Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix or Danmachi. Both belong to their respective owners.
Greetings my dear readers. I bring forth a chapter for you to enjoy!
Thank you all for your positive reception towards Bell's Alias in this story. I was a bit anxious when I thought of the name, but all of you have shown plenty of support and acceptance towards it, and I couldn't be any happier.
Aside from that, the only thing I have to share is that I'm currently saving up for Neuvillette and Wriothesley in Genshin Impact. And in case you didn't know, Neuvillette is voiced by Ray Chase, the same voice actor who voices the Master of Masters. And I'm a massive sucker for characters who use martial arts, which is why I'm also saving up for Wriothesley.
Now I'm going to address another issue that I've began to notice. PLEASE READ.
So, I've noticed that some of my Reviewers have issues with me spelling Hephaestus as "Hephastois".
The reason why?
This is mainly due to the fact that "Hephastois" is the name given to me in the Danmachi Light Novel that I got online. Wasn't sure if it was the legitimate translation or not. I told myself, oh, might as well use than name since Hephaestus is gender-bended, so I might as well go with that spelling. But I seem to have some...mixed results from you guys.
But I'm not sure if all of you have issues with this. If a majority of you have issues with this, here is what I'll do: I'll replace every single Hephastois with Hephaestus. It'll take some time, but it is doable.
I may or may not set up a poll in the near future.
In any case, let's get the chapter started!
Chapter 19: New Party Members
"You formed a contract with a blacksmith?" Lili said with surprise, as she stood alongside others when Bell came back home and announced the news.
"I have." Bell said while nodding. "It's thanks to the contract that I'm managed to get a good set of armor for a good price."
"Well that's good to hear." Sora remarked with a small grin, but then tilted his head a bit. "Though, why are you worried about getting armor at a good price? I mean, we're not exactly short on valis."
"It's because we need the valis for our future house. We can never know if the housing will cost at the amount we have." Hestia pointed out as she glanced towards the bags of valis sitting at the corner of the room.
Shortly after declaring that they're going to move to a new home for more space for the Familia, Hestia has been spending some time searching for a spacious vacant home to move into. So far, all of the homes were either too big or just way too luxurious to house just the four of them. Hestia needed the right space to house her Familia and future members.
So far it's a work in progress.
"Oh right..." Sora muttered when he looked at the bags of valis.
"In any case..." Bell started, as he looked a bit nervous on what to bring up. "Even though I managed to make a contract with a blacksmith...he wants to be our party member in return." Bell revealed.
This caused the entire Familia to blink at what they heard.
"He...He wants to come with us into the Dungeon? Why?" Lili said with an incredulous expression. "Shouldn't he be going with his own Familia?"
"Well, that's the thing." Bell said with a small frown. "His Familia leaves him out of their trips to the Dungeon, and he's been soloing ever since. He's having a difficult time getting past the 10th floor, and he needs to Level Up in order to obtain the Blacksmith Developmental Ability."
"And you agreed to the conditions Bell?" Hestia said with a concerned frown. "Normally, I wouldn't be against this. However, considering the fact that we need to keep the Heartless away from public eye, bringing in another person to witness this is just asking for trouble."
"Lili agrees! Lili finds it suspicious that his Familia isn't letting him into their party to begin with!" Lili inputted.
"But I still want to help him. He's in a rather tough spot, and I'd feel bad if I turn my back on him." Bell said.
"I agree with Bell." Sora said while nodding. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to help others in need. After all, Bell and I didn't turn our backs on you, Lili. Bell's blacksmith wouldn't be any different." Sora pointed out.
Lili blinked when she heard this, and gave a small sigh. "...Fair point."
"Still, we have the problem of Bell's blacksmith witnessing the Heartless. We're already on thin ice with Adventurers disappearing and the recent events that took place on the surface." Hestia pointed out.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did make him promise not to share any information on what we do in the Dungeon as part of our contract." Bell pointed out.
Everyone blinked upon hearing this.
"...Huh, it's a lot like when you paid Lili extra just to keep Lili's mouth shut about the Heartless." Lili muttered.
"Well, at least you got that covered!" Sora remarked.
"Even so, we should be careful about this." Hestia said with a frown. "We don't understand his motives or his character. He may break his promise if there's an opportunity to do so."
"Then what should we do then...? I can't exactly just tell him that I want to end the contract then and there right after we made one." Bell said with a frown.
Sora hummed with a thoughtful look on how to figure this out. Bell's right that they can't break the contract just after they formed it, yet at the same time they don't want to risk Bell's blacksmith on leaking information of the Heartless to others. They need to get to know him first...
His mind soon clicked with an idea as soon as his eyes fell onto Bell and Lili.
"Then how about we do a small test with him?" Sora suggested.
This caused everyone in the room to turn to Sora with a surprised and confused look.
"What exactly do you mean by that Sora?" Hestia asked with confusion.
"We'll let Bell's blacksmith into the party when we go into the Dungeon, but we'll be splitting up. I'm gonna go ahead of the party and deal with the Heartless. Bell, you and Lili will form a party with Bell's blacksmith and explore the 11th floor for now, where it's free of Heartless. Try and get a feel of what he's like." Sora explained.
Everyone blinked when they heard the plan.
"That...That actually sounds like a sound plan." Hestia said with a dubious blink. "How did you come up with such an idea?"
"My Dream Eaters." Sora simply replied.
"Dream Eaters? What do they have to do with the idea?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.
"During my time in the Sleeping Worlds, I've befriended whole bunch of Dream Eaters. Even though I've wanted to bring them all with me, I could only bring two of them out at a time, mainly due to the rules of the Mark of Mastery. I wanted to give each of them a try in battle. So I've let different types of Dream Eaters come with me and see how they fight. I managed to learn a lot about their capabilities and specialties in battle. I thought, why not just apply the experience with Bell's blacksmith?" Sora explained with a grin.
"Of course it falls back onto your previous adventures..." Hestia sighed, not at all surprised that this is how Sora developed this plan of his. She's certainly not going to complain about it, since Sora did offer a plausible solution to this.
"Yeah...Yeah that could work." Bell agreed while nodding.
"Lili agrees..." Lili said while folding her arms, before she blinked upon realizing something. "Now that you mention Dream Eaters, we never did get Lili forming a contract with a Dream Eater."
Everyone in the room blinked when they heard this, and turned to each other.
"Oh right...we did promise Lili that." Bell said with realization.
"Can't believe we forgot about that." Sora said while scratching the back of his head.
"To be fair, we had a lot more important things to take care of." Hestia pointed out. "In any case, since Lili joined our Familia, then it's only fair that she receives a Dream Eater like Bell does."
"Right!" Sora said while nodding, as he dug into his pocket and took out his Dream Eater Heartbinder. Once he did, he then made his way towards Lili and kneeled down to her height.
"You ready?" Sora asked, to which Lili nodded.
"Lili is rather excited and nervous on what type of Spirit Lili is going to get..."
"Well, I'm sure you'll love your Dream Eater." Sora told Lili, as he held out his Heartbinder to her. When Lili saw the gesture, she reached out her hand to Sora's hand and placed her hand on top of the Heartbinder.
With the two in contract with the Heartbinder, they closed their eyes. Just like before, a glow began to manifest from Sora, and began to extend its way to Lili's body. Once the glow enveloped them both, the Heartbinder soon began to glow brightly.
Bell and Hestia watched with bated breath and anticipation on what kind of Dream Eater would come before them.
As soon as the light died down, everyone looked to see the Dream Eater that appeared before them.
And everyone's eyes, except for Sora, had their eyes widened at what they saw before them.
The Dream Eater before them appeared as a winged horse. Its tail is shaped like a wing, and there are also smaller wings placed near its hooves. It has a pair of small, pink-colored spikes on its cheek and a pair of ribbons in its hair. The Dream Eater emblem is located on the Dream Eater's lower neck.
"..." Lili was speechless at the Spirit before her.
"Woah..." Bell was in awe at the creature before him.
Hestia was blinking incredulously at the Dream Eater before her.
"Oh wow, you've managed to get a Pegaslick!" Sora said with a grin.
"Pega...slick?" Lili muttered.
Lili soon flinched when the Spirit before her looked around the room, before its eyes fell onto her. The Pegaslick soon made its way towards her, looking at Lili with what appeared to be a critical eye. It was a rather short yet intense moment for Lili, before the Pegaslick gave a small snort as it lowered its head to Lili's height.
Lili blink when it saw the gesture, not sure on what to do. She glanced around the room for help, and saw that Bell and Hestia looked a bit at loss. Sora, on the other hand, was gesturing her to pat its head.
