Summary: This is the story of an adventurer named Bell Cranel. Bell isn't your normal day adventurer either. No, he is, in fact, an unblessed one. No one would accept him into their Familia, due to his weak looking self. Leaving Bell with one last option to secure his dreams. Watch as Bell becomes the first unblessed adventurer to enter the Dungeon. Tread carefully young hero..., the Gods are not with you here..., yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own DanMachi or any characters from the Light Novel. Please support the original release by buying the manga, the Light Novel, and the anime when it's available. Look on google play if you wish to buy the Light Novel like I did. I do, however, own this story idea and any new original characters or monsters I use.
Author's Notes: Well, here is chapter three. I like how everyone is liking this story, and how it's growing so fast in this area of fan fiction. Please don't forget to review the story. Also, Bell has acquired a new skill. I'll explain what skill levels are! The skill level is completely changed so don't expect it to be the same as it was in DanMachi.
Character quote of the day: "Give me your heart, oh hero. Give yourself to me and know everlasting pleasure. Please be mine. I can't stand seeing you belong to someone else. I... I need you! Please be mine. Could you be the first to show me what true love is? Let me experience it. Please be mine Bell Cranel!" ~ Freya
Story: Somebody Up There Likes Me
Chapter Three: A Hero Rising
She had seen it all. She had seen Bell's boring process of mapping out the first floor. It was very boring to watch, but she could understand why he was doing it. He was trying to get more money and have a better standing with the Guild. It was the smart thing to do. Yet, it was entirely boring to watch. She was also getting tired of watching him waste his time on the first floor. She wanted to see him fight against a real foe. One that could easily have killed him.
How was she supposed to know that her wish was going to be granted just like that? She didn't, but she was entirely thankful for it. She saw everything that she wanted to see. She saw his power; his skill; his strength; but most importantly, his resolve. His never give up attitude when things got really bad, and he was down in the dumps. She knew Bell wasn't stupid. If he thought of himself unready to fight something, he wouldn't engage if he had the choice. Very soon she wasn't going to give him that option. Until that point, she would watch him very closely now. Freya was totally sure now that he would make an excellent adventurer. He was just growing so fast. In fact, that battle alone... was simply amazing. He used everything he could to his advantage.
He had also shown her something she had never known about the Dungeon. That was another thing caught her attention. She knew a lot more about the Dungeon than all the Gods and Goddesses. So to see something likes this...
Bell Cranel was making her feel something again. She had always collected the best of the adventurers. Now seeing that fight with the Kobold rex, she had one more hero to add to her collection. Bell was moving so fast for a rookie. She could see why some people had called him, Rabbit.
That battle was something else. The entire time, it seemed like Bell was on the ropes, but in reality, he was outsmarting the monster Rex all the way throughout the fight. His attacks were spot on and very calculated. He aimed to slow down the monster so he could use his own speed against it. It was refreshing to see someone use their brain rather than brute force for once. Especially since the deeper you travel down into the Dungeon, the stronger monsters would be using a lot of brute force.
When she had seen Bell go down, she truly thought that she was going to see her new white haired favorite die. But low and behold, Bell didn't die. Oh far from that~ She saw something she had never seen in all her time down here. Bell had gained a skill somehow. Not just any kind of skill either. No, this was a one time skill that was handed to him. He had awakened with an exotic skill. The rarest out of all the skills one could get. The questions she had was; what was it, what did it do, and how will it affect him?
Freya saw that white aura surrounding him, the burning rage in his eyes, and the fury rolling off of him in waves. When he gained that power..., something truly amazing happened. That white aura was something exotic. It was an exotic skill, and it was the rarest kind of skill to obtain. It just had to be; to believe that Bell of all people would awaken such a rare thing. She could see his greatness fully now, and he was going to be one of the best adventurers to have ever lived if he kept up this pace. Like all amazing adventurers that had caught her eye, they would belong to her.
It was also quite amusing to see Ottar's shocked expression for two seconds. Ottar may have been a level seven and the highest ranked adventurer, but even he was just as stunned to see such a skill surface in someone he had written off as a weakling. The last in the pile, if you will.
That skill had changed the whole course of the battle and lead to Bell's unbelievable victory. Everything about the young adventurer had changed. She had seen him barely able to match the Rex's speed, to exceed its speed. His strength from being unable to cut into its skin and dish out mortal wounds. While that skill was active, all of his power was doubled.
If there was one thing she had noticed in the fight, his weapons were holding back just a tad. They barely did any damage at all. In fact, she was sure if he would have walked right into the Dungeon the first day he got here and fought this guy, those knives wouldn't have dealt any damage. 'Hmm... maybe I should look into this little problem of yours for you, Bell.'
