Chapter 6: Moansterphilia

A/N: No the title is not a typo omegalul.

Also, a quick message from me, uh so a lot of my readers tend to be teens, which is good. If you are a teen and are looking for ways to make money, mypocketskill is a platform where you can earn money by simply offering services and completing tasks, tutoring, coaching, photography, pet walking etc.

It's UK based but a lot of the jobs are virtual meaning anyone can do it, so do sign. (And yes if you were wondering, I was indeed semi-sponsored by them. Altho not as Kirisaki but as like my actual self?)

The day that came only once a year had arrived. No, it isn't Diwali. No, it isn't eid and no it's not Christmas.

What it is though, is monsterphilia, the super special event where the Ganesha familia brings out monsters from the dungeon, and exhibits a taming event with them. They even let adventurers try to do it, which although ends up with 90% of the monsters dying, it changes essentially nothing since most of the ones given them to tame are freaking kobolds.

People mistake taming as a complex to-do job, but it really isn't. Effectively speaking, all taming does is that it makes the monster listen to your commands in exchange for survival. Even the dumbest goblin knows when its death is certain, it'll do anything to survive.

Such is the instinct of survival.

Bell really had no interest in such a thing. While it was the rave of the city, it's something all adventurers had barely any interest in considering they have seen it plenty of times. Although it's Bell's first time seeing it, he had seen no merit in attending such an event. Though, from the way Loki was dragging around Ais, she clearly thought otherwise.

Ais looked like she wanted to run away, and from time to time looked at him with a pleading look. But he always look behind him and purposefully ignore her. Though it seemed she didn't give up hope.

Even Loki would sometimes looked back at him, most likely he was still keeping up with her running from stall to stall. Even if Bell had no interest in these things, he was earnest enough to know that this was a punishment, so he wouldn't run from it.

Although if Riveria actively came after him, he would run away without a single thought.

After what felt like a few hours, Loki finally seemed to have had her fill, Ais wanted to really increase the distance between her and Loki, but seeing as how Bell hadn't uttered a word of protest, she decided to fill in her own role as an executive and bear with the parasite called Loki.

Besides they were currently taking a break while munching on some jagamarukun, so she guessed it was alright.

"Uh by the way, I gotta meet up with a friend real quick, you two wanna come? Well, Ais has to come but Bell it's up to ya." Loki looked at him, of course she didn't mean any offense or any rude remark.

Of course he understood it as well, Ais being a level 5 certainly played a role, although he felt like this event should've happened a year later.

(Jax: Yeah no, this is a year earlier remember? Bell came a year earlier too.)

Bell shrugged, "hm."

Loki had no freaking clue what the 'hm' was supposed to mean, so she just got up and began walking towards the meet up location. His choice would become apparent upon reaching there.

Walking through the city at the moment was kind of a pain in the ass, what, will all the merchant stalls or stores set up, the roads were about as packed as a bengali sweatshop.

"AHHH, LET GO YA FREAK! LET GO!" a man screamed in pain, obviously not a very smart man. He was currently being pinned on the ground by Bell foot, as well as his arm being held at a 270 degree angle.

Just a tiny push more and his bone should pop out the socket type hold.

"*sigh...* what's this? The 4th time? Are ya a magnet for pickpocketers or something?" Loki asked as she looked at Bell in a mocking manner.

Bell didn't find this as stellar of an experience as Loki was finding it. To be honest it's not like he wanted to get robbed either.

"So what's the shtick this time? Are you low on funds for some prostitutes? Maybe you have a child at home you need to feed? Or maybe it's alcohol?"

"Fuck you!" The man shouted at Bell craning his neck backwards. Immediately, he felt his arm be bent even more with a loud crack, "AAHHHH!"

"So you need toothpaste huh, stinky breath." Bell commented earning a chuckle from just about everyone in the vicinity. He let go of the arm which was now positively limp and decided to kick the man into some alley.

