"Aaaaaah, nothing better than taking a long break and relaxing once in a while with my grandson."
"But grandfather, this isn´t meant as a break."
"Ah, Bell. Not so serious, we have to take it easy now, or we won´t catch anything."
Zeus and Bell were sitting on the banks of a gently flowing river a little way from the village, both with their shoes and socks off, dangling their feet in the water and each holding a fishing pole. Every now and then they would come here to catch fish and spend some "man time" together. In the past, Bell was only interested in spending time with his grandfather, but as he got older, he used the time to ask him questions he couldn't or wouldn't ask Alfia.
It was late autumn and this was an important time of year for the village as the salmon run had started again. It was a particularly important time for Bell as Alfia loved the taste of salmon. But others in the village also liked him. Catching salmon at that time wasn't particularly difficult and since Zeus was relatively strong and Bell wasn't exactly weak by now either, they caught more than they needed and gave the rest around the village in exchange for other things. Like every late autumn, the village prepared for the winter with all those preparations that still had to be done. And being able to eat fish in winter was a small luxury. The good thing was that the village wasn't that big, so they couldn't catch too many fish with the crowd moving through the river.
"Oh, something bites!"
"Hoho...Bell, You want to make your grandfather look old, huh? Catching the first salmon before me."
"Y-You normally win each year!"
"Hehe, I´m joking. Not so loud or you will scare the other fishes away."
Bell did his best and caught the salmon, putting it in a large bowl with river water. They would kill and gut the fish before they left. This had made Bell cry when he was a child, but his grandfather had explained to him that that was nature and since they were taking something from nature, it was their duty to see that the fish did not suffer. Just like Alfia had shown him how to hunt, always making sure a shot was deadly. Bell was fifteen now, he understood what life was like, it also would be his last winter in the village, after his next birthday, he would go on his way to Orario. And that they only took as much as they needed or, in the case of the salmon, would trade.
"Oho, a good size, now let´s see who will catch the biggest one."
Bell smiled by his grandfather´s words and threw his fishing bait back into the water.
"I´m sure you will, Grandpa. You have much more experience than I have."
"Hehe, no wonder since I´m much, much, much older than you."
"But you are still handsome, Grandpa."
"Ah, Bell. You are balm for my soul."
For a moment both went silent and just enjoyed the sounds of the nature.
"Grandpa?"
"Yes?"
"You really won´t come with us to Orario?"
Bell looked a bit sad when he asked that.
Zeus smiled and gently patted Bell´s head with his right hand.
"No, Bell. My place isn´t in Orario, I was there for nearly a thousand years. Also, it would cause problems since I had a bit trouble with a few gods there. And I don´t want my grandson to get problems because of me."
"Oh."
Zeus winked. "Also, I don´t want to charm all the cuties that will be all over you."
"E-Eh?!" Bell got red.
"What? I´m sure there will be tons of girls and women all over you. Your Mom will have a hard time, that is for sure."
"Eh, b-but, I-I mean..."
"Hehe, don´t you want to save a cute girl in the dungeon? I thought that was your dream."
"It is!..And saving Mom."
"I´m sure you will save your Mom, Bell. If anyone can, it´s you. And for your other dream, always remember, it isn´t wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon. Listen to the wise words of your grandfather, I have experience."
"Did you ever pick up a girl in a dungeon?"
"No, sadly not. The dungeon doesn´t like us gods. So if you manage to do that, you will have achieved something that even this old man couldn´t do."
Zeus grinned and Bell got red again. Since he had no contact with women, except for his Mom, Bell was still a very pure boy, that didn´t even dreamed of holding hands or kissing a girl. Sure, he got more than one kiss on the cheek from Alfia, but his love for her wasn´t in a romantic way.
"I wonder how it will be in Orario."
"Loud, trust me. Much louder than our village."
"Are the people nice there?"
"Some are, many are. But I guarantee you, there are people there that are not so nice. It is the center of the world, the capital of Gekai if you want."
"Gekai?"
"Oh, that´s how we call the "lower world"."
"Hehe, sometimes I forget that my super cool Grandpa is a god."
Zeus winked. "Well, first and foremost I´m your grandfather, everything else is second."
"And I see you only as my grandfather."
