Bell wondered how things went so wrong, so fast... Life had been as good as it honestly could: He had been doing progress at breakneck speeds, despite his disease that, ever since having the falna, he had a much easier time managing it. In fact, his control over his magic had been getting better than ever, he could even spread the veil through an object or someone else!
He couldn't wait until he could tell Tiona about his progress and his later dives! He secretly hoped to find her half way through the return trip, since he wasn't allowed on the expedition she was currently in, though now, he REALLY wished she was here...

A landform from overhead cleaved at his neck, but he dodged it in the nick of time, letting it shave off just finger off of his hair.
What was currently trying to murder him? The minotaur that decided to appear on the 5th floor, truly a borderline insane occurrence, one that even still happened to be in Bell's path.
He knew that he couldn't fight the beast head on, so he used the best tactics he could.

"Eden's Veil!" He chanted as he deactivated his current enchant, feeling his muscles strain as he used his dangerous advantage to make his blade meet the minotaur's ribs as he ran around the beast. The monster tried to counter attack by splitting the adventurer's head in two, but Bell just parried the weapon in it's hands, using skill and status, trying too hard to maintain grip on his sword from the impact, feeling his arm burn from the sensation of thousands of needles pierce it. He jumped back and did what he could to try and disengage from the fight, but the bull was not having it, he was being pushed to the corner, he wouldn't be able to escape it.

Bell knew that, burning all his time without the protection of his veil would be the only way to wound the monster enough in order to run away from it... Focusing his attacks on the legs and knees of the hulking mass of fur and muscle. His falchion was swung low yet hit only the broad side of the minotaur's landform, which was now buried in the ground, giving the adventurer a critical opportunity. He thrusted the sword into the bull's face, aiming for the eyes but narrowly missing it thanks to a desperate attempt to redirect the blow that was coming, making it wound it's arm with a large and deep gash, which gave Bell an idea...

It isn't as strong as Ais or Tiona... This isn't a duel... But it's MORE than winnable... The last part seemed to bellow deep in his head, he could do this... If he couldn't challenge himself... How could he hope to reach his goals?... How could he hope to level up?... How could he hope to continue adventuring?... How could he hope to... Survive? No, he could do this, he WOULD do this... His entire being screamed for it, He needs to kill this minotaur, after all, he was the better fighter, he would just need to not panic and adapt.

The falchion in the young hero's hand was sent to slash at the weakened arm of the giant bull, it dodged but that small gesture already signified a small victory for Bell. He was a terrific swordsman and would squeeze the momentum he gained for everything it is worth. His attacks picked up speed and even though his fragility was more than amplified thanks to his choice of betting it all on defeating this monster, Bell needed to make use of his pseudo limit off.

Stringing attacks into harsh combinations that oppressed his opponent into a corner, the adventurer didn't need to hit or wound his target, he could end it all with one hit, all he needed to do was make sure that hit would happen, in other words, he needed to push the beast into his trap. Be it by feint or thrust, slash or pommel strike, he was determined to do it, Bell was quite the strategist, at least when he was dueling someone or now... Something.

The barren walls were the sole witness of the duel happening in that lonely hall. The land form on the minotaur's hand was getting slowly chipped as Bell's unwavering desire bared it's fangs. Waiting until the monster's balance was off in order to send down on it's knees. The silvery glint of his blade dashed downwards through the beast's foot, taking it out as fast as he could, he swiftly prepare to stake his falchion through the skull of his enemy... Or at least... He tried to.

An excruciating pain overcame him, sprouting from his lungs, stealing him off all air, spreading to his muscles, stopping him in his tracks, his own legs were failing to support him and his sickly coughs returned to haunt him at this last step of the fight, if he can't help himself back up... The minotaur had easy prey. D-DAMN IT... MOVE... PLEASE! Bell tried but it wasn't enough, his arms didn't obey his orders and his legs could not hear his commands... So he chanted:

"E-Eden's... V-veil..." He barely spoke the words and relief already coursed through his body. Bell was skilled, but he was foolish to think that he could just disregard his sickness like this, the minotaur thought so too, as it charged at him at top speed running until it's horns impacted his abdomen, piercing his body and damaging a few good organs, though he couldn't feel which were torn as in his last attack against the creature before passing out, he thrusted his sword into it's side, breaking the beast's magic stone...

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The expedition was painfully boring, Bell wasn't there to tell her stories and nothing truly happened either way, she did managed to get enough drops to pay back the money she owned... To Bell... Turns out that being secretly one of the richest people in Orario made him quite generous, often helping to pay for some weapons and staffs... Even Riveria had borrowed money from him, though that was only once and he was paid back quickly enough.

