I do not own Danmachi or Naruto of anything related to it.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Spellcasting"

"Monster or Demon Speaking"

'Monster or Demon thinking'

"Monster or Demon Spellcasting"

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"How long are you going to be gone this time?" Bell had just learned that Naruto had a mission outside the city, again.

"Oh, come on this is only the second time. You make me sound like some deadbeat parent or something."

"Well every time you leave something dangerous always happens, like last time monsters from Monsterphilia got loose and chased me around the city." Bell said as Ryuu came around throwing a bag into the back of the wagon.

"He has a point." She said as Naruto pouted.

"Okay I get it, look it might be something it might not, at most maybe two weeks maybe a little more. Wagons aren't exactly a fast form of travel."

"You have a wyvern, don't you?" Ryuu asked pointing to his grimoire.

"Well yeah but it can only stay out for a few hours then it would need to recharge. That means we would have to stop all the time. It just wouldn't be efficient." Ryuu just shrugged and climbed into the wagon.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Naruto said pulling out a bag of Valis.

"Here, to get a new set of armor. Seeing as yours is bent to all hell." He said as he handed to Bell. He went to climb up into the wagon but paused as he looked back to see Bell's slightly disappointed look. He sighed and stepped down and placed a hand on Bell's shoulder.

"Tell you what as soon as I get back, we'll begin training and I will teach you a brand new spell. Captains honor." He said with a smile and Bell smiled a bit and Naruto ruffled his hair.

"I'll be back before you know it." he said climbing up "See ya later, little rookie!" he said smacking the wagon signaling the driver to head off. As the wagon pulled away Naruto waved one last time before he became too small to see.

Taking a deep breath, he placed the Valis in his pouch. Then he took off towards the Tower of babel. While walking he looked around seeing a few people bustling around but Bell paid them no mind. Despite himself he couldn't forget the man that he saw yesterday. He couldn't put it out of his mind the whole experience stuck with him. Those eyes, he remembered how small it made him feel. It was like looking into Naruto's eyes like looking at a mountain but for the stranger it was like looking into an abyss. Deep, dark and crushing, a darkness that no light could illuminate.

It sent shivers down his spine just thinking about it.

Finding his way into the tower he rode the elevator up a bit and began to browse. Though no matter how much he looked he couldn't quite find anything that spoke to him. Eventually he made his way to the store where he bought his armor from when he came here with Eina.

Looking around he walked towards the counter where he saw the cashier as well as a red headed individual and they seemed to be arguing about something. After looking around for a second he didn't see any of the armor that was made by Welf Crozzo. Not seeing any other option he went to the front where the cashier looked relieved as he approached.

"Hello! Can I help you find something." The tone in the mans voice suggested desperation to get out of the argument he was just in.

"Uh, yeah. Do you not sell armor by Welf Crozzo anymore?" he asked and the man looked a bit surprised before he looked towards the red hair man. Bell also turned to see that the man had a face splitting grin as he began to laugh boisterously.
Reaching down he picked up a crate that was beside him.

"If you're looking for Welf Crozzo's Armor then I got it right here!" he exclaimed placing his crate down on the counter and Bell's eyes widened upon seeing the armor he enjoyed inside of it. After excusing themselves Bell and the now revealed Welf went outside and sat down on a bench.

"I can't believe that the Little Rookie that everyone's talking about is wanting to buy my armor!" he said with a grin and Bell smiled in kind.

"Well I didn't expect to be able to meet you in person, Mister Crozzo." At this Welf deflated just a tad as he looked away from Bell.

"Would you mind not calling me Crozzo, I don't really care for it."

"Then, Mister Welf?" He still cringed slightly.

"Mister… I guess that will be fine for now." His grin returned full force as he leaned on his crate an looked towards Bell.

"So, Bell Cranel the Little Rookie, you have come to buy my work twice now! That makes you a regular costumer doesn't it!"

