Change of Fates

by Ventanus

A single question at the right time could change the fates of not one, but many people.

51. Last days in the town

Author´s note: Hello everyone. To your information why it currently takes so long, I´m recovering from a stomach surgery and that kills a bit the imagination and so on. That´s why I wrote I will mostly be back at February, then I should´ve recovered enough.

At first I wanted to do a rewrite of Change of Fates, but I decided to continue with this story as it is, with the exception of two things. I will rewrite the chapters that have the informations in the other direction, but for this story onward, Mikoto isn´t a couple with Takemikazuchi. Instead I go with my original plan, so that Mikoto and Chigusa are both an item with Ouka, but unlike Lefiya and Haruhime they aren´t in love with each other. So yes Ouka has two partners. This isn´t done on a whim, but has something to do with something happening later.
Also, unlike Miach and Naza, I know that Takemikazuchi sees Mikoto as his daughter. So don´t be confused when the story continues like this. The other thing will be Talvi´s magic. You will see in this chapter what I mean.

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"Wait...so you two both love him, but you don´t sleep in the same room or bed?"

Zeus looked genuienly confused at Mikoto and Chigusa at the breakfast table, then at Ouka. Both young women weren´t able to answer, they looked away from the old god with a red face.

"It´s t-too soon.."

"Mh!"

Even Ouka looked a bit embarrassed, but only a little. He looked more happy than everything else. And then he looked with his stoic face at Zeus.

"We just confessed not long ago. Things like sleeping together in one bed is something that should be done much later. It isn´t healthy and probably even lewd to do that so early."

Mikoto and Chigusa nodded shyly to agree with Ouka.

The sound of Haruhime´s falling chopsticks interrupted any answer that Zeus might give. The Renart looked with a shocked at Ouka and her dear friends.

"L-Lewd?..."

Lefiya looked into a different direction on purpose, but her eartips were slightly red. As an elf she too thought it was a bit lewd to sleep in one bed together so early. But it just felt too good! It looked like Haruhime was about to cry when she looked at Mikoto.

"Haruhime, it´s different for you and us!"

"Different? W-Why?..."

"I mean you and Sir Bell and...ahm...I.."

Haruhime whimpered. "Were we...so lewd?"

Lena grinned. "Awww don´t be like that, Haru-Haru! That´s not lewd at all what you did!"

Haruhime looked with tears in her eyes at Lena, hopefully. Bell got a bit surprised when Lena smiled like a big sister would.

"I just know that you´re still very innocent, Haru-Haru. Don´t worry. Everyone has their own pace. When they sleep in one bed together for the first time, they wont change it in the future. I deeply believe in that."

Haruhime nodded slightly.

Then for some reason Lena´s expression became a bit sad. "I just wished my beloved would act a bit faster. Bete Loga needs me, I know that. I can see how hurt he is inside."

"Lena.."

The amazon slowly shook her head. "It´s alright, it will happen one day, I´m sure of it."

Then she smiled again. "Anyway, don´t be worried that you might have slept in one bed "too early" or something like that. We all know how much you love Bell and Lefi."

"Don´t call me by my nickname."

"But your captain gave me permission."

"Ms. Alise doesn´t have this right to give!"

"But she is your captain."

"It still shouldn´t be! Not even Ms. Ryu calls me by my nickname!"

"Hohoo?~~ Do I hear a bit of sadness out of your words?"

"Am not!"

Lena had this unique ability, which had nothing to do with her skill, to tickle a reaction out of people, to make them more lively.

Zeus grinned. "Little Lena, you really are a lot like Maxim in your behaviour. I can believe more and more that he might´ve been your father."

Lena grinned. "Then I will make him proud!"

For her the matter was clear, she believed that he was her father. Not that anyone would be able to convince her otherwise.

Bell felt Lena´s eyes on him. "Hehe~~"

"What?"

"Little brother."

Bell rolled his eyes and focussed on his breakfast. Under the table he felt Lefiya´s shy foot tapping against his, he secretly nudged his foot against her´s in return. If no one would be able to see or notice it, surely it wasn´t lewd. And if she really admitted it, it felt too good to be lewd to have physical contact like this.

While they continued their breakfast, the Landlady came inside. All of them noticed how she smiled to Zeus, while he winked to her. Most of them got embarrassed when she walked past him and he slightly slapped her behind.

"Grandpa..."

"What?"

The Landlady looked at Lena. "We will start in an hour, do you still want to participate?"

"Absolutely! I will show you the skills of a true amazon!"

"Did you ever do it before?"

"Jup! Plenty of times with various different bodies."

Haruhime looked curious. "What are you talking about?"

"The villagers will slaughter a cow, one that has a leg injury which won´t heal. I will help them and show them how it really is done!"

"But...you.."

"Hehe, don´t worry. The cow won´t feel a thing, it will be over in a second and the cow won´t see it coming."

"May I help?"

"Are you sure this a sight that you want to see?"

"Probably not, but I should do my part."

Mikoto nodded as if to agree. "It is the right thing to do, Haruhime. Back in the far east we did that plenty of times with rabbi-"

She looked at Bell. "I´m sorry."

"For what?"

Zeus laughed, he got what Mikoto meant.

"We did that with rabbits, some kinds of lizards and even a few boars when we caught them. It is the duty of the one who kills the animal to make sure they don´t suffer and use every part of the body."

Lena grinned. "And I bet and can show you some things that even you never did or used. We amazons really use every single part of the body."

"So did we, Ms. Lena."

"And what about the bones?"

"What do you mean?"

"The marrow and the bones."

Mikoto slightly shook her head. "We didn´t have the tools to get the marrow out, at least not all of it. We took what we could, but we had no use for the bones, we made tools out of wood."

Lena grinned. "Oh you really missed something. I will show you all amazon bread! And we of course will use the blood too!"

"You mean for cooking?"

"That and something else. Blood and the remains of bones make a wonderful fertilizer. Back in my homeland we used blood meal and bone meal. Since you can only put a bit bone meal into the amazon bread dough. I tell you, bread with cow bone marrow is sooooo delicious!"

Mikoto looked a bit troubled, not because of the ingredients, but that they didn´t seem to use every part of the animals back then.

"I look forward to what you can show us, Ms. Lena."

