Well folks, this chapter has been split a few times now, this chapter covers day one in the dungeon because I got a little over zealous in some parts.

Walking down the stairs with Lily, I can feel my hearts beating faster than I can keep track, the heavy air of the unknown not doing anything to calm me down.

I find myself often stealing glances at her cute face hidden by her white hood. I can't help it! The small smile on her face is nothing short of adorable! Its like trying to not to be embarrassed second hand when my grandpa "flirted" with the women in my old village!

If we weren't within jumping distance to the first floor, I would be perfectly fine with staring at her all day! I mean, sure she's no elven beauty, but she's really cute and really nice to me, of course I'm going to fall for her!

I can feel a small part of me resist that kind of emotion, but who cares if I barely know anything about her? It just means that there's plenty for me to learn!

I'm sure my grandpa would say the same thing!

"If you see a cute girl, run forward with everything you have!" he'd told me once after being rejected by a particularly attractive merchant that had passed through town.

My… teacher, I suppose, had hit him over the head hard enough to drop him into the ground right after that but meh, that doesn't really matter I think. She did that a lot after all.

Lost in my reminiscence, I wasn't expecting it when Lily suddenly pulled on the back of my coat with a whisper "Mr. Bell, look!"

Despite the whisper she sounded incredibly excited so I followed where she was pointing and promptly felt my jaw hit the floor.

A large yellow and green rooster, almost four feet tall, was standing in front of us. It's a jack bird… a genuine, ultra rare monster with a million Valis price tag. I guess that's why Lily was so excited.

Surveying our surroundings, it seems that nobody else is around so it isn't like they have it claimed or anything. I also happen to be familiar with this particular part of the first floor. I guess I was lost in thought for quite some time since we're about in the middle of the first floor now.

Geez, I hope Lily hadn't been trying to talk to me or anything, that would be embarrassing.

I can worry about that later though, for now, I need to get ready and silently pass my pack to Lily "I know where we are, there's a dead end near here, I'm going to corner the bird there but I can't have anything slowing me down." I whisper to her.

It's true, catching this bird is going to take everything I have, I heard from Finn that these things are incredibly fast. I don't have a chance of catching it outright without a falna, but I can definitely corner the thing!

Lowering myself into a sprinting position, grabbing a fist full of pebbles as I do and clear my mind. Left, right, left, left again. That's how I need to guide it to force it into a corner. I inhale. I can do this.

And so I do. I push off the ground as hard as I can and sprint at the bird, closing the distance quickly until it notices me. It lifted its head up and tilted it a full 85 degrees at least, let out a screech, then started running.

The chase is on.

The jack bird is faster than me, a lot faster than me even, but it isn't very smart if what Finn said is true. Its gaining distance from me but there's still ways for me to control the path. As the monster started closing in on the first turn I need to guide it through, I throw one of the pebbles I picked up at the path to the right, startling it and making it turn left after slowing down briefly.

It slowing down to turn isn't something I expected, but I'm very thankful for it. It gave me a bit of time to close the distance.

I repeat the process twice over, just barely keeping it within throwing range as my lungs and muscles burn from the stress I'm putting them under. It would be one thing if I'd been warmed up but this is the first time I'm exerting myself today. My body is NOT happy with me but I can't let this chance get away.

I notice where we are almost just barely in time to throw the last pebble I need to. Thank the gods I noticed, I was almost late. If I took any longer I would have lost the bird on a straight path even with it's bright colors, I wouldn't have been able to keep up the exertion any longer.

As I turn the corner. The jack bird turns the one ahead of me, which as I learned on my first quest, leads to a dead end. So I stop and draw a single sword readying myself as best as I can, breath heaving. I have one shot at this when it turns around.

I can't afford to miss. I focus on what's in front of me and purge everything else, a single strike is all I need.

The silence of the dungeon is broken by the rapid taps of the jack bird's mad dash and, as expected, it comes around the corner slightly slower than normal, its eyes widening as my blade finds purchase in its neck and it ceases to exist, dissolving into nothing more than an egg of brilliant gold and a beautiful yellow and green feather.

Even more than the egg, something about the plumage compelled me to pick it up.

I sheath my kodachi and collect the feather. Odd… its warm to the touch. I've never heard of a jack bird dropping a feather before but maybe it's just overshadowed by the tales of the million Valis egg.