"I-I guess so." Bell admitted though was a bit put off on how loud Welf was being. He failed to notice the other smiths that were watching the pair scowl as they turned and walked away. Welf smirked at the action before turning back to Bell.

"Sorry about that, just a bit of turf war." He apologized and Bell just nodded. "So Bell, would you like to make a private contract with me?"

"Huh? A private contract?" Bell asked at his suggestion and Welf nodded.

"That's right, I'll only work for you making weapons, armor whatever and in return you'll help me out with something. Of course, you'll have my full gratitude."

"What is it?" Welf straightened and gestured towards himself.

"Let me join your party!"

XXXXWITHINOXXXX

Ino found herself in the clearing that Sasuke had discovered sitting in front of the pond that he had found. Behind her was Ryuzetsu, Kando and Sasuke.

"So how does this work?" Ryuzetsu asked as she watched Ino set up what looked to be a pentagram with a six-pointed star made of some silver flakes with blue candles around the entire thing with one on each point.

"It's an ancient Yamanaka family ritual. It's not very practical so I don't use it much but it's perfect for this." She said sitting crisscross in the center as Sasuke brought over a clear glass bowl and inside it was a nearly transparent fish.

"What's that?" Ryuzetsu asked again feeling a bit like she was in a classroom with all these questions she was asking.

"That little dark elf is a something called a Trench darter. It, obviously, is a fish that lives in very deep water where pretty much no light can reach."

"Right, and Ino is going to possess it and swim down and see what she can find out. Hopefully she'll be small enough that what ever is down there won't bother her."

"You can possess things?"

"Yap, the weaker the will the easier it is for me to take over. Now shush I need to focus." Ino said as she placed her hands forward forming a circle with her fingers with the fish at the center. For a moment nothing happened before Ino's head and arms suddenly fell. Sasuke looked at her then at the fish as it seemed to wave its fin.

"Alright be careful, remember try your best to stay hidden and look for any caves or something like that." Sasuke told Ino in her fish form who simply turned to face the pond. Picking up the tank He dumped its contents into the pond and Ino disappeared bellow its surface.

"What happens if she gets caught? Will she be fine?" Ryuzetsu asked and Sasuke nodded.

"If she gets hurt in her fish form or killed she'll just return here to her body. She might have some phantom pain from the experience but other than that she'll be fine." Sasuke said kneeling down and taking out his blades before examining them. Ryuzetsu followed his lead and sat down while Kendo patrolled the Area.

Ino was still making her way down the tunnel and thanks to the fishes specially evolved eyes she could see with some clarity as the colors drained and her vision took on a black and white hue as she descended farther and farther. After a few minutes she finally made it to the bottom of the tunnel where it opened up into a large cavern. While she could see decently far from her position it was only by the ceiling everything else was drenched in blackness.

She would have to make her way to the bottom to get a closer look. Though looking into abyss, it was unsettling. If there was air she would have sucked in a big gulp before she left the tunnel. Once she left the tunnel exit, she resisted the urge to look back so she didn't get turned around.

As she swam her eyes began to adjust to the darkness and she could just barley make out the floor of this cavern as she came close to it. Gliding just above the rocky surface she straightened her body and began to search. She needed to find anything tracks would be the most helpful.

Looking around she was having little luck and with this small body she couldn't go much faster. She was unsure just how long it had been when finally she had reached what appeared to be a drop off. Turning she could just barely make out the entrance to the cavern and was about she would say it was about forty-five meters away.

'alright here we go.' She said to herself as she dove down the side of the drop off and was surprised to see light coming from the bottom. Continuing on she dove deeper and she could the feel the pressure of the water increasing but luckily the fishes body was able to withstand it. As she began to reach the bottom a pale dark green light began to illuminate the bottom of the pit she had found. Bellow herself was a seething mass of green and black sludge like substance surrounded by a ring of stones.