There was one thing that was for sure. She had gone from being interested in the male to full blown desire. She wanted to see Bell grow into all or even more than he could be. She wanted Bell to have the power of doing the impossible. She just plain wanted Bell now, but she would wait for him to grow before she made a move on him. She would let him become his own man. She had found what she was looking for. She had seen his transparent soul with her 'Discerning Eye.' Even the color of his soul was rare and odd to her. 'How many more surprises do you intend to give me Bell? Don't you know not to entice me so?' She wanted Bell to grow fast so he could join her ranks easily. She did want him to grow on his own...
Though that didn't mean she wouldn't intervene in some ways. Maybe, just a not so subtle push in the right direction to make him closer to her. First, however, he needed better weapons. Freya turned on her heels away from the window/mirror. She had to visit an old friend of hers. She walked right past her two cats; Bygul and Trjegul - "Bee-gold" and "Tree-Gold". It was time to give Bell a real test when she was done with this plan. She snatched her black cloak and threw it on to cover herself. It was best not to make a scene as she walked to her destination. She was going to have to use the alleyways again. The troubles one with absolute beauty had to deal with.
It had taken some hours, but I was finally able to move again. I hadn't been bleeding at all since I had awakened with that power. All of my injuries stopped hurting completely unless I touched them and the pain came back full force like I had just received them. The pain would hurt for five seconds before fading away. My injuries were healing on their own with incredible speed, but they were still largely see-able. That and since I no longer had a shirt thanks to the Kobold Rex. I had to walk through the Dungeon shirtless, armor-less, and unprotected from danger. Much to my horror, I was going to have to walk outside in broad daylight like this. It looked like I got my ass handed to me while I was the one that kicked ass. I was covered in blood, some of which wasn't even mine, and dirt from the cave ground.
I smiled at the thought of my now completed map of the first floor of the Dungeon. I had dubbed the new location as the 'Den'. I found it to be extremely fitting. I had even made sure to write down how to get across the 'Hang', written in detail about what was over at the 'Den', and listed the new Monster Rex. I called him, Doluk the Cleaver. I thought of it as a creative name, and who was gonna argue against me? If I was the first adventure to find him and beat him, I have the rights to name him anything I discovered. That was a true fact of my occupation. I was going to go down in history for being the first to discover the new room and Monster Rex. How could I not be excited!
Wait! That previous excitement turned to dread! Eina was going to see me like this! A new shit storm has appeared! Anyway, back to happy thoughts!
I also had to hold back a squeal of excitement too. I had gotten some great loot from the battle. I also believe I had gotten the real rarest drop on this floor too! I believe it's called 'Rex Loot.' It was the skull of a Kobold. and I had it under my left arm along with the Rex magic stone in my right hand. I was going to be breaking the bank with this. I was limping my way to the exit of the first-floor entrance with a grin on my face. I was on cloud nine! I had done something no one had ever done since people started going down into the Dungeon. No, wait! The story grandpa told me... could he have been that adventurer that had discovered this? Was my grandfather actually an adventurer?
New questions to be asking myself now. I had to find out for sure. I would definitely ask Eina to look into it for me. I had to know what kind of man my grandfather was because I was well on my way to being an adventurer now. I couldn't be discredited and written off as someone who would easily die now. Well, I hoped that was the case. I hope this proved that I was worthy of my title as an adventurer because I technically was the first one to discover this. I walked out of the giant doors of the Monster Rex's room. My eyes were locked on the path of rocks that were still waiting for me to cross over them.
I smiled to myself seeing that I wasn't going to have to bend down and do that whole ordeal again. I don't think I could stand back upright again if I did. I crossed the bridge rather easily, and once I was across it, I turned back to take one more look at the bridge. I watched on as it disintegrated into the nothingness it once was. The glow of the flames that were shining over the overhang had vanished as well. It was now just the normal 'Hang' that everyone had known about. 'Man, what a secret!'
I navigated my way out of the first floor of the Dungeon with ease. I didn't even see a monster cross my path or an adventurer. I strolled out of the exit and walked up the stairs to the ground floor of Babel. When I got to the top, that was when I noticed the people. There was chatting going around, discussions happening, arguments being fought, and they all stopped when they took notice of me standing before them. Most of these people were adventurers while some were tourists, but they all were wearing shocked expressions. The adventurers knew who I was and saw the monster rex magic stone in my hands and for the loot freaks... They had never seen a Kobold skull before, and the tourists saw a fourteen-year-old so badly hurt.
I felt totally embarrassed having all eyes on me. I had to get out of here before I died from embarrassment. The whisper then started...
"Isn't that the unblessed hero?"
"Yeah, I think it is... I told you he wouldn't last a week?"
