CHAPTER 3: DETERMINATION

It was early in the morning. Bell was training outside the church while Hestia yawned while drinking coffee, she had to wake up early due to her job in the potato stand. She watched Bell punching the big log that was sticking out from the ground while he was imagining an opponent to fight. When she had asked Bell why he was punching the log when she first saw him doing it, he simply said it was advice from his master to practice hand-to-hand combat and told him, it was better to know how to punch when your weapon broke.

She could feel the cold wind hug her body as she watched the still-rising sun, without skipping a beat she returned to the church to prepare for her job, leaving Bell on his own business. When Bell was done, he looked over to a drying trench coat that he had cleaned last night.

"At least I managed to get rid of the blood." He said to himself while seeing a damaged part on his clothes, he would fix this after returning from the dungeon. After he checked the trench coat and confirmed it was dry, he soon took it and entered the church.

Changing from his armor and then wearing the black trench coat, he took the two new knives he had gotten from his master, it was time to test the knives in the dungeon. He put the two daggers on his holsters as he readied himself to go out.

"See you later, Goddess." He waved, earning Hestia to wave back as he left the church.

The white-haired boy now was walking on the street while enjoying the stroll, He had put on his new badge underneath the coat so it would not be lost during his dungeon run. When he was nearing Babel, he suddenly heard a small growl coming from his stomach.

Bell releases a small chuckle while putting his hand on his stomach. "Hehe, I forgot to eat, maybe I should eat first before entering the dungeon." He whispered to himself.

He was cut off from his thinking when (Ritmiko) suddenly activated, enhancing all his senses. He suddenly felt a deep gaze on him, as he darted around the street looking for the one who was staring when it suddenly disappeared. When it disappeared, he had already determined it was coming from the top of Babel. Now looking at Babel many questions arose from his mind, what was that gaze? Who was staring at him? What do they want from him? It was like that time when his master trained him to strengthen his senses, at that time his master's gaze was like a predator who was about to kill its target, but this gaze was different, it felt like it would eat him alive.

"Excuse me?"

He was cut off from his thoughts when he heard someone's voice. Without a second thought, he instinctively took a knife near his left hand to aim it at the throat, but quickly stopped inches away when he saw a gray-haired girl who was wearing a green uniform.

"I-I am terribly sorr-" He was about to apologize to the girl, but due to (Ritmiko) still being active, he had sensed an incoming knife on his side. Quickly dodging the knife, then perfectly catching it in mid-air and because of his master's teaching, he threw the knife in the direction where it came from, narrowly missing the head of another girl who was wearing the same green uniform, who looked at him with an angered look.

"Get away from Syr, you human." The Girl said, still looking at Bell.

"I'm terribly sorry, it was an accident." Said Bell apologetically. He noticed the girl was an elf with blond hair and two pairs of pointed ears.

The elf was about to say something, but the gray-haired girl quickly stopped and explained everything about what happened.

After explaining, the elf's expression calmed and bowed at Bell. "I apologize for my action, I simply thought you were attacking my friend." She said in an emotionless and monotone voice.

Bell only bowed in return and opened his mouth, "I would also like to apologize, it was wrong of me to suddenly bring out a knife to attack randomly."

This led the grey-haired girl to step in.

"No, No, it's my fault, I suddenly surprised you." She said while giving a wide smile.

Bell returned from his bow and scratched his head in confusion, "But why you s-suddenly s-spoke to me." He asked while stammering, now relaxed from the previous moment, earning a quirked brow from the two.

"I just want to say that you drop this." The gray-haired girl showed a shiny purple stone.

Bell was now confused, he was sure that he had cash in all the drops yesterday, and if it did drop from him, he would have noticed it. He then suddenly remembered his master saying that during his travels, he would encounter people who would do something randomly to advertise their business. Looking at the two girls were wearing a waitress-like uniform and were in front of a tavern, is this what his master was mentioning?

"Ahmm, is this a marketing scheme?" He asked, recalling what his master called it.

This only leads the gray-haired girl to widen in surprise and blush a little.

"N-No." She said cutely, but was an obvious lie, she didn't think the boy would find out quickly. She darted to the Elf girl who was staring at her with a cold gaze, she looked at the boy once again and said, " W-well I-"

*GRUMBLE*

She was cut off when Bell's stomach grumbled. The silent moment took for a second but when the gray-haired girl suddenly returned to the bar and got out, now holding a basket.

"Here as my apology, you can take my lunch to eat." She said giving the basket.

Bell only looked at her for a moment before opening his mouth, "I-I Can't t-take this, this is yours."

The gray-haired waitress only shakes her head, "No, it's fine, think of this as an apology for startling you and trying to scam you." She said with an innocent smile.

Bell could only smile awkwardly trying to decide, if he declined it then he considered it rude, and if he accepted it then he would consider it rude to take food from a girl. In the end, he looked at the girl, still wearing an innocent smile. He would take the basket, and he would do something in return.

"Thank you, but what can I do to return the favor?" He said, however, this earned a less innocent smile from the girl as he was caught by the trap the girl made.

"Oh, in that case, please come to our tavern tonight." She said pointing at a building with a sign called 'Hostess of Fertility'.

Bell only kept silent, mentally berating himself for why he fell into a marketing scam. He already imagined His master's loud laugh before saying "You got scammed by a girl, HAHAHA!" before rolling on the ground again. Letting out a loud sigh he could only accept his fate.

