A beautiful day to you! I decided to publish this chapter now since I have some free time, final exams are just around the corner, so is vacation hehe. It kinda sucks that not a lot of people are reading my story, but I guess I might be expecting too much as I recently just started the story, might post this on A03 and WebNovel to raise its popularity more, anyways that's all I have to say for now hehe, on with the story!

I do not own Danmachi

Chapter V: Sparring Session

The terrible sound of metal scraping against metal could be heard along the walls of Orario early in the morning, Bell and Ais' spar had begun, neither gaining ground and letting loose wanton, relentless attacks against the other. Bete and Lefiya watched in awe as both level sixes went against each other, causing some collateral damage due to the sheer magnitude of their little spar.

"Woah... that human is really keeping up with Ais-san!"

Lefiya was in awe, while her level four senses weren't sharp enough to pick up most of their battle, she was able to see a fair amount of it, she noticed that their movements were as graceful as a dance, their bodies seemed to be flowing with an imperceptible rhythm.

"His movements are similar to Ais"

Bete said, catching Lefiya's attention

"Well... Ais-san did train him for a while..."

Lefiya droned out, but her attention was brought back by a loud thud

Ais went for a kick to Bell's side, but was blocked at the last second by both of his arms, which surprised her

'He's fast!'

She saw Bell smirk at her, before he grabbed her leg and swung her a few times before he was stopped by her other leg kicking his cheek

"Gaugh!!!"

She managed to free herself from his grasp with her hit, landing a few paces away from him. Bell wiped some blood off of his mouth and spat out a bit onto the wall, seeing that she might have gone a bit too far, she asked worriedly

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to kick you so hard"

Bell smirked at her

"It's alright, it is a spar anyway..."

Then Ais noticed something

"Usually, with a hit as powerful such as that... you'd be knocked out..."

Her observation surprised him as he thought about it

"Hmm... you're right, Man! Being a level six sure is something!"

A smile crept up his face

"Ais-san, if you don't mind... I'd like to fully test my new abilities as a level six"

This surprised her, but she calmed down and smiled

"I'd be insulted if you didn't, Bell"

And with her permission, he vanished from her sight

"Wha-"

Literally with only microseconds to react, she blocked a powerful right hook aimed at her abdomen, the sheer force of which pushed her to take some steps back

Bete and Lefiya went wide eyed at the the white haired adventurer's showcase of ability

"He caught Ais-san off guard?!"

Lefiya's mouth fell open in disbelief

Bete was sweating a bit at the turn of events

"I couldn't see him either! Damn rabbit was holding back a lot!"

Lefiya's head snapped towards the direction of the werewolf

"Seriously?!"

The werewolf solemnly nodded

"As it seems... he's now stronger than Ais"

Lefiya was in utter disbelief

"What the-?"

She couldn't even finish her exclamation before Bell vanished from her sight again, only to reappear behind her, pivoting his lower body as fast as he could, he unleashed a devastating kick that Ais couldn't evade, so had blocked instead

The sheer force of the kick was enough to bruise her arms and send her stumbling a few paces back, had she been any weaker than she was now, she might have broken both of her arms

'He's too fast!!!'

She couldn't afford to tank any more hits from the white haired adventurer, so she was forced to activate her trump card

"Tempest!"

A green aura, similar to a gust of wind enveloped her body, significantly boosting her speed and reaction time

Bell wasted no time so as to not allow her to gain the advantage, with all of his speed, he dashed straight at the unmoving sword princess, this time, she reacted in time

Narrowly evading a tackle from the white haired adventurer, she went for a chop to his neck to knock him out, but her hand was caught by said adventurer, who pulled on it to close the distance between them

Then he head-butted her as strong as he could, which disoriented her, giving Bell just enough time to launch a powerful fist against her abdomen, to which she received full-force

"GUAGH!!!"

Her unconscious body was sent flying a few meters away, he sprinted after her and caught her limp body just before she had hit the ground

"AIS-SAN!!!"

Lefiya ran towards the both of them, Bete followed behind her, distraught upon seeing her limp figure, fearing the worst, she sent a glare hot enough to burn ice towards Bell

"Lay her down!"

As quickly as he could, he laid her body down on the floor

"Damn... you could've help back rabbit!"

Bete scowled at him as his shoulders slumped and his gaze fell down to the floor

"I'm so sorry... I might have gotten carried away..."

