Hey guys. So instead of getting straight into the Xenos arc, I've decided to write a few smaller chapters.

This is because I am going to spend a lot of time writing the other ones and making them quite long. So instead of waiting every 5 days for a chapter, I'll post these smaller ones alongside writing the main ones.

Also because my plan covers most of the story but ideas pop into my head and I think that I have to write them. This will also give me a chance to add a bit more humour as I like writing that stuff but it hasn't fit well so far.

Anyway, I will probably have about 3-4 of these and they will be taking place about volume 8 times, allowing me to touch the Rakia war in one chapter as well.

With that enjoy, this first chapter is the main reason why I'm doing this, hope you like it.

It was early morning in the city of Orario. The sunrise had just started to peek over the top of the giant walls that surrounded the city. It was the quietest part of the day in Orario, as everyone was just waking up to start their day. Shop and stall owners could be seen setting up for the following work shift but apart from that, very little noise could be heard.

"Haaa Haaa"

Heavy breathing filled the air. It could be heard from behind a wide wooden structure. If you were to walk into the building, it would give off the impression of a pub. The sign on the front door does coincide with this as it reads "Hostess of Fertility". A well-known pub that is found on West Street.

Back to the breathing. It was coming from a young, white-haired boy. With rubellite eyes, he kind of looked like a rabbit. Currently sitting down, he had sweat currently pouring off of his skin.

"You are improving at an incredible rate, Mr Cranel. You were able to last longer again but once more I must apologise for going too far again."

The white-haired boy looked up to see a Green-haired elf walk towards him, a wooden sword in her left hand. Just a few seconds ago he was facing off against that wooden sword with his pair of knives. How he hadn't even damaged it was still a mystery to him.

'Elf magic, must be it' The boy thought, not coming up with any other possibility.

"No need to apologise, Miss Ryuu, I don't mind." The boy said, pushing himself up.

"Are you alright Bell, that last hit looked like it hurt?"

Bell looked over to the back door of the pub and saw the Grey-haired waitress he had come to know over the past few months slgihtly run over to him.

"I'm fine Miss Syr, don't worry."

"Are you sure, I don't mind you resting on my lap if you want to take a break?" Syr said with an innocent smile.

"S-Syr, that is not necessary right now. That is only for when you two are alone."

Bell had let the Elf answer for him, as he was too busy turning into a tomato and losing the ability to speak. However, the added comment ,from whom he considered an ally, stopped any other form of thoughts from travelling through his now malfunctioning mind.

"Mmmmmmm, I don't mind if you saw it Ryuu. If you want, we could take turns." Syr smiled, her teasing comment making her friend follow the Little Rookie in the downward spiral of embarrassment.

"Oi, I don't pay you to flirt. Get in here and help. Playtime is almost over."

"Yes Mama"

Syr grumbled a bit, missing another opportunity to give a lap pillow to the Rabbit, though she would still much prefer a lap pillow from him instead.

'Food for thought'

With that, the grey-haired waitress skipped back inside to help prepare the pub for the breakfast shift.

This once again left the two, now, red-faced and stuttering adventurers alone in the backyard of the pub. After a minute went by, the pair had finally calmed down and now being able to, somewhat, look in each other's general direction again, they got back to what they were originally doing.

"Erm, Miss Ryuu. If there is a bit more time left, could we go for one more round?"

Before Ryuu could answer, a figure jumped down in between the two.

"You are here again Bell. Come on, Mikoto and Haruhime have decided to start breakfast."

In between the two sparring partners, an unhooded, mask wearing half-elf could be seen. His back was facing the elf and his face looking at the white-haired boy.

"Nathan, what are you doing here?"

Nathan looked at Bell, a slight tilt of the head and a raised eyebrow with the stare.

"Did… did you not just hear what I said? Break. Fast. Will. Be. Ready. Soon."

"I-I heard that, I meant it more of how you knew I was here?"

"Hmm, I've known you've been coming here for a bit."

"What. How long."

"About a 3 weeks, give or take."

"I've only been coming here for 3 weeks."

