Hello everyone,
I have here another chapter. I am giving credit for the adding and corrections to NinjaFang1331 for assisting me. I will have my other guy re-working this in the meantime. I know some readers like to see how it goes on.
Until then, here is another chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danmachi nor the characters
Chapter 6: Magic with Intent
Bell and Lilli were on the 8th floor, walking down the path they were on. This was the first time he had a companion that would keep an eye out with enemies that might blindside him. However, he would also help her out to the best of his abilities.
Just as they were walking through the floor a few Ant Killers came out of the wall and charged at them. Bell ran up to the ants and sliced the first one with his sword killing it. He avoided one of the other ants and took it out by stabbing it through its head. As Bell avoided an attack from the last ant, Lilli jumped in immediately and shot it down.
"Thanks."
"Any time, Master Bell." She gave a thumbs up.
They were working well as a team, and she began to collect the pieces of magic stone. She checked for any drops that might have appeared that might look useful.
Lilli surveyed the place and said "Hmm…everything is all done here."
The white-haired teen nodded, as they moved on to the next location.
Lilli would observe his weapon and found his short sword to pique her interest while Bell used it. It looked pretty good but might not sell for a lot of Valis. She sighed internally that she would have to go with plan B: take a bit more of the earned Valis from him when Bell was not noticing and see where it goes from there.
She doesn't trust any adventurers at all. He seems too much of a sucker, a naive boy, and a moron beginner waiting to be suckered in her eyes. Or maybe it was a trick to get her guard down and basically take everything at the moment where she was vulnerable.
Either way, she knew she was getting close to obtaining the amount she needed to leave her Familia for good. Saving every small scrap of money, deceiving others, and stealing was part of her game plan she has been working on for years now.
They stopped for a moment, and she said "Master Bell, Lilli will be off tomorrow. Lilli have this Familia meeting that Lilli has to attend."
He smiled, "That's understandable. Do what you need to do with your Familia and we can meet up and dive into the dungeon another day."
Both rested before heading back to the surface.
Guild with Eina
She got a good look at Lilli's profile. It seems she has been a level 1 for a long time. She assumed it had to do with her status as a Supporter.
'What's your motive? Are you playing with Bell's heart? Or are you really trying to help him out?'
She tried to look into details if there are any black marks or red flags on her, or at least any notes. However, she couldn't find anything. She then placed the file back and took her glasses off. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and laughed at herself.
"Maybe I am just being really protective of him."
She got up and headed to the lobby, when she heard a commotion.
"I'm telling you, this little Prum is causing nothing but trouble!" She saw a man with dark hair continuing his complaint "She stole some of earnings and I am trying to report it to you!"
Misha responded, "Have you already reported to Ganesha Familia?"
"I have! But they only told me they would keep an eye out, but they can't promise to look for her. I am asking if you have seen her, and to detain her!"
"I'm sorry sir, but we do not have that exact power and authority to detain individuals, unless they are found on the blacklist."
He growled and threw the quill to the side "This is bullshit!" He then left.
Misha just sighed, as Eina walked up and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I will be. It seems that is the third person that complained about someone that is a Prum. However, we already have a few files of a few Prums committing thievery."
Eina nodded "I see." She then looked at the door and thought 'I hope you are okay Bell."
With Bell, few hours later
Bell arrived at the House of Fertility, much to how soon it ended the trip. He sat down, when Syr appeared with a smile.
"How was your trip in the Dungeon?" She asked.
"It was good. My Supporter went back to her Familia, so she won't be available to go with me tomorrow." He smiled.
"Any changes during your time in the Dungeon?"
He shook his head "Nothing but just improving my skills…."
"I see." She then saw Ryuu serve them drinks. "You know…I have to ask, do you like reading?"
He nodded "I do."
"I have this particular book that might help you out. Just a moment." She got up and went to retrieve it, leaving Bell to enjoy his drink. He saw Ryuu looking at him, calmly. He waved, as she waved back a little.
"Everything well, Mr. Cranel?"
"Uhh…yes. And thank you for helping and having my back the other day."
"Oh, it was nothing. I am happy to help out. How's your Supporter doing?"
"She's pretty helpful and was able to give me some great advice and teach me more of the do's and don'ts while in the dungeon."
"Learn as much as you can. And…if you need any advice on how to fight, please ask me, I don't mind sharing some tips with you."
This perked in interest "Really? Can you teach me?"
She saw the eyes of a determined adventurer wanting to learn more and she nodded "That's fine as well, but just warning you that I tend to be aggressive when sparring with someone."
"That's fine. I can handle it. Anything to get stronger!"
