This is a Danmachi and Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Fan Fiction Only.
Other Franchises will be included in this story.
As Eina heard Bell was shocked to hear that, and she told him that in fact, monsters don't usually eat the cores of other monsters unless they feel like they will not survive if they don't do that, "Bells you haven't been going into the dungeon for that long and at your current level it is amazing that you even managed to survive meeting a single minotaur but no you ended up meeting an entire pack. You probably would have been killed had Ais not been there to help you."
Bell was looking at her and began to shake his head, "No, I managed to kill most of them, but they kept eating the cores as I kept fighting them, and the last one surviving minotaur pretty much was tough, but Ais killed it right before I could deliver the killing blow, which blows. I could have leveled up, but instead, I didn't because she got to kill it by stealing my kill."
Eina looked at Bell and she wanted to believe what he told her, but Minotaurs are usually found on the seventeenth floor, it is practically impossible for a rookie to kill one of them not to mention eleven of them, well technically that is not true at all, the fact is that just maybe if his goddess had been one of the war gods maybe that should be the case, but Hestia is a goddess of the hearth, a goddess whose domains are family, hospitality, and architecture.
If Eina was told that he build a shop that had three floors, that would be something, if she was told Bell actually threw the best party people had ever seen, again expected, hell that he babysit fifty kids wouldn't be that strange, but kill a Minotaur? That would be nearly impossible for anyone to believe.
"Look, you got to understand, Ais is one of the strongest members of the Loki Familia, they focus on killing monsters and clearing dungeon levels, not to mention that you are a member of the Hestia Familia, which means given how Lady Loki and Lady Hestia are with each other, it goes without saying that even if it is true that she took your chance to level up, they are not going to apologize for it."
She looked at Bell who was clearly frustrated, he really wanted to level up, since according to him he can't grow any stronger unless he does. He capped his stat growth and it was easy to see that he wanted to level up so that he could continue to get stronger, but it was unheard of, not many people actually managed to reach the growth cap, in the history of Orario, there had only been three people that managed it, and they are part of the Jenova Familia which is one of the most battle-hardened Familia there is.
"Look Bell, no sense in crying over spilled milk, I know why don't you just turn over the items and cores you got, get some money and buy yourself a nice meal, that should cheer you up." Bell walked up to Eina and told smiled as he said that he could if she was willing to come and have that meal with him, Eina blushed and said that she couldn't, that she had half of her shift still to do, but if that wasn't the case she would gladly accept the offer.
Bell decided to walk over to the counter where adventurers took the gems and items they got from fighting monsters to receive money in exchange, and as he did, he opened his inventory and just dumped every gem core and item he got on his last run of the dungeon, the tray was almost breaking by the weight of the things on it, they couldn't even put it through the exchange window they had to use a nearby desk.
He got his money and he pretended to put it into a money bag, but really he placed it in his inventory, as Bell did he quickly smiled at Eina and Luna, to which he decided to pull off a prank, "Alright, I am done for today, can't wait till our next private lesson, got to go, love you, Eina."
As he walked out of the building he began to walk and he could tell Luna was following him, after he walked a few dozen meters away from the building he turned towards an alley and waited for Luna to show up, and sure enough, Luna had been following him, but she was rather upset if the scowl on her face was anything to go by. "So Luna you are also coming with me to have lunch, why didn't you say so? Of course, I would love to have lunch with you, come on, I know a very good place, great food, reasonable prices, and the portions are nothing to sneeze at."
Luna stopped where she stood and turned around and looked at Bell, "Yes, I also happen to like the hostess of fertility, why not? I happen to hear that they also have a very skilled cook there. But don't you want to know why I followed you?"
As he began to walk alongside her he relaxed a little bit, and simply said that it was probably because he said he loved Eina in such a public setting, he even joked that since Eina spent so much time giving him private lectures on everything from monsters to useful skills to have in the dungeon, a lot of people already must be saying that they are using those lectures as an excuse and that both Bell and Eina must be lovers.
"You have nothing to be upset about, I am merely fanning the flames of the gossip to keep it going and make it more fun for you and the others. As for Eina, well my Grandfather would be terribly disappointed in me if I don't at least try to flirt with her at least once." As they walked towards the restaurant she asked him if he was still angry about how Bette pretty much told him to get lost when he went and asked the Loki Familia if he could join them.
