An ungodly screech fills the dungeon, and a wave of fear and dread fills every adventurer, as if the dungeon itself had it out for their eradication. Some scream in panic and try to flee. A large monsterous creature quickly appears in front of the fleeing adventurer's; its piercing red eyes glare down at its meal as the adventurers shake in terror.
Quicker than the blink of an eye, the whole group was cut into pieces of body parts. Blood stains the stone floor and wall, and the large behemoth creature turns its hunger-filled gaze towards a young man with white hair.
He shakes in fear of seeing the red eyes staring into his soul. He flinches his leg, causing the creature to appear in front of him, raising one of its large, skeletal-like hands. Quickly, without any thought, his twin brother quickly moves and shoves him out of the way.
"BELL!" He shouts as he shoves his brother; the large hand is brought down where Bell was and leaves a crator. It quickly crawls after its new prey, like a spider would if it had something in its web.
Bell quickly raises his hand as he sees the large beast approach them. His brother follows suit and raises his own hand.
"FIRE-BOLT/LIGHTNING BOLT!" Both shout as they fire off their own magic attacks in hopes of damaging the beast. A large flash covers the open area as both are thrown backwards.
"Wh-what just happened?" Bell asks from the ground as he looks up to see a translucent shield radiate around the creature's face and body. Both young men quickly scrambled to their feet. Bell reaches for his dagger on the small of his back while his brother reaches for one of his damaged short swords on his back.
Its gaze looks between the two brothers before focusing on Bell. In an instant, Bell felt weightless as he's thrown away as the monster appears in front of where he once was. His eyes widen as he sees his brother's arm fly through the air.
The world seems to slowly stop as everyone that's left stands shocked to see what just transpired. Blood begins to shoot out of his now stump of an arm like a geyser would as it releases pressure.
Before he could even release a scream or utter a word, the monster appeared in front of him again.
"GET OUT OF THERE!" Bell and a beautiful Elven girl shout towards him, but it's too late. The monster swung its tail towards the young adventurer and connected with his neck. A loud and sickening cracking noise fills the cavern as he's sent flying.
The surroundings around Bell seem to disappear as he stares at his brother as he flies through the air. The only noise he can hear is his own heartbeat getting louder and louder. He starts to hyperventilate as his unmoving body slams into the ground.
The last thing the young adventurer sees is his brother and that beautiful elven girl before the world around him goes dark.
"LEO!"
4 Months earlier...
In a dark tunnel, two white-haired young men leapt away from each other. One lunges forward with a shortsword and stabs through a goblin's chest. The monster flails around and swipes its claws at the one holding the sword. His brother quickly runs up and leaps into the air. He spins his body slightly and kicks the monster in the back of the head. A sickening crunch sound reaches their ears as the monster falls limp on the blade.
"Nice double team, Bell." He says this, smiling at his brother, as Bell pulls his sword free and lets out a chuckle.
"It's how we've always done things. Remember the goblin hoard we fought near the village?" He says that as he carves the magic stone out of the green humanoid monster's chest, his brother nods his head.
"How can I forget? We got roughed up pretty badly; grandpa had to save us." He says this, smiling. Bell slowly stands up and shows off the magic stone.
"How many of these do we have?" Bell asks, and he watches as his brother opens the small pouch he has on his waist and silently counts the stones he has.
"10 goblin stones, and a few teeth. I think luck's on our side, little brother." He said it with a smirk, causing Bell to look at him with a deadpan look on his face.
"Not this again, Leo. We're twins for heaven's sake." He said, with an annoyed aura around him, Leo lets out a laugh and puts his arm around Bell's shoulder.
"I know, I know; I just like messing with you. It's not only my job as a brother, but a twin has to be EXTRA annoying sometimes."
They both share a laugh as more monsters suddenly spawn around them. Leo and Bell share a look and give one another a nod. They quickly broke off from each other to confuse the goblin's. Leo leaps into the air and flips before landing a devestating kick on the top of one's head, shattering its skull. Brain leaks out of its ears and onto his leg. A nearby goblin roars in anger, seeing its friend brutalized. It quickly rushes towards him in hopes of skewering him.
It thrusts its sword forward, but Leo quickly leans back and carwheel kicks the goblin into the air. Bell notices a flying goblin and quickly parries away the one he's locked in a sword lock with. He leaps into the air and swipes his short sword across the falling goblin's body, cleaving him in half.
A few nearby goblins notice his back turned to them, and they quickly rush towards him. One goes for a large overhead swing, while the other goes for a wide horizontal swipe. Leo notices and picks up a nearby rock and whips it at one of the goblins.
The goblin's head flails backwards, causing him to topple over onto his back. Bell quickly turns around and gets swipped on the stomach as he brings up his short sword. A small stain of red comes through his brown shirt, but it's a small cut and nothing life-threatening.
Leo quickly runs over and drop-kicks the goblin that's locking swords with Bell; the impact sends it flying across the dark tunnel until it slams into the wall. Saliva, mixed with mucas, spits out of its mouth as it tries to gasp for air.
"Thanks for the save, Leo. The little bugger really cut me." He states this as he holds the bleeding wound on his stomach.
Leo stomps on a goblin's face, completely caving its head in under the surface, blood mixed with bone splattering the ground beneath his boot.
"Lift up your shirt; we need to see how bad the wound is." Said Leo, Bell nods his head and does as his brother asked. They both look and see a small, shallow cut slowly leaking blood.
"Good news, brother, it looks like your baby fat stopped it from going in TOO deep." Leo states with a snicker. Bell shoots him a look, but before he could respond, a growl caught their attention.
The goblin from earlier has now recovered from slamming into the wall and roars out, calling for backup, as if answering the monster's call; the dungeon summons a handful of goblins to back him up. The small humanoid monster smiles evilly at the two adventurers, as if it can taste victory.
"Bell, I'll follow your lead. I got your back. Let's kick their asses, brother!" He shouts as he gets into a wild-like stance, and Bell smiles full of confidence as he tightly holds his short sword.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Said Bell, just before taking off in a dead sprint, Leo quickly follows after him and scoops up a few rocks. He uses his enhanced strength and whips them at a few of the goblins. The rocks pierce through their eyes and stain the wall with brain matter.
