Bell was making his way towards the guild. He had woken up earlier on a patient bed in a building belonging to the Dian Cecht Familia. He was then informed by a purple-haired woman, who he came to know was Airmid Teasanare the Dea Saint, that he was dropped off by Aiz and his treatment was paid for already. He couldn't help but feel even more admiration towards her and feel like he owed her a great debt.
'She even pays for a stranger after saving them and carrying them. She really is a hero. Alright! I'm going to get stronger and save as many people as possible to become like her.' Bell affirmed his resolve.
As soon as he thought about the possibility of going to the dungeon again for a bit, however, he remembered Airmid's words.
"While they have been healed, your shoulders were completely crushed and may need a bit of time to get used to normal movement again. Please exercise restraint and do not go into the dungeon until you feel no more discomfort."
She was polite and was not making any expressions, but his instincts picked up a threat in the last sentence and made him shiver (but a part of it felt like he was being watched?). He did not want to know what that was about. Sure enough, there was a weird feeling as he did some of the recommended shoulder exercises as he walked. It was quickly getting better, but it would definitely impede his ability to fight at the moment.
Entering the guild building, he quickly spotted his advisor at her usual spot.
"Eiiiinaa-saaaan!" He called out happily.
"Oh Bell-kun, welcome back. How was the dungeon today?" Replied the brown-haired half-elf from behind a counter. She was happy to see him come back alive every day.
Bell stopped for a moment as some unpleasant memories flashed through his mind, but he was able to push those thoughts out due to his good mood.
"Well, I faced a minotaur on the 5th floor and was saved by-"
"A MINOTAUR ON THE 5th FLOOR?" Eina yelled out as she cut him off.
"Wait what were you doing on the 5th floor anyways? I was hesitating to allow you to go to the 4th floor!" She was pissed. Like every adventurer ever, it seemed like her warnings just went in one ear and out through the other. She did not need her adventurers dying, especially not someone as young as him.
"I'm sorry Eina-san, I got ahead of myself," Bell apologized.
He looked genuinely sorry and now that she calmed down, she remembered that he mentioned a minotaur.
"I'm just worried about you as your advisor, you know? Anyways, you mentioned a minotaur?"
"Yeah, I was chased by one on the 5th floor and was saved by Aiz-san."
"I heard that some minotaurs escaped but were all killed. I didn't know that they made it that far up. I'm glad that you are okay Bell," Eina smiled at him.
"Thank you, I'll be careful next time. Oh, by the way can I ask you something after exchanging the magic stones?" Bell asked.
"Sure."
Bell quickly went to the counters for the exchange and emptied the contents from his bag onto the tray. As he did so, he noticed a magic stone that was far larger than the rest.
'Don't tell me, Aiz-san gave the minotaur's stone to me?'
His total came to be 25500, with most of it coming from the minotaur.
"Good job newbie," said the person behind the counter.
It was a massive upgrade from his usual 3000-5000 per day. He had another thing to thank Aiz for. He quickly thanked the person at the counter and went back to his advisor.
"Eina-san, what can you tell me about Aiz-san?" Bell asked excitedly.
"Hmmmm? Calling the Sword Princess by her first name are we? You know that she has declined over a thousand men?" Eina teased.
"N-no it isn't like that! I just deeply admire her and want to know more about her. I also need to thank her properly for everything," he quickly added.
"Bell-kun, I think you have a crush," She paused to see his face redden a bit, but otherwise staring at her hopefully. Sighing, she continued, "The Loki Familia is known for celebrating the nights before and after an expedition at the Hostess of Fertility. You may find her there tomorrow, but it might not be easy to get to talk to her," she explained.
With a bright smile on his face, Bell quickly turned around and ran out while yelling "I LOVE YOU EINA-SAN," causing said person to blush as some people stopped and whistled at this.
'Seriously that Bell,' she thought while regaining her composure. It was good seeing him happy, especially after the brief expression of pain she saw on his face when she asked him how his day went.
"I'm back Kami-sama!" Bell exclaimed cheerfully as he entered the abandoned church where they lived.
