Anything for a (Friend)

Sitting in front of Aiz Wallenstein is a terrifying endeavor, unsurprisingly. Not simply because of her enormous and famous power, but because of her popularity as well. She's well loved in her familia, looked up to as a role model by everyone who isn't one of the executives. And who can blame them? She's level 5 at only the age of sixteen, and she currently holds the record for the fastest to level up. Oh, and she's also most likely Loki's favorite child too. So, needless to say, if I were to make her angry or hurt her reputation in any way, I'm dead meat. I have to tread carefully.

That was what I expected when I entered Aiz's room. I thought the emotionless seeming girl would scare me to my core. Instead, I got- "Let me help you."

"Huh?" How did she know that I was going to ask for help? Aiz was sitting on her bed and cleaning her rapier when I entered. She didn't even look up from her task when I entered, but she immediately said that when I did. Must be a high level thing. She must have sensed me or something. "Are you sure that's something you should offer?"

Looking up at me with her trademarked bored look, she nodded. "Well, yes." I waited for a moment, expecting her to explain. After a moment, all she did was tilt her head. "So... what do you need me to do?" This girl is weird.

Adjusting my scarf in an attempt to hide my nervousness, I spoke the words I planned out. "I need your help to protect Lily. I noticed yesterday that a few people were following us, and I know that they're going to do something. Most likely today since we're going into the dungeon. Could you have my back and help me?"

"Yes, of course." Not even thinking about it for a moment, the blond nods her head. Seriously, she's either extremely nice or she's still taking Loki's orders. But, it's better not to complain about it. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Orario who would kill for a high ranker's help. Let alone Aiz Wallenstein. "I suppose I should follow you then? Not much different from usual." I hated that.

"Yes, but try to keep yourself hidden. Both from me and the people I suspect will target us. Oh, and my other party member will be there. His name is Bell." A light of recognition flashed through her eyes for a moment before she simply gave me a nod. "But... thank you Aiz." Turning away from her, I really didn't want her to see my heating up face. "I... I've been a bit of an asshole to you in the past, so thank you for looking past that."

I intended to leave the room with that, fearing what she would say in response. But, I was a big fucking idiot and turned to her slightly before I left and saw her giving me that small smile once more. "It's okay." I closed the door after hearing that. A strange guilt hanging over me. Why? It's not like I have any reason to feel guilty. Sure, I was rude but I apologized. I just met her so it's only natural to be a bit rude unintentionally, right? Something about that thought didn't feel right. Probably nothing.

Rabbit

I want to get stronger. For... way too many reasons to be honest. Well for one, Lady Hestia believes in me! She's done and given so much to me, it's only right that I succeed in her expectations! This amazing knife that she went through so much to give me, and I also have to support her financially. She's taking such a big risk having me as her only familia, even taking a job... I have to make her rich! Then everyone will be asking to join our familia! The second reason I want to be stronger is... well... a bit more embarrassing. Lady Aiz, I want to stand by her side.

She went out of her way to save me from the Minatour a few weeks ago and since then, I've admired her! She's strong, fast, c-cu- she's cool! But, she's also a level 5. She's so far out of my reach, it could take me years to get to where she is now. I'm sure by then, she'd be at least a level 7. I have to get strong as fast as I can so I'm able to thank her properly and... maybe save her if she needs it. T-Though I'm sure she wouldn't! "Bell, there you are."

"Huh? Oh, hey guys." Standing up from the bench, my friends finally arrived. Huh, that's strange. Usually Lily's the first one here and we have to wait for Viole. Why're they coming at the same time? Lily, a short fox girl supporter, and Viole, a guy who's fashion sense is a bit weird, walked up to me. I never thought that I'd be able to find a party of people that I could trust, especially since Lady Hestia always insisted not to trust anyone easily. I guess I was lucky to meet Lily and Viole! Even if they are a bit weird.