However, he didn't notice the angle he was kicking from, so while the man was easily volleyed over the crowd into an alley, his potential to have any children was positively thwarted by a level 2 adventurer's kick.

Across the street, a pallum supporter winced upon the sight of the man being ragdolled off, and although she couldn't relate to the pain she did manage to make a mental note.

'Gotta stay clear of that one in the future.'

Bell decided to take upon efficiency, "Ais san." he called. As she turned around, he simply pointed upwards.

She seemed to get the message and Loki didn't even have the time to ask what the hell he was on about, before she felt the Earth go missing from underneath her feet.

Instead she felt two strong arms holding her up. One inbetween her knees, the other on her back. She felt a slightly tinge of red overcome her face, as she realised she was being princess carried.

"B-Bell?"

Bell didn't respond and instead jumped onto the roof of a nearby building. Ais doing the same to a building of the opposite side.

They both ran towards the correct building instead, Ais kept her pace to Bell's. All Loki felt was wind blowing past her, and in a moderately hot day as this, it was a welcome feeling.

"Finally, no traffic." Bell muttered under his breath. Loki looked at him for a second before bursting out in laughter.

"Wha-What the hell kid?! Yer really calling them tourists traffic?" She laughed, not at how he sounded but rather at how he had compared people to a bunch of traffic.

The journey that was meant to take 10 mins, was going to be taking 20 mins due to the number of people on the street.

Now?

They got there is 2 mins time.

"That was a nice trip," Loki pat Bell's shoulder.

"It's easier that way," Bell shrugged. Ais simply nodded as she too was getting annoyed from the leering men that were trying to cop a feel through her armour?

She had no idea how they thought it would work but she didn't care.

Loki and the other 2 entered the building. It was a simple cafe, not overly bustling but still enough customers to suggest that the service isn't atrocious. It was maintained a good condition, and the wooden floor boards didn't creak at all as they walked.

They immediately went upstairs, without even acknowledging the man at the counter. As they went upstairs, it seemed the number of customers thinned out a lot more. But all that ended up doing was draw even more attention to the boaz standing besides a woman.

Loki didn't make any comment, neither did Ais. So Bell had no choice but to walk. Upon seeing them, he felt the woman's gaze on him and it really did remind him of something. Someone that always watches him from atop Babel.

Unconsciously, he rested a hand on his sword until, Loki spoke up, "Easy Bell. Not someone we wanna pick a fight with." She told him.

Although Bell was a bit uncomfortable, he decided to sigh and go along with it. Even though he could tell that he and Ais would be no match for the Boaz, he would lay down his life to protect his deity.

After all, it was his duty ever since he joined her familia.

"So Freya, what made ya call me?" Loki asked taking a seat. Loki looked at Freya expecting her to speak in her usual sultry tone but Freya's gaze seemed to linger in Bell a bit too long for her own comfort.

"Uh oh, yes. I was simply going to discuss if you liked the banquet or not." Freya asked bringing her attention to Loki.

"Stop bull shitting, yer into a guy again and now ya wanna talk about them, go on then."

'Oh I don't think she will.' Bell muttered internally but didn't voice his thoughts.

"Well, he's a bit of an empty husk. I cannot for the life of me see the colour of his soul, it's like I can see a pure transparity but it has a veil that I simply cannot look past. He's somewhat ruthless but he's as disconnected as can be, but it seems he can be caring when he wants to be, even if he is a bit awkward about it. He's also somewhat deranged, but well we look past the imperfections." Freya finished.

"I prefer to call it a charm." Bell suddenly cut in, earning a look from Freya, along with her having a somewhat possessive smile.

Loki did a double take, looking between Freya and Bell, and wondered what she was missing out on. Until, the description dawned on her. Her head swiveled straight to Bell.

Her eyes opened a crack as she looked at Freya, "You wouldn't..." she growled.

Freya smiled innocently, "Oh my Loki, what's the hositility for? I haven't even done anything."