"Is that a monster rex magic stone?"
"What floor was he on?"
"Is that a loot item under his arm?"
"I never seen that loot item before. Where did he get it from?"
"He looks totally fucked up..."
"Nah, I think it makes him look sort of hot."
"Wow, he is so cool!"
"He's got guts to take on a boss..."
That was when I got the hell out of there. The last thing I needed was people questioning me. I hastily made my way out of Babel and went to the Guild as fast as I could. I did my best to ignore all the whispers and hushed voices of the people around me in the streets. I got to the Guild rather easily and uninterrupted by anyone. I opened the door to hear the sound of gasps. 'Oh, no...'
That was what I was thinking while fate was saying: "Oh yes!" It was just my luck that the Guild was full of people today too.
Eina was looking at me with horror in her soft emerald eyes of hers. "Bell, what happened?" She had left from behind the counter and was inspecting me closely. Her eyes widened largely when she saw the loot items in my hands, "Where on Earth did you get that?"
If my hands weren't full of loot, I would have been scratching the back of my head sheepishly. "Well, I was on the first-floor mapping it out to make some extra cash. When I got to the Hang, I tried something I heard from a story when I was a youngster. It just so happens there is a secret bridge there, and once you cross it you find yourself in a place I call the 'Den.' That was where I fought the first-floor Monster Rex, Doluk the Cleaver. I got this after I killed him." I motioned to the items in my hands with an upwards shrug.
"Why on Earth did you fight it? I thought I advised you to be more careful!" She asked raising her voice. I could tell she was mad at me out of concern.
"Well, I was kind of trapped there until I beat it or died. I didn't like the last option, so I fought and won. Please don't be mad at me! I apologize for worrying you." I bowed down to her showing my deepest sincerity.
The older girl became quite flustered at the gesture. "Oi, don't bow to me. What are you trying to do? Start rumors?" She spoke up in a hushed tone not trying to draw more attention to them. Though, it was impossible because everyone was looking at them.
I quickly got up off the floor, "Ahh, I'm sorry!" I apologized again rather embarrassed. 'Man what a day so far!' "Anyways, I have something I would rather discuss in private," I told her in the form of a whisper.
She looked hesitant for a moment, It was obvious she wanted me to see a doctor first. She gave in, however, because she at least knew I wasn't stupid or would go back into the Dungeon when I was hurt. I had told her it was dangerous to enter combat when you were hurt but if you didn't have a choice that was different of course. "Yes, we can do that, over here." She leads me away from the crowd that was watching over us with interest.
We sat down in one of the private booths ready to discuss the real matters at hand. "Alright, let me start off by saying that I had stumbled across this monster rex by complete accident. I was just acting off a child's story when I found him. I had noticed that the Hang looked oddly similar to the place in the story so I did what the hero did to get across. When everything worked out the way it did..., I knew it was an actual story of an adventurer, not a child's story." I started off the conversation telling her exactly what I was thinking.
"A story of a real adventurer?" I nodded at her. I saw her bite her lower lip in thought. "Who told you of this story, if you don't mind me asking?" She inquires. I could tell she wondering how I came across this story. She had already realized that me just linking it to a story from my childhood was too much of coincidence.
"My grandfather's," I answered truthfully, "name was Zion Cranel."
She rubbed the bottom of her chin as she thought the name over. "I'll look into it. We should have something on him if he was a documented adventurer."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," I said sincerely to the older teen.
"It's not a problem because I'm rather interested in this as well."
"There is something else I would like to say too..." She raised her eyebrows at me, "I think I unlocked a skill or something while I was fighting Doluk."
Her eyes widened largely at my statement, "You unlocked a skill? Can you describe it?"
"Yeah," I thought about what my reply would be. I remembered back to the event and saw everything happening around me. I had come up with my answer. "Fury! It was the only thing I had felt. I could still feel the pain of my injuries. When the Doluk got me again, I was enraged even further. I felt so much stronger and faster as this white aura surrounded me. The madder I got, the stronger I became. I could even move with these very bad injuries like they weren't there."
She observed me closely, "Hmm... I don't know what to say. I do, however, think that you are quite special Bell. It sounds like a legendary skill to me."
I laughed nervously at her compliment, "Really, um ah, thanks." It was weird for me getting a compliment from a girl. Then my mind picked up what she said at the end, "Uh, whats a legendary?"
"Oh, you don't know how skills work?" She looked at me with a questioning look. She obviously thought a large population had a grasp of the skills concept. I shook my head for no. She gained a thoughtful expression for a second.
