Edit: small mistake, on one conversation with someone...
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"Magic, in it's purest form is just energy, that we can channel into different forms, those will usually have a tendency towards some element or other, elves like me or other magically inclined races can have some sort of magic from birth but you and others need a falna to acquire it."
The green haired high elf continued her lecture, explaining the basis of magic to her new student.
"As a result, your magic will form with an affinity toward elements that depends on your very soul. Furthermore, there are multiple types of magic, those can be: Enchantments like your Eden's Veil, spells like mine, and curses which are similar to enchantments but negative and cast on enemies and not the user."
They were in the library, sat opposite to eachother on a table, open books were piled together along with paper and feather pens.
"Now, regarding the previous statement, Enchantments and curses are very similar. However their main difference is?"
Bell focused his eyes on a distant shelf, having read a book about it, he then effortlessly responded:
"The conditions for a curse spell to manifest in one's falna usually excludes the possibility of it having any tendency towards faith or light, and the contrary is true to enchantments."
"That is correct, this things might seem trivial at first but are pivotal to one's understanding of magic-"
Their lesson was interrupted by the short figure of a blond Prum.
"Hey Riveria! There is news of a pair of amazons that just arrived in Orario, potential strong recruits, me and gareth are going to investigate, want to co-" He quickly returned from where he came once he caught the glare that the high elf gave him.
"Now... where are we?"
"Chapter 1 of 'Bases of magic and other arcane arts', I believe."
"Thank you Bell, after this chapter we can start training your casting and mind efficiency, hopefully you can use it for more than a few minutes at a time."
"Yes!"
"Don't worry, with how hard you work, we will start the actuall training faster than you think."
"... I hope so..."
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A silvery line defended the sweeping strike of a hunting knife, a kick soon followed, but it only served to put distance between the two combatants.
The golden swordswoman that fought against the White haired future adventurer was surprised, he was finally able to use a real weapon though just a simple knife, he was surprisungly efficient with it too, being able to chain attacks relatively fast compared to an unblessed person.
What he lacked, thanks to his negative status, he made up in his fighting style, having an eye for these sorts of things, a slightly scarier version of his aunt's talent, mainly due to the fact that a child can imitate your techniques.
Ais wasn't fighting back as usual, mainly due to the change in Bell, he needed to adjust to fighting, since now he finally could. He seems better, maybe today is a calmer one.
She was reminded of his condition when Bell fell to the ground, accidentally evading a counter attack on Ais' part. He was on his knees and breathing heavily, he was tempted to turn on his magic, but he couldn't last long at his current control.
"Are you okay?"
"Gah, no... I think my muscles are burning..."
"That usually means you are improving."
"Seriously?"
"Yep, that's what Gareth told me."
"Great... Do you want to eat something?, I'm a bit hungry."
Her eyes lit up at the opportunity to eat her favorite snack.
"Preferably not Jyagamarukun, the oil just doesn't sit well with me..."
He looked away from her heartbroken face, still he wouldn't risk the rest of his day.
"I can make you something, You know, a good diet can help in becoming stronge-"
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the kitchen at the mere mention of strength.
At the kitchen, they found Anakitty and Alicia, helping the staff prepare dinner.
"Hello Ana, Alicia."
"...Hi..."
"Ais? what are you doing here? I thought you only ate potato snacks?" Anakitty playfully said.
Meanwhile Alicia went on her usual worrying about Bell's well being, it took a while but her devotion to Riveria passed to the boy, especially since she learned that he is technically her adopted son.
"B-Bell, are you alright you look a little rough, anything I can do for you?"
"I'm alright, just training with Ais... *Cough* just a bit hungry."
"Please, let me make you something!"
"No need, I can do it myself."
She was about to say something when Anakitty glared at her.
"You still need to help me with dinner!"
"Still I-"
"No buts, you heard her!" Bell said with a relatively annoyed face.
"A-alright..."
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A few minutes had passed, Bell and Ais were eating by the garden when Finn, Gareth, Loki and an unknown duo of amazons appeared.
"Here, these one is Bell and the other is our famous Ais Wallenstein." Loki introduced them to the nee recruits.
"H-hey Bell, can you show them around?" Finn asked, secretly begging to escape the amazon he himself made join the familia.
"O-okay?"