Bell meant what he said and nothing would ever change how he saw Zeus.
.
Both kept fishing for a while and caught a few salmons. Whenever they caught one, the others got scared away and not one wanted to bite. But the fishes kept on swimming and after a while, the fishes around their baits wouldn´t know what they meant.
"Bell, that reminds me, what kind of girls do you like?"
"Eh?!"
"I mean I know you don´t have contact with any girls except for your Mom, but did you never imagined one? Maybe her eyecolor?"
"Uhm...maybe green or blue?"
"Ah, I can see from where this comes."
The only women that Bell had ever thought of as beautiful, were his mother and Alfia. And while Alfia had a green eye, Meteria had a blue one.
"And I´m sure there is a beautiful girl in Orario just waiting for someone like you."
"Mmmmh..."
"Who knows, maybe even two or three."
"Mmhhhh!"
Sometimes Zeus liked to tease Bell a bit.
"And what´s your type? Maybe a beautiful swordswoman? An exotic far eastern beauty, maybe even a samurai or a ninja? Or a cute elf? Or maybe a fox girl like the one in your story that you like so much. Or a cat girl. Or...maybe a goddess?"
"G-Grandpa..."
"Hehe, sorry, sorry, this old man loves to joke around a bit."
It was a good thing that Alfia wasn´t with them today, she cleaned the house and hadn´t the patience for fishing. There was something that Bell wanted to ask Zeus about, that he was too embarrassed somehow to ask Alfia.
"Grandpa, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Ahm, there is something happening...lately."
"What do you mean?"
Zeus noticed that Bell was fidgeting.
"I just want to know if I´m getting sick, but...lately...I sometimes...woke up...in a wet bed."
"You wetted your bed? While being fifteen years old?"
"I-It´s not like when I was a child!"
"Hm? And what is different?"
"I felt weird in my sleep...and when I woke up...my underpants were...wet. With a strange liquid."
Oh dear heavens, it´s finally happening. This will destroy Alfia.
Zeus winked and patted Bell´s head again.
"Don´t worry, Bell. This is completely normal for a growing boy."
"Really?"
"Yes, it is part of growing up and the changes that your body makes. You have noticed that your voice sounded a bit strange when you got fourteen and ended with being a bit deeper than before, right?"
"How should I not notice that?"
"Hehe, right. So what happens to you at night some times is basically the same, since your body is maturing, the growing hair is also part of it."
"Oh. But what is this?"
"I guess...your Mom didn´t had "the Talk" with you so far?"
"What do you mean?"
"Guess that means not, okay, then it is Grandpa´s job to do that."
"Hm?"
"Bell, you know that boys and girls look different to each other, yes?"
"Yes, Mom´s skin is much smoother than ours."
"Correct, but there are other differences too. When your Mom was hunting with you, she explained to you the differences between the male and female animals and how to spot a pregnant female, so that you wouldn´t accidentally shoot it, right?"
"Yes, she said it is very important to never disturb them."
Zeus pointed at the salmon in the river.
"Every living being has to find a partner to create offsprings or children. At a certain age, the body of a child starts to turn into an adult and they themself will be able to have children. This is what happens with your body right now, but it will take a few years, so don´t worry."
"But having children, how does that work?"
Oh boy...
Zeus smiled. "It´s simple, something that every living being does. It is called "mating" and a natural thing to do. I explained to you the importance of bees for our flowers and vegetables, right? That´s why men and women look different, we don´t have something like bees."
Bell listened to Zeus, while he explained very, very carefully how "mating" worked for mortals.
"I don´t understand, does the woman have to swallow the seed?"
Only when she really loves you, but I can´t tell you that.
The old god tried his best to explain it in a way that is sounded like the most natural thing in the world, without getting Bell embarrassed.
"But there is a difference between mortals and animals."
"And that is?"
"Love. You are only allowed to mate with the person you really, really love. And it is only allowed to do after marriage."
"Oh."
"Also, there is something special about you, because you are a human."
"And that is?"
"Normally, the races can only mate with their kin, but there are two exceptions, amazons and humans. Amazons only receive daughters and they can mate with many other races, the child will still be an amazon. Humans are the exact opposite, they also can mate with most other races, but the child will always be of that other race or "a half". Like half-elves, half-dwarves and so on. For beast people there is no half, the child will always be of the same race as the human´s partner."