"Okay, well here is how skills work. There are six different classes for skills; they are based on rarity. There is common, uncommon, rare, legendary, champion, and exotic.", she told me informatively. "Common skills are basic skills that can pop up at any time and are seen very often in adventurers. Uncommon skills are based off common skills that have developed further than their common counterpart. I should also mention that you can gain any version of a skill at any time. Rare skills are just that, rare and hard to get. Legendary skills are hard to see since not many people have them. Champion skills are extremely rare, so rare in fact that only five people at a time can have that same skill."
I stopped her before she could continue, "Um..., could you give me an example?" It was easy to see that I wasn't getting what she was saying.
Eina nodded, "Yes, of course, let's look at the common Hunt skill. The Hunt skill that adventurers have is all the same. Hunt allows the adventurer to remember all the weaknesses of enemies they have defeated before. The uncommon version is called hunter; hunter allows the adventurer to deal more damage to monsters they have defeated. Hunting party is the rare skill which gives the same damage properties to all members in your group. The legendary skill is called Predator. Predator let's the user be able to track enemies that they have beaten. The champion skill is apex predator which makes use of adventurer's senses that lets them detect threats and monsters they have beaten."
"Ohh, I get it now. Do you also keep the past skills too?" I asked the half-elf in front of me.
She just smiled at me, "Yes, that is right Bell-san. You keep all the acquired perks of each skill level that was granted to you."
I grinned at that, "That sounds awesome!" I frowned however when I realized she left out a skill. "Wait, what is an exotic skill?"
"Exotic skills are extremely rare. They are so rare in fact that they only appear once and only in one person. I believe there have only been sixty exotic skills ever recorded. Exotic skills also have no rhyme and no reason. They can be placed on a part of your body, armor, or even your weapons. Exotics skill can be based on anything and everything. People who obtain exotic skills go down in history as an epic adventurer. Falcon's Bane is one of the only epic adventurers that has been around since the Gods came to Earth."
"Was this real long ago!? They must be an Elf or something..." I trailed off in deep thought.
Eina smirked at me, "Jumping to conclusions, are we? Calling her old, huh!"
My eyes widened at her remark, "W-what, no I didn't mean anything by that! Her...!"
I watched on as the girl in front of me giggled at my reaction. Oh, it was a joke! That's a relief. "I'm kidding Bell-san. But yes, a lot of people would agree with you on that one. She is believed to be an Elf, and no one has seen her out of her armor and cloak."
"Really! But wouldn't she be required to write down what species she is when she became an adventurer?"
Eina shook her head, "Not back then, at that time the Guild would accept anyone who wanted to go down into the Dungeon. That and she refuses to do it anyway when she turned her last loot in forty years ago. The Guild doesn't really care all that much since she has been around for so long." My eyes widened again, how could they not? Forty years ago was a very long time. Hell, I wasn't even alive when she turned them down again!
"Well, I guess when you have done things she probably has, the Guild wouldn't care what she does. Anyway back to me..." I started ruffling through my backpack to find my map. "Here," I told her as I pulled out the map from my backpack and handed it to her. "I got the map where it shows the 'Den' and how to activate the bridge to get there. I fully detailed it and everything!" I told her excitedly.
She gazed at my map before looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a curious look on her face, "Are you also a cartographer as well Bell-san?"
"A who?", I spoke up not understanding what she was saying. I really need to get a dictionary or maybe a thesaurus?
"A cartographer is a person who makes maps to an expert degree.", she said and looked back down at the map. "Because this map is of excellent condition..." She paused then looked up at me with an amused look, "Did you really have to do all that just to get a magic bridge to appear over the Hang?"
"Yes!", I told her truthfully, "As I said before, I did what the hero in my grandfather's story and... boom! Magic rock bridge." I just realized how childish that explanation really sounded. Ahh whatever, it didn't matter now that I already said it.
"Magic rock bridge? What are you, five?" She asked jokingly.
I crossed my arms and raised my head high, "I'm fourteen, and I'm in total right to act like this."
She chuckled at my response, "I guess you do, anyway I have to show this map to the others. You should go and turn in that loot you've earned today." She stood up but didn't get very far before she turned back to me, "Come see me after you're done."
"Okay!", was my simple response I gave her as I flashed a smile at her.
She brought the map to the counter and showed the Guild members around her of all the new spots I had found. To say, they were amazed was an understatement. Dumbfounded was the word I would use. I watched on as they analyzed the hand made map. I could just tell there was a childish smile on my face. As the Guild members looked over my map, I decided to turn in my loot. "So how much does a first-floor monster rex magic stone go for? Oh, and this skull too!" I said revealing the large stone and skull to that werewolf woman with an eager smile.
She blinked at me a couple of times, stunned at what she was seeing before her.