Lily's... mean. I don't know if I made a bad impression, it has to be that, because she's so nice to Viole! If only she'd tell me what I did, then we'd be able to be better friends, right? A-Anyway, other than her rude words, she's really nice! Everytime we pay her, she tries to change my mind and she always gives the best advice when it comes to the dungeon! Like, I didn't know that War Shadows were weak to magic until she told me! And I don't think Viole would have noticed either, considering his fighting style.

Speaking of Viole, he's weird. Not just because of his insistence to wear that scarf everyday. But because of, well, everything. He doesn't speak much, and when he does it isn't for long. Even when we eat dinner he barely makes a peep! Is he going for the cool mysterious look? That'd explain the scarf. It kinda works though. His fighting can be scary to say the least, not to mention that it's hard to know what's on his mind. While I like to just get the fight over with as fast as we can, he seems to enjoy it? Or does he? I don't know. It's like he's expecting something to happen. "Bell, I need to explain something to you. Do your best to keep calm as I do."

"Huh? Oh, okay." And then, Viole went on the explain the weirdest and most screwed up situation I'd ever heard! And Lily was silently going through it?! "WHA-MM!" The older boy covered my mouth before my unintentional reaction came out. Blinking to show I was alright, he let go and sighed. "S-Sorry. It's just..."

"I get it. It's an annoyance and I'm not gonna ask for your help." Lilly said from right next to him, arms crossed. "But... sorry. You'll probably have to find a new supporter."

I had to hold back my intention to yell, and just shook my head. "No, I want to help you too, Lily! I'll do anything and everything I can to help!" Sure, it's scary to know that we're about to be ambushed, but if my friend needs help then I'm going to help! Even if I have to fight all of Orario to do so!

Our leader seemed satisfied by my answer and placed a hand on Lily's head. Huh, she's blushing. "Perfect. Then let's follow my plan. Lily, Bell, let's go." He began walking towards the dungeon, expecting us to follow without complaint. Not that he's wrong.

"Don't screw this up, snow-cone. Vi- Sir Viole put a lot of work into helping me and we don't need your mistake killing us." I could only sigh at Lily's small expectations of me. I knew she didn't expect me to do much, but sheesh! She makes Eina look like a gentle mother in comparison! "If you think even for a second that you're going to mess up, then it's better to leave now. Our lives are on the line." Wait, is she...?

"I-I'll do my best." I think it's better not to let her know that I saw what she really meant there. Otherwise she'd-

"Oh and don't think that I'm worried about you or anything. If it came down to it, I'd throw you into a Monster Parade if it meant saving Sir Viole and I." She's so mean! Does she have to say that with such a proud smile too?

The first phase of Viole's plan was simple. Rush through the first few floors of the dungeon until we reached... here! The tenth floor of the dungeon and... wow. Instead of the close quarters caves of the first nine floors, this floor was very spread out and almost reminded me of a park. But instead of the lush greenery of a beautiful park, there were creepy white trees all around and dying grass on the ground. "I know we've been here before but this place still is..." A chill ran down my spine as I looked over the floor. "The creepiest!" AHH! Why'd I say that! That was so lame!

The short girl next to me noticed my weakness and smirked. "Do you need me to hold your hand, Mister Bell?" AGH! Lady Hestia forgive me for being so dumb!

"Focus up." At Viole's stern words, Lily and I turned our attention to him. A group of three Orcs were running straight at us! Aw man! We just got here! Pulling out the short sword I borrowed for Lily, I got into a readied stance. "Bell, grab the one in the backs' attention and kill it. Lily and I will take the ones in the front. If you have trouble, group back up with us, alright?"

"Yes, Sir!" Internalizing my orders, I ran past my party and the first to large orcs. The one lagging behind pulled back it's arm to punch at me, but I was fast enough to move around it. I saw an opening ant took advantage of the monster still recovering. Slashing at the fat monster's ankles, it fell forwards onto it's face. I rushed to stab the monster's, but it threw it's hand back. Thankfully it wasn't able to stand up anymore and simply thrashed its arms around uselessly. This almost makes me feel bad for it. Waiting for a moment, the monster finally became tired and left and opening to take it's neck. All that was left behind was a decently sized monster stone. "Phew. How'd they do?"