Lili blinked when she saw this, before she focused back on the Spirit before her. She slowly reached out to the Dream Eater, and softly patted its head. The Dream Eater in question gave off a breath of satisfaction through its nose, satisfied that Lili is petting its head.
"...T-This is rather overwhelming for Lili." Lili said with her voice trembling a bit. "Lili was expecting a Spirit like Master Bell's. Lili honestly didn't expect a Spirit of this size..."
"It is rather large..." Bell remarked, as he made his way towards the Pegaslick and reached out his hand towards it.
The Pegaslick soon snapped it head towards Bell as soon as it felt his presence near it, and looked at the boy with a guarded look. The gesture caused Bell to flinch upon seeing this gesture. It looked rather guarded against strangers.
"Woah woah, we come in peace! We're Lili's friends!" Sora reassured the Pegaslick, causing the Pegaslick's eyes to look at Sora with a critical eye as well. Though, it did soften a bit when it felt Sora's presence, as it felt like he was a person who was beloved by many Dream Eaters.
"Hey, it's fine. Master Bell and Sora are Lili's friends." Lili told the Pegaslick, hoping it would listen to her.
When the Spirit heard Lili's words, the Pegaslick lowers its stance a bit, relaxing in their presence.
"Seems like it's rather cautious of strangers other than Lili..." Hestia commented while folding her arms.
"Huh, that is rather new..." Sora remarked. He met and befriended many types of Dream Eaters, and all of them were rather friendly. This is a first for a Dream Eater to show wariness of strangers.
It was then the Spirit looked around the room, and it looked rather dissatisfied with the lack of space to move around in. Lili saw this and soon patted its chest.
"Lili is sorry that you aren't called in the best space. Lili promises the next time Lili summons you, you'll have the best space to fly around in." Lili reassured her Dream Eater.
The Pegaslick gave a neigh of confirmation, before it soon puffed away into pink smoke.
"Seems like this Pegaslick doesn't like closed spaces..." Sora commented.
"Well, I'd imagine any Spirit of that size wouldn't like this cramped room that we live in." Hestia sighed. "In any case, since you managed to form a contract with a Dream Eater, I suppose it's time to update your status."
"Right!" Lili agreed.
And soon, Hestia was updating Lili's status, while Bell and Sora left the room to give Lili her privacy.
Liliruca Arde
Level 1
Strength: G201
Endurance: G267
Dexterity: F334
Agility: D578
Magic: C603
Skills
Artel Assist: Activates when carried weight exceeds a certain level. Amount of assistance is proportional to weight carried.
Dream Link: Summon a Dream Eater to the user's side. Requires Mind and Heartbinder.
Magic
Cinder Ella: Shape-shifting magic. Target will take the envisioned shape at the time of the spell magic. Will fail without a clear image. Imitation is recommended.
Trigger: Your scars are mine. My scars are mine
Release: Stroke of Midnight's Bell
Hestia wasn't that surprised to see Lili's status. Without Bell's Liaris Freese and only relying on Sora's Link to All, there's only so much that Lili was capable of growing. Though, Lili was surprised to see so many points gained when gained her update and gained Hestia's Falna. Again, Lili hasn't updated her status in a long time, so she's been accumulating points.
"Can we come in?" came the muffled voice from the room's door.
"You two can come in!" Hestia called to the two, before she turned to Lili.
"Well Lili, seems like you gained a Skill just like Bell." Hestia told the Pallum.
"R-Really!?" Lili said, before she grabbed the parchment and took a look at it. "A-Amazing...Sora can truly give this type of Skill to anyone..."
"And we can only hope that this will never reach anyone's ears." Hestia sighed.
As Lili was looking over her updated sheet, Sora and Bell were also looking at the status update, wanting to see Lili's newfound Skill. It was also Sora's first time seeing Lili's status sheet. And when his eyes trailed down the sheet, he blinked a few times when he spotted a particular spell.
"Cinder...Ella?" Sora said aloud in confusion. "Your transformation magic is called Cinder Ella?"
"Yes." Lili replied while blinking when she heard Sora say this. "Is there something strange that you've noticed with Lili's spell?"
"You could say that." Sora chuckled while scratching his cheek. "Your spell sounds just like Cinderella's name."
"Cinderella...?" Lili repeated with confusion.
"Cinderella...Cinderella..." Hestia muttered to herself, trying to remember where she heard the name from. She then blinked when she soon remembered. "Wait, isn't Cinderella one of the Princess of Hearts?"
"Oh right, Sora did mention about Cinderella being one of the Princesses of Hearts!" Bell recalled.
"Wait, you mean to tell Lili that her spell shares the same name as this Cinderella!?" Lili asked in shock. Even though she was given the context of Sora's backstory, Sora didn't really delve too deeply into the Worlds he travelled to, and only gave a group naming to the seven Princesses of Heart, not the individual names.
"Yeah, just take out the space and you literally have Cinderella. What are the odds." Sora confirmed, before he gave a chuckle. "Does that mean I should consider you a Princess of Heart?"
"Lili is more curious on who exactly this Cinderella is. Who exactly is she anyway?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, that? Well, I believe I have a story to share with you all." Sora said, as he started telling the tale of Cinderella.
Personally, he never went to Cinderella's World, the Castle of Dreams. He only met her when he went to Hollow Bastion, and only interacted with her briefly. However, Jiminy was able to get accounts of Cinderella's story through Ventus, Terra, and Aqua's experience in that World, and managed to piece together the story and placed it in the Gummiphone.
By the time Sora finishes telling the tale, everyone looked in awe upon hearing the story.
"To think such a story existed..." Bell said aloud in awe. It sounded very similar to the stories and fairy tales that had princesses involved; but to see Cinderella as a real life example equivalent of a fairy tale princess is truly fascinating.
Lili fell silent upon hearing all of this. She was just in shock.
Just hearing Cinderella's story sounded so much like Lili's own upbringing.
Lili lost her parents at a young age, just as Cinderella's parents also died when she was young. Cinderella then had to grow up in an abusive household, with her step-mother reducing Cinderella to a mere servant, while the step-sisters bullied Cinderella by adding more housework to her load while mocking her, just like how her Familia treated her as nothing more than a slave to earn them valis.
However, the similarities ended there.
Despite facing such abuse, Cinderella remained a kind individual, while Lili became jaded and hateful of her Familia and Adventurers. Cinderella never resorted to thievery, unlike Lili who stole from Adventurers to get back at them. Though, it can be considered technically stealing if the dress was made from some of the dress materials her step-sisters had (and they weren't even using it to begin with), but that was more on the animals (along with Ventus) deed than Cinderella. And unlike Cinderella, Lili never had a fairy godmother show up before her and give her a dress and carriage to go to some royal ball, and then meet up with the royal prince, who the two fell in love with each other at first sight.
'Lili wouldn't complain if that were to happen...' Lili thought, thinking it would be nice to go to some royal ball and meet her destined prince and live happily ever after. Though, Lil felt that she's beginning to find a happier life when she left the Soma Familia and joined the Hestia Familia.
"Huh, now that I think about it, you and Cinderella are quite similar in some regards..." Sora spoke aloud with a thoughtful look, coincidentally matching Lili's train of thought. "Though a prince wasn't involved."
Looking around the room, Sora's eyes soon fell onto Bell and Lili. A small smirk soon grew on his face as he felt a bit mischievous.
"Then again, Bell did save you a couple times, first with the Adventurer trying to hurt you, and the Heartless that blew up. Does that make him your prince, Lili?" Sora jokingly asked.
The moment Sora said that, Lili's cheeks went red when she heard that.
"M-Master Bell...as my prince...!?" Lili blushed madly upon hearing this.
"S-Sora!?" Bell yelped while his cheeks went a bit red in embarrassment.
"There's no way! Just because it's coincidental, that doesn't mean Lili is Cinderella! Nor is Bell Cinderella's beloved prince!" Hestia immediately protested with a comically angry and jealous look.
"Hmph, Lili believes that you're just jealous that you don't have any connection or association with Cinderella!" Lili huffed, annoyed that Hestia is getting in the way.
"Geh!" Hestia looks like she was struck by the accusation. Truthfully, a part of her did indeed felt jealous of Cinderella, who found love with her Prince Charming the moment they laid eyes on each other. After all, she was hoping for Bell to look at her like that, but the boy unfortunately didn't.
"H-Hey, Sora! You don't happen to know someone name Hestia in another World like Zeus does!?" Hestia quickly asked, wanting to change the subject.