"Well, that means I'm correct then. Don't have to give or take a few days." Nathan said in his usual quiet voice, though the montone part was considerably less noticeable at what seemed to be emotions had ebbed its way into his voice.

"Have you followed Mr Cranel here?"

Nathan turned to look at Ryu, not having forgotten she was there but just not really caring.

"I only followed him the first 3 times. When I saw what he was doing the first time, I didn't stay for long for the other two."

He turned back to Bell and with a sarcastic, slightly dramatic tone he said, "You know Bell, It's tough to know you are cheating on me. I thought my training was helping but clearly, I'm not good enough for you. How could you."

"N-no your training has been loads of help. I-it's just that Miss Ryu offered to train with me, so I thought I'd take her up on her generous offer."

"Wait, you are also training with Nathan?"

"And sometimes the Sword Princess, as well as going into the dungeon. It is quite a lot, AND that is why I'm making sure you will be having a rest day tomorrow. Understood." The half-elf said, pointing his finger at the young boy

"You know about my training with Miss Ais?"

" !"

Bell didn't get a chance to properly discuss how the half-elf knew about his training with his idol as the bleached-haired boy's stare bore down on him. Bell just put it down to that he found out about his training with Ryu, so of course he probably followed him to the top of the wall.

"I agree with Nathan, too much training and you will overexert yourself. It is best to rest."

"O-ok, I understand."

"He is improving at a stupid rate though."

"I agree with you again. He is able to last a lot longer than when we first started a few weeks ago."

This made Nathan smirk, a small fun idea popping into his head.

"Well he is a Rabbit and he has a lot of you ladies after him. It's best he can last longer than most. Good job there Ryu, didn't know you had it in you but I was on more about the training outside the bedroom."

Both people in question immediately flushed red with embarrassment, not knowing how to deal with the hide her squiming and trembling.

"N-NATHAN, DON'T S-SAY THAT. T-THAT ISN'T W-WHAT SHE MEANT!"

"Come on Bell, you can talk to me, we are both guys. Are you doing this with the sword Princess too? Rabbit by look, Rabbit by nature it seems."

The mention of Ais was almost too much for the poor boy, who practically fainted thinking of doing… that with his Idol.

This got a small laugh out of Nathan as he enjoyed watching the pair squirm about in their embarrassment until a voice pulled them out of their comedic act.

"What's this about training in the bedroom?"

Bell looked up in almost abject horror. One of them was bad enough but now.. oh gods. Syr had joined the group.

"Oh you know, just what kind of training these two were getting up to every morning."

"Hmmmm, do you have something to tell me Ryu?"

Ryu, however, was still fighting her own memory and was visibily losing.

"Oh, you don't know about this. I thought you would be Bell's main teacher in that area of 'sparring'.

This was the final straw for Bell, who practically died from heatstroke. Even Syr got embarrased by the half-elf's snarky comment.

"What even started this?"

Syr pouted a bit as she looked between the two, realising they were too busy being in a state of embarrasment to allow her to tease them, she found it quite rude. And as how she also felt a sense of danger continuing this conversation she decided to ask anothe question.

"Well, me and Ryu believe Bell is doing too much, as he is training with both of us and going into the dungeon almost every day."

"If Bell is doing too much, how about he stops training with one of you?"

All three people turn to look at the grey-haired waitress. Her comment had brought the other two out of their stuttering and mumbling, however, it had put a new atmosphere around the trio.

'I don't mind giving it up but I'm going to have fun with this.' The half-elf thought with a grin.

Before Ryu could say her piece, Nathan stepped forward and put his arm around the still red faced Bell's shoulder.

"Well considering we are in the same Familia; Bell will continue to train with me."

"That is perfectly reasonable, I understand."

"M-Miss Ryu, no I would still love to train with you. I don't need to cut down."

The word love did not help calm down the pair.

"Hmm, but are you even getting any benefit from training with her Bell, apart from the stamina aspect?"

A small tick appeared on the elf's face at the comment from the half-elf, not bothering about the last part, unlike Bell who went back into a blushing mess.

"O-of course, she helps me with a lot of things."

"Oh, like what."

The tone that Nathan used was clearly implying something much more scandalous but Bell managed to push through it.

