And So, Bell Cranel Became a Hero
Chapter 15: And So, Acceptance is Earned.
Part 20
Nobody could blame Bell for staring. How was he supposed to know that the shirt Rose had lent Shakti to wear would have its last button pop off in such a spectacular manner?
How did Rose even manage to get Shakti to wear such an obvious cloth that did not fit her at all!?
Regardless of what Rose had done, Bell's luck had blessed him with another chance to look upon the Captain of the Ganesha Familia body. Shakti's collarbone was fully exposed, the valley between her sizeable breast looking just as soft as it felt earlier when he landed on it and despite the white dress shirt best efforts to cover the rest of her chest, her puffy nipples peeked through the fabrics seam.
Bell's gaze continued downward, the boy doing his best to not look at the obvious prohibited sight, but his brain did not let a single detail escape his retinas trail.
Shakti's belly was the perfect balance between soft and toned with the V-shape of her waist clearly defined, and Bell would've seen more had it not been for the level 5 wearing her black cotton panties.
"Ops, looks like the shirt was one size too small after all" Rose fake gasped, standing up to cover the stunned Ankusha "How unfortunate that's it the only one I have left after throwing everything into the laundry…"
"It's fine, I believe this may be karma for not paying attention to my clothes" Shakti shook her head, giving up on trying to keep her vanity intact and simply tied the shirt's bottom into a tight knot right below her bosom, pushing it up but hiding the most important parts.
Besides, there were only Bell, miss Fannett and their goddess in the apartment to see her lack of decorum.
"If only all women were as mature as you" Rose sighed forlornly "I've seen many young parties disband after little accidents like this"
"Such foolishness" Shakti replied "If that much was enough to cause them to disband then I can't imagine how they would fare in the lower floors were there's no time to care for vanity when your, and your Familia lives are on the line"
Bell's head spun for the nth time that day, not in the least sure how both women downplayed the fact that Shakti had essentially given him a free show without repercussions and continued to do so since there was even more skin showing now that she had tied up the shirt and displayed the entirety of her collarbone, cleavage and midsection.
But he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
As if Bell was one to talk, since his crimson-haired goddess had updated his status, he had been sitting shirtless for the entirety of the conversation between the three.
"What do I need to participate?" Bell asked, intently looking up at the Ankusha's blue eyes.
"Three things" Shakti raised three fingers and started lowering them down as she explained "One, you must be registered as an adventurer for at least one month. Two, you must be at least level 2. Three, you and your Familia will sign a liability waiver in case of an accident… or death…"
"Just that? Bell can participate then" Hekate's voice startled the three once more, the crimson-haired goddess appearing from nowhere and sitting beside Bell with an arm slung across his shoulder.
"But Lady Hekate, isn't Bell still a level one?" Rose enquired.
"Nope, and tonight we're celebrating!" Hekate gave a fanged smile "Bell's little adventurer in the dungeon rewarded him with enough Excelia to level up!"
Shakti and Rose stared in surprise at the awkwardly scratching his cheek boy.
"Ehe… Surprise?" Bell eh'ed out.
Hekate threw herself back just in time for the red-haired werewolf to throw herself at Bell once more, the young adventurer's head falling on Hekate's lap with the werewolf straddling him, there wasn't even a second for him to regain his bearings before Rose crashed her lips against his.
"Eh!" Shakti's owlishly stumbled at the sight of the Guild Senior devouring Bell's lips on his goddess lap.
"Children these days" Hekate grumbled but her smile gave away her true feelings, the goddess's sight landing on the perplexed blue-haired woman whose jaw clenched in clear distaste "You know, you can go next if that's what you want"
Shakti's head whipped towards Hekate "That's not-"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me child" Hekate's motherly smile stopped Shakti from continuing "Alright that's enough you two!"
A quick chop to the back of Rose's head was enough to make the werewolf pull back from sucking the soul out of Bell's body through his mouth.
