On his way to Orario, Bell decided to see how his home village was fairing. It was a nice morning, a breeze lifted his hair occasionally and there was few clouds in the sky. He wore his new jacket, a pair of black trousers, a white shirt and his shin high black boots that crunched the gravel under his feet and a cloak that covered it all.
He strolled into the village, unrecognised. He would have liked to think they would remember him though. He watched people go about their daily tasks and smiled, a feeling of nostalgia washing over him. He kept on walking around, his smile disappearing more and more with each step. People wore dirty clothes and washed them in filthy water in old basins. Children eating stale bread and dried meat.
His village was dirt poor.
He huffed and walked straight into the town hall, dropped all the money he had on him on the receptionist's counter and told her it was a donation to the village. He stormed out and walked back to the main road. He vowed to himself to set aside money every time he got paid to send back to his village and, to not give all his money away so easily from now on. He sighed, that was a pretty brash decision. But it was for the best. It would tide them over for a bit and he would send them some more when he got the chance.
He looked up from the path of stone slabs to look out infront of him. In all honesty, even with the help of magic, the main road was still a really impressive sight for anyone. The days of working back to back alone was impressive and it was all done for the good of the people. Plus, it was immensly helpful for merchants; being connected to most cities and towns and all that. Bell himself would probably use it to his advantage in the future, as he was doing now.
All sorts of people walked past him, some walking, some on mounts, some with carriages and that one guy on a flying carpet. Some waved, even chatted, others averted their gazes and some sent menacing glares. Bell was part of the first group and helped people on his way to Orario; he helped an old woman find her glasses and fixed the wheel of a travelling merchant's carriage and he was given some kind of magical seed. After that it was a quiet walk to the border walls of Orario and, wow.
The walls around the city extended for miles and were incredibly high, easily over thirty metres tall and finely placed. He couldn't spot a groove in the stone he would be able to latch onto. The archway into the city hung fifteen metres above the ground with siege doors and a portcullis ready to be closed in the time of war and battles. Inscribed on the archway itself were some basic runes, to prevent people with ill intent from entering and basic protection runes for defence that were on the rest of the walls around the city.
Guards stood at the entrance, filtering the influx and outflux of people. Bell lined up and observed the guards. They wore some basic plate armour on their chest, shins, forearms and back and a green garment on underneath it. They all wielded a basic short sword. He stood behind a buff guy with expensive armour, he was let through without question. Bell stood up and the man looked up to meet his eyes.
"Name?" he asked with a monotone voice.
"Bell Cranel,"
"Reason for entering Orario?"
"I want to be an adventurer, should I need a reason?" Bell was confused by the requirement for entering the city.
"Toll." the guard demanded as he held out his hand, completely ignoring his question. Bell froze as he put hand into his pocket.
"How much?" Bell asked trying his hardest to keep his cool. The guard eyed him suspiciously.
"Three hundred Valis," He answered sceptically. After being struck with a memory Bell created a rift to his mindscape inside his pocket and pulled out the small bag of Valis that was in his bag. He handed it to the guard and ran past him, fearing it may have not been enough. The guard inspected the bag and grinned after putting the surplus thousand Valis in his pocket.
Bell ran for a short distance till he realised he wasn't being chased by guards and slowed to a walking pace. In front of him stood multiple stalls that went off down the street and to his direct left was a huge mansion-manor with white stone walls and red tiled roofs. He continued down the bustling street and weaved in and out of peoples' ways, making his way towards Babel tower.
An incredible structure built by the first few gods who came down to earth. He remembered how his grandfather told him its upper floors were home to multiple Gods and Goddesses and how he told him that the Goddesses that did live there were 'top notch' and that he should 'snag a look' or 'cop a feel' when possible. He blushed at the thought of groping a woman and smiled sheepishly.
While in his daze he failed to notice a figure running straight for him and how they were looking in the opposite direction. Bell shook his head and looked up from his feet, just in time to be ran into.
His head collided with the stone path underneath them. He grunted from the pain and looked up to meet the brown eyes of an Amazoness. She had black hair with two bangs on either side of her face that were held together by silver metal bands. She wore a single white cloth over her relatively flat chest and a dark green and mustard yellow pareo around her waist. She lifted her head with a dazed look, she blushed a little after realizing her position.
'Oh Gods! She's cute!' Bell's blush returned tenfold and he started to stammer. "Uh, I-I. Y-Ya see, U-Um. I-,' He was cut off by her lifting him off the ground with ease and he noticed the light blush on her face.
"Sorry mister," and she was gone. Bell felt bad that he couldn't apologise himself, but he would remember to do so. There were more pressing matters right now; like going into the Dungeon and making some sweet, sweet Valis. Which he had none of right now, so he sped off towards the tower in the centre of the city.