"Why is that so?"
Zeus shrugged his shoulders. "Even an old man like me doesn´t know this."
"Hm, strange."
"Right? But remember what I said Bell, this is only allowed after marriage."
If I told him otherwise, Alfia would skin me alive.
"Okay, thank you for explaining it to me, Grandpa. I just feared I would get sick."
"Hehe, no problem. Now let´s see if this old man can beat you by catching a bigger fish than you."
"Alright!"
They continued to fish for a while and Zeus indeed managed to catch a bigger one than Bell had.
"By the way, how is your training going?"
"Mom has become very strict and sometimes a bit harsh, but she told me it had to be."
"She is right, your Mom trains you strictly because she loves you very much. I have met many mothers over my long life, but I don´t think I ever met one that is more doting. Alfia is the best trainer you can have and she does her all to prepare you for the dungeon.
While the dungeon is a wonderful, romantic place, it is also dangerous. And your Mom is really worried about you, so she has to be strict."
"I know and I´m really thankfull for that. She told me that the heroes of the past had also trained very harshly and sometimes even harder than I am."
"Well only one name comes to my mind, one who trained much, much harder than you."
"Who was that?"
Zeus grinned. "Heracles. But he was really something else. Oh now that I think about it, maybe Albert Waldstein, man he was crazy."
"Did you knew him!?"
"No, that was before we came down from heaven. But I watched him train sometimes from up there."
"How did he manage to get so strong that he drove the One Eyed Black Dragon away, without having a Falna?"
"Well he was a hero, back then there were a few people that got really strong. Like the queen of all elves."
Now that I think about it, Loki´s elven mage looks a bit like her, but she is royality, maybe a descendant.
"I want to become as strong as Albert Waldstein was!"
"Maybe you will, if you listen to your Mom, follow her training and always eat what she makes for you."
"I will!"
Zeus smiled and shook his head slightly. Due to Alfia´s homemade cooking, that was filled with so much love, did Bell´s Abnormal Resistance rose to rank H already...in just one year.
Hah! Who would have ever thought that Alfia´s cooking can grant someone something like that! Maybe she could have cured you, Zard!
"How was it in heaven?"
"Ah, much to do, but a bit boring after a while. I wandered around a bit and visited the other territories, like Odin´s north or Amaterasu´s east."
"You knew the goddess of the sun?"
"A little bit, like my little sister she was a shut in."
"A shut in?"
"Yeah, you read the story about Ama-chan moping in her cave right?"
"Ama...chan?"
"Oh, I probably shouldn´t have used her nickname. Please don´t ever use that in front of anyone...especially a god."
"I won´t."
"And with your little sister, you mean..."
"Hestia. She was mostly alone and remained in her temple. As far as I remember, she was very good friends with Hephaistos and Artemis. I wonder what she does now, maybe she also came down to Gekai."
"Can´t you sense or know that?"
"No, when we came down, we decided to not use our powers, it is forbidden. When a god does that, he or she will immediatelly sent back to heaven."
"But what if there is an emergency?"
"Even then. If we used our powers here, the mortals would...dwindle."
"Why?"
"Imagine everything bad that happens would get immediately solved by a god or goddess. The mortals had no reason to strive forward and do something, why should they when a god does everything for them. Also, we gods wanted to take a break from all our work in heaven."
"I guess that makes sense. And, do you enjoy your vacation?"
"Oh very much. The life on the surface is so refreshing."
Zeus grinned.
"Especially my wonderful grandson, that I love very much."
"I love you too, Grandpa."
It really warmed Zeus´ heart. Bell was always honest and unable to lie or trick someone. If he said he loved his Grandpa, he meant it.
After they got enough fish and enjoyed the day together, Bell and Zeus returned to the house, after bringing a few fish to the village.
.
"Welcome back, you two."
"We´re back, Mom!"
"The house looks wonderful, Alfia."
"Heh. Of course it does."
Wow, a smug grin, never thought I would see her making one of those.
"And, what did you two talk about?"
Bell grinned. "Fishing, Heroes and Grandpa explained to me about the white stuff and mating."
Zeus felt an icy chill when Alfia´s smile froze.