Here was that white haired teen standing in front of her again. He was a total mess, more so than last time, and she could see that smile on his face again. He was holding out the items he had gotten from the first floor; a skull of Kobold and the magic stone of a Monster Rex. 'Wait...What!' This teen, Bell was his name if she remembered correctly, was overshooting her expectations every time she saw him. In three days, he has already done something that has never happened before. Three days, he has already made her rethink things about him. Maybe, he wouldn't die within the week. No, she had to change that to a month or two.
Would this teen really survive, her mind was telling her no while her instincts were telling her no as well. Yet, something very deep down was telling her yes he would. She, of course, didn't listen to that part at all. He looked like trash. As much as she wanted to bash the boy for being completely destroyed by whatever he had fought, she couldn't. This proved he could face up to a challenge that confronted him. However, that didn't mean he was in the green yet. Oh, hell no, he was far from being anywhere close to making her see him differently. He had only gotten a little bit of her respect.
"Um..., hello?" The boy asked out loud trying to get her attention. She didn't want him to think she was staring at him for no reason as her mind wandered over the prospect of the teen.
"I'm calculating your loot, please have some patients." She muttered in a frustrated fashion. Bell became really quiet at that, obviously not wanting to upset her. 'Good it seems like he's got some sense.' She continued right after she had some quiet. "Usually a monster rex magic stone, well the lowest one from Goliath on the seventeenth floor is worth two million vails. That means a monster rex from the first floor is most-likely at two hundred and fifty thousand vails. That skull under your arms is worth big money as well. It has forty-two teeth. Meaning thirty-one thousand five hundred vails, plus the extra bones..., That's ten thousand right there. So you're looking at...two hundred and ninety-one thousand-five hundred, plus a finders pay of another ten thousand for the discovery of a monster rex." The boy was in a total state of shock. She couldn't really blame him. This was his first big haul ever.
"Wait, there is a finders pay?!" The boy exclaimed in wonder finally processing what she had fully said. She could see the excitement in his red eyes. "Then that makes my total payout three hundred and one thousand-five hundred!"
Rose merely nodded as she put the said amount of money into the drawer, "Are you turning the loot in or not?", she grunted impatiently.
Bell was startled for a second before he grinned again, "Oh yeah! Sorry, I was lost in thought, and yes, I would like to turn these in." He told her holding the items out to the window. She opened the window and collect the loot. The sliding window was added along time ago to help turn in large loot and magical items earned from the Dungeon. The drawer was for small magic stones, money, and small loot items. She closed the window and pushed the drawer out to Bell. Bell shook the sack of vails happily hearing the clang sounds of the vails rubbing against each other.
Bell pocketed the vails in his backpack, "Wow, I'm so much closer now! All I have to do is fight him again tomorrow and-"
"And that is where I'm going to stop you." Rose interrupted Bell's planning. He looked at her like a deer caught in a glow-light.
"Pardon?", he asked wanting to hear what she was going to say to him. He was a nervous wreck, she could tell. 'An adventurer that can single handily take down a monster Rex, is skittish at being chewed out by an adviser? Such a child, but at least not a stupid one.'
"Firstly, a monster Rex takes much longer to respawn than regular monsters." Bell gave her an 'o' expression. "The second is... just look at yourself," She pointed out his injuries. "You just got your ass kicked-"
"But I beat it!", Bell interjected.
"That maybe so!", she snapped back at him, "But it did some serious damage to you. You have to rest and save your strength before going back into the Dungeon." She advised him of dangers of rushing back into the Dungeon so early.
Bell looked away from her for a second then turning to face her again, an idea had popped into his mind, "Oh I know! How about I just buy a health and stamina potion?" He blurted out like he had just solved the problem to world hunger.
Rose put a hand through her messy hair, "No, you dunce, a health potion will only help you out so much! Yes, a health potion can keep your body alive, but the mental stress it adds is also great. You will pass out after a while, and there will be no one to save you then. Taking both only doubles the effects. Your body has to also recover on its own to grow strong."
Bell's mouth dropped a little hearing that. "I-I didn't know that...", he trailed off as his mind wondered around. She just sighed. It had been a long time since she had advised such a green as glass rookie. 'Of course, you wouldn't know, it's not like the potions have warning labels. It's our job to tell you that. Though I'm surprised Eina hasn't already informed you of that.'
"It's fine, but you really should get another job if you're not going to learn things that are going to keep you safe." She implored him. She didn't want Eina to go through all that crap again. Five times was enough for her.
Bell just looked at her and bobbed his head up and down, he put a hand to his chin, "Yeah, I see your point." He agreed with her.