Sora blinked when he was met with the sudden question, and scratched the back of his head.
"Hm, let me remember...no. I've never met another person who shares a similar name to you, not even on Olympus." Sora admitted.
The only Gods that he knows that reside on Olympus are Zeus, Apollo, Athena, and Hermes. He never met a Goddess named Hestia, not until he met the Hestia who is standing before him.
Hestia could only look comically devastated upon learning this while Lili harrumphed with triumph, looking like she won the argument.
Sora could only sweatdrop at the sight.
'All I did was make a harmless joke to tease Lili. How in the World did it come to this...?' Sora thought in confusion.
Bell also matched Sora's thoughts, confused as to why Lili and Hestia are suddenly arguing with each other on their associations with Cinderella. Though, he felt that he needed to change the subject to prevent the two from arguing any further.
"S-So anyway, your magic allows you to transform into anything Lili? Like being a Chienthrope?" Bell quickly asked, hoping to change the subject.
Thankfully, his question caught their attention as Lili turned to him with a smile while Hestia sulked.
"Indeed. Lili can transform into anyone, so long as they're around Lili's size and have a clear image of them." Lili clarified.
Sora hummed in thought when he heard of this, before an idea popped up in his head.
"In that case..." Sora started as he brought out his Gummiphone and immediately began searching through it. "You think you can transform into Donald? You and Donald share similar size." Sora said as he showed Lili a picture of Donald.
When Lili turned to see who Donald is, her face immediately morphed into bafflement.
"Is...Is that a duck!?" Lili asked in shock.
"He is...why do you look surprised?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Why does Lili-!? Lili is seriously questioning on your standards of normal!" Lili exclaimed with irritation, her head hurting already with Sora's absurd common sense.
"Hestia also said that when she saw Donald as well. Is Donald really that strange? I mean, he does have an unforgettable face..." Sora said when he looked at the picture of Donald.
Now that he thought about it, Bell and Hestia's reactions were similar to Lili when they first saw Donald. He thought the two were overreacting, but Lili's similar reaction is starting to tell Sora that Donald isn't exactly a normal face among the crowd. Whenever he went to other Worlds with Donald and Goofy, none of the residents ever questioned or even go so much as bat an eye towards Donald and Goofy's appearances.
"In any case...you think you can transform into Donald?" Sora asked once more.
Lili gave a good look at Donald, and his relative size is indeed similar to Lili, thought Lili felt she was a bit taller than Donald. However, it was still something she can work with, since Donald is around her size.
"This is going to be the strangest transformation Lili partook in..." Lili muttered, before she gave a small sigh.
"Your scars are mine. My scars are mine." Lili chanted, and soon, her form soon began to change before everyone.
And in a mere moment, Lili was no longer standing before them, but a particular duck that Sora recognizes.
"Oh wow, you really are a spitting image of Donald!" Sora said with amazement.
"Just seeing Donald in person is just...surreal" Hestia commented while looking at Donald with an incredulous expression.
"So this is Donald..." Bell muttered with awe.
Lili looked at herself, and indeed, she now had the appearance of Donald Duck.
"Lili never thought she'd turn into a duck of all things..." Lili spoke up in Donald's form, and her voice matched the same tone as Donalds, to which Lili blinked incredulously once more. "...Wow, Donald sounds as quacky as his appearance..."
"Snrrrk...!" Sora had to clamp his mouth shut to prevent laughter from escaping his mouth. The fact that Lili is commenting about Donald's voice while in Donald's form is a hilarious sight for the Keyblade wielder.
"So what exactly is so special about Donald anyway?" Lili asked when looking over her Donald form.
"He's able to use magic. Oh, why don't you use a fire spell-!" Sora began.
"Sora, we're indoors." Hestia flatly reminded.
"Oh, right!" Sora blinked upon realization. "I mean, try casting a healing spell on me!"
Lili, in Donald's form, just gave Sora a flat look.
"That's not happening." Lili said while giving a flat expression, which also translated to Donald matching her expression as well. The Keyblade wielder blinked upon hearing this.
"Why not? I'm sure it would come in handy when I find myself in a pinch." Sora said with a pout.
"It's because Lili's magic doesn't work like that. Lili can't copy the magic of others that Lili transforms into. However, Lili does gain the physical abilities of the person in question. For example, Lili transforming into a Beast Human will give Lili their heightened senses." Lili explained.
"Oh...I see..." Sora muttered.
So there was another limit to Lili's magic. Still, it brought a sense of relief and comfort to see a familiar friend that Sora hasn't seen in a while, even if it just a magically conjured up form.
Seeing that she was done demonstrating her magic, she decided to lift her spell.
"Stroke of Midnight's Bell." Lili chanted. The moment she said that, the form of Donald Duck soon faded away, and Lili's regular appearance soon took place. Lili gave a sigh.
"Honestly, you have the strangest of companions. What's next, a walking talking mouse?" Lili threw out with a bit of a sarcastic tone.
"You talking about King Mickey?" Sora asked while blinking at what Lili just said.
Silence was immediately made as soon as Sora said that, before Lili promptly face palmed.
"...Lili's head hurts."
"Again, welcome to my world..." Hestia huffed.
~ Break ~
It was the start of a new day, and the Hestia Familia were soon heading towards the main plaza in front of Babel tower. Part of the Hestia Familia, that is.
As they have planned yesterday, they've decided to split up for now. Bell and Lili are going to meet up with Bell's blacksmith and form a party together to explore the Dungeon. Meanwhile, Sora has gone ahead of the group already and is working on clearing up the 12th floor of the Heartless.
"So where exactly are we meeting your blacksmith?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We planned to meet up at the fountain...ah, there he is!" Bell said as he spotted his contracted blacksmith. Bell could easily recognize the red hair among the crowd, along with the clothing that Bell is familiar with.
As the two approached the blacksmith, the blacksmith in question soon spotted Bell, and gave a grin as he stood up from his seat.
"Hey, Bell! You're right on time!" the blacksmith greeted.
"Glad we could make it." Bell greeted, before he gestured to Lili. "Welf, this is Lili. She'll be our Supporter. Lili, this is Welf Crozzo, my blacksmith."
The moment Bell said that, Lili's eyes widened in recognition.
"...Crozzo? As in, the household of cursed magic sword blacksmiths that fell into ruin?" Lili said aloud.
Bell could only blink when he heard this from Lili, and when he glanced at Welf, he noticed the smile falling off the blacksmith.
"Lili is baffled that you don't even know about the Crozzo family Master Bell." Lili said with a bit of exasperation. "They were granted a noble status by the old king of Rakia for the magic swords they were able to create. It is said that they were able to make countless magic swords, and that some of them rumored to set fire to the ocean. But one day, they fell out of favor with the king, and soon lost their noble status and fell into ruin." Lili summarized.
Bell could only blink in surprise when he heard this, and turned his head to Welf to see if Welf is going to confirm or deny such a thing.
Welf could only give off a sour look, before he gave small sigh as he scratched the back of his head.
"...Let's not worry about such things. I'm simply just blacksmith trying to make a name for himself in Orario, that's all." Welf simply answered.
It seems like Welf's background is a rather sensitive topic. Bell felt that it was necessary to move on from the uncomfortable topic.
"...Well, we still plan on diving into the Dungeon as per our contract." Bell said, and gave small eye contact with Lili, silently telling her to not bring this any further.
"Very well, Lili will oblige with our new party member." Lili simply answered. Her answer seems to have pacified Welf, as a small grin grew on his face once more.
"Well that's good to hear. Shall we get going then?" Welf asked as he picked up his weapon.
"Oh, um, before we go into the Dungeon Welf, there's one more thing I should notify you about." Bell said.
"And that is?"
"We have another Familia member named Sora. He's already gone ahead of us in the Dungeon to take care of a few things, but I believe we'll be running into him near the end of the 11th floor." Bell informed.
"That so? Huh, wonder why he decided to go ahead of you guys, especially near the end of the 11th floor. He must be a pretty capable guy if he's able to handle himself on that floor." Welf remarked with a small wry grin.
Bell could only gave a shaky smile while Lili gave a sigh.
Welf has no idea.
~ Break ~
"Alright! I finally made it to the 11th Floor!" Welf cheered as they were making their way through the first room of the 11th Floor of the Dungeon.
Bell gave a small exhale as he walked through the first room of the 11th Floor. Even though it's only been a few days since he last been here, the Skyward Seeker was ready to truly test out his capabilities as a Level 2. Zanis's Heartless didn't really count, since Bell mainly used his magic and less of his physical capabilities.