"O-Oh G-Good...Bell, go and wash yourself, we will eat soon."
"Okay!"
After Bell went off, Zeus tried to sneak away, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Alfia looked like Medusa herself again, her hair waved around her like snakes.
"Zeus...what did you told my little baby?"
Gulp...
Zeus did his best to explain to Alfia what happened.
"B-B-But why did you explained to him about s-s-sex?!"
"Because you didn´t did it."
"Of course I didn´t! Bell is a child!"
"He is fifteen and started to have wet dreams."
Alfia looked like she wanted to cover her ears. "M-My little baby isn´t like that!"
"Alfia, Bell is growing up. And I did you a favor, I doubt that you would have been able to explain it to him."
"I would´ve! In a few years."
"Really? A young woman and pure maiden like you, who is not only untouched, but unseen by all men? And let Bell alone with his problem about not knowing what happens to his body? What if he meets a girl or woman in Orario that promises to help him and "show him something fun"?"
"Kill! I would kill her!"
"See? Then it is better that I explained it to him as a natural thing to do for having children and that he should only do it after marrying."
"What? You of all people in the whole world said something like that?"
"Hey...Bell is my grandson and as you said, still not an adult. You have seen me taking care of him for eight years now. Do you really think I would tell him that it is a great fun to do, feels amazing and he should go and fool around with as many girls and women in Orario as he can?"
"No, I guess you are right."
"Also, your "little baby", is still innocent and pure. The thought alone of holding hands let him get red."
"Hah...I don´t want to think about it...it was like yesterday when he showed me his the first hero story book."
"And you have nearly one year left to prepare Bell for Orario. When you two go there, it will be your job alone to set him on the right path and make sure he won´t turn into a deliquent. Which I seriously doubt he will."
"I will protect him."
"But..."
"Yes, yes, I know. I will have an eye on Bell, but let him go his own way. I won´t block all the dangers away from him or he won´t grow at all."
"That´s my girl."
"Tch."
"Hey, you are nearly longer living with me than you were in Hera´s Familia."
"I still carry her blessing on my back."
"True, but you never enjoyed it even back then. Maybe Orario will be a different place when you go there and you will find happiness together with Bell."
"What will you do when we go?"
"Flee, run. The longer I stay here, the more dangerous it will get. Hera was really pissed when we got kicked out of Orario and blamed me for that."
"And where will you go?"
"Here and there, maybe visit some old friends. But I will visit you from time to time and write letters."
"But you can´t go into Orario."
"Hah...young lady, the time as a mother really took away a bit of your sharp thinking. I will of course meet with Bell outside of Orario."
"Hmpf, makes sense."
Bell returned shortly after and helped Alfia in the kitchen. While she cooked nearly everything on her own, Alfia made sure that Bell knew how to cook, it was an important skill.
Hah, making him good at cooking, housework and a strong fighter...you already work against yourself, Alfia. You give Bell all the skills he needs to make a woman really happy in the future.
.
.
"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*"
"Mom, please take it easy and rest."
"*Cough* But...the house..*Cough*..the dinner."
"I will make it all, rest."
Alfia didn´t looked very good, she was lying on the couch in the living room. Zeus had left early in the morning to help in the village and be a bit for himself. Before Bell and Alfia could go outside to train, Alfia had suddenly started to cough heavily.
It wasn´t the first time that her sickness made her unable to move, Bell had immediatelly supportet her and brought her to the couch.
"But.."
"No but. This is an order, Mom!"
"Okay...Sweety..."
Alfia was too weak to argue with Bell, but she knew he was right. So she remained on the couch and tried to rest as good as possible. She should feel better after a while, but during the time that the sickness kicked in, she was nearly defensless. If that would happen during a dangerous situation, it could be fatal for Alfia.
But while she watched Bell, it worried her more to see him so worried. Bell had gotten stronger, was able to control himself better, but more than one time he cried when Alfia got struck down by her sickness. More than one time she woke up in her bed after recovering from it, to find Bell sitting or kneeling next to her bed, his arms and head on her mattress, marks from his tears on his cheeks.
My little baby...
Since he didn´t wanted to worry her when she was weak, Bell had practiced often enough to do the house chores.
And there was something else that Bell did for Alfia when she was like that, but only when Zeus wasn´t around.