Tiona was most certainly not paying attention to most of the return trip. That was, until they met the minotaurs... Bete had to be the lazy ass he is... She thought, walking along the path that the minotaur went, scared by their... Less than intelligent party member... At the sounds of fighting stopped... Whoever killed it must be a level two to take that long... Still I need to check up on whoever is there. But the amazon never finished that thought, as the adventurer who did kill the monster was none other than...

"BELL!?" She ran up to him, seeing the state he was in and not hesitating to gently grab him up and bolt out of the dungeon, knowing that he couldn't be helped by healing spells alone. His light armour was damaged, his body bruised and cut, and his already pale skin that was only given color by terrible dark spots was even whiter than before, his only saving grace was that, when destroying the monster's stone, the horn that impaled him became a stable drop item, stopping him from bleeding out on the floor, granting him a chance to live on...

The scene cause quite the commotion as the famous adventurer held an unconscious nobody to the Dian Cetch familia's headquarters and hospital, Airmid being his only potential hope as far as Tiona knew.

Thankfully his uncanny luck had struck again, she was available in the moment, being able to bring him into emergency operation on the hands of the most qualified healer in Orario, and also one of the only facilities that could help him without using magic, since it would only harm him anyway.

Airmid rushed him to the operating room leaving Tiona alone in the waiting room, with her familia still in the dark. W-why it had to be him!... DAMN YOU BETE! I WILL KILL YOU IF… IF… FUCK! Tiona was angry, that much was pointless to say. Surely, angry, but scared. She didn't expect to see her best friend, well, maybe something a bit more than just her best friend, almost dead on the ground. It reminded her of the darker times where she and her sister were still in that damned arena… She couldn't afford to loose another friend… and most importantly, not Bell.

After a nervous thirty minutes passed, she was still yet to hear any good news, but yet to hear anything bad either so… That was a start. Tiona felt powerless… She wanted to help him… But she could do nothing. Eventually, though, a hand came to rest up9n her shoulder, looking up from the bench she sat at, Tiona saw the gentle smile of a familiar high elf.

"Riveria?"

"He really is a handful at times isn't he?" The woman just asked like a matter of fact, it actually surprised her, the contact was bizarre, elves weren't known for their close bonds, in fact, elven culture is synonymous with coldness and distance between your peers

"Yes… He is."

"You know, I remember when I first found him, I had to take him here as he was coughing blood, barely breathing. His disease is a terrible one."

"I've heard the story from him…"

The eyes of the high elf seemed to widen the tiniest bit. "Have you? Good, you two are closer than I thought."

"W-what do you mean!?" Tiona knew what it implied, and she wouldn't mind it, in fact she would love it.

"He hates the story, he dislikes when people feel sorry or take pity on him, ergo, if you heard it, then he values you more, or simply trusts that you will see him for what he is. That's just how he is."

"I… Suppose it was obvious…" The amazon was a little upset to have to hear this from someone else… And not realizing it on her own.

"It wasn't, Bell cares about you a lot, but even he hasn't told Tione or Ais." Riveria loomed a bit warmer and asked:

"Be kind to him once you see him, he just defeated a minotaur from what I've heard, he deserves to celebrate, besides!" Her expression seemed to darken a bit. "He will have to talk to his mother about this reckless behavior."

"I will Riveria… I am just worried…"

"So am I…"

They didn't speak much from there, both waiting to see any good news, news that they only received an hour after, when Airmid appeared. The healer's eyes were tired and her clothes dirty with blood, that wasn't on the normal protocol of a hospital…

"It's not that big of an emergency, he will pull through as long as he gets an update, he is stable but that won't last for long, he will be placed under heavy observation until then, we need your goddess' help."

Neither Tiona nor Riveria took long to run back to the twilight manor, Airmid immediately returning back into the disinfection room.

By the time Loki had been pulled off her office and into the streets, Bell's condition threatened to worsen, but thankfully it never did, though his body had terrible trouble healing wounds, his falna would help, as long as his status update strengthened his body and not weaken it.

The goddess of mischief's arrival was quick, they needed to reach Bell and do the update, all while praying that the boy's status wouldn't decay from his struggles, a very real possibility that they dared not think of.

Piercing the tip of her finger, Loki let her blood fall into the unconscious adventurer's back, the runes started to glow as the deity just laughed…

"Why am I not surprised…" Loki just said with a sigh, leaving the rest of the people on the room to wonder what she was talking about, after a few seconds the runes were closed and the light disappeared.

"I just hope I chose right…"

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Bell woke up tired, his limbs were heavy and unresponsive, he couldn't see light from the windows of the room so he figured that it was night already, the question was how many days had passed? Surely not much more than two or three days? Wait a minute…

Illuminated by the faintest of moonlight rays, the sleeping form of someone VERY dear to Bell could be seen on a chair next to his bed, snoring lightly with a tiny smile on her face. After grasping for the cup of water that someone left on his bedside, Bell decided to give her some rest too, who knows how many hours she had to sleep… It couldn't hurt to fall asleep again too… He was still too tired.