Bell went for a perfect ninety-degree bow, but the livid elf wasn't having any of it

"C-Carried away?! You're savage!"

She then started to chant a healing magic, but before she could heal him, he sat down on the floor and gently brought up her head onto his lap, which greatly confused both the elf and the werewolf

"W-W-What are you doing?!?!"

Lefiya was fuming as her glare intensified while Bete merely raised an eyebrow

"Well... every time we fought, she'd knock me out again and again, and I'd always wake up to Ais-san giving me a lap pillow, so I figured this time I'd do the same to her"

Bell explained to the both of them

Lefiya wasn't happy while Bete held back a laughing fit

'A-Ais-san has been giving him lap pillows every time they trained?! I've lost before the battle even begun!'

Lefiya quietly sulked while she proceeded to heal Ais' injuries, the bruises on her forearm were now gone, along with some abrasions and scrapes

After a few more moments, she slowly begun to regain consciousness, Lefiya's healing magic had apparently sped up her recuperation

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, then she saw the bright sky, but two figures were obstructing her vision

"Be-Bell...? Lefiya...?"

SHe managed to weakly mutter out their names as Lefiya jumped and hugged her while crying buckets

"A-AIS SAN!!! I was so worried!"

Bell could only sit there awkwardly as Lefiya hugged Ais' supine form

"Wha-what happened?"

Ais asked as she got up onto a sitting position, she grabbed her head from the sudden vertigo

"Tch! Bunny boy here knocked you out cold and gave you a lap pillow!"

Bete turned to the side, away from them

Ais' eyes widened as her head snapped back to face Bell

"Y-you... managed to knock me out...?"

Bell slowly nodded at her

Ais was in disbelief

"I... I don't understand..."

Seeing her in such a state, Bell began apologizing

"I-I'm sorry for getting carried away!"

He immediately stood up and bowed down at her, much to her surprise

"It's fine, Bell"

Her words made his head snap back up to face her

"I just can't believe that you'd finally managed to surpass me, it was bound to happen sooner or later with your growth..."

She admitted, much to the shock of Bell and Lefiya

"N-No! Ais-san is much more powerful and capable than he is!"

Lefiya was also in disbelief, but Ais came to terms with her defeat, she held out her dainty arm towards the elf, signaling for her to stop

"Lefiya... I'm not mad about this... I just need some time to think..."

She slowly disentangled herself from her embrace and walked towards the edge of the wall to peer out into the bustling city, deep in thought

"Tch! You've gone and broken her bunny boy!"

Bete scowled at the white haired adventurer, who also look lost in thought

'Is she... disappointed in herself?'

"Bell Cranel"

He snapped back to the present

"I challenge you"

Lefiya had a fierce fire burning in her eyes, a fire that longed to see the person who'd cause her idol to feel so dejected, vanquished and her pride be regained

Bell quickly registered what she said, before blinking a few times

"L-Lefiya-san?"

Her fierce look got fiercer, if that was even possible

"I'll fight you to regain Ais-san's pride! I won't hold back at all!"

The elf exclaimed, taking up a stance

Bell quickly composed himself and did the same

"I-If you're sure, Lefiya-san"

Both stood there unmoving, then Lefiya began chanting, much faster than she usually did

"Let loose a ray of light from the bow made of sacred wood, master archer!"

He stood there unmoving, closely watching her and intent on dodging whatever attack she'd throw at him

"Shoot thy foe, fairy sniper, fire an arrow that won't miss... Arc's Ray!"

A powerful blast of energy erupted from her staff, its target was Bell

Bell was caught of guard by the sheer amount of power the blast held, but tried to dodge the attack directed at him, just before the blast would hit him head on, he jumped to the side, but what he didn't expect was for the blast to redirect itself towards him once again

Bell's eyes widened as he ran with all the speed his new level six status granted him, in a vain attempt to try and outrun the blast

'If that blast hits, this entire area will be reduced to rubble!'

Seeing no other option, he jumped as high as he could and met the blast head on whilst suspended in the air

The blast produced a blast large enough to alarm the Ganesha Familia, Shakti, the captain of the Familia, rushed towards the source, which was some distance away, even with her speed

"It hit!"

Lefiya heaved in a breath at her successful attack, Ais was shocked at just how much mind she put into the attack

"Lefiya! That's going too far!"