"Hehe, of course I will show you plenty. And you too."

Lena pointed at Chigusa, Haruhime and Lefiya.

"""Hm?"""

The amazon smiled. "Let´s call it an exchange of knowledge. So that we all may become better wives in the future!"

Cooking meant showing love for Lena!

Chigusa and Mikoto glanced towards Ouka, while Haruhime and Lefiya did that with Bell.

Lena winked to Lily and Naza. "You´re of course invited too."

Then Lena smiled to Talvi. "And you too of course, you´re one of us now."

Talvi looked really happy.

Naza smiled. "I will gladly participate. If that means I can one day make a delicious meal for Miach."

Now that they were a couple, Naza didn´t held back one bit and showed her affection and love for Miach pretty openly. And she cuddled more than one time each day with him, also to rub her scent off on him.

Lily looked like she was in thoughts, then she shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not. We have to use everything to save money."

When Lena looked at Daphne and Cassandra, Daphne shook her head. "We pass. Cassandra wants to go look around the town, something there caught her attention."

Cassandra had yet again a form of prophetic dream, but not one that promised doom this time. She didn´t really know what she was looking for, but she would knew it when she found it. While Daphne still didn´t believe in Cassandra´s vision, such was Cassandra´s fate, Daphne believed in her dear friend and would of course go with her when there was something wrong. Thankfully Lena didn´t say or suggest anything that Daphne was in love with Cassandra. Zeus had taught Lena an important information, Daphne might be a special form of "light Tsundere", which meant while she often enough scolded Cassandra, she would do anything to help and protect her.
Without being in love, but with being Cassandra´s best friend and that was alright.

Cassandra would eventually find what she was looking for, without having any use for it for now. But it would later become important for her and maybe Daphne too.

Zeus grinned. "You truly are one of my grandchildren, Lena. Then I will use the chance to teach our young men a thing or two."

Takemikazuchi raised his eyebrow. "Then I will come with you, I don´t want to see you teaching Ouka something weird."

Miach nodded. "It´s the same for me."

"Hah! As if I would ever do that!"

Welf raised his hand. "I have to refuse, I promissed to talk with the smith of this village. A small exchange between us."

Zeus grinned. "I could teach you many things how to get the heart of your lady."

"Please don´t talk about her like that."

Zeus leaned towards Welf and whispered. "But I know a thing or two about Hephaistos, things that would help you make her happy. And a few things about female spirits."

"I guess I can go a bit later to the smith..."

"Grandpa? Lord Miach?"

"Yes, Bell?"

"Hm?"

"There is something I would like to ask you before that."

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"You had a strange dream?"

"Yes, but it was unlike any other dream I had before. Well not completely unlike any other. One time I had a dream that felt similar and I was in the same building."

Bell looked at Zeus. "It was the night before you updated my status and I got my magic."

"It wouldn´t be so weird if you got another magic spell. Miach, you´ve also seen that Bell has two magic slots."

"Indeed. Maybe it was time, was there anything weird in that dream, that it upsets you like this?"

"At the first time there were different versions of me, they said each of them is a possible path I could take. They were there this time again but they ignored me and were playing some game. Then I walked out of that temple, following a path until I reached the hanging Gardens of Babylon."

Zeus nodded. "You always liked that story, no wonder you dream about it."

"But this time it was a giant library, filled with all kinds of books. Those that I read in the past and many more that I didn´t, even some that I never heard about. And all kinds of plants grew there, medicinal plants."

Miach smirked. "I guess that is my influence on you, were there also books like that?"

"A few. But it wasn´t only about the books, there was a person there, a young woman."

Zeus grinned. "That´s my grandson for sure, dreaming about women. Was it Haruhime or Lefiya?"

"Non of them."

"Hohooo? Dreaming about other women?"

"That´s not it, Grandpa..."

Miach only smiled wryly. "Zeus, you give Bell troubles to tell us about it. Please continue, Bell."

"From here on it went a bit strange. I found her sitting at a table, reading a book. But I couldn´t really see her, she was like a shadow. I could only see the outline of her body. But she greeted me, told me she was already waiting. Then she explained her name is Sowak and that she is a spirit. Well almost a spirit, she is not complete yet."

"Sowak?"

"A spirit?"

"Yes, she said she can´t tell me her real name yet. But she is the Spirit of Wisdom and Knowledge."

Miach nodded. "I see, Sowak."

"She told me that lady Saraswati turned her into a spirit. But that she has to work and earn it to become a complete spirit. That´s why she settled in the library in my mind."

Both gods looked at each other for a moment.

Zeus frowned slightly. "As far as I know, Saraswati is still in heaven, I didn´t hear a word from her being somewhere in the lands."

"Nor is she in Orario. Ganesha at least would´ve heard about this. Both got along pretty well in heaven."

"So can this dream be true? Or was it just a dream?"

Again both gods looked at each other.

"Bell, have you ever heard Saraswati´s name in the past? Before you had this dream?"

"Hm, no."

"But you heard the names of a few gods before, right?"

"Only a few."

"Because normaly mortals don´t know the name of the gods that are still up in heaven, at least most of them. Zeus probably told you about a few in the past, but not all of them."

Zeus nodded to Miach´s words. "Exactly."

"Hm, so is it possible that a spirit is inside me? Like Welf?"

"It doesn´t sound like Sowak is inside you the same way that Ursu is inside Welf. But to be sure I should update your status."

Bell nodded and took off his jacket and shirt. Zeus crossed his arms and watched, he was really curious what exactly happened to Bell.

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"Hm, I don´t have a paper sheet with me, but there is indeed a new magic spell for you, Bell."

"Really?!"

"Yes, Zeus, take a look here."

Zeus leaned to the side and looked at what Miach showed him.

"Fascinating."

"Grandpa? Lord Miach?"

"Bell, please raise your left hand with the palm up and say the following words."

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"Once upon a time..."

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Deep inside of Bell, in the land of his dreams, Sowak started to smile brightly when all books in the library suddenly started to shine, one of them brighter than the others.

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There was a small flash of light, then a book appeared out of thin air, fell into Bell´s hand and opened by itself. It looked as if a gentle gust of wind had caught the pages. Almost as if Bell were leafing through the book at high speed.

"What is this?!"