'This must be how that thing got in.' she thought swimming around the bulbus sludge. Once she got closer to the ground she began to see scraps in the stone floor and puncture holes from claws from when the creatures probably emerged. Slowly approaching she felt something like a presence withing the sludge. Multiple presences actually as horrifyingly she could almost make out faces withing the sludge.

'what is this?' before she could ponder it she suddenly felt a current of water rush over her making the small fish body she inhabited spin out of control. Looking around wildly the glow from the sludge illuminated a bit of what was at the bottom of this pit. Her rapid spinning came to a halt as she saw within the darkness two shining orbs.

They didn't make any light, but it was like seeing the shine of animal eyes within the darkness. They were very far apart telling her that what ever this thing was, it was huge. She floated there for a moment not willing to take her eyes off whatever was lurking in the darkness of this pit. The creature didn't share her sentiments as the shine of the eyes retreated further into the darkness, unblinking until the light from the sludge no longer reflected in its eyes and Ino returned to being completely unaware of where the beast was.

Suddenly a shock of force slammed into her from above and she found herself gasping and reeling back in her real body the lights of the sun blinding her as she shot to her feet. Though the motion was too sudden, and she quickly found herself back peddling trying to find her balance. Luckily before she could fall to the ground she felt some one grab her hand keeping her upright. When her eyes adjusted she saw that it was Ryuzetsu who had grabbed her. Standing up straight she quickly shook her head and did her best to calm her breathing.

"You alright Ino?" Ryuzetsu asked as Sasuke and Kando joined the two.

"I'm fine it was just a bit shocking, that's all."

"What was it?" Sasuke asked.

"No idea, I didn't really get close enough to figure it out but I'm guessing it crushed me." She said finally getting her heart rate under control. "Though I think I figured out where that monster came from." She said getting Kando's attention.

"Where?"

"I'm guessing its some kind of portal, it was a bunch of green sludge surrounded by a ring of stones. I couldn't get much more detail than that since, you know." She said and the Carbuncle nodded.

"I'll report this to Fürhen and get a squad of Carbuncles to watch this place twenty-four seven." This confused Ryuzetsu.

"Why not just seal up the hole stop anything from coming through." The one who answered her was Sasuke.

"Because, if we seal this entrance up, whoever or whatever made it will just have to make a new one and we won't know where it will be. At least this way we have a way in if we need it and we know where they will come out." With that Kando teleported away to deliver his report and Ino and the others began to make there way back to Orario.

"Why not tell the guild about this? Maybe they can help." Ryuzetsu suggested but Ino shook their head.

"Not likely, lately the guild has been dealing with something heavy and it's put them on edge with the Loki Familia. We gave them a report of course but this is something we'll just have to deal with on our own for now."

"What's going on between the Loki's and the Guild?" she asked as Ino sighed.

"Not quite sure to be honest. Though Kurama has sensed it as well, somethings going on within Orario something in the shadows."

"Whatever is going on it stirred up some trouble in Rivira." Sasuke said and Ryuzetsu cocked her head.

"Where's Rivira?"

"It's a town that's in the dungeon, on floor eighteen one of the safe zones within the dungeon. Apparently, there was a murder there a while ago, with whatevers happening in Orario and now these new monsters that are showing up out of nowhere. I don't know, but it's very troubling."

"That's putting it mildly." Sasuke said with a sneer "we're being attacked from both the inside and out, someone is stirring up trouble withing the city and then we have another force sending monstrosities from outside. I bet there connected in some way."

"The timing would suggest so. If not that is one hell of a coincidence." Ino said stretching.

"Hopefully Naruto will be able to drudge up some info about whatever or whoever is sending these corrupted monsters at us. Meanwhile we'll put our faith in Loki and her familia, if they can't handle it, we'll step in."

"No, they can handle it but we should still keep out ears to the ground, you sure Naruto will find something out there?" for the smallest of moments Ino's eyes went blank the light fading from her eyes as he body flinched. Just as quickly the oddity passed, and she nodded.