Ais walked up towards the elf, who looked surprised at her idol's outburst

"That crossed the line Lefiya"

Even Bete had admitted that she may have gotten carried away, which fueled her feeling of guilt and panic

The smoke cloud began to clear, as Bell's body appeared and was free-falling

Ais reacted instantly, running up and scooped his unconscious form onto her arms, Lefiya and Bete followed behind her and saw the result of Lefiya's attack

His body had been burned, little of his shirt remained and his armor had been slightly melted, nothing severe but it was still alarming

"O-oh no!"

Lefiya rushed towards the two and immediately prepared her healing spell

Ais had sat down on the floor and put his head onto her lap as she fiddled with the strap of his breastplate, as it was melted to some degree

"Loki Familia?!"

Shakti had arrived at the scene, breathless, a few of her fellow familia members were catching up to her but were still some distance behind her

The three members of the Loki Familia turned their heads towards the indigo haired captain, finding themselves in a bit of a pickle

"Shakti-san! Ahm... well, you see..."

Lefiya explained as she was healing Bell, but Bete cut her off

"Tch! We were training with bunny boy here, and Lefiya may have gotten a bit carried away with her attack and here we are"

After his expedient explanation of the situation at hand, Shakti sweatdropped

"Carried away you say?"

Her uneasy eyes darted to the boy's unconscious figure, then to the elf

"He... may have struck a nerve"

Lefiya quietly said as her face scrunched up in frustration, Bell's injuries were now healed thanks to her magic, but the boy had yet to regain consciousness

A few seconds later Bell's eyes slowly began to open, taking in his surroundings, the first thing his mind registered was that his head was laying on top off something soft, yet firm

"You're finally awake, Bell?"

Ais looked down at his confused countenance, surprising him

"A-AIS-SAN?! What happened?"

He shot up into a sitting position and asked the blonde princess

"Well... Lefiya may have gotten carried away with he spell"

The sword princess pointed out matter-of-factly, making the elf's shoulders slump in guilt as she faced the white haired adventurer

"I-I'm t-terribly sorry Bell Cranel! I might have put in too much mind into the attack..."

Seeing the normally cheerful elf in such a sorry state, he shook his head at her

"Don't worry about it Lefiya-san"

"Ahem..."

Someone clearing their throat grabbed his attention

"Ah! Shakti-san!"

Bell stood up and waved his hand at her in a greeting, which she reciprocated in kind

"Right... anyway, I'll have to have a word with both Loki-sama and Hestia-sama about this disturbance..."

Hearing her, all four adventurers sighed

One week later...

Finally, the day of the long awaited Loki Familia's expedition has arrived. The sun had yet to show itself, the streets of Orario were still dark, but at the base of Babel, a large group of adventurers and civilians crowded the area. The Loki Familia plus one had enough supplies to last them around two weeks at the very least, as a dive to such depths will surely require generous preparations. Amidst the sea of adventurers, many were talking to one another, and even more were yawning, quite grumpy that the expedition had to start so early in the morning, a certain white haired adventurer felt out of place as he didn't know many people within the Familia, luckily the Hestia Familia members came to see him off

"Take care of yourself always Bell-sama"

Haruhime smiled at her familia's captain, which he returned in kind

"I will! I'll be extra vigilant!"

"Always remember to eat and sleep well, Bell-kun!"

The petite goddess doted, like a loving and concerned mother for her child, which Bell found quite endearing about her

"Of course, Goddess!"

Mikoto smiled at her fellow familia member

"Keep safe always, Bell-dono! Do share with us some delightful stories when you return"

He flashed a grin at the far-eastern warrior

"Thank you Mikoto-san! I will!"

Welf then walked up towards Bell and proceeded to wrap an arm around Bell's shoulders in a brotherly embrace

"You better bring me back some extra rare monster drops Bell!"

The white haired adventurer smiled at the red-haired blacksmith and nodded

"You know I will Welf!"

"Everybody gather around! We move out in five!"

The captain of the Loki Familia exclaimed as the members of the Loki Familia cluttered around the prum that was standing on a soapbox

"Well... that's my cue, I'll be going now... see you guys soon!"

He waved them goodbye as he walked towards the crowd

"Oho... nice to meet you again so soon Bell Cranel!"

A tall-tanned woman with an eyepatch approached him

"Oh! Tsubaki-san! Good morning!"

