Bell and Aisha sat next to a campfire on the 24th floor. It was their turn to keep watch while the rest of the familia slept. They were cuddling, with Bell having his arm wrapped around her. Why Regis wasn't keeping watch was simple.
He was lazy
Bell smiled and kissed Aisha on the forehead.
"What was that for?" Aisha asked.
"I don't know. Just felt like doing it."
"Oh, look at you, Prince Charming. Gonna sweep me off my feet?"
"Maybe. You're are pretty light."
Aisha playfully slapped his chest. "You know what I meant."
Bell smiled before pulling her closer. The two sat in silence, watching the flames crackle in front of them. It would be another couple of hours before they were relieved from watch.
"Are you excited? To go to Ephetous, I mean?" Aisha asked.
Bell nodded. "A little, yeah. I mean, it's a place where I can learn to get stronger and learn more about my heritage. Plus, I can learn a bunch of new techniques and master Aether a little bit more."
"Hmm, sounds like you'll be busy. So after you get back, does that mean we'll be parents?"
"If you want. When I asked about the baby thing, I didn't mean directly after getting back. It was more of an anytime after I'm back."
"Well, why don't we try now? We still have to watch for a few more hours," Aisha suggested.
Bell chuckled, shaking his head. "I wouldn't want to leave that responsibility on you. I also want to be there for the birth of my child."
"I would've argued that I could have Haruhime and the others help me. But you're right. You deserve to be there for the baby's birth. It'd be unfair to you as the father."
Bell smiled and contently sighed. He enjoyed the feeling of Aisha pressed against him. She was soft but strong. He liked that.
"So how's it feel to have two lovers now? When you gonna get the third," Aisha teased.
Bell rolled his eyes. "It won't be til after Epehotus. Probably. Wait, why am I entertaining you?"
Aisha giggled. "Because you know you want it deep down. You can feel the harem calling to you. You feel it pulling you close."
"Shut up," Bell groaned.
"Make me," Aisha challenged.
"Oh, there's a lot of ways I can do that."
"Then pick one. Unless you're-
Bell shut her up by kissing her on the lips. Aisha melted into the kiss, and the two stayed like that for a minute. After enough time passed, Bell pulled away and smirked.
"Was hoping you'd choke me instead."
"You are one freaky woman."
"You like it."
"Never denied that fact."
The two went back to cuddling and enjoying as much time as the two could squeeze in before Bell left for a while. Bell would remember these moments fondly while he was away.
.
.
.
.
Daphne lay awake in the tent she shared with Cassandra. She couldn't sleep as the shy girl was muttering in her sleep. It seemed like she was having another nightmare.
"Poison. Green. Despair. Black. Despair"
Daphne groaned in annoyance. She got up and shook Cassandra until she woke up. When the blue-haired girl awoke, she was panting.
He eyes were unfocused, and her clothes were messy. Her hair stuck to her head from the sweat, and her hands were shaking.
"You woke me up. Another one of your dreams? Daphne asked.
"Yeah"
Daphne sighed. She knew she had to take this one seriously. In the past, she would've brushed it off as silly and ignored Cassandra.
But after what happened last time she had a dream, Daphne was more alert about it.
"So what horror awaits us this time?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know. I saw quick flashes of many things. But the one word I'd use the most would be Despair."
Daphne sat down next to Cassandra and held her hand. "Why is that?"
"I don't know. I just feel like something really bad is going to happen."
Daphne gave her hand a squeeze to help calm her down. It looks like she'd need to tell Bell about this.
.
.
.
.
Bell and his party stood around the campfire. Once everyone has woken up, Daphne told Bell about Cassandra's dream and what it could entail.
Bell nodded and walked back with her to the group.
"Alright, everyone, if I could have your attention, please," Bell called out.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to their vice-captain. Seeing that he had anyone's attention, he spoke.
"Alright, I know we're close to our expedition goal of the water capital. I know we've wasted a lot of time and resources preparing for this journey. But Cassandra has had another dream. From what I've been told, it's nothing good. Now we have two options. We can continue moving forward but exercise extreme caution. Or we can head back and deal with whatever fine the guild imposes. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal with the wealth we possess."