She nodded as she left to assist another customer. Bell saw Syr returning with a book. She placed it in front of him and said "Here you go. Read it. It will be useful on your journey, or so I have been told"
He looked at the book and blinked. "Uhh...sure. Thank you."
"Anytime." She smiled sweetly.
Later on
Bell arrived and saw Miach and Naaza were busy with customers. He went over to try to help out with the best of his ability. He managed to help an older gentleman with getting an herb that they had available in stock. Bell then gave them a fair charge price for it and moved on to the next person to assist.
Everything was going well for them and after the rush was done, they were smiling and relieved that they got so many customers today.
"Thanks for the help, Bell." Miach smiled as he placed some of the money in a specific jar and kept the rest.
He waved it off "Happy to help."
Naaza then counted her money and was relieved. "At least we will eat decently."
Bell then remembered and took some money out and placed it on that jar as well. "There we go." He then took his bag out and showed some drop items that he obtained on the first eight floors he was exploring today.
"Huh, I could use some of these for more improvements on some potions. As for the others, I am not sure if I can use these for any potion making to be honest with you Bell."
"Maybe I could show it to Eina and might have an idea who to give it to. In fact, I could visit Hephaestus and see if she can buy them off me if they could be used to make weapons and armor."
Bell needed to start chipping away at the massive debt he took on. If some drops can be used to pay some of the debt little by little, then he should do that from now on.
Miach nodded, "Sounds like a great plan."
Naaza nodded "Let me know, so we could save up."
Bell agreed and yawned.
"Go and rest up, Bell."
"Okay. Goodnight." He then went back to the church of his old Familia and went to his room and took the book out he got from Syr. He opened the first page, showing a simple title 'Magic'.
He then began to read about the aspects of magic. How magic either has to be born on a certain race or has to come from the blessing of the gods. He read on how each magic is based upon the intention of the person in question.
As he read the book, he never notices the words disappearing, nor the moment where he ended up someplace else.
"Tell me, what kind of magic do you desire?"
"I desire a magic that is hot as the fire of a hearth."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Fire that will help me protect others that are helpless. I failed to save someone really important to me that I cared about. I failed to be strong enough to save a family member that was taken away from me. I need that flame in order to light up my enemies and protect those I care about."
"Is that all?"
"Yes. I want to be that hero just like the hero's in the storybooks. I want to be that hero to rescue others, just as my grandfather told me."
"Foolish thoughts, like a child."
"That is who I am."
He then felt a rush of warmth all over his body and it consumed him. Then everything went blank.
As he opened his eyes, Bell noticed it was morning time. He blinked a few times and stretched his body out. He then put the book away for now and went to get himself ready and head for the Dungeon.
Before putting his gear on, he went to see Miach at the Blue Pharmacy. "Morning, Lord Miach."
"Morning, Bell. Heading out soon?"
"Yeah, but before that. Could I get an update on my stats?"
"Oh, of course."
Once lifting his shirt, he began the process of the stats update. Miach watched how Bell was improving greatly. Then he noticed how active his magic is now.
'Interesting. A flaming magic with just one chant. Fire…you really are still Hestia's child at heart. Aren't you Bell.'
As Miach finished and placed a paper on his back, copied everything down that he saw, he gave it to Bell and waited to see his reaction.
Bell saw his stats go up further:
Name: Bell Cranel
Stats:
Str-D591
End-G233
Dex-C607
Agil-B702
Mag-I0
Magic:
Firebolt
Bell's eyes widened. "I…I have m-magic?!"
"Yes, you do now. I congratulate you on having magic."
He was trembling with excitement, in near tears.
"Now, before you head out, I must caution you with magic-"
However, Bell had already left immediately, leaving a bewildered Miach looking at the door. Then he went to his regular expression "I'm sure he will learn and be fine."
Naaza saw how fast he went and she shrugged.
Dungeon 6th floor
Bell saw his first target, a goblin that stared at a white-haired human. It charged right at him.
He took aim and shouted "Firebolt!"
He released a bolt of fire magic, and the goblin was killed almost instantly. Bell grew even more excited and wanted to keep going as he ran off through the floors. He kept firing off his magic more and more, as the monsters met their end at the hands of his new fire magic. Bell felt invincible! He felt this great heat of power, this warmth flame that was familiar to him in the past.
He kept going until he reached the ninth floor and found no more enemies. "Wow, this is amazing! I feel invinci-" then he blacked out.
Not far off, both Riveria and Ais were walking, side by side. Ais' clothes were ripped in some places, while Riveria was still normal. "I'm amazed you are able to still walk in one piece."