He warmly greeted the blacksmith, as she smiled at him

"Mornin' to you too! How've you been holding up? I heard you're a fresh level six now"

She asked him as he laughed awkwardly

"Ahaha... yes, I just leveled up the night before yesterday, still getting used to my new abilities though"

She nodded her head at his reply, having mixed reactions

"Well... know that I'm genuinely happy for you, but I can't deny that I'm slightly jealous of your crazy fast growth"

She sighed, then a smile suddenly appeared on her face

"Oh... did Welfy make your armor?"

He blinked a few times, before he registered her words

"Oh! uhm... yes, Welf's been my personal smith for some time, I fully trust in his abilities!"

He replied with a fierce resolve in his eyes, which surprised the blacksmith

"Well then, may I ask that I take a look at your armor when we arrive at Riviera? I'll make improvements upon it, if you'll let me that is"

She offered as he thought about it for a little bit, before nodding his approval at her

"Yes please!"

Then they went their separate ways, Bell went up to the executives of the Loki Familia, as they were the people he was most familiar with within the Familia

"Argonaut-kun! Good morning!"

Tiona enthusiastically greeted the male adventurer as he made his way towards them

"Tiona-san! Tione-san! Good morning!"

He returned the greeting

"How are you holding up?"

Tione asked him

"I'm really excited about this... it'll be my first expedition to the deep floors, also to unknown territory! I can't help but feel restless!"

He replied with a giddy attitude, which made both sisters giggle

"I'm really excited to Argonaut-kun! I can't wait to fight some monsters!"

Tiona reciprocated his enthusiasm, which caused her sister to sigh

"You better not get reckless again Tiona..."

She reminded her, much to the other's indignation

"What?! It was one time I messed up with the Cadmus!"

She shot back, which caused them to argue back and forth, much to Bell's confusion and uneasiness

'Yeah... I think I'll leave these two for now...'

He kept walking ahead, leaving the two Amazonesses in whatever it was they're doing... seeing two familiar faces, he approached both of them

"Ais-san! Lefiya-san! Good morning to you two!"

Both girls perked up at their name being called by the white haired adventurer

"Good morning Bell"

Ais immediately returned his greeting, while the elf fidgeted

"G-G-Good morning... Bell Cranel"

Lefiya, after a little bit of fidgeting, managed to reply

Her behavior confused both adventurers beside her

"Are you feeling unwell Lefiya-san?"

She met Bell's eyes and shook her head vigorously

"N-no, I'm fine! Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that your face is a bit red..."

Her eyes widened and she stammered out in reply, she struggled to let out a coherent reply, but luckily for her, the prum captain of the Familia spoke up, addressing everyone

"Good morning to all! As you know, this is the long awaited Loki Familia expedition down beyond the sixty-first floor! We have only been able to thoroughly map out and familiarize ourselves up until said floor, but that will change starting today! We will be pushing ourselves even further, stretching ourselves even thinner, to go even deeper down the dungeon. The farthest down anybody had been able to go into the dungeon was the Zeus and Hera Familia, reaching down until the seventy-first floor, unfortunately they refused to divulge any information about what they have found down there so it is still considered unchartered territory! Think about what we could find down there, new sights, new monsters and new riches! We may not be able to achieve such a feat yet, but I am absolutely confident that if everybody pushes themselves as much as they can, we will be able to match both the Zeus and Hera Familia in their prime! And before anybody starts thinking that this is just some empty words with no real weight to them, think about just how far we have come as a Familia, we have been able to achieve many things that others would deem too difficult! We have been able to overcome many a great foes! We are one of the strongest Families in Orario! Have some pride will you lot?!"

Everybody roared at the prum captain's impromptu speech, spirits ablaze with his words

"Loki Familia!"

One by one, more and more started to chant, until the group all started to collectively chant

Bell stood in awe, profoundly impressed by the blonde prum's words

'Woah... so that's what a true leader is like!'

Then, just as the rays from the sun had started to shine from beyond the horizon, the first battalion had moved forward into the dungeon

"First battalion! Onward!"

-Fin-

I gotta admit, the way I wrote the sparring session seemed a bit dull, but I'll save all the action for the next few chapters, you guys can count on it hehe, the next few chapters will cover the Loki Familia expedition and how a certain Bell Cranel will fare in it, will he fail to meet the Loki Familia's expectations? or will he surpass them? Find out in the next episode of Dragon Ba- Oh wait, wrong series, *ehem* Find out in the next chapter of this story!

And with that said, I humbly wish you a good rest of the day!