"Yet." Bell tacked on. "Look, she's talking about me, it's obvious."

"Oh my dear, now that is you assuming things." Freya giggled.

Bell leaned onto the table, staring directly into her eyes as she stared back. "Ok, blink if I'm the person you were referring to."

The two kept staring at each other not blinking. After 30 or so seconds however, Freya's eyes were stinging a bit, meanwhile, Bell was fine, the level 2 status coming in clutch for him.

"Y-you know, I somehow find this, not fair at all." Freya let out in a struggled tone as she did everything in her power to not blink.

Loki although was initially shocked, mainly by how Bell seemed to know her watching him, now was enjoying the shitshow being controlled by Bell.

"Say...if I blink will you become mine?" Freya asked.

"No."

"Why?"

Bell looked at her for a second, "Just not into you."

That seemed to draw a straw for Loki as she had to hold her mouth to stop herself from bursting out in laughter. Ais was naturally confused on what the interaction was about.

Suddenly, the boaz drew his sword and blocked the eye contact between Bell and Freya, allowing her to blink and tears to appear in her eyes.

" You dare hurt my mistress?" the Boaz asked.

"Sorry, but I thought she had built up a resistance to keeping her eyes open, after all the staring she does all day long. It seems I was wrong."

"BUHAHAH, boy slow down. Geez, ya got no social restraint, yer talking to Ottar, the only level 7 in the city. He can kill you with one swing." Loki warned him even though she was laughing.

"Makes no difference." Bell stared at Ottar's eyes. Both looked at each other with unwavering gazes.

"You know you won't be able to win against me." Ottar calmly told him.

"I know, but it's better than having my head sliced off."

"If you lose I'll slice your head off then."

And immediately Bell backed away, returning to Loki's side. The whole interaction was evidently unusual, Loki probably had one of the most enjoyable times possible.

"I can see why you said he's mischievous, your Shiroi Kishi is certainly an odd one." Freya giggled, happy to see her champion and Bell getting along.

Although, others may think differently.

"On a real note though, Freya." Loki spoke up, a slight bit of a menacing tone in her voice, "He's in my familia ya know. If ya wanna nab him, then yer gonna deal with all of us."

"Oh my, but it shouldn't matter if he willingly comes to me right?" Freya asked with a sly grin.

To her surprised, Loki grinned back, "Good luck trying to get him to do that. He loves only one thing and it's disgusting."

And with that she took her leave. Bell and Ais following behind her, leaving a wondering Freya about what it is that Bell loved. She had observed him for a long time, and to her knowledge there wasn't anything in particular that he adored as he seemed indifferent to everything.

"Oh boy, remind me to bring you along the next time I meet Freya, ya even made the slut shut her trap." Loki laughed as they walked through the street, " It is kinda annoying how she had her eyes on ya."

Bell simply walked behind her, "...am I bringing trouble to the familia?" he asked.

Loki stopped mid footstep. She turned and looked at him with a discerning eye. As always she couldn't get any intentions from him, completely unreadable. Even moreso than Ais. "Nah you ain't. Look, I don't care about yer backstory and whatnot,"

"Although your search behind my back suggests otherwise," Bell interjected.

Loki quickly recomposed however, "*AHEM* as I saying, no matter what the case, since the moment I decided to put a falna on yer back. Ya became part of my familia, yeah I know, I ain't got cool flames to shoot out my hands, or lightning dancing around like you do. But just like you, I am loyal to my allies, my familia is designed that way. Ain't no-one ever gonna have the gall to abandon one another and they all help each other out.

Ya ain't troubling us, sure yer a magnet for it, but we will back ya with everything we got. Cuz that's what familias do."

Bell simply stared at Loki with a small smile, but he said nothing else.

"What are ya smiling about?!" Loki asked with a blush, she felt that he was making fun of her. Either that or that God darn alcohol was getting to her finally, after aeons of attempts to become drunk.