Bell stared at the book in his hand, he felt the weight, but it wasn´t as heavy as it looked like. The book was pretty big, clad in leather and it looked really old. But it was made of light, a gentle, warm light.

"Your magic is called "Fabulae Heroicae", it is about the legends and fables of heroes and old stories."

"But what does it with the book?"

"With your incantation "Once upon a time.." You summon the book, then you have to call out the fable or legend you want to use. The runes say you can summon something from that then. But you have to know what is part of the legend or fable. So far the only thing that you can call upon is the "Trials of Heracles"."

"But I don´t really understand what summon means."

"Bell, turn into this direction, where nothing except for gras is. Then call the "Trials of Heracles" and speak the name of one of them. We will see what happens then."

"Alright."

The book was still there and Bell could almost feel how it slowly drained his mind power.

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"Trials of Heracles!"

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Bell felt more than strange as the magic triggered. In his mind's eye he saw a wheel made up of images, each representing one of the twelve trials of Heracles.

Slaying the Nemean Lion

Slaying the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra

Capturing the Ceryneian Hind

Capturing the Erymanthian Boar

Cleaning the Augean stables in a single day

Slaying the Stymphalian birds

Capturing the Cretan Bull

Stealing the Mares of Diomedes

Obtaining the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazon

Obtaining the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon

Stealing three of the golden apples of the Hesperides

Capturing and bringing back Cerberus

There was an arrow in the middle. The wheel rotated, so did the arrow, the movement stopped and the arrow pointed to the image of the Erymanthian boar. A wave of power shot through Bell for a moment, he felt strong and the urge to charge forward and slam his head...with his tusks... into something. As if this was the only way he knew how to fight.

Zeus and Miach flinched a tiny bit as Bell started to roar on the top of his lunges. He couldn´t fight this urge, it had to get out of him. Bell felt the fury of an enraged boar inside him!

Something like a golden portal appeared above the book, it looked a bit similar to the ones that appeared when Lena used her chain magic, then a boar of easily two point five meters in height charged with a fearsome squeak out of it and charged forward into the distance. After a hundred meters or so it dissolved into nothing, since there was nothing it could ram. Bell had no words to describe his feeling, but he just felt that the boar would be stronger if it had a bigger target to ram.

The book then disappeared and Bell´s hand was free again.

"By the gods..."

Zeus cheered loud and clapped his hands. "That´s my grandson! That was awesome, Bell!"

Miach laughed a bit. "I can only agree with Zeus, that was quite the sight!"

Alarmed by the noise, Haruhime and Lefiya came running from the town. It wasn´t the boar´s squeak, but Bell´s roar that alarmed them. Sometimes their excellent hearing could be a blessing.

""Bell!""

He turned halfway to them. "It´s alright, I just tested something."

Both stopped close to him, clearly worried.

"What happened?"

"What was that roar and squeak?"

Bell shortly explained to them what happened.

"A new magic? And you have already twelf different versions?"

"Calling out on fables and legends?!" Haruhime´s eyes sparkled when she heard that.

He nodded, grinning.

Then Bell looked at Miach and Zeus.

"But I am a bit confused, does this mean I have now basically fourteen different magic spells?"

Both gods shook their heads, as did Lefiya.

Miach smiled. "Lefiya, would you explain it, please? You have the most knowledge about magic."

"Will do, Lord Miach. So, Bell. No, you don´t have fourteen magic spells. Thunderbolt and Thunder-bolt are two versions of the same spell. Remember the wargame, when I moved my Arc´s ray. Or when I change the trajectory of my fire arrows. When you learn complete control over your magic, you can change the form a bit, but the spell remains the same. Just like Haruhime can do different things with her flames."

"Hm."

"Also, did you test the different versions of the "Trials of Heracles"?"

"Not so far."

"Then you should do it, or do you feel what the other versions do?"

"No, only a slight feeling."

Zeus nodded. "I will go and inform the townspeople that it will get a bit loud here now, so they aren´t startled. Miach, I expect you to stop Bell before something dire happens or he is worn out."

"Sure, don´t worry, Zeus."

After Zeus went to the town, Bell tried to use his magic again, but nothing happened.

"What´s wrong?"

"Hm, I have the feeling...somehow...I have to wait for another minute before I can use it again."

"That would be every five minutes. The question is, is that normal for your magic or just because you used the boar?"

Bell looked at Lefiya and Haruhime.

"Which form should I use next?"

Lefiya shrugged her shoulders, Miach was surprised to see such a simple, yet very un-elven like behaviour. He never saw an elf, man or woman, do something like that. It showed how relaxed and comfortable Lefiya felt around Bell and Haruhime. Then again Lefiya had shown enough "strange" behaviour when it came to Bell. How easily she had snapped and yelled at him in the beginning. Most elves would hold back much more.

"You have to test them out one by one anyway."

It wasn´t that Lefiya didn´t show interest in the magic or what exactly Bell called out for. In the past legends or fables wasn´t part of her interest, but since Bell and Haruhime liked them so much, she started to read into it too. Her favorites were of course old elven legends, like the story of Wishe the Bard or Celdia, the Queen of the Elves from ancient times.

Haruhime on the other hand looked very excited, her tails moved quickly up and down.

"What about the Nemean Lion? I always imagined it to look really impressive and ferocious."

"I guess trying the lion next is as good as any other and since you really want to see it.."

Haruhime smiled like a child, her tails wagged happily into all directions. Lefiya and Bell couldn´t believe how cute and adorable Haruhime could be.

Miach waited a few steps behind Bell, Haruhime was close to Miach, in case something happened or got out of control, Lefiya stood closer to Bell in case he needed help with something.

Bell waited with closed eyes, it made it easier for him to focus on the time when his magic would work again. In his mind he saw the "Herculean Wheel" how he called it, it was dull and grey, but soon it started to flicker and the colors returned.

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"Once upon a time..."

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Inside of Bell´s mind, deep in the land of his dreams, Sowak jumped up from her chair, groaning and complaining.

"I am reading here! Stop making me work so much, Bell!"

As Bell activated his magic, Sowak had to run to the next shelf and pick up the book with the story that he called upon. A great book appeared above her favorite table, made completely out of light. Sowak aimed, ran forward and threw the book she held towards the big book. She had to do something like that every time Bell would call for his magic. Thankfully a spirit didn´t need to sleep...