And now he has a chance to test it with the monsters on this floor.
As soon as the three were making their way through the floor, their eyes soon heard footsteps, and soon saw a pack of Orcs and Imps heading their way.
"Looks we got company!" Welf said, as he brought out his weapon to prepare for battle.
"I'll deal with the imps then!" Bell said as he sped forward towards the numbers without any hesitation.
As he was running towards them, Bell idly brought up a particular thought in mind.
'Last time, Sora timed me and it took me 15 seconds to take out a group of imps. Let's see if I can beat it with my new Level!' Bell thought, as he brought out his Hestia Knife and Trancheuse.
One of the imps jumped into the air to pounce on Bell, only for Bell to effortlessly sped past it while delivering a slash straight through its body.
The white haired boy then swiped forward to take out three incoming imps from his right, and then proceeded to flip into the air to jump above the imp in front of him. As soon was he was above the imp, Bell immediately slashed at its head, slicing the imp's head into pieces.
When he landed on the ground, Bell immediately spun around and threw a set of his knives from one hand towards the rest of the imps. Each knive landed on their mark, causing the Imps to fall onto the ground dead, or explode into ash with their magic stone damaged.
Afterwards, Bell then spun himself to deliver a circular slash around him to take out the rest of the incoming imps.
"...5 seconds." Bell muttered to himself. Throughout the entire battle, the Imps just appeared so slow...more slower than they ever were. It just shows Bell how much an improvement a Level Up can bring him.
With the battle done, Bell turned to see Welf battling one of the orcs, bringing down his sword to cleave it into two, and the other Orc was approaching Welf, only for it to cry out in pain when an arrow was lodged into its eye, courtesy of Lili. With the Orc distracted, Welf then swung his large sword and cuts the orc in half horizontally.
And like that, Welf has managed to finish his own battle with the three Orcs, with some support from Lili.
"Heh, seems like your status as a Level 2 truly shows..." Welf remarked when he saw Bell walking away from the corpse of the Imps.
"Eh he he..." Bell gave a shaky smile once more.
Honestly, this is nothing compared to the Heartless that he faces alongside Sora. Bell felt that he could honestly just complete the 11th floor entirely on his own if he was just dealing with Dungeon Monsters. However, he needs to stick to the plan for now and get an understanding of Welf, before deciding if he could truly be included in facing the Heartless.
"Seems like Master Crozzo is able to handle his own in battle..." Lili remarked.
"You know, I know you don't particularly like me, but could you at least not call me Crozzo...?" Welf sighed as he hefted his sword over his shoulder. "That aside, you just completely blitzed those group of imps like they're nothing."
"I have my Level Up to thank for. I honestly didn't expect it to bring this much of an improvement." Bell remarked.
"That so? Seems like that's something I can look forward to in the near future." Welf noted with a small smirk.
"In any case, let's move onto the next room then." Bell told the rest of the group, to which his party nodded.
And like that, the trio soon moved onto the next room to find the next group of monsters. Throughout the entire time, Bell was taking charge as he took on a majority of the numbers that came before them while leaving a few for Welf and Lili to deal with.
And as Bell observed, Welf seems to be a pretty decent fighter all things considered. Even so, Bell was worried if this was enough to fight the Heartless. Welf may be able to handle a single Heartless on his own, but a group of them? Bell felt Welf had better chances if Lili was backing him up. The only way for Welf to survive in their hypothetical party is if Bell were to take a page out of Sora's book, and take on a majority of the Heartless while leaving a few to Welf and Lili to deal with.
Bell's train of thought was cut off when he saw a Hard Armored rolling its way towards him. Bell simply side stepped while delivering a clean slash through its entire body with his Hestia Knife.
"Man, being in a party really is beneficial." Welf said as he was finished with his battle. "It feels good, being able to focus on my own set of monsters while not having to worry about others."
"I understand the feeling all too well." Bell remarked.
"Speaking from experience?" Welf curiously asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I am. It's thanks to Sora that I'm able to go through a similar experience like you and grow stronger because of it." Bell explained.
"Heh, now I'm really curious to meet Sora if he was able to help you grow this strong. It's a shame that he's gone ahead of us to take care of some things." Welf said.
Hopefully, they'll meet up with Sora soon. Bell felt that Sora should be taking care of nearly all of the Heartless on the 12th floor, and he'll soon meet up with them.
It was then Bell soon noticed that there was another group of Adventurers who were passing by, and Lili managed to pile all of the Monsters nearby them as she was extracting the magic stones.
"Seems like we're not the only ones here. I guess we can take a bit of a breather while they handle whatever monsters that come their way." Welf said as he stretched his body a bit.
In all honesty, Bell felt that he could still continue on, but for the sake of the rest of the party, Bell felt that he needed to give Welf and Lili a breather.
'...Oh wow, I really am taking some examples from Sora.' Bell thought to himself in realization, as Sora would also let him and Lili have a breather after dealing with the Heartless.
It made Bell feel that he's making the proper steps to catch up to his hero.
'Even so, I can't grow complacent...' Bell thought to himself, reminding himself that the road to becoming a hero is still long. But that won't deter him one bit.
"Oi, Bell, what's with the sparkles?" Welf asked with a raised eyebrow.
Bell blinked and looked at his hand, sparkling once more.
'...Argonaut?' Bell thought to himself in surprise, seeing how it's manifesting itself once more.
Before Bell could answer, the three soon heard a loud roar echo throughout the room. And immediately, their skin crawled when they felt something dark pass through them. The three turned their heads towards the source of the noise, and their eyes widened in shock at what they saw.
"...What the hell? Is that even an Infant Dragon...!?" Welf muttered with confusion and alarm.
"That's...!" Lili whispered in realization.
"There's another...!?" Bell said aloud in alarm.
The being before them had the same shape as an Infant Dragon, but at the same time, it was far different from what they recognize. It possessed a dark aura surrounding its being. It had a deep black scaly skin, with its underside being being a dark purple. The end of its tail had yellow protruding bone-like spikes. Instead of red glowing eyes, there was eery glowing yellow eyes instead.
And the symbol of the Heartless was seen on the center of its forehead.
'A Heartless Infant Dragon...!' Bell thought in alarm. 'Why is a Heartless Hybrid here of all places...!?'
Before Bell could mentally question further on the possibility, the Heartless Infant Dragon roared, resounding throughout the entire room.
"What the hell is that thing!? Is that even an Infant Dragon!?" one of the Adventurers cried out in horror.
"Who knows! Forget about the unwritten rules, we need to take it on together!" another Adventurer cried out.
There's an unspoken rule amongst Adventurers, and that is to not to interfere with the party's monsters that they're hunting. But in times like this, it's in everyone's best interest to fight together to survive.
The Heartless Infant Dragon then drew its head back, and flames began to build up in its mouth. Bell's eyes widened when he realized that the Heartless Infant Dragon has the ability to breath out fire, and it was aiming directly at them.
Bell immediately pointed his hand forward.
"Firebolt!"
A beam of Light Firaga soon erupted from his hand, just as a beam of fire emerged from the Heartless Infant Dragon. The two beams of fire soon clashed against one another, before collision soon erupted into a massive cloud of smoke that engulfed the entire area.
With the mix of fog and smoke of the room, everyone had difficulty seeing what was in front of them.
"Damn it, I can't see! What the hell happened!?" one of the Adventurers yelled.
"Who knows! That weird monster is still-!"
The Adventurer never had a chance to finish that sentence, as the Heartless Infant Dragon soon emerged from the smoke and proceeded to chomp down on the unsuspecting Adventurer, easily biting off the top half of his body.
"Wha-!?" the Adventurer didn't even get to properly react to see his party member get devoured, as he was stomped into the ground by the Heartless Infant Dragon.
The smoke soon began to clear, and the Adventurers were able to see what was before them. Their eyes widened at the sight of two Adventurers being killed, but the sight of the two deaths didn't deter the Adventurers in the room.
"Quickly, while it's distracted!" one of the Adventurers cried out as they all tried to attack it from behind.
"No, don't! You need to run!" Bell called out to the Adventurers to stop them from running into danger.
However, before the Adventurers could even do anything else, the Heartless Infant Dragon had other ideas. The Heartless Infant Dragon soon growled, when its back began to squirm heavily. And soon, an explosion of Darkness erupted from its back, and a pair of large draconic wings soon emerged from the Infant Dragon's back.
With a single flap of its wings, it managed to push itself off the ground, as well as sending Adventurers back from the gust of wind.