"Just surprised to see you serious for once."

"I'm a very serious woman I'll have ya know."

Bell shrugged, "Try to convince me once you've downed a bottle of Soma's."

"That will never work," Ais chimed in.

"Ais-tan?! Are you betraying me too?" Loki shrieked indignantly.

" But I'm just saying the truth. Loki...you always lose yourself to pleasure." Ais replied tilting her head.

"Oi! People will get the wrong idea if you phrase it like that!"

"But it's true, even after you finish you keep sucking trying to get out every drop."

Nearby the people had stared blushing a bit red, overhearing such a suggestive conversation.

Loki began to panic a bit, "No, it's not like that people. This girl doesn't know what she's talking about." She tried reassuring the people around her.

" And you lick it clean at the end," Ais added even more on top of the pile. Quite innocently so, Loki's fuse had short-circuited and she had given up. Hearing the whispers of the people nearby crushed her spirit.

"Ais san, I think you should stop speaking for now," Bell told her. She was puzzled as to why Loki was reacting in such a way but decided to comply with what Bell was telling her.

But the damage had been done and Loki was about to collapse. Bell went and pat Loki's back as if to offer some sort of consolation, but it did nothing to bring her back.

Not bothered enough to wait, Bell just decided to drag Loki along as she remained frozen, and together with Ais, he began to walk towards the coliseum, when a cacophony of screams rang out.

Not a millisecond later, shaking ensued along with a shrill loud enough to reach their adventurer's ears,

"MONSTERS HAVE ESCAPED!"

As soon as they both heard, Bell and Ais looked at each other and nodded. Ais shot off towards the source of the voice, to slay any monster that may have escaped.

"Evacuate the vicinity, monsters have escaped!" Bell warned the nearby people. Who heeded the advice, although in a completely incorrect way, as they began to panic.

All the shouting and screaming brought Loki back from her dejected state.

"What happened?"

Bell looked at her for a second, "monsters are on the loose. Ais san has gone to slay where they escaped from," he explained. Bell began to run while pulling Loki.

It was his duty to protect his Goddess, and he would fulfil it. They didn't know what level of monsters had escaped, it was only natural to make Ais go. Had Bell gone, it was entirely possible that he could've come across a monster he was unable of slaying, even as a level 2.

Besides, Ganesha was a close friend of the Lokis. If a major casualty was to build up, it was forever tarnishing the name of Ganesha, the protector of the masses.

Bell began heading towards the other side of town when heard a faint growl and in the crowd spotted a hell hound.

Stopping quick enough to bring Loki to halt, he let go of her hand and dashed towards the hell hound.

It was good that he had found the darn thing before it had breathed out its flame attack.

" Lightning, Accel." He cast a new spell he had thought of, beckoning lightning to each of his steps, not to his entire foot but concentrated on his toes.

When running, the part being used for the most strenuous duty was the toes that were used to push off. The heel of his feet weren't used very often anyways.

As an adventurer in the dungeon, he had to be prepared to be ready to dodge and avoid attacks and just like actual al-miraj, who relied predominantly on their toes and calves to have a fast yet giant leap, he imitated them.

He covered the distance between him and the hell hound at a speed above his level, and took the monster by surprise. Drawing his sword, he effortlessly beheaded the monster, having sheathed the blade before the monster even crumpled to the ground.

The people nearby watched with widened eyes, obviously as most hadn't seen a display of such strength from adventurers in the open. However, before they got to cheer, it had seemed that other monsters had smelled the blood from the hell hound, as a silver ape appeared along with a couple more hell hounds.

Loki fully trusted Bell in being handle the monsters, so she prioritised helping him the most. By making sure that he didn't have as many people to worry about behind his back, " Oi, what are y'all doing?! Get outta here and get ta safety!"

Her shouting brought them back, as they began running once more. Most having silently thanked their white knight.