"Like she has helped me raise my stats."

"The only thing I can see her helping you with is by raising your defence stat, as you always come back beaten black and blue."

It was a good job that Nathan had his neck muffler up, as it was hiding a very sinister, teasing smile.

"N-no. M-miss Ryu is a very good teacher. I-I'm grateful for her help."

"Please, tell me exactly what it is she has taught you."

Bell was struggling to come up with a response. Partly to do with the attitude Nathan was displaying but mainly to do with the hole Ryuu was staring into his head.

The Elf didn't stay quiet for long, deciding the best form of defence is attack.

"And what exactly have you taught him, Nathan?"

"Oh, you know. How to fight without a weapon, to be creative when fighting people and what fighting while dealing with a lot of pain is like. He was actually seemed to be used to the last one, I must thank you for that."

Nathan's tease was starting to work again on the normally stoic elf, as another tic appeared on her forehead. He looked from the elf to the cheeky waitress who started all of this. She was wearing the same grin as him, both clearly being on the same page.

Almost like they had read each other's minds, Syr came up with a proposal.

"Why don't you two have a competition to see who the better teacher is."

"Oh, what an interesting concept. What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Hmmm, how about you two spar against one another and see who's fighting is better. That way we know who Bell should be taught by."

Now, Ryu had been mostly silent about this. She had also looked over at Syr and saw the teasing smile Ryu very much knew about. She was usually very good at dealing with the girl's teasing, but for some reason, the boy in front of her had a very good way of getting under her skin.

"Th-this isn't necessary. I can still be taught by both of you."

"Understood. I shall agree with this if it is alright with you Nathan?"

"Sure"

Bell had been almost side-lined by this point. As he saw there was little chance in resolving this matter peacefully, he walked over to where Syr was standing and stood beside her. He hoped this would end quickly and that he and Nathan could just leave after. He didn't want any part of this.

"Bell shall of course be the judge for this and at the end shall choose who he wishes to keep as his sparring partner."

And all that hope went into the bin as soon as Syr opened her mouth. Bell looked over at her, saw the smile and realised Syr knew exactly what she was doing.

"That seems fair, doesn't it Bell?" Syr said innocently, hands together behind her back as leant a bit forward towards the young boy.

Bell only sighed and turned to look at his two elven friends.

"How about this, I won't use my swords as I don't want to break your wooden one. Because of that, I shall only defend while you only attack. Sound good?"

The other 3 were taken aback by Nathan's broad statement. To say they were shocked that he would willingly unarm himself against Ryu, a high level 4, was an understatement.

Ryu, however, readily accepted it. Even though she was an advocate for Justice, she believed this fine. As she watched Nathan take off his swords and place them down near Bell and Syr, Ryu thought that this was a form of justice as he had gotten himself into this and she believed that he would be getting what he deserved.

Both readied themselves and as Syr started a countdown from 3, each got into their respective stances. Ryu took an offensive stance, her right leg further back and her left hand, which was holding her sword, outstretched, the objective to push forward and land a quick slice. In response, Nathan also put his right leg back but was standing more side-on.

'So he is going to try and dodge my attack'

'That is what she would be thinking.'

"Begin!"

With that announcement, like the stance predicted, Ryuu leapt at Nathan. To her shock, instead of dodging like she had anticipated, and had planned her next three attacks on, the half-elf swung his leg round to intercept her block. However, she was wrong again, as his kick was too low down to intercept her swing.

Bell watched Ryuu jump backward, barely missing the kick. He had also believed Nathan was going to dodge but instead he swung out a kick. Just before the kick landed, he saw Ryuu jump backwards. Bell could barely register the speed the two moved within that period of a second, his level 3 abilities not being able to keep up.

"You tried to hit me in the stomach. I thought you said you were only on the defensive."

Bell heard Ryu speak, seeing that she had leapt back 12 metres, about at the same spot she had started on.

Instead of responding to her, Nathan, still looking at Ryu, talked to Bell.

"First lesson of defence, Bell. Some of the best defence is an offence."