"Thank you! Hey These are Tiona and Tione, they are around your age and come from abroad, please if you could show them around while we discuss some important matters."
The amazon duo was surprised by the sudden change in tour guide, while Tione, the one with longer hair and an actual chest was sad to see her new captain go, Tiona, the one more feral looking and energetic one was happy to meet new faces.
"Hello! Ais and Bell right? what do you like to do around here?"
"Oh!" Bell was caught off guard by her question, he had begun going out more, mainly to train, but still most of his time he spends on the library.
"Well I can't go out most of the time... so... I suppose I just stay inside at the library."
"I-I like going to the dungeon... And potato snacks..."
"Ohhhh you guys have a library in here? can I see it?"
"Okay, just follow me, Ais do you wanna come too?"
"Alright."
The newly formed group was making their way to the library, also known to some in the familia as Bell's lair, mainly Raul who once faced his wrath when not returning books to their correct places.
"So... any preferences?" He said as he unlocked the double wooden doors that guarded such treasure trove of knowledge.
"Wow!... that is amazing, How big is this place? do they have hero stories in here?"
"Not every book is a fairy tale Tiona!"
"Well... we do have the basics... Argonaut, Knights of Phianna, the Sword Oratoria..."
Tiona was absolutely radiant, grabbing Bell by the arm and dragging him to where he said was the stories' section.
"Well... that was something, so what about you Ais? Anything you do for fun?"
"I-I train?"
"Wanna leave them here and go spar?"
"... Yes."
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"So you too like Hero stories?" The amazon inquired?
"Well I do..."
"You don't seem that enthusiastic."
"Most people call them childish, but they hold a special value to me..."
"Oh, I understand, they have a similar importance to me, although I wouldn't want to speak about it too."
"No it's not something secret... or that I should hide... I have an incurable disease, I'm already pushing my luck here considering how long it's been since my last complications."
"T-thats horrible... I'm sorry for making you say this..."
"No, I need to open up more it's not like I can hi- *Cough* *Cough*" He covered his mouth with the back of his elbow, seeing blood stain his shirt.
"A-are you alright?"
"Y-yes, I just need to take more medicine, If you can wait here for a while..."
"O-ok..."
He ran quickly out of the room, activating eden's veil when out of sight, still hiding the magic to others at Riveria's request. Climbed up the stairs and went quickly to his room, deactivating his magic and drinking the medicine he was supposed to have taken with him.
He went back to the library still a little dizzy but otherwise safe from any seizures.
"I-I'm back sorry to leave you here..."
"D-Don't worry... I can always come back later, although Tione and that other girl went somewhere else."
"Ais? Hmmmm she should be back at the courtyard, probably trying to convince your sister to spar..."
"Ooohhh, and they haven't invited me? Come on Bell, you won't regret seeing this show!" The amazon shouted, grabbing Bell's hand and dragging him along once again to the courtyard, where Tione and Ais were fighting.
An upwards slash was met with twin knives blocking the fast attack with an "X" shape. Tione had been in a defensive position mostly because of the girl's relentless fighting style, thrusts and slashes put Tione in way too much pressure.
"Ohhh I didn't knew she could fight like that!"
"Hmmm, you fight with knifes too?"
"Me? nahh, they are too small, I prefer heavier weapons!"
"Hmmm, you know, with the way this fight is going, yout sister will win..."
"What?! I mean... I have faith in her but..." The amazon looked at him with a rather confused stare, sure she had trust in Tione's capabilities, but that was a loosing bet.
"Look at Ais' footwork, she has to keep herself light to always go in the offensive, but that will always put her into a vulnerable position unless she fixes it, Tione tries to counter attack but gets blocked, it's just a question of how will Tione make her opportunity count."
"What?"
"Just look, it's starting!"
And right on cue, The golden blur that mercilessly assaulted Tione was caught by a shoulder bash, one with superior strentgh, that was followed up by a hand firmly grasping her heel, she was sent to the ground with no chances of coming back as a knee stopped her movements and the knifes were barely touching her neck, the signal that meant the end of the duel.
"H-how?" Tiona looked at him again but with more admiration than anything else, although that sparked a dangerous curiosity in her, could he fight as good as Ais? because if so her instincts were already screaming at her.
"We should... *Cough* *Cough* go see them. I don't think Ais will take that defeat well..."