He came up to the entrance of the Dungeon. A staircase upwards led into the Dungeon that was below, a little controversial in his opinion. Having to go up to go down. He shook his head, he could criticize the structure later. He walked upstairs past other adventurers, hearing snickers and 'reassuring' comments from self-absorbent nobodies. Bell ignored them and walked up to the entrance hole and jumped down. Bell landed into a light blue walled tunnel with sprained ankles. He sat there for a few minutes to let them heal, his healing factor increasing as he did so.
He stood up and continued down the cavern. He walked and walked, eventually reaching the Second Floor and only having encountered three weak Goblins. He discovered that these monsters left behind small magic stone fragments so he rifted them into a bucket that was in his mindscape. He continued to jog down to the Third Floor and found a group of four Goblins and two Kobolds standing together. He spotted a young man, probably a bit older than himself, being cornered by them. He was injured and only wielded a broken short sword.
Before Bell could even think he had already unsheated his Goblin Knife and was cutting through a Goblin like a hot knife through butter. He cut the second's throat and stabbed the third in the chest before he was hit with a small blunt club and cut across his right bicep. He summoned a small regular fireball and launched it at the Kobolds and slashed the remaining Goblin's jugular. He looked up and saw the ashes of the Kobolds. He felt the magic imbued in the stones and pulled on it; making them fly towards him. He opened a rift to the bucket and let them through.
He turned to the young man and searched his unconscious body, after finding a healing potion he poured it down the guy's throat.
He woke up with a gasp for air and he looked to Bell.
"Thanks for saving my ass back there man, here." He rummaged through his bag and failed to find Bell's reward. "Could have sworn I had a healing potion in here," he muttered to himself. Bell flinched and told him he gave it to him to heal his injuries.
"Oh well, its not much. But, I'll spread good word of you around town," he said awkwardly.
"Thanks!" Bell thanked him and ran off down the tunnel. The man chuckled and walked off and out of the Dungeon, he had news to tell.
Bell ran off giddy with himself after saving someone and while it wasn't a girl, it was still a start! He cut through two stand alone Goblins and took their magic stones. But his mood took a plummet when he turned a corner to meet a group of five Kobolds who were already running at him.
He blocked the first's strike and stabbed it in its thigh, he dodged the second's punch and slit the third's throat. The fourth Kobold's slash cut across his chest and the fifth's bite latched onto his freshly healed bicep wound. He grabbed it by the head and threw it into the fourth. Bell turned to meet the gaze of the second Kobold and threw a small regular fireball at it. He walked over to the struggling remainders and stabbed through the both of them. He summoned the magic stones and stored them in his bucket.
He was walking away from the fight but was tripped. He grunted as he sat up and stabbed through the last Kobold's skull. It turned to dust seconds later and a clang rebounded around the room. Bell picked up the drop item with curiosity.
It was a Knife, a little longer than his other one but had a similar white blade and it would look the exact same were it not for the small wolf head on the blade and the handle. He found a black leather sheath with the same symbol beside it, he strapped it around his waist and sheated his new Kobold Knife.
Bell walked to the Fourth Floor staircase and decended. He was met with a Goblin which he sliced through with relative ease.
He stored its stone and continued his walk. The air around him seemed to thicken and a horde of about fifteen Kobolds falling out of the walls and almost instantly running for him. Bell only had one option and shot a fireball, around the size of a large basketball, at the them. When it contacted the first Kobold it expanded and encompassed all of them in the area damage. The fire faded away and left behind the ashes of the monsters.
Bell hunched over and panted after using such a strong magic attack, though his rapidly adapting body was already strengthening him and his magic. So he stood up and collected the drops. He got fourteen magic stone fragments and two pelts of Kobold fur, he stored them all in his mindscape. Bell walked back up the stairs to the third floor and made his way back out of the Dungeon
X——————————————————X
When Bell came out from under Babel, Nyx had already started her shift and was working the night sky. He made his way for the Guild in the darkness of night. He found it fairly easily seeing as it was pretty close to the tower. It was a modest building, a bit on the big side with beige walls and wooden outlines, it had big enough entrance doors made of oak and two lanterns lit the area beside it.
Bell rifted out his bucket and gave it a little shake, seeing his twenty nine magic stone fragments he smiled and walked inside.
The interior was quiet and only a few workers stood behind the counters. He looked around and spotted a brown haired half-elf manning the only open counter, he walked up to her.
"Hiya miss. I was wondering if I could exchange these magic stones for Valis? Is that alright?" Bell asked in a kind voice, he smiled brightly when she lifted her head to meet his eyes. She blushed a little bit from his smile and nodded.