"Welcome back Bell-kun, you seem happy today. Don't tell me you found a girl?" Hestia, his goddess, gave him a questioning look.
"No, but we have enough valis now to get a nice meal from a restaurant!"
"You mean, we can go on a date?" Hestia brightened up. "I think Monsterphilia is coming up, we can go on a date then. Me and my Bell ehehe~" Hestia went to lala land.
Bell scratched his head nervously.
"Umm Kami-sama, can you update my status?" He needed to know what exactly happened earlier. Was it a new skill?
"Sure, lie down," Hestia patted on the bed, oblivious to the anxiety coming off of Bell. It was embarrassing at first lying down without his shirt with Hestia straddling him, but it was nearly a daily occurrence now so he was getting used to it. As he closed his eyes, he could feel Hestia's finger gliding along his back, working to add the excelia to his falna.
Hestia normally enjoyed updating his status. She got to see some of the experiences, mainly the battles. The glimpses she got today were concerning. Bell had stared into the mouth of the minotaur, then a whole lot of… nothing that was filled with excelia? Then suddenly he was running away and was attacked again followed by more nothing, finally the same scene of the minotaur's mouth followed by a battle to the death ending with some girl saving him. Hestia would typically make a fuss about the feelings he seemed to be growing towards that girl, but was too confused to do so this time. The updated numbers she saw did not help.
Name: Bell Cranel
Familia: Hestia
Lv. 1
STR I - 82 - E - 422
VIT I - 13 - E - 478
DEX I - 92 - E - 403
AGI H - 172 - D - 581
MAG I - 0
Magic
Skills
Return By Death: Upon death, time goes back to a point from where survival is possible and this point cannot go backward or be controlled. Death grants a massive amount of excelia based on power difference.
Bonus effect: Excelia boost based on injuries.
Special effect: ?
Immortal Resolve: Immune to all mental attacks.
Developmental Abilities
"WHAAAAAAAAT!" She was in disbelief. Over 1500 stats gained in a single day? She was certain this was how much the most skilled adventurers gained in A YEAR. Most would probably take many years, with quite a few hitting their peaks as a level 1 with D to E stats.
But it came with a price. She looked at the two skills that were unheard of, focusing on the first one: Return By Death. The excelia filled nothingness she saw was death. Not just once, but Bell, her precious familia member, went through that twice. Bless that boy for still being able to smile.
"What's wrong Kami-sama?" Bell turned around as she got off of him and saw tears flowing down her cheek. He could immediately guess that it was about whatever skill he gained. She slowly turned the sheet towards him so he could look at it while wiping some tears with her other arm. He calmly observed it.
'Dying grants me the power to not die, how ironic,' he thought.
"B-Bell-kun, you-you-"
"Yes Kami-sama, I… died twice. I was scared. But don't worry, I'm okay now. I won't let this stop me, so please don't cry," Bell smiled to ease her worries.
'He's the one who went through all that, but I'm the one being comforted. This isn't right. I need to be stronger.'
Hestia climbed onto the bed and hugged Bell.
"You won't… stop being an adventurer will you?" She asked despite knowing the answer already.
"I won't."
"Then at least let me do this. I know that I'm a useless goddess, but I want to be there for you. Please come to me whenever it gets too hard, Bell."
At this, Bell also teared up a little.
"Kami-sama, you are not useless. Don't ever say that. You were the only one who extended their hand to me when I was new to Orario, and have been working hard to support the familia since even though that should be my job as the adventurer." There were signs of frustration in his voice.
"You too Bell-kun, you are the best member I could ask for," She reassured.
After staying like that for a while, they separated to talk more about his status, having both calmed down.
"Bell-kun, I'm sure you understand this, but please don't tell anyone about this skill. An obscene skill like this… I don't want to even imagine what the other gods would do if they found out. War games would be the least of our worries. Also… Don't ever use this intentionally to get stronger," Hestia finished with a stern expression on her face.
"Yes, I promise I won't do that." He wasn't lying.