"Ah, I'm sorry Lady Hekate" Rose breathily whispered, recovering her own breath "It's just I was-"
"So happy that you couldn't control yourself?" Hekate finished for her.
"Yes" Rose affirmed, sitting straight while still straddling Bell's waist. The werewolf looked down at her mate whose eyes were spinning hazily from the overload of sensations, the hardness pressing against her rump igniting the werewolf's desires.
"Down girl!" Hekate chopped Rose's head again before the werewolf took it further "Leave that for your private time, we have a guest"
Rose took a deep breath, reeling in her emotions and caging them for later "Yes, my apologies goddess"
"Is there anything else we need to be aware of for Bell's participation in the festival, miss blue?" Hekate asked, pinching Bell's cheek so he recovered faster.
"Ah, uh. No, as long as you satisfy all three conditions then I'll take care of the rest" Shakti coughed into her hand.
"Bell does satisfy all those conditions" Rose winked at their goddess who huffed "However we're missing Lady Hestia's output"
"Why would you need Lady Hestia's output?" Shakti asked curiously.
"Because she's the main goddess of our little Familia" Hekate waved her hand "I'm the secondary goddess to Hestia's Familia"
"Two gods!?" Shakti exclaimed in surprise.
"Mhmm" Hekate hummed.
Shakti glanced at the white-haired adventurer that had yet to return from la-la land, she wasn't sure whether he was lucky or not. To have failed joining any Familia for an entire week and then end up in one with two gods was ironic in its own way.
"Please give me a little warning next time" Bell huffed, shaking his head, and lightly glaring at the coyly smiling werewolf straddling him.
"You certainly liked it" Rose winked, putting more pressure on her rump, and tittering when Bell's breath hitched.
"Wait!" Bell grasped Rose's shoulder, stopping her from doing any other movement "Rose, please"
"Yes~" Rose complied, finally moving away from Bell.
It was Shakti's turn to stare shamelessly when Rose moved away from Bell, Bell's lack of shirt allowing the Ankusha to gawk at the bulge created by the werewolf's movement that Bell's pants did nothing to hide.
Bell sat up fast, hiding his erection from the gaze of the two mortal women and apologetically bowed his head to Shakti "Sorry miss Varma"
Shakti blinked "You really need to stop apologizing so much"
"Ahahaha I guess?" Bell scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Hekate noticed the sigils on Bell's back dully shining and raised an eyebrow in interest.
Shakti hesitated for a second before adding "Also stop calling me so formally, we're… friends so you can call me Shakti"
"I'll… try Shakti, thank you for considering me your friend" Bell scratched his cheek and gave a light smile.
The door to the apartment opened, an 'I'm back~' going with the sound as the twin-tailed loli goddess entered their Familia's home along with a very worried looking Eina behind her.
Hestia paused five steps in, confusion clear in her face as she stared at the standing blue-haired woman state of dress in the living room along with the rest of her Familia sitting and looking at the aforementioned exhibitionist.
The half-elf half a step behind her did not have such issues, for the moment Eina's eyes landed on Bell there was a repeat of Rose's reactions. Eina jumped over the couch, Hekate and Rose scuttling away as it was Eina's turn to crash on Bell's chest.
Unlike Rose who had gone for the lips from the very start, Eina switched between bawling her eyes out on his chest, scolding the boy, and kissing the living daylights out of him.
For the second time that day Shakti's stared owlishly, the crimson-haired goddess sliding next to her and whispering something that lit up the Ankusha's cheeks.
"Hekate!" Hestia shouted "Explain, please"
"Haiii~" Hekate merrily skipped towards Hestia.
-0-
Bell spent the rest of the evening explaining what happened to him in the dungeon and how Shakti had helped him at the Pantheon after over dinner with his Familia, inviting Shakti and Eina since the former's clothes were still drying and the later wouldn't let go of Bell's arm whatsoever.
The Hearth Goddess was angry that the Guild put Bell through such a strain right after fighting for his life for two days, Eina and Rose both apologized on behalf of the Guild even if they were not involved with incident.