"Huff..Huff...you are making me work hard, Bell."

Sowak returned to her table and sat down to continue reading her favorite book, the Journey of Argonaut.

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Bell saw the wheel turning in his mind, the images and the arrow rotated in different directions.

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"Trials of Heracles!"

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The wheel stopped with the image of the Nemean Lion on top, the arrow also stopped there and the image started to shine.

Just like with the boar before, a golden portal appeared in front of Bell. But this time his reaction was different.

Lefiya saw a shiver run through Bell, his hair suddenly standing on end, like a cat that made itself bigger than it was. Or rather...like a lion. Instead of just growling, Bell let out a mighty roar, much deeper and stronger than his voice should allow. That roar only became more titanic as a massive lion's head pushed out of the portal, followed by an equally massive body.

The Nemean Lion.

He was even larger than the Erymantic boar. The shoulders reached a height of three meters. The massive lion let out another titanic roar, as did Bell. Bell was almost overcome by the sheer anger and nature of the lion. He felt strong, wild, free, untamed, just like a lion! Just like THE lion!

Bell felt it deep within himself, unlike attacking a large target, like the Erymantic Boar, the Nemean Lion existed to destroy groups of monsters and tear them to shreds!

Haruhime's jaw dropped in amazement, the lion was more majestic than she had ever dreamed! And Bell's roar sent shivers down her and Lefiya's spines!

The lion leaped forward and ran into the distance, where it disintegrated, having nowhere to go.

Bell was still trembling and trembling, his breathing ragged and panting after the magic shot through him. Attracted by the roar and wanting to see what was happening, Zeus came running out of town.

Lefiya saw that Bell didn´t really calm down, she made a careful step forward, maybe something went wrong with his magic?

"Bell?"

He stood slightly bent forward, his shoulders shaking, he panted, his hands twitched.

Lefiya took another cautious step.

"Bell?"

When she stood directly behind him, Bell turned his head in her direction.

"Be-Mf!"

Lefiya had no time to react or evade. Bell suddenly whirled around to her, grabbed her arms, pulled her close and pressed his lips onto hers.

Eeeeh?!

Her eyes widened when Bell kissed her like that, not giving her a chance to back away, not that she wanted to. It somehow felt incredible to get kissed like this suddenly. Normally Bell was so gentle and loving, even when he got a bit more passionate, he was always careful and didn´t go too wild, it just wasn´t in his nature. But now...now! Now Bell kissed her with such strength and force, Lefiya felt her knees getting weak. And the expression in Bell´s eyes! He looked at her like...like...a lion! She felt his hands letting go of her arms, in the next moment his armr had moved around her, hugging her tightly towards his chest and kissing her even more passionate and wild. Lefiya´s brain went into overdrive, but her heart jumped in joy, while her knees got even weaker.

And the way Bell stared into her eyes, she understood it, everything. She was his, Lefiya belonged to him, Bell desired her, he wanted her!

Ah, Bell!

Lefiya felt the kiss getting more intense, she even felt something poking against her lips!

H-H-His tongue?!

For Lefiya it looked like Bell´s eyes were glowing, when she felt his hardened body pressing against her, her legs finally gave in. In the moment that Lefiya sunk to the ground, the lion dissolved in the distance and Bell snapped out of it, getting himself under control again.

His head snapped slightly back before his tongue could enter Lefiya´s mouth. Normally she would think about this as something lewd, but it felt so good...forbidden good...

She landed on her knees and looked like she was in a daze.

"Ah, Lefiya! I´m sorry!"

"Funyah~~~~"

Lefiya looked up to Bell, panting because of the kiss, her cheeks and ears were completely red. Haruhime, who had seen what her lovers had done, was a tiny bit sad that she didn´t stand closer to Bell. While she too liked it when he was gentle and loving, Haruhime longed deep inside of her for Bell to do something like that to her. That would be nice.

Miach was kind enough to look into a different direction when Bell had kissed Lefiya like that. Bell shook his head to get completely clear again.

Zeus had of course seen what Bell had done and of course he had to arrive exactly now.

"Hah! Now that´s truly my grandson! You´re just like your old man, Bell!"

"I didn´t do it on purpose, Grandpa!"

Bell looked worried down. "Lefiya, I´m sorry, are you alright."

Lefiya smiled silly. "Hehe~~ Of course.~~"

It looked like Lefiya still didn´t snap out of the situation. Otherwise she would´ve gotten extremely embarrassed. Not that Bell kissed her this way, but that he had done it in front of Miach and Zeus. Haruhime came closer, not one bit ashamed that she hoped for maybe a similar "accident".

Miach came closer, he was the only one with a worried expression. "Bell, what just happened? You acted completely different from normal."

Bell crouched down next to Lefiya, who still smiled like she was in a dream. When Haruhime too crouched down next to her, Lefiya also smiled at her like that. Haruhime wondered if the kiss felt that good.

"I don´t know, when the magic activated and the lion appeared, I suddenly felt weird. At first so angry, then strong then...then..."

Zeus grinned. "Like a lion?"

"Yes, as if I shared with it what it meant to be a lion."

"Heh, no wonder you "attacked" Lefiya like this. You really looked like a lion."

Miach frowned. "Zeus, this isn´t a laughing matter."

"Ah, don´t be like that, Miach! I bet your captain would also love it if you attacked her like that."

"Zeus..."

"Oh man, you´re no fun. Alright I know that it can be dangerous when the magic has such an effect on Bell. But this environment here is as safe as it can get. So it is the best to test it out here."

"Mh, we have to see if the effect happens again or if Bell will manage to get it under control. Also what the other spells will do to them. Bell, how does your mind feel? Did it drain you a lot?"

"I think I can still go on for a while, I can´t really tell how much it gets from my mind and now I have to wait five minutes anyway. And it helps when Haruhime is close by, her skill reduces my mind cost."

Haruhime was visibly happy that she could help Bell like this, just by being close to him. And she too was extremely curious what the other spells might do to Bell.

Zeus chuckled. "That should give Lefiya enough time to get back to her senses."

It indeed took Lefiya a few minutes...