She relaxed. "Good. Your second skill is also something that I haven't heard about, but it shouldn't cause any problems. Most first-class adventurers have a skill or two that are rare and very strong. Now that that's over, let's have dinner!" Hestia pulled Bell to the dinner table.
After eating the jagamarukuns that Hestia got from work, they prepared to sleep as they were both tired. Bell was going to sleep on the sofa as usual but Hestia insisted that he use the bed at least for tonight. Seeing that she wouldn't budge, Bell reluctantly agreed and his exhaustion took over; he fell asleep in the blink of an eye.
"Good night Bell-kun," whispered Hestia as she too fell asleep while holding onto his hand.
At the top of the cloud-piercing tower called Babel stood a bored goddess. Most would call her beauty incarnate, which wasn't a surprise since one of her domains as a god was beauty. Said goddess was stuck to the window, sliding down it as one could imagine a child doing. She wouldn't generally do this, especially in front of anyone, but she was mind-numbingly bored! Plus the only one watching was Ottarl, and the Boaz had seen plenty of her antics so one more wouldn't hurt.
Said Boaz would disagree, but he wasn't going to voice that opinion.
Freya looked at the borders of Orario, hoping to see a new and interesting soul enter the city. Maybe today was the day she would find her odr. Who was she kidding? Even finding Ali was a result of going to a different country. As she slid further down the glass, almost ready to return to her elegant posture, she looked at a certain soul. At first glance, it didn't look like anything special. Just a typical soul of an adventurer leaving the Dian Cecht Pharmacy. She wasn't even sure why she kept looking at that soul.
She squinted to focus on it. She wasn't sure how it was possible. It was not a dull grey soul as it seemingly appeared to be. No, it was a jewel hiding in plain sight. The brightest white she had ever seen, and the darkest black that could exist. Not mixing, but coexisting. A blinding purity marked by death. What hardships had he faced? It was enthralling. It did remind her of the Moirae Sisters for a moment but she chose to ignore that thought. She never liked them.
She wanted him. But more than wanting him for herself, she wanted to see him grow. To see if he could overcome the harsh fate that seemed to be clinging to him and shine brighter than the stars. An idea came to her. Now was the time to ask her loyal familia captain to assist her as he always does.
"Btrrl, Cn Ai sk brra bavel?" Right, she was still glued to the glass window.
She elegantly got off, wiped off non-existing dust, coughed, and turned around with a smile. "Ottarl, could you do me a favour?"
"Of course, say it and it will be done Freya-sama," he replied.
She smiled as her excitement reached new heights.
Bell woke up to see Hestia sleeping on top of him. "Hehe… Bell-kuuun gwehehe."
He did not let himself consider what her dream was about. After some embarrassment due to the view he got as well as a struggle to get away without waking her up, Bell prepared to go to the dungeon. Making sure he had everything, he turned around for a moment.
"I'm off, Kami-sama."
"Mm Bell-kun… idiot."
On his way to the dungeon. He was suddenly stopped out by someone.
"Excuse me adventurer-san, you dropped this," called out a grey-haired waitress.
"Huh, a magic stone? I thought I handed them all in yesterday," Bell pondered. "Thank you, umm."
"Syr Flover, please call me Syr," replied the girl named Syr.
"Thank you Syr-san. I'm Bell Cranel."
"Headed to the dungeon this early Bell-san?"
"Yes, I was on the way th-" *growl*. He was cut off by his stomach's vices, making him blush.
Syr stared at him for a bit and giggled, making him want to dig a hole at the spot. Suddenly, she turned around and ran inside the building next to them and came out just as fast.
"If you don't mind, you can have this," she said while holding out a lunchbox.
"Are you sure? Isn't this your breakfast?" He asked hesitantly.
"I'll get something from where I work when it opens. But since I am going hungry, won't you stop by and buy something this evening?"
So a sales tactic. How shrewd of her to take advantage of a 14-year-old boy. He didn't really mind it though since he would get food and had valis to spare after the haul yesterday anyways.