Bell simply told her brother might later regret doing that, but no matter he did manage to join a very nice and supportive goddess and he was perfectly happy with that, she was working pretty hard to keep the Familia financially stable, but since there are so few members this means he does tend to go into the dungeon on the daily basis. He has many skills that will not be usable till after he either forms a large enough group or somehow establishes a harem for himself, much of his actual strength growth is limited by those two setbacks.
Luna as they walked into the restaurant and found a nice vacant table by one of the windows they both sat down waiting for the waitress to either give them a menu or to take their orders, "What do you mean by that? Skills that require you to form a party with enough people? or that you must have a harem? How would that help your skills?" Bell told her that one of his skills multiplies his growth by the number of people he is exploring the dungeon with, more Falna, more Valis, increased STAT growth, and even increased quality and rate of item drops."
"The other half of it causes that skills benefits to be shared with those in my group or party, so in the end, they benefit too of the same benefits as I do, got to be fair it seems. As for the Harem, it increases my expertise with my skills by doubling the output of my skills, and so, you see how this becomes beneficial, first, it doubles the skill that benefits me, and then it doubles the one that benefits others, it becomes a circular sort of effect that continuously benefits the entire group, but for that to happen I have to have at least three women who truly love me join and become part of my harem."
Bell finally saw Sýr come towards them and she asked them what will they have Luna told her that they both were planning to have the lunch special, and a pitcher of lemonade, she would love to have some mead or ale but chances are she will need to go back to work after having lunch, she is welcomed to join them if she can. Sýr told her that tragically she can't but she would be back soon with their order.
"You know a lot of people look down on the very notion of a harem, it is like you are getting a group of women whom you either treat as a means of having a lot of babies quickly or to have extras to have someone to sleep with when one of the other members of the harem can't due to pregnancy or illness. Why would something like that be appealing to any woman?"
Bell told her if she thinks that the one that benefits the most in a harem is the man, then she clearly is misunderstanding, the ones that benefit the most are the women in the harem, no question about it, they can work together, help each other out, help raise their children, have allies and friends to deal with any sort of problem that arises and even work together to either get their husband to do something or to stand for each other when they need to tell their husband to stop doing something.
"I was taught everything about harems by my grandfather, mother, and aunt, so I understand, but make no mistake about this, the only people that would be in my harem are people that truly love me, and I truly love them." Seeing that two women taught him made Luna relax as they ate their meal and talked about the many things they had in common, and Luna asked him the reason why he wasn't angry at Bette, to which he has not done anything that insulting, however, if he did insult him later, well that is a different story.
Bell knew that he was restricted from going past level five until he managed to level up, Eina would not budge no matter how many times Bell told her he was going to be alright and that he could take care of himself, Eina would counter that him showing up caked in monster blood said otherwise. So the only thing he could do is hunt monsters till it was getting pretty late, and so he decided to go to his favorite restaurant for some dinner.
For some strange reason, Bell felt that Hestia was either busy or rather upset with him so he felt that it was better to let things cool down before he returned home. As he ordered his meal he saw that Mama Mia was having a bit of an issue with a few people who were getting a bit out of control that were drinking and sitting near the bar. He knew better than to try and help her, nobody messes with her and doesn't pay the price for it.
As he was eating he heard one of the waitresses walk in saying that the big group that had a reservation had arrived, "So tell me Bell, how do you like the pasta? It's a new item on the menu." Bell told her that the food was always delicious, which made Sýr blush when she heard him say that. It seemed to Bell that the one that cooked the pasta that he was eating had been Sýr.
That is when he began to hear Bette talk about something that he found funny since apparently, he was drinking quite a bit, "You will not believe this, remember when all those minotaurs ran away from us? Well, it turns out they managed to make it to the fifth floor, and wouldn't you know it, these beasts were going to kill the idiot my sister apparently marked as her mate, why the hell would my sister mark someone as worthless as that guy is something I will never understand, but get this, this guy has white hair and my sister says he is as adorable as a snow bunny."