Bell looked at Loki and simply gave a tiny smile before running off once more.

He made sure to incapacitate the most numerous ones first. The hell hounds were usually in a pack anyways, so he had found it strange how only one appeared, even if they were on the surface.

He initated a sword dash, and proceeded to cut the hell hounds blindly, sometimes cutting off their legs, sometimes their heads or splitting them in half.

He didn't care for their magic stones, and the usual experience he has in the dungeon began to surface.

To Loki it was something she hadn't ever seen within him. Bell began to drop into his 'zone' that he usually had, except when he gets to stop combat.

A slight scowl formed on his face. It seemed in between a pained grimace and a look of hatred combined, but suppressed.

'What the hell? It looks so...incomplete.' Loki looked at him baffled.

Bell halted into one spot as the hell hounds fell to their death, dust particles rising into the sky. The silverape, that he recognised to be a silverback, looked at him with glossed eyes.

It looked strange to say the least. Bell's scowl had disappeared as his chain had ended, not that he had noticed it to begin with.

The silverape brought its arm straight down at Bell, who promptly jumped out of the way, thinking it would chase after him.

But the second he moved away, the silverback looked directly at Loki's direction and with a loud roar charged at her. Loki being the only one left became pale at the monster approaching her, she was about to turn around and hightail it, when Bell swept in.

" Don't worry, you'll be safe." Bell reassured as he picked her up and disappeared from the spot. He re-appeared on a building behind the silverback. As the monster was turning from left to right in search of where his 'target' went to, Bell didn't waste any time.

"Gather," the one word caused the lightning to concentrate into the tip of the blade, sparks flowing haphazardly around their environment. A call of death. Bell slowly walked over the edge of the building, but as soon as he was about to fall down, he pushed off the wall, cracks appearing where his feet once were, and he launched himself with blade brought back.

Immediately, stabbing into the chest of the silverback without it even realising what had happened, a blue bolt of lightning flew from the otherside of the silverback, a molten orange colour left in its white fur, a sign of excruciating burns. Yet the monster disintegrated into dust before even getting to scream.

Loki stared at him with critical eyes. She was no expert in combat, and had the eye sight and tracking ability of an unblessed person, but her observant nature allowed her to see more than other people.

His movement seemed trained, but better than what it was originally, the first first she had witnessed was miles behind from this one. His ability to harness his weird magic which he was able to control even being unblessed, already had grown leaps and bounds, but this only set his potential in stone.

Bell sheathed his blade and jumped up to the building where Loki was watching him from. He picked her up like a sack of potatoes without saying a word.

"Wh-where are ya going now?"

Bell tilted his head towards the colisseum, "It's the place with the most adventurers right now, also the safest place for you."

Without wasting time, he began hopping from building to building going towards the colisseum.

"ya know, ya could be a bit more gentle ungh," Loki grunted as gravity drove Bell's shoulder into her gut, "with a lady in your hands."

"Oh but we all know you like it rough."

"Huh?!"

The two made eyecontact, evident shock in Loki's eyes but Bell as calm as ever. "What? It was a joke."

Letting out a long sigh of embarrassment Loki calmed her heated cheeks 'Calm down Loki. This kid has no idea what he's on about.'

As they were running, A hail of flame came up at them from below. In the air with no way to maneuver around the attacks Bell called the protective lightning that existed in his being and grabbed his blade.

"Oi oi oi, are ya planning on cutting fire? Have ya gone mad?" Loki asked at the obvious error he was making. Realistically speaking, there was no way in hell that was gonna work.

"Close but not necessarily, I'm experimenting. Lightning," crackling loudly the summoned blue lightning answered its masters call. Gathering around the blade in a thin yet visible layer even within it's sheath. "Quick draw: Taigakira!"

An oddity which Loki had no witnessed before, although she hadn't seen many battles compared to an average adventurer, she still had seen plenty in her long endless life. A fair share of magic she had witnessed, but none so free flowing such as this.