Bell finished his speech and waited for everyone to talk amongst themselves.
"Last time she had a vision, it came true in every aspect. If she had another one about something worse, we should leave," Lili said.
"I agree," Haruhime added.
"Yes, but last time, we tried to avoid it. It ended up coming true either way," Welf said.
"But we have the money to pay whatever fine the guild imposes. Maybe we could just wait it out on the 18th floor?" Laurier proposed.
"Yeah, but we'd have to do constant runs for food and other supplies, and that would just be a waste of time and money. Bell doesn't have much longer to stay here." Aisha said.
"I think we should rip the band-aid off and go. Bossman and the big guy are here, so we'll be fine," Lena said.
"I think we should go as well. Whatever we encounter, we just deal with it. It might not be as bad as Cassandra's making it. Besides, it never said despair for who," Anya said.
"Well, at the end of the day, it's Bell's decision. He says we go, we go. He says we don't, we don't. But if we do go, we need to be careful. If things really get bad, Regis and I will take care of it," Zald said, his voice holding an air of authority.
The familia all looked to Bell. Daphane and Cassandra remained quiet as Bell had gotten their opinions earlier. Cassandra didn't want them to continue on, but Daphne said they should if they wanted to get stronger.
But now everyone was looking to him to make a decision. When he looked back on it, he was glad he made the right one. Otherwise, people would've died.
"I say we continue on. I mean, we've come this far already. Just a quick pop-in, grab what we need, and get out. We'll just have to be careful as we go. Everyone, make sure you have extra potions and rations on you. If you get separated, you'll at least be able to survive for a few days if needed. Any questions?"
Bell looked around at everyone. No one spoke up, and Bell let them finish packing everything up.
.
.
.
.
The entrance to the 25th floor opened up to a vast expanse of water pouring down to the 27th floor. Its massive water spanned over an estimated 400 meters wide.
Its waters were full of dangerous sea creatures that didn't hesitate to tear adventurers to pieces. It used to spread out into the ocean before the Leviathan's corpse was used to block the entryway. However, a few monsters here and there slip through and give fishermen some trouble.
"Woah. That's a lot of water." Bell said, shocked by the sheer size of the waterfall.
"Careful you don't fall in Prince Charming. Wouldn't want you to drown," Regis mocked.
Bell promptly kicked him off the cliff and into the water. "Alright, everyone, let's get moving. Quicker we get what we need quicker we can leave."
The group started to walk down the path as Regis floated back up in his will-o-wisp form. Once he reached the path, he turned back into his wolf form with his fur soaked.
The familia was organized as follows. Bell, Aisha, and Anya in the front. With Lili, Welf, Lena, Mikoto, and Daphne in the middle. Followed in the read guard by Haruhime, Cassandra, Laurier, and Zald. Regis switched between them, but mostly stayed in the back.
"You're a fucking asshole," Regis muttered before shaking his fur.
"I didn't do anything. You tripped," Bell said, not even bothering to contain his smile.
"Aisha. He's bullying me!" Regis complained.
Aisha smirked. "Looks like you tripped Regis."
"Oh right, you suck his dick, so of course you'd take his side. Haruhime, he's bullying me."
Haruhime and Cassandra blushed at Regis's comment.
"U-um, well, I play nice, you two," Haruhime muttered.
"Lili thinks Master Bell and Regis should play nice."
"Nope. That was payback for him pushing me off a cliff when I was younger."
Regis scoffed. "You said you wanted to get your durability up."
Laurier giggled. "He pushed you off a cliff?"
"Yeah, Regis and I liked to explore a lot back where I grew up. One day, we came across a cliff that overlooked the whole valley. After letting me look at the landscape for a few seconds, he pushed me off and laughed as I fell."
Regis laughed again while Aisha quirked an eyebrow. "And you were how old when this happened."
"11. I think"
"Damn, Regis pushing a child off a cliff. Did he bounce when he hit the ground?" Welf asked.