Whatever punishment Bell was going to receive from his Familia was swept in the wave of resentment for the bespectacled Guild member that did not follow protocol, and when asked what had sparked the questioning Bell had placed the valis bag on the table.
Rose was quick to take it, placing it on a balance she owned for counting Valis by the weight and the group waited in silence as the balance numbers kept going up, and up, and up.
It passed the 50k mark.
Then 100k.
Then 200k.
When the balance finally stopped at 260k, everyone stared in disbelief at the white-haired boy who was doing his best impression of a fish out of water.
"Oh… That's why they made an inquisition" Bell mumbled "I guess we don't need to live apart anymore?"
That was one of reasons for celebrating that night, the most vocal out of all being Rose who was glad Bell wouldn't leave her side more than necessary.
The second reason came as a surprise for Hestia and Eina who weren't present earlier when Hekate re-announced Bell's level up, disbelief and stress shared between the two missing women since one would have to come up with a good name for her Child in the next god's meeting while the other would have to take care of Bell's papers at the guild.
However not everything was a bed of roses.
Shakti warned Bell that if he continued delivering as many rare drops as he did at the Guild then there was a chance that the Guild would question Bell again and from how secretive Bell's goddesses seemingly were about him, then Shakti was sure that it was an outcome the boy did not want to repeat.
Hestia came as a lifesaver at that moment, promising Bell that she would speak with Hephaestus and try to make a deal with the goddess of smithing to trade the drops with her Familia instead of the guild.
Bell's lack of knowledge presented itself to the four women when he asked how that was possible if the Guild was the only place for trading monster cores and drops.
Once more Eina took the stage as Hestia Familia's Advisor and explained to Bell that the Guild was the only establishment that traded monster cores however all other monster drops were fair trade between an Adventurer and whoever wanted said drop.
The second thorn wedged between the Familia members that night was when Shakti asked Bell once more if he would take part in the Monsterphillia however before any sort of discussion could come from that thorn Bell said he wanted to take part in the event.
Hekate smiled, noting how none of the girls deigned to even try and change his mind.
Such a supportive bunch, even if their worries were clearly visible in their eyes, they still decided to support Bell's endeavors.
When nighttime arrived and it was time for the guests to leave, the half-elf bombarded Bell with her worries once more and he easily caved in since he wasn't going to ignore Eina's feelings, thankfully Rose was okay with allowing the half-elf to stay another night despite the trouble it could get the werewolf in with her landowner.
All the more reason to start looking into another place to live, one which would not limit either the Familia members or their friends from staying over.
Bell's Familia retired for the night, leaving Bell alone with the Ankusha at the front door of the apartment so he could bid goodbye to his new friend.
"Thank you for everything" Bell bowed politely.
"It was nothing" Shakti replied, fiddling with a lock of her short blue hair "When do you think you will have your Monsterphillia papers ready for me to collect?"
"Tomorrow evening should be fine! Eina's going to help me prepare it during our guild session" Bell scratched his cheek "There's only a week left right before the event, right?"
"Yes, you should use the valis you earned today to get better gear for that day" Shakti advised.
"Ah right" Bell just got reminded of Tsubaki's and Welf's offer "What kind of monster will I be fighting?"
Shakti hummed "Since you'll enter as a level 2, it'll be anything between the 10th and 17th floor"
"Anything?" Bell frowned.
"I won't give any more details than that" Shakti features softened "So please, prepare yourself really well Bell"
"I will" bell determinedly nodded "Also, I know you won't like hearing this but I'm really sorry about… you know… the handprint and stuff…"
"I don't mind" Shakti looked away "I should've known better than to grab onto you when you were still dirty from a dungeon run, as for the handprint… we'll… leave it at that"
Cue dusted cheeks.
"Would you let me make it up to you another time?" Bell asked, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
Shakti looked down "Don't you have a partner already? Why would you ask me that?"