Letting his head hit the pillow once again, he closed his eyes, happy to be safe and being greeted by that face. Letting himself drift off to sleep, his happiness to be alive and tiredness from his recovering body not allowing him to think more than that, he needed the rest.

Bell woke up later, around noon, straightening himself on the hospital bed, his sheets fell to his waist as he revealed the nasty bandage on his midsection, he would need to change it soon Bell reckoned, though his thoughts were stopped by the warm hug that wrapped him around him.

"Young man, I believe you owe me some explanation." That strict voice sent a chill down his spine, but he knew how to disarm it, that was his mother after all...

"Good morning mom, I suppose you want to hear about what happened, I'm sorry but I couldn't run away."

"Loki damn it! I know that Bell, you were never supposed to fight that monster! It was an accident on the expedition, that stupid mutt thought that the minotaurs running away from him were funny… I should be the one that's sorry…" The elf replied, yet the boy deflected her apologies.

"Then let's worry about that later. Still I'm here and that is all that matters."

"Indeed it is…"

The silence was normal to them, hardly did they need many words to understand each other, even now that some things need to be said:

"So… How is Tiona? When I woke up she was sleeping on the chair by my side."

"Fine I reckon, could barely exchange places with me but otherwise she is worried sick, she was the one that found you, you know?"

"I thought so. It wasn't clear, my vision and hearing were… Well blurry at best… But I can vaguely recall her voice… Concern seemed to be the least of it, but that's that, I have more to talk to her about now more than ever…"

That piqued his mother's interest, after all, she could very well get a daughter-in-law, and with how long those two had been friends, she knew that it would be sooner rather than later.

"Oh! Is that so? Then I suppose it's best I leave the room, she should be coming back right around now, good luck!"

With that Riveria had left the room, Bell understood the small push and sat patiently on his hospital bed, hopefully his check up would be later in the day.

His idle anticipation was far more painful than the minotaur's attack, but he could calm himself enough to think clearly… Going over what he needed to tell her, he muttered to himself:

"I can't just thank her enough… But… No this needs to be done right…"

Minutes passed before a defeated knock on the door was heard, it opened slightly, as the familiar face of the optimistic warrior peeked into the room and saw the now awake boy, she quickly ran up to Bell's bed and all but threw herself at him, holding him down as if he would leave her in an instant.

"I'm here Tiona…"

"You idiot…"

"I know… But, can you hear me out? Just for a bit…"

"O-of course Bell." The amazon replied, still pressing her head against his chest.

"Great… Because I don't think I can ever thank you enough… Neither can I describe in words what I need to say. Tiona…"

She lifted her head neither daring to look away, it didn't take long until she understood and through the first few tears that appeared on her face, not unlike the morning dew, she tackled him into a deeper hug and stole his lips for herself.

After a hot and brief moment of happiness, they separated themselves from each other. The needy expression in Tiona's face revealed her hesitation in stopping.

"I think we took our time, didn't we?"

"No more dilly-dallying you dummy, as for your thank you, I expect a good date lasting well into the night by the end of the month!"

"Of course… My love?"

"We can think of better nicknames later, you will have a whole week of cuddles too! The moment you get out of the hospital I'm not letting you go!"

"Neither will I…"

The now couple fell into blissful silence, happy and content that they finally got together, despite there being no barriers between the two's relationship.

However, all good things must come to an end, and so did their moment as Airmid entered the room not expecting to see the couple, and misinterpreted the situation HARD.

"AAAAAHH!?"

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It took a bit to calm her down and make her realize her grievous mistake. Even more time was waisted on Bell's scheduled check up but Airmid did in fact note that he was almost good to go, the boost in his healing was in no uncertain terms attributed to his level up, though he didn't even knew about it nor thought it possible until a very particular incident:

"Mr. Bell, can you please lift this small cup here?" Airmid had asked the boy, who extended his arm in order to grasp the paper cup she showed him, only to completely crush it accidentally, splashing water over him.

"Hmmm, weird you were only supposed to test your flexibility. Did you level up?"

"Loki isn't here… She could answer that. I'm afraid I'm in the dark here… Though my stats weren't far from it, perhaps I did, though that would be ridiculous I've barely started adventuring! I only ever trained before these last few months!"

"It's only a lack of strength control, doesn't surprise me considering what you went through, your muscles may need some more time to heal."

"Yeah! But still want to test it?"

"What do you mean Tiona?"