"Oh yeah," Regis answered.
"Hey, Zald, you got any training crazy stories from the days of the Zeus familia?" Bell asked.
Zald placed his hand on his chin. "Well, there was this one time your dad boxed the Balor."
"He did what?!"
Zald chuckled. "Yup. Your dad got drunk one night, sprinted down into the dungeon, boxed the Balor, and then came back up and continued drinking,"
"Wha-what possessed him to do that?" Bell asked, laughing a little.
"I don't know. Guess he just felt like it." Zald shrugged.
Anya bonked Bell on the bed with her spear. "Don't you go thinking of doing that. I know you like to do dumb things, but that's insane."
"Wait, how fast was boss-man's dad if he was able to sprint that many floors and be back before the night ended?" Lena asked.
Zald chuckled again. "Fast. Probably the fastest person in the Zeus familia, I'd say. Might have even been the fastest adventurer in the city at the time."
"Faster than Vanya Freya?" Cassandra asked.
Anya flinched at the name, but a pat on the back from Bell calmed her down.
"That cat doesn't even come close to Silver. Hell, I'd say one day Bell will take the mantle of the fastest," Zald answered.
Bell smiled at hearing stories of his father. He didn't know a lot about his parents, so it always made him happy when he learned things about them.
"Heads up, blue crabs up ahead," Mikoto warned. Thanks to one of her skills, she was able to detect monsters that she encountered before.
In front of them were two dozen blue crabs clapping their pinchers in an attempt to scare them.
"Well, there goes the peaceful atmosphere," Bell quipped, summoning Dawn's Ballad.
Bell and Aisha shot forward, carving through six of the crabs easily. Anya jumped in the air and stabbed her spear through the top of one of their shells.
The three jumped back as the crabs advanced. Vines shot forth from underground, piercing through their shells. Cassandra had used her beast will.
Ten remained as Welf used his metal and crushed another two. Seven lightning bolts appeared above the crabs and flew toward them. The crab's shell was pierced, causing them to flail around and die. Only one remained.
"Welf trap it. Make a hole in the front as well." Bell ordered.
Welf did as he was told and trapped the Blue crab in a metal cocoon with a hole open in the front. Bell pointed to Haruhime and gestured for her to come up.
"What is it, Master Bell?" Haruhime asked, standing next to him.
"I haven't had a chance to see your new magic yet. Shoot the crab," Bell said.
"Oh, Master Bell, I don't think it'll do much. I'm only a level one," Haruhime lightly protested.
Bell chuckled. "That's fine. I just wanna see it. Please"
Haruhime looked into his big red eyes, and he looked like a begging child. Her love for the boy made her acquiesce.
She raised her arm and aimed at the Blue crab who was thrashing around in its confinement. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out.
"Firebolt," Haruhime chanted.
A stream of fire and lighting mixed together and shot toward the Blue Carb. It hit its hard shell, only leaving a tiny scorch mark.
Bell smiled before snapping his finger and sending a streak on of fire mixed with lightning. It hit the Blue crab shell and exploded against it, killing the crab.
"We match," Bell joked, patting Haruhime on the shoulder.
Haruhime blushed and wagged her tail in happiness, which Bell picked up on. Before she went back to the rearguard, however, Bell stopped her.
"Before you go, I want to give you this. Welf gave it to me, and I haven't used it much. So I asked if I could give it to you, and he said yes."
Haruhime was confused until Bell rolled up his sleeve and revealed his hidden blade. He had our grown the Minotaur horn that the blade was made of.
It was one of Welf's earlier works and made for third-tier adventurers. It would work wonders for Haruhime. Since she wasn't strong, if something got too close to her, she could use this.
He took the hidden blade of his wrist and handed it to her. Before she could protest, Bell put the gauntlet in her hand.
"Don't say anything. Just take it. Hopefully, it'll help you a lot." Bell smiled.
Haruhime couldn't say no to that smile, so she rolled up her sleeve and attached it to her wrist.
"Thank you, Master Bell. I'll cherish this."
Haruhime then went back to the rearguard with a smile on her face.