Looking back at my friends, they were simply chatting, as if we weren't in a life threatening dungeon. Glad to know they believe in me so much! Jeez, couldn't they be at least a little worried? Grumbling to myself, I walked over to them. "Oh, you're done. Faster than I thought too. Good job." I didn't know how to deal with the pure elation I felt from Viole's praise.

F-Rank

"Alright, that's enough for today." Our leader said as he stabbed one last orc. Huh? But I can still- oh, right. We've only been on floor ten for two hours, making our current run into the dungeon a little over three hours total. Far shorter than usual for us, but it was just enough time to buy for Viole's plan to go into motion... I think. He didn't really explain it totally yet, but I'm sure that's just his careful nature coming through again. He's super careful for a level 1. And he started out not too long after me either.

I shook away my thoughts and picked up the monster crystal at my feet to hand it to Lily. "Alright. I'll lead the way again, okay? Sir Viole, you please stick to the back. Don't want to scare Snow-Cone here or he'll cry."

"I-I won't!" But, I went into my position in the middle anyway. We were going back to the surface, but this wasn't the time to relax. After all, this is where our plan truly starts. Floor nine...floor eighth...floor seven. Our walk back up the dungeon was just as usual. We passed by a few adventures and ignored any monsters on the way back. The normality ended when we reached floor seven however, because Viole grabbed my shoulder and pulled me behind him. "H-Huh?"

"Lily, give me a moment." With a nod, our supporter did as she was asked and joined me behind him. "Look, I can already tell that you're there. It's way too quiet here so just come out already." Huh? Isn't this earlier than he thought? Out of the corner of the room, a man in a long red coat and long black hair appeared. He held a Katana in his hand before slowly placing it on the ground. "Smart."

"I know better than to provoke a member of Loki's familia. Especially one with enough sense to tell that something was off." Our leader just shrugged at the strange complement.

"You were obvious." Uhhh, this isn't what you're supposed to do, Viole! He originally said that he planned on acting like a hot shot. But, judging by the annoyed look in his eyes, he was having trouble doing that. "So, are you just an opportunistic fool or do you have a good reason to ambush us?" Well, at least he's speaking more.

The strange man pointed a finger at Lily. "the girl."

At that moment, a strange feeling began to come from our leader. At the same time, his eyes seemed to have flickered for a moment. Huh? "Her name is Lily. What, are you some Soma drunk after my friend?"

"I don't have to tell you anything." We all kept quiet at the man's words. After a moment, he cracked. "Fine. Some shady bastards promised me some good loot if I helped them rob that- your friend. Can I leave now?"

"...leave the sword."

"But-"

"It's either you leave it, or me and my famila come after you." Sucking his teeth, the strange man did as he was threatened too and simply slipped out of the room. His rushed footsteps soon echoed through the dungeon. "...I didn't do well, did I?"

Lily, trying desperately to hide a giggle, slapped his back. "Well, you were threatening. It worked out well enough, Sir Viole!" Wow, she's smiling more now... "Besides, there was no reason for you to act differently. What, did you want to make an impression or something? I think this goth weirdo vibe you have going on is perfect for you!"

"Goth weirdo..." Whispering the words to himself, he shook his head and began walking once more. "Anyway, let's go. I'm sure the real show is just ahead." Turns out, he wasn't wrong! In the center of floor seven there was a large clearing surrounded by caves. In the center of the clearing was an older wolf man with brown hair and furry armor. He was also holding a suspicious brown sack. This isn't gonna be good! Despite the man obviously waiting for us, Viole tried to walk past him, only for the wolf-man to raise a hand. "Excuse me."

"Now, now. Didn't your parents teach you that it's rude to ignore people? Especially when you know em!" With a small grunt of annoyance, he moved back to us. "Good, good! Now then, why don't we have a little chat. Well, just me and the tiny brat by the way."

"No way!" I unintentionally yelled, moving to Viole's side. "If you want to hurt Lily, then you'll have to go through us!" Ah... opps! I didn't mean to-

"What Bell said." Oh! I did well! Hehehe.