They continued to test what the spells did to Bell, but non of the others had such an extreme effect onto Bell as the Nemean Lion. Yet, when he casted it again, this time Haruhime ended on the ground. At his third try Bell managed to keep himself sane. Zeus noticed that Lefiya and Haruhime just looked a tiny bit disappointed.

At the same time both were a tiny bit "scared", if Bell would start to kiss them like that while they were still in bed, both didn´t know where this might lead them to. Going further and doing something more adult like was too early for them.

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While Bell continued to train with his magic, Lena went to work while the other women watched, even Cassandra and Daphne. Both had found what Cassandra was looking for pretty fast, now they had decided to join the others.

"Lily has to say you did that really well, Ms. Lena."

Nahza agreed with Lily. "You have skilled hands..."

Chigusa gulped a bit. "And it happened so fast."

Lena smiled slightly. "Of course, there is no need to let the poor thing suffer. You have to make sure they don´t see it coming, it will ruin the taste. Plus I´m not a cruel person."

The cow was already dead. Instead of going to it as a group, they let Lena approach it alone. Lena had held her hand towards the cow´s nose and let it sniff at first, then she gently scratched it´s chin and patted the head until it calmed down. The cow even lay down while Lena sat at it´s head, looking at her with it´s big eyes while Lena gently carressed it. When the cow closed it´s eyes to relaxed more, Lena dealt a swift punch with her right fist and snapped the cow´s neck this way, killing it instantly without it seeing it coming or feeling anything of it.
It was the most gentle way of killing an animal that the others had ever seen. A normal person couldn´t try something like that, but Lena was close to level up to three, so for her something like that was easy.

After she was done, Lena got up to her feet and got her scimitar and a special knife from Mikoto, who held it for her.

"Why are you taking your sword?"

"I´m an amazon, remember? I´ll show you how we do something like that."

Some of the others expected a bloodbath, but Lena was actually really skilled and knew what to do, she handed her scimitar like a big knife. The townspeople had prepared an area where she could butcher the cow, but Lena told them men had to stay away for a reason.

Lily backed a bit away when Lena prepared herself for the task.

"Why are you stripping?!"

"I don´t want blood on my clothes."

"Then use a leather apron!"

"It´s alright, I will keep on my panties. In my homeland, amazons would butcher animals naked. Getting blood out of clothes is so much work."

"You don´t mind it when we´re in the dungeon."

"That is something different, my stuff protects me there."

The others, but Mikoto and Chigusa especially, looked pretty flustered that Lena stripped down only to her panties in front of them. But she was only able to do it since the towns butcher was a woman. Lena´s oath that the only man being allowed to see her naked would be Bete Loga, was as strong as the gates of Knossos.

And then Lena went to work. To let the cow bleed out, she used her scimitar to behead it with one slash after hanging the body up, using a wooden tub to catch the blood, it was important to use absolutely everything. Next, while the cow still bled out, she skinned it. The others could just watch amazed how fast Lena worked, handling her knife and the scimitar easily. The others didn´t even have the knowledge which parts to cut off in which way, but Lena did that easily.

The butcher looked pretty satisfied, she put away the parts that Lena cut off. "You know what you do, young lady."

"Thanks! I trained a lot to become the perfect wife for my hubby!"

"And that includes butchering a cow?"

The sturdy woman raised an eyebrow. Some of the others were surprised that the town´s butcher was a woman, since mostly men did this job. She had laughed and told them her father just didn´t have luck in making a boy, so she had learned everything from him.

"Not just a cow! We amazons know how to butcher many kinds of animals! I have to be able to cook healthy and strong meals for our future children! So that they become strong!"

"Impressive. And what kinds did you have in your home country that we didn´t have h-"

They all turned to the door when they heard shouting and screaming outside. The butcher groaned.

"What is it this time?"

The sturdy woman went outside, Talvi looked really curious.

"Maybe something happened?"

While the chimera girl was a bit green in the face from watching Lena butchering the cow, she was also curious since this was something new for her.

They got their answer a few moments later when the butcher returned.

"Ugh..this was almost to be expected. The demon is back again."

"""""Demon?!"""""

"Yeah, it´s a black monster that lives in the forest over there. A giant serpent. Sometimes when I butcher something and the smell of blood is in the air, it comes closer. This beast is too big and strong for us to fight. The only choice I usually have is throwing the meat outside and hope it is enough."

Lena smiled for some reason. "Did you say a giant black serpent?"

"Yes, it haunts the town for quite a while now."

The others looked worried. "Is this a monster?"

"Most likely."

"Shall we get our equipment?"

Lena grinned wide. "Nope! You all stay here!"

""""Huh?""""

"I will go and hunt this serpent!"

"What?! Why would you go alone?!"

"We should help you!"

Lena shook her head. "You don´t know how to hunt giant serpents. This isn´t the dungeon, monsters out here are different from down there. They are also much weaker."

"But still."

"You would ruin the meat."

"Meat?!"

"Jup, giant serpents are delicious! Sadly it´s a black one, the red ones are much more delicious!"

"You ate monsters?!"

Lena shrugged her shoulders. "Outside of the dungeon and without magic stones are most monsters not different from animals. Since they don´t dissolve into ash, you can actually eat their meat. Done right and it tastes wonderful! I´ll show you!"

All of the others looked a bit shocked, except for Talvi.

"You can eat such a beast? And it tastes good? How exciting!"

Lena showed her a thumbs up. "That´s the spirit!"

"And is it safe to hunt such a beast alone?"

Lena looked to the butcher. "How long is that serpent?"

"About six to seven meters, we never had a chance to measure it..."

Lena whistled. "Nice length, I hope it is thick enough, we will have a feast tonight!"

After she said that, Lena shouldered her scimitar and walked into the direction of the forest.

"See you later!"

"Aren´t you forgetting your clothes?!"

"Nope! Real amazons hunt naked! I´ll show you!"

At least Lena kept her panties on...

Lena went to the tub where they caught the blood, she put down her scimitar next to it, then put her hands into the blood. Afterwards she used her hand to smear the blood onto her chest, shoulders and a bit on the back.

"What are you doing now?!"

"The butcher lady said the serpent reacts to the scent of blood. Also, this way no man can see my bare skin! At least not the important parts! Hah, I´m so smart!"

Lena took her sword again, waved and went to the forest.

Lily sighed. "And off she goes..."