"Geez, how many adventurers have you gotten like this? Sure, I'll stop by tonight."
"Yes, I will be waiting for you Bell-san," Syr happily cheered before heading back to the building as Bell headed towards the dungeon.
Bell decided to take his time going through each floor today. He had two reasons to do so. Firstly, while mostly gone, he still felt slight tingling in his shoulders when he tried to move them fast. He would follow Amid's advice and only go all out once comfortable. The second reason was the sudden jump in status. He hadn't experienced anything like it before and so needed to get used to his new strength. Well, he also had two other reasons. He wanted an easier day without any threats to his life, and while confident that he could make it much further than the 5th floor with the new stats, he did not fancy an earful from Eina.
Taking his sweet time, Bell killed many kobolds, goblins, and dungeon lizards over the span of a few hours. He had also gotten quite lucky with drops, securing 5 goblin fangs and 3 kobold nails. He guessed that it was probably around noon, so he took a short break to eat the lunch that Syr had given him.
'This is… quite unique.' Bell finished the lunchbox with some difficulty. He wouldn't complain though. Nutrients are nutrients. His stomach was still fine so it was edible. Probably.
'I've cleaned up most of the 4th floor without difficulty and have half the day left. If I go until floor 6, there will only be two new monsters. I could take a few hours on both floors 5 and 6, and if a war shadow gives me any trouble, I'll come back right away.'
Bell proceeded with his plan and after 3 hours on the 5th and an hour on the 6th floor, decided to call it quits as his bag was starting to overflow from magic crystals and monster drops. He had also gotten a couple of cuts from a few war shadows that snuck up to him. They all faded from using one of Naaza's potions, but he didn't have many potions to spare and wanted to look completely unharmed when telling Eina that he went to the 6th floor.
On his way back, he took the common routes and walked at a leisurely pace since had time to kill. At first, he occasionally encountered a newly spawned monster, but the higher he went, the more adventurers there were and practically no monsters on the common routes. On his way out, he saw the three nice adventurers he once met entering the dungeon. For a moment he thought to call out, but then remembered that they technically never met and wouldn't recognize him. Still, it made him happy just to see them alive.
At the guild, Bell went to exchange his loot first as he saw Eina busy at the moment. Having spent around 10 hours in the dungeon, Bell had quite a lot to dump and probably could have had more if his bag was bigger, which he was now considering. Despite having to leave crystals behind, he made a new personal record of 32300 valis courtesy of getting a couple of drop items. The person behind the counter once again congratulated him and jokingly said that at this rate he will be making 100 000 valis per day in around a week.
"Hey Bell-kun, how was the dungeon today? You didn't take any risks did you?" He heard Eina say while waking up to her.
"Nope. I took my time cleaning every floor before moving on and barely took any hits today."
"I see, that's good. Seems like you are finally listening to me. What floor did you stop at?"
There it was. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that, but he was mentally prepared. Probably. Maybe. Okay, maybe not.
"I stopped at the 6th floor. Haha?" He scratched his head while laughing nervously. He swore he saw Eina's glasses break, repair, break, then repair again. Yeah, he was in for an ear lashing. He averted his eyes and saw a pink-haired guild worker looking at them with an 'o' face.
"Bell-kun. You… Did you already forget what happened when you went to the 5th floor just yesterday!? And here I thought you were finally listening to me! Listen mister, I am saying this because of YOUR safety. You shouldn't be on those floors without at least a G in multiple stats! What if a war shadow found you?" She furiously yelled.
He knew she was genuinely concerned about his well-being. So he needed to ease her worries.
"Eina-san, I cleaned every floor and took my time to make sure I wasn't in danger. War shadows were a bit tricky, but couldn't really hurt me. See? I'm not injured at all," he spun in place to show no signs of injuries. "All of my stats are higher than G," he added.
"Higher than G in two weeks? That's not possible!" As unbelievable as it may be, she did not think that he was one to lie. After all, he willingly told her about what he did despite knowing how she would react. Additionally, it was true that he didn't have any injuries. She had also seen how many crystals he had dumped onto the tray.