Our cooperation didn't last long. Because the wolf man threw the sack towards me, which I unintentionally caught. Huh? "Bell, you idiot! Drop that now!" I was gonna do it anyway, Lily! Throwing the bag down, a... A KILLER ANT CRAWLED OUT! EWWW! I touched that! "You dumbass! Do you have any idea what you did?! Killer ants send a signal out when they're captured! We're gonna be swarmed!"

"Yeah! So you fools have two choices! Either drop everything now and run. Or die here and I'll just pick up your loot after your bones have been cleaned! Tick tock! We don't have time to argue~" I looked between my party members. While Lily shared my panicked look, Viole seemed as cool as a cucumber. Uhhh? Is this part of the plan? I should have faith. It's Viole! He hasn't steered me wrong yet! Well, we only knew each other for a week so far but... Wait, shouldn't something have happened by now? "Huh? Our enemy shared my thoughts, looking around the still empty cave.

With a sigh and a tug at his scarf, he spoke. "I'm not an idiot, asshole. Come out now."

"Very well. " Coming from behind the man and dragging three unconscious people was an unbelievably beautiful blond woman. OH MY GOD, IT'S LADY AIZ! With a soothing voice she spoke to us after dropping the guys near their friend. "You aren't hurt, are you Viole?"

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about those idiots." Pulling his scarf closer to his face, he answered Lady Aiz. How can he answer her so casually?! Standing next to him, Lady Aiz took notice of me and gave me a short bow! I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW! "So then, you still want to play this game? Even with the Sword princess here?"

"You... you'd go this far for some street rat?! This is enough to start a War game! Wallenstein just assaulted three members of Soma's familia!" With eyes bulging and bloodshot, he pointed a finger at us. Spit raining from his mouth with every syllable.

"Street rat..." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes before glaring at the man once more. This time, his eyes were blood red. "You'd be right that it'd be a suitable war game if you hadn't planned to rob us. All that happened was I saw it coming and took precautions. Besides, who's going to believe an ugly sack of shit like you over Aiz?" Walking up to the man, he seemed to have crumbled under the pressure and fell onto his butt. "So, here's what's going to happen. You and your disgusting familia will leave Lily alone. After all, I could have easily killed you just now. So be grateful, maggot and never show your face to any of us ever again." His red eyes bored into the man's own. He... he was even shaking in fear. Viole... you're really scary, huh? "Now get the fuck out of my sight."

Adventurer

It's always nice when a plan goes perfectly. As rare as that is. Reaching the surface, I coughed into my hand for the tenth time since we finished. I'm not used to talking that often. Hope it doesn't turn into a thing. Once we reached Orario's city center, Bell immediately did something strange. He bowed fifteen times in a row at Aiz. "L-L-Lady Aiz! It's a pleasure to m-meet you once more!" They know each other? That's weird. "Thank you for helping us as well!"

"It was my pleasure to help my friend. Please, stop bowing before you break your neck." Immediately, the rookie followed Aiz's advice. He decided to instead move away from her and closer to Lily, only to steal glances at her every now and then. He's got a thing for her doesn't he? Even I know the tell-tell signs of a crush. "Are you sure they won't mess with you again?" Aiz's question brought me back to our situation.

Nodding my head, I thought back to what had just happened. "I'm sure. They're tactics and refusal to fight showed that they were simply cowards. They'll do anything to make sure nothing like that ever happens again." They may even leave town. Not that I can blame them. I did sick one of the most powerful adventurers in the world onto them. A small part of me felt bad about how I used Aiz in this plan. She's a nice person and yet I... "I'll pay you back for helping me today, Aiz. Whatever you want."

"I... okay." Shit, I kind of hoped she'd be too proud to take me up on that. Oh well, if it'll make her happy.

"Sir Viole... can I speak with you?" Lily, who was pulling her hoodie over her head, walked up to me and grabbed my arm. I nodded at Aiz and Bell before following the girl. She led me into a small alley nearby. "I... I was surprised that you went down that road. You seemed eager to fight them the other day."