With a swift motion Bell drew his sword, slashing horizontally, firing off a cut of solid lightning. What's odd however, is when they split into 3 almost mimicking a claw and cut each fireball that was coming towards them.

"Woah."

But Bell gave her no time to get used to it. Gathering lightning at his feet, his boots ripped open leaving his bare feet out. He hadn't worn any special boots to contain the lightnings power as he wasn't even planning on going to the dungeon. As soon as they landed on the ground once again with an 'oomph' from Loki, Bell shot off towards the 3 hell hounds he had spotted earlier.

Not even glancing at the people staring at him moving at such a fast speed. He beheaded each and every monster with a clean slash. Once more disappearing before the monsters even crumbled into dust.

This time he didn't drop his magic, as he saw no point in having to stop every once in a while. Instead making a speedy dash towards the colisseum. Arriving within a few minutes, he jumped into the gate. Feeling the stare of someone on him, he had no choice but to ignore it.

He could guess who the perpetrator was for this situation, but knowing that with the lack of evidence he couldn't get anything done. Thankfully, he managed to spot the hyrute siblings and Finn already helping with the evacuation or fighting the monsters. No doubt had they heard his approach as he landed besides them.

"Seems like you're doing alright Bell. How's Loki holding up?" Finn asked without even sparing a glance. Having a fair bit of trust in his own senses, he focused on the fight against the minotaur that was brought. Though it didn't take him very long to beat the opponent.

"She's fine." Bell replied before dropping her off. "I'll be off to fight."

Finn finally turned to look, "You're just leaving her here and going off on your own?"

"This is the safest place for her judging by the number of adventurers here," Bell shrugged, "besides you guys aren't allowed to leave until this place is cleared out. But there aren't enough fighters on the streets, casualties will continue to rack up."

Finn nodded seeing how Bell had actually put thought into his action, "Very well, do as you please. Do you need any reinforcements?" However, after not getting any responses he turned round to see to nothing but a puking Loki, "hahaha, such an energetic addition to the familia. His desire to get stronger seems to be just barely beaten by Ais."

Meanwhile, Bell took the opportunity to run full speed with magic. Now that the baggage called Loki was no longer bothering him and his mana pool still had quite a good chunk left, he used his thunder to explode towards the next source of the noise. Bursting through a house, he found a woman hiding under the bed, but he paid no attention.

He had to get to the monster as fast as possible, jumping through the opposite window he quickly spotted a level one adventurer on the ground at the face of a hell hound.

'Of course there wouldn't be many higher level adventurers today,' Bell realised. In the normal rate of growth an adventurer has, even in the case of Ais Wallenstein, one of the fastest growing adventurers, being high level meant you had years of experience. The average excelia gain makes it just like that. So when you live for years in the same city, major events such as Monsterphilia don't sound as fun as they used to. And most adventurers simply choose to remain home seeing going out as a fruitless endeavour.

Honestly, Bell would've stayed home himself if he didn't have this punishment task. The roads are crowded and there are an eternal number of pickpocketers who seem to forget they live in a city where some people can kill them in a single motion.

"Lightning discharge," taking aim with the tip of his sword he shot a quick bolt of lightning towards the mouth of the monster that had opened its maw to spit out fire.

Shaken by the sudden damage the dog-like monster recoiled in fear, meanwhile, the adventurer looked up surprised. Meeting Bell's blue eyes.

"Help by evacuating the people, I'll shut this pup up."

The man on the ground could only dumbly nod and tried to get up. However, he pitifully fell back down, it seemed that the fear of death had caused his legs to stop responding as well. Yet, Bell still admired the man.

Leaving high level adventurers out of the equation, even the lower levels adventurers would rarely go out of their way to defeat a monster on the surface especially when the monster is clearly above their pay grade. Many choose to live another day rather than potentially risk death. It was rather heroic of the man to try to even subdue or delay the monster so Bell would offer no words of scrutiny.