*sigh* "Fine, I believe you. But please discuss with me how far you are going to go before and not after," she relented.
"Yes, thank you Eina-san!" His never-ending enthusiasm made her smile.
'Please don't ever lose that, Bell-kun.'
Normally, Bell would've shown his back to Eina to prove his point since he trusted her. His skill complicated things. He didn't think that she needed to be burdened by that knowledge, nor was he going to break his promise to his goddess. They would discuss together and only tell someone if they both agreed. He still needed to let her know about his stats since his shoulders were fine now and he felt ready for the 7th floor.
Hestia wasn't back yet when he arrived. He decided to take a shower first to be ready for going out in the evening. When he was ready to go, he saw her coming inside.
"Welcome back Kami-sama. Could you please update my status before I go?"
"Oh Bell-kun you're back early today. Did something happen?" She was worried that something happened again.
"No, I just promised to repay a favour by buying food from the Hostess of Fertility tonight," he assured her. "And I might be able to find Aiz-san there."
"Geh. Are you going on dates behind my back now!?" She asked as she started updating Bell's status.
"No Kami-sama! I just need to thank her for everything she did."
She wasn't fully convinced, but let it slide for now as she finished updating his status.
Name: Bell Cranel
Familia: Hestia
Lv. 1
STR E - 422 - E - 434
VIT E - 478 - E - 480
DEX E - 403 - E - 410
AGI D - 581 - D - 593
MAG I - 0
Magic
Skills
Return By Death: Upon death, time goes back to a point from where survival is possible and this point cannot go backward or be controlled. Death grants a massive amount of excelia based on power difference.
Bonus effect: Excelia boost based on injuries.
Special effect: ?
Immortal Resolve: Immune to all mental attacks.
Developmental Abilities
This was a much more normal growth. Considering the minimal growth of vitality, Hestia could rest assured that Bell wasn't putting himself in dangerous situations unnecessarily.
"By the way Kami-sama, could you print a copy without the skills from now on?"
"Sure, but what for?"
Bell then explained what happened at the guild. He also added how he was feeling good now and wanted to go to the 7th floor tomorrow and needed to show his status to get approval from his advisor.
"Can you trust her that much? What if she questions how you grew so fast?" Inquired Hestia.
"Yes, I trust her. She might ask, but she won't press." Bell confidently replied.
Hestia would need to check on the advisor herself later on just to be safe.
After saying goodbye to Hestia, Bell headed towards the Hostess of Fertility. He initially missed it. Twice. But who could blame him? He was still new to the area as far as he was concerned. Entering the building, he immediately noted the pleasant atmosphere, as well as the waitresses. There were cat people and even an elf. Looking around, he found the person he was looking for as they walked up to him.
"Thank you for coming Bell-san, please follow me," Syr said quickly, leaving him no room to say anything as she immediately took him to a reserved seat near the counter.
"Hoh, so you're the kid Syr was talking about. Despite your innocent face, I hear you eat a ton. Spend a lot, and you're a welcome customer!" Laughed the towering dwarf(?) from behind the counter. Wait, who eats a ton? Bell looked at Syr strangely.
"…"
"Teehee."
"Ummm, I can't actually eat a lot you know?" Bell tried to reason.
"It's okay. Just have as much as you can!" Syr clapped her hands. Yeah, he wasn't getting out of this.
"By the way, thanks for this morning. It was a huge help," Bell remembered to thank her.
"No problem, it was well worth it. You don't mind coming here to eat occasionally do you?" She put on her best smile as she said that. Bell could bet that her smile robs adventurers of money that stepped anywhere near the pub.
"How about this? I can keep making you lunchboxes if you become a frequent customer. Please?" She used a lethal technique: the puppy dog eyes. Sighing, Bell agreed. As she sat down beside him, Syr started explaining things about the place. The dwarf, known as Mama Mia, was a former adventurer. He also learned the names of the other maids, Ryuu, Anya, Chloe, and Lunoire.