I worked hard to kill that damn bird so y'know what? I'm going to keep the feather as a trophy. Besides, I might be able to make it into a nice gift for Lily! To remember our first real Dungeon dive. I don't really have any pockets right now so I slip it under my vambrace. I don't want to lose it after all or spoil the surprise.

With that handled, I pick up the egg, and start to slowly walk back to Lily. My lungs hate me and my legs are going to be feeling this for the rest of the day at least.

By the time I reach Lily, I'm still exhausted but my breathing at least has gone back to normal and I don't feel like my lungs are on fire anymore. Thank the gods for small mercies.

My legs are a different story. I've never run that fast for that long before. Considering the length of the walk back, I must have been running few minutes at least, but I was pushing myself harder than I ever had before so my stamina didn't hold up like normal. I'll have to work on that…

Despite how tired I am though, I still tried my best to smile fully while holding the egg up "I found breakfast!" I joked lightly.

Apparently that's not what I should have said.

"Mr. Bell! That's not something to cook! It's worth one. Million. Valis! Give me the egg before you break it or use it as a distraction or something ridiculous!" she yelled.

"Jeez, I was just joking Lily, no need take it so seriously." I said while handing her the egg, which to be honest, is a better place for it.

Lily glared at me a moment longer as she carefully wrapped the egg in a cloth before stowing it in her massive bag and returning my own "Lily was just worried Mr. Bell would do something weird." She said, returning to her normal behavior.

Wait, normal? I guess she did drop the whole third person thing she's doing… maybe it's something that just happens when she's angry?

Well, it's not really worth thinking about. If I just asked her I'd be prying and nobody likes that kind of thing.

I check the small timepiece that I left in my bag. We've been down here for two hours already? "I guess we should pick up the pace…" I mutter causing Lily to look up at me "I want to reach the fourth floor's stairs by midday so we can spend most of the day on the fifth floor or lower." I explain.

It would be pointless if we just sat around where it's generally safe after all.

Lily seemed a bit hesitant, her hands wringing together as she looked up at me, "It'll be alright Lily, I've already taken down a few war shadows so even if we camp out on the fifth we should be alright." I said with a smile.

"Alright Mr. Bell… Lily will wait and see…" I guess I did a pretty bad job at reassuring her but its enough that she's at least willing to come along to see for her self.

I guess I'll just have to prove it to her then. "Don't worry, if anything happens I'll protect you!" I pump my arm and turn away from her as I say that. There's absolutely no way I could make such an embarrassing proclamation looking straight at her after all.

And so, without turning around I started heading even deeper into the Dungeon, the depths await!

Ah the fourth floor. I never really took the time to look at it last time I came this deep so I was more than willing to accept Lily's request to slow down for a bit. As we passed by the many adventurers marking the main path that's typically kept clear , I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Last time I had a clear goal in mind and could generally put them out of my mind, but this time I can feel their eyes following me and Lily, who'd withdrawn further into her hood after a few really buff guys bumped into her earlier.

I had tried to get them to apologize but Lily told me not to bother. "This is normal" she'd said. It still pisses me off though. She shouldn't have to put up with that kind of treatment.

I don't like it, but I'll respect her not wanting me to get involved.

I really don't feel like a hero right now if I'm being honest… A real hero would throw himself into danger and conflict if he saw injustice like this. I can't do that though. Not only was I specifically requested not to, but even if I wasn't, I'm nowhere near strong enough to actually do anything.

Well… I guess that isn't entirely true… the weight of the weapons at my hip are a constant reminder that I could probably pull out a win by splitting whatever weapon they use mid swing, but that would be problematic in its own way.

I'm still not completely comfortable with the nature of Ira Diabolus but I'm sure I will be in time. Like Pandora said, they aren't evil if I don't use them for an evil purpose.

A particularly sharp stare from behind me snaps me out of my musing and I draw Ira Diabolus.

Good thing I did too as I immediately had to leap back to dodge the gaping jaw of the large lizard creature that dropped down on me.

Its around a meter long, and a dark purplish brown that blends in with the dungeon walls. It's feet seems to have some kind of suction cup at the end of each toe, most likely to help with its climbing and ambush tactics.

A Dungeon Lizard then. It's my first time seeing one. I kinda expected them to look more intimidating but as it stands it looks almost like a toy if not for the incredibly sharp teeth peeking over its jawline like a viper.

I heard that a rare few Dungeon Lizards actually develop a particularly nasty venom but in exchange for the extra weapon, they end up an almost orange color, sacrificing their stealth.

