanders rushing to her side. Bell cradled the girl as she slowly died in his arms. Her small frame trembling as she clutched onto the fabric of the reverse veil. Bell could care less about the blood staining his gear, he deserved to be stained, tainted by it. She was probably cold. She felt cold. She also looked hurt, not just in the sense that she was dying but almost because he had failed. Like she believed he would help her, but Bell had failed, he was no hero.

What happened next haunts him to this very day as he would never forget the horrible gurgled laugh that came from his target as they both watched the life drain from the girl's sparkling eyes. The beautiful sky blue orbs once glistening, fell dull. Like when the sky itself weeps. The boss continued to laugh, choking on his own blood, however despite his pitiful state, his eyes held an almost infinite amount of mirth as if he found the situation hilarious. As if he had the last laugh. As if he had won. Bell would prefer to know he never lost. But that wasn't always true. He had lost that day.

Bell didn't regret watching the man's eyes quickly fill with fear as he cast Firebolt on him. He doesn't regret burning the dying man alive. Bell doesn't regret smiling sadistically as he watched the man burn in front of him. The fire dancing within his blood-red eyes.

If the hero within him ever died, maybe that was the day it happened.

Bell snapped out of his memories once more upon feeling something wet roll down his cheek. He didn't notice he had started to cry. All those he lost haunted him, but they also pushed him to become more efficient, more merciless. He wouldn't let another innocent life die just because he failed to act. Perhaps he was still a hero, just not the ones you hear about in stories. After that, he started to kill without regard for those who fell to his blades. Everyone is corrupt to some degree, what's one less tainted soul?

…

Nothing.

Shaking his head and taking a few deep breaths to let the tears slowly dry. He went on to inspect his armor. Thinking that throwing himself back into work and on to the road to Orario, will help quell his burning mind. Taking one last deep breath he went back to work.

His armor was a mismatch of several different pieces, thankfully hidden under the reverse veil. He tried painting them the same color, black, as he couldn't afford to stand out, but with different shapes and sizes covering different amounts of his body, it didn't do much. Aside from the reverse veil, the most expensive thing he wore for day to day life was probably the Durandal gauntlets he borrowed (stole) from his target (victim) after a mercenary contract. They covered his knuckles, wrist, and forearm with some sort of hide underneath forming the glove. It wasn't a full gauntlet, more like a high-level leather glove, that reached down his forearm, with Durandal plates over the less flexible parts of one's arm. Bell wasn't sure where the hide came from, he just knows it's acid-resistant against normal acids, like the purple moth's acid, which can easily be bought on the black market as it is pretty easy to acquire in the dungeon.

He tries not to think about all the blood on his blades, on his hands. All the times he has pummeled his targets to death when he broke his knives. One time when he was especially angry after his employers tried to poison him during a victory drink, his resistance easily negating it - well let's just say, they didn't have heads afterward, and their bodies were left to burn in their hideout.

Arson was probably the only way he could ever hope to advance his magic stat, as Argonaut was overkill, usually. Though not when he didn't want to leave a trace of a body.

Looking back through the pile he found a magic spyglass that can zoom up to several miles away, and a blowgun and paralysis darts (some special compound that Aeric made). He then made his way to his more valuable loot. Leaning against the cavern wall was a beautifully carved elven longbow made from a branch of some holy tree. He thinks it's the same type of wood used in Ryuu's Alf's Lumina. Bell's pretty sure he could easily cast Firebolt through it to shoot flaming arrows but he doesn't know how to do it and doesn't want to burn it. Magic wood is still wood, he thinks at least. He also had a small variety of weapons from when some crazy amazons were chasing him saying they wanted to bring him to their country or something. He defeated them easily enough but they then became infatuated with him, saying they wanted his seed. At that point, he used his max speed at the time and the reverse veil to get the hell out of there. He wouldn't kill those who didn't totally deserve it. Most amazons were like that, he can't blame them for it.

He also had a beautiful Uchi-katana he was gifted from his sensei in the Far East. He took a boat out there at the beginning of his second year, the reason he took that assassination contract in the first place was to cover that cost, and spent a few weeks learning the sword techniques. He was actually taught a variety of martial arts, sword and breathing techniques as well as how to throw kunai and other throwable objects. He's pretty sure Mikoto and Take could still beat him skill-wise but with his speed and power as well as Ais' previous training he's pretty sure he could push most seasoned veterans back if not just completely overpower them. He's a lot more adept at using a variety of weapons other than just knives. Ranging from katanas, rapiers, and broadswords to spears, axes, and even his fists. Liaris Freese definitely helped speed up his training process. Much like how he had picked up on Ais' technique in only a few months, it helped him become a prodigy in many art forms. Though he is by no means a master in any of them. However, by combining aspects of each technique, using his own fighting style as a baseline, he is able to easily adapt to any number of situations and weapons, combine that with his speed and power, he is a force to be reckoned with outside Orario's walls.