During their talk, there was suddenly a ruckus near the entrance.
"They're here!" "It's the Loki familia!" "The giant slayers…" "Look, it's the sword princess."
Looking at the entrance, he saw a bunch of first-class adventurers come in, some he even recognized. 'Braver' Finn Deimne, 'Elgarm' Gareth Landrock, 'Nine Hell' River Ljos Alf, and of course, 'Sword Princess' Aiz Wallenstein. He stared at her.
'What do I do? Can I really just walk up to her and randomly thank her with all these people around? No, I'll just observe for now.' Bell was more nervous now that he actually saw her again. Perhaps a bit of it was due to what Eina said. He rapidly shook his head to dispel the blush before it could form.
Syr looked at him with concern. "Hello, Earth to Bell-san?"
Noticing his gaze, she continued. "The Loki familia are loyal customers. They come here often to celebrate."
Syr pouted. Bell had looked at Aiz the entire time. Suddenly, a werewolf from the group started speaking loudly.
"Aiz, tell us about what happened that other day. You know the last minotaur you killed? The tomato kid there!"
"Are you talking about the minotaurs that fled from the 17th floor?"
"Yeah those. So they somehow managed to escape, and guess who they ran into? Some weak little rookie!"
'That… was me,' Bell realized.
"I wanted to laugh my ass off, he was cornered like a rabbit! Hell, he even looked like a rabbit!
"So what happened to the kid?" Asked Loki.
"Aiz slashed the minotaur at the last second, and the kid was covered in cow blood. He looked just like a tomato! And then you know what he did? He started bawling HAHAHA!" The wolf laughed his butt off like he said he wanted to.
Bell clenched his fists. He couldn't deny what was being said.
"It pissed me off. Pathetic kids like him shouldn't become adventurers if they're going to cry like that."
"That's enough Bete. It was our fault that the minotaurs escaped. We should be apologizing to him." Riveria intervened.
"Hah? Why are you defending that weakling? Trash is trash and that's a fact!"
Loki sighed. "You're ruining the celebration Bete."
"What do you think Aiz, wasn't he just pathetic?" The werewolf now identified as Bete continued.
"No, he wasn't," Aiz was genuine in her reply. Bete wasn't going to have it though.
"Stop playing nice. I'll change the question then. Who would you rather mate with, me or him?"
"Bete you're drunk," an amazoness said matter-of-factly.
"Shut up dumbazon. Answer me Aiz, would you accept if he confessed to you?" Despite asking for an answer, he continued without letting her answer. "A wimp who is abysmally weak has no right to stand beside you!"
Bell couldn't handle it anymore. He ran out.
"Bell-san!" Syr called out.
"Wow, he must have guts to dine and dash at Mama Mia's place."
'Bell… He was here?' Aiz ran out, but he was already gone. He was there the entire time, but she didn't even defend him despite knowing how brave and impressive he was in his battle. Yet another thing that she had to apologize for.
Bell was frustrated. Not at Bete, he was completely right, but at himself. How was it that he dreamt of being a hero like her, someone able to stand by her side, but didn't even push himself to be stronger? Someone who can't save themselves can't save anyone else. It was beyond foolish to think otherwise. He needed to get stronger.
The monsters didn't know what hit them. Bell blitzed through the many floors, not registering where he was or even picking up any magic stones. He was seeking out battle after battle. Before he knew it, he was fighting armies of killer ants and needle rabbits. An ant charged at him from behind, dealing significant damage. Or what should've been significant damage. Bell turned around, ignoring the pain in his back, and sliced through it like all of the others. He looked at the remaining monsters and let out a guttural roar as he charged in.
'I need to get stronger,' was his only thought as he danced around the rabbits, decimating them with his knife. He jumped around, taking advantage of his superior agility, to dodge the attacks from the ants. He hacked and slashed, not leaving a single monster that he saw alive that night.
Hestia was worried. It was very late at night and Bell wasn't back yet. What if he was out there somewhere and stuck dying over and over again? Nobody would even know.