Bell sputtered "No, no, no, not like that I mean, as friends. And as an apology!"
"Maybe, I'll keep it in mind" Shakti turned around so Bell could not see her face anymore "I best leave, it's getting too late"
"Right, sorry for keeping you so late"
"Good night, Cranel"
"Good night, miss Shakti"
Bell stared quietly as the blue-haired woman walked away, a nagging feeling at the back of his head that he did his best to ignore. He wasn't dumb, he understood her actions at the end and could guess her feelings.
But like Shakti said, he already had a partner.
Two in fact.
And even if Bell's gramps wanted him to get a harem, the boy would not betray his partners' feelings for a childish wish.
"You could've been kinder to her" Rose's voice came from behind him, the werewolf silently sliding her arms around Bell's neck and pulling him back into her generous bosom.
"I don't want to be that type of man" Bell sighed "If someone played dumb to my feelings and stringed me along, I would get really angry…"
"So, you did notice how she looked at you" Rose whispered.
"A bit… I'm… Keeping a close eye on how people interact with me" Bell sighed again, he was level 2 now, and he didn't want to risk his willpower effect affecting those around him in the wrong way.
Maybe if Shakti had acted the same way with him without Bell having that stupid skill, then he would've had an easier time believing that one brief meeting and one day worth of conversation to be enough for some attraction to form but as it was, he couldn't put it past his stupid skill creating those feelings.
Even if his goddess had said the skill didn't work that way, Bell wouldn't risk it.
"You do know I don't mind, right?" Rose asked, pulling the boy inside while still in her arms and closing the door with her hips.
'Bell, marry her. Right now, I don't care what the fuck you think. MARRY HER NOW, MY BOY'
Gramps, what the- Get the hell out of here!
"What?"
"I said I don't mind" Rose repeated, sitting Bell on the couch, and straddling his lap "Or did you think that I included Eina into our relationship just because she was my closest friend?"
"I… yes?" Bell's hand unconsciously found Rose's hips "I didn't put much thought into it really, I just… trust you"
Rose's heart warmed at Bell's sincerity, she cupped his cheeks and ghosted his lips with her own.
"And I trust you" A short kiss
"This body-" Rose's pressed her dressed core against Bell's crotch.
"And this heart-" Rose's used one of Bell's hands to cup her breast.
"Have been claimed by you" Rose smiled "My only fear is you disappearing forever from my life. So long as you never leave my side, I don't care about anyone that comes after"
Bell frowned "Isn't that… wrong?"
Rose moved his other hand to her backside "Do you truly believe it to be wrong?"
Bell's jaw clicked shut.
His grandfather had raised him to create a harem, the best harem the world had ever seen or would ever see to be specific. Bell's selfish nature told him it wasn't wrong wanting to live up to those expectations, but his kind heart wouldn't allow himself to string his partners emotions like that.
A relationship wasn't just about himself after all, and if they had traded places and Rose was the one to ask for another partner, Bell was absolutely certain he would selfishly keep his werewolf to himself.
Bell's body reacted to those thoughts, his fingers digging into Rose's supple skin.
Rose giggled "I won't lie and say I don't want you all for myself, but I know there's many places I won't be able to go with you and I don't want to become a prison for your heart, I would rather be the sexy warden letting others in and out"
Bell snorted "Really?"
"Yes"
"Are you really okay with me… getting more partners?"
"Yes, but only if they are as cute and honest as our submissive half-elf, or as adorable as the Ankusha" Rose giggled and started moving her hips back and forwards.
'BELL LISTEN TO ME, MARRY THAT WOMAN RIGHT N-'
"I love you" Bell admitted after a moment of silence, and he knew he said the right words when Rose's tail and ears wiggled happily.
"I love you too" Rose replied instantly, snaring her arms around his neck once more.
"I will really do it you know…?" Bell tested Rose one last time, the werewolf grinning hungrily at him.
