Hey, I'm back with a new chapter. Been really busy with work and study, pretty much burnt out. I literally had to take a few days off to recover, and finally got the time to work on a chapter too.

Honestly not too sure when I can get to writing another chapter next time, but we'll see.

GhostEist, Bell won't have Magic Circuits. There will be some bleeding effect one way or another, but not any time soon. Potentially after season 2 when he gets more heroes.

codywhite162, glad you like the story so far. Here's a new chapter, and hopefully will tell you what happened to Ais.

Bachi the cat, it's a bit late, considering your review was like over a month ago, but congrats on getting Np2 morgan. I got NP1 pretty much every Servant from LB6. Also got all Servants from the recent summer banners. Now I jz need to save for Charlemagne.

RegulusCetus, hopefully this chapter may clear things up a bit.

AnimeFan13579, you're right, Bell has a tolerance. If you remember some parts with Freya monologuing about Bell's soul, that's actually the reason. And yes, he would also have vulnerabilities to the weaknesses related to the heroes he uses. So for example, if he were to Load Medb, he would be weak to cheese.

Again, the bleeding effect will happen, but as you've mentioned, 'Heroes' as in Heroic Spirits who have the heart of a hero, won't affect Bell that much because of how similar they are. Now, you brought up Diarmuid, which is interesting considering I've also been thinking of who I should introduce when the Xenos arc comes out.

You can bet that Bell will definitely fight some of the Loki Familia members, and as you may or may not notice, some of them bear parallel traits to some Heroic Spirits.

TbhDiyori, I'll try, been just really busy with life and all.

ManticoreBlues, glad you're liking it so far. My knowledge of Heroic Spirits mainly come from FGO. I love the Stay Night ones, but honestly I came to know and love them because of FGO. Now, clothing and hair styles are honestly a bit of a coin flip for me.

If the Heroic Spirit Loaded is a monstrous one, he will get traits, but most of them are humanoid, and unless its a Noble Phantasm that really needs it to look like that, I probably won't change his clothing or hair styles.

But do look forward to the new Heroic Spirits I'm planning to introduce in the next chapter or so.

Guest, I don't mean to be rude or anything. But if you find it cringe, you can just leave the page, no one forced you to read this. If

Anyways, here's the newest chapter. Hope yall enjoy.

XXX

Bell blinked when he heard Ais' question, "Huh?"

The blonde girl stared at him, her eyes filled with frustration and confusion, "How... How are you still sane? How are you conscious?"

Tiona spoke up, "Wait wait, what are you talking about, Ais?"

"I believe she is talking about the weapon all of you just held, and by extension, Bell Cranel's unique abilities."

The four turned to see Riveria walking in, and the high elf spoke, "Apologies, I was watching when you decided to bring him here to try out your weapons, Tiona."

Tione asked, "What do you mean, Riveria?"

The green haired woman regarded Ais for a moment, before looking at Bell, "I had a suspicion, but I felt it was rude to ask. Seeing how Ais reacted confirmed it for me."

Riveria took a short breath, "Bell Cranel, when you take on the powers of the heroes you inherit, you gain their powers and memories. That is what you told us."

Bell nodded, "Yes, that's right."

The high elf sighed, "Ais is a half spirit. That means the nature of your ability is closely related to that of a spirit. It also means your soul is most likely fused with the hero you use."

Riveria looked at Ais, "That's why you said you felt him become a half spirit, isn't that right, Ais?"

The boy blinked, "O-oh."

He folded his arms. It did make sense, he would form a contract with a Heroic Spirit, and he would gain their memories and abilities. Everytime that happened, Bell would also dream of their past.

Bell bowed towards Ais at a 90 degree angle, "I'm really sorry, I should've known better."

Ais shook her head, "No, it's not your fault."

Riveria nodded, "Back on the topic, for someone like Ais, I am unsure how, but holding your weapons might have caused those powers to encroach into her own soul. But unlike you, she doesn't have the same capacity to hold it."

The boy nodded, "That would be a logical explanation."

The high elf looked at the blonde, "I hope you're satisfied, Ais."

She also looked at Bell, "I'll have to take a look at her, in case any lingering effects are in place. I hope you don't mind if Tiona and Tione take over showing you around."

The boy blinked, before he shook his head frantically, "No, no! It's fine! If anything, we should make sure Ais-san is fine, right?"

Riveria chuckled, "I appreciate your concern, but that won't be necessary."

She turned, "We'll use my tent, Ais."

The blonde took that as the hint to follow the elf, and Ais glanced at Bell once more, before silently following the green haired woman.

Tione sighed, "Well, there they go."

Tiona nodded, "Hmm."

The short haired twin looked at Bell, "Okie, let's bring you to the town then!"

The boy blinked, before nodding quickly, "O-okay!"

Tiona smiled and walked out of the tent, "Come on."

A short walk later, the three were outside a heavily fenced area.

Bell blinked, "Is this the place?"

Tiona nodded, "Rivira. It's pretty much a town built by adventurers for adventurers."

Tione sighed, "But don't expect too much from this place."

The boy blinked, "Huh? Why?"

The long haired Amazoness folded her arms, "You'll see."

Bell only blinked in confusion again, "Eh?"

Tiona grumbled, "Just ignore her, let's go in!"

The boy blinked when the shorter Amazoness pulled him along into the town, and Tione just followed after them.

Soon, the trio walked into the town, and the first thing Bell quickly noticed was the run down buildings around them.

The boy commented, "These buildings, they all look... run down..."

Tione nodded, "Of course they would. Everything here is done to the bare minimum, only where necessary. These buildings are just there to for the sake of it."

Tiona nodded, "You don't see rain here, and the light from the ceiling is not like the sun too."

Bell hummed, "So the buildings are just for the sake of it..."

The long haired Amazoness nodded, "Exactly, and see those shops?"

The boy looked at where the young woman was looking at, "Yeah?"

Tione's lips thinned, "A simple bag will cost you 20 thousand valis."

Bell blinked, before he widened his eyes in shock, "Wait, what?"

Tiona nodded, "Yep. something that'll cost you just a few hundred valis on the surface will cost you a lot more here."

The boy looked at the store, noting that most if not all of the items were used and beat up.

Bell asked, "Is it because of how hard it is to bring supplies down here?"

The long haired Amazoness nodded, "That would be a reason, yes."

Tiona huffed, "And the inns here are expensive too, way too expensive. So we camp out every time we're here."

Bell nodded, "I see... That makes sense. And your familia already has plenty of manpower and resources, so it wouldn't be hard to camp out here."

Tione nodded, "That's right."

Tiona walked forward, "Anywayyy, that's enough serious talk, there's more to see at the back!"

The older sister of the twins sighed, "Alright, let's keep going."

The two Amazonesses continued walking, and Bell quickly followed after them.

Only to bump into someone when they walked past a small bar.

The boy quickly apologized on reflex, "Ah, sorry."

The person he'd bump into looked at him, and Bell realized who had bumped into.

Mord Latro's face immediately turned into a scowl when he saw Bell, "What the fuck are you doing down here?!"

Bell blinked at his question, "What am I-"

Before the boy could respond, Mord cut him off, "Fuck that! You'll pay for what happened at the bar!"

The man reached for the boy's face, but Bell was quick to grab a hold of Mord's wrist, stopping him from grabbing his face.

That easily pissed the man off, "Why you-!"

But before he could continue, one of Mord's companions, Guile, pulled the man back, "Hey Mord, slow down."

The man blinked, and he looked at where Guile was looking at, only to see Tiona and Tione watching them, and he quickly noticed Tiona's narrowed eyes.

It was obvious what they were telling them.

Try something, and we won't stand idle.

Mord's eyes widened, "L-Loki Familia..."

He looked back at Bell, "You know them?!"

The boy narrowed his eyes, "And what of it?"

Mord growled and pulled his hand back, only to blink when he couldn't wrestle it free, "Let go!"

Bell released his grip, and Mord stumbled back into his two friends.

The man growled again and stormed away, his two companions chasing after him quickly.

A short moment after they left, Tione asked, "What's their problem?"

Tiona snorted, "Lame."

Bell let out a short breath, "It's nothing, just something that happened on the surface."

The older of the twins looked at him, "You sure? You should know by now that a lot of adventurers aren't the best people."

The boy nodded, "Yeah, it's fine."

Tiona snorted, "Well, not like they're as good as you, Argonaut-kun!"

Bell chuckled awkwardly, "I don't know about that..."

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, with Riveria and Ais, the pair were in the high elf's tent.

The blonde sat on the ground silently as the high elf casted her healing magic on her head.

Riveria nodded in satifisfaction, "Seems like there's nothing wrong."

Ais nodded, "Thank you, Riveria."

The high elf nodded, "You're welcome."

The two stayed there for a brief moment, and Riveria sighed, "So, do you want to tell me what happened?"

Ais stayed silent for a moment, and the green haired elf spoke again, "I'm not mad at you for trying, if anything I'd be surprised if you didn't. But I'm worried, Ais."

The blonde let out a short breath, "I... I felt like someone was tearing me apart from the inside out."

That caught Riveria's attention, "Oh? Mind elaborating?"

Ais nodded, "It felt like a blurr, it was just too much, I can't really explain what I saw. Nothing makes sense."

Riveria hummed, "I see... Is there anything you can make out from it?"

The blonde shook her head, "The only thing I can say is that it felt like a spirit, but very different from my mother."

The high elf nodded, "And what of the words you told Bell Cranel?"

Ais looked down, "The moment I held that weapon, it was like someone trying to take over my mind, to tear it apart."

Riveria hummed, "I have a hypothesis for that."

The blonde looked at her older sister figure, "Really?"

The elf nodded, "Bell Cranel told us he inherits the abilities of past heroes. I suspect they take the form of spirits, and they grant him their memories, abilities and techniques. You holding the weapon must have caused the spirits to try to grant you the same things, but you are already your own spirit, and those aspects tried to take over you."

Ais looked down, "I see..."

Riveria sighed, "Look, I know that means you can't get stronger by using his methods, but everyone has their own way of doing things, remember?"

The blonde swordswoman nodded, "I understand."

The high elf nodded, "As long as you understand. Now come on, we should get to work."

Ais nodded, before she stood up and followed the high elf out of the tent.

(Linebreak)

Back with Bell and the twin sisters, the rest of the trip was uneventful, and Bell quickly realized Rivira was more like a slums than an actual town.

Food and accommodation were overly priced, and even then the quality was subpar.

But that was probably due to the fact that Bell often dined at the Hostess'.

Now, the boy was back at the Loki Familia's camp, and he was with Ais, Tiona and Tione.

The boy asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The younger Amazoness blinked, "Help?"

Tione looked at him, "Not really, we're pretty much about done for today anyway, so don't worry about it."

"HUHH?!"

A loud voice reached their ears, and Bell turned to look at the source of the voice, only to blink when he found Bete in his face.

The werewolf stared/glared at him, before snapping at Tiona, Tione and Ais, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE RABBIT DOING HERE?!"

Bell blinked, "By rabbit... you mean me...?"

Bete snapped his head at him, "HOW ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"

The boy blinked, but before he could answer, Tiona and Tione pulled the werewolf back.

Tiona spoke up, "No bullying Argonaut-kun, okay?"

Tione nodded, "Exactly, he's our guest, so he'll be with us while we're here."

Bete growled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'LL BE WITH US WHILE WE'RE HERE?! AND LET ME GO!"

The younger Amazoness smiled as she pulled him along, "Now just keep quiet and maybe we'll let you go."

The werewolf only continued to scream whilst the two pulled him away, leaving a confused Bell.

The boy turned to Ais, and he also spotted a familiar elf with her.

Bell quickly walked up to them, almost excitedly, "Ais-san!"

The blonde girl looked at him, "Yes?"

Bell looked at the elf who had an almost hostile look, but he was a bit too excited, "You're the Thousand Elf, aren't you?!"

Lefiya blinked, almost losing every hint of hostility when his words registered in her mind, "Eh?"

The boy beamed, "I've heard a lot about you! You can use any elf magic, right?!"

The blonde elf blinked again, "H-huh? I-I mean..."

Bell asked, "Is it true you can really use any magic?!"

Lefiya's face flushed when she realized how close the boy was to her, "Umm, I mean..."

"Now I understand your enthusiasm, Mr Cranel, I think our dear Lefiya would be a bit flustered if you invade her personal space."

Bell blinked, as he turned to see Riveria with an amused expression on her face, with another elf beside the green haired elf, bearing a not so pleased expression.

The boy quickly realized he had indeed gotten right in front of Lefiya, and his face flushed deeply, making the perfect impersonation of a tomato.

Bell quickly backed away and bowed 90 degrees, "I'm VERY SORRY! I just got a bit too excited!"

Lefiya blinked, before she shook her head, "N-no, it's okay..."

Riveria chuckled, "Considering your own abilities, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd know of Lefiya's own unique set of skills, Bell Cranel."

The boy rose from his bow, and he nodded, "Yes, well, I mean I would be naturally."

The youngest elf blinked in confusion, "A similar skill set...?"

Her eyes widened, "Wait! You don't mean...?!"

Riveria nodded, "This young man is the rumored Little Hero, and I believe both of you can benefit from each other, to some extent."

Lefiya looked at Bell, "I... I see..."

She hummed, "I mean... I guess we can try..."

Alicia, the other elf, spoke up, "That can wait, we're here for another reason."

Riveria nodded, "Exactly. Bell Cranel."

The boy looked at her, "Y-yes!"

The high elf gestured to the main tent, "Your companions have awoken, and some of your other companions have arrived as well. They're in Finn's tent right now if you want to go see them."

Bell quickly nodded, "Yes, I'll go now. Thank you very much for telling me!"

He quickly jogged for the main tent, leaving the others.

Riveria chuckled as Bell entered the tent, and Alicia sighed, before looking at Lefiya, "You okay, Lefiya?"

The younger elf nodded, "Y-yes, I was just surprised."

The only high elf amongst them chuckled, "Come on, let's finish things up and we can start preparing dinner."

With Bell, the boy stood outside the tent and patted on 'door' flap, "Excuse me, Riveria-san told me to come here?"

Finn's voice reached his ears, "Yes, of course, come in."

The boy walked in, and a familiar voice reached his ears.

"BELL-KUN!"

Bell blinked when he found a familiar goddess, her arms wrapped around him, "H-Hestia-sama?!"

Hestia nuzzled into Bell's chest, "YOU'RE OKAY! YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Now now, Hestia, I understand you're worried, but do that when you're alone, okay?"

Bell blinked, until he realized there were other people in the tent, and he quickly noticed Ryuu and Anya, "Ryuu-san, Anya?"

He also saw Welf and Lili, along with five other not so familiar faces.

The elf spoke, "I see you are fine, Cranel-san. That's good."

Anya grinned, "Ryuu here was worried nya know? Even I was worried."

Bell chuckled sheepishly, "Well, sorry for that."

Hermes walked forward, "So this is the infamous Bell Cranel, I've been looking forward to meeting you, you know?"

The boy blinked when he saw the god, and he also noticed the bespectacled blue haired woman's uncomfortable face, directed at the god, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Hermes' grin widened, and he took his hat off to do a dramatic bow, "Hermes, God of Messengers, at your service."

Bell blinked, and he nodded, "Pleased to meet you, I guess."

Finn smiled and spoke up, "Now I'd hate to interrupt the reunion, but now that we have a bit more people on board, I was hoping to see what Bell wants to do."

The boy blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

The prum chuckled, "The original plan was to have you join our second group and return to the surface, but for now you have double the numbers from when you reached this floor."

Bell quickly caught on, "So you want to know if we want to stay with your group or go up on our own time."

Finn nodded, "Of course, you are welcome to come with us, and I definitely hope that you do. But well, not everyone is as receptive of joining a different party after all."

The boy nodded, "If you don't mind, I'd prefer if we could keep with our original arrangements."

The prum nodded, "Then that settles it. Now, you are welcome to continue catching up in this tent, but you'll have to excuse me for a moment, I have a few things to handle outside."

Bell nodded, "Thank you, Finn-san."

The captain of the Loki Familia smiled as he left the tent, "You're welcome."

The boy looked at the others, and he smiled sheepishly, "Umm, I know Finn-san said we could talk here, but I just feel a bit uncomfortable doing that, can we go to the tent they lent us?"

Everyone blinked, and Lili sighed with a smile, "Seriously? That's the first thing you say?"

(Linebreak)

A short while later, in Bell's party's tent, Mikoto was on the ground in a dogeza position.

"I cannot apologize enough."

Bell looked like a deer caught in headlights, "W-wait, stand up, plea-"

"No matter how much you apologize, we can't forgive you just like that."

Lili cut him off, a calm but very much pissed off expression on her face.

Welf nodded, "Yeah, that's not something we can leave as is just like that."

Mikoto nodded, "I understand, and you have every right to be angry at us. If there's any way to make it up-"

"If you want someone to blame, blame me."

Everyone looked at Ouka, who had his eyes closed, arms folded.

The captain of the Takemikazuchi familia looked at them, specifically Bell, "All that happened was my decision. I don't mind however you want to take it out on me, but I'll say it anyway... I don't believe what I did was wrong, not when my family was in danger."

Welf glowered at him, "Wow, after all that and you can still talk like that? Color me impressed big guy."

The two glared at each other, or rather, Welf was glaring at Ouka, but Ouka simply met the glare with a firm stare.

"Enough."

Bell's voice reached their ears, and the two men looked at the younger boy. The white haired boy took a deep breath, "Your family was in danger, and you had to make a choice. I cannot blame you for putting your family in front of strangers."

Bell looked at Mikoto, then at Chigusa, before staring at Ouka in the eye, "You could've just left us to die anyway after that, but you still came down to the 18th floor for us. That says a lot."

Welf looked at Bell, "Bell..."

The white haired boy let out another breath, "Let us call it even, what's over is over. We're all going to be heading up the surface together anyway."

Lili sighed, "If that's what Bell-sama's decided, then I guess..."

The redhead scratched the back of his neck, "Fine... We'll leave it as it is, but I'm not accept calling it even!"

Ouka sighed and nodded, "If that's you wanna do things, then I'll gladly accept it as it is."

Mikoto got up to her knees, "Thank you, Bell Cranel."

Chigusa lowered her head in turn, and Bell turned to Ryuu and Anya, "And thanks for coming with them, Ryuu-san, Anya."

The elf nodded, "Don't worry about it. The important thing is that you're safe."

Anya grinned, "Definitely! We can't have one of our fellow s-nyeow!"

She winced when Ryuu nudged her harshly on the ribs, and only then did she realize her blunder.

The cat person quickly corrected herself, "W-we can't have one of our best customers and Ryuu's dear friend die-nya!"

Bell chuckled, "Thank you anyway."

Hermes sighed, "What are we then, chopped liver?"

Asfi glared at her god lightly, "Hermes-sama!"

Bell looked at them, "Thank you for coming for us too, Lord Hermes, Perseus."

The god of messengers grinned, "Glad to be of service! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to deal with now that I'm here. Asfi."

The blue haired woman sighed as Hermes left the tent, and she looked at the other occupants of the tent, "Sorry about him, we'll be back later."

The two left the tent, and Bell looked around, "The Loki Familia's preparing dinner, and Tiona told us to join them later. Yall coming?"

A short while later, the group sat at a camp fire with the majority of the Loki Familia's expedition team.

Finn stood before the camp fire, "Attention everyone. Some of you may be aware, and most likely noticed we have a few guests amongst us."

He looked at Bell and his group, "They are brave adventurers who've risked their lives to reach this place. Unfortunately, it has costed them a lot, and nearly their lives in that process. I've offered to help them return to the surface, and I hope everyone here will do the same. Please, treat them with respect as fellow comrades."

Almost everyone turned to the group, and many of them muttered amongst each other, but no one objected.

Finn looked around, ignoring the dissatisfied look on Bete's face, who sat next to Tione and Tiona, who were both seated next to Bell's party in turn.

The prum nodded, "Thank you. Now, I'm sure everyone is famished by now, so let us start with dinner!"

Everyone cheered to that, and dinner began.

As they ate, Lefiya approached Bell, "Umm, Bell Cranel, yes?"

The boy looked up to see the golden haired elf, and he greeted, "Hey, Lefiya-san."

The elf looked uncomfortable, and she glanced back to look at Ais and Riveria, the latter giving her a nod.

Lefiya looked at Bell, "About earlier, would you like to talk about our abilities?"

The white haired boy blinked, before he nodded with a smile, "Sure."

He scooted to a side, something mirrored by Tiona to let Lefiya sit down.

The elf made an uncomfortable face, "Umm, I said we can talk about it, but umm, I'm not sure what we can really talk about."

Bell hummed, "How about how they work?"

Lefiya nodded, "That can work, do you want to go first, or...?"

The boy smiled, "I can go first-"

"Bell-kun."

Bell turned to see Hestia with a concerned expression, and the boy smiled, "It's fine, I think we can trust them. I've already told Finn-san, Gareth-san and Riveria-san about it. Besides, it's not like its a secret anymore."

The goddess sighed, "Fine. It is your ability anyway."

The white rabbit nodded and turned to Lefiya again, "To summarize, my ability, or well, magic actually, is called Heir to the Throne. I basically have to form a contract with a Heroic Spirit before I can use their powers."

The elf nodded, "I see, once you form a contract with one, you have access to every single one of their abilities and techniques?"

Bell chuckled sheepishly, "As far as my own body can take, yes."

Lefiya considered the thought, "Is it like just any hero? Or is there a specific requirement?"

The boy considered the question, "I'm not too sure on that one. All I know is that the heroes have to be in this list or record called the Throne of Heroes. Whether I can contract any hero probably depends solely on whether the hero thinks I'm worthy."

That caught the elf by surprise, "Really? I thought you could just choose any hero you wanted."

Bell chuckled again, "If only it was that easy."

Lefiya hummed, "Then could you potentially try to contract a specific hero if you know them?"

That in turn caught Bell's attention, "I... I've never actually thought about that."

It was true. Up until now, he had never really reached out to a specific Heroic Spirit.

Heracles had reached out to him. EMIYA and Sakata Kintoki had reached out to him.

Not once did he reach out to a specific hero.

Tiona giggled, "I guess you're both more alike than we thought."

That tore Bell away from his musings, and by now his friends and companions were curious and paying attention.

Bell asked, "What do you mean?"

Lefiya explained, "My magic, Elf Ring, lets me use any magic from any elf. As long as I know the chant and its effects."

The boy's eyes widened, "Woah... So wait, as long as the magic is from an elf, and if you know the chant and effects, technically you can use it if you see it, can't you?!"

The elf smiled slightly, "Pretty much... Well, I make it a point to ask for permission first though. So I guess its not too different from what you do."

Bell folded his arms, "I see, that is interesting..."

"Ugh... all this talk is making nauseous! Can yall just talk about something else?!"

Tiona's outburst caught them by surprise, as the younger of the twin Amazoness sisters leaned into Lefiya's shoulder, "We should tell Argonaut-kun about that time with the Virgas!"

Lefiya jumped, "E-eh?"

Her mind immediately went to when she hesitated to cast her magic, and she shook her head frantically, "No! I'm not going there!"

The other members of the Loki Familia just laughed at that, whilst Bell and his party just looked confused.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Hermes was in Rivira with Asfi.

The blue haired item maker had an uncomfortable expression on her face, and she held a small bag.

Asfi looked at her patron god, "Are you sure about this?"

The god of messengers grinned, "Yeah, I'm sure."

They reached a bar, and the god wasted no time to go in.

And as expected, Hermes found the men he was looking for.

Mord growled as he slammed his beer mug on the table, "That cocky lil asshole... How did he manage to get down here?!"

The Greek god of mischief raised an amused eyebrow at that, and he spoke up, "Gentlemen, may I have a moment please?"

The men blinked when they saw the god, and Mord almost got sober from the sight, "Wait, you're- How are you here?"

Hermes chuckled, "Well, one thing led to another, but let's just say we were dragged into this because of a mutual friend."

The god's eyes glinted with mischief, "Say, you have somewhat of a grudge against Bell Cranel, don'tcha?"

Mord narrowed his eyes, "And what's it to you?"

Hermes' smile widened, "Well see, he's all the gods talk about these days, the heir to legendary heroes and all that. And his patron goddess is getting a bit over her head, so, you get where I'm going with this, yeah?"

That caught the man's attention, "Go on."

The god's smile widened, "Good to hear."

He glanced back at his captain, "Asfi."

The bespectacled woman sighed and tossed the bag onto the table, "This will be of some use I believe."

Hermes chuckled, "We'll pay you if you can teach our dear young friend a lesson. Think of what's in that bag as us chipping in for our part."

The men opened the bag, and Hermes smirked, "Think you can get it done?"

Mord looked at his companions, and they smirked, "Hell yeah."

(Linebreak)

The next day, Bell was walking with Ryuu and Anya, the former holding a number of flowers in her hands.

The boy had been asked by the cat person to accompany them, while Lili, Welf and the others prepared for their trip back.

Bell asked as they walked through the forests, "Where are we going?"

Anya giggled, "You'll see-nya."

Ryuu nodded, "Once in a while, Mama Mia gives me time off for this. Honestly speaking, you're the only one who doesn't know, and I felt like this'd be a good time."

The boy blinked in confusion, "For what?"

Neither women needed to answer, for they soon came into an open area, and Bell spotted a number of weapons stabbed into the ground, with a worn out flag in the middle.

Bell asked, "What is this place?"

Ryuu explained as she placed a flower at each blade, "This is the grave of the Familia I used to be belong to, the Astraea Familia."

Anya stood behind the pair as the elf explained, "Have you heard of Evilus? They are a group of various Familias who acted with evil intentions."

Bell nodded, "I've heard a bit about them, but I'm not overly familiar."

Ryuu nodded, "That's fine. One of the Familias under Evilus set up a trap, and everyone in my Familia was killed, slaughtered. All except me."

The boy looked down, "I.. I see..."

The elf continued, "I sought revenge, I did everything I could. Traps, ambushes, man slaughter, I killed everyone responsible for the death of my sisters."

Ryuu let out a breath, "That's why I'm blacklisted from the Guild. When I fulfilled my vengence, I was prepared to die, but well..."

Bell nodded, "Mama Mia picked you up."

Anya snorted, "More like Syr did."

The elf chuckled, "That she did. At that time, only Mama Mia and Syr were at the Hostess'... Syr took me in, and convinced Mama Mia to let me stay."

Bell hummed, "I see... I didn't know..."

Anya cackled, "Oh you can't imagine what happened next-nya. Chloe and Lunoire were sent to kill Ryuu-nya, and they failed, and ended up kept hostage by Mama Mia as waitresses."

Ryuu chuckled, "Yes, two assassins, a drunk cat person, and a vengeful elf."

The boy smiled, "Well, now you have a cross-dressing hero wannabe with you, I guess it does make a strange group of people."

The two older women laughed softly at his words, before Ryuu's smile dropped, "Bell... unlike you, I don't strive to help people. I'm just a shameless, violent elf, and who knows... Maybe one day I might turn that rage on you."

Anya's smile dropped, "Ryuu-nyaa..."

The elf sighed, "We've been training together for some time, so I felt the need to come clean with you. If you want to stop our morning sessions, or even stop working at the Hostess'-"

"Stop."

Bell cut her off, surprising both women when they saw the serious look in his eyes, "Ryuu-san, you've taught me a lot in the short amount of time we trained together. I don't know how you were in the past, in fact, I don't know a whole lot about any of you."

He took a breath, "All I can say is based on what I've seen, and you're all good people. People that I respect."

Bell got into her face, "Ryuu-san, I'm happy you're telling me this, but don't push yourself down. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Ryuu could only gape, before she smiled, "Very well, if that's how you feel, then I can't really do much about it now, can I?"

Anya giggled, "And that is bold of you, Bell, I would've expected you to do this when you're alone-nya."

The boy's face flushed when he realized how close he was to Ryuu, and he quickly backed away, "Anya!"

Anya giggled, "Wait till I tell Syr-nya about this."

Bell panicked, "Please don't! I won't hear the end of it!"

Ryuu pushed down the heat coming to her face, and she decided to just chuckle instead, "Alright, that's enough. We can decide if we'll sic Syr on him."

The boy snapped his head at her, "Not you too?!"

The elf smiled, and she looked at the flag once more, "That's all I really wanted to tell you, Bell. And I'm glad I got it out of the way too."

Ryuu turned, "Come on, I believe the first group of the Loki Familia's expedition team is due to leave this afternoon, and you wanted to see them off first, right?"

Bell nodded, "Y-yes, that's right."

The elf nodded, "Then let us head back."

Neither of the other two objected, and the trio started to head back for the camp.

At the same time, Mord and his two lackeys stood on a cliff some distance away from the Loki Familia's camp.

Guile looked at their leader, "Mord, you sure we should be doing this?"

The man scoffed, "Of course! It'll be a problem if the Little Hero gets over his head. He made his way to the 18th floor literally in a few days after he Leveled Up! That makes us look like clowns!"

Scott nodded in agreement, "Well, guess we'll have to teach him a lesson then."

The darker skinned man sighed, "But really, do we have to go after a goddess?"

Mord scoffed, "Hey, Hermes said he'd take care of things for us. Besides, we have these bad boys."

He patted on helmets Hermes had given them, "Hades' Heads, quite the magic item he's given us here."

Guile sighed, "I still think it's a bad idea."

Mord scoffed again, "Relax, it's not like we're hurting the goddess, we're just putting on a show."

He put the helmet on, turning invisible in the blink of an eye, "Now come on, time we teach the brat a lesson."

The other two followed suit, and the three vanished without a trace.

XXX

There we go. I was hoping to cover the duel in this chapter too, but I guess it turned out to be too much, so I've decided to split it into two chapters.

The next one will be Bell vs Mord and his lackeys, and we may see a new Heroic Spirit.

So yeah, until then.

Read and review please.