"Definitely, those fishermen are seriously worried, plus from what they told me whatever is causing trouble on the coast is something like what we have been facing these past few days." She said as Kando returned with about six different carbuncles in tow. As Ino and Ryuzetsu approached them Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared at Ino's back.

XXXXWITHBELLXXXX

"HaHa! Finally, the eleventh floor!" Welf cheered out as he Bell and a disgruntled Lilli entered the pale white forests of the floor. Bell looked around as he remembered the first time he reached this floor with Naruto and his friends.

"Sorry I suddenly sprung this on you Bell." Welf said but his face splitting smile made it hard to take seriously.

"Oh, it's no problem. If this is what you need to get that blacksmith's ability it works for me too since we have a contract right." Lilli just pouted.

"Well it must be great for him but… well why didn't you go adventuring with you own Familia?" at her question Welf gained a slight look of discomfort on his face though held his tongue.

"Lilli, the thing is…" Bell tried to sway her but she cut him off.

"He doesn't get along with his Familia, right?" she guessed and at Bell's nod she knew she was right. "You believed his sob story and he bribed you with new armor! Why didn't you talk to me first?" she said her cheeks slightly puffed in irritation.

"Sorry." Bell apologized lamely. Seeing the interaction between the two Welf decided to step forward.

"Am I really that much of a problem? Li'l shrimp?"

"Watch it red, my name isn't Li'l shrimp, its Liliruca Arde!" With Grin Welf replied.

"Oh! Then its so nice to meet you Li'l Lilli!" he said reaching out a hand for her to shake but she just turned her head to the side in a huff.

"Forget it!" This is when Bell decided to try to jump in.

"Lili I really like the armor that Welf Crozzo makes, so…" Lili's eyes widened.

"Crozzo!? You just said Crozzo right?"

"Um, yeah."

"As in, the cursed magic weapon blacksmiths? The fallen blacksmith nobles?" she asked in rapid succession.

"What do you mean?" Bell was obviously not in the know about what she was talking about.

"You've never heard of them Bell?" A shake of the head was her answer. "The Crozzo Family was a clan of blacksmiths; they were famous for their ability to make powerful magical items." Welf had turned his back at this point so he reaction was hidden from bell. "Though one day they lost their abilities, and now they're completely destitute." She explained as Welf grunted.

"Yeah it's some broken name of Nobles. That doesn't matter does it?" He said though his tone was uninterested he clearly wanted to move away from the subject. When Lili went to respond they were interrupted by the sound of cracking rock as a group of Imps and an Orc emerged from the dungeon floor.

"This isn't really the best time to talk about this any way." He said as the Trio stood back to back drawing their weapons. The monsters snarled and charged the group.

"I'll take the orc!" Welf called out as he charged the fat green beast. Lilli back up to provide long range support with her mini ballista strapped to her wrist. Bell acted quickly darting out from the group and charging the Imps.

One went to meet his charge head on but he noticed something. It was sluggish, not nearly as quick as Bell remembered them being. Brushing aside the odd occurrence as adrenaline he swiped at the Imp slashing it open and it promptly turned to ash.

Three more came at him two below while one jumped at him from above. Bending low he spun while stretching out his leg in one fluid motion connecting with both the imps on the ground sending them flying back and impacting some of the others in the group. Then as his spin completed he saw the imp in the air had not even reached the peak of its jump as he took his knife, the runes pulsing slightly, and stabbed the imp and it too turned to dust.

The rest of the group all tried to rush him at once but he finally realized why they were so slow. They weren't he was faster, he couldn't help the little smirk that graced his features at the realization as he matched the imps charge with his blade.

Welf had finished dispatching the Orc, his arms feeling a bit strained from swinging his hulking blade as he stood taking a breath and wiping his forehead. Looking back at where Bell was his eyes went slightly wide at the sight of the imps surrounding him all bursting to ash nearly at once.

