Bell knew that things would turn out like this the moment the Gulliver brothers showed up fully armed. Ever since he joined the Freya Familia, there were members that he got along with and those he didn´t.
First and foremost were Allen and the Gullivers, directly followed by Heith.
The Einherjar also didn´t like Bell, but they respected him and his strength, not one of them would be dumb enough to mess with him alone. Not even a dozen, they had to gather all of them to become a realy serious threat for Bell, but since they were all against each other that was impossible.
Allen had his own reasons to hate Bell, one was that Bell was slightly taller than Allen...
But the Gullivers...they hated him because they were extremely jealous about every form of affection that Freya showed towards someone else. And Freya showed a lot of affection to Bell, he now knew why. The question was, did the Gullivers also knew it? Bell again put two and two together. Whenever Syr was working at the pub, one of the High Executives was also in the city for some reason.
He understood now that they watched over their goddess and guarded her, if she wanted to or not.
Some comments from the past now made sense to Bell. When she forbid Hedin to let anyone guard her when she went to the gods´ parties with Bell. Often when he was out on a date with Syr, Bell had a feeling as if someone was watching them.
"I don´t want to fight you!"
"""""Don´t care! Die!""""
"Fighting in the city is forbidden!"
"""""Die!""""
Bell was very fast, his hands flew to the Rabbit Fangs, the runes in the daggers flashed up when their master touched them. He sometimes had strange feelings when he touched the daggers, both looked alike yet were a bit different from each other, polar opposites yet the same.
Like Syr and Freya.
That he had a weapon that was a gift from Freya and he currently being her favorite, drove the Gullivers mad with jealousy and rage.
Alfrigg with his spear, Grer using his greatsword, Berling with the axe and Dvalinn with his hammer all attacked him at once.
Bell was taller, faster and stronger than them. They had the advantage in number, experience and their incredible teamwork. Against other opponents, Bell could try to let them get in each others ways, but that wouldn´t work for the Gullivers. Another advantage for them, they were used to fight level six opponents, even fighting Ottar. Well they only fought Ottar when the other High Executives also attacked him at that time, except for Hedin who never joined such an attack.
But Bell was convinced that they absolutely could and would kill him if they had the chance. Every hit that they could land, would be fatal.
And in return, Bell didn´t want to kill them, didn´t want to kill anyone. His heart was wounded and he only wanted to go and talk to Freya.
The Gullivers had seen Bell fight often enough, secretely they made plans how to take him on and kill him, they had one for each of the High Executives except for Ottar. And they didn´t care about any damage they would cause or people they would hurt. Bell cared, a lot! Not only Ryu, but also Anya, Chloe, Lunor, May and all the other staff members of the pub had become his friends ever since he came to Orario, Mia was more like a mother-in-law. While the four head waitresses were quite strong, the Gullivers were stronger. One on one they would overwhelm the waitresses very fast, especially since they wore armors.
"Die!"
Dvalinn had a very unique fighting style with his hammer. All the others could stop their weapons, change the path or attack with a back hand, a hammer didn´t allow that. Which didn´t stop Dvalinn from being a dangerous opponent. He swung his hammer around, forcing Bell to evade. Bell immediatelly moved his head to see where the next attack came from, instead the other three jumped backwards, letting Bell notice the trap. Dvalinn also jumped back after throwing a red orb at Bell, using the momentum of his swing to let it carry him away.
From the time when Bell went to help Ryu in the dungeon, he knew these red orbs.
Inferno Stones.
The time went slower when the saw the red orb, that shone already bright. If he would evade, the orb would hit the window of the pub, he didn´t know how many people would die because of the explosion. So he did the only thing he could, Bell jumped forward and kicked the inferno stone into the air. This exposed him to the incoming attacks. He managed to deflect the axe and block the sword, but Alfrigg´s spear found it´s way into Bell´s left biceps, letting him scream in pain. The inferno stone above them suddenly cracked and fell to the ground again...it was just a trick.
They knew about Bell´s kind nature and how much the pub meant to him, so they used it against him.
Dvalinn came from behind again, trying to pound Bell´s head between his shoulder with the hammer. With a pain filled scream, Bell pushed himself off the spear and evaded the hammer, that cracked the street. The Gullivers immediatelly followed him when Bell moved away from the pub. They started a rapid series of combined attacks, showing the teamwork they were so famous for.
The thoughts raced in Bell´s head. He could give in and use all of his strength, killing them one by one...but he didn´t want that. If he would do that, he would stop being who he was. Defeating them otherwise wasn´t a problem for him, if he had to he would beat them up until they couldn´t fight anymore. But the city wasn´t a place for such a fight, also he didn´t know if other members of his familia would attack him too when he got close to Folkvangr...which was most likely. So he had to make it quick...but his magic was too dangerous to use here.