However undoubtedly his most powerful weapon is the Spear of Orion (A/N Arrow of Orion happened but it didn't check notes below.) A beautiful blue and grey spear, resembling that of a large arrow, with a piercingly blue opal as its centerpiece. It was roughly 5 feet in length with a curved and spiraling grip near the end of the shaft with a pointed pommel. It was small for a spear, heck Finn's spears are longer than it and he's a pallum. But this spear is special, it is not unlike Hestia Knife, being both unbreakable and carved with runes in the god's language, however it is not alive.

Just thinking of the Hestia knife he couldn't help but wonder why he gave it to Ais and not his familia. Maybe because he felt that by giving her the Hestia knife it was like a…promise?

'A promise to what though? To return? To not lose myself? To not become too much like a monster? How would she, how would they react if they knew just how much blood was on my hands.' He thought to himself as he rolled the spear in his hands, looking down he couldn't help but remove a gauntlet and simply stared at his ungloved hand. Several flashbacks to when he looked at that very same hand covered in blood. It was the same visual as when Ais first saved as he looked at his own hand in awe, wondering if he will ever be as strong as her. Though it was also very much the same scene as he felt the satisfying squelch of his blade burying itself into his opponent's gut, their blood smearing all over his body. Both times it was never his blood, but always that of his enemies, he wondered what happened to the little boy three and a half years ago. Did he grow up?

Maybe, but he now knows why he gave the knife to Ais. It was the last pure part of him. It never took a life. It couldn't take a life. It was the blade of a hero. Not a murderer. It was selfish, and wrong to not give it to his own familia, but he doesn't want them to know what he's become. He knows that word gets around about his…career. He has been known by many different names; Scourge, Raze, Rabbit, The One Who Can't Be Seen, and Death. All leading to the same thing, if not outright saying it, he represents death to those who cross his path. He has never let a target escape, and if they did it was because he believed they deserved to live, and if his employers had a problem with it, then they became his enemies. He has become a monster outside the dungeon. A monster that has escaped the dungeon city. He gave the knife to Ais not just because he loves her but because he was scared to face his familia. To show the city that they were right in throwing him out. He knew Ais sometimes felt the same way, and he could relate as when you become as strong as they have, they become monsters in their own right. Some say, "Power is everything," but those with too much lose everything in return. Power pushes, never pulls. Maybe because of this, the true monster that fateful night, was him.

'NO! Stop it! You saved them! You were a hero…' he mentally yelled, slapping himself hard enough to create a small amount of wind in the workshop, 'Great now I'm arguing with myself, I need to make a friend or hurry back to Orario or else I'll start talking to my knives.' He thought as he looked over Gregory, Julia, and Handel, hidden within the reverse veil. He smiled at them before almost affectionately stroking their respective handles. They were great knives. He then recovered them, clearing his throat, and went back to inspecting the Spear of Orion.

He honestly rarely uses it, for a few reasons. First, he dislikes remembering he had once killed a god with it, second, it is way too flashy and hard to carry around normally, and third, he is not as good with it as he is with knives which no matter how dull can be easily concealed and taken out in the blink of an eye. While he can use it and has for more serious threats when his lower grade weapons either broke or were simply unnecessary, he is nowhere near the skill level of using it efficiently or effectively. Both Allen and Finn, heck even maybe the Gulliver brother with the spear could outmatch him, skill-wise, using one hand. Though much like with his other weapons, his status easily makes up for it.

Simply pushing both the bow and katana in the backpack, he then carefully wrapped the spear in cloth and strapped it to his back. Just because it was flashy and hardly necessary for less dangerous threats, it was still his best weapon and it is arguably better than using his already dulling knives, though Gregory, Julia, and Handel are still very effective weapons. They are still knives. He also didn't want to damage the Uchi-katana his sensei gave him as it was more a student-master type gift, though it could be used in fights, he would feel bad in damaging it. It was more ceremonial if anything. He took one last look around the cave, his gaze stopping on Aeric's name carved into the rock face. He gently ran his fingers along the indentations in the stone and walked out of the cave. He left the eternal torches lit in the chamber and placed the key on a small pedestal like rock in the center of the room.

Bell probably won't be coming back to the lair. The workshop itself would remain hidden for another millennium, the eternal torches long burnt out, the surrounding rock weathered and slowly eroding by wind flowing through the narrow passages. The workshop itself protected from the elements as explorers crack open the three-piece door. They would learn of Aeric's name, but not of his accomplishments, his story.

Back with Bell, he was stopping by a nearby village. He had Ullr's blood kept safely in a vial within the backpack for his conversion when he gets back. He was going to buy some supplies, food, water, and a tent for his journey back to Orario. He was thinking of buying a horse or wagon, but he saw no point in wasting his money when he could easily outrun and outpace almost any horse, let alone some horse in a remote village. They aren't the purebreds of Rakia that's for sure. He could probably make it back in a week or two depending on the roads he takes and the weather. He could easily go hunting for food while on the roads and could cut across the mountains to take a few days off.