""W-what""

Both the human and elf were a bit shocked by the boy's comment

"Well sometimes, the opponent would expect a dodge or block, like Ryu just did now. Instead, I used their attack to start my own. I held back a bit there but if connected my kick with Ryu, I could've used that to go straight on the offence."

All three people quickly realised that Nathan was teaching Bell a lesson. The fact that not only had he used Ryu as a testing dummy but also that he said he had held back against her sparked three reactions.

Syr giggled

Bell stood there in slight awe, but mostly in terror at Ryu's reaction

He had never seen her narrow her eyes like that. Yes, she had seen the look of disgust on her face a few times but this, this was something completely different.

"Oh, so this is how you want it?"

"Maybe, who knows. Wanna find out. If so, why did you stop? Oooh, lesson two Bell, never give your opponent time to…"

Nathan didn't have time to teach his second lesson as he was immediately cut off by a sword swing intended for his head. Ryu had attacked before he could insult her pride, even more, his instinct being the only reason to allow him to escape.

"Lesson three Mr Cranel, never grow arrogant or cocky during a fight, no matter the situation.

Ryu turned back to face the half-elf who had jumped away from her attack, which annoyed her greatly that she wasn't able to inflict any pain onto the frustrating boy, which she would never admit of course.

A quick exhalation of breath came out of Nathan's nose. "Guess It's my turn to have a quick spar."

"I shall also be teaching you some manners as well, a please wouldn't have gone amiss."

"Oh. Then Ryu, would you please allow me to show you how to really fight."

"It would be my pleasure."

With that brief exchange, the pair of second-class adventurers went at it as if their lives depended on it. Bell didn't have a chance of keeping up, let alone Syr.

Bell now and then caught glimpses of what was taking place.

A sword blocked by an arm protector.

A kick narrowingly dodged with a crouch.

A kick parried by a wooden sword only for the same sword to twirl and aim for the head, just for another arm guard to deflect it.

The fight had even started to gather a crowd. Mia had come out to get her two staff back to work but was intrigued by the outcome of the fight. The same could be said about the other workers of the pub. Two cat people and a brown-haired human all stood next to Bell and Syr, while a cat person wearing a chef's hat popped her head out of the window.

"Can anyone keep up with this Nya?"

"Barely meow."

"It seems both are pretty much giving it their all."

The three waitresses all had their comments about what was happening but the Pub owner only looked on, a small grin on her face.

"Mama Mia, what are you smiling at?"

The giant Dwarf looked down at the boy, the smile still on her face.

"I'm smiling because they are."

All the other people started to fully focus their attention on the two fighters faces, seeing if the large woman's statement was correct.

Syr still didn't have a chance to tell, as everything was a blur for her, though she could still tell they were smiling by looking at their souls dancing around each other.

The other four second-tier adventurers did manage to make out what the hostess herself had said. With Nathan's neck muffler having fallen, a grin could be seen on his face. With Ryu, another, smaller, smile was also visible.

Though after a few more minutes, the large dwarf peered into her establishment to look at the large clock in the kitchen. With a huff and rolling up her sleeves, she walked over to the so-called sparring. The two must have been fiercely locked into battle as neither noticed the woman, Nathan's instinct not showing it as he thought it to be another one of Ryu's attacks. With a simple downswing of her giant arms, the woman caught Ryu's sword and Nathan's leg in her grasp.

A few seconds of silence was shared in the backyard. The onlookers were almost mortified by how the woman just simply stopped a fight between two almost first-class adventurers. The two in question both seemingly shared an almost puzzled look. This didn't last, however, as they soon realised the situation they now found themselves in. Both tried one attempt to free themselves but when they saw the smirk on Mia's face, both of their faces lost some shades of colour.

"Playtimes over, breakfast shift starts in 15 minutes and I don't want my best worker being unable to work during it."

"I've barely touched her; I was only defending."

"I could tell that; you think I'm blind. However, I don't want her stumbling around because of fatigue."

Ryu thought of bringing up a counterargument about how she was fine but her heavy breathing was doing her much good. Also, backchatting to Mia was a very nice way to getting washing up duty.

"Fair."

Mama Mia let go of both of the now stationary fighters and started to walk back inside.