While he evaded or blocked the attacks, Bell looked for an opening. But their teamwork was perfect and they protected each other.
His mind went back to Hedin´s teachings. Over time, when Hedin noticed that Bell was Freya´s favorite because she loved him, the elf slowly started to work on his secret plan, without telling Bell what he taught him. Hedin had mentioned all the strenghts and flaws of the High Executives and their weaknesses.
The Gulliver brothers were pallums, so they were naturally weaker than a member of another race. Even with being a human, Bell was naturally stronger and with being level six, he was even stronger than that.
But their real weakness was something they had in kind with Allen, their short temper when it came to a specific topic.
Yes...their temper was indeed...short.
Hedin told him he should never mention they short height or they would become enraged and furious.
Now wasn´t the time to feel bad, now was the time to deal with them quickly. So even when he was disgusted to fight like this and to insult his opponents, Bell had no other choice.
He jumped back, then he waved to them with his right hand, grinning devilishly.
"Come on then...shorties."
The effect came immediatelly, all four brothers cried out in rage.
""""RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!""""
They attacked him furious.
He felt bad as he continued to insult and taunt them.
"This will be a short fight."
""""DIIIIEEEE!""""
Bell evaded Grer. "Are you short on breath?"
"AAAAAAAAH!"
He spoke all the words that Hedin told him.
Alrfigg came close with his spear. "A pretty long weapon for some so short."
Incredible hatred filled the pallum´s eyes.
When the two handed axe, the greatsword and the big hammer were swung at him, Bell evaded quickly.
"I always wondered why you all carry such big weapons?"
The four pallums were fuming with rage and attacked Bell recklessly. They still drove him backwards, but it got easier for him to evade or block their attacks, their teamwork suffered because of their rage.
Bell still decided to apologize later.
With his plan, he would´ve gotten a chance sooner or later to knock one of them out, but his luck ran out.
They had driven him in front of the pub again, he couldn´t do anything against that. And since they heard a ruckus, two waitresses came out.
"Hey! What´s going on here?!"
"What´s with the nyoise, Meow?!"
Lunor and Chloe.
Before they got what exacly happened, Alfrigg´s spear came from the side and dealt a deep cut at Lunor´s left shoulder, then he rammed the tip in Chloe´s thigh.
"Ack!"
"Nyau!"
Lunor stumbled to the side when Chloe fell into her direction.
Just as Bell knew the weakness of the Gullivers, they knew his. He was chivalrous and always polite to women and he was friends with the girls from the pub. So Alfrigg decided to make Bell enraged too.
"Chloe! Lunor!"
Their plan worked, seeing the young women get hurt, Bell snapped. He attacked Grer and Dvalinn with fury and they exchanged blows.
""All that will take her away from us will die!""
Berling ran to Alfrigg and they obviously planned to attack Lunor and Chloe, who couldn´t fight back against them.
Bell saw in horror how the axe rose above Berling´s head, while Alfrigg pulled his spear back. He knew even with his speed he wouldn´t make it in time.
.
.
"UNYAH!"
.
.
Bell never heard such a scream before, it was deep, feral, wild, enraged...and belonged to a young woman that normally had a personality like a sunny day. The scream was loud enough to be painful for most beast people and elves.
The door of the pub exploded into splinters when Anya burst through it. Chloe and Lunor were pushed to the side, while Anya rammed right into the two pallums, stopping their weapons with her claws.
Her claws...not her hands.
Bell had heard about beast people and beastification. The most common were the werewolves during a full moon. Depending on the race there were different conditions. When he was with Ryu stranded on the 37th floor, in the small safe zone and he hugged her from behind while they tried to keep each other warm, Ryu told him a few things about her dear friends. Funny stories, a few quirks and such. And she also mentioned to never truly anger Anya, that not even Ryu would´ve a chance when Anya became truly enraged.
He now saw what Ryu meant. The trigger for Anya´s beastification was fear to lose someone important for her. Some would try to fight the opponent, some would try to flee. Anya´s fear of losing her two dear friends, let her snap and her instinct ordered her...beat them until they can´t move, destroy the threat. The fur at Anya´s ears looked longer and more pointy, her canines had also grown, it reminded Bell of the Liger Fangs in the dungeon. Her arms and legs were swollen from muscles, her tail wiped left and right. It looked like her hands had changed, the nails had grown so they looked more like fangs.
The reason while Anya screamed was a mixture of fear, rage and pain because of the transformation. Bell got once again reminded that beast women weren´t just like human women with a few animal traits.
Still, even with her beastification, Anya still shouldn´t stand a chance against two upper level five adventurers.
She was still a level four, right?
Right?
No...she wasn´t.