Though unbeknownst to them a figure was watching them with interest. A smirk upon his face as he raised it revealing Sonkor. A growl rumbled lowly behind him as he held his hand up.

"Ah, ah, patience pet. Let them wallow in their victory for a moment." He said flippantly as if talking to a dog. Watching the group he saw as they reconvened and conversed before the small one, Lilli, went to collect the crystals that dropped from the monsters. They were so interesting, especially the white haired one. Bell. The potential blossoming within him it was entertaining to witness. Sonkor looked down to the teens hand and saw a glow upon it with flecks of white and blue coming off it as Bell and Welf inspected it.

His vison though was rudely obstructed by a passing party of adventurers.

He sighed annoyedly "Go." He said simply and a large baby Dragon went barreling past him with a roar catching the adventurers attention but they were too slow to react with the one closest to the dragon being trampled and the other two turned and ran. Sonkor slowly walked forward watching the event unfold before him.

Bell lifted his hand the power bristling as he called out his spell and from his hand a bright beam of blueish white light with sparks of black shot from his palm and impacted the Baby dragon killing it instantly.

"Very interesting indeed." However Sonkor's musings were halted when he felt a grip upon his ankle. Looking down he saw the crushed adventurer not quite dead yet but well on his way.

"H-help…" he rasped out blood pouring from his mouth from the following cough of his plea. Sonkor smiled gently and squatted by the young adventurer's side. He reached out and put a gentle hand upon the side of the adventurers' head. The boys eyes widened as he suddenly felt relief from the pain before all to cruelly it returned. His mouth parted to unleash a violent scream but no noise escaped his throat as his skin began to crack and flake. At the point of contact the young mans skin began to resemble the dry floor of a lake bed.

His skin lost its color as it began to sink and flab his eyes and cheeks becoming sunken. The veins becoming visible underneath his skin as whatever Sonkor was doing spread throughout the young man's body. His fingers becoming cracked and bony his clothes sagging as the muscles and flesh that once filled them out were now deteriorating. All of this happening within excruciatingly slow seconds. The life finally left the adventurers eyes as his head fell to the ground once Sonkor had removed his hand from it.

As soon as it made impact it splashed out into nothing but dust and ash along with the rest of his body leafing nothing but and empty suit of armor and a broken sword. With a simple wave of his hand Sonkor turned the equipment to dust as well.

"Do not touch me, maggot." And with that he disappeared.

XXXXBackwithBellLaterThatDayXXXX

"So, Lilli was in trouble and when you cast your spell it suddenly changed color and grew more powerful?" Hestia asked as she examined Bells stat tattoo on his back. Both of them were currently situated within Bell's room at Kurama's den as the two were enjoying some nice sandwiches and soup.

"Yes, exactly."

"Welp there's nothing to really worry about that was just your skill argonaut. Little kid wants to be a big Hero." She teased with a smile as Bell laughed lightly.

"So what exactly does it do?"

"Basically, the more you want to save someone the stronger it will make you. It's the desire to be a Hero that desire gives you power." She explained and picked up her sandwich.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you about the Crozzo family, do you know much about them?"

"That's your friends family name right? I know they used to make magic weapons like swords and stuff but beyond that I don't know much. The family suddenly lost all that power one day and fell out of grace." Bell nodded.

"I see." He than began to take a sip of water.

"I do know that Welf can make Magic weapons though." Yeah that water is coming back out now.

"What?"

"Oh yeah he possesses the gift he just doesn't use it. Its weird, he could have all the fame and fortune he could ever want if he just pumped out a few magic swords at the least but he doesn't. And you went and made a contract with him. A blacksmith that won't use his full potential."

"You think its that bad?"

"I don't know, everyone has got their reasons to do what they do. Just be careful alright."