I feel a little warmth drip down my cheek. Well, suddenly I am VERY glad that this is your garden variety Dungeon Lizard. It must have caught my cheek when I dodged it's ambush. Carefully, I lower myself into a more guarded stance.

I could probably just rush it, but this is a good opportunity to learn how they behave when their ambush fails.

I watch its skittish movements closely, looking for anything that might warn me that it's going to attack, and then I see it, a tensing of it's rear legs, the toes digging inwards as it launched forward.

Its times like these that I'm glad my teacher drilled into me to never underestimate an opponent because instead of coming straight at me on the ground like I thought it would, it actually started almost zig zagging around the walls and ceiling.

Great another memor- not the time Bell! I keep my eyes on the erratic movements of the reptile until- "Gotcha!" I yell as I sidestep the plunging bite and swing my left kodachi, separating it's head from it's body. The Dungeon Lizard was definitely fast but compared to the Jack Bird from earlier? Pulling off the same maneuver is child's play.

And I didn't even destroy the magic stone this time either! The body didn't dissolve immediately!

I guess Lily must have decided the danger had passed, because she ran up to the body and got to work digging for its core with a quick shout of "Congratulations Mr. Bell! You did it!" which made me blush and turn away for a minute.

"It was nothing hehe" I let out a nervous chuckle. Is this what it feels like to have the girl you like compliment you? It feels like my stomach is gonna explode!

Having good equipment really does make a difference though eh? I would have never been able to deal with the Dungeon Lizard that easily with starter gear or my old cleaver.

I should thank Pandora again when I get back.

"Lily is done Mr. Bell." Speaking of thanking people…

"Thanks Lily, you it's really a big help to have you here! It would have taken me forever to find the magic stone." And I mean it. I know in general where it is, but everything I've heard has been second hand. It's just not the same as doing it myself. If I had to guess, it would have taken me a few minutes at least.

For Lily though? She got it out in less than twenty seconds.

Lily tugged at my coat, something I think has become her way of getting my attention in general, "Is Mr. Bell ready to go? The path down should be very close now." She asked while looking at me with her large eyes.

I avert my own. Too cute… "Uh yeah, we'll stop for lunch before we head down though. Can't fight on an empty stomach right?"

Lily bobs her head, hands close to her chest "Mhm. Very good idea Mr. Bell!"

"Hahaha!" I laugh whole heartedly, guess she's hungry eh?

After a quick lunch of dried jerky and water, the liquid being the only thing that made the jerky palatable, we descended to the fifth floor and an ominous feeling set over me.

It's always like this on the fifth. The feeling of being stalked, of every shadow having the potential to be a new enemy, the ghastly wails that serve to break the silence and force those intruding in the war shadow's domain into a state of constant dread.

Its terrifying. It's a blessing that war shadows are not just the only enemy on the fifth, but that they also never leave it.

If we supporters had to be conscious of the shadows on every floor, the mental strain alone would be enough to make our careers short.

So why. Why is Bell smiling?

Where's the stress the floor is known for? It's like he isn't even slightly concerned! He isn't watching the shadows, he isn't keeping his head on a swivel, he's just walking around like he's having a nice day in the park!

At least he has a hand on one of his swords, so he's prepared to fight, but he's being a fool to trust his eyes here!

"Mr. Bell…" I start and he immediately gives me is full attention "Is Mr. Bell not worried about the War Shadows?"

Bell laughs. He LAUGHS! "Of course I am, but I have you watching my back so I don't need to worry too much."

Oh, of course that makes perfect sense. Actually no it doesn't. This kid is going to die down here.

His eyes suddenly narrow "Besides…" he trails off as he draws his weapon and cuts across the ground behind me causing a piercing wail from the floor as a magic stone pushes out of the floor "It's not like they have perfect stealth or anything, you can feel it when they're near by."

My eyes go wide and I move mechanically as I collect the stone. No. No you can't feel them. That's why people are so terrified of them. Is he just making that up or does he have some kind of skill that he can sense them?

Now that I think about it, he noticed the Dungeon Lizard too when it ambushed us earlier.

First a drop item boosting skill, now a detection skill… how many skills does he have? This is too weird.

Something is going on here and I don't want to be around for when the other shoe falls. I need to get- "Hey Lily, we're almost at the pantry of the floor, you must be a little shaken up still. Let's set up there as a home base of sorts." Right. He just saved my life. I can't leave until I thank him for that at least.