Bell ran by one of the goblins and cut across its stomach, spilling its guts over the ground. He quickly blocked the wide arc of a slash from the second goblin. He then rolled away from it and towards the third goblin and drove his blade into its chest, killing it.
Leo sees an opening and rushes over to assist Bell. He leaps into the air and spin-kicks the second goblin Bell had rolled away from. The little monster's sword flies out of his hands from the sudden impact, seeing the opening his brother had given him. Bell quickly reacts and spins around, decapitating the creature.
Breathing heavily, both slowly lower their guard and retrieve the monster stones from each of the goblins.
"You're getting good with a sword; nice work." Leo states, holding up his hand. Bell smiles at the compliment and high-fives him.
"And you're just as deadly with your fists. Though, when we do get more money, you should get a weapon." Said Bell, worried for his brother's safety, Leo claps him on the back with a wide smile.
"If that's the case, let's try our luck and head to deeper levels." Leo said cheerfully as he led Bell towards the lower-level staircase in hopes of solving their finaces to get better gear and XP.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shouted Bell as Leo dragged him away from a minator, Leo looked over his shoulder to see the terrified expression on his brothers face. They weren't strong enough to face such a monster yet; he curses himself for not only risking his life but Bells for a handful of Valis at best.
The large bull cocked his arm back and threw it with murderous intent. Leo quickly pulled Bell down to duck as the large fist slammed into the dungeon wall, forming a crator in it. Chunks of rock fall as it removes its fist from the wall.
They kept running in the hopes of survival, but unfortunately, the dungeon had other plans. As if trying to give the minotuar a free meal, they come to a dead end.
"No way, you gotta be kidding me, right? Is this some kind of sick joke?!" Leo shouts, frustrated, seeing the wall instead of an open tunnel.
The large minotaur roared and charged towards the both of them in hopes of killing them.
Bell looked at it in fear and gritted his teeth. He cowered slightly as he slid down the wall, holding his arms out in front of him to block his vitals from damage. Leo stands in front of Bell and gets into a stance.
"Bell, when I say run, you do it. And don't look back." Leo says through gritted teeth, Bell's eyes widen as he digests what he just heard.
"N-No. I can't leave you behind." He says in a shaky voice, before Leo could respond, the minotaur threw a punch.
Leo barely dodges it and plants his hands on the ground before spinning his body and kicking the large behemoth with all his strength.
"RUN, BELL!" Leo shouts in hopes of shaking Bell from his fear, but before he could even move, a large hand grabs Leo by the leg and starts slamming him all over the ground and walls.
Each time his body connects with the stoney walls and floor, it feels like a house is being sat on top of his body. His body starts to bruise from the impact of a stone hitting his body; his ribs begin to crack and break, making it harder and harder to breathe.
His screams of pain reverberate around the corridor, enhancing the fear Bell feels. He watches with fear as he sees Leo get brutalized. As the minotaur raises Leo up again, a sudden sword pierces through its chest, splitting it almost in half as it is dragged upwards, cutting towards his shoulder.
Leo falls to the ground and remains unmoving. He moves his head slowly and sees a blonde-haired woman, followed by a jade-green-haired elven woman. His hearing slowly starts to become muffled from the excrusiating pain, but he can slightly hear someone chant.
The pain suddenly stops as he feels something heal him; his once broken bones are slowly set back into place, and his open wounds begin to close. The young man props himself up on his hands and begins coughing violently as excess blood clots in his throat.
"Take it easy; you're still healing from my spell." The jade-haired elven beauty says, Leo slowly looks up to see her crouched next to him. In an instant, he thought she was one of the most beautiful women ever.
"Are you two alright?" The blonde girl asks, tilting her head ever so slightly. Leo tries to respond, but once again goes into a coughing fit as more excess blood that pooled up in his throat comes out. He spits it onto the floor, feeling fresh air finally hit his lungs.
"I think so; how are you holding up B-Bell?" Leo asks his brother, but gets no response. Bell's mind was going a mile a minute as he stared at the blonde girl, mesmerized by her beauty and the fact she killed a minotaur single-handedly while he coward away in fear.
His mesmerization changed to shame as he looked at the ground. Before he knew it, he quickly stood up and ran away. In his mind, he was cursing himself for being weak and pathetic for not only watching his brother almost get killed but also being saved by a girl.
Their grandfather always told them that, as a man, it was his job to save women in the dungeon, not the other way around.
Leo slowly stood up to his feet and grabbed his side as a sharp pain flared up. He bowed his head towards the two.
"Forgive my brother; that minotuar must have really shaken him to his core. Thanks for saving my life." Leo says it with sincerity, but the blonde girl doesn't hear him and stares at where Bell had run, thinking she was the cause. The jade-haired elf smiles slightly, and Slolwy stands up.
"It was our fault the minotuars got free in the first place; thank the gods that no one was killed." She says rubbing one of her temples. Leo nods his head but grimaces as the pain in his side flares up again.
"In the future, I would like to meet under better circumstances. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Leo Cranel, and my brother is Bell."
"My name is Riveria Ljos Alf, and this is Ais Wallenstien. It is a pleasure to meet you. And I agree; let's hope our next meeting is under more pleasant circumstances." She says with a smile, Leo bows once again towards the two women.
"I need to find my brother, so until we meet again." Leo said as he turned and broke out into a slow jog while holding his side. Riveria watched as he disappeared into the darkness that is the tunnel and turned to Ais with a small smile.
"Let's go, Ais; we must join up with Finn and the others to report that the minotaurs are delt with." She looks up and notices a sad look on her face. The blonde girl turns to her with a worried look in her eyes.
"Why did he run? Did I scare him away?" She asks sadly, and Riveria rubs one of her temples, not sure how to respond.
It took almost 20 minutes for Leo to exit the dungeon; his energy had been almost exasperated, but he kept pushing in hopes of finding his brother. He now slowly walks the main street that connects the guild and the dungeon; a white blur can be seen running away from him.
"Damn it, Bell." He curses quietly as he holds his side. He quickly picks up his pace and runs, trying to catch him.