Is she alright? While she'd been cautious around Aiz, she usually dropped that act whenever we ended up alone. Yet, here she was still hiding her face. "I didn't want to bet your safety on my own strength. Besides, I'm still weak. I'm not going to let my own weakness stop me from protecting you and Bell." I'm not going to get someone in trouble because of my own incompetence. Not again.

"...why? Why me?"

"Do I have to say it again?"

At my answer, she froze for a moment. I only met her about two weeks ago. We're still practically strangers, so I don't know much about her and the same goes for her. But even so, I feel this connection to her and I can't really say why. Maybe it's because she reminds me of Gretel so much, or it's our similarities, or maybe it's just that she's the first person here that I can actually understand. I don't know, but Lily is still important to me. It wouldn't be an exaggeration that she's the most important person in the world to me right now. The most important person in a positive light at least. "You... you're an idiot!" With a tackle that barely moved me, the Pallum hugged me. Her hood falling as she did and revealing the tears in her eyes. Tears that she rubbed away by burying her face into my chest. "So much could h-have gone wrong and-! And... Thank you! Thank you so much, Viole!"

"Of course. I'll do it anytime." Rubbing her head, she and I stayed like that for a while until she calmed down. By the time we got back to where we separated from Aiz and Bell, the white haired boy was long gone. When I asked, Aiz just said that he ran away screaming sorry. He must have gotten shy. Sheesh, it's been a while since I had to deal with love. Good luck, Bell. Hope it works out for you. As for me, romance wasn't exactly on my list of priorities at the moment. For now, all that was there was getting stronger, protecting Lily, repaying Aiz and getting my vengeance. Even if it is far off.

E-Rank

Reporting everything that happened to Loki, I wasn't at all amused by the smug look on her face. "See? Told you everything would work out! Now you protect that girl, I'm sure she'll get out!"

"Loki."

"Fine, fine! Anyway, let's get this update over with. I'm sure you're dying to cuddle up with her!" Groaning at her insistence to continue this joke, I took off my shirt and sat down on the couch. My goddess jumped over her desk and reached me, pushing me down onto the couch so I'd be laying on it. "Hehe, so you're a bottom, eh?"

I decided it was better to just let her speak and not get bothered by it. With the light of the update filling the room, I decided to ask a question that was plaguing me. "Loki, you said that you didn't want to help because it'd be trouble. Something about a War game. What makes you think that Soma even cares that much about Lily, or even any of his familia, to go so far?" From what Lily told me, the god didn't even care about his familia. Only caring about making wine. And why is there a bottle of said wine on her desk? Ugh.

"You never know how a god will act if you screw with their favorite." Her cryptic words were cut off by the sound of a paper being placed onto my back. She hopped off of me and had the paper in my face by the time I sat up. "Nice growth by the way!" Looking down at the paper, I took in its contents.

Viole Keres

Level: 1*

Str: H 101

End: G 250

Dex: G 218

Agi: G 200

Mag: A 901

Skill: Nightmare Rage

Magic: Force Eater

Staring at the piece of paper, I began to wonder once more about the strangeness about my status. How it began with stats already there. Not to mention, "Loki, why is there an asterisk next to my level?"

"...say what?"

AN: Sorry for the late update guys. Been a bit busy with life at the moment. With how things are going, I should be back to writing soon but I still don't know exactly when. Other than that, thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter.

Phantom-Zero-V2: Wow, thank you. I didn't think I'd get such a nice message about my break on this story, seeing as it recently started. Thank you so much for that and I hope to make something worth waiting for.

Guest: Thank you for the complement. I find myself rereading this fic quite a bit actually, so I pick up on more of my mistakes on here than any other one. I should probably do that for all of my fics, shouldn't I? Guess that's another benefit of taking a break, one that I'll be back soon from. Thanks for the review.

KingofP0wers: I understand you're complaint and while I'd like to explain it, I think it'd kind of go counter to the story to do so. If you can be a bit patient, it'll be explained later. Though I completely understand why you're confused and you bring up an excellent point. I hope you understand, and thank you for your comment. It means a lot