She raised her eyebrows at him out of surprise, 'No fucking way..., he's going to quit after all that?' Rose's mind couldn't believe she had just talked an adventurer out of being, well, an adventurer. She was relieved she could save one life, yet she was also a little bit disappointed in him as well. It was that part of her again... the part she had buried so damn deep. The part that caused her so much grief. "So you're going to quit?"
Bell lost his thoughtful look completely and dropped his hand back to his side, "What? No way. I meant you have a point. I should be learning a lot more about things before heading back into the Dungeon! Thanks..." He looked at her nametag, "Thanks, Rose! You're the best!" He said rather loudly. He was very thankful of all of her advice. He walked away from her and back to where Eina was.
Rose was thunderstruck by Bell's last words to her, So stunned, she had dropped her lower jaw at his words. That was when she heard a giggle coming from behind her. She knew that laugh, that was that damn blonde Elf again. She looked to see those light blue eyes look away from her to the side to make it look like she wasn't just looking at her. There was also that lopsided smile too that angered her. "Say something and you die.", she said coldly.
She watched on as Sophie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates before taking off to the break-room. She then turned to glare daggers at the boy, "What a fool."
Hephaestus was sitting at her desk quietly looking over papers. Said papers were filled with all different kinds of weapon requests from some of the most known adventurers. Some of the requests were actually from Familias that wanted weapon sets for raids, or even called for a personal smith to take part in said raids. On the bottom of the stack of papers were this month's sales that compared to last months. Taking a good look at the paper, she smiled. They had twenty-four percent profit increase from last month.
She went back to the weapon request forms to start assigning some of her smiths to the right jobs based on the adventurers' requests. She was about one-third done when a light knock rapped on her door. She glances up at the door, wondering what may have caused this little distraction from her work. She looked back down at her papers and called out to the person behind the door. "Come in."
She heard her door open with a creak which made her eye twitch; she really needed to get that door fixed. She cast her gaze up at the person who opened her door. Hephaestus knew exactly who this was. Well, after all, this was her head blacksmith, Tsubaki Collbrande.
Tsubaki was rather tall for someone who was a half dwarf, definitely taking after her mother. Tsubaki has brown skin, long black hair with a red bow in the back of her hair, red eyes, and has a black eye-patch over her left eye. She had a well-endowed chest which she keeps in a sarashi. Tsubaki also wears a red hakama and sandals. This was Hephaestus number one, her only level five in the entire Familia. Tsubaki was casual and very friendly to most she met.
Tsubaki walked into her room with that friendly smile on her face. "Lady Hephaestus, Lady Freya is here to see you." The woman chirped happily. The danger flags have been raised! Tsubaki, of course, had no idea just what a visit by that Goddess could mean. Tsubaki didn't remember the times when she was warily at Freya, No, not after Freya had sent Falcon's Bane to save her and a fellow blacksmith from the lower floors from a raid gone bad, really bad. Tsubaki was totally thankful for being saved and alive along with the other survivor, Carlos Ripten.
Don't get her wrong, she was in debt to the Goddess of beauty for saving her Familia members. She was happy that she got both of her children back. It's just she had no idea what the Goddess of beauty would have her do.
At the time, Hephaestus knew that asking Freya to save Familia members were going to come back and bite her in the butt. In fact, she knew for a fact that she was going to call in a favor. Whatever she wanted..., it didn't sit well with her. Who knows what that Goddess wanted from her now. Hopefully whatever this was..., it wasn't going to cause her much pain. It's not like she didn't like her or anything, but she was very wary around her. Hephaestus was always careful not to say too much about her Familia around her.
With a heavy sigh, she put both hands in front of her, intertwining her fingers together. She mentally prepared herself for Freya. If there was one thing people didn't understand about the Goddess of love was..., she was also the Goddess of war. With that being said, her mind was far more calculative than people gave her credit for. While you thought you were one step ahead of her, in reality, she was twenty in front of you. She could easily corrupt your forces and turn them against you. She was a very dangerous person. Never, ever, under any circumstance get on her bad side. She could crush you as fast as a beetle under her heels.
"Let her in.", was Hephaestus reluctant reply. She was not looking forward to this uncalled meeting. Tsubaki sent her a curious look to keep her Goddess from getting into an obvious mood change. She simply shrugged it off and skipped out the door to retrieve Freya. She closed her eyes as she waited for her fellow Goddess to enter the room. A moment later, Tsubaki led Freya into her office. Freya must have noticed her not paying real good attention to her, because she spoke up, but not to her.
"It is good to see you once again, Tsubaki. I hope you have been well?" Freya's melodic voice filled her room.
Tsubaki was all smiles, "Yes, it's good to see you too! I've been well, I have become a level five now." Tsubaki stated proudly. It was a true accomplishment for a blacksmith Familia to have someone reach such a high level.