Just as she was about to go search for him, the door opened. Bell walked in with tattered clothes and injuries everywhere. Fortunately, none of the injuries looked too deep.
"Bell-kun where were you!?"
"Dungeon," he calmly replied.
"What? At this time of the night, without even your armor? What were you thinking?"
"..." He did not reply.
"Y-you didn't-" She started asking, fearing the worst.
"No Kami-sama. I promised you that I wouldn't intentionally use it."
So something happened that he didn't want to talk about. But he was keeping his promise at least. She was glad about that. As Bell went to shower, Hestia prepared a light dinner using ingredients that they were now able to buy due to the sudden increase in the valis Bell was earning. Bell looked dead tired while eating and after laying down and muttering "status," he promptly fell asleep. Hestia worked on updating his status and confirmed that whatever prompted Bell to act that way wasn't anything life-threatening as she couldn't see it. She would still have to chide him for being as reckless as he was without even getting his gear.
Finishing her job, she looked at the increase in stats while copying them on a piece of paper without the skills as requested by Bell.
Name: Bell Cranel
Familia: Hestia
Lv. 1
STR E - 434 - E - 458
VIT E - 480 - D - 502
DEX E - 410 - E - 439
AGI D - 593 - C - 612
MAG I - 0
Magic
Skills
Return By Death: Upon death, time goes back to a point from where survival is possible and this point cannot go backward or be controlled. Death grants a massive amount of excelia based on power difference.
Bonus effect: Excelia boost based on injuries.
Special effect: ?
Immortal Resolve: Immune to all mental attacks.
Developmental Abilities
Despite the number of them, none of the injuries were severe and it showed as the stats increased by a solid amount, but nothing impossible. Much of his fatigue was due to the fact that he had already spent probably over 10 hours in the dungeon earlier that day.
'Seriously that Bell-kun, he needs to stop worrying me.' Despite thinking that, Hestia knew what she was going to do. Since Bell was working so hard, she needed to do something for him as well. She strengthened her resolve much to the chagrin of a red-haired blacksmith goddess.
AN: Oh my god my writing sucks. I'm sorry for sticking so close to canon, I just don't have the creative juices that other writers do. But I will try to make the canon events have more and more differences, and have plans of some new stuff in between. Also, my pacing seems to be all over the place. I wanted to make it kinda descriptive but it seemed like it was far too slow but then other parts were too fast. Battles are also very hard, I may not even try for smaller battles like how the last trip to the dungeon wasn't even a page long.
Now as for RBD, I understand that many people would not like the boosts I gave it and wanted a Subaru treatment. Good writers, please make one like that or using another take on RBD (I would read it). I may need Bell (and possibly other characters) to become a bit stronger than in canon to be able to deal with some harsher fates, and also didn't want him to suffer with nothing to show for it. That is the basis for his growth, the more he suffers, the greater the growth. It also does absolutely nothing to help him deal with the current situation unless he has access to a status update in the loop. Sure he might have it easy in some things later, but he will very much suffer.
Some explanation on how much of a boost he gets. There is a very low minimum and a decently high maximum that a death can get. There are certain stat thresholds that drastically reduce stat gain on top of the normal slowing down as stats are increased. Dying to the same thing again reduces stat gain from it compared to dying to something else of the same strength. This is regardless of what loop. Example: Dying to Asterius in let's say loop 5, 7, 9. He would get a lot less in loops 7 and 9 compared to if he didn't die to him in loop 5. To get to 999 in all stats would've required around 25 more deaths to the minotaur. Dying after accomplishing a great feat and going back to before it happened removes being able to level up meaning the feat has to happen in the correct loop.
The boost on injury effect, as you may have noticed, is much slower than Liaris Freeze. To compare, Bell would need to be bleeding out from multiple wounds while having many broken bones and possibly missing limbs and fighting with that to grow as fast. This does not multiply the death boost, they are separate from each other.
I think that's all I can explain without spoiling anything. Here's a challenge: try to guess what the ? will be (hint it's mentioned in this note) and when will his next death be (honestly kinda obvious from canon).