"Okay!" he said and the two continued their dinner in peace. As bell was getting ready for bed he slightly wondered how Lilli was doing. She had declined the Room offered to her by Naruto and instead got her own lodgings. She still came around everyday but she never stayed the night. He idly wondered why, the Kurama Familia were more than accommodating so its not like they would've minded. Bell himself might've followed her lead if he could but the days spent here were an experience all on their own. It was warm and nice, like the days he spent with his grandfather. He chuckled remembering his perverted grandpa.

He always managed to smell like a forest after it had rained. The most boisterous laugh and extravagant voices whenever he would tell him stories. He remembered how his grandpa would bounce him on his knee and telling him what a great thing it is to be a hero. It was nice, at least until it devolved into perverted giggling and the advice he would give would be less than heroic.

Slowly his eyes grew heavier and finally sleep overtook him. As he fell into his slumber Bell found himself in a open field. Though this wasn't a green field with a gentle breeze. This was a field filled with tall white grass. This grass reached all the way up to his waist and ass he looked around he was filled with confusion and a bit of fear. All around him was darkness like black wind swirling around him.

The roar of the wind was deafening he couldn't even hear himself scream when he tried. Spinning around he saw that he was in the center of some cyclone. He then tried to slowly approach the cyclone but it just seemed to move so that he was always in the center. He then began to move faster his hesitant walk becoming a long stride then a sprint but no matter how fast he went he remained in the center.

Eventually he had to stop due to fatigue as he bent over and gulped in deep breaths. Looking up the black cyclone still raged around him with no sign of slowing down. Looking down he saw that he had nothing but the clothes he wore to bed on. Then his eyes caught a stone on the ground, and he took it. chucking it at the cyclone he watched as it sailed through but when it did the black winds seemed to part like he was tossing a stone into a river rather than a cyclone.

Looking around he didn't see anything on the ground or even above him that could help so he raised his hand.

"FireBolt!" with the uttering of his spell a bolt of flames shot from his palms and hit the cyclone. For a split moment a sliver of space appeared with burning fizzling edges but just as quickly as it appeared the cyclone repaired itself. Holding up his hand he cast his spell three more times in succession this time the sliver was much, much wider but it repaired itself to quickly.

He was becoming desperate now and when he went to cast his spell four times the he spotted something on the other end of the sliver. It was Hestia, Syr and Lilli all surrounded by the centipede monster that Naruto and his Familia took out. His eyes went wide with horror as the cyclone closed off again.

"NO!" he screamed and began to cast his Firebolt over and over again desperately trying to dispel but with each shot all he was doing was making windows that showed him the monster getting closer and closer and closer. Tears began streaming from his as he raised his hands for one last attack not even noting the blue and white flecking aura that surrounded his palms.

"FIREBOLT!" He screamed out and the power of his Argonaut skill erupted forth and his bolt of fire now became a beam of concentrated bluish white energy that when it made contact with the cyclone the whole thing went up in white flames. Now instead of black winds he was surrounded by a cyclone of white fire that trailed with black sparks of electric like energy. He then charged through and instead of following him the cyclone slowly disapated and as he passed through it, the flames didn't bother him. To him they weren't even hot in the first place. But as he passed through the scene he was treated to was not the one he was expecting.

Instead of seeing Hestia and the others in a field of tall white grass with the Centipede monster, he instead saw a black waste land of ash and charred rock. Enormous ruined towers and buildings and great metal structures that almost resembled some type of ship. Some of the structures and ships had large crystals embedded into them though they were dull in color, cracked and covered in soot.

Spinning around he saw he was in some sort of ruined city. His gaze then fell upon a single figure standing on top of a fallen column.

"You see boy." He spoke his voice sounding familiar but his figure was cloaked in shadows so Bell couldn't quite make out who he was. "This is what your kind earns, you tear your world apart and rebuild it stick by stick, stone by stone. But this world can only take so much. Eventually you mortals shall reach the point when the world will fight back." The man spoke, Bell could at least discern that much. But with the mans last words Bell felt the ground begin to shake violently. Bell had to fall to his knees or else he would topple over completely.