Chigusa looked like she didn´t feel that good. "Is it really alright for us to not go with her?"

"We don´t have our weapons with us, we would have to go back to the inn and get everything."

Nahza went to the door. "I will go and inform Miach and the others, just in case."

The others weren´t sure what to do, thankfully the butcher was there.

"Alright girls, you can help me clean this here up. In case your friend doesn´t get the serpent, it would be safer when you are all around, even without your weapons."

The others agreed. Lily, Mikoto and Talvi could at least use their magic and attack the serpent otherwise. As Lena said, monsters outside of the dungeon were much weaker than those inside, except for the ancient ones.

.

.

Lena couldn´t help but grin as she walked through the forest, her feet easily found a path. She had been five years old when the others had taken her onto her first hunt, that was before she went to Orario. Amazons had to learn early how to fight and hunt their food. Of course she didn´t do much during the first hunting trips, but she learned pretty fast.

And now, to go on a giant serpent hunt again, alone this time, was pretty exciting! And from what she heard it was a pretty big serpent! To give herself an advantage, Lena started to stomp on the ground and jogged. "Nimble One" already reacted when she started to move faster, stomping on the ground would attract the serpent faster. Somehow snakes were able to feel the vibrations in the ground. And the smell of the fresh blood on her body also helped.

It had been a long time since she was able to eat giant serpent. She really wanted to show the others what she could do. And of course train herself again so that Bete would fall for her even more. Despite her excitement of the hunt, Lena felt her cheeks and heart getting warm when she thought about him.

Lena ran deeper into the forest. Not only would the vibrations of her stomping feet attract the serpent, her body would also start to heat up, which would also lure it to her.

Her ears heard the fine noises of the forest. She couldn´t hear the serpent directly, but birds noticed the giant animal and fled from it, so Lena focussed where she couldn´t hear birds or other animals.

And thankfully, the serpent was still a monster, so it was much more aggressive and territorial than a normal animal. Lena didn´t have to look long for the monster, the forest got quiet around her, she still ran fast, but this time in the other direction. Not straight ahead in one direction, Lena ran in this direction, then that. She acted as if she was scared by something, just like a panicked animal would do that was about to get attacked.

When she arrived at a small clearing, too small to be called a glade, only one tree here had fallen down, Lena stopped and slowly looked around. Even when the Giant Black Serpent wasn´t a monster from the dungeon, its kind was a subspecies of the Worm Well, which adventurers called Lambton. And it was a black serpent, so it was stronger than the red ones. While Giant Serpents didn´t have the same holes in their head as the Lambtons, they had horn combs to protect their head. So while these monsters weren´t as strong as a true Lambton, the black ones could still be compared to a monster of the 25th floor, so more than a fair fight for Lena, especially since she was naked and only had her scimitar with her. Like a true amazon should do when she hunted such a prey.

But why was Lena so extremely excited to hunt this serpent? It wasn´t only because of her amazonian blood and the fact that Lena loved to hunt giant serpents or even how good they tasted. No this time it was because it was a serpent. And she was the future wife of Vanargand! Bell had explained to her from where the name came, the legend about the Child of Loki, the Fenris wolf. And he told her about the rivalry of that wolf with Loki´s other child, the World Serpent, Jormungandr. Lena immediatelly understood why Bete always quarreled with the amazon of his familia. He had to prove that he was better than her!

And as his future wife, Lena would prove once and for all that wolves were better than serpents!

Watch me, Bete! Witness me!

There was a slight movement ahead of her, Lena almost stopped to breath so slow did she do it. A movement, no doubt, something big moved in front of her behind a tree. Her scimitar was still sheathed. Lena waited, would it attack from the front? Unseen by her, a long, black tail of a titanic serpent slowly rolled out of the tree behind her, ending in a sharp, hard bone spike. The tail made no noise at all, no leaves rustled.

The tail moved a tiny bit backwards, then it shot towards Lena without making a noise. If that spike would hit her, it would burst out of her chest and kill her immediatelly. Lena bent her extremely flexible body to the side and evaded the spike just barely. She had listened to the smallest sounds, since this tactic wasn´t something new for her. The movement ahead of her came from the head, the serpent did this on purpose to distract the prey from the tail. Lena made a fist and hammered it with her full strength into the spike from the side, shattering the bone there. It was a trick that another amazon taught her in the past. This black serpent couldn´t know this, but now it got really angry.

It didn´t take long for the serpent to explode out of the bushes and attack her head on. And what a serpent that was! A really big one! Otherwise it wouldn´t be able to use the tactic it had used.

Lucky!

This fight would get interesting for Lena, since she couldn´t risk slashing the serpent all over, it would ruin the meat and the skin! She charged at the serpent head on, the jaws of the monster opened unnaturally wide, it was a snake type after all. Lena rammed her hands against the upper and lower jaws without hurting herself at the fangs. Holding it back for a moment, before she moved herself to the side and slammed the serpent´s head to the ground. Stopping to move would mean "Nimble One" would reset. Since the serpent was so angry that it got hurt and was in full movement, it´s head slammed into a tree, shaking it violently. With an enraged hiss, the serpent´s head shot around and went at Lena again, at the same time the broken tip of the tail shot towards her again. Even when it was hurt, it would use this weapon. Instead of trying to block the head, Lena let herself push backwards by it, evading the tail tip barely. The serpent tried to slam her against a tree, but Lena´s feet found the tree first, she used all of her strength to push back and ran up backwards at the same time. The serpent bent it´s body up, but Lena kicked herself off the tree, pulled the head with her, turned her body around and slammed the head onto the ground, with the horn combs first, in a perfect german suplex, changed to work with the serpent.

All amazons learned how to fight barehanded, even monsters. And Lena loved this move called "German Suplex", the name and technique apparently came originally from a god. She had already done that in the past to smash the head of a poor Al´Miraj, after showing Bete how cute it looked.

Before the serpent could recover, Lena grabbed the head and ran forward, smashing it into the next tree, breaking a huge part out of the trunk. The serpent recovered and attacked Lena with a rapid series of snapping jaws and the tail. Lena still didn´t use her scimitar. In fact she had dropped it close to a tree, at first she had to fight the serpent with her hands, to make it dizzy. Eventually the serpent managed to sling the tip below the bone spike around Lena´s ankle. Immediatelly the serpent started to coil around Lena with immense speed. Lena tensed her muscles and held against the enormous strength of the monster.