"I will give you a very good incentive to do it" Rose huskily whispered, and Bell knew he had awoken the hungry werewolf. Good for her though, because Bell was just as hungry as the werewolf who gave herself to him for the rest of the night.
-0-
"Bell, you good?" Welf asked, slapping a hand against Bell's back. The young adventurer stumbled forward, shaking his head fervently and focusing on the world around him and not the strong memories of the previous night.
"Sorry Welf, you were saying?" Bell asked, looking around the Crozzo's current smithy.
It looked good, or at least that's what Bell thought since he hadn't entered any other smithy to compare it with.
"I was asking what kind of weapon you wanted to try for our first test" Welf reiterated, the tall crimson-haired man plucking a sword from the wall and giving it to Bell for testing.
"I'm going to be fighting monsters bigger than me so probably something that makes up for that?" Bell replied, testing the sword balance, and giving it back with a shake of his head "Maybe a lighter but stronger version of that sword, it feels like it could break in my hand the moment I hit something too hard at the pommel"
Welf frowned, taking the sword, and giving it a once over before throwing it into the pile of discarded weapons at the corner of his smithy that Bell had already found imperfections with.
The Crozzo's pride as a blacksmith was at play with his first contracted customer.
Welf had initially thought Bell wasn't at the level Tsubaki had initially thought but after Bell had found the first weapon's imperfection, an axe whose handle would break exactly above his his grip in three swings and gave a demonstration which played exactly like Bell had said, Welf's thoughts aligned more with Tsubaki's expectations of the white-haired adventurer.
That was one hour ago, and they had already gone over one third of Welf's attempt at 'special' weapons that nobody had bought yet, with all ending in the discarded pile at the corner.
The blacksmith had tried to sell those to second and first-rate adventurers who scoffed at his offers, and he now knew why.
Though the blacksmith could do without the boy losing himself in his thoughts every five minutes, whatever Bell was thinking must be extremely important for him to take it so easy on choosing his new weapons.
If only Welf knew.
"Here, how about this?" Welf threw one of his better special creations, a short sword.
Bell caught it, swung down before reverse-gripping it for an upper swing.
"This one"
Welf blinked "Really?"
"Yeah, it's better than everything you've shown me so far, the best actually"
Ouch
"You don't have any kind of lances or spears, right?" Bell asked, ignoring how Welf clutched his hurt heart.
"No, I haven't obtained good materials to make a good shaft" Welf leaned on the counter for support.
"Monster materials, what do you need?" Bell asked.
"This and that, don't think you can get it on a short notice thought" Welf replied honestly, standing straight again.
"Don't worry, just give me a list of what you need, and I'll try to get it for the next batch of weapons" Bell smiled.
"Right, nothing to lose either way" Welf went to the back to write down the list of things he could use for blacksmithing while Bell continued to look around for something that caught his eye.
And found it he did.
A big, brown, square-shaped, sling shoulder bag. Three belts secured the opening and another belt that wrapped around the waist to keep it from slinging around during acrobatics movements.
"Welf, I need this"
"Right, take it and I'll add it to the contract"
"Thanks"
-0-
Sadly, Bell did not find any other weapon that matched the short sword Welf had crafted. The young adventurer left Welf's smithy 50k valis less heavy but with one proper loot bag that he was already wearing under his armor and the short sword strapped to the right side of his hip.
Welf's smithy had been the third place Bell had gone into for the day, first being accompanying Eina to the guild for the Guild's Advisor session in which she helped him write the Monsterphillia papers, review the dungeon's material from the 8th to the 18th floor and gave him one of the Hestia Familia's adventurer packs promised as a reward.
Bell had left the guild after Eina had stolen a quick kiss before their session was over, and a promise to not disappear again.
After that he had gone once more to the Blue Pharmacy to restock on the potions he used in the dungeon, once more the God Miach was the one to attend him and even gave him a freebie since 'it was going to rot in a few days' or so the god said.