"What the hell, it can fly now!?" one of the Adventurers cried out in shock.
The Heartless Infant Dragon roared as is turned around, and its eyes soon spotted its next prey. The Heartless Infant Dragon soon dove towards a group of Adventurers who were heading towards it. The Adventurers yelled out in shock and panic as they all scrambled to get out of the way. Meanwhile, one particular Adventurer was too slow to get moving as the Heartless Infant Dragon closed in on it.
Before the Heartless Infant Dragon could sinks its fangs into the Adventurer, the Adventurer was instead tackled out of the way, avoiding the attack. When the Adventurer got his bearings, he looked up to see someone with white hair immediately standing up.
"Get out of here, now!" Bell urgently told the Adventurer as he stood up and turned around, and held his arm up. "Firebolt!"
Bell fired off his Light Firaga once more. The Heartless Infant Dragon attempted to dodge the incoming fire spell by swaying to the left, but it failed to take into account that the Firebolt spell was capable of homing in on its target, as the Firebolt spell curved in trajectory and hit the Heartless Infant Dragon square in the chest. Even so, the Heartless Infant Dragon still hovered in the air.
"I'm not risking my life with this monster...!" one of the Adventurers cried out in fear as he turned tail and began to run.
"R-Right! This is way too much for me...!"
"I'm getting out of here!"
And just like that, the Adventurers within the room began to panic and run for their lives.
Bell gave a small exhale as his eyes was focused on the Heartless Infant Dragon, all the while feeling a bit relieved that the Adventurers were starting to get the hint that they're not supposed to be here.
Now all that was left was to deal with the Heartless Infant Dragon. Bell immediately aimed his hand forward and fired off another Firebolt, and the Light Firaga soared through the air and hits its mark once more, leaving the Heartless Infant Dragon to thrash around in the air.
The Heartless Infant Dragon soon shook off the fire, and proceeded to charge towards Bell once more. Bell once again jumped back to avoid the body slam coming his way, just in time to avoid a shockwave unleashed from the Heartless Infant Dragon's body slam.
Bell then charged forward, prepping his Hestia Knife. The Heartless Infant Dragon roared as it crawled towards Bell. The Heartless Infant Dragon then extended its neck to take a a bite out of Bell, only for Bell to jump into the air, performed a one hand flip off the Heartless Infant Dragon's head, and then land directly on the Heartless Infant Dragon's back.
Immediately, Bell slashed at the wings, the Hestia Knife easily cutting through the Darkness made wings of the Heartless Infant Dragon. The wings fell off the Heartless Infant Dragon, causing the Heartless Infant Dragon to roar out in pain as it immediately began thrash around to get Bell off.
Bell struggled to stay on it, before he head to jump off as the Heartless Infant Dragon began to roll around on the ground.
Once he jumped away at a good distance, Bell immediately pointed his hand forward at the Heartless Infant Dragon.
"Firebolt!" Bell fired off his Light Firaga once more, causing the Heartless Infant Dragon to roar out in pain upon being set on fire. Even so, with the Heartless Infant Dragon set on fire, it soon stood up on its legs and charged towards Bell.
Bell only tightened the grip on his Hestia Knife to prepare for what is to come.
~ Break ~
Welf and Lili watched the battle from a good distance away. They could only watch the battle with tense looks on their faces.
Welf gritted his teeth tightly, feeling frustrated with the situation he is in. He could still feel the frustration and disbelief at what Bell is doing, especially from their earlier short argument they had with each other.
"You two need to leave this room immediately!" Bell urgently told the two.
"Wait, Master Bell, don't tell me you're-!?" Lili exclaimed in shock.
"I have to. If we leave this monster alone, it's just going to cause havoc throughout the Dungeon." Bell said with a resolute look.
"Oi oi, seriously!?" Welf responded in shock. "This is an irregular Infant Dragon we're talking about here! There's no need to risk your life against something so dangerous!"
Bell simply shook his head.
"Sorry Welf, but this is something I cannot turn my back on. The only thing I ask of you is to stay back to be safe."
Before Welf could get another word in, Bell immediately sprinted to where the Heartless Infant Dragon is. He and Lili both knew that their fighting capabilities aren't exactly going to help them survive the fight, much less help out Bell. Bell is a Level 2 in status, meaning he's better suited for such a battle.
Even so...Welf couldn't help but clench his fist in frustration. He can't help but feel useless in this situation, leaving all of the fighting to Bell while he cannot contribute even a single thing.
Lili was in a similar boat as well.
She knew that she cannot do help out in this particular battle. She doubted her arrows are going to do anything either. The only thing that can truly help out is if she uses her magic sword, but it's debatable on whether or not it could truly help out.
Lili's hand drifted into her pocket to reach for her magic sword, and her fingers felt something that she wasn't familiar with. Her eyes widened in realization, as she slowly brought out the item before her.
The Heartbinder.
Lili remembered being given this to hold onto before they went into the Dungeon, as she was told to hold onto it just in case a dangerous Heartless popped up in the floor they're in.
Well, the situation certainly calls for it!
'Wait...' Lili thought, as she immediately casted a glance towards Welf.
She still doesn't fully know and understand Welf. She doesn't know his motives, character, morality, etc.. Even though Welf is under contract to not share what they encounter in the Dungeon, how does she know that Welf isn't going to break that contract for his own purposes?
The roars of the Heartless Infant Dragon immediately had her look towards the fight between Bell and the hyrbid Heartless.
The Heartless Infant Dragon roared as it sprouted wings from its back once more, and flapped its wings to take to the air once more, making it difficult for Bell to reach the airborne Heartless. Bell pointed his hand forward once more to fire off his magic, only for the Heartless Infant Dragon to build up flames in its mouth once more. This time, it didn't fire off a beam of fire, but instead multiple blasts of fire.
Seeing this made Bell be forced to move across the battle field to avoid getting hit. The Heartless Infant Dragon didn't relent as it kept firing off fire blasts to keep Bell at a distance. Even so, Bell still used the openings he could find to fire off his own Firebolt spell. However, some of the blasts were intercepted by the Heartless Infant Dragon's own fire blast, and the ones that reached the Heartless Infant Dragon, the Heartless Infant Dragon chose to endure it.
One particular fireball was closing in on Bell, forcing Bell to fire off his Firebolt spell. The two fire spells collided, causing an explosion that sent Bell flying back from how close the explosion was.
Just seeing the difficult situation Bell is in was enough for Lili to make up her mind, and decide that she's not going to stand aside and risk Bell's well being!
"Master Crozzo, you're under contract to not share whatever we do in the Dungeon, correct!?" Lili immediately questioned.
"H-Huh? Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with-!?"
"Then you truly swear that you won't share on whatever we do, right!?" Lili stressed.
"Geez, what's gotten into you!? And why are you asking me now of all times!" Welf questioned with confusion.
"Because Lili is going to pull of something that you shouldn't share with anyone else!" Lili declared, as she brought out the Heartbinder and held it close to her chest.
"What do you mean-?"
Welf was soon cut off when a bright flash of light erupted before him, causing the blacksmith to shield his eyes from the bright light. Once the bright light died down, Welf lowered his arm, only for his eyes to widened at what he saw before him.
"What the...!?" Welf yelled in shock.
Lili didn't even bother trying to explain, as she looked at her Dream Eater with a serious look.
"Lili knows this is abrupt, but Lili needs you to help Master Bell!" Lili told her Pegaslick.
The Pegaslick looked at Lili, before it turned its head towards the fight ensuing fight between Bell and the Infant Heartless Dragon. It gave a short neigh, before it lowered itself to Lili's level. The Pegalsick turned its head to Lili, and motioned its head to get on it.
"W-Wait, you want Lili ride you...!?" Lili yelped in surprise.
The Pegaslick gave a small snort, telling her that she has to get on.
"Lili doesn't have much experience with this..." Lili groaned, before the sounds of explosions erupted near her. She gritted her teeth as she hastily made her way onto her Pegaslick, seeing that there's no time to argue about this. She also dropped her backpack to lessen the weight on the Pegaslick.
"Oi, Lil'ly..."
Lili turned her head to see Welf just standing there with a dumbfounded look.
"You mind explaining where this guy came from...?" Welf asked with a dumbfounded expression.
Lili and her Pegalsick shared looks with each other, before they looked at Welf.
"...Lili will explain later."
~ Break ~
Bell lightly panted.
He hasn't sustained any injuries throughout the entire battle, but there were some close calls. Not to mention, he's finding himself in a rather difficult battle.
