CHAPTER 5: LEFT, RIGHT, AND PUNCH

"I'll ask again, Where Did You Get That Badge?"

The white-haired boy gulped at the menacing man in front of him. Seeing the boy could not answer, the man only clenched his fist and was about to grab Bell's caller but was abruptly stopped by his female companion who was looking at Bell with a curious face, before turning to the man.

"Oy, didn't Michael say that he had trained someone for the past months before meeting us? He said he had white hair and red eyes, resembles a rabbit." She whispered, however, Bell managed to hear his master's name.

"Do you…guys perhaps know Michael De la Cruz?" He asked. This caused the two to widen their eyes in the realization that it was Michael's student.

"I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding, I-I thought you were a-a thief or s-stole one of our Badges, if I h-have known t-that you were Mister C-Cruz's student I-I would h-have- Humph!" Stammered the man whose cold gaze was replaced by a mumbling mess, luckily his female companion covered his mouth with her hand.

"You're stammering again, Noah." She then let go.

"Sorry, Nera, hehehe." Said the man named Noah who was now scratching his head awkwardly at the woman named Nera.

The woman then looked at Bell then bowed her head.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, we are very tight on the rules of who can hold our Familia's badge."

Bell blushed before waving his hands.

"I-It's no problem, I am glad this did not lead to something bad." He said.

The woman looked up at the white-haired boy and gave a grin. "Thank you…Oh, I forgot, my name is Nera, and this is my twin brother Noah." She then let out her hand to shake while her brother just slightly waved his hand.

"I'm Bell Cranel." Said the white-haired boy then shook the hand of the girl.

Things went smoothly after the misunderstanding, Bell now was talking to the twins about their journey to Orario among other things.

They had put down their bags and showed Bell their badges and talked about the features they had. To say the white-haired boy was amazed was an understatement, he was in awe when he learned that the badges were magic items that could locate others, when the red-colored sword would glow, it could locate the whereabouts and detect someone with the same badge was nearby, it would glow brighter the more the badges are close together. In addition to this, the blue sword would glow if the holder was in distress and would send a signal to their Goddess to inform her.

Bell learned a few things in their conversation, for example, Noah, despite his tall figure, liked to read hero stories. This led him to question the man on different topics related to the books he had read making only Nera sweat drop to see his brother chat with someone who has the same hobbies. He was then more surprised when the twins revealed they were only 18 years old and had Falnas for over four years now.

The three were too engrossed in their conversation, that they did not notice that a famous Familia had entered the Hostess, and were too busy listening to Bell's story about being an Adventurer.

Loki Familia, is said to be one of the strongest Familia of Orario alongside the Freya Familia, who hold the only level 7 in the city.

The Familia was led by their patron Deity, Loki, as they entered the pub. Numerous customers were in a mix of awe and excitement as they saw members of the renowned strongest Familia. The group consisted of a pallum, a dwarf, a high-elf, a beastman, and two amazons, and the most outstanding of them all was the sword princess, Ais Wallenstein who was showing her usual emotionless expression.

"Take a seat, everyone, today is a celebration of a successful expedition!" yelled their red-haired Deity, who was trying to do her usual antics. This only led to the high-elf smacking her head.

As other members began to take their seats and talk to each other while some ordered some food. Ais remained quiet, lost in her thoughts about a certain white-haired boy.

'I hope….that boy is alright.' After her conversation with the boy, she still has a faint guilt for what happened with the Minotaur. The white-haired boy had forgiven her…but she could not forget his smile.

"Hahahaha….."

she was cut off from her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice laughing. When she looked at where it came from, she saw the same white-haired boy who was laughing and smiling with two people who were wearing strange attires.

Seeing the boy's innocent smile, she could not help but show a faint smile as she remembered a time she smiled like that…before "that" happened to her.

"Hmm, Miss Ais? Are you alright?"

When Ais looked at where the voice came from she saw it was one of her Familia members, an elf with golden yellow hair.

Ais returned her usual expression and only nodded in response.

The Familia continue their celebration as they drink and enjoy the night.

Back to the trio….

""Hahahaha!""

Both twins laughed at Bell's story with a mix of amusement and amazement. He was now retelling his confrontation with the Minotaur that led him to end up riding the Minotaur. The Twins' reaction to this led them to try to control their laughter.

"Riding a Minotaur? Good one." Nera said with a wide smile. "You really are Michael's student." She complimented, making Bell blush a little as he scratched his neck.

"What happened next?" Asked Noah who was urging Bell to continue his story.

"Well af-"

*BANG*

When he was about to tell what happened, he was cut off by a loud bang from a table. The trio looked in the direction of the sound and saw a gray-haired beastman who was clearly drunk.