"O-okay..."
They made their way to the two combatants, Bell's voice barely serving to calm Ais.
"Ais, are you alright?
"B-Bell!?"
"Oh, you are back... Just... Let me... Catch my breath..." Tione said, showing how tiring the spar session was.
"Ais, you know you weren't supposed to go that far."
"But I..."
"You don't need to worry you know? she can survive it. Besides, I am a bit curious you seem to know a thing or two about fighting..." Tiona said with a smile.
"I... Shouldn't... My condition might start coming back, I might be in trouble with Riveria if I fight... But I suppose we could use the training swords for a bit."
He grabbed a wooden saber and got into a similar stance to Ais, however he was far more balanced, his grip on the sword was firm and his gaze seemed to sharpen at the thought of combat.
Tiona too quickly grabbed a dull axe and got on her combat position.
With a quick glance Ais understood her role as a referee, and initiated a countdown.
"1! 2! 3! Go!" as she shouted those words, Tiona jumped forward, axe in hand, as Bell brought his sword up to block it, but instead of stopping the attack he let it slide cleanly off the side of his pratice sword.
The amazon attacked again, rotating her torso when slamming blunt side of the axe into Bell, the boy however, only used the force of the attack to throw her off-balance by striking the hollow of her knee.
She used her status to regain her stance, of course she had been holding back since she learned earlier that he wasn't an active adventurer and a level one.
"I didn't expect that, the boy seemed so weak at first..."
"Bell may not look like it, but his determination and hard work only serve to help him, although I will admit, I am a bit scared for his talent..." Ais told Tione with a shiver.
"What talent?"
"Look now, you will see what I mean..."
Tiona decided that her current force wasn't giving him enough challenge, so she was steadly raising her speed, but what was strange to her was that Bell was never faster than her, yet seemed to always be one step ahead of her movements as if he had seen them miles away.
She was puzzled by this, how can he be so much slower than her yet keep up with the fight?
He was an enigma, so seemingly proficient in battle yet still weaker than any adventurer or amazon she had seen, although even then he still possesed such potential that it was hard seeing him as any less than others.
"He is... parrying her blows? she is holding back but how, he shouldn't be able to respond to her speed?"
"That is his scary talent he cannot keep up, he is predicting her blows and moving before she even realises why, it's her instinct as a fighter that he capitalizes on."
"B-but how, he barely met her..."
"That is what scared me at first, the way he fights now was adapted from my stance, he knows how to rely on his strenghts and the enemie's weaknesses, and above all, his eyes seem to catch every single detail."
"He has been an adventurer for how long?"
"Bell... is not an adventurer, he wants to be one, but he hasn't set foot into the dungeon..."
"W-what! ... And what about fighting? he has been fighting for atleast some time right?"
"No, he wasn't even given a falna untill a few days..."
Tione's mind was spining from such ridiculous circumstances...
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Meanwhile, above the clouds at a certain room in Babel, there laid a volatile individual, one who's will was absolute to many, silver hair and a perfect body.
Staring at the soul she was so intrigued by, a pity that she left Hera's things to Loki, although considering what happened before, that might have been a blessing in disguise.
One very interesting development however, was the sate of the boy's soul, clear, pure, yet that defies his entire life, and seemed to change from time to time.
It was dull sometimes, that was to be expected, but it seemed to coat itself, in a weird grey veil, giving it a dull look, so she was investigating, another one of her dear Odr's anomalies...
"How will you entertain me today my dear..."
She then spotted two figures making their way to the Twilight manor, a stubborn, blonde elf and her goddess right by her side...
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The spar was cut short by a distressed Riveria seeing Bell's state. Almost passed out, exhausted but still happy with his slight victory, perhaps Riveria still feeling even a shred of pride let him go without a scolding, that same courtesy did not extended to the amazon twins and the blonde swordswoman.
Loki happened to see the battle, she too came down to see it from closer up, her undying curiosity begged to check on him but a more important meeting had been scheduled beforehand, forcing her to make her way into the front entrance.
"Hello Astrea, why don't ya come inside, you too Gale wind."
"Thank you Loki, Come Ryu, we have much to discuss."
"Y-yes Lady Astrea!"
She hurried along as the goddesses entered the manor, finding a room by the side of the main hall.