Bell turned and ran in a zig-zag, approaching the hell hound, but changing position so it's difficult for the monster to take aim. The fireblast is strong enough to damage even level 3s a bit, although the radius of the impact is small so collateral damage wasn't much of a concern.

Bell wasted no time in purposefully hesitating in a specific position. He slowed and almost stumbled to bait the monster into shooting the attack there. Although under normal circumstances he could simply cut the attack, even for him taking an attack in point blank range could be perilous.

As expected of the lower intelligence monster, it shot its fireball there but Bell quickly dodged and beheaded the monster in one swift attack. The cut was so clean that not a single trace of blood was even on the sword.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH," not even letting him rest for a second, a new voice beckoned him to go towards it. Dashing without sheathing his blade, he came across the strangest sight on the rooftops.

Perhaps, because no one would've thought that the rooftops would be a good place to run, he met a woman in a cloak standing by the edge, simply watching the happenings on the ground level. The act...reminded him of a certain eye that was constantly on him.

Hearing his loud steps, the woman in question turned around and seemingly flinched, as if she hadn't anticipated him being there, however, she may not have realised just little the gap between her feet and the edge was, because in the next moment she was tumbling down.

"Tch," Bell put forth extra force, to follow the woman. No matter how suspicious she was, he could tell there was a monster down there and if the fall didn't kill the woman, the monster surely would.

Sure enough, a firebird was the one wreaking havoc. Even though it was a type of monster that even level 2s would have difficulty with due to their aerial nature and quick manoeuvrability, most likely it had been brought up due to how rare it actually is in the dungeon itself.

He grabbed the woman by her cloak, thankfully she hadn't fallen prey to the bird's attack. Unfortunately, the headpiece of the cloak fell and the charming woman underneath was revealed.

Smooth and silky silver hair, enticing purple eyes that seemingly taunt you to almost dare to even move towards her. The round face of seemingly perfect proportions, it was no wonder why everyone was practically obsessed over her. Although it worked little on Bell, the woman was staring at him with evident shock in her eyes.

"And this is why I told you to keep watching from the top of a tower, now you do this and you fall. Where are your familia members?" Bell asked. After landing quickly in front of her, the firebird didn't seem to be paying too much attention to them, distracted by the ranger trying to shoot it down.

"Hurry find your cloak, you don't want people to see you right?" Bell told her. Freya still shocked by how he was behaving quietly put the cloak back over her head.

"You're such an interesting person, Bell kun." She whispered before retreating to the back streets.

Not even bothering to question her actions any further, Bell focused more on the firebird that was still dodging the arrows. The bowman was pretty good, for having dodged fireballs for all this time meanwhile, somehow still constantly shooting arrows at the bird and retaining its focus.

'Now...how do I get to that?' Bell thought. Sure he could discharge his lightning but his mana tank was already halfway down, he could feel it. Calling a sense of foreboding, but he wanted to conserve his mana for whatever reason.

Since standing around did nothing, Bell opted to jump off the side of the building and use one of the balconies as a stepping stone to launch straight at the bird at a fearsome speed.

Bringing his blade up he stabbed the bird before it could see Bell, "Lightning discharge." Electricity burning the bird from the inside out, frying its nerves and destroying its core.

"Wha- Hey! That was my prey!" The ranger shouted. Indeed it was incorrect of Bell to steal another adventurer's kill...under normal circumstances that is.

Bell looked tiredly at the bowman who seemed to be getting ready for a rant so he did the best thing, "You can have the magic stone if you want."

"How can I take the magic stone if you reduced it to dust?!"

Bell looked at the monster that had been turned to ash and indeed spotted the purple colour in it.

"Oh." Bell realised, "Well it should be worth something right?"

The ranger's face flushed red with exasperation, "Are you stupid or something? Of course not!"

As they were arguing an explosion resounded right behind them. Bell's eyes instantly towards the direction of where it came from,

'the colosseum!'