"Nice trick, won´t help you though."

The serpent opened it´s maw wide to devour Lena in one piece.

.

.

.

The others waited close to the forest, in case Lena wouldn´t find the black serpent and it would really come towards the town. While Nahza went to inform Miach and the others, Mikoto went to the inn to get their weapons. Talvi didn´t have one so far, but in case she could use her magic to defend herself and help the others. Talvi´s magic sounded interesting, Lena had of course made a naughty joke about it when she heard what Talvi could do.

Talvi had a skill and special magic. With her magic she could summon tendrils, roots and vines. On a gras field like here, they would simply shoot out of the ground. But not only that, Talvi was also able to use the leaves that these vines had to shoot them forward, like razor leaves.

Her magic was called "Call of Nature".

Lena had at first joked that Talvi was probably pretty naughty since she could summon tentacles, afterwards she complained that Talvi was a copy cat, for copying her chain magic in a way. But what Talvi summoned worked different.

With her skill, Talvi could talk to nature, like trees and plants, with animals not so far. Even Talvi herself didn´t know what that meant, she didn´t have time so far to test it. Since having a skill and using or mastering it where two completely different things. But she was happy and excited to have it! And that as soon as she got Miach´s blessing!

To kill a bit time, Talvi gave in to her curiosity.

"How is it to go into the dungeon? Is it fun?"

Chigusa shook her head. "I wouldn´t call that fun. Maybe interesting, but not fun."

Lily nodded in agreement. "Fascinating, sometimes exciting. But no, never what Lily would call fun."

"Hm, I still would love to see it one day."

"When you come with us, you most like will. Can you fight, Ms. Talvi?"

She nodded enthusiastic. "I trained a lot to be able to defend myself and Lord Zeus told and showed me even more!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "But he didn´t touch you in any inappropriate manner?"

"Of course not, Lord Zeus was really nice and charming!"

Talvi looked then a little bit sad for a second, before she smiled again. "Lord Zeus was the first person to be really nice to me. All the other people I met so far were not so nice...some even called me a monster."

Mikoto showed a grim look. "How cruel, just because you are different?"

"Have you ever seen an animal person with horns or antlers?"

Mikoto shook her head. "But that doesn´t mean they don´t exist somewhere. I never saw a werewolf before I went to Orario. And you saw Haruhime, people are just different."

"Thank you, Ms. Mikoto."

When Talvi started to smile genuienly, something interesting happened. The gras around her grew a bit, a few flowers bloomed. It was a magical sight.

"Huh? How did this happen?" She looked as confused as she looked happy.

Talvi didn´t really know what to make out of her skill and magic or even how to use them. But Miach had mumbled something about a druid. Some might think it could be because Miach´s myth had something to do with plants, healing plants. But it didn´t work that way, these things came from Talvi´s soul. Maybe it was because she was such a unique being and this way close to nature. In any case it made Talvi really happy so see something so beautiful just because she was feeling good.

They waited for a while, at some point Nahza returned, with the others behind her. Lefiya and Haruhime both had one of Bell´s arms around their shoulders, helping him to walk. It looked like he was nearly completely drained of his mind. Bell had tried most of the parts of his new magic and it was really exhausting. But it felt nice that Haruhime and Lefiya helped him like that. When they arrived, both helped Bell to sit down, then Haruhime sat down next to Bell, offered him her thighs as his pillow and let him rest this way. Two of her tails curled around and gently touched his arms, while she carressed his forehead and hair with her left hand. Lefiya sat down next to them, holding one of Bell´s hands with both her of hands. No one of her familia, especially not Filvis, was allowed to know that Lefiya did something so "lewd" so openly.

Takemikazuchi arrived with the men shortly after. Most of them were armed now, just in case.

And then...they waited.

.

.

.

About an hour later, they noticed birds rising up from the forest, in a way as if something was moving towards them. Slowly...

Eventually, something appeared from between the trees.

It was...

An amazon.

An amazon that was completely drenched in blood, red from head to toe. A scimitar hang at her hip, while she dragged something behind her. When Lena came out between the trees, she raised her right hand, showing them all the head of the black serpent, the head was bigger than her upper body.

And then...Lena howled.

She raised the serpent´s head up as high as she could, throwing her head back and howled. Screaming out her victory and her succesful hunt. Just as a true amazon would do. She bent her extremely flexible body backwards, they saw the red blood of the serpent glistening on her body.

Lena howled.

Louder and louder did she howl, screaming up to the heavens, trying to scream so loud that even her beloved in Orario would hear her. She shook her head from one side to the other, shaking the serpent´s head and screamed even louder, while she hammered her free fist onto her chest.

It should be impossible for a mortal to scream that loud. When the howl reached it´s peak, Haruhime, Nahza and Lefiya had to cover their ears, even when they were about two hundred meters away from Lena. Lena didn´t howl like an amazon anymore, it sounded as if a titanic wolf was howling now. Almost...like the true Fenrir, the Wolf of Ragnarök.

All of them witnessed this way how Lena got her new skill.

Howl of the Fenris-Wolf

Lena loved Bete Loga so much, was so focussed on showing him that she could howl as he was able to, that Lena literally had learned how to howl! And of course, the...in her eyes...future wife of Vanargandr had to howl like a wolf! Her love for him knew no end and the fight with the giant serpent let her blood pump and her heart jump. It had been a while since Lena felt truly like an amazon. And since the blood covered all of her body, the men couldn´t see her naked skin. It was a tradition from her home country, to cover herself with the blood of a worthy prey. The men of the group still turned around, Haruhime covered Bell´s eyes with one of her tails.

The body of the giant serpent had a weight of over three hundred kilograms, but Lena still was able to drag it with her, the strength of an upper level two adventurer was no joke. In fact, this giant serpent had been extremely strong, despite not having a magic stone inside it. And since Lena had limited herself to exactly one slash, which had beheaded the serpent, this fight had been a deed worthy enough that even the present gods had to acknowledge it.

Which meant...

After her next status update, this afternoon, the Miach familia would have a level three member!

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.

.