Bette must really be drinking, Bell is not that far away from him and he hasn't noticed him at all, "And here is the funny part Ais here kills the last surviving minotaur cuts the beast in half and the bunny guy gets covered in the blood of that minotaur, saves his worthless behind, is he grateful to his savior? No, he complains that he actually killed eleven of them and that Ais stole his kill. He said that the other minotaurs ate the cores of the monsters he killed."
"You have got to be freaking kidding me, obviously the idiot didn't want to look weak in front of Ais and made up that excuse, there is no fucking way a level one could defeat a single minotaur much less eleven of them. Come on Ais, what would you do if this white bunny guy came up to you and confessed that he fell in love with you, would you be with him? Hell no, not Ais Wallenstein, I know you, you wouldn't let a weakling like that hang around you much less have any sort of relationship with him."
An elf lady sitting across from him looked at Bette, "You are forgetting that it was our fault not killing those minotaurs and causing them to run away that caused that young man to be in that situation in the first place. Core Cannibalism is not weird but it is uncommon, monster usually avoids doing that unless they feel that doing that is the only way for them to survive, when a monster eats the core of another monster they tend to fuse, that is why we can get bigger cores than most people."
That is when Belle finally had it with these people talking about him not even caring about what he went through, so after finishing his drink and thanking Mama Mia for a wonderful meal he walked over to the table where Loki was very drunk and the others saw the look on his face and knew that he was upset.
"Well I honestly don't give a damn what you think Bette, I told her the truth whether or not she believed it is up to her, but then again what can I expect from the guy who told me to get lost or you would kick my ass, well I did beat those minotaurs and did it with a knife, but none of that matters one damn bit, you believe whatever the hell you want, but me, I think I need to blow off some steam so excuse me while I go do that in the dungeon, don't worry I am not going to tell Luna a thing about you mocking me."
As Belle paid for his meal and was ready to leave, he decided to turn around and look at Bette and told him one day he was going to regret not having him in their Familia, and he will have to admit he messed up, but that is just a matter of time. As he walked out of the restaurant he could feel the sheer anger and rage about the way Bette talked about him like he made all that up, like he was lying or putting on airs to impress Ais.
The entrance to the dungeon never closes, the only thing about going so late in the evening is that the clinic is closed, so any injury that an adventurer gets must be treated by that person, so only people that knew some medical skills ever bothered in going into the dungeon after sunset. Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth were all going to the dungeon too, that is another group that can do that, powerful adventurers who could explore with little fear of ever getting injured. "So Bell did you manage to summon your keyblade? Come on, maybe if you went with us to hunt down some monsters we can give you a few pointers on how we managed to summon ours."
Belle actually looked at them and smiled, "Actually I managed to summon my keyblade but the thing is the keyblade would only remain for a couple of minutes and then disappear just like it had appeared. Ok, I will go with you to a couple of levels and then try and summon my keyblade and you can tell me if I am doing something wrong."
Sure enough, as they killed monsters Bell could, in fact, summon his keyblade and even kill a few monsters with it but for some reason, it would disappear without any sign or any indication why, Cloud said that it may be a lack of practice, that if he summoned his keyblade more times maybe, just maybe he will become proficient enough in using it that it remains, Zack said that something about the energy around the blade was making it unstable, and finally Sephiroth simply said that he thinks something is blocking his keyblade, and forcing it to disappear.
Since they couldn't get the keyblade to stay they did the next best thing, gave him lessons on how to use it in more ways than just another sword. They killed monsters as they went down the levels and that is when Bell asked why they never picked up items, that is when Sephiroth told him because they were also using auto collect like he was, did he really think he was the only one that could do that? This made Zack laugh, and said at first he did think that.
"Your keyblade may not be summoned and fully manifest but that doesn't mean you don't have some of its powers, one of which is the ability to do things people don't think is possible like the ability to have an infinite invisible inventory space, or the ability to auto collect items and things you obtain from killing monsters and even enemies. As you can see we can use the keyblade for more than just a blade. I hope this helps you Bell."
Bell complained that what he needed was a tough enemy to defeat so that he could level up, till Sephiroth told him if he keeps talking about it, he will do him a favor by being that tough enemy that he could fight against, to which Bell immediately said he was one of his best friends and hurting a friend is not something he would want to do, Cloud only nodded his head.