"Sure, just this way sir," She gestured to the booths to his left. Bell walked up to one and a sliding hatch was lifted up by the lady and he poured all his magic stone fragments into the tray and she counted them. She popped open a drawer full of Valis and grabbed the necessary amount. She slid him his money onto his side of the tray.
"Eleven thousand and six hundred Valis. Sorry but, I really have to ask. Are you a new adventurer and if so, how did you get so many magic stones?" Bell grabbed his money and put it into his pocket.
"Thanks and yes, I'm a new adventurer! I just started today! And as to how I got the magic stones... I just killed some monsters. That's all," he answered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks again. Bye!" Bell said as he made his way out of the Guild, though he stopped at the sound of the lady's voice.
"Who are you?" Bell turned around to face her and jabbed a thumb at his chest.
"I'm Bell Cranel!" and he ran out the doors and into the night darkened street.
The lady sighed at the antics of this new adventurer. Damn! She never asked for his familia! Her shoulders fell, she'd just have to ask him next time.
'I hope he isn't much of a hassle,' she thought. Eina Tulle didn't even know the half of it.
X——————————————————X
Turns out most places close when its around one or two in the morning. So Bell rifted into his mindscape and decided to train. But first he sewed his Kobold pelts together and placed them on the ground in his sitting room to act as a rug. He rubbed it and found out it was actually pretty soft.
Then he walked outside and went through his daily workout routine after finding an identical lake as the one he trained in. He finished up soon enough and walked back inside. He looked to his left and saw a coat rack holding his coat and his Yeti scarf. Memories came to the front of his mind and he relived his traumatic Yeti experience. He remembered the blood magic he used on it. It felt wrong honestly, like some kind of dark-ish magic. But in his adventures he knew he would need to use it.
So he walked outside and cut the palm of his hand with his Knife and reached out with his magic. It stirred a little and started to levitate a little bit and he smiled. This didn't seem so hard!...
Ya it turns out its pretty hard to do blood manipulation. Bell could guide it and make a ruff structure of a ball. It seemed to be easiest to make small needle sharp weapons from blood, it must of been what he used on the Yeti. So he left that there for the day and summoned a small ball of regular fire, the size of a golf ball, into his hand and grasped it. He didnt feel anything and opened his hand. He summarised that his body built a resistance to fire corresponding to his mastery of the manipulation. That was weird.
Was he always this smart?
Bell shrugged and guessed it was the magic.
The six foot one inch tall white haired teen summoned a bigger ball of regular fire, the size of a small soccer ball now, and tried to maintain it for as long as possible. He lasted for twenty seconds till he dropped it and started breathing heavy and sweating.
He watched the fireball almost taunt him as it floated before him, he smirked. He felt the air around him with his magic and pulled it towards the flame; it burst up in flames and he was taken into it. It died down and Bell sighed, today wasn't his day.
He walked back to his house, up the stairs and collapsed onto the bed. Maybe tommorow would be a better day.
X——————————————————X
The Dungeon felt easier today for some reason. He had encountered six Goblins and eight Kobolds on his way to the Fourth Floor, which he killed, and found a group of nine Kobolds and four Goblins sleeping in a dead end tunnel. He killed them all without waking any of them. Bell stretched and strarted his walk back upstairs. He killed two more Goblins and walked up onto the the First Floor. He sighed, tired from the killing.
He stiffened when he heard scuffling in front of him. The white haired teen charged a regular fireball and held it ahead. He squinted and spotted his new enemy...
Crickets waited on batted, breath?...
Bell stood still at the sight before him.
A rooster...
That was golden.
It ran at him full speed. Bell fumbled for his Knives but was too late. It closed in and went to attack his legs. Except it didn't, it just rubbed itself on his legs. Kind of like a cat.
Bell picked it up and stroked its head. He saw that it was female and continued his walk out of the dungeon.
He neared the stairs and heard other adventurers coming his way. He quickly rifted the golden hen into his mindscape and walked up to through the exit.
Bell walked along the streets on the quiet morning and entered the Guild. He exchanged his twenty nine magic stone fragements for eleven thousand six hundred Valis. Then he walked up to the front desk and infront of a pink haired girl.
"Excuse me?" the young woman lifted her head and looked at him with a tired expression. She made a gesture to continue. "I just have a question about a monster in the dungeon," she nodded. "Its just, is it wrong for a golden hen to be in the dungeon?" The girl perked up at the mention of 'a golden hen' and looked at Bell in the eye and saw no lie. So she told him what she knew.
"Nope, but the Jack Bird is a pretty rare spawn. It has a guarenteed drop, a golden egg. It'll net you at least one million Valis per egg," She smirked when she saw him freeze at the mention of 'one million Valis'.