'Though I should probably send an advanced notice to Ouranos, Fels, or Hermes to better arrange for my arrival. I'm sure not all of the people will be happy with my return,' he thought idly as he strolled down the street to the post office.

Then he stopped, a shiver going down his spine as he remembered that feeling of fear from a day or two before, he shook it off and continued walking, lost in his thoughts, 'And some part of me feels like I have made Hestia really really mad at me, though what could I have done to warrant that? Maybe she finally found out I threw out the plushie of her she gave me, but I threw that away a few years ago, did they seriously not clean my room since then? Gods it must be sooo dusty, and the mattress will be ruined.' Bell internally wailed, already thinking of whether he should just buy a new mattress or try to wash it. 'It's wouldn't be as heavy as when I there last and I could maybe use Firebolt to dry it faster, hmm.'

Then a stray thought struck him like lightning, sending him into a blushing mess, 'Wait, if she found out about the Hestia doll, then maybe she also found out about the Ais Wallenstein plushie?' He felt another shiver down his spine just thinking about his familia's reaction, mostly the girl's, to that bit of information. 'I'm in a world of hurt when I get back aren't I?' He sighed into his hand, 'But honestly, I hope the girl's tuned down their reactions. Looking back on it, I was very dense.'

Unfortunately for Bell, he didn't know he still is, he's just slightly more self-aware.

Pushing aside his last wagon of thought, he believed it would be safer to give them advance notice of his arrival. Bell quickly composed a letter addressed to Ouranos himself of Orario's Guild and told him of his estimated arrival. He believes that he could make it back to Orario in 12 days, if he takes it slow. He could definitely do it in less but he wants to give Ouranos about a week to do what he wants with the information. It might decide whether Bell is greeted with a riot, Loki familia attack, Freya Familia attack, Hestia Familia attack, or absolutely nothing. Though he'd rather fight any of the familias than be greeted with absolute silence. Then it'd be like they didn't care and honestly for as cold-blooded as Bell has become, he still has feelings. Anyway, he should arrive on the 27th at noon, hopefully. Giving it to the town's local messenger owl, Bell then made his way to the store, he had an adventure to pack for after all.

The owl arrived in Orario a few days later.

I hoped you enjoyed it. Exposition, some action, and little plot. Fun right!? Anyway first off…

Addressing Arrow of Orion. The Spear, Artemis, and Antares happened. The romance did not. Think of it like Hermes sponsored the event instead to find another true hero and Bell happened upon it, again. They then were tasked to kill Antares before he destroyed the world. Bell learned that he must kill the goddess Artemis, who is trapped in Antares, to do it. He becomes slightly depressed but shoves his feelings of not being able to save everyone and kills Artemis for the safety of the world and to save her from her imprisonment. He holds no strong feelings toward Artemis but still gets down about killing a god, but takes it in stride as it was a necessary sacrifice for the good of the world, and in the end, he saved Artemis from eternal pain inside Antares. So no 10,000 years of romance thing, and it only exists here because I want Bell to have a god-tier spear until he can use Hestia Knife again. Plus Bell with jet-black armor, a dark cloak, and a god spear would just look amazing.

Also yes an owl could probably make it to Orario faster than Bell. Bell is fast, hecka fast. But an owl can fly, there are mountains and other landmarks to get through as well. The owl just needs to occasionally get food and water and could even stop at other towns to transfer messages to other owls, like some owl version of the pony-express (sorry if you international folks don't get that reference). Bell however can't just simply pass himself to himself so he has to rest, eat, sleep, maybe fight, and then do it all again. So that explains that. Also, Bell is intentionally taking it slow anyway and maybe Bell could clear mountains but we don't actually know how high, high-tier adventurers can jump, or at least I don't. Too maybe Bell could make it back faster than an owl but he wants to give Ouranos and Orario time to prepare anyway.

Also, what did you guys think of the little flashbacks and mentions of his other feats? Were they good, bad, or just meh? It's my first time dabbling in fights, action, and a little bit of just emotional drama. I will need it as possibly more in-depth fights occur or if I write other stories that require fight scenes. I also may skip over the whole choreographed part of it to simply focus more on the story and characters than the fight itself.

Also, Bell is not a psychopath. He's still Bell Cranel. Just gets a little carried away and (maybe?) enjoys killing those he believes are truly evil, kind of like Ryuu with Evilus. She didn't have to kill them all, but it was probably better that she did, in the long run. BTW I don't condone murder. Besides Bell is out in the wilderness, there isn't always a strong (or fair) centralized government so assassination and crime just seem like something that may occur in more out there areas.

See Ya! :)