"Fine." He said.

"That's great, and Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Syr Flova." Said the gray-haired girl named Syr.

"Bell Cranel. " He replied.

Throughout the conversation, the blond-haired elf, kept silent as she tried to figure out who the white-haired boy was. Moments ago when she threw her knife, she had not expected the boy to catch it and throw it back at her. Luckily she reacted in time and dodged the knife, however, after she dodged it, she saw the boy's gaze. It was like a predator who would attack at any moment regardless of its status.

When she was an adventurer, she would encounter monsters who had the same gaze, some of them once managed to catch her off guard, and was almost killed by them. After a second the predatory gaze disappeared, replacing it with a worried and innocent aura.

She could not believe it, seconds earlier, the boy was about to kill, but now he was like an innocent person who was trying not to get caught by Syr's trap.

"Oi, Ryu! Syr! You better get back here and prepare the tables!"

She was cut off from her thoughts when she heard a loud voice coming from inside the tavern, without skipping a beat she went in leaving only Syr and the boy named Bell when she heard it.

"Well then, see you later Bell." She said waving her hand before following the elf named Ryu.

Bell waved his goodbye before running in the direction of the dungeon. He would eat the food he was given first.

"Roa…"

The dying scream of a monster echoes throughout the floor, as more wolf-like monsters try to attack the one who killed their brethren but are quickly sliced in the throat by a white blur, completely killing them.

"Whoo, I think that's the last of them, Huff~," Bell said as he examined the knives. The two knives were sharp and durable, and both designs helped maintain a better grip for holding. "I wonder what the meaning of these words is?" he uttered looking at the engraved word, the knife on his left had the word 'kuneho' engraved on the blade, and on the other was the word 'matapang'.

He stops thinking when he senses an incoming attack from his back, quickly evading it then dashes on the monster and kills it. Seconds later he heard multiple cracks in the walls of the dungeon, then gave birth to multiple monsters who were growling and glaring at Bell, ready to kill him.

Bell only let out a sigh as he prepared himself in a fighting stance and fought the horde of monsters, more drops for him.

When he finished all the monsters off, he took a seat and he surveyed the area for incoming monsters. When he senses nothing he relaxes for a bit, a certain thought suddenly comes out from his mind, is this what it feels like to have an adventure? Throughout the two weeks of being an adventurer, he had never thought about it, as he was busy repaying the debt for buying the daggers and the chest armor from the guild, so now he was relaxed and could not help but think. Is this what an adventure looks like? He could not stop but recall what his master said three days after he had agreed to train him.

"Huff…huff…huff"

Bell was breathing heavily as he climbed the rocky terrain of the mountain. After three days of training, his master suggested having a break and relaxing for a bit, and what to do if you want to relax…by climbing the mountain of course. Now, leading to this, it had taken the whole day to climb the mountain as he saw the sun start to fall.

"We're almost at the top Bell, keep it up." Said the mercenary with a cheerful tone and a wide smile.

He only looked at his master, too tired to say something but noticed the top of the mountain. It was a new experience for him, it was his first time climbing a mountain. Back in the village, many adults would forbid the kids to go climb the mountains because it was dangerous and was lurking with monsters. Throughout the trip, he and the mercenary would encounter some monsters but were swiftly killed by the mercenary.

He stopped walking as he saw his master stop for a moment. He tilted his head as his master turned and looked at him.

"Bell I got a question for you." He said, earning Bell's attention despite his tiredness. "What is Adventure, to you?"

"….To Explore?" He answered, not completely sure if it was the right answer.

The mercenary merely nodded. "True, but too shallow." He said.

Bell was confused by that statement, before he could question it, his master started walking once more to the top. A few steps later, they managed to reach the end. Bell slightly by the cold wind and looked at his master's back.

"Many people view, Adventure, differently, many would say is to explore the unknowns, and others would say is to find something along their journey in life. To me, an Adventure is…..determination or Ambition. Determine what the world has to offer, and a strong desire to reach the goal of one's journey. In my Familia, we view Adventure the same, but each of us has different goals and desires." He said not looking at Bell and still looking at the horizon. "To me, my goal is….to find what the world would offer to a man who had already lost everything." Said in a more sad tone.

Bell could not say anything as he felt sadness coming from the man, he also knew how it felt to lose something important to him. The sad atmosphere suddenly disappeared, as Bell heard the now-familiar laugh coming from his master.

"HAHAHAHA, no time for sadness, No, No, No." He then looked at Bell showing his wide smile. "Now, I ask this question once more Bell, What is Adventure, to you?" the now-going-down sun, perfectly aligns with his master's back as he points his finger at him. It was like something coming out of the heroes' stories he had read, where someone offered the hero to join a journey that would lead to different adventures along the way.

"It is…"

At that time, Bell could not answer the question but now he knew. He had traveled to different places, meeting different and unique people who were acquainted with his master, and seeing places that he only heard from stories, until he and his masters had separated. Traveling to Orario, he had learned and experienced things from the past week.

He took a deep breath as he readied himself to fight the incoming monsters he had sensed, as he dashed at them. He had decided what his Adventure was. He imagined his master who taught him how to fight, he imagined his Goddess who offered him a home when no one accepted him due to his looks, and He imagined the golden-haired girl who had saved him from the Minotaur.

'To find the path to become a hero. That is my Adventure.' He thought while smiling as he fought the horde of monsters. Unnoticed by him, his back glowed, as something awakened inside him.