Fighting this Heartless Infant Dragon was way different compared to the Heartless Minotaur. When he fought the Heartless Minotaur, that monster was mainly focused on close combat while occasionally using mid-range moves.
The Heartless Infant Dragon was the complete opposite. It decided to focus on fighting from afar rather than up close after seeing the damages Bell could inflict on it with his Hestia Knife. Normally, he would make up the distance by firing off his Firebolt, but the Heartless Infant Dragon had other ideas as it was relentless in firing off multiple blasts of fireballs at him, forcing him to focus more on dodging. And even when he gets the chance, they're intercepted by the Heartless Infant Dragon's fire blast.
Bell could only give a disgruntled look when the Heartless Infant Dragon flew even further away from Bell, as if the Heartless knew it had the advantage in distance.
Bell raised up his hand once more to fire off his Firebolt spell, as he intended on firing off multiple spells to achieve his Raid, his only option in turning things around.
However, he soon heard the the sound of a horse's neighing resound throughout the room, and Bell blinked when he heard that noise in this place.
He quickly glanced towards the source of the noise, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the Pegaslick flying through the air...and it was carrying Lili and Welf!?
"Lili?! Welf!?" Bell yelped in surprise.
Lili was clutching onto her Pegaslick, hoping not to fall off her Dream Eater. Meanwhile, Welf was sitting right behind her, and he was gripping onto his large sword. The Pegaslick soon sped towards the Heartless Infant Dragon, closing the distance between them.
"Eat this!" Welf yelled out as he swung his sword at one of the wings, leaving a gash on the wing itself.
Because there was a gash, the Heartless Infant Dragon faltered in the air, finding it difficult to maintain its position with the damaged wing. The Heartless Infant Dragon then gave a growl, before it turned its attention to the airborne duo.
"I think we just made it angry!" Welf warned Lili.
"Lili can see that!" Lili snapped, before she urgently looked to her Dream Eater. "Don't attack! Just get us away from the dragon!"
The Pegaslick gave a neigh of confirmation, as it began to fly away from the Heartless Infant Dragon to gain distance.
The Heartless Infant Dragon gave a roar as it was about to give chase. Before it could properly chase them, however, it was suddenly blasted by multiple bolts of Light Firaga, courtesy of Bell, who took advantage of the Heartless Infant Dragon being distracted.
The Heartless Infant Dragon gave a growl as it was barraged by Bell's Firebolt spell. It then decided to ignore the damage it was taking as it began charging up fire within its mouth. And unlike the previous times it fired off multiple fireballs, this time, it was charging up for a greater attack.
Bell's eyes widened when he saw the Infant Dragon Heartless when he saw the Heartless charging up its attack. And unlike last time, he doesn't have Argonaut charging up his Firebolt this time to counter it!
Bell was about to fire off more Firebolts in order to disrupt the charging process. However, before he could do so, as well as the Heartless Infant Dragon about to fire off a beam of fire...
"Blasphemous Burn! Will-o'-Wisp!"
Invisible streams of magic flew through the air and flowed around the flames within the dragon's mouth. When the magic managed to flow into the mouth, the flames charging within the Heartless Infant Dragon's mouth soon stopped for a moment, before a massive explosion engulfed its entire being.
Everyone watched as the Heartless Infant Dragon plummeted towards the ground, and the ground shook a bit when it crashed landed.
Bell and Lili could only stare in shock on what just happened, before they turned to Welf.
"Your magic could do that...!?" Lili said with surprise.
"Surprising, isn't it? Never thought my magic would prove to be useful in this situation." Welf remarked with a small grin, as he can't believe that this particular spell of his was able to turn the tables. "Man, am I glad that's over with." Welf said with relief.
The moment he said that, however, the three soon heard a growl resound throughout the air, and their heads turned to see the Heartless Infant Dragon slowly pushing itself up.
However, the state of the being was rather gruesome to look at. Multiple burns and missing pieces of flesh was littered throughout its body. The wings were in tatters. Its face was heavily disfigured and burned, with some of the bone being exposed. The Heartless Infant Dragon now looked like an undead version.
"...You just had to say it." Lili face palmed when she saw this.
"You kidding me!? This bastard is still alive!?" Welf shouted in disbelief.
"No...it's almost finished!" Bell said, seeing the state of the Heartless Infant Dragon. Despite the fact that it's still managed to retain its being after the explosion, it's still close to a state of dying.
'Time to end this!' Bell thought, as he held up one arm to the side.
White flames bursted from Bell's hand, and soon surrounded the Hestia Knife. The flames soon came off of Bell's hand, and soon molded itself into a sword.
The Heartless Infant Dragon roared as it crawled rapidly towards Bell. However, Bell wasn't fazed by this as he threw forward his Firebolt Raid. The flaming sword flew through the air and straight towards the Heartless Infant Dragon. The Heartless Infant Dragon didn't have the time or energy to dodge, as the flaming sword flew straight past its neck. The flaming sword soon boomeranged back to Bell, and it dissipated, letting the Hestia Knife fly back to his hand.
The Heartless Infant Dragon slowed down its crawl for a bit, before it stopped completely. It went silent, before its neck began to slide into two pieces. The head of the Heartless Infant Dragon soon fell to the floor.
Everyone watched as dark plumes began to manifest itself from the Heartless Infant Dragon. When all of the dark plumes emerged from the Heartless Infant Dragon, the colors of the Heartless Infant Dragon soon returned to an orange scaly color. And immediately, the Heartless Infant Dragon soon exploded into dark ashes, leaving behind a black magic stone and multiple black scales tinged with red.
However, everyone's eyes were glued on the dark cloud that formed itself.
"It's the black cloud like before...!" Lili said in realization.
Bell's eyes narrowed when he saw the sight of it, his instincts telling him that it's dangerous. He immediately raised his hand to form another Firebolt Raid to take it out.
Before he could do so, the sound of a weapon spinning and flying through the air was soon heard, and he immediately saw a familiar weapon fly through the air, and completely cut through the dark clouds, immediately dissipating it into nothing.
Bell watched the weapon fly through the air, before it began to fly back to its owner, was running into the room.
"Sora!" Bell exclaimed in surprise
"Hey there!" Sora greeted as he caught his Keyblade. "Geez, what happened while I was away? This place looks like it has seen better days!"
"Lili believes that's an understatement." Lili pointed out as she and Welf descended towards the ground.
"Oh, you brought out Pegaslick to help out Lili?" Sora asked in surprise, before he soon noticed the second person who was riding on the horse. "...You must be Bell's blacksmith."
"Y-Yeah. I'm guessing you must be Sora then..." Welf greeted with a bit of a surprised look, before his eyes fell onto Sora's Keyblade. He could only blink at what he's seeing.
'...That sword...' Welf thought to himself.
There's one particular ability that Welf possessed from his Crozzo Blood Skill aside from being able to make Magic Swords, and that he has a sixth sense on the presence of Magic Swords.
And as soon as his eyes was set on Sora's Kingdom Key, he was getting some very...mixed signals.
He could easily tell that Sora's Kingdom Key is not your average weapon, and that's not because of the absurd design. Sora's Kingdom Key is magical in a sense, yet at the same time, it gives off a very different feel compared to the magic swords he's familiar with. If he had to put an analogy, it's like comparing a sword and a mace. They're both weapons, and yet they have different feeling to them one is sharp, the other is blunt.
When Welf and Lili got off the Pegaslick, the Pegaslick gave a small snort through its nose, and then proceeded to disappear into a puff of pink smoke.
"What the-, it's just gone!?" Welf yelled in shock.
"Don't worry, Pegaslick is fine. It decided to return home." Bell reassured Welf.
"I-Is that so...?" Welf muttered with a bit of a dumbfounded look, before he pinched the bridge of his nose. "No wait, time out. I'm just starting to process what the hell is going on, and I have a bunch of questions..."
Sora could only blink when he heard this, while Bell gave off a rather shaky smile.
So much for keeping things inconspicuous.
~ Break ~
After the whole fiasco within the Dungeon, the party felt it was a good time to stop and call it a day. The moment they exited out of the Dungeon, they had to decide where to exactly explain what happened to Welf without too much ears around. Welf suggested that they meet up at his workplace so they can talk privately.
"Sorry the place isn't so tidy. Wasn't expecting to invite guests so soon..." Welf said as he moved around a few stuff in his work place.
"O-Oh, it's no problem. We did come here with unexpected planning after all..." Bell reassured the blacksmith.
Sora was curiously looking around the place. He could see a bunch of weapons hung up on the wall, each with different designs and sizes.