Looking up the man remained on his perch unfazed by the shaking. And behind him six enormous, no enormous was to small a word, these figures towered over the already huge structures of the ruins around him. Bell would even dare to say they might even reach the sky with their enormity. While each figure was cloaked in black they each had an aura around them. One had a deep blue aura, another a Golden aura with flecks of red almost like flames, another had a more silver aura around it, then the fourth had an deep green aura, the fifth was blue again but a much brighter blue and it contained wisps of white, then the sixth was surrounded by an angry red aura.

Each of these beings looked down at Bell like one might look at an ant. And Bell had never before felt so insignificant and pathetic before. This was nothing like being next to a god, not even close. Somehow bell knew that what ever these giants were, they could wipe away Orario with a single miniscule strike and that terrified him. Then Bell jumped back as the figure on the Column suddenly appeared before him.

"We Will have what is ours." The figure spoke and casually flicked bells forehead and Bell was sent sailing across the air. A scream ripped from his throat as his vision was suddenly filled with white and then he felt himself hit something.

His eyes bursting open Bell leaped up only to find himself on the floor of his room. His shirt was soaked in sweat as well as his brow. Looking around he began to take deep calming breaths.

He couldn't understand it, that dream had felt so real, but it couldn't have been. He was wrenched from his thoughts when someone knocked on his door.

"Hey Bell? You heading out today or what?" he could tell by the voice that it was Kiba. Taking a few more breaths to calm himself he rid himself of his shirt.

"Yeah, I am." He responded and Kiba gave him an "okay" before walking off. Steadying himself Bell removed his sweaty clothes and threw them in a basket. With shaking hands he dressed himself for the day in his normal black clothes and white armor. Walking over to his wash room he quickly did his morning routine and left.

Walking out he nodded and said good morning to the servants of the Familia home and the members that were there. Most of them had already left but Kiba and Hinata were still around talking mainly but judging by the rapid wagging of his tail showed Kiba was very excited for that fact. Making his way out he Den he made his way towards the tower but made a detour to the Inn that Lilli was currently staying in.

After a few minutes of walking he found his way to the front of the inn. Though when he went to make his way up the stairs the Inn keeper stopped him.

"Wait Boy! You're here for Lilli, right?" with the question Bell nodded as the Inn keeper shook his head.

"That's right."

"Well I'm afraid she can't accompany you today, you see she's taken ill. Nothing to serious I assure you but she told me to tell you not to worry and that she should be right as rain in a day or two."

"Oh, alright tell I said to get well soon." He said a little disappointed that Lilli wouldn't be able to join him today. He's gotten accustomed to her being around and even enjoyed her presence. With a polite wave to the inn keeper Bell continued on to the dungeon where he was going to meet Welf.

Upon approaching the dungeon entrance Bell spotted Welf waiting near one of the fountains that sat in front of the dungeon. Upon seeing him approach Welf grinned and waved at Bell.

"Bell! Morning."

"Good morning, Welf." Bell greeted in return and Welf noticed a severe lack of animosity in a short package.

"Where's Lil' Lilli? You two usually show up together."

"Oh, she's sick I just found out." Welf raised a single eyebrow at the news then adopted a thoughtful gaze.

"Well, it'd be kinda a drag to have to collect all those magic stones ourselves."

Bell nodded in agreement on of the reasons that Bell enjoyed having Lilli around was because she made the dungeon run so much easier. Of course, that wasn't the only reason but that's not important right now.

"Hey, since she can't make it wanna hang out for the day?" Bell was caught a little by surprise by the offer.

"A-are you sure?"

"Of course, c'mon lets head to my place." He said patting Bells shoulder as he began walking with Bell quickly following him.