I nod "Okay Mr. Bell. Lily is feeling a little off right now. Thank you for considering Lily's condition."

Tomorrow, after he's rested I'll leave. I already made more than I could have ever hoped. The jack bird egg will be plenty to get me out of the Soma familia after all.

We made it to the pantry without too many issues, a few war shadows here and there, but nothing I couldn't handle thanks to Ira Diabolus.

Lily… I guess she must have been shaken up by the one in her shadow a little while ago. She's been a lot more quiet and reserved since then and is now taking a nap. I guess it makes sense that she'd want to rest after being close to death.

Which is why I find myself playing with my stick, waiting for Lily to wake up.

…

Wait! Not like that!

I meant that I'm practicing magic! Or, trying to at least. The stupid stick still isn't reacting to my brute force approach. Which means I guess it's time to try meditating again.

Okay. Step one? Clear my mind. Seems like a bad idea in the Dungeon but we're pretty safe and I rigged a bell with some string so there shouldn't be too much harm. Now that I don't feel guilty, I clear all thought from my mind.

Lily, the Dungeon, monsters, none of them matter, and none of them are to be spared a single thought.

Step two breathe. In and out Bell, you can do this. Make your breathing regular and thoughtless. As my breathing levels, I close my eyes.

Step three, look inwards.

This is the part that stopped me at the Hostess. I just couldn't reach the level of introspection I needed. But here, in the silent, welcoming air of the unknown adventure? Here I am alone with my thoughts and self.

What few sounds remaining fade from existence.

Thump-thump

Feeling is no longer a sense I require and so the cold of the Dungeon's stone floor and wall fade away as well.

Thump-thump

Before me, I can not so much "see" but observe a network of silver paths branching out in every direction.

Thump-thummp

It's blurry. I'm being distracted by the sound of my hearts beating. I need to focus deeper.

Thump-thrummp

Wait, hearts? I listen closer.

Thump-thrummmm

The second beat, it isn't a thump like my heart. It's more like a hum. Or perhaps a pulse? I focus on it.

Thrummmm

As I listen to it's pleasant hum, I notice the pathways become clearer and they glow in tune to it. Despite my lack of body in this space, I put my "hand" on the right side of my chest.

Its warm, and pulsing as though I have a second heart. It feels powerful, endless. I grab hold of it and push it through the network.

I feel a faint tug, and open my eyes.

When they open, I see a silvery glow from the rune on the stick. I-I did it. I think I found my magic!

I set the stick to my side and watch as the glow slowly fades away then pick it back up. No reaction yet. That's fine though, I wasn't expecting one. With no small amount of hope in my heart I once more grab hold of the energy in my "second heart" and send it through the pathways, my nerves I realize, or at least something to that effect.

"Thurisaz" I mutter and, with a pleasant warmth filling my body, the rune once more lights up in my hands.

I really did it! I can use magic! I jump to my feet, pulling in the warm feeling of my magic, the rune fading in the process, and did it over and over! This feels amazing! The warmth as mana spreads through my body is intoxicating!

Oh yeah! I need to see if the rune is working right! I mean, Odin didn't mention quite what "working right" would look like but considering the rune itself means protection, amongst other things, I imagine it probably made it more durable so…

Activating the rune, and this time noticing the faint silver sheen that passes over the stick briefly before disappearing, I whirl around and swing the stick with all my might into the wall.

Thwack

The sound is predictably a little loud but more importantly the stick didn't break! Actually, there isn't even a crack!

I swing it again and again watching the silver sheen that covers the stick to protect it each time I hit the wall. Slowly but surely making micro fractures in the spot I'm hitting.

This is incredible! And it's only the basics of the basics! How much more incredible will my magic be when I can cast actual spells like my teacher drilled into me!

"Mr. Bell?"

Will I be able to throw fireballs? Freeze entire battlefields? Oh! Or maybe I can use the stars as a super laser!

"Mr. Bell?!"

Maybe I can even make spells specifically for saving lives! Would that kind of magic be a force field? Or maybe a healing spell. Actually, why not both! Ahhhhhh I have so many ideas but no real way to use them until I learn more!

"MR. BELL!"

My swinging stops. Whoops, I got so excited I forgot about Lily. I'm sure the loud impacts are what woke her up.

I sheepishly turn to face her. Oh god she's pissed. Her eyebrow is twitching rapidly and her smile is strained, seemingly promising violence.