"Alright, everyone. Onwards," Bell ordered.
.
.
.
.
A few hours had passed, and the familia had gotten most of what they needed for their expedition. Right now, they were wandering a cavern that led to another section of the floor.
They had an earlier encounter with some dangerous fish when Bell and Mikoto went to grab some roots Lili said would be valuable.
When the two were heading back to the party, one of the fish almost got Miktoto in its mouth. But thanks to her quick reflexes, she flipped mid-air and kicked it, allowing Bell to shoot a lightning bolt at it.
But as they were about to reach the entrance to the other section, Bell raised his hand up, signaling everyone to stop.
They did, and Bell squinted his eyes as he saw someone coming toward them. He used his light magic to light the area up, and his eyes widened in shock.
It was the blonde-haired elf arguing with the dwarf at the guild in front of Eina. His right arm was missing, and he was limping. His temple was bleeding, and a weird green plant seemed to be growing out of his shoulder.
Behind him was a MossHuge. It was a monster made up of a mess of vines, much like the Elderwood Guardian. Its red eyes stared hungrily at the elf, who collapsed to the ground. His legs couldn't support him anymore.
The monster reached down to grab him. It's grassy claw inching closer and closer.
"Don't!" Bell yelled, rushing forward.
Infusing his body with lightning, Belk rushed forward to save the man. He didn't know him well. His only interaction with him was at the guild. But he wanted to be a hero, and he wasn't gonna let this man die.
The MossHuge seemed to notice Bell's presence as it swung its claws at him. Bell ducked under them before flipping back and dodging its kick.
Bell centered himself before rushing forward once again. But the MossHuge's body opened up, and small hole-like indents appeared on its body.
"Don't…let them…hit you," The elf warned.
Bell's eyes widened in shock before he shouted.
"EVERYONE TAKE COVER NOW!"
Bell dove behind a rock, and everyone else did the same or threw a Goliath robe over them. But Cassandra wasn't fast enough.
The MossHuge fired tiny seeds out of the holes, mimicking the Izau but much slower. The seeds went flying their impacts, knocking off pieces of rocks and slamming into the Goliath hide cloaks.
Cassandra was out in the open, but Zald shielded her with his body. He felt the seeds pelting into him and felt his back starting to hurt a little.
His armor was tough, but this MossHuge seemed to be an irregular. It was a higher level than it was supposed to be.
Once the barrage of seeds stopped, the MossHuge retreated back into the darkness. Bell appeared from behind his rock and, seeing the coast was clear, ordered everyone to get up.
"That thing's smart. It knew it was outclassed, so it retreated," Bell gathered.
He made his way to the injured elf and poured a potion on his severed arm. The bleeding stopped, and the elf's eyes were half-lidded.
"You're alright. Don't worry we'll get you patched up. Cassandra, I need you up here!" Bell ordered.
Silence filled the air, and before Bell could call on her again, he heard a whimper. His head shot up, and he saw Zald and Daphne around Cassandra.
Blood was streaming down her shoulder as a plant-like tendril grew inside it. Bell grabbed the elf and carried him over, setting him next to Cassandra.
"Hey, hey, you're ok. You're ok. Let me see," Bell softly said.
Cassandra whimpered more, and Bell activated Realmheart. He checked to see if her beast will was poisoning her, but it wasn't. He raised his arm up and used aether on the hole to try and heal her.
But instead, it caused the vine to grow and Cassandra to cry out in pain. Bell immediately stopped what he was doing and turned Realmheart off.
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I won't do that again," Bell cooed.
"Damnit. I couldn't get to her in time," Zald cursed.
"Worry about that later. Right, now we need to figure out what to do," Bell countered.
His attention turned to the blonde elf that was lying next to Cassandra. He didn't feel any anger fill him as he went to the elf.
"Hey. If you can hear me, I need you to explain what happened. Can you do that for me?" Bell asked.
"We were attacked, and now my friends are gonna die."
Well, I'm gonna end it off here so I have a starting off point for next chapter. Expect more of these soon as I'm starting to get back into this story.