They made it to the fifth floor rather easily but tragically that is where Bell had to separate from his friends because they wanted to go deeper, Zack and Cloud told him he could go with them, Sephiroth even mentioned that doing so might make it easier for him to find that tough monster he needs to defeat to level up, but as Bell thanked them he mentioned that he promised Eina and he never breaks his promises.
As they were done in the fifth level, Bell had to go by himself up to exit the dungeon, and so he killed the same enemies all over again since they constantly are born from the walls of the dungeon, as he finally made it out of the dungeon he saw the stars in the sky, which made him realize that he stayed a lot longer than what he had planned, in fact, Bell was sure his goddess was probably a little worried about him, there were his mom and aunt, not to mention Ms. Highwind so he decided to go back home to the renovated former chapel.
"I don't care what anybody says this place doesn't look like a chapel at all, well I made some decent Valis, got a lot of items, and even managed to embarrass that stupid idiot Betty some so there is no reason not to call this a particularly successful and productive day." As he walked into the place his familia now called home he was greeted by the sight of Hestia sleeping sitting on a couch, it seems she stayed up waiting for him.
Now Bell felt guilty for coming home so late, she should be asleep on a nice comfortable bed considering how hard she worked with Lady Hephaestus in her shop, he wanted to try and carry her to her bed but the minute he stepped close to her she opened her eyes and looked at Bell.
"So you finally made it back, care to tell me what the hell took you all day to come back, we were all worried sick about you, thinking that something bad had happened to you so Alfia went to check with the guild and she came right back telling us that you somehow got attacked by a minotaur and was sleeping in the dungeon clinic, but this is too late for that since the clinic does close its doors after sunset. So you got a lot of explaining to do!"
Bell didn't want to say anything but he had to, there is no way he could refuse to tell Hestia anything she asked, "I got well rather fast by the afternoon and went to report what I managed to do to my dungeon advisor, you know, Eina, and well she didn't take it well that I was covered in monster blood at the time, so she first made me take a shower while my armor was being washed."
That made sense to Hestia, monster blood would stink up the place and the last thing they need is for people to throw up when they enter the building because of the smell. "And that lead to hours-long lectures about why what I did was basically so stupid it was practically suicide. I told her that I wasn't attacked by a minotaur but by twelve of them, and then the star of the Loki Familia, stole my kill of the toughest monster so I doubt I even manage to level up which is why I was there in the first place."
Bell sat down on the Sofa as he continued, "So being so late I decided to go and eat dinner at that place we both like so much, but as I was eating dinner who happens to talk smack about both me and you by association? Betty that damn mutt, Betty made it sound like I was a fucking liar, and that I had to have Ais save my ass when it was Ais who stole my kill."
"So after the idiot got spouting his shit I went up to him to set the record straight, I even told him that I would not tell Luna, his sister, but it was meaningless since Luna was there and I only noticed after calming down my rage a little bit to try to be civil, but I ended up going back to the dungeon to blow off some steam, and that is when I met the big three of the Jenova Familia, and they offered to give me some training while we went down to the same dungeon floor that I was attacked. So it took me some time to get back home, I apologize Goddess Hestia."
There was nothing to apologize to her, she was merely worried about his health and well-being after all she is the goddess of the Familia he is part of if anything she was not happy about the fact that he invited Luna to eat a meal, and was so comfortable with her that he totally forgot that she was Bette's sister, and worse he didn't even notice her hearing this as he probably told Bette off for his stupid comments.
To this day she could never tell why the hell she keeps calling Luna's brother Betty whenever he relaxes, it is not like he doesn't know the guy's name, because he does, but for some reason, he calls him Betty every time he talks about him either when he relaxes or when he is with friends and Familia members. Like she couldn't tell he practically took Luna out on a date, the stench of a werewolf in heat was not something she could avoid noticing, even if she wanted to.
This is when Claire Farron also known as Lightning walked in along with the other members of their Familia there was Fang, Terra, Quistis, Fran, and Aranea Highwind The Vice Captain coming back from the 50th floor of the dungeon.