"Mmm…"
She sighed, wishing that Ais would say more. She did talk about a young man with white hair at times and would be a bit concerned how he was doing. She then noticed someone was lying on the ground of the dungeon and their way over to the person.
Both women checked and Ais was surprised to see and recognized the familiar person "What's he doing here on the 9th floor?"
Riveria checked on him and sighed in relief "Mind down. He must have used his magic to reach this far."
"What do we do from here? Can we help him?"
Riveria had an idea. "You could help him recover faster. Observe'' She sat down and placed his head on her lap and began to caress him. "Just do this, and he will recover faster."
"Okay."
She went over and placed the boy's head on her lap and caressed him. She saw her companion leaving but continued to caress him. As she held him close to her, she liked it and how nice it felt just holding the boy and caressing him. Now, caressing his hair helped her feel happier and calm. It reminded her of a simpler time with her mother, doing the exact same gesture, helping her fall asleep. Observing him closely Aiz just continued to caress and stare at him, as she felt the boy reminding her of a pure white rabbit. Just cute and innocent to look at.
Time passed and Bell was starting to wake up. His eyes were blurry and took notice of a woman staring down at him.
"You're awake."
"M-mom?"
She frowned in sadness hearing the comment before replying "No."
His vision cleared, seeing Ais. He noticed her armor pieces were missing, making his face turn red. A part of him wants to run, roll, anything to his embarrassment!
"You went through a Mind Down."
This blinked hearing that "M-mind Down?"
She nodded, seeing him getting up, but missing the feeling of him laying on her lap. He bowed "S-sorry about that!"
She shook her head "It was nothing. I just wanted to help you out again."
"I see…thank you."
"Mmm…were you using some sort of new magic?"
He nodded "Yes. It's a simple chant and I used it a lot and well… the last thing I remember was everything going black."
"Mind Down happens when you push your magic to the limit and have nothing more to give. Be careful next time." She reminded herself the last time she had one, just by pushing her own magic. It was nearly embarrassing and the lecture she had with Riveria wasn't something she would like to experience again.
"I…I will…" he stuttered.
They both stare at one another, as Bell doesn't know what to say, while Ais is wondering how he is able to have magic. Maybe it was dormant?
"Umm…I should be heading back home…."
"I will escort you." She simply stated.
"Eh?"
"I will help you get back to the surface."
"Oh…okay."
He was walking next to Ais and in an honest moment, he pondered about what to say to her. He wanted to tell her something more than just walking together in awkward Silence.
"Umm…you seem to have been in a fight. What happened?"
She gave a small smile and responded, "I fought a group of Spartoi in the Lower Levels, then fought against the Monster Rex Udaeus on my own with my Familia not assisting me."
"Wait" he cut her off "You fought a high-level floor boss by yourself?"
She nodded.
He was shocked hearing this and was still questioning himself if he was ever going to get on the same level as her. He would have to work even harder and be able to know if he is still good enough to save someone. For now, he would have to think of what to do for more training.
"How about you, how are you doing?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm doing good. I am slowly getting to the Middle Floors. It's not as easy as I expected, but my Supporter has been helping me greatly."
She smiled hearing that he has some help "That's good to hear."
They kept walking as Ais then said, "Maybe in two days, I could teach you how to fight better?"
This perked him hearing this. He can learn from two people, while he tries to understand their fighting style and training. "I would like that. It would help me a lot going forward!"
After a while, they reached back to the surface. He bowed to Aiz and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Bell." She responded back before walking away, but turned back and said, "Meet me early at the west wall in two days."
Bell smiled and nodded "Okay!"
He watched her leave.
One hour later
Bell arrived back at the Blue Pharmacy and saw Miach was drinking some tea "Ah, you're back. I was going to mention to you to take precaution at using your new magic, as you might suffer from Mind Down."
The white-haired teen looked to the side embarrassed. "Yeah…it already happened to me, but I was helped back in the dungeon by Ais Wallenstein."
"Oh, the Sword Princess? That's good to hear."
"I was advised not to use too much by her. She is right after all."
"Yes, exactly. By the way, next time let me give you a Mind Potion. It will help when you are close to Mind Down in the dungeon."
"I will and thank you."
He then went back to the church to plan out for the next day and thought about his plan for tomorrow: train early by himself until the following day, ask Ryuu when they could train, head to meet with Lilli, go into the dungeon, and come back home.
Simple...hopeful.
To Be Continued….
A/N:
So much happened, so little time.
I will expand further on the chapters with either training, filter on other characters, and a few other things going on. I already have in my head where this will end in the first book. The other books will be far different and the story will get somewhat….darker.
Nothing edgy, just certain aspects for some characters, showing their worst traits. Until then, take care.