Bell still made the mental promise to make it up to the God as soon as possible since even a rotten elixir could heal a lot of extreme wounds.
And then he had gone to Welf's smithy, and we already saw how that played out.
Now if only Bell could stop thinking about Rose's moans from the previous night, that would be great. Bell wouldn't lie and say the idea of getting himself a harem wasn't enticing, his first taste of multiple partners was thoroughly etched into his mind.
If that wasn't enough, Rose was extremely persuasive, and when Eina joined into the fray, Bell fought a losing battle.
One he wasn't even sure he wanted to win.
Insight triggered; Bell's new short sword instinctually finding the Goblin's throat three steps into the first floor of the dungeon.
Bell took a deep breath, calming his mind and stopping every thought. He could worry about his love affairs later, right now the dungeon required his full attention.
The white-haired adventurer did not know how his new skills worked, and from the way he continuously dispatched everything in his path with ease, he gained no info from them.
Bell didn't waste time in the upper floors since the Excelia he gained from the monsters up there wasn't enough, nor did their drops appear in Welf's material list. The young adventurer used his newfound agility to dash through the dungeon, the monsters giving him wide berth now that they could feel the boy's overwhelming strength over him.
Bell barely stopped even when he reached the seventh floor, the monsters that had once given him trouble became minced meat, and even the Needle Rabbit that had been too fast for him to properly track the last time became sluggishly slow for Bell's newfound prowess.
The eighth and ninth floors increased the monster's strength, supposedly, but Bell still found no problems dealing with them. It was insane how much the level up had increased his base stats.
According to Eina that morning, he should expect at least that much with every level up since Bell was different from most other adventurers
The short sword he obtained from Welf was doing great too, even after reaching the triple digits in kills the sword had yet to have a single dent in it. Still, Bell needed to continue pushing himself forward as much as he could.
Just because he had leveled up doesn't mean he could go back to taking it easy.
His skills wouldn't wait for him, his dreams wouldn't wait for him.
His resolve was set, and damned be Bell before something could stop him.
Bell continued forward, his back burning the more focused he became. The dagger from the guild's adventurer pack found its place in his left hand once he was midway through the ninth floor, the short sword held in a reverse grip in his right hand.
The difference in length should've been jarring for any unseasoned adventurer, but Bell trained to use that to his advantage. Monsters they may be, but the lower he went and the stronger they got, the more wits and humanlike behavior they copied.
And the flaws came along with such cheap copy.
Purposefully exposed weak points in his stance allowed him to strike down any overextended attack, his newfound strength making it easy to parry or completely nullify the attack and kill his foe with quick slices.
Another suicidal stance that could end up with him crippled if he failed even a single counter, and it was one he wouldn't have used had he not have the confidence to pull it off.
But if he didn't take such risk, there would no reward.
At least not the kind Bell needed.
His pace got him into the tenth floor without him realizing until he came face to face with a new monster he hadn't fought before and only from Eina, another humanoid looking monster but smaller and skinnier with little wings on its back.
The speed at which the little Imp sped towards him surprised Bell a little, but once it got inside Insight range, Bell was already moving.
Two pieces of the new monster fell at either side of Bell, exploding into dust as the walls around him creaked with unborn laughter. The stone floor in front of him shot upwards, closing the pathway he had taken and leaving him with the sound of monsters being born from the direction he had come from.
"Another trap, really?" Bell mumbled to himself in annoyance and prepared for another prolonged battle.
And so, the dungeon shifted, its attention drawn to the soul that had gotten its attention and it decided to play once more.
-0- Chapter End -0-
Author's Note: No lemon this chapter, probably adding it later on as an omake/side story.
I wanted the focus of this chapter to be Shakti's development, Rose's surprising acceptance of Bell's harem and Bell's hesitation between his selfish nature and kind heart.
There're more words I want to add but it would take away from what I truly want you all to feel, and possibly critic/give your opinion about this chapter and the way I went about it.
- Signed: Jasmine / Shiiva