"I would appreciate it if you did not encourage my patient to exert unnecessary physical force."

"No no! Just look at it like this! Bell, try to squeeze my hand! As hard as you can."

"O-okay?"

He did as told and Tiona, while obviously not feeling any pain, did notice that he was getting stronger, though she soon realized that she couldn't really tell whether or not he leveled up…

"We might need Loki here…"

As if some divine intervention had happened, the red head burst into the room revealing the rest of the group waiting in the corridor, Alicia and Riveria, Finn and gareth, Raul, Anakitty and Tione and a few others too.

"HA! I knew you two had to get together soon! Finn, you owe me a bottle!"

"Damn it!"

"YOU IDIOTS WERE BETTING ON THEM!?"

"Come on! You don't even know if they are together!"

"H-HAND HOLDING ALREADY!? How l-lewd…"

"Glad to see you are alright Bell!"

The voices were VERY out of place in a hospital, but before Airmid could put the loud crowd down for a moment, something far more sinister occurred… Bell signaled for the healer to stand down, sat upright on his bed and, after Tiona cowered behind him, he became a mirror of the image that struck fear in the hearts of Hera familia so many years ago…

"WILL ANY OF YOU SHUT UP? THIS IS A HOSPITAL FOR YOUR KIND'S SAKE!" Bell interrupted, the last part being aimed at Loki herself, with her gulping out loud.

Airmid, despite having been warned, was still wondering how this seemingly fragile and gentle young man could be so terrifying.

"S-Sorry Airmid! It won't happen again, Bell…"

"It better not, Loki. Anyways we wanted to ask, how was my status update? I reckon it can't be a negative one… But that isn't always guaranteed at all…"

"I understand, why don't you have a look here?" She passed him a sheet of paper, his status had been transcribed late after the update but the things that changed… They COULD NOT be mistaken.

Name: Bell Cranell

Belongs to: Loki familia

-Level: 2-

-Stats:-

Strength: 0

Dexterity: 0

Endurance: 0

Magic: 0

-Magic:-

-Eden's Veil-

-Roar of the spark:-

("Bolt forth") An electric cleave of thunder and lightning coming from legendary figures of old. Can be charged for extra mind consumption and increased damage.

-Skills:-

-Silent curse-

-Clown's March-

"A-Already? I… And knew magic too?"

"Yes sir! It seems someone smashed through Ais's record!" Was the reply from his goddess, all too giddy to have more material to boast in the gatherings of the gods. "I guess it was to be expected of you, but that is more than reason to celebrate!"

"I can't deny that, but still keep in mind he is still in the hospital and in no state to leave soon!" The one who said that, was the boy's mother. Who, for now, dropped her anger with the two idiots that made bets on her son and his possible partner.

"Indeed lady Riveria, his wounds were quite severe and bloodless didn't help him, however, you still might recover in a week, granted that's being quite optimistic and reliant on your sickness not flaring up anytime soon…"

"That's already enough Airmid, thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, that's just my job, anyway I will leave you and your familia alone, just make sure to follow the rules and visitation hours."

The head healer of the hospital left shortly after, leaving Bell to the questions of his familia, mainly about the minotaur, though some were not so closely related to the incident… It didn't take long until Tione came up to him and her sister and had to ask

"When is the wedding?"

"Really? Already asking that?" Bell responded, ever immune to the teases and jokes by virtue of not caring. He looked to his side, his partner didn't seem to take it so well, but not in a bad way.

"It will take as long as it needs to, we are not in a rush." Tiona said, still giddy from the thought but she understood that it was too soon.

"So that's your confirmation then?"

"Were you expecting an official pronunciation on the matter perhaps?"

"Take care of her Bell."

"You act as if it were needed to say this."

"Y-yeah sis…"

It was a cute reaction, but one welcomed by the party of adventurers in the room, eventually the talk started to go to other topics, from the expedition to how the rabbit-like adventurer was doing, things seemed pretty happy.

Though his pale skin now held one more great scar upon it and his recovery exhausted him from the stress that his disease would put on his weakened body, the boy averted a far worse fate, his sickness stopped most potions from working, often giving him side effects that would hurt him more, so the saving grace that was Airmid's regenerative magic and Bell's luck to be found quickly, made his punctured organs salvageable.

"You know, Bell, now that I think about it… How long have you been using Eden's Veil for? You must be rather tired."

"Well… Not really, I suppose the level up is helping that too. I have a few good hours remaining, enough to last me until sleep. That being said I wonder too… There are many new possibilities that I must go over with this new spell, even if I haven't used it yet."

"If you want, I could take you to the dungeon to experiment."

"I would like that Tiona."

The others had begun to leave sometime soon, Tiona being the exception, eventually it was just them again, and they fell into their usual conversations,