"Right. Well, take a seat." Welf said to the three as he sets down three wooden crates around the room.
When everyone took their seats, Welf sat on his own chair and gave a sigh while scratching the back of his head.
"Well then, no use beating around the bush then." Welf started as he looked at the three. "I have no idea what just happened in the Dungeon with the Infant Dragon and Lil'ly bringing out some kind of winged horse out of nowhere. You mind giving me an explanation about that? Cause you three have some clear idea."
The three shared looks with each other, not sure on how to properly explain this to Welf.
"Oh, and, uh, don't worry, I don't intend on blabbing this to anyone. You know, since I'm under contract not to do so." Welf also threw out.
"W-Well...if you don't mind me starting then..." Bell started, thinking of some proper explanation to the Heartless and Lili's Dream Eater.
Bell proceeded to give an explanation about Lili's Dream Eater, saying that it's a particularly unique Spirit that Lili managed to form a contract with, and she's able to call the Spirit to her side anytime she needs to. Welf thought that the legend of his ancestor receiving a blessing from a Spirit and have the blessing become a bloodline to this day was a tall tale to swallow, but forming a contract with a Spirit and being able to call it to your side is on a whole other level.
As for the the Heartless Infant Dragon, from what they've managed to explain without giving too much detail, the Dungeon is currently going through some changes and is now producing dangerous darker variants of Monsters. Welf was rather confused why the Guild didn't announce or inform Adventurers of this if stuff like this was dangerous. However, the trio were rather adamant in keeping this stuff to themselves for some reason and not report this to the Guild or let any Adventurers know.
By the end of the explanation, Welf went silent for a bit, before he gave an exasperated and tired sigh while scratching the back of his head.
"I-I understand that it's a bit much to take in..." Bell stuttered with a nervous expression.
"That's an understatement." Welf groaned. "Honestly, I never expected my time in the 11th floor to be this complicated."
"You have no idea..." Lili muttered.
"Right. Well, there's still a lot of things to wrap my head around, but I won't ask any further. Seems like you guys are really serious trying to keep all of this under wraps for some reason." Welf pointed out.
"S-Sorry..." Bell apologized, feeling a bit guilty that he's forced to keep secrets from Welf. Welf just gave a small smirk.
"Why are you apologizing? I'm sure you got your good reasons why you want to keep all of this under wrap. After all, I'm not sure if there's anyone else who's willing to take on an irregular Infant Dragon in order to protect the Adventurers in the Dungeon. Not many people are willing to risk their necks for others." Welf pointed out.
"Lili believes Master Bell took an example from Master Sora's notebook." Lili inputted.
"It's something I would definitely do." Sora gave a chuckle while patting Bell on the shoulder.
"R-Right..." Bell's cheeks went a bit red. "I-In any case, we appreciate your cooperation Welf."
"No need to go thanking me." Welf said as he stood up from his chair. "Since we're all here, I might as well fulfill my end of the deal and make you some good equipment to take on the Dungeon."
"R-Right..." Bell said with a bit or relief. "But Welf...I feel like I need to give you a fair warning on what's ahead of us."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Welf asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There are new types of dark monsters that are emerging from the Dungeon. We decided to call them the Heartless." Sora started.
"Heartless? That's certainly an interesting title you gave them." Welf remarked.
"I guess you could say that. In any case, these new types of monsters a dangerous, far more than your average Dungeon Monster. I possess a Skill that attracts them towards me, kind of like how moths are attracted to a flame." Sora explained.
"Your Skill does that to you? I've never heard of a Skill that gives you a big detriment." Welf blinked at that.
"Well, I do possess another Skill that greatly enhances my abilities against them. So you don't have to worry about me. I'm used to dealing with them." Sora reassured, before he gave a soft frown. "However, it's because of me that we're going to face a large number of them, far more compared your average dive into Dungeon. I don't want you to walk into this unknowingly if you're going to continue to party up with us."
Welf stayed silent when he heard this.
"I-I understand that you want to party up with us in order to gain a Level Up and get the Blacksmith skill that you want to get." Bell hastily said. "But at the same time, we don't exactly want to endanger you in what we're going to involve ourselves in."
Welf's facial expression didn't change, before he gave a small sigh.
"...Honestly, this is way more than what I signed up for." Welf said while sighing, making Bell wince upon hearing this answer from Welf.
"However..." Welf started.
"However...?" Bell repeated with a confused expression.
"...Before I start explaining, I suppose it's only fair so share something personal about me as well, considering that you've shown me yours." Welf said. "As you know, I come from the Crozzo bloodline, meaning that I'm able to forge Magic Swords, even at my current Level. But the thing is, I don't like Magic Swords."
"You don't...?" Bell said with a bit of a surprised expression. Welf nodded.
"Yeah. As you know, Magic Swords will break after using them a few times. Swords, or any weapon really, shouldn't be used and discarded after using them. They should be something that should stay with you as long as possible. I put on a bunch of weapons and armors out on the shops, but they don't sell. And even when I get clients, they all want the same thing: a Magic Sword."
"...That so...?" Sora muttered when he looked at his Keyblade.
The Keyblade in general are magical weapons that grant the user numerous abilities, and the thing is, they'll never break down, no matter how many times you use them. The only possible time to even break down a Keyblade is through combat, but even that requires a massive amount of force.
Sora could certainly understand Welf's sentiment: a weapon shouldn't be just used and discarded easily. Sora's Keyblade has helped him immensely throughout his journey, and there's no way that he's just going to toss them aside. Every single one of Sora's Keyblades have significant meaning and memory to them. The only time Sora ever lost his past Keyblades is mainly due to many circumstances out of his control.
"All my clients just demanded Magic Swords from me. Not a single one asked for a regular weapon...until Bell liked my equipment and kept asking for more. You have no idea how happy as I am as a blacksmith to finally be recognized for my works." Welf said with an appreciative grin.
"I-Is that so...?" Bell replied, his cheeks going a bit red, feeling a bit bashful upon seeing the gratitude from Welf.
"Lili is curious as to why you have the ability to make Magic Swords, while the rest of your family doesn't." Lili spoke up.
"I'm as just a lost as you are." Welf said while shrugging. "All I know is that one day, I'm suddenly able to make Magic Swords, and my old man wanted me to make them for our king to restore our family name. Weapons shouldn't be used like that. Weapons are a part of their wielder. Magic Swords break down, leaving you with nothing to rely on." Welf stated.
"...I see." Bell muttered, seeing how Welf is rather passionate about how weapons are treated.
"Well, why not just make a Magic Sword that won't break on you then?" Sora suggested with a grin.
Bell and Lili turned to Sora with a surprised look, while Welf looked at Sora incredulously.
"...I'm sorry, what?" Welf asked with a look of disbelief.
"Why not make a Magic Sword that won't break down on you then? If you're striving to become a great Blacksmith from what Bell told me, why not aim to make a Magic Sword that won't break down on you? That way, you have a great weapon that you can rely on, and it won't break down on you so easily." Sora explained.
"That's..." Welf gave of a rather complexed expression. "...I've heard a lot of outrageous things from a lot of past clients, but you definitely stick out as a sore thumb."
"How come? I believe it's possible." Sora pouted, as he held up his Kingdom Key for Welf to see. "My Kingdom Key has been with me ever since I started my journey 2 years ago. I've used it plenty of times, especially with magic. But not once has it broken down on me." Sora told Welf.
"2 years...and it's still not broken...!?" Welf muttered with a shocked look as he examined the Keyblade before him. "...Can...Can I take a look at it?"
"O-Oh, um..." Sora said with an unsure expression, suddenly realizing what he got himself into. He couldn't help himself to encourage Welf to achieve great things, and used his Keyblade as an example. "...Yeah, that's going to be a problem."
"Don't worry, I won't damage your weapon. I have my pride as a blacksmith to not damage any weapon." Welf told Sora.
"It's not that." Sora said. "It's just...this particular weapon only recognizes me as its wielder. If anyone else were to try and grab it, it'll end up rejecting you.
"...A weapon like that can do that?" Welf said with an incredulous look.
"I'm telling the truth. We can have Lady Hephastois confirm what I'm saying." Sora told Welf, but Welf shook his head.
"No need. Just...can you hold it closer?" Welf asked, to which Sora nodded as he held the Keyblade closer for Welf to see.
Welf narrowed his eyes when he was examining the weapon before him. Just like before, it's a weapon that feels completely different from the rest.
"...I can't even recognize the metal used to make this. Just what exactly is it made of?" Welf asked with a raised eyebrow
"Oh, well, that's kind of complicated to explain..." Sora said. "Even I don't know what exactly makes makes my weapon. The creation process is unique."