"Mom, you´re sweating very much."
"Hah. *Cough* I know.."
"This isn´t good, you could catch a cold."
"I am aware, Sweety. I will take a bath later."
"No you won´t, you are too weak to move away from the couch, I will help you."
"Bell, it´s ok-"
"It´s not okay!"
Alfia´s eyes slightly widened. It was rare that Bell shouted, especially at her. She saw that he was worried sick about her, every time her sickness brought her down, his determination to help and cure her rose. He had read the old hero stories again and again if there were hints of items with healing power. Bell even asked Zeus many times if he knew any, he told him that there were a few legendary items in the legends, but most of them were gone and some even not more than legends.
A special note for himself was when Alfia mentioned she had felt better after eating a branch from a sacred elven tree. Bell had thought loud if it could heal her, in case she ate the whole tree. Zeus couldn´t help but imagine how Bell nearly force fed Alfia a whole tree.
She gave up to argue against Bell, it was no use when he was so overprotective about her, but then again she wasn´t different.
"Mom, I will take your shirt off now."
"Okay.."
Alfia wasn´t embarrassed about Bell seeing her bare upper body, he had done that countless times as a child. Also, Bell didn´t saw Alfia as a woman, like he would others. She was his Mom and that was all. He used a soft sponge and warm water to wipe and wash away the sweat on her upper body, first the back, then the front. After that, her legs, Alfia did her crotch by herself.
Bell also gave her fresh, dry clothes and made sure she lied down again and he put the blanket over her again.
"Please try to sleep, Mom."
"Bell, I´m not tired."
"I can see it in your eyes, you are tired."
"But-"
"No buts."
When it came to her, Bell was adamant. Alfia had seen this when they took a walk in a forest, a bear had appeared and growled at them. Bell had used a hand to push Alfia behind him and got a dangerous expression on his face, she thought it was very chivalrous. But the bear felt that they were stronger and it was just a natural reaction before he left.
Alfia had given Bell a kiss on the cheek as a thank and his reward.
Now after she closed her eyes, she felt that Bell leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"I will watch over you and protect you, Mom, so please sleep."
"I will, Sweety."
Ah, that feels so nice.
Alfia had trusted only very few people in her life enough, so that she would sleep in their presence. First was Meteria, later Erebus and Zard. And then, Bell and also later, Zeus. She trusted the old god enough now, that he wouldn´t dare to peep or touch her in her sleep. In contrast to how she saw him before, Zeus was a really good grandfather.
And falling asleep under Bell´s watchfull eyes, while he quietly made the house chores and later prepared dinner, was nice.
I am so happy.
.
.
Bell Cranel
Belongs to: Zeus Familia
Level: 1
Strength: 510
Endurance: 601
Dexterity: 532
Agility: 610
Magic: 0
Abnormal Resistance: H .
.
Bell sat in the living room after Zeus had updated his status again, looking at the paper, before showing it to Alfia.
"You really got strong, Bell."
"Is this rise in status good?"
"I would say it is normal, you trained for a bit over a year now and didn´t went into the dungeon or had any real fights. But now you will grow slower, it is always like that when you get closer to the maximum possible status of 999."
"Real fights?"
"Life and death situations or a fight with a monster of the outside world. And no, the rabid chipmunk that you fought doesn´t count as a monster."
"But it was a really hard fight!"
"I believe you, but it was no monster."
"So I have to train more and become stronger."
"I agree with you, but status isn´t everything. When two people fight, the weaker one can overpower the other when they have mastered techniques, at least to a certain degree."
"And to what degree?"
"About a level difference, with two levels it is mostly impossible to win, except you manage to outsmart your opponent completely. But adventurers who are two level higher than you, had their fair share of fights and events too, so it is hard. Yet, there is something you could always use when you fight against stronger opponents that aren´t monsters."
"And what is that?"
"Hubris. Many upper tear adventurers of level three or four tend to be a bit arrogant and rely only on their status. As long as they stay away from areas where stronger adventurers are, they think they can get away with everything. Zeus told me it is apparently better in Orario now than to the time I left, he is exchanging letters with someone."
Bell looked at his grandfather. "With whom?"
Zeus winked. "A secret for old men."