Looking up, the young adventurer saw the large building that was the guild's headquarters, also known as the Pantheon. Adventuers could go here for information, sell magic stones or monster drops, and get paid for adventuring down in the dungeons.
"Ms. Eina!" Shouted Bell, as he now has a carefree smile on his face, waves both arms in hopes of getting her attention. Leo runs faster and is right behind him with a grimace on his face. The pain in his side is less, but still there.
Eina was having a good day; she got all her paperwork and more done than she thought; she got to have an early lunch; she then got to help Bell and Leo by giving them some information about the monsters they'll encounter on the first few floors.
"Ms. Eina!" Shouted a familiar voice, she smiled happily hearing that. She really liked the two new adventurers who are brothers, but then she looked up and let out a scream. The papers she was carrying are scattered in the air as her mouth hangs open.
"Please tell me what you know about Miss Ais Wallenstien!" He shouts without a care in the world. Leo can be seen behind him with a disheveled appearance and slight bruises and scrapes all over his body. His clothes, or what some would call pieces of cloth, hang loosely around his body.
"Bell, you fool! Slow down, damnit!" He shouts, gets a better look at Bell, and sees him covered from head to toe in red. Leo quickly catches up to his brother, throws an arm around his neck, and holds him in a headlock, not caring about the blood.
Eina lets out a sad sigh as she can feel a headache coming on. From their appearances, they have some serious explaining to do.
"You two know better than that! Going straight down to the fifth floor? It's dangerous enough to go into the dungeon with just the both of you instead of finding a part! I've told you this before: an adventurer shouldn't be too adventurous!" Said Eina with a scolding look.
Across from her sits the now-clean Bell and better-clothed Leo. Bell hangs his head low with a towel draped around his neck.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It was my fault; I felt bad that Leo has to fight with his hands, so I wanted to make enough Valis so he could get a weapon."
She looks between the two before a small smile appears on her face; she couldn't stay angry with them.
"It's okay, you two; cheer up a little. Not many adventuers that are level 1, who've only been going into the dungeon for two weeks, would survive a minotuar attack."
Bell keeps his dejected eyes on the floor from being chastized, while Leo looks off to the side. Eina leans forward and flicks Bell on the nose, while Leo gets flicked on the forehead.
"Anyway, I'm just glad you two are safe. Please try and be careful next time, okay?"
"Y-Yeah.."
"We will try."
"Also, try not to run through the streets covered in blood or with barely any clothes on, okay?" She says the last part with a slight red hue on her face while sneaking glances at Leo. The young man sheepishly rubs the back of his head.
"I'll be more careful, and I'll keep an eye on Bell too." Leo said, embarrassed, as he looked off to the side. Bell bounces his knee up and down with a red face as he swallows the lump in his throat.
"U-Um, do you know anything about Ms. Ais?" Stutters Bell. Eina looks at him with a small smirk and fixes her glasses.
"Ms Ais? Don't tell me you've fallen in love with Miss Wallenstein, the girl who saved you." Leo turns with a smirk of his own and sees Bell fidgeting around nervously as his red face heats up more.
"Well, um..." He trails off; Leo lets out a light chuckle; and he ruffles Bell's hair.
"My little brother is in love." Teased Leo, Bell embarrassedly hooks his hands together around the back of his neck.
"Yeah."
Eina fixes her glasses as she thinks back to any information she might know—the papers that are scattered across the small table in front of them, which she starts to gather and organize.
"Ais Wallenstein. Part of the Loki Familia, currently Level 5, she's said to be one of the strongest swordsmen in Orario, and the gods have given her the title 'Sword Princess."
Bell's embarrassed state slowly starts to fade a little as he deflates from common knowledge.
"I think what Bell means; do you know anything more personal about Ms. Wallenstien?" Asks Leo for Bell, the young boy in love nods his head as his red face comes back.
"Exactly, l-like whats her favorite food? And, um..." He trails off as his embarrassed nature returns.
"Whether she has a special someone? Is that it?" As the words leave her mouth, Bell quickly focuses and leans forward, completely leaving behind his embarrassed nature.
"E-Exactly!" Leo lets out a laugh as he looks at Bell's expression.
"I can't say I've ever heard anybody say that she has."
"R-Really?!"
"But realistically, I think it's not going to be easy. You've already received the blessing of the goddess Hestia and became part of the Hestia Familia, right? There are a lot of reasons why it will be hard for you to get to know a leader of the Loki Familia. You know that, right?" She states, a defeated aura suddenly hangs over Bell as he deflates completely. Leo smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"She said it'd be hard, not impossible. You have my support, Bell; now how about you go turn in our magic stones so we can see how much we made? I might be able to get that weapon you wanted me to." Leo said cheerfully, and in an instant, renewed vigor filled Bell as he stood up. He nodded his head with a smile and grabbed the small pouch that Leo was holding out to him.
"Sorry for being so blunt. I just wanted to ease the pain he'll feel if he can't be with her." Leo smiles as he watches the cheerful exchange between Bell and the dwarf behind the counter.
"I understand, but I hate seeing him defeated like that. I'll support him regardless of who he wants to be with."
"That's sweet to hear you say that; you must really care about Bell." She says, smiling at Leo, and he looks over at her with a wide grin.
"Of course I do; he's all I have in this world. He's not only my brother, but my best friend. I couldn't imagine my life without having him in it."
"Leo, Haldor said hi. He was confused when you didn't turn in the stones with me." Bell said as he walked back over to them. Leo smirked and nodded his head.
"I'll tell him not to get his knickers in a twist the next time we turn in stones. How much did we make?" Asked Leo curiously, Bell smiled wide as he handed him a small pouch full of Vali's.
"10,000! We each get 5,000; is that okay?"
"Are you foolish? We always go 50-50? Did you think I would ask for more?" Bell shakes his head with a small smile.
"No. I was just wondering considering what happened earlier.." Bell trails off and goes back into the slump he was in earlier. Leo gets a devious idea and shows his smirk to Eina, who looks at him slightly confused. He walks towards Bell and throws his arm over his shoulder.
"I know you're still in a slump with the whole Ais situation, but remember what Grandpa said? Maidens like men who are strong and dependable. Remember that prum girl you liked in our village?" As if a switch flipped, Bell's face became tomato red, and he shakily turned his head towards his brother with an embarrassed look.