"H-hi Lily di-did you sleep well?" I stutter out.

Oh, it looks like Lily has decided to glare at me now… "Oh yes, I was sleeping great! The loud banging was a particular pleasant part of it." She answered sarcastically, dropping her first person thing.

I throw myself to the ground. Time to beg for forgiveness! "I'M SORRY LILY!" I yell in panic.

I was about to tell her that I was just excited that I was able to use magic until…

"You must not tell anyone about this Bell. It would cause untold harm to the stability of the world."

Right… I can't just tell her that I spontaneously developed magic… Adventurers need a status update before any change like that can happen and there is obviously no gods in the dungeon… Okay then. Half truths. Gods know I can't lie for salt.

"I'm sorry," I say, calmer this time "I just got bored while waiting for you to wake up and got a little too into it." That's true at least. I was bored before I started my meditation.

Lily looks skeptical but instead of pushing further, she sighed "Fine, Lily will forgive you this time. But just this once."

"Thank you for your magnanimity!"

"So what now Mr. Bell?" she asked.

Hm. Actually that's a good question. "I think for the rest of the day we'll stay here to get used to being in constant combat then move down to the sixth tomorrow." Lily nods "Alright, well, lets head out then!"

A few more hours were spent taking down war shadows, netting us a hefty sum of drop items and magic stones and after that we started taking turns resting to be fully prepared for the sixth floor. Luckily, nobody's rest was interrupted by monsters. Turns out that the fifth floor pantry is a great place for camping. Who knew?

And well, since we were there anyways, we decided to make use of the food we found in there. The meat was tough and had a strange taste, but honestly I really liked it! Lily clearly didn't share the sentiment however. She almost puked after her first bite.

I wonder what type of meat it was? Maybe something close to beef?

Eh whatever, it doesn't matter anymore because now Lily and I are on our way to the sixth floor! Ahhhhh I'm so excited! My heart is beating so fast that I'm kind of scared it'll explode!

Just like last time I was this deep, I let my feet guide me, leading me further into the depths just like they were oh so hopeful to do last time.

So now, as I stare down into the pitch darkness of the seemingly endless stairs, it almost feels as though the Dungeon itself is beckoning me deeper. To dive even further into the unknown.

With my new gear, magic and Lily at my side, I truly think I'm ready to start trying to unravel it's mysteries!

"You ready Lily?" I ask.

"Mhm! Lily is ready Mr. Bell!" Nothing more needed to be said, so once more I listened to the siren call of adventure, and delved once more into the abyss.

Countdown until the start and (for this story) end of canon: 3 in world days.

I decided that, instead of completing the whole dungeon adventure in one chapter that I would once more split it and the reason for it is incredibly simple. Tears of the Kingdom drops on Friday and that's gonna consume my life for a bit. Since I've been keeping up bi-weekly lately I hope to stick with that instead of what would probably become a month or so. This chapter is 4.5k words btw.

Now, how'd everyone like Bell's awakening to magic? I personally quite like it. It was always going to be an early development since Bell is going to quite literally need it to survive in any meaningful way in the dungeon.

And the last thing I want to talk about before I end this chapter is pairings. To start with, there's a 90% chance that this story remains simply Bell x Ryuu. However, depending on the way that this story pans out, and as I'm writing it I admit that I'm becoming more and more interested in doing so (namely because I'm re-reading the light novels and re-watching the anime as I do), it might evolve into a multi character pairing.

Ryuu is and always will be best girl. That will not change. And because of that fact there's a few characters that I can say right now definitely will not get involved. They are Syr, Freya, Riveria (and god I wish I could include her but that would make Ryuu awkward considering the borderline worship of high elves), Pandora, Lily, any divine beings and any canonically dead characters (Otherwise Alise would be in high contending).

At the absolute most, I would expand it to include three characters, although only two is also possible in the event that I expand it at all. The character I personally have in mind is Haruhime. My reason besides simply loving her character? She is a lovable fox girl and would play support to Ryuu and Bell's vanguard, that's not to say they will be the only members of the party but I think you get my point.

I am open to suggestions regarding other characters without much as far as limits go, but please know that there is no guarantee that this will become a multi pairing. It depends entirely on reader interest and the way the story progresses.

Any rate, I will keep an eye on the reviews as always and hopefully even with TotK I won't be late on the next upload. Take care all!