Bell froze at the thought of so many Valis. He immediately thought of all the things his village could buy and / or renovate with that much money. Bell thought of killing the Jack Bird in his mindscape, but shook his head.
It was friendly and, even if it was a monster, he didn't kill nice and friendly things.
He thanked the Guild employee and left the Guild. Bell was almost immediately shoved by the oncoming traffic, the morning seemingly getting back to its daily hustle and bustle, the red eyed teen escaped soon enough into an alleyway.
Bell sighed in relief and walked to the opposite end of the alleyway. The street was a bit quiter and had a construction site a few meters to his right, it seemed that someone was renovating their house, with a couple of builders doing their jobs.
He was struck with an idea and strolled onto the site.
"Uh, e-excuse me!" Bell cringed at his voice crack. Two tubby men put down their equipment and turned to the white haired newbie-adventurer.
"Whad'ya want kid?" the slightly taller of the two asked. Bell looked towards some spare spruce wood planks to his left and pointed to them, they were at least up to his shoulders in length.
"I was just wondering if I could take a few of these planks here," the second man laughed and whispered to his co-worker, they both shared a look and chuckled to each other, they shook hands and turned to a confused Bell.
"Sure thing kid, take as many as you can lift," the shorter man answered, mirth filling his voice towards the end of his sentence. Bell smiled at them and pick up the majority of them, which was around seven, and waved to the men who were now slack-jawed.
Neither gave one another bet money as they both thought that he'd either fail or struggle with one.
Bell hummed a little tune to himself, proud that his cloak had fooled the men into thinking he was just some weak teenager. He walked back into the alleyway he originally exited from and rifted into his mindscape. Though he didn't notice the presence of some old eyes linger on the spot he had just rifted from.
The sun shone brightly over his home and his new Jack Bird kicking up worms from the ground. Bell dropped the planks and set out to find his gramps' old tool box. He prevailed and took a rusty old red toolbox and a saw and started marking the ground.
He made it two meters wide and two meters long and two and a half meters high. It stood before him, made of spruce wood planks, was Chrye's, short for Chrysos, own chicken coop.
The golden hen seemed to love her new home, seeing as she immediately jumped into hay nest mad by Bell himself.
The white haired teen soon found himself laying with his back on the grass and his golden hen Chrye on his stomach. Bell stroked her head and felt her chirp in approval. He closed his eyes.
Until he felt a new weight on his abdomen. Chrye stood up and shook her feathers in a show-off manner, she lifted her wing to reveal a golden egg. Bell's eyes bulged as he grasped it.
It was heavy for an object for its size. He marvelled at the light reflecting off its smooth surface. Bell smiled again and stroked his hen. Then he ran inside to find some food for her.
He came out holding a purple seed he had received a few days ago. He held it out to her in his hand, it was promptly swallowed.
But unbeknownst to Bell, a Jack Bird only gives one egg per life and he just gave his a magical seed. Well, let's just say it'll be a nice birthday surprise in the morning.
X——————————————————X
Bell woke up with a yawn and a golden egg in his hand. He walked outside his house and widened his senses. He listened for the slow moving of dirt and started running on the spot over the source, some worms rose up to his steps. He willed them towards Chrye's chicken coop. They landed next to her as she stood up and swallowed them whole.
When she stood up she revealed another golden egg. Bell's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he picked up the other egg. It was quickly stuffed into his pants' pocket along with his first egg.
He stroked her head and rifted out of his mindscape and into an alleyway.
Bell made his way through the morning street and went right back to the Guild. A few other adventurers were there lounging and talking amongst each other. The white haired teen walked up to the counter and met the eyes of the pink haired girl from yesterday. She greeted him.
"Back already?" she asked with a curious voice. Bell nodded.
"Yup, um, where do I trade in monster drops?" She led him up to the exchange booths from the opposite side of the counter and opened up the slot. Bell grabbed his two Jack Bird eggs and placed them onto the tray.
Silence.
Until,
"Sweet mother of Ouranos! Two Jack Bird eggs!?," The pink eyed Guild employee shouted, causing all eyes in the Guild to lock onto him with malicious intent.
Bell let his head fall and sighed.
'I guess this is where my adventure begins...
hot babes here I come!'
X——————————————————X
Bell's in Orario! And is already gathering some attention. From saving another adventurer's life to obtaining two Jack Bird eggs, he's starting off strong.
Sorry for the wait. Contradictory to my name I dont have all the spare time in the world. Plus my muse likes to play hide and seek, it hides I seek.
If you have some idea for the story, review it. Just don't expect it to be implemented, and don't be telling me what and what not to do. Just suggest it.
Also, I seen Hellboy this weekend and it was pretty fuckin good.