The walk wasn't to terribly long, as would be expected since it would be a bit troublesome to have to lug around armor and weapons to Babel to sell it. Welf lead Bell to a humble little cottage in a grassier area of the city behind other houses and buildings. Opening up the door he let bell in and Bell saw the interior was pretty much a fully functioning smithy. Complete with a forge and anvil. There were doors on the other side of the room which lead to what Bell assumed was Welf's living area.

"Sorry about the mess, if I had known I'd be having company I would've cleaned up." Welf said placing his blade up against the wall.

"Oh no, its just fine." Bell hurriedly assured. Welf smiled as he nodded.

"Why don't you take a look around? See if anything strikes your fancy."

"What? No! The armor you made me is already good enough." Bell assured as Welf chuckled.

"You should always be looking for better armor, Better equipment for that matter." Bell agreed with him on that point and so began looking at the pieces that he had already made. He then picked up a single handed short sword.

"How about this?" Bell asked as Welf nodded.

"Yeah, that didn't really sell all that well."

"Really? But is amazing!" Bell said while examining the sword before placing it back.

"Too be honest I thought you would've asked for a magic sword." The claim surprised bell as he nearly dropped the blade before catching it.

"Hestia told you right? She's been asking about me."

"Oh, um sorry."

"It's fine, she's your goddess after all its natural for her to check on the members in your party. Look the reason I didn't tell you is because I didn't want to you to treat me different. So I'm sorry for deceiving you."

"It's really alright."

"I know how about I make you some new equipment, how about that? Did you get that from a monster?" Welf asked pointing to the minotaur horn Bell had strapped to his belt.

"Yeah it's from a minotaur horn."

"Well how about we use that?"

"You can do that?" Bell asked as he handed over the Horn to Welf.

"Oh yeah, its good material." Welf said then went over to his forge to begin starting it up. As he was doing this he continued talking.

"I hate magic swords."

"Huh?"

"Just the idea behind them as well as the fact that they always seem to attract the worst kind of people and customers. It's always the same thing, they want to be famous or be really powerful but want a quick easy way to do it. That's when a magic sword would come in." Welf then light his forge the flames roaring to life filling the smithy with heat and light.

"But that's not what a weapon is supposed to be. A weapon is a partner, a companion that you can trust with your life and in a sense become an extension of the wielder. Magic swords don't do that. They break after their used leaving the wielder with nothing. A true weapon won't do that." As he spoke Bell couldn't help but feel out his own blade that Hestia had given him.

"That's why I always refuse to forge any magic swords." Welsh said as he sat down and got ready to start forging. Looking back at bell he smiled and began. A few hours passed as Bell watched Welf at his craft. His eyes never losing focus. His hammer strikes always strong and true and with each strike of the white hot material golden sparks flared from the strike. It was something to see him transform a single simple horn into a blade. The focus and dedication he had in his movement and eyes was not something Bell had seen before.

It was a while still before he had finished and opened the blinds to let the light of the setting sun in. Doing a last inspection on the newly forged knife Welf nodded satisfied.

"Well? What do you think?" He asked and Bell smiled enthusiastically.

"It's incredible!"

"Think so? To be honest this might be some of my best work. Now what to name it… how about Ushiwakamru? It the name of an ancient warrior that was derived from the word for bull."

"Hey now I don't think we need to put that much thought into it." Bell said

"Well you got to call it something, but I guess I leave that to you." he said placing the blade in a fitted scabbard. "it is yours after all." He then reached out to hand the blade to an excited bell who went to accept it.

"Thank you Mister Welf!" he said but Welf did not loosen his grip on the blade.

"Bell were friends, now right? So enough with the mister stuff alright." Welf said with amused grin.

"Sure!"

_SCENE_

Quarantine! Quarantine drinking whiskey like vaccine! Except I don't drink! I'm sorry about this taking so long to get out but if I'm being honest it was just laziness pure and simple. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy let me know what you thought and I hoped you enjoyed. I'll try to upload more faster! But until then this has been your Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel!