Greetings everyone,

Thank you for those that are following the story and checking it out. It took a while doing this as a number of ideas were flying in my head on how to write this chapter and characters to write. Their development of the characters may take a while, but I am doing my best to try to figure out which chapter will change them or not.

Until then, enjoy the chapter

Chapter 4: Meeting of Heroes
Bell and the others saw not far off a large wall of the city. They were surprised how high the walls were, in comparison to Orario. Asfi noticed the guards on the top of each tower of the wall, keeping an eye on the city of Ken.

The carriage stopped and two guards approached them. Bell noticed one man and one woman. The woman had very little armor on, but he assumed that it was for speed and agility.

"State your business."

Hermes gave the paper to them and documents as well. They got a good look at it and both guards looked at each other and nodded. "I see. Welcome to Ken! "

The man went back and rang the bell twice. They saw the gate was opening and they were let in.

They saw how big the city of Ken was and people were walking around, with some talking while others were noticing the carriage. The people were curious at the new arrival with large boars pulling the carriage.

Hestia looked through the window and was surprised how it looked similar to Orario, but there were some differences in some parts of the building and there were more humans in the place than any other race. In fact, they saw the lack of other races around the place.

The carriage then stopped right at another gate. Then a guard with red hair and little bit of armor she wor, appeared and said "Welcome to the Castle. You can leave your carriage here."

They got off and the guard gestured to follow her. They followed her as Bell looked at the large well built castle. For him, this is the first time he has seen one, as for Lilli as well. They have read or heard stories of large castles, and for them they were awed how big it was.

The others have seen castles in other places. The gods have already seen large and imposing ones from bigger named gods, particularly Odin as an example. Then again, it was more of fighting who had the bigger castle, which Zeus joked about overcompensating for something.

Once inside, they were taken to a room with various sofas and chairs. They found a place to sit down, with Bell sitting in the middle with Hestia on the left and Lilli on the right. He looked a little sheepish about the situation. Welf and Hephaestus sat on a small couch and both were a little red, yet happy. Ryuu sat near the window, looking outside where some workers were tending the garden. Mikoto and Asuka found some chairs and sat down. And lastly, Hermes and his familia found some places to sit down.

"Just wait right here, one of our watchmen noticed the other group is arriving." As soon as the door closed, everyone looked around.

"Huh. The Queen was desperate to add another group to help with the war." Hermes said, while rubbing his chin.

"It must be that bad." Laurier added.

Bell was now thoughtful at what he will be facing. If the regular army wasn't, and they weren't alone, how many more are needed?

"Don't worry, I know we will beat these monsters back, right?" Hestia said enthusiastically.

Some nodded and agreed, few said nothing.

Then the door opened and four new people came in. They looked up and were surprised on the group.

A young man with brown hair, wearing a blue suit with pieces of armor on him and a small crown on his head, looked calm. A young woman with white/gray hair wearing a short dress with armor parts on her shoulders and knees with her green eyes surveying the place. Next was a woman with honey blonde hair, wearing a dress that showed a good amount of cleavage, and Hestia thought it might have been Demeter for a moment, but saw her face and eyes were different. And lastly, a young woman with blonde hair and gray eyes had a small smile.

The servant girl said "I will check if the Princess Knights arrived, one moment." She then left, leaving the new group to stare at one another.

It took until Hermes was the first to introduce himself "Greetings, my name is Hermes and I am the god of messenger." He bowed with his hat off, surprising the new group.

Bell got up and smiled "My name is Bell Cranel, member of the Hestia Familia."

Lilli got up and gave a small bow "Liliruca Arde of the Soma Familia."

Hestia got up "My name is Hestia, I am the goddess of hearth and family."

Hephaestus got up with a small smile, "Hephaestus, goddess of blacksmith."

"Welf Crozzo of the Hephaestus Familia." he noticed the queen with a somewhat surprised look.

"Yamato Mikoto of the Takemikazuchi Familia."

The next girl got up, somewhat hesitant but determined "Yumori Asuka of the Takemikazuchi Familia as well."

"Asfi Al Andromeda of the Hermes Familia." She looked calm about it.

"Laurier Swall of Hermes Familia as well."

Ryuu looked at them for a moment, "Lyon." Then she looked out the window.

Jin looked at the supposed gods and could confirm something was different about them. It's Crozzo that he sensed something alive, yet it is half awake. He smiled "My name is Jindrack Hemy, prince of the Hemy Kingdom. This is my fiance Princess Catue Dragundalla" He held her hand to her, making her smile. "That is my future mother-in-law, Nina Dragundalla." She smiled at them and gave a small bow. "And Catue's good friend Anna Roseson." She smiled at them.

Bell took the initiative and outstretched his arm for a handshake. Jin went and shook it.

The others were in a more relaxed moment. Then the handshake ended.

"Excuse, did you mention you were a Crozzo?" Nina asked.

"Yes. Why?"

She smiled "Many years back we had a blacksmith known as Crozzo, who helped us stop an invasion against monsters and he left without being given a reward. Once this is over, I will see that your family is compensated."

Embarrassed and humble he responded "No need to, your highness. I would assume my ancestor was doing the right thing at the time."

"Nonsense." She then looked at Bell and smiled, making Bell turn a little red seeing her. "Besides, we are allies against a common foe, right?"

They agreed on that.

Then the door opened and a maid appeared said "Follow me."

They followed the maid and went to the left side of the hallway, near the stairway. Then they arrived at a large round table, where the 7 Princess Knights were ready to eat. "Your guests have arrived."

The women got one look and had various thoughts, as did the other group.

Bell noticed some of them are wearing some armor on it. The one with the least made him ponder if it has to do with mobility, as he could tell she was strong. One of the girls, a blonde haired girl with a blue dress, reminded her of Ais, just with more expression and eye colors. He saw the other girls with various dresses that seemed to show more skin than anything.

It was the queen that surprised him the most.

An elven woman, wearing so little leaving to the imagination, left the men blushing a bit. Yet shaking their heads trying not to look at her in any lustful manner.

However, two of the elven women gawked at the woman wearing so little. Ryuu wore her clothes the way she does, due to her agility. Laurier wanted to cover her up. She has known Princess Riveria who dresses up, for modesty. "I will see if I can talk to the queen to wear something more, some men would look at her in a lewd manner."

Lilli noticed a fellow Pallum, who exuded confidence with a large weapon while smiling.

The Princess Knights varied in reaction. For Alice, seeing some women was nice, particularly two elves. Prim saw the young men, good looking yet something about them is different, particularly the white haired teen. He looked somewhat harmless, yet could see something about him that screams 'adventurer'. Mai checked out the red haired man and admitted to herself he was a good look. One look at the sandy haired man and could see something in his eyes with playful mischievousness, something she might enjoy knowing.

Kaguya smiled seeing more fellow Eastern people and gave a simple nod. They acknowledged back.

Ruu Ruu looked at Lilli and had one thing in mind, her body. 'Damn, that pallum is stacked. From the way how close she is with that albino guy, that is one lucky gal.' She was impressed with the others.

Claudia sized up the other guests from Orario. She is already familiar with Princess Catue and her guests. She saw the green haired elven girl and saw her eyes. She saw the eyes of someone that has been through so much, yet in control. The others looked relaxed, yet their eyes varied on whether they had fought in the past or not.

The girls agreed though that three individuals had an aura that seemed similar to the queen, yet different from her.

They each greeted them and they sat down to eat. They were eating and keeping a small chatter, as they had nothing else to say.

Bell thought the food was delicious and a part of him began to think about what to face.

"So, are you the one that took down a minotaur?"

He stopped eating and looked up. He saw the blonde haired woman looking at him "I'm sorry?"

"According to the letters we were given, I presume you were the one that took down the minotaur by yourself. Is that true?"

Bell drank and responded "Yes. It wasn't an easy fight."

This surprised the girls "Maybe you can tell us how it happened."

"Alicia. Don't you think we should wait-"

"That's….that's fine. Lilli and I were on the ninth floor, just exploring and gathering more magic stones. That is until we saw a minotaur appearing. Unlike any regular minotaur with the brown coat on it, this looked irregular. It was red. It saw us, and I told Lilli to run."

He closed his eyes and then continued "I tried everything I could think of, but it was too strong and ended up hurting my arm getting hurt. After a while, I was launched and landed on the ground. I saw Ais Wallenstein. She told me she was going to take care of it….." He then looked down on his plate "I couldn't allow her to save me again or have her fight my battles for me. I stood up and fought it. I put everything from my training against it, and it took all of my abilities and magic to do it. I took it down and everything went black right after."

Lilli then added "Master Bell suffered a mind down, but he lived. Lilli was amazed how he fought back. Lilli did beg the Loki Familia to help out, but it seems that Master Bell grew a purpose and fought."

The people who knew about it still liked hearing the story. The other people, though, were surprised.

Alicia shook her head "After we finished eating, I am curious about your skills. How about a spar?"

Bell nodded "Sure."

Alicia wasn't nervous. It will give her an idea how tough he is and whether it is worth hiring him to take care of the monsters. She has fought a handful of them in the past and took them down.

Prim didn't say anything, and wished her cousin didn't do that. Then again, she tends to size people up at times.

The others were curious to see, particularly Jin. He wanted to see what his partner would be like on the battlefield.

They ate quietly and dessert was served.

Then Hermes said "You know, after observing you, the three of us are still in a quandary." He sipped his tea and placed it on the table. "On the one hand, you have divinity on you, but on the other hand, I don't exactly recognize you."

Celestine was silent and replied "I am a reincarnated goddess though."

"We don't reincarnate like mortals do. When we 'die' in the planes of the Lower World, our bodies are sent back in the Heavens to recuperate which would take many years in mortal life, but for us it will feel a short time. Once our body is regenerated, it takes our memories a while to come back."

Celestine now questioning herself on her identity. "Am I an actual goddess?"

"Either one that lost memories or a spirit. Spirits tended to mimic divinity on them, or have partial divinity on them. However, I doubt it. I would make the assumption that you belonged on a different part of the Pantheons of gods. You see, we are divided into various Pantheons of the gods. Hestia Hephaestus and myself belong in what they call the 'Greek' Pantheon. That is an alias that was given to us by Oraounus. I am starting to think you might be 'Norse' or something else, as I can't recall ever seeing you with us or at least bumping into us."

The high elf queen "It is a possibility, but I am uncertain as the main priests at the time claimed I was the reincarnated goddess Larentia. People worship me, and yet I feel flustered when they do. I am just trying to keep the peace, but it is difficult to do so."

A part of him wanted to take him to Loki to see if she recognized her from her own Patheon or not. For now, he would have to focus on changing the subject a bit "I have heard that you already have someone assisting you. Why ask for Orario? I would assume your neighboring allies would help out."

Claudia answered her instead "Unfortunately, they have similar problems that we are dealing with and can't spare any allies. One of the reasons why we were able to get help from Dragundalla was due to the enemy forces were taken care of and are able to recover faster. Plus we needed strong yet small numbers, in order to take risky yet high reward missions."

"I see."

"Plus, we have heard from a traveler that Orario's citizens are used to fighting dangerous monsters from their own Dungeon."

"It is true. However, I would say about 25% of them are high level enough, while others are more or less still trying to break the tenth floor or so. I am not saying they are weak, but they are more or less not at the level that was brought here. Not everyone can wield a sword, not everyone can wield magic, it all varies with the gods in charge of their own children and what they desire."

Maia smirked, "I would like to see that."

Once dessert was over, they went to the courtyard. Bell was handed a wooden short sword as did with Alicia. He blinked and looked sheepish.

Alicia noticed it "What's wrong?"

"Well….I normally spar with an actual weapon and the one teaches me to use her handle. But, I think I can try doing this."

The blonde haired woman looked at him with an odd look. She shook it off and got into a fighting stance, as Bell did as well.

The other people watched on.

She ran right at Bell, and went for a strike. She was blocked and noticed very little resistance was needed. She went for a vertical attack, but he backed off.

The white haired teen noticed two moves and more were coming right toward him. He blocked the moves, while looking for an opening. He then noticed her moves were a decent speed, but strength wasn't there. He then saw a move that made him remember something he did and how Ais countered it.

He moves to the side, hits the flat part of the weapon, disarming her. Then he swept her off the ground, landing on her back. He placed the wooden sword on her neck.

Claudia was impressed by what she saw. Prim was surprised her cousin was beaten in a few short moves. Maia smirked seeing this. The rest of the girls were impressed.

Alicia felt somewhat embarrassed she lost to a spar, but she knew she messed up somewhere. She saw his hand, showing a gesture of helping her up. She accepted it and got up.

"It's been a long while since I have been disarmed."

He looked sheepish. "I just saw a similar move I did with my mentor, and I used the counter attack that she demonstrated."

"I see…."

He chuckled.

Jin then stepped forward and took his cloak off. He then placed it next to Catue and kissed her cheek, making her blush a bit. Claudia saw this and smiled.

Then Jin went over and said "So Bell, how about you and I spar a bit. I saw your footwork and I am curious how well you will deal with me."

"Uh…sure." He got ready, as Alicia sat next to her sister.

An older man, wearing a green shirt and trousers saw his wife sitting and observing two young men that are ready to fight. He sat next to her and whispered "Sparring?"

She nodded and was happy to see her husband. "One of the guests from Orario and Jin will show their skills."

This interested him. He has seen Jin in action in the past and has shown to have grown more. The other young man had a determined look.

Both encircled each other, sizing up at who would make the first move.

Bell ran right at him with a horizontal attack, but Jin blocked and pushed it aside. He went for a vertical attack, much to Bell's surprise how fast he moved, and blocked it "Wow ... .how strong is he?"

Jin was impressed how fast he anticipated the move and went for a few swings.

Bell blocked and tried to fight back.

Claudia watched both fighters and saw how both were evenly matched. Both were able to anticipate their attacks. Both looked to find an opening, but it keeps getting blocked "Jin has improved tremendously. His footwork and parry has grown greatly." she watched the white haired teen "He seems to be well trained."

It became a spar of attrition for both of them. Both kept blocking and going. Both were tempted push themselves further, but it seems that they feel it would be unfair for either of them.

Both saw an opening that they were looking for. Both swung and near got their necks, both stopped and stared at each other.

Catue was surprised Jin had a draw. It has been a while since he lost, let alone a draw on a fight.

Jin smirked, "I can see why you managed to beat the minotaur." He put the sword down as did Bell. "I will be honored to fight by your side on the battlefield."

Bell smiled, "I would be glad to fight with my weapon by your side as well."

Both shook hands and some claps were heard.

"That was amazing!" The older man stepped forward "It looked like a dance. Jin, it is good to see you."

"It's good to see you Mr. Levintine."

"Come now, boy, it's Klaus. You know how many friends I am with your father."

"Indeed." Both hands hook. "Oh, this is Bell Cranel. He is from Orario, and was responsible on taking down a minotaur."

The older man was happy to meet him "It's nice of meeting you."

Bell went to shake his hands.

The gods saw honesty on the older man and sincerity that comes with it.

"I heard you were coming and glad you did. Although the Black Dogs have been pushing, we know with you here, and our new allies, we may be able to end this war sooner. We should have done so many times, but ..."

"That is understandable. We had our own problems at our end. Thankfully we can finally help."

Hermes got up "I will be honest, Orario hasn't reached the heights until Zeus and Hera were able to keep things going forward and upward. It wasn't until they were gone, exiled, banished."

"Fair assessment."

In came another man, older than Klaus, yet more imposing and intimidating. Claudia got up and saluted the man "Sir Grave."

He saluted back and looked at the people on him. He saw unfamiliar people, assuming they were from Orario. He then saw a few familiar faces "I see our guests arrived."

"They have sir. Bell here is demonstrating his skill with Jin. It ended in a draw."

He raised his eyebrow "Draw? Interesting." He then looked around the room "I want to see what Orario offers. If anyone is willing to face me in a friendly spar."

Ryuu stepped forward and said "I will." Something was telling her he is pretty strong.

The older man stared at her and her eyes. He saw something he liked, the eyes of a warrior. Being an elf and woman is a plus for him, maybe another potential in his eyes. "Very well."

He went to take off his cloak and grabbed a slightly larger wooden sword. He saw her pick up a long wooden one.

Klaus frowned, knowing how strong his father is and how skilled he is as a fighter.

Hermes smirked watching this, as Asfi had a small smirk.

The Sword Princess knew this fight might not last long, as Claudia herself knew how strong and fast he was with a blade.

Jin was curious to see the older sword fighter in action again.

The moment Ryuu moved, Grave saw she was gone, and next thing that happened he was already disarmed and the blade of the weapon was near his neck.

"Dead."

His eyes bulged in shock. "I barely saw her…..was she using magic? No….I would have sensed it!"

The others' jaws dropped, save for the people in Orario.

"Bravo, Lyon! Bravo!" Hermes clapped, breaking the tension. The other clapped as well.

She put her weapon away and bowed respectfully. "If you want to go at it again, let me know."

Grave simply nodded and a part of his mind worried about the plans that Vult had. He wondered if she could be taken care of in some other means of mind magic of sorts. For now, he gave a respectful bow. "How did you move that fast?"

She looked at him and responded "I didn't move that fast. I suppose my years of fighting in battle, being on the move helped out."

"I…I see."

Klaus though, was doing his best not to laugh. His father tended to bully some soldiers, and lately, was getting arrogant. Just watching him take down a peg or two was all worth it for him. "Oh father, one day you were going to meet your match. It happened to be a woman who is incredibly fast and skilled."

Grave cleared his throat "I can see the reputation of Orario's fighters are something they can brag about and back up. I am here to let you all know that Vult and his Black Dogs will meet you all and plan out an attack near the village of Aiken."

This surprised the women, as Kaguya said "That soon? I know the village is crawling with the captured women, but are you sure?"

He smirked "Positive. With the help of our guests, we might end the war sooner."

"I….I see. Very well, thank you for letting us know, Sir Grave."

"Quiet." He then was walking before he turned to his son. "And boy, I better hear your wife is expecting my grandchild soon."

Klaus frowned "I am aware of that, father. I promise you will have a grandchild before the war is over."

"Hmph." He then walked away.

It was a quiet awkward moment until Hermes said "Such a friendly man."

"Yes….yes he is."

The other goddess felt something was off about the older soldier. They can't exactly pinpoint what it is, but both Hestia and Hephaestus looked at each other and nodded. Both knew they would talk later.

To be continued.

A/N:
Oh boy. I had to write this one, numerous times. I originally was going to have Mikoto and Maia give a duel, ending with Maia stealing something from her, before accidentally being knocked out. I was also going to have Nina going all Demeter, hugging Bell, calling him 'Cute bunny', much to the horror look of Catue. I was also began to think of a few dialogues here and there, but it would be best on their own chapters.

And lastly, I originally was going to have Ryuu vs Klaus a little long, but after seeing the strengths of a level 4 vs an average person….yeah, Ryuu has all the edge as she has been through a lot. Klaus is a hardened veteran in battle, but so is Ryuu for all the different reasons. Hence why she is the wild card of how the war will play out. She is really OP, next to Asfi. However, it won't mean she will one-shot Vult. No, I am saving Vult in a worse manner for him.

So for those that know, Vult will appear and the reactions would be interesting for a number of characters, and of course a few more things before Bell's first taste of war battle will occur.

Until then, thank you all for checking it out and have a good one.