Anya didn´t even know it herself, but she was actually a middle level five now. One night after a small party in the pub, when most of the waitresses got drunk, Bell helped Syr to bring Anya to her room. At the door, Bell stopped and let Syr bring her inside. It took a few minutes, since Syr took Anya´s clothes off so she could sleep in peace. While she did that, Freya updated Anya´s status, which she always did secretely when Anya was drunk. Due to many things she did, Anya was able to level up, Freya wanted her "cute little kitten" to be as strong as possible so nothing bad would happen to her.
And so due to her beastification, Anya was now stronger than any of the Gullivers. When she closed her claw, the spear of Alfrigg started to crack, as well as the shaft of Berling´s axe. They might still find an opportunity to unleash their weapons and subdue Anya...possibly.
A green-haired shadow moved with deadly dexterity. Orario's deadliest assassin bolted from inside the pub, spinning in mid-air and slamming the heel of her boot into Berling's nose with wonderful grace.
While she whirled through the air and dealt this kick, Ryu still managed to keep the skirt of her uniform under control, no one would manage to catch a glimpse under it.
Berling´s nose and mouth spurted blood as he stumbled backwards, Anya let go of him and Ryu immediatelly attacked the prum. Now it were two level fives against two level fives.
Bell caught a glimpse of Ryu´s face and rememberred something else that came thanks to Syr.
.
.
After Ryu was able to leave the hospital, she, Bell and Syr strolled through the city a bit, talking about what happened on the 37th Floor. Ryu was a bit shy since Syr told her she should spend some time with her first male friend and don´t mind the fact that they had seen each other completely naked. Syr already knew about the Juggernaut and Ryu´s familia, how much it meant to her what happened and she finally defeated her very own monster.
"Ryu?"
"Syr?"
"Say...don´t you think it is time to go and visit her?"
"Hm?"
Syr had smiled gently. "Come on Ryu, you know who I mean. She is waiting for you, I´m sure of that."
"Syr...I...I don´t have the ri-Eep!"
Syr dealt a gentle chop to Ryu´s head. "Don´t give me that, young lady!"
"Huh? S-Syr?"
Syr had leaned closer and showed Ryu a gentle expression. "Ryu, take some time off. Go and see lady Astrea. You need it and she is waiting for you, trust me."
"Syr..."
Bell smiled gently. "I also think you should go to her, Ryu."
"Bell..."
In the end it were Syr´s words that convinced Ryu to gather all her courage and go to see Astrea. Lots of tears were shed because of that, when the goddess hugged her dear child and both cried their hearts out over the death of the Astrea Familia. Ryu swore to her goddess that she would hold the ideal of her familia up in Orario, even when Astrea wouldn´t come with her. Before Ryu left with the promise to return on every vacation she had, Astrea updated her status. It wasn´t that surprising for the goddess that Ryu was able to go up to level five, but that she got a jump in status and was already at rank D in some stats was a surprise.
.
.
When Bell thought about this time, he rememberred Syr´s face. She was so happy when Ryu returned, really glad that her friend had reunited with her goddess.
Did Freya do that to be entertained? Bell doubt it, he thought about all the interactions between Syr and Ryu. Bell knew that in the beginning, it were Syr and Anya among the "head waitresses". Then after Ryu´s rampage, Ryu became a waitress too, Chloe and Lunor joined a short time later. All of the waitresses were Syr´s dear friends, but Ryu took a special place in her heart. Syr...Freya...told him that Ryu was a special someone for her.
Bell was now aware that Syr and Freya had one thing in common, a certain expression. Whenever Syr talked with him about Ryu, she had the same expression as Freya did when she talked about how lonely she was and that she wasn´t able to have real friends.
Ryu was Syr´s best friend...Freya´s best friend.
She was probably afraid of losing her friends, that´s why she never told them...Freya...Syr...
The Gullivers noticed that they had a problem now, Alfrigg was busy dealing with Ryu, who had drawn her Futaba swords from somewhere under her uniform...Bell actually knew that she strapped them to her thighs...Syr told him that as a secret.
Anya growled and screamed in rage, cracking the shaft of the axe more, dealing a straight punch into Berling´s face...denting the helmet.
"YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY FAMILY FROM ME!"
Anya had even dropped her normal way of talking. She hammered her fist again and again into Berling´s face after ripping the helmet away, breaking his nose and pulling his head back, baring her fangs. For a second, Bell thought she would bite and rip his throat out.
"Anya!"
The voice that called Anya´s name wasn´t female, it came from a man that came out of the pub. He was about a head taller than Anya, pretty muscular, wore sandals, a tunic...and a mask, resembling that of a certain god. He was one of the many level five members of the Ganesha familia and Anya´s boyfriend. He didn´t ask what happened, he just kicked with Berling with full force out of Anya´s grip, then he pulled her towards him. This could turn out to be dangerous, since Anya was still in her beastification, but he held her no matter how much she scratched him or even bit his shoulder.
He wasn´t the only one that came out of the pub. The whole building seemed to shake when an enraged Ogre...when the enraged Mia Grande stomped out of the building. With a backhand slap, she sent Alfrigg flying, dealt a not so hard chop onto Anya´s head to get her sanity back, then she came over Berling and the other two like a cave bear that got woken up from hibernation.
Yet the Gullivers refused to give up or flee.
In the end, all four of them lay on the ground, barely clinging to life after Mia was done with them, Bell merely knocked them out. Before he passed out, Alfrigg used a strange item and fired a red glowing orb high into the sky, trailing a reddish plume of smoke.
Anya finally was normal again, clung to her boyfriend and apologized over and over. He told her that everything was fine, that she was actually pretty hot during her beastification. Ganesha familia members were a bit weird...
Ryu immediatelly ran to her two friends and started to chant her healing magic.
Mia slowly turned around to Bell.
"Explain, now."
"Ms. Mia, I can only apologize that you got involved into that."
Mia glanced over her shoulder, her girls were busy at the moment, so she dragged Bell a few meters away.
"Why did they attack you?"
"From what I understood, they think I did something to Freya."
"Did you?"
"No...Yes...Maybe."
"Where is Syr?"
"I...she..."
After Mia made sure that not even Ryu could hear them, she leaned closer to Bell. "I know that expression, you know "it", right?"
"Ms. Mia? You...knew?"
"Of course I did, she asked me to let her work here."
"I have to know it...is it...just a game for her?"
"At first yes, but not anymore. What did you do to her?"
"I found it out this morning. And...left her alone."
"You just left her?"
"My head was in turmoil, I didn´t understand the situation, it was just too much. I thought it would be the best to take some time before talking to her."
Mia sighed. "Oh boy. Boy, normally that would be a wise idea, but not when it comes to this goddess."
"So it is my fault that she suffers?"
"No, it is her own fault for not telling you."
"What should I do now?"
"What do you think you should do?"
"Go and talk to her."
Mia patted his shoulder. "That´s the right thing to do."
"Can you distract the others? I don´t want them to get hurt."
"Sure. And let me tell you a few things."
"Hm?"
"No one knows her as long and good as I do, trust me when I tell you, Syr´s feelings for you are real."
He smiled slightly when he heard that. "So my guess was right."
"In all these years that I know her, I´ve never seen her like this before. Before she met you, all she had to escape her prison was my pub and her friends. Now she has you, that made her vulnerable."
Bell nodded.
"So go, go and talk to her. Tell her that I am angry that she just skips work like that, that her friends will have to work double shifts until she comes back."
"I will, thank you, Ms. Mia."
"Be aware that you will have to fight more when you arrive in Folkvangr. Maybe the whole familia. Alfrigg used an item to warn the familia that someone is about to attack the home. And when she is suffering because of that morning, they will all come for your head."
"I would face all of Orario for her. They will not stop me from getting to her and talk to her."
"Even when that means fighting Ottar?"
"Yes."
Mia saw pure determination in Bell.
"Good, now go."
Before Bell went to Folkvangr, he moved quickly to the shared room in Babel, got his armor and potions, he would need them.
.
.
While Bell was on his way to Folkvangr, Cassandra gasped loud and started to sweat.
"The Killer Rabbit! The Killer Rabbit is on the move!"
Daphne stumbled when Cassandra suddenly started to yell.
"Cassandra?"
"He is on the move! He will do it! He will kill the Queen of Love!"
"What are you talking about?!"
Cassandra fainted before she could say more.
.
.
The gates of Folkvangr were open, the guards weren´t there, but someone was waiting for Bell, many people were waiting for Bell.
"Bell Cranel! You really dare to show up here! You hurt our holy goddess and the punishment for that crime is death! Get one step closer and we will kill you!"
Heith screamed of the top of her lunges...all of the Einherjar were with her. Bell didn´t see any of the High Executives.
He slowly walked through the gates, holding the Rabbit Fangs in his hands.
"I do not wish to fight you, Ms. Heith."
"DON`T SAY MAY NAME YOU BRUTE! INFIDEL!"
Bell slowly rolled his shoulders, his eyes wandered over the ranks of the Einherjar.
He didn´t act shy or nervous, his time in Orario let Bell mature.
"I don´t wish to fight you at all, but I will defeat you all if you´re getting in my way."
Immediatelly, the ranks of the Einherjar drew their weapons and got into fighting stance, forming a circle around Bell.
Heith laughed like a maniac. "You can´t defeat us! No matter how often they will go down, I will just heal them and bring them back up! I am the strongest healer in all of Orario!"
Bell smiled gently. "I guess Lord Dian Cecht would say otherwise."
Heith pointed her staff at Bell and screeched. "HE HURT OUR HOLY GODDESS! HE RAPED HER! KILL HIIIIIM!"
With a furious roar, the Einherjar charged forward.
During his fight with the Gullivers, Bell had the problem that his skill didn´t activate, only the first of four steps. The Gullivers didn´t count as a strong opponent for his skill, because they were just level five. Not one of the Einherjar was level five, only a few level four. But their sheer number triggered Bell´s skill.
Bell growled and showed why he was one of the strongest of his familia.
.
.
"Vanadis Odr."
.
.
White fire washed over his feet and arms, it looked like his daggers grew to the size of two swords, made from fire.
Bell didn´t have time to fight fair, the Einherjar jumped at him all together, it was good that only very few people in the familia knew about Bell´s magic.
.
.
"AMBROSIA!"
.
.
The explosion of white fire that errupted out of Bell couldn´t be compared to the one that he used when he fought the Ishtar familia.
He activated it before the first Einherjar were too close to him or he would´ve killed most of them. The explosion catapulted them through the air like rag dolls, smashing them into the building or the surrounding terrain.
Leaving only Heith behind...
"Aha! Ahahahaha! DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH?! YOU USED YOUR STRONGEST ATTACK RIGHT FROM THE START!"
She immediatelly started to chant her magic.
Bell walked slowly towards her.
"Do you really think I would act alone?"
Heith´s eyes widened when she noticed how Bell´s eyes flashed to a spot behind her for a splitsecond.
"I KNEW IT! HED-!"
When she whirled around, Heith had about a second to notice her mistake...there was no one behind her.
She managed to turn halfway around, Bell filled her complete field of vision.
His fist rammed with full force into her stomach, his fist was still covered by white fire, but he made sure not to pierce Heith with his blade. No matter how much she hated him, Bell didn´t intend to kill her.
"Curse y-Gargl!"
"Firebolt!"
Bell didn´t use his full strength in the attack, but the explosion and punch were strong enough to throw Heith backwards and let her hit a wall, knocking her out instantly.
.
.
Bell Cranel defeated the majority of the Freya familia in under twenty seconds, it was a blessing that they were so hot headed.
But the majority of the familia didn´t have much strength compared to the High Executives...
.
.
Bell gulped down a mind potion, then he continued his way. When he passed Heith, he looked down to her. His magic had destroyed most of the clothes at her front, exposing her chest, stomach and almost her maiden parts.
"I´m sorry it came to this."
He took a health potion from his leg holster, splashed it onto her body, then he took off his Goliath Cape and covered her body with it.
"I know that you hate me, I´m sorry for whatever I did to you to deserve this..."
He continued his way, Bell slowly got the feeling as if Hedin had prepared him for this scenario...to fight his own familia.
Hedin told Bell how to trick Heith and the Einherjar.
But why would he do that?
.
.
People in Orario heard the loud explosion and saw smoke rising up from Folkvangr. It wasn´t unusual that things got loud there, the Freya familia could be quite reckless.
But a few people had their eyes on Folkvangr at all times and they noticed what happened there.
"Oy, oyoyoyoy! Aki, did you see that?!"
"Of course I did, Raul! How should I miss this?!"
"Isn´t that the "Knight of the white Flame?!"
"Of course he is! You saw him in Knossos!"
"Why is he attacking his own familia?!"
"Don´t know! But the captain needs to hear this!"
"Then you go, Aki. I will keep watch."
"Alright, but I want to hear every detail too!"
"Do you expect me to follow him to see what he will do?!"
"Of course not, dummy!"
"Don´t call me dummy, dummy!"
Anakity struck out her tongue and left to inform her familia.
.
.
"Lord Hermes...what is happening here?"
"I guess the young Bell is attacking his own familia...for whatever reason?"
"Could it have something to do with Lady Freya?"
"Hm, they did bring her home hastily this morning... We need to keep an eye on this, Asfi."
"You don´t plan to go inside, do you?"
Hermes grinned wide. "Of course I do, do you have your helmets with you? Of course you do, my wonderful Asfi."
"Mmh...you know what happens when they catch us?"
"Hahaha! Then I will just tell them honestly that I was just worried about our dear Lady Freya! They always get more relaxed then."
"Uuuuuh..."
Asfi obeyed her god´s wish...as usual.
.
.
Bell wasn´t surprised which one of the High Executives stopped his way first.
"Mr. Allen."
Allen stood there at the end of the hallway, pointing his spear with his right hand at Bell.
"You will die for assaulting and hurting our goddess."
Bell shook his head. "I did nothing to her, I don´t understand where do you all get this idea from. I love her."
"Don´t give me that crap! You somehow seduced her, made her look only at you and then you took advantage of her when you two were alone! I will kill you!"
Hedin told Bell that Allen´s personality consisted of only a few things.
Being pissed.
Being short.
Being arrogant.
Being short.
Being an asshole.
And being short...
Freya told him that Allen actually had a really soft core and that she wasn´t the woman he loved the most. Hedin told Bell what Allen´s two weak spots were.
Bell hated it, he really hated it to get so low as to use their weak spots against them, but he had no choice. Allen was absolutely able to kill him and he would if he get the chance. The cat man was the fastest adventurer in Orario.
Officially.
Bell sheathed his daggers, he had deactivated his magic for now, his plan for Allen didn´t allow the use of magic.
"So it is just as I was told, your temper really is short."
Bell especially emphasized the last word. Immediately, a vein pounded at Allen's forehead and his cheek twitched.
"What did you just say?..."
Bell came closer. "You´re short, obviously. I´m not that big myself, but I was taller than you ever since I arrived in Folkvangr."
He noticed how Allen´s stand changed just a little, he was ready to attack.
"I don´t want to hurt you, Mr. Allen. I promised that to her."
"As if Lady Freya e-"
"I mean Anya, I promised it to her when I held her in my arms one night."
Allen´s expression became murderous. What Bell spoke wasn´t a lie, he held Anya in his arms one night. It was one of the staff parties at the pub, Syr could hold her liquor much better than the other girls, so it was her job to clean up afterwards, together with Ryu and Bell.
Bell had half carried the heavily drunk Anya, holding her in his arms. When she noticed who carried her, Anya sobbed and asked Bell to never hurt her big brother, even if he was mean to him.
"You held Anya..."
"Yes."
What he had to say next disgusted him, but the plan for Allen demanded to make him enraged and snap.
"She is also the first woman I saw naked, the first I was together with when we were both naked and wet. Your little sister has an incredible sexy bo-"
"DIIIIEEEEEE!"
Allen vanished from his spot, jumping towards Bell.
Again he spoke no lie. Bell had seen Anya naked when he came into the changing room once and another time when he was allowed to use one of the showers. When Anya came into the bathroom, she thought it was one of the staff members that showered. Both came out at the same time.
Since Bell had taken a mostly cold shower, something on his body had reacted to the cold.
Anya hurt his heart when she smirked. "Meow boyfrrriend wins over Syr´s! Nyahahaha!"
Bell was purposely vague while mentioning what had happened. Hedin and even Freya had told him that any even slightly offensive comment about Anya would send him into a blind frenzy.
While Allen actually acted like an absolute scumbag, often even to Anya, he had an extremely soft core. Allen did everything, absolutely everything in his life for one reason.
To protect Anya.
The One Eyed Black Dragon had devastated the country they came from and killed their parents. Allen had vowed to kill this monster, whatever the cost. He would die to kill that monster... just to keep his little sister safe.
While his personal honor was more important to him, Allen would even accept if someone else landed the killing blow, as long as it meant seeing that monster dead.
So that Anya was safe.
Allen loved and adored Freya in his own way. Wanting to put her in a golden cage was basically just a reflection of his feelings for Anya being projected onto Freya.
He had pushed Anya away from him and scared her away from the family so she would be safe. So that she would find fun and joy in her life.
Even if he didn't like him at all, Allen was glad that Anya had found a partner.
So when Bell insulted him, Allen was extremely sensitive when it came to his height, and talked about his beloved little sister like that as if she were an easy girl...Allen snapped.
Bell felt really bad that he had to do that. He didn´t like Allen that much, but after he heard stories from Mia, Anya and especially Freya...Bell had nothing but respect for Allen.
Allen Fromel was the fastest adventurer in all of Orario.
.
Was.
.
Bell´s status was always kept a secret, only Freya, Hedin and Hogni knew about it. Freya had one day told Bell that Allen was amazing in his own way. He trained so hard that he always reached 999 in Dexterity and Agility before he leveled up and that he was close to do that on level six now too.
Bell´s current Dexterity and Agility status were around eight hundred.
But...
At level one, Bell´s Dexterity had reached 1098 and his Agility 1337.
At level two, his Dexterity went up to 1094 and Agility 1302.
At level three...Dexterity 1131, Agility 1477.
At level four...Dexterity 1383, Agility 1442.
At level five...Dexterity 1298, Agility 1301.
At level six so far...Dexterity 798, Agility 850.
Which meant...
Bell´s Dexterity was currently 808 points above Allen´s and his Agility 1715 points.
So while Allen was a very fast level six adventurer, Bell´s Dexterity was already at the strength of a level seven, his Agility even compared to a level eight.
Bell had never shown his true speed, except when he was in the dungeon.
And there was another status of Bell that was even much higher than Allen´s...his strength.
If Allen weren´t so hot headed and would´ve focussed on his technique, he would´ve been able to beat Bell.
But like this...
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Bell made a side step that was even faster than Allen´s spear thrust. The eyes of the cat man widened slightly in shock and disbelief, that Bell was faster than him. Bell´s left hand closed around Allen´s shaft with a strong, hard grip, holding him in place.
Allen didn´t even have the chance to grit his teeth in anger.
Bell´s right fist collided with Allen´s face and send the cat man flying. Allen landed ten meters away on the ground, knocked out from the impact. Bell´s strength status also went past the 999 every level, so his strength was actually close to Ottar´s now. Of course his captain was actually much stronger, since their races also played a role in that.
He had punched with his full strength and Bell was glad that Ottar had taught him about the art of the fist.
Freya once told Bell that Ottar´s right fist was like the North Star, he didn´t understand what that meant.
Ottar had trained with Bell a few times without the use of weapons. How to punch really hard and especially how to punch someone´s face to knock them out instead of killing them.
Bell stopped next to the unconcious Allen, he put the catman´s spear onto the ground next to him. Then he splashed half of a healing potions onto Allen´s face and his own fingers.
"I´m sorry for lying to you like that, Mr. Allen. Your little sister is an honorable woman and I will never mention these incidents again. And I´m sorry, Anya...for breaking my promise."
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Only two hallways separated Bell now from Freya´s room.
This time...two people waited for him.
Bell stopped five meters away from them and bowed, showing his respect.
"Teacher...Master..."
Hedin and Hogni stood side by side, looking at Bell.
"My student."
"My pupil."
Bell leaned his forearms onto the hilts of his daggers. The message was clear, he didn´t intend to fight them, but he would if they insisted on it. Hogni grinned under his scarf, his fingers itched to cross blades with Bell. A curse sword against god forged mithril was always interesting.
Hedin held his staff loosely in his hand.
"My student, answer me honestly, did you hurt her?"
"By going away and leaving her alone after the secret came out."
"So you know about it now."
"Yes."
"Are you mad with us for not telling you?"
"No, my teacher. It wasn't for you to tell me the truth, that was something she had to do."
"And you walked away after she did?"
"The magic ran out, she still talked with Syr´s voice."
"So you were in shock when it happened?"
"I was."
Hogni frowned. "An unfortunate outcome."
Hedin nodded. "Indeed."
"What do you intend to do now, my pupil?"
Bell looked at Hogni. "I want to talk to her, like I should´ve from the start. But my head and heart were in turmoil."
"So you did as your teacher told you and at first cooled your head?"
"Yes. Talking about something so important isn´t good when I´m agitated."
"A wise choice."
Hedin remained quiet for a few moments. "Tell me my student, can you still love her? Even when you know the truth?"
"It was shocking, but...yes...I love her."
"How far are you willing to go for her?"
"If I have to fight the whole familia, I will do it. It won´t bring me joy to fight you, but I will do it to get to her."
Hogni tilted his head, he looked disappointed.
Bell smiled. "Well, it would bring me joy to fight you, Master."
Hogni grinned.
Hedin smiled slightly. "You are aware that you stand no chance against the two of us?"
"I am aware, I would still fight you and give my all."
"Would you die to get to her?"
Bell shook his head. "My Life, my heart and my love are hers now. It isn´t for me to give it away, it belongs to her."
"A good answer."
"My Teacher, you prepared me for this day, right?"
"Maybe."
Bell bowed again and showed his respect. "You have my thanks."
Hedin looked at him for a moment, then he stepped aside.
"I don´t intend to stop you, my student."
Hogni unsheathed his blade with a slight smile. "But I do, my pupil."
"Master?"
"This is my final test for you, my pupil. Show me what you learned, how strong you got. That you have it in you to beat me and protect her. Show me that and I will let you pass."
Bell nodded with a bright smile.
"I´m sorry that I don´t have my cape with me, but I will do my best, Master!"
Hedin witnessed for the first time how it looked when Bell and Hogni made their full introduction.
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Hogni threw his cape backwards in a dramatic way, revealing the hilt of his sword.
"My name is Hogni Ragnar! He who wields the Cursed Sword and master of personality magic! First and Foremost among the swordsmen of the Freya Familia! Former King of the Dark Elves and eternal Rival of Hedin Selland!"
Hogni ended with his left hand in front of his face, the fingers spread and he looked at Bell. His eyes said all that was necessary...give it your all, my pupil.
Bell didn´t have his cloak on his body, so he had to do something else flashy.
He activated his magic on his feet and hands.
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"My name is Bell Cranel! Master of the white flames of love! Star Pupil of Hogni Ragnar! Wielder of the Rabbit Fangs! Fastest among all adventurers in Orario! He who rose to level six faster than anyone else before! Beloved of the Goddess of Love and lovely townsgirl! HE WHO WILL FREE HER FROM HER PRISON AND MARRY HER!"
In the end, Bell let his white flames explode behind him like a big cape.
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Hogni laughed. "Wonderful! Wonderful, my pupil!"
"Thank you, Master!"
Then Hogni became serious again.
"You are not finished, my pupil. Show me your best move, how do you intend to defeat Ottar, you will have to fight him."
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Due to his level ups, Bell had received skills, his magic had changed a bit but he never got a second spell.
One of his skills was for some reason called "Blood of Zeus", Freya couldn´t explain to him why he would have something like that.
This skill allowed him to add lightning elemental energy to his attacks or magic. And he was able to do something else...something that let Freya cringe from embarrassement, but Bell loved it.
She had begged him to never use this skill when she could see him. Otherwise she would probably return to heaven, not able to bear with the shame.
Lightning started to crackle around Bell as he activated his magic again.
Hedin and Hogni both heard the ringing of little bells, the white flames on Bell´s arms crawled to his left hand, particles of light and white fire gathered there, lightning crackled all around his body.
This wasn´t what made Freya cringe...it was what happened next.
A magic circle appeared under Hogni´s feet, since Bell pointed his magic at him. A second appeared above Hogni´s head, they couldn´t see it but another appeared above and another...and another...
Ten magic circles appeared above each other, forming a sort of tower. Outside, Raul, Asfi and Hermes saw this spectacle, they froze immediatelly, never had a mortal, adventurer or god seen something like this.
Ten magic circles would mean that this would be the strongest magic spell in history!
But...
These circles were just decoration...they didn´t do anything else than "looking cool"...at least in Bell´s eyes. He remeberred that Freya had nearly cried when she saw that for the first time, Syr had praised him for something so amazing...even when he now got aware of the slight pain in her eyes.
Apparently, magic and skills were a reflection of the person´s soul, that something in Bell longed to put on a show and look amazing. He didn´t dream about a title like "Burning Fighting Fighter" for nothing...
And even when his magic didn´t need a magic circle or chant...Bell still did it sometimes.
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"The sparks of Genesis."
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Fire and Lightning flew from Bell´s hand to the tower of magic circles.
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"The embers of Oblivion."
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Hedin wished he were somewhere else right now...
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"Past, Present and Future, a forbidden force that subsumes all creation."
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Hogni grinned filled with excitement.
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"My name is Flame. I am become destruction, without mercy."
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Both elves felt a goosebump running down their bodies...for different reasons.
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"By my blood, by my flesh, the commandments set by the gods are now shattered."
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"I am called Bell Cranel. Foremost prodigy of Hogni Ragnar and master of the Firebolt."
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Bell started to shout.
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"Heavens! Earth! You will never forget my name! Let the storm blow! Let the flames roar!"
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Not even Hedin produced so much lightning with his magic...he was more humble.
"Behold my power!"
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"FIIIIIIIREBOOOOOOOOOOLT!".
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Bell unleashed his magic towards Hogni, who slashed at it with his cursed sword, laughing like a maniac.
Master and Pupil went all out.
The Explosion that threw Hogni backwards let him laugh even more, after facing this attack, he wasn´t able to fight without getting healed first.
But never before in his life felt Hogni Ragnar so satisfied!
"Well done, my pupil! You pass!"
Hedin cringed when he saw Hogni on the ground, showing Bell a thumbs up.
Bell turned to Hedin. "My Teacher, I will now go onwards."
Hedin averted his eyes.
"Teacher?"
"I do not wish to talk to you for a while, my student..."
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Bell moved on, gulping down his last potions to restore his body to full strength.
The last one he had to face was Ottar, who stood right in front of Freya´s room.
"Captain."
"Bell."
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Ottar didn´t have one of his weapons with him...he wouldn´t need them to destroy Bell completely.
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Bell was fully aware that Ottar could kill him easily.
He still wouldn´t back down.
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In her room and deep in the darkness of her mind, Freya/Syr lost the last spark of hope.
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Maybe it would be better to return to heaven and get killed by Odin...
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A hero was necessary to save Freya now...and time was running out as she slowly raised her head and looked at her desk...the needle that she used to poke her finger was there...and her sword.
She didn´t hear any of the noises outside. Her chamberlains were so worried that they had placed a magic item close to the door, it would block all the sounds from the outside to reach Freya´s ears, so she could relax.
And her bed was so soft that she never noticed the shockwaves running through her familia´s home.
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The worried Daphne tried to wake up the unconcious Cassandra, who mumbled in her sleep.
"The Queen of Love will die..."
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The last light was about to vanish out of Freya´s eyes.
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"Bell..." .
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Author´s Note: Hello everyone. I know it seems strange that the fights were so short, but this story isn´t much about the fights, it is about Bell and Freya. But Bell will have to fight against Ottar, in a way you won´t expect, but it will be a serious fight.
The other What If stories won´t follow the same pattern.
Next chapter is for "Blood of Zeus (Ero)". Ray will appear and have a good time with Bell, but it will mostly be about Bell giving Loki comfort.