The room had a small coffe table and 4 armchairs surrounding it, few plants decorated the corners as it was meant mainly for guests.
"So Astrea, any news on the remnants that you found?" Loki said as both sat down on the armchairs and began to talk about the recent possible plans for evilus ressurgence.
"Well that's bad, apparently they have a safehouse or base, Knossos, yet we still don't have a clue were it is situated."
"It's infuriating..." The quiet elf added.
"If that is it we can speak of better things, by the way Loki, How is Bell doing?" She asked about the boy whose story broke her heart, a pure soul yet decaying vessel, one who can have such a burden of trauma and leave with his optmism unscathed, someone who does not deserve the hand that the fates had dealt him.
"The kid is doing fine, gave him my blessing recently, and now he was sparring with the new recruits."
"WHAT!"
"No need to shout, the boy has inherited that woman's crazy talent, he could whoop the ass of any adventurer of the same level."
"That... kind of scares me..."
"Yeah me too... But the boy is smart, but above all else kind, he doesn't really seemed like the type of a person who would become an adventurer but then again... He might have some motivation inside him..." The trickster shared.
"You never asked him why...?" Ryu interrupted.
"Well... he said something about a promise to himself but other than that... we didn't manage to get anything out of him, I swear that the kid is as stubborn as the elf who raised him..."
"May I try to speak with him? Other than you I doubt there are many people he can freely speak with."
"That... might work, he should be at this room by now considering the scolding that Riveria is going to give him."
"Then I should get going!" Astrea said as she walked towards the door, Ryu following soon after.
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*Knock* *knock*
"Hey Bell? It's me Astrea."
The door Opened, exposing the white haired child. His cheeks had a bruise and another small cut that could be easily healed in most cases, only issue however is that Bell is not part of most cases.
"Is that from your fight?"
"Yes..."
His answer was quiet, just as Astrea's question, while Bell could certainly tolerate way more noise than his aunt, he still prefered the silence that was so rare around the manor.
"You fought against the amazon right? That was not an easy feat, from what I gather your opponent was atleast 2 levels higher than you, and way more experienced."
"She held back..."
"An amazon? Holding back... Pffft, There is one in my familia and should you know, I've met enough to understand a simple fact, they are terrible at holding back!"
Bell could only smile at Astrea's praise, a small and rare smile but a genuine one that few other than Riveria, Loki and Ais ever seen.
"But... Bell... I wanted to know... why? why would you do it? Why do you want to become an adventurer?"
"I... I want to help them, I want to be a hero too... I... Just-"
"Hey, there is no need to force an answer you are not ready to give, I can see that there is more to it, something more personal, but make no mistake, this is not an interrogation."
Astrea reassured him.
"By the way, how is Kaguya doing?"
"She is doing fine, still loosing an arm after that fight and the death of Ardee... It gets hard to Imagine her doing any better..."
"I see..."
"I will remember to tell her about your concern, but I'm afraid now I will have to go back to the stardust gardens, besides I believe you will be better off recovering from the battle..." She winced as she said that.
"Yes... If only I could use potions but..."
"I understand, well then goodbye Bell!" The goddess waved as she closed the door, going back to the corridor and walking back to the exit of the twilight manor.
"How is he doing Lady Astrea?"
"Fine, but why didn't you talk to him yourself if you wanted to?"
"... He doesn't deserve to see me in this state..."
"Ryu, you need to let go of the past, it's been a few years since the trial with lord Ouranos, his word is final, you are not a criminal."
"But I-"
"Shhhh! Let's speak later at home..."
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"Simply incredible! I could believe that you Tiona, just didn't knew about it... But you Ais should have stopped it the moment it happened!" An irritated high elf scolded the two girls.
"B-but Riveria! He willingly did it!"
"Yes miss Alf, he wanted to fight!"
Hearing this, Riveria's veins were visble and her face held such rage that could scare floor bosses.
"Go to your rooms! I shall deal punishment later as I see fit!"
"M-maybe you should ask him then!" Ais screamed, running to her room dragging Tiona too, oblivious to the torment that befell Riveria.
"S-should I... let him...?" She whispered, doubting her capabilities as mother or perhaps as she liked to call it: a guardian.
Hello, thanks for reading and sorry for the wait, looking forward to your reviews!