"Y-You said you would never bring that up!" Bell shouts, embarrassed beyond belief. Leo lets out a mischevous laugh and gives him a knowing look.
"Oh, my young friend. Remember that time Grandpa took you up to the hot spring?"
Bell's face has switched from tomato red to nucular red; his face is so red that his arms and hands look pale in comparison.
"Leo! Don't!" He shouts, embarrassed once again. Leo has the same look that their grandfather had. Eina watches the scene with a wide smile and giggles at the twin brother's antics.
"Peeking is a man's romance."
"Leo!"
"RRRRRRRRROMANCE!" Said Leo, Bell can't take anymore embarrassment and runs out the door.
"LEO!"
In a quick flash, Bell had run away completely flustered, leaving behind a laughing Leo and gigiling Eina. After calming himself down, Leo looks at Eina with a smile on his face.
"I better chase after him before he faints; thank you again, Ms. Eina."
"Think nothing of it, Leo. It's my job to make sure you both succeed in the dungeon."
"Regardless, thank you. I love you." He says as he jogs out of the guild to look for Bell.
Multiple wolf whistles echo around her as they hear what Leo had said. She holds up a hand to her face as a faint blush that's barely noticeable appears on her face.
"Maybe I was a little too nice?" Eina states, but the smile never leaves her face as she gets back to her remaining duties for the rest of the day.
The two brothers now walk around the streets of Orario, the vibrant city still alive with the chatter of adventurers as the sky starts to turn a nice color of orange.
"So, Leo," Bell said, glancing at his brother with a grin. "Are you excited to finally get a weapon?"
Leo nodded his head, his gaze wandering over the array of shops that line the street. "I have no problem fighting with my fists still, just so you know." He states with his own smile. Bell nods his head as they walk towards the tower of Babel, where all the shops for adventurers equipment lay.
"Still, I wouldn't worry as much if you had a weapon." He says just as they stop at some windows showing off extravagent-looking equipment that is out of their price range.
Leo whistles in amazement at the display of weapons; they range from hammers, maces with spikes, staves, bucklers, and more. "Someday, we're going to have stuff like this." Leo states with a serious look as his eyes glance over each piece of equipment, and Bell pats him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"I think he might sell some beginner-level stuff." Leo looks to where Bell is pointing and sees a small little stall with a burly-looking dwarf standing next to an anvil with a hammer. The smell of coal and melting steel fills the air the closer they get.
The dwarven man looks up with a large smile as he grabs a handful of his beard. He strokes it as the two approach. "Welcome to my humble hole, lads! What can I do ya for?" He asks, which is thick with dwarven slang.
"Do you have equipment that's priced around 3,000 Valis?" Asked Bell, the burly dwarf lets out a hearty chuckle and nods his head. "I can go lower if ya need; I sell equipment for levels 1 to 3. Take a look." He motions to his stock of weapons and armor he has laid out on display.
Leo and Bell look over each weapon and take in their appearance; some are crude-looking, while others are expertly crafted. The two things that catch Leo's eye are the great sword and longbow.
"How much for the large greatsword and longbow?" Leo asked, and the dwarf smirked, looked over at said items, and brought a hand to his beard as he thought. "I think the bow is around 3,700 and the great sword is around 1,500."
"What would be your choice, sir?" He asks the dwarf, and the older man smiles and points to the giant sword. "Nothin beats showing your enimes how strong ya are. Just think hoisting that thing up, and they tuck tail and run! Really fills you with a certain pride!" He says it with a hearty laugh.
Leo chuckles at the blacksmith's words. "Can I try it before I buy it?" He asks, and the dwarf nods his head and motions towards the large blade. "A lad after my own heart! Go for it, boss!" He says it heartily.
Bell turns and looks to see Leo easily lift the large blade onto his shoulder. The dwarf lets out a loud, hearty laugh as he taps the table in front of him. "You've got the strength of a dwarf! I like you two, lads."
Leo smirks as he holds up the colossal sword with ease; he holds it one-handed and points it directly into the air. "It's perfect! It feels so comfortable in my hands too."
The dwarf nodded in approval, a twinkle in his eye. "You've made my dwarven heart proud, lad. May it serve you well on your adventures."
The young adventurer takes out the right amount and pays for the large colossal greatsword. Bell smiles, seeing the weapon rest on Leo's shoulder.
"Are you ready to head home?" Bell asks, and Leo nods his head, but his heart pounds with excitement. He can't wait to fight monsters with his new weapon. "Let's head home!"
The two brothers arrived home to a run-down church that looked like it was in a war and had been abandoned before some gods came down to earth. To anyone else, it would look like a dump, but to them, it was home, where they and their godess live.
They travel down the stairs to the basement below and open the door. Walking inside, Bell spoke up, "Goddess Hestia, we're home."
"BELL!" Yelled a voice as he was tackled and hugged by said voice.
Hestia hugged him as tightly as she could and rubbed her face against his chest. "How are you, Bell? You came home earlier than normal!" She said it cheerfully. He sweatdrops at her, completely ignoring Leo and just focusing on him.
"W-Well, we did get a little hurt today while in the dungeon. Also, we kind of almost got killed by a minotaur." He trails off, still shamed by what trainspired in the dungeon. Leo sighs, walks past the two, and sets down his large sword next to his sleeping place, which is the floor across from the little futon that Bell sleeps on.
In a panic, she quickly looks over Bell for any serious injuries with a terrified expression. "Are you okay?! Does it hurt?! If you die, it'll be really traumatic for me." Bell glances over at Leo, who's sitting with his back against the wall with his eyes closed, listening to their conversation.
"You should be asking that to Leo more than me, but we're fine, Goddess. We're the only two members of the Hestia Familia. We wouldn't leave you alone and helpless in the world. Would we, Leo?" He asks for his brother's input; his twin sighs and nods his head.
"Yeah, yeah." He says, giving Bell a knowing look, now it was Bell's turn to heave a sigh as he cracks his neck. For some reason, Hestia barely pays attention to Leo; she levels him up and stuff and leaves food out for him, but she focuses heavily on Bell for some odd reason. The small goddess's face lights up as she smiles ear to ear at what Bell said.