The head of the giant serpent got rammed onto a spear and put up in the middle of the town, so that every person living there could see that the "demon" was dead. Lena needed help to wash all the blood from her body and out of her hair. Haruhime helped her as good as possible. Lena couldn´t stop grinning and shaking from happiness.

The serpent was bigger than the townspeople had thought. It had an overall length of nine meters, a girth of over one meter and a weight of over three hundred kilogram.

"Haaaaaah!~~~~ Haru-Haru! I can´t tell you how good that felt! To hunt like that! I feel so good!"

Haruhime chuckled. "I guess even Aisha will be impressed."

"Of course! But what matters is that Bete Loga will be impressed!"

Haruhime washed the blood out of Lena´s hair. "There is no way he won´t be impressed of you, Lena."

"Do you really think so?!"

"Of course I do."

"Hehe~~ I have to prepare the serpent, he has to taste my serpent dish! He will be all over me!"

Haruhime chuckled. "I guess."

After Lena was clean again, she ran back to the butcher, where she had dropped the serpent´s body. Again no man was allowed nearby, thankfully Lena had more than one pair of panties with her, since the other was still drenched in blood and had to soak in a tub of soap.

This time the butcher couldn´t help Lena even if she wanted to, since she had no experience how to butcher such a beast. But Lena knew it all too well. Haruhime gulped while she watched with Mikoto and Chigusa. Butchering such a serpent was something different from a cow, that was why Lena did it completely naked this time and she got blood on her body again.

And so after the next shower, Lena dressed herself and immediatelly started to cook, while the whole serpent´s skin was given to the town´s tanner to process it. But Lena would keep the skin and the meat that would remain, it was her trophy after all. That and the two biggest fangs of the serpent. Not one of the others knew what to expect of serpent meat, but Lena surprised them all.

This time she got help from Haruhime, Chigusa, Mikoto and Talvi. Talvi mostly cut the onions, since she had a really special skill when it came to that, Talvi didn´t have to cry when she cut onions! Of course they didn´t use all the meat, that would be too much. So the butcher took care of the rest to preserve it. According to Lena, some of the meat had a better taste when it had a while to develop it´s taste.

And there were three special parts of the serpent that Lena wouldn´t give to anyone. The first two were the heart and the brain, since she had hunted the giant serpent, it was her right to eat these parts. This way she would absorb the bravery and the cunning nature of the serpent. The last part was the one that tasted the absolute best and she would preserve it to serve it to Bete. And not only did it taste the best, it had a special effect on men if done right. Lena simply explained to the four that they were by no means ready to let a man eat this special meat.
Talvi was a bit confused what Lena meant, but Haruhime knew Lena well enough, Mikoto and Chigusa started to know her, so the three got what Lena implied.

When Talvi finally understood what Lena meant, she wasn´t flustered, more really excited and fascinated that a simple dish could do something like that. Of course it wasn´t a simple dish, to make it in the way that Lena desired it needed a lot of work. So while the three far eastern girls were flustered, Talvi was excited to learn new things.

And while Haruhime helped Lena to cook, Lefiya couldn´t fight the desire that had grown in her after Bell kissed her like that. She had gone on a walk with Bell, her ears burning in shame since she only did it to be alone with him. Now they both lay in the tall gras and kissed passionately.

S-Screw reason...this feels too good!

Lefiya really had become a naughty elf since she met Bell and Haruhime for the first time. But a fire had also been ignited in Bell, kissing like that felt really nice.

.

.

The group would stay for three additional days in the town, then it would be time to travel back to Orario. They couldn´t know that things started to get tense in the city.

And that Alfia was about to "destroy" the Astrea familia.

.

.

"Goddess Astrea."

"Alfia?"

"I require the use of the kitchen, alone."

Astrea smiled gently. "Oh? Might I ask the reason."

Alfia raised an eyebrow. "Bell of course. I have to sharpen my skills again or they will become dull."

"Hm, I see no problem there, the others are in the city anyway. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Alfia remained silent for a few moments, it was answer enough.

Astrea giggled. "Then have fun in the kitchen, but please don´t burn down the house."

Alfia just went to the kitchen. To sharpen her skills she would make dinner for the familia today, someone had to test it and the Astrea familia made excellent guinea pigs for her.

When they returned home, the members of the familia would at first get excited to find a very fine dinner waiting for them. Then every single member of them that could cook would get completely devastated. Again Alfia proved that she was a cheat to the world, her cooking skills were far beyond everything the Astrea familia could do.

Even Maryuu, who was the best cook in her familia, would have her pride not hurt, but completely destroyed by Alfia. When she looked with tears in her eyes to Alfia, the closed eyes of Bell´s Mom told her everything.

Know your place.

Astrea was fascinated that even with an "Act of Kindness" Alfia managed to give them such an emotional damage.

.

.

.

When Bell went to sleep this night, he went to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon again. But this time it was quite noisy there. He couldn´t believe his eyes at first, a small earthquake moved towards him, then the Erymanthian Boar charged towards him, then past him and continued to run around the giant bibliothek. Other forms of his new magic were also in that giant building. The Nemean Lion roared from a balcony, while the other images were somewhere else.

But what really shocked Bell was when he found Sowak again. She didn´t sit at a table or on a chair. Sowak sat on the ground, leaned against an enormous, three headed dog, while she read another book.

"Oh, Bell! Welcome back! I can´t thank you enough for letting me have so much company!"

"Company?"

"Jup! Ever since you used your magic, they appeared here and remain here when you don´t call them. I look forward what else you will call in the future! And Cerry is so soft and fluffy!"

"Cerry?"

Sowak nodded, he thought she was smiling, but she was still a shadow. She patted the head of Cerberus that was next to her, apparently the Guardian of Hades had taken a liking to her.

"Hah..."

Life truly could be strange. And Bell still didn´t know how happy he made Sowak, to give her the chance to be around the stories she loved so much. But there was one thing that Bell noticed. He could see Sowak´s hands now.

She wore leather gloves that let her fingers free. When he looked closer it looked more like leather bracers and that she wore something black around her hands, maybe the end of a body suit?

"Bell?"

"I...can see your hands."

"Hm? Oh! Heheh~~~ That means you slowly know me better. But you still don´t know how I really look. Such a shaaaame~~~"

Sowak was really happy go lucky.