Freya sounded impressed by the girl's accomplishment, "That's quite the feat you have conquered. It is good to hear you've been growing so well."
"Thanks!" The girl grinned brightly at the compliment.
"You have such a beautiful smile, Tsubaki. You might want to be careful Hephaestus, I might just take her from you." She said it in a joking manner, but she always knew what to say to get the attention she wanted from people and other Gods. However, Hephaestus knew better than to believe that. Freya had quite the reputation for stealing talented adventurers that she wanted. She opened her eyes to look at the shit-eating grin on Freya's lower half of her face since the rest of it was covered by a black hood.
"Ahh, ha ha...", Tsubaki blushed at getting a compliment on her appearance from the Goddess of love and beauty, that meant something. "...Thanks."
Hephaestus coughed getting her head blacksmith's attention. "Tsubaki please pardon us, Freya and I have business to discuss."
A look of realization crossed her Familia member's face, "Oh that's right, sorry." She left the room and quietly closed the door behind her, trying to make as less noise as possible.
Freya watched as she did. When she was sure the young woman was gone her gaze went back to the Goddess of smithing. "My dear old friend, Hephaestus. It is good to see you again after so long. How's the Familia?", she said throwing her hood off to reveal herself completely. Her purple eyes were glimmering, that silver hair of hers flowing and non-messed up from the hood that had been on her head.
"Likewise, Freya. We are doing much better this month in profits. It seems like a lot of people are going on raids this month." Hephaestus had told her making light conversation.
"Oh, but of course," Freya acted like she knew the answer, knowing Freya as well as she did..., she probably did. "This month three Monster Rexs are re-spawning that my Familia had taken down."
Hephaestus snapped her fingers, "Yes that makes sense, I can see why some Familias want blacksmi-" She cut herself off and narrowed her eyes slightly at the approaching Goddess, "What do you want Freya."
Freya just smiled as she sat down in front of Hephaestus, "Oh, don't worry I don't want one of your blacksmiths." She waved off the thought that Hephaestus was having.
'Well if that's the case..., she probably wants something else. The question is what 'that' is.' She lightened up a little bit at hearing that.
"I'm sure you have heard about that unblessed adventurer," asked Freya with a far off look in her eyes.
"Yes I have heard, I believe that unblessed adventurer was the one to cause all that co-! What do you want with him?" Hephaestus brain had immediately picked up on what the Goddess of beauty was getting at.
"Oh, my," Freya put a hand to her mouth in mock surprise, "You caught that amazingly fast."
"I'm not stupid, Freya." Hephaestus crossed her arms under her chest.
Freya giggled a bit, "I thought what I said was a compliment? You don't need to be so snippy with me. We are partners after all." Freya replied easily with that casual smirk on her features. Hephaestus didn't say anything to get the Goddess of beauty to sigh, "Very well, I'm calling in both of those favors from you. We will be even after that."
Hephaestus blinked, "What is it that you need from me?" If she could get away from having to worry about Freya hanging something over her, she would do it in a heartbeat. Especially since it had nothing to do with her Familia.
Freya grinned at the Goddess smith, "I require two combat knives, a brother, and sister if you will. Since these blades are going to be used by the same young man, I want them to be able to grow with him. I want them to help him be his strength, but most importantly, protect him and only him. I want you on this project, I trust only you with this."
Hephaestus tapped her chin in thought, "Hmm that's going to be tricky to do, especially so since he is unblessed and doesn't have stats..."
Freya frowned slightly, "Are you saying it is undoable."
A confident look crossed her face, "Please, I'll have them done within two days. All I was saying is that it would be a lot easier to do if he was blessed." She wasn't the Goddess of blacksmiths for nothing. She could craft anything.
"I don't wish for him to be blessed, not yet." Freya told her honestly, "I want to see just how far he can grow without a blessing. He has already killed a Monster Rex."
"T-that should not be possible, he has only been in the Dungeon a couple of times!" She blurted out in a shocked tone. Then realized what she had said. 'That wasn't good.' She had given her knowledge out that she had gathered on the new rookie, Bell Cranel, to the Goddess that had just made it clear she was interested in the young male. 'Crap.'
"He has discovered a new monster rex on the first floor, but it still counts as killing a Monster Rex on his third day in the Dungeon," Freya told her as she examined the back of her hand and nails. It seemed like she hadn't noticed her slip of the tongue.
"Don't wait too long or someone else might just snatch him up. Even more so, now that he has killed a monster rex." She warns her partner of the dangers of waiting for too long.