"YO, AIS, TELL US THE STORY ABOUT THE MINOTAUR AND THE BOY YOU SAVED. YOU KNOW TOMATO BOY, HAHAHAHAHA!" said the gray-haired beastman with wolf ears and tail.

Ais only looked at the beastman while tilting her head.

"YOU KNOW, THE BOY YOU SAVED FROM THAT WEAKLING MINOTAUR. LISTEN TO THIS, AFTER HE WAS SAVED BY AIS, HE RUNNED AWAY WHILE COVERED WITH MINOTAUR BLOOD, THAT WEAKLING PROBABLY PISS HIS PANTS, HAHAHA!"

"Bete, quiet, you're drunk." One of their members, a green-haired high-elf tried to shut the gray-haired werewolf named Bete.

Back at the trio's table. Noah tilted his head in confusion, before turning his head toward Bell

"Hey, it's kinda simi-"When he turned his head to Bell, he shivered when he saw Bell's expression and gaze. It reminded him of Michael's angry look when he tried to prank him when he was young, it ended so badly that it became a trauma of his whenever he remembered.

To Bell, he was barely controlling his anger and frustration, his eyes were trying to hold his tears. Throughout his time with his master, he had picked up some of his attitudes, but there was still his crying side, he was trying not to show it.

"QUIET HAG!" Said Bete who ignored the warning of the high elf, then turned his head to Ais. "TELL ME, IF THAT WEAKLING SUDDENLY CONFESS TO YOU, WHO WOULD YOU RATHER PICK? ME OR HIM? MAYBE HIS GOD IS SO DAMN WORTHLESS, THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT SOMEONE SO WEAK, HAHAHA!"

At that remark, the white-haired boy snapped. Frustration and anger went up all over his body, tears came out from his eyes as he dashed away to the door. In his frustration, he forgot to pay for the food and the badge he was gifted on the table. The twins who were too late to react looked to the door where he had run off.

Both twins looked at the badge Bell had left, and Nera sweatdropped as she looked at her Brother, she knew Noah's attitude when someone carelessly left their Familia's badge behind or mocked their Familia, so she was prepared an explosion of anger.

Nera was surprised when her Brother just sighed and spoke something in their native language.

"Dapat sumama siya sa atin. ( He should've joined us.)"

Before she could ask, Noah walked toward the drunk werewolf and did something, if others found out what he did they would be punished. Oh no.

Blinded by his frustration, Bell had run toward the Dungeon, without any equipment or armor in hand. Only a fool who wished for death would do such a thing, however, Bell was different. When he had cleared his mind from what happened, he quickly looked around the Dungeon floor.

'Where am I?' he thought as he observed his surroundings, it was not the regular floor he had been to, was he on the 5th Floor? No….he was at the 6th. How long he was here? It was quiet, no monster nor the exit of the floor could be heard and found.

Most people would think it safe because there were no monsters in sight, but he had been trained and been an Adventurer for the past week, he could tell, it was the calm before the storm.

There was no time to stop, he needed to find the exit quickly. The more the area is quiet the more his uneasiness rises. When he was about to turn back, (Ritmiko) activated as he sensed an incoming projectile coming his way.

'A tongue?!' when he had dodged the attack, he saw it come from a frog-liked monster who was in the corner of the rocky terrain of the floor.

The boy instinctively held one of his knives but remembered he had not brought his weapons with him. Gritting his teeth as he evaded another attack from the monster, he was momentarily caught off guard when a sharp hand suddenly sliced his cheek. When he looked he saw three more shadow-like monsters who were blocking the exit of the floor.

War shadows, known to be the 'rookie killers' of the 6th floor, are well-known for their shadow-liked bodies that give them a tall stature and their speed that even newer adventures would have a hard time seeing.

The white-haired boy had no choice but to fight, so he could escape. Clenching both his hands, he dashes toward the frog monster that is at his back and fights it first. It was best to destroy their support, so there would be no incoming attacks when he fought the three war shadows.

The frog monster tried to shoot its tongue once more to counter its attacker, Bell was surprised by the speed of the attack as he narrowly dodged the tongue. He had predicted the frog's attack and was prepared to dodge it, however, he had not expected the speed of the incoming projectile, making him falter a little.

(Ritmiko) can predict the moves of opponents, but it can't determine the speed of the opponent's attack, in addition to this, the frog was slightly stronger than Bell, so when the boy predicted the frog's attack, it was slow.

As he dashes toward the frog, he jumps above it and then uses the momentum of his body to use his leg to slam the frog, completely killing the monster. Now he needs to deal with the other three.

"Skri!"