"Okay, glad to hear it! I'm going to choose to believe that, so you'd better not let me down! Oh right! I have a delicious present for you today!" She turns and holds out her arm towards the small coffee table with a bowl full of fried patatoes. "Ta-dah!" She says it excidedly.
Bell slips out of his leather jacket and hangs it on a coathanger that sits in the nearby corner. He looks over curiously at his goddess. "Where did you get fried patatoes?
Leo reaches out and grabs a few of the patatoes and silently eats them. Hestia stands off to the side with a triuphent look on her face. "You know how I started working at that food stand? Since more customers started coming, they gave it to me as a reward! Let's have a fancy party for our dinner." She says excidedly, like a child would at their birthday.
"Bell, these are pretty tasty. Make sure you eat enough. I know we have been saving and paying off debt, but we should really start thinking of spending some valis on food when we're out near the dungeon." Leo states that before taking a bite out of one of the potatoes, Bell sighs, depressed about their financial situation.
"You might be right, Leo."
Bell can be seen currently lying on his stomach, with Hestia straddling his lower back. She pokes her finger with a needle, drawing a single drop of blood, and the blood drips down onto his exposed back, where his falna tatto is engraved. A ripple of white energy lights up as well as the tattoo.
"Bell, you're too idealistic about the dungeon. You'll never pick up the girls you're looking for in a brutal place like that." She states that as she touches the energy, a bunch of numbers and words written in glyphs appear hovering over Bell's back. "Like this Ais Wallenstein girl... If she's that strong and that beautiful, there'll be other guys after her, too! She's sure to have a man or two she likes already." Hestia said it in a rather frustrated tone of voice.
"Are you upset for some reason, Goddess?" Bell asks, wondering if he's offended her in some way. "I most certainly am not!" She shouts angrily as the numbers go up and down, trying to find the right combination for his stats. Hestia suddenly gasps in surprise, causing both Leo and Bell to look at her.
"Is something wrong?" Bell questions, and she quickly regains her composure. "No!" She pushes his asteral projected stats back into his familia tattoo.
"Listen, Bell. You need to pay more attention to what's around you." She gently lays a blank piece of paper against his familia tattoo and rubs her finger in a certain pattern for his stats to appear on the page. "The girls you're looking for might be right in front of you! In fact, you've already met a wonderful girl who'll love you and hold you gently! I'm sure of it." She says it with a large smile on her face.
Leo lays his face against his fist with a bored expression and rolls his eyes at what Hestia is insinuating. Bell, being the nice person he is, just plays dumb and looks off to the side with a fake, confused look.
"Have I really?" Hestia smiles as she fantasizes about her and Bell's future. She slowly and reluctently climbs off of him and keeps drawing the symbol on the paper.
"Well, since she's in the Loki Familia, there's no way you could marry that Wallenwhatsit girl." Hestia says, smugly trying to stop his pursuit of Ais. Leo stands up and starts to take his shirt off, getting ready for his turn to see his stats.
"You should forget about that girl and look for the happiness that's right in front of you."
Bell tries to block out her words, but they hurt slightly. He really wants to try and pursue his crush. She hands him his status paper with a smile. Leo walks over and kneels down in front of the bed, exposing his back to her without acknowledgment of him and focusing her all on Bell. She quickly pricks her finger and lets a droplet fall onto Leo's back.
"So, Bell, what are your stats for today's dungeon dive?" Leo asks with a small smile, and Bell hands the paper out for him to read.
Bell Cranel
Level 1
Strength: I 77 - I 82
Vitality: I 13
Dexterity: I 93 - I 96
Agility: H 148 - - H 172
Magic: I 0
Luck: I
Skills: ...
"Nice going, Bell. Your agility has gone up a lot." Leo said, as he smiles up at his brother, hands the paper back so Bell can see. He watches as his eyes widen slightly. Goddess Hestia abcentmindedly does what she did for Bell but for Leo while focusing only on Bell.
"You're right, Leo. My agility went up 24 points!" He says it loudly. Hestia finishes up with Leo's stats and quickly hands him the paper. "It's probably because you ran from that minotuar." She states as she sucks on her finger to stop the bleeding.
"And my magic power is still zero, huh? Am I ever going to be able to use magic?" He asks in a hopeful tone. Leo stands up, walks towards his discarded shirt, and slowly puts it on. "If you read more books, then you'll get magic in no time. "You just have to find one other than the hero stories you read." He gives Bell a knowing look, the young man's eyes travel back down towards his paper to see the faint words etched next to the skills area. Excidedly, he turns to Hestia in hopes he has a skill.
"What's with the line on the page for skills?" She has an uncharacteristically un-intressed look all of a sudden as she fixes her gloves onto her hand. "Oh, my finger slipped a little. It's empty, like always."
"Of course it is." He says, smiling slightly dejected. He slowly stands up and looks at Leo. "What are your stats Leo?" He asks as he reaches for his shirt, and Leo smiles and holds out the paper for him to read.
Leo Cranel
Level 1
Strength: H 146 - H 162
Vitality: I 40
Dexterity: I 63 - 96
Agility: I 71 - I 81
Magic: I 0
Skills: ...
"Wow, your strength is amazing, Leo!" He says with a large smile. Leo chuckles and ruffles Bell's hair. "I'm just glad your stats went up; you kicked ass today." Bell's smile grows wider at his brothers praise.
"I just wish there was a way for both of us to grow faster." He says before walking towards the bucket and sink where his toothbrush is. Leo follows his example and joins him as they brush their teeth before bed. Unbeknownst to them, Hestia glares slightly into the back of Bell with a jelous pout on her face.
The next morning was off to a hilarious start. Leo was awoken to see Hestia trying to kiss Bell in her sleep. Leo can't stop chuckling every time he looks over at Bell's face.
"That was one of the funniest ways to wake up! You should have seen the look on your face." He said this while walking along with Bell. His brother slumps forward with a slight red hue on his cheeks. "I-It's not that funny, Leo. I was scared she'd have taken my first kiss."
Leo gives him a knowing look and lightly knuges him with his elbow. "You want Ais to be your first kiss, right?" Bell's face turns a hue of red that should be impossible for a human. Leo smiles as he hits the nail on the head.
A cold chill runs up both of their spines, like someone is looking into their souls. Quickly turning around, they find nobody there. They look around, confused, briefly before sharing a look.
"Did you feel someone looking at you?" Bell asks, and Leo nods his head and looks around with a wary look. "Yeah, it filled me with dread. It felt like a predator was stalking us, wating to pounce."
They turn to see an attractive girl with bluish gray hair that was in a small knot on the back of her head, with a nice white headband keeping it in place. She also wears a white blouse and a leaf-colored knee-length skirt.
"Umm, Oh." She gasps suddenly upon seeing them look at her. "Oh, I'm sorry." Bell says, rubbing the back of his head.
"Our bad, we weren't paying attention; we didn't bump into you, miss; did we?" Leo asks politely. She shakes her head but holds out her hand, revealing a magic stone.
"Um, you dropped this." Bell grabs it from her hand and holds it up with a confused look on his face. "I thought we turned these all in." He puts it away, looks back at the woman, and bows his head. "Thank you." Leo followed his lead and bowed along with him. The girl smiled at them.
"You're adventurers, right? You're heading to the dungeon this early?" She asks, surprised, and Leo claps Bell on the shoulder with a smile on his face.
"Yep, I'm eager to try my new weapon out. My brother here is coming along to make sure I don't go TOO crazy."
She looks between the two, takes in their appearances, and notices they are twins. The only difference between the two is size; Leo is taller by a few inches. She steps back as her smiles widen, seeing their twins.
"You're twins! The only twins I know of are the two sisters in the Lokia Familia! Have you met them before?" She questions, and before anyone could answer, both brothers stomachs suddenly grumbled hungrily at the smell of delicious food being cooked for breakfast.
They watch as the waitress disappears inside a building but re-appears quickly with two small, wrapped boxes.
"Um. What's this?" Leo asks as he looks down at the nicely wrapped thing in his hands. Leaning down, he can smell something delicious underneath the nice cloth covering the object.
"It's wrapped lunches, silly." She says it with a giggle, causing Bell and Leo to share a look before turning back to the kind waitress. "We can't take lunch from somebody we've never met! And isn't this your breakfast?" He asks, looking down at the nicely wrapped bundle in his hands, and Leo looks down at his.
"Then what's in here?" He asks, confused. If Bell has this waitress's breakfast, then who's was he holding? She giggles again and looks over her shoulder towards a certain elf who's sweeping the floor.
"My friend Ryuu doesn't mind either. She'd rather you have a full stomach if you're going into the dungeon." The two brothers share another look, not wanting to take something from strangers. "If you're still worried, There'll be something for me and Ryuu to eat once the pub opens."
"B-But.."
"In exchange, make sure you both eat here tonight! It's a promise!" She says cheerfully before leaning closer to the two of them. She gains a bashful look. "Is that not okay?"
"O-Okay." Bell says with a red hue on his face, and Leo smiles and nods his head. "We'll be here." Leo says, bowing, before putting the neatly wrapped bundle into his satchel. Bell does the same before the brothers jog off towards the dungeon.
A woman sitting on top of the tower of Babel, a godly, beautiful woman, sits in a throne-like chair. She looks out the many windows that act as mirrors; if people looked up, they'd see just darkened glass, while she can look out. She smiles as she stares at two bright souls, one belonging to Bell and the other to Leo.
She swirls the wine in her cup as she stares at their beautiful souls, the smile never leaving her face.
The sound of a battle echoes around the dark tunnels of level 3. Bell leaps around like an acrobat as he slices a kobold across the chest, wounding the beast. Leo appears and swings his colossal greatsword; the blade slices through the beast like butter, cleaving it in half and spilling blood all over the dungeon floor.
Leo smiles at how powerful his new sword is. He slides it over his back and into a holder he was given by the nice dwarf from before.
"I really like this sword. Glad we found that merchant." Bell smiles up at him as he picks up all the magic cores. "How long would we have to keep doing this to catch up to Ais?" He asks as he goes around and grabs the stones. Leo kneels down, helps, and thinks about Bell's question.
"I'm not sure; probably a long time from now."
It's like the dungeon heard their conversation, and it started spawning. A group of kobolds slowly emerged from the walls. They fall and glare at the two adventurers. Bell reaches on the small of his back and looks hesitant at the small swarm.
"There's so many. Should we run?" He asks over to Leo; he has a battle-ready smile on his face as he pulls his sword free and tightly holds it.
A sudden thought crossed Bell's mind—it was of Ais begging him to fight for her. His face heats up as he gets a love-struck smile. "I-I'll do it!" He shouts a war cry as he charges forward. Leo's battle lust continues as he charges with his brother.
"Let's kill them all!" He shouts as he leaps into the air, and the group splits up to try and combat the duo. Leo has seven kobolds run towards him. He whips his greatsword with his enhanced strength; the blade slams into a couple, killing them and severing them in half. A large crater forms under the weight of the blade.
A few kobolds go for an attack in his blindspot. Leo quickly spins his body using his sword handle and kicks both kobolds in the face, shattering their snouts.
Bell keeps to his tatics of leaping around like an acrobat and only taking quick swipes at each monster. The kobolds don't have time to react as Bell's agility is too quick for them; they growl in anger and each swing their arms wildly in hopes of clawing him.
One by one, each starts to fall over from the killing blow's, Bell deals. Leo smiles, lets go of his sword handle, and cracks his knuckles.
"The sword is fun, but I feel like getting my hands dirty."
The remaining monsters shake in fear for their lives; seeing this human brutilize them so easily has shaken them to their cores. Each let out a growl of fear as their fight or flight kicked into overdrive.
They don't have time to react as Leo runs towards them with a crayzed smile. He drop-kicks one of them, sending it flying into the wall. The young adventurer quickly rotates his body and kicks one in the back of its neck, snapping it. Blood spills out of its snout as it falls to the ground, lifeless.
The last remaining kobold tries to claw his stomach but is met with a fist into the face, sending it into the ground. Its face sank under the pressure of Leo's punch. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stands up and looks over at Bell to see him carving out the magic stones.
"Let's take a break and eat lunch; that should hold us over until we visit that pub." He says, walking over towards his sword and pulling it from the ground that it was imbedded in, gibblets move as he pulls it free before they disappear in black smoke.
"That was fun; I enjoyed that skirmish. This thing is slowly becoming my favorite," Leo states as he stabs his greatsword back into the ground before sitting down in front of it. He leans against it as he pulls out the packed lunch he got, remembering that Ryuu was the one that made his.
"What's our score so far?" He asks, looking over at Bell to see him sitting next to him with his own lunch.
"I think we have around 12 kobold magic stones; we even got one of their monster drops. Lucky us!" He says it cheerfully before opening his lunch. It's an assortment of meats and vegetables.
Leo opens his and sees mostly veggies, but his is in order by color, from green all the way to red.
"These look really good," Leo says, looking between the two lunches they have. Bell nods his head with a smile before taking a bite. His smile widens as he keeps eating. Leo takes his first bite out of his own lunch and stops as the flavor touches his tastebuds.
"This tastes amazing after battling monsters." He states this before taking another bite.
They ate in companionable silence, the only sound being the occasional crunch of Leo's salad and veggies or Bell's fried meats.
After a few more bites, Bell glanced up at his brother, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "Leo, do you remember the day we first fought monsters?"
Leo's eyes sparkled with fond memories as he nodded. "Of course I do. How could I forget? It was with Grandpa."
Bell chuckled, taking a bite of fried meat. "Yeah, he was quite the adventurer in his day, wasn't he? Always telling us of his times in the dungeon and teaching us about women." Leo laughed and nodded his head.
"He taught us everything he knew about fighting monsters. I remember how excited we were to finally accompany him on a real hunt."
They fell into a comfortable silence, lost in memories of their childhood adventures. The distant echoes of monsters reverberated through the dungeon, a stark reminder of the dangers that lurked beyond their makeshift sanctuary.
Leo took his final bite of the salad, savoring the flavor. "I'll never forget that first encounter," he said, his voice tinged with nostalgia. "We were so scared, but Grandpa was there to guide us every step of the way."
Bell nodded, a wistful smile on his lips. "He always knew just what to say to calm our nerves. 'Courage is not the absence of fear,' he used to say, 'but the ability to face it head-on."
Leo grinned, putting away the container to give to Ryuu later. "And face it, we did. Thats when we figured out you were an acrobatic rabbit."
Bell nodded, a large grin on his face, as he put away his container. "Also, when we found out you loved to punch things,"
Leo holds up his hands in surrender. "Guilty as charged. You can thank Grandpa for that; he said women find men more attractive if they are good with their hands."
Bell chuckles and gives him a knowing look. "I think we both know what Grandpa meant with that one."
They share a laugh as Leo pulls his greatsword free from the stone floor, and they continue to spend the remainder of the time hunting monsters for their stones and excelia.
It's around dusk when the brothers leave the deathly confines of the dungeon. After turning all their drops in, they managed around 6k valis each from both stones and monster drops.
They then went back home to get their stats checked and tell Hestia about Bell's day. She was happy with him at first but suddenly became mad that a girl other than her was flirting with her Bell. She was extra mad to see his stats go up so much because of his drive to be with Ais. Because of that, she pouted angrily before storming out, leaving behind one confused Bell and Leo, who shakes his head at their goddesses possessiveness toward Bell.
Which now leaves both Bell and Leo in front of the pub they saw earlier in the day. It was called the hostess of fertility, and it was a pub used by most adventurers instead of regular town people.
"You two came!" Said the same waitress from before with a smile as she walked over to them. "Oh, we didn't introduce ourselves; my name is Syr Flover."
"Leo Cranel, and this is my brother Bell." He says, patting his brother on the shoulder. Syr's smile widens as she motions for them to enter.
"Follow me, and I'll lead you to your open seats!" She says cheerfully. Walking inside, they were shocked to see so many different adventurers joined in one area; the only other place you'd see this many is on a raid to the lower levels of the dungeon.
As the two brothers sat down at the bar, a dwarven woman with a friendly smile set down a bowl of some type of spaghetti.
"So you're Syr's friends? You're pretty cute for a pair of adventurers." Bell's face heats up from being called cute, while Leo laughs and taps the bar.
"If you keep complimenting us, this one over here will faint from how red his face will get." The older woman lets out a chuckle of her own as Bell sheepishly looks down. "Please leave me alone," he says meekly.
Leo and Bell both place their orders and wait for the food. After a few minutes, their area of the bar was covered with different food items. They both stared wide-eyed at the large portions of food.
Okay, this is 200 valis, the drink is 300 valis, and Leo's drink is 200 valis.. Thanks to the monster drops, I have a little over 6,000 valis, but I really want to save money for the Familia." He's cut off from over-bugetting as a plate was put in front of him with a large, deep-fried fish. "UGHAH"
It's not enough, right? Here's today's special!"
"We didn't order this!" He cries out in shock, Leo lets out a laugh as he takes a sip of his lemonade ale. Bell turns his head and looks at the menu that hangs on a nearby wall.
"Today's special... 850 VALIS?!" He says freaking out more, and Leo laughs even more as he eats some of his food.
"Bell, don't worry, and just eat. We can splurge on ourselves every once in a while." Leo says trying to keep his brother from overwhelming himself. "But I wanted to save some money for the Familia.." He says it in a defeated tone as he eats some of the spaghetti.
"Are you two having fun?" Syr calls out as she suddenly appears next to them. Bell gives her a deadpan look while Leo nods his head.
"I'm enjoying myself. I really like the woman behind the coutner, she's hillarious!" He says, chuckling, and Syr giggles and looks at the older woman.
"That's Mamma Mia; she owns the hostess." Leo nods his head as he takes another sip of his drink. Bell listens, defeated, giving into his hunger as he slowly eats the bowl of spaghetti.
"This place is truly amazing; it's so much fun, and I get to hear all sorts of stories from every adventurer that comes in." She says looking out at the packed pub. "That's a pretty amazing thing to say." Bell says it flatly as he takes a bite out of the fish. Leo smiles as time passes by them, and another waitress walks in energetically with a large smile on her face.
"Nya! The big party with the reservation has just arrived, Nya!" The brown-haired waitress with a long, flowing cat tail wiggled around excidedly.
It was as if time had frozen and everyone could feel it as the Loki Familia entered the pub. Bell's face had turned into a tomato as he stared directly at Ais Wallenstien as she walked behind the ground, Leo's eyes landed on Riveria. Both of them were so entranced that they didn't notice Syr waving a hand in their faces.
The pub went back to normal as the Loki Familia settled in. A short time had passed as they began conversing at a nearby table when one of the members with gray hair and wolf ears spoke up the loudest, enough so the whole pub could hear.
"Okay! Ais, Riveria, let's tell them all about that thing." He said with a very visible blush on his face, telling everyone he was drunk.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Bete." The jade-haired beauty states that before trying to go back to her dinner in peace, Ais looks up, confused, and tilts her head slightly.
"That thing?"
"You know. We let a bunch of minotuars escape on our way back; you two took out the last one on the fifth floor, right? And you remember that loser that was getting used as a weapon, not to mention his tomato dork of a brother, right? He started to laugh as he told them more. " A pair of wimpy little kids who'd obviously just started adventuring got cornered by one of the minotaurs who ran from us. When Ais and the hag reached them, they saw the oversized bull using one of em as a weapon, slamming him into the walls and floor. The other was cowering away in fear, like a loser. Thats when Ais cleaved the minotaur apart; it's stinky blood got all over the coward while the other was close to dying like the trash he is!" He slaps his knee, laughing loudly.
"He got covered in blood, and guess what? He ran, leaving behind his retarded brother!"
Two of the other members laughed lightly, while the others either looked indifferent or annoyed.
Bell looked down in shame as his hands tightly held onto his knees. He began to shake as his mental fortitude began to falter. Leo's smile had turned into a rage-filled look as he started to slightly squeeze his glass. It cracks slightly from the strength he's putting into his grip. Mama Mia notices Leo's face and puts a hand on his head. He looks up, rage-filled tears falling down his face, to see that the once-smiling Mia Grand is no longer smiling.
"Our princess saved them, and he ran away from her! How pathetic is that? At least his weakling of a brother had the smarts to grovel at the hag and Ais's feet."
"Enough Bete." Said Riveria with an annoyed look on her face. "It was our fault for letting the minotaurs escape from the seventeenth floor. You should be ashamed." She said, glaring at the wearwolf.
"HUH?! What's wrong with saying trash is trash?! Those retards bit off more than they could chew, with one of them trying to play hero to save the other. We can ask Ais here; she knows what was going on. Tell them the truth: Who'd you choose, me, the ragdoll, or the tomato dork?" He says this, leaning over the table towards Ais. She looks at him with an un-intressted look as she quietly eats her food.
A young-looking male who has blonde hair holds his hands up to try and calm him down; he looks no older than a young boy. "Bete, you're drunk, aren't you?" The drunken werewolf ignores him and stares at Ais with a serious face.
"I'm talking to you, Ais! If one of those kids asked you out, would you say yes? No way, right?! The pair of wimps who are weaker than you have no right to stand beside you. You, yourself, would never allow that! A wimp isn't good enough for you. Not for Ais Wallenstien."
Something in both Bell and Leo snapped; he had squashed the glass he was tightly holding onto, causing the glass to embed itself into his palm. Bell quickly stood up, knocking his chair over, causing others to look at him. As he ran out of the pub, Leo quickly stood up and slammed his fist into the side of Bete's face.
The whole bar's atmosphere changes; everyone stares wide-eyed at the white-haired adventurer who decided to pick a fight with Bete of all people.
"Bete of the Loki Familia, name fits a little mut like you." Leo says that his once-carefree voice is now deep and emotionless. The werewolf glares at his sudden attacker from the ground, and a bloodthirsty smile forms on his face. "What did you call me?"
Leo stares down at the hybrid. "What's the matter, pup? Don't like being called Mut?" He taunts even more, and Bete starts growling as his own rage fills his body. The small prum male from before quickly stands between the two, holding up his arms between them.
"Gentlemen, let's all cool off and not start a fight in Mamma Mia's fine establishment." An orange-haired woman suddenly stands up and wraps her arm around Leo's shoulder with a carefree smile.
"You should listen to him. It's supposed to be a celebration. Now let's cool off and have a nice cold ale!" She says it cheerfully, but Leo remains unmoving as he keeps his glare on Bete.
The air is thick with tension, onlookers wait with bated breath to see what will happen next. Leo gently removes the woman's arm from around his shoulder and walks away towards the counter. He pulls out a pouch of Valis and pays for the broken glass on top of their meals.
"All that bark and no bite? Eh? Wait.. you're that retarded ragdoll! You're the brother of the tomato loser! Was it him that ran out? He ran away again!" He laughs as he taunts Leo, but it falls on deaf ears as he pulls out the lunch box he was given by Syr.
"Please return this to Ryuu; the lunch was delicious." He says quietly to Mamma Mia; she nods her head with a serious look, but her eyes hold a proud look as she looks at Leo. He turns and begins to leave as Bete taunts some more.
"Whats the matter? Afraid I'll kick your ass?! I know I'd be afraid of me. Tell your crotch sniffing brother the next time he sees a minotaur, he should let it kill him." Leo stops in the doorframe of the hosstess. Some of the other members have been trying to make him stop, but it has fallen on deaf ears with his drunken state.
"Bete, that is enough! You are not only embarrassing yourself but the whole Familia!" Riveria was annoyed at his drunken antics. The two Amazonians giggle at Bete and how a level one knocked him on his ass.
"I was hoping to see how white-haired handled himself in a fight against Bete." One of the twin sisters said, and the other nodded in agreement before looking at the prum that played the peacemaker.
"I did too, but the captain was handsome as he stopped them." The other sister said this as she looked at their captain seductively. The prum sweated at this, but before he could respond, a golden-yellow-haired elf scoffed.
"I don't really care about this quarrel either way." She says it indifferently. Leo, having heard enough insults for one night, walks out of the hostess, sets his gaze on the dungeon, and breaks out into a run as he heads towards it.