Freya's eyes narrowed into those eyes she would use to seduce the male and female Gods, "And I'll just rip him away... from their cold, dead hands." Her eyes widened, that smirk she was giving her had told her she did catch it. Yes, this was the Goddess of war talking right now. Freya stood up causing her to raise as well. "I leave you to your new project, I'll be back in a few days to collect them." Freya walked behind Hephaestus's desk, she put her hand out. Freya wanted to shake hands on the request.
Hephaestus shook the Goddess's hand but found herself pulling closer to Freya. Hephaestus one eye widened at the sudden movement as she gazed up at the taller Goddess. "W-wha-!"
Freya was still wearing that seductive expression, a small smirk on her lips as she bent down to whisper in Hephaestus ear. "You're such a beautiful woman, you should stop hiding in this office and then call it work. Even with that deformity in your right eye. I see it so much different than you do. I saw the raw power in that right eye of yours, it was a beautiful sight." She pressed herself closer to Hephaestus as she let her hands wonder, "I believe you should move past that, look at it as a gift of power."
Hephaestus face was on fire at the Goddess's words. She had said everything she had been doing in order to keep herself hidden from common day people. She couldn't believe that Freya caught on to this. That and her words were like a sweet poison that didn't kill but corrupted the soul. Her words were so intoxicated that they made your mind melt in the palms of her hands. Those were just her words alone, her touch caused your body to explode in waves of pleasure. One touch was all it took to turn a gay man straight or a straight woman into a homosexual mess.
Hephaestus felt the warmth of Freya's hot breath leave from her ear as distance herself. She threw her hood over her head. "Someday soon, you'll get to hear what I said again by someone else." She flashed Hephaestus a grin before she left.
Hephaestus just watched Freya leave. Her mind a jumbled up mess thanks to that Goddess. "Yeah right," she sighed and calmed herself down before strolling over to a book case. She pulled on a trap book that caused the bookcase to flip into a pegboard. A bunch of hammers and mallets hanging from the pegs. "I better get to work on this, then I can get back to work."
Some hours later, Bell had fallen asleep in his alley way that he had taken up as his home. He was more exhausted than he had realized and had fallen asleep before changing into some new clothes. He looked like a hobo, really. That was the scene Freya had found the boy that had captured her interest. It was by total accident that she had stumbled upon him here. She had just gotten done calling in her favors for said young boy. Here he was, asleep before her in an alleyway. She looked him over with a critical eye. He had healed, all his injuries had been taken care of.
It seems he had visited a doctor. A smart move to be sure but that didn't matter all that much. If he was walking around with all those heavy injuries before, he would be fine. The closer she got, the more she could see the boy's cute little face as he laid there with his back against the wall. 'He looks so cute when he is asleep.' The moon was hitting off his face just right to make him look like a gem to her eyes. A gem, she would possess very soon. She was now looming over him like the Tower of Babel does to Orario.
His battle and discovery of the new Monster Rex had sent her over the edge, she had seen his talent first hand. His soul was beautiful to her eyes, and every time she saw it grew larger and more powerful as he beat his enemies. It made her heart soar. It was like watching Ottar again, Allen, Hegni, or Hedin. Though there was one big difference, Bell was... so much more creative in the way he fought. He charged straight in at times, held his ground, hid and used cover, used his surrounds to help trap his enemies, and was always thinking of his next step. He then had shown her that..., ability that she couldn't wait to uncover when she branded him under her banner. Her mouth was starting to drool at the things she would do to him. He was going to be a trophy that she would never let go of if he survives what she has in store for him.
She was going to test his limits, break him at times, and then see just what kind of power bubbles below the surface. 'Oh little Bell, I'm going to enjoy watching over you as you grow.' Freya thought, 'I'll give you a little test so very soon. Let me see what you are capable of, let me see that rage of yours again, and after your doing that...' A perverse grin spread across her face, 'I'll show you just what I'm capable of.'
A more sincere smile found its way to her lips when she saw him shift. He was shaking a bit from the cold breeze causing her to frown slightly. She noticed a red blanket that was hanging a little bit out of his backpack. She took it out and placed it over Bell's body to keep him warm. Bell had stopped shaking when the source of warmth covered him which caused the Goddess to feel pleased in her small act of kindness. "Until we meet again, my little Bell." Freya continued looking among the darkness of the night, moving very much like the shadows around her, quiet and unnoticeable.
Bell merely snuggled closer to the blanket that was now placed around him. He had no idea of the rare meeting with the Goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, seiưr, war, and death. Lucky for him, or unlucky for him? Now that, was the right question.
Author's notes: I know we slowed down just a bit in this chapter, but let me just say this, next chapter will be bad-ass once again. We will see a lot of cast come into play next chapter too! So enjoy the chapter and leave a review on the way out. I would like to hear from you so please do me that favor. Till next time, Kyuubi out~