"!"

He once again managed to dodge the attack of one of the war shadows by jumping backward, but this did not give Bell a rest as another tried to slice the boy once more, this time it managed to damage the coat he was wearing. Looking at the war shadows Bell panicked a little, he could see their next moves, but due to their speed, it was too late to evade their attacks.

Is this what he was warned about? He recalled the lesson he had learned from Eina, and one of these was how the Dungeon would show its fang to those who wander off too far.

He was momentarily cut off when the three war shadows both attacked, Bell, who could not dodge their attack, only blocked them using his arms, it was both a stupid and smart move. Lucky for him during their attacks he saw an opening and slid through it, making a small but still far distance from them, unlucky for him, the sleeve of his coat that covered his arms was now damaged and torn off, exposing his injured arm from the attacks.

As he observed his arms, he saw the injuries were not too life-threatening, but if left unchecked it would lead to a problem. The Boy shook slightly in fear as negative thoughts quickly swirled around his thought, can I even beat them? Maybe that werewolf was right, I'm just a weakling who got too full for his own good. He should give up.

"That's it? You giving up?" All negative thoughts quickly vanished as he heard an all too familiar voice. "Because all odds are stuck against you, you're giving up? As long you are still alive, there is still a chance for you to win. If you don't have your knives, then use your Fist, if you can't use your Fist, then use your teeth. The most dangerous one is not someone with a weapon, it is someone without a weapon is, because they can use their body as a weapon."

Inside Bell's mind, he saw a silhouette who was smiling at him and pushing him to move forward, it was his master, who was saying something, "You want to be a hero right? Then prove it, surpass them, beat them, prove yourself that you can become a hero." With that remark, Bell could not help but smile.

Outside, Bell took a deep breath, and then quickly tore off the clothes that were tattered from his coat and wrapped it around his hands. He clenched his fists and made a fighting stance, what he did next would make even the war shadows would look at the boy in confusion and make his master smile proudly, he…grinned.

His grin was not full of anger nor bloodlust, but…was pure joy, that can only be seen to those who are challenging the impossible. His eyes were the opposite of his grin, as they stared at the three war shadows like a hunter that was ready to kill its target, this made the war shadows waver a bit. Without a beat, both the boy and the monsters dash toward each other.

Bell knew this fight determined the outcome of his dream, and his desire, no matter what the outcome is, he would see it till the end. It doesn't matter if he is outnumbered, he will overcome it all. Who would win? His fist and his prediction, or the monsters' sharp claws and speed, is a kind of fight that can only be determined by the roll of a dice.

The white-haired boy completely evaded the first war shadow's attack by stepping on the side, he then pulled the arm of the monster and elbowed it in the face, the second war shadow managed to injure his right arm, but he ignored it as he saw an opening, he quickly dock under the second war shadow and used his right fist to punch underneath the second's head. He then senses the first war shadow recovering from the blow. He quickly had an Idea, if he could not kill the monster with only his fist then he should use its weapon. He pulled the second war shadow's left arm and dragged it directly to the eyes of the first war shadow, successfully killing it.

When the crystal of the first war shadow dropped, he noticed a sharp object next to it. He grins as he tries to reach the monster drop. When he was about to reach it with his hands, he quickly sensed another incoming attack from its side, he quickly looked to his left side and saw the third war shadow was about to slice his lower side. He instinctively jumped forward and rolled, managing to dodge the attack and get the monster to drop, but had to let go of the second war shadow's arm.

When he was at a distance, he saw the second war shadow recovering from his attack. Throwing the sharp monster drop in the direction of the still recovering war shadow, completely hitting its eye and killing it.

"Skrii…" the cry of the second war shadow can be heard as it turns to dust and drops its crystal.

The third, who froze seeing its comrade die, did not notice Bell's incoming fist as he dashed toward it. When its head impacted the boy's fist, it made it momentarily back a step. When the third tried to make a counter-attack, it was met by another punch to the face. The boy does not give the monster a chance to retaliate as he continuously punches the monster while blood is dripping from his injuries.

If the war shadow had a conscious, it would have been perplexed. Moments ago, they outnumbered the boy three to one, but now seeing two of its kind killed by the boy despite the numerous wounds the boy had, he had completely wiped them out. This was not a fight anymore, this…was a slaughter, and the boy had completely dominated them.

When the final blow landed, the now-dead war shadow had turned to dust as it dropped its crystal. The area was now completely quiet, with no incoming monsters nor new monsters coming in, it was just complete silence.

"Huff…huff….huff." The only sound that could be heard was the boy's loud breath as he staggered toward the exit. The gate of his path was now open as he took another step to reach his goal.