Alfia continued. "But be sure, a level one or two adventurer would never stay a chance against a level five or six. This is how the peace in Orario is secured, that the strongest Familias are just so much stronger than anyone else."
Bell frowned. "But I wonder, Grandpa you told me that the goddesses Loki and Freya kicked you out of the city. Does that mean they are mean gods? Isn´t it bad when they are the strongest in the city? Who would stop them from doing what they want?"
Zeus smiled. "They aren´t mean or evil, Bell. Loki and Freya did what they had to do to protect the peace in Orario. And what would happen if they did what they wanted, trust me when I tell you, Loki and Freya would never work together and have some kind of rivalry ever since heaven."
"But what if they changed?"
"Gods don´t change so fast."
"Oh."
"And there is another faction to keep them in check. Astrea, Ganesha and the guild."
"But aren´t lady Astrea and lord Ganesha also two of the four big familias in Orario?"
"Yes, but their nature forbids them to try to get the top spot and rule over people. Ganesha has a heart of gold and cares a lot for the people. And Astrea...well she is called the goddess of Justice for a reason. And the guild has ways to keep them in check. For example, would Freya or Loki or both decide to take over Orario, they would ruin their lives on the surface.
They had to be constantly guarded by their followers, could never enjoy any party again, since all the gods would be against them and they could never leave their home unprotected. While their children are very strong, you learned that over the course of history, tyrants were rarely defeated by strong people, but someone you wouldn´t expect. The god is the strongest and weakest part of a Familia.
Let´s assume they would decide to reign supreme, the strength of their children means nothing when someone manages to send their gods back to heaven, their strength would immediatelly fade. Also, the leader of the guild, Ouranos, has...ways. But I will not go into detail."
Zeus didn´t need to think about Alfia, there was someone outside of Orario, even when he didn´t knew where that one was, that could go toe to toe with Freya´s strongest child.
"But you don´t need to worry, Bell. The gods love their fun and can´t stand to have a boring life by doing something like that. And the dungeon keeps them busy enough. I really doubt that Loki´s children or Freya´s went as far down as Maxim and the boys."
Alfia nodded. "Or us."
"Woah, so you really were that strong?"
Zeus grinned. "Stronger, my boy Maxim was the strongest man in all of the world. But he would have no chance against the Empress...or your Mom."
"Don´t make me sound like a monster, old man."
"Do I have to remind you of the time where you defeated Freya´s champion with one attack?"
Bell looked amazed up to Alfia. "Whaaaaat!? One attack?! Awesome!"
"Well he wanted to fight me, so I did fight him."
Zeus laughed. "That wasn´t a fight my dear."
"Woah, Mom, you really are crazy strong."
Alfia sighed. "Please don´t phrase it like that, Sweety."
"Okay. Mom, you are as strong as you are beautiful and young."
"Haaaah..." Alfia sighed, this time it sounded different...happy.
Zeus showed Bell a thumbs up.
Alfia coughed slightly. "A-Anyway, to get back about techniques. It is important to find your own fighting style and master techniques that define you. Using them at the right point will bring you victory and can save you and your comrades."
"You mean like your copy ability?"
Bell meant Alfia´s ability to copy movements she saw once, but was unable to copy physical attributes at the same time, which made sense. Zeus had worked on various wooden swords for Alfia, all looking slightly similar to the ones that her fellow Familia members or Zeus´ children had used. Even a really big one like Zard had used. Like this she had trained with Bell in many kinds of ways, sometimes exchanging the wooden weapons between her attacks, since they stuck in a circle around the trainings ground.
The sudden change should help Bell to not only focus on one kind of opponent and be prepared for sudden changes. Even when they were directly related by blood, Bell wasn´t able to copy Alfia´s ability, but as Zeus had pointed out, Alfia´s whole existence was basically a cheat to the world. Bell was never able to surprise her, due to her enormous speed to respond to an attack.
"Yes, mastering forms of martial arts is a big help, like you started to do."
Bell had started to develop his own form of technique, he got the idea from a hero story again. There was an old story about a golden guardian, said to be the perfect bodyguard and no one ever broke his defense. Bell´s plan wasn´t to rely on defense, but the fighting style sounded interesting. At first the golden guardian fought more passive, used a few moments to analyze his opponent´s weapon, movements and techniques, before he countered with a swift and strong attack. But unlike the golden guardian, Bell didn´t fought with a halberd. He still tried his best and memorized the teaching of this story, patience was a weapon.