"That so? That's a shame." Welf said with a frown.
Though, Welf's mind was running through a lot of things. When Sora suggested to make an unbreakable magic sword, Welf thought Sora was just being ridiculous and doesn't really understand the fundamental principles of a Magic Sword.
But to see a Magic Sword sticking by Sora's side for two years, and hasn't shown a single sign of breaking down, is something mind-boggling for the young blacksmith.
Could it be possible then...? To make such a sword?
Welf shook his heads out of those thoughts. He didn't want to deal with those thoughts right now, not when he's currently in the company of other people.
"...In any case," Welf said, wanting to return back to the original subject, "...you're concerned with the new monster types and how they'll be to risky for me to face. Well, let me just say that I won't back down, even after you told me this."
"Y-You won't?" Bell asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I mean, you three managed to survive up to this point, meaning it's doable. I'm not exactly a slouch either. And besides, if I were to stop just because I was scared to take a risk..." Welf muttered, thinking about his own life goals, as well as everything that led up to this point, "...then honestly, what's the point of me being here then? I have my own goals to reach, and I'm not going to back down."
The three shared a look with each other, before a grin grew from Sora.
"In that case, welcome to the party Welf! And don't worry, I'll do my best to make sure things will be fine on your end!" Sora told Welf.
"Shouldn't Bell be saying that, considering that he's a Level 2?" Welf pointed out.
"...I think you'll understand Sora once we get into the Dungeon with him." Bell simply told Welf with a shaky smile.
"...This is going to be another complicated thing, isn't it?" Welf asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No comment." Lili simply replied.
Welf sighed once more, before he clapped his hands together. "Right, we just went through a rather heavy talk. Let's move onto less complicated things, like fulfilling my end of our deal. You took me into the Dungeon, so I'll provide you equipment that you'll need."
"O-Oh, right!" Bell said in realization.
"Lili believes that since Master Crozzo is going to be working on weapons, then we don't need to be here. We still haven't exchanged what we got from the Dungeon." Lili pointed out.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Sora said while realization. "Well, we still have time. Let's make our way there then. We'll see you at home then Bell."
"Right, see you at home." Bell told the two, as he watched the two leave.
"Right, is there anything that suits your fancy? Feel free to look around." Welf offered.
Bell began to look around the room for a bit, seeing the various weapons. When Bell looked around, he saw a sword of decent length, and grabbed hold of it.
"It's a similar length to Sora's Keyblade." Bell muttered.
"You interested in that sword? Feel free to take it, free of charge."
"A-Are you sure?" Bell asked in surprise.
"That thing's been collecting dust. I'll be happy if you can take it off my hands." Welf said. "That aside, I think I should start making use of the drop items that you got me. I'm especially eager to make a weapon from the Minotaur that you've defeated to reach Level 2."
Bell blinked when Welf said this, before he went into his bag and brought out a golden colored horn with black streaks all over it.
"...This is..." Welf muttered as he grabbed hold of the Minotaur's horn and examined it.
"Is something wrong?" Bell asked.
"...Well, this isn't like your typical Minotaur horn, that's for sure." Welf remarked. "I'm rather curious what'll happen when I make a weapon out of it."
"Oh, speaking of which..." Bell said, remembering something particularly important. "Can you also make me a set of throwing knives similar to what I have?" Bell asked when he brought out a Trancheuse knife from his thigh holster.
"Throwing knives? Well sure, I can do that. And you want it like the one you have?" Welf asked as he walked closer to Bell and examined it. He could only blink once more when he saw the particular knife before him.
"...This is a rather unusual design...wait, don't tell me this is..." Welf muttered in recognition.
"Is there something that you recognize about them?" Bell asked.
"I guess you could say that, but I'm surprised you managed to get a hand on her works." Welf commented.
"Wait, are these particular knives rare?" Bell asked.
"You could say that." Welf said while still examining it. "She even made it herself, which is another rare thing in itself."
"Um...?"
"Oh right right, I guess I should explain a bit about these knives, or brand." Welf said as he examined a particular engraving on the knife, which had the symbol of a two V's being next to each other, while a sword was beneath the two V's and pointed downward.
"These knives are made by someone who belongs to no smithing Familia." Welf revealed, to Bell's surprise. "Rather she's one of Orario's top magic stone technology engineers. City lights, household appliances, you name them. She's the one who's constantly innovating and inventing new magic stone technology, or repair them in general." Welf explained.
Bell could only blink owlishly upon hearing this.
"Normally, we don't pay too much attention to those types of people. Blacksmiths and engineers who work on magic stone technology are two different fields. However, for some reason, she decided to explore the field of blacksmiths, and managed to come up with some unique weapon designs. Thing is, though, whenever she makes a weapon, they tend to be small in size, just like the knife you're holding. The rest of the other weapons, she actually sells the designs to beginner blacksmiths for a profit. That's how she made a bit of a name for herself among the blacksmith community." Welf explained.
"Why would she do that? Isn't it better to make the weapons yourself and sell them?" Bell asked.
Welf just gave a small snort.
"That's the thing though: she's mainly an engineer, not a blacksmith. And from what I've heard, she's not really interested in fighting monsters, and more on inventing really. This is nothing more than a side job for her." Welf simply said, before he shrugged, "Not all the people here in Orario want to go into the Dungeon and fight Monsters. They want to explore other avenues."
Bell went silent for a bit. So the knives he was using was actually made by a magic stone engineer of all people, and this is nothing more than a simple byproduct made by said person. It was truly astonishing to learn.
"Do you know her name?" Bell curiously asked.
Welf gave a small hum of thought, before he snapped his fingers upon remembering.
"...I believe her name is Midadol Telamon."
Surprise. :D
Did you honestly think you can go a Kingdom Hearts story without some Final Fantasy characters? Well, there was KH3, but KH3 Re:Mind kind of fixed that.
(Lili's Dream Eater)
Right, I'm sure you guys were waiting for Lili to get her Dream Eater as well. And well, she finally got one...and it's a Pegaslick.
Why Pegaslick of all things?
There are a couple reasons as to why Lili has a Pegaslick.
Reason 1: Themes
So lore-wise, Lili is the reincarnation of Fianna, leader of the Fianna Knights. Fianna and her Knights are known to ride horses in battle. So I thought to myself, it would be a fun idea to have Lili have a connection with her past life.
But why Pegaslick? Why not Thunderaffe or Electricorn, who are also quadrapedal creatures that can be ridden into battle?
Well, Lili is now associated with Hestia, who is a Greek Goddess. And Pegaslick is based off of Pegasus. You do the math.
I wanted a Dream Eater that would match Lili's squirrel theme, but sadly, there are no squirrel-themed Dream Eaters. So I had to resort to the next best animal associated with Lili.
Reason 2: A new form of offense and support
Lili is, for all intents and purposes, a utility-type party member and not a front-line fighter. And there's nothing particularly wrong with that, as every party member has their own specialties to contribute to a fight. However, it doesn't hurt to have some form of offense to fight with.
The Pegaslick can provide both support and offense for Lili. Lili can ride her Pegaslick, meaning that she has a lot of mobility with her Dream Eater. Not only will it provide Lili a form a mobility, but it can be provided to others given that she's light. And the Pegaslick is a capable fighter on its own as well, so Lili can rely on its capabilities.
(Heartless Infant Dragon)
Just like the Heartless Minotaur, the Heartless Infant Dragon has inherited the abilities of an existing Heartless. It has inherited the abilities of a Tailbunker and Wavecrest Heartless. It performs like a Tailbunker, but it also inherited the ability to fire off a beam like a Wavecrest, but replace water with fire.
Relatively speaking, the Heartless Infant Dragon is on a similar level to the Heartless Minotaur. The main reason why Bell had a difficult time dealing with the Heartless Infant Dragon was due to the fact that it had the aerial advantage, as well as being a more mid-long range fighter. This greatly limits Bell's capabilities and can only focus on his magic.
(Fun Fact of the Day)
A very close second for Lili's Dream Eater was going to be Jestabocky. I was considering Jestabocky because it matched Lili's Cinder Ella magic spell, which allows her to transform into any person of her size. I thought to myself that Jestabocky and Lili could do some sort of team up confusion-fu type of fighting with their transformations.
However, I soon found Jestabocky's transformation into anyone and anything was both redundant and would make Lili look like an outright joke with her limited capabilities. Plus, I honestly couldn't find any future use for the Jestabocky other than trickery, which is something Lili is capable of doing on her own.