Without sparing another second, Bell shot off towards the explosion. He knew full well that Finn was there to protect Loki but the size of the explosion didn't insinuate that he had things under control.

Of course, if Finn didn't have things under control, Bell definitely couldn't do anything about it but it made no sense for him to continue talking to that man when his deity is in trouble.

Soon after panicked shouts entered his ears.

'What in the world is going on?' Bell could only wonder. His level 2 hearing was still insufficient to hear just what was happening in the distance. 'Was it a mistake to entrust Loki to Finn? No, undoubtedly that was the best choice, but...'

Doubt had entered his mind. He fully was aware of the fact that Loki was definitely not in mortal danger, no issue on the surface could be enough to challenge Finn unless it was one of the Freya familia's executives going rogue.

But considering how Freya was recently just outside, it was impossible.

"OI! Wait you dumass!"

Bell turned to see the same man that was using the bow chasing him.

"How the hell are you running so fast?! I was pretty sure we're at the same level!" The man complained.

Bell got the better chances to study the man's identity, a rather crude elf if Riveria was a means of measure by any chance. although, she was a princess so most likely not the best reference but the only one he had nonetheless. Besides Ryu who was tame, this elf was certainly bombastic.

Bell paid him no mind and simply darted off even faster, enchanting his bare feet with lightning and shooting off.

"What the- You can go even faster?!" he heard the man exclaim.

Bell's run was made to use as he jumped ran up the colosseum's walls, using every curve as a foothold to push him further up.

Rising up the wall, he came across the strangest monster he had ever seen.

A plant monster, with veiny roots that were thin and sharp. Almost like a colourful flower, the only difference being the centre being replaced by a mouth that possessed sharp teeth capable of shattering third-class weapons.

'What in the world even is that?' Bell wondered as he saw Finn blocking the mouth that tried to come towards him. Loki crouched behind a seat a row behind him.

Finn was busy thinking about why a monster such as this appeared out of nowhere. He could easily dispatch it being a level 6 and all, but it made no sense for such a strong monster to even be brought up to the surface.

Bell dashed up behind the monster, Finn obviously spotting him smirked, allowing the younger generation to get fighting experience with a monster stronger than them.

Bell jumped up and drew his blade to strike the receptacle when his blade lodged itself after entering the stalk by a couple of inches.

Seeing one of its roots coming up to grab him, he immediately withdrew to gain some distance. He glanced quickly at Finn who was still simply watching them. It seems that the monster had judged that since Bell had directly attacked it, he was more of a threat than Finn.

"Uhhh, Finn? A little help would be nice." Bell said as he dodged a whip-like attack.

Finn gave a dumb smile that seemed to insinuate that he was well aware of what he was doing. At the very least he wasn't lost in thought. "Yes Bell, it would be nice for you if I did offer some help."

Finn suddenly speaking up caused the monster to shoot one of its roots towards him which he effortlessly swatted away.

"You're not going to help me are you?" Bell asked realising the situation and affirming it when his sole response was a silent grin.

Bell had to find a way to get out of this mess. Honestly, he half expected this to happen considering that Finn was doing things leisurely. This monster most likely just appeared considering the noises of the people escaping. That only meant that this monster hadn't been dealt any damage.

'A new opponent, in a new environment and a shit-eating grin from Finn. Well, what can I do?'

Ultimately, Bell only shrugged. He had something to finish, even though he didn't start it. Besides he surely wouldn't die since Finn was there right? Surely?

A Family was meant to look after each other...right?

A/N: and that's a wrap. Uh yh my pocket skill is the way to go, trust me, if you are looking for ways to make money but can't get hired for part time jobs, then my pocket skill will be perfect for you. Preferred age if 13 and over etc, either way hope you liked the chapter. Leave a review and I'll see u guys in the next chapter.

Bless.

(My guy thinks he's a youtuber lmao)