Zeus looked back and forth between Alfia and Bell while they talked, as if he was in thoughts.
"Alfia."
"Old man?"
Zeus just looked at her without saying a word, then his eyes wandered to Bell, then back to her again.
"Do I have your permission, Mommy?"
"You mean "that"?"
"Yes, "that"."
Bell looked confused. "What is "that"?"
Alfia looked a bit uneasy and took a deep breath.
"I guess it is time."
Zeus nodded and got up. "Bell, please wait here with your Mom."
"Okay."
.
A few minutes later, Zeus returned with two long items, wrapped in blankets.
"Bell, you have reached a point where it is okay to give you this."
Zeus carefully started to unwrap the bundles, Bell´s eyes widened. What lied on the table between them, were two swords. The first one had a blue scabbard and was a bit shorter than the second one. It had also a blue colored crossguard and a long handle, that had a pointy end. The handle was long enough to use it with one or two hands, judging by the sheath, the blade was more slender, a bit like a rapier. The other blade was a bit longer and wider, more a long sword. While it looked like it was carefully crafted, it didn´t looked very special, just a simple long sword.
Yet it was the second sword that drew his eyes in.
"You said you wanted to be like your hero, Argonaut. As you know, Argonaut used two swords at the same time. So Bell, these are my gifts to you."
Without saying a word, Bell looked back and forth between the swords. Alfia didn´t needed to hear a word from him to see it in his eyes.
"Grandpa?"
"Yes?"
"I can´t say how happy I am about your gift, I really am."
Zeus grinned. "I hear a but."
"I´m sorry..."
"You don´t need to, speak."
Bell looked at the slender sword in the blue scabbard again. "This...is not really my style."
"Too slender for you?"
"Yes."
He looked at the second sword. "This is perfect."
"Aha."
"Grandpa?"
"Ahahaha."
"Ahm...Grandpa?"
"Ahahahahah! HA! I knew it! I told you, Alfia!"
Bell noticed that Alfia rolled her eyes. "Yes you told me, old man. You are so wise, geez."
"Eh? Mom? Grandpa?"
Zeus slapped his thigh and laughed again. "Don´t worry Bell, I knew from the start that you will refuse the slender sword."
"You did?"
"Yes, I know you very well. But I wanted to give you the choice. The question is, now what to do with it when you don´t want it..."
Zeus noticed grinning that Bell´s eyes wandered to Alfia.
"Ahm, is it okay...if I give it to Mom?"
Alfia blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, you are a real swordmaster and I couldn´t think of anyone better to have such a fine sword."
"Hm.."
Zeus winked. "Come on, Mommy. Accept the gift from your son."
Alfia´s expression brightened...she was too easy for Zeus. "If you want me to use it, Sweety, I will accept."
Bell smiled, before he leaned forward to take the second one.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you something, Bell."
"Hm?"
Zeus put his hand with a warm smile on the hilt of the second sword. "This sword is your father´s."
"Eh?"
The old god patted the scabbard. "I promised to him I would give it to you when the time was right. He wanted you to have his sword, so I took good care of it."
"This is...Papa´s?"
"Yes."
Small tears appeared in the corners of Bell´s eyes, while he took the sword, holding it carefully.
"My father´s sword, thank you, Grandpa."
"Make good use of it, Bell."
Bell slowly unsheathed his sword, while looking not really special, it was still the weapon of a level four adventurer. It was the taste of Bell´s father to let it look simple, but it was a very good weapon.
Alfia on the other hand slowly took the first sword and slowly pulled it out of it´s scabbard, the blade looked like it was made from silver.
Zeus smiled.
To think that she has now "his" sword...
Far away in Orario trained a blond girl with a sword that looked very similar to the one that Alfia held.
Zeus had this sword for many hundreds of years now. And he knew what happened to Alfia before she left Orario, which little girl she faced. And that she took the sword of the little girl away for a while to show her how real swordsmanship looked like.
The girl whose father's sword Alfia now held in her hand.
On the next day, Bell would get his first training with real swords.
And soon, a weird dream would come over Bell.