"Same message to the rest of you girls, the place still needs setting up."

A small sadistic grin appeared on the woman's face.

"Unless, you would prefer to do a bit of sparring right now."

The clenching of the Dwarf's fist and the cracking of her knuckles turned all the waitresses a shade of white.

"Y-YES MAMA!"

All of them dashed inside to complete their remaining jobs, the fear of taking on their boss severely out weighing wiping down tables.

Mia turned to look at the boy who was still standing in her garden, hoping to not be seen. It seemed that he had also adopted the other approach of a rabbit when faced with a predator. Freeze and hope not to be seen. Surprisingly, it worked about as well as he had imagined.

"Are you going to be eating here?"

N—no Ma'am" A squeak reached the woman's ears.

"Then why are you still here?"

The boy didn't respond, instead immediately turning his head to his Familia member.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on then. We were meant to be back 10 minutes ago but doesn't matter now."

With that, Nathan walked over to retrieve his twin blades and strapped them to his sides.

Just before he and Bell, the white-haired boy turned and bowed.

"Thank you for the training Miss Ryu, I hope to continue another time."

"It is no problem Mr Cranel; I am also grateful you spar with me."

"Oh does that mean she won?"

"No, I still wish to train with you as well. If that is alright?"

With a raised eyebrow and his straight lips, Nathan responded.

"Fine, whatever. As long as you have a definitive rest day once a week, and I mean rest."

"Ok."

Bell then jumped over the fence leading to the main street. Before Nathan joined his captain he also turned to look at Ryu, who had started making her way inside.

"Hey Ryu, I had… fun. Cheers."

Ryu quickly turned to look at the now vacant spot of dirt, only a small bit of dust that had been kicked up showed any signs that someone had been there. A small bit of shock on her face.

'Did Nathan just use the word fun?'

With a shake of her head, Ryu walked back inside to get ready for work. However, before she could manage to get to the stairs, her co-workers jumped in front of her.

"So who won Nya? You or masky Nya"

Ryu still didn't like the nickname Anya gave to Nathan, the only saving grace is that everyone made sure she didn't call him that to his face.

"No one won, it was a spar."

"But you two were going at it like it was a proper fight," Lunor said, stepping into sight.

"We may have taken it a bit too serious but it turned out fine."

"At least we know you can handle him if we needed you to meow."

For the entire time they had known Nathan, they weren't sure if they would be able to take him on in a 1v1. He was able to hide his aura very well, which only meant that he must have a powerful aura that needed to be concealed. It was obvious Mia would be able to take him but she was level 6. The fact that all four level 4s didn't know they could take the boy on, especially considering their pasts, always made it slightly unnerving whenever he came in. However, it seemed Ryu would be able to take him, even though she is the strongest out of the 4.

"I don't think I could."

"W-what?"

The comment had crushed all of Chloe's previous thought process, now replacing it with confusion and worry.

"Nathan was defending for the majority of it while I was able to attack. He still made me defend now and then but that was to drive me away and he never counterattacked when he easily could have. He was also not using his swords, meaning he was unarmed. I believe if we both went at it properly; I estimate I would last about two minutes against him before he beat me."

"If that. The kid had you dancing to his tune most of the time. It looked to me like he could read your moves before you had even decided them yourself."

"I also got that impression. I got the feeling that our stats are about the same but he clearly has something I don't."

"From what it looked like, his fighting style is for taking on people, not monsters."

"I agree but that is for him to know."

With that quick back and forth between the Owner and Staff, the elf walked upstairs for a quick shower and to get dressed, ready for work. Mia restarted her attempt at cleaning all the mugs behind the counter. This left the remaining waitresses in shock and terror at what they just heard.

Not only had the strongest amongst them just admitted to being easily defeated by the boy who they had been serving for the past year but that the level 6, ex-captain of the Freya Familia openly stated that that person was able to predict the moves that looked blindingly quick in their eyes and that he has more experience fighting people than the Gale Wind herself.

"What are you girls gawking at, back to work!"

With the loud boom of the Dwarf's voice echoing around the room, each of the waitresses recovered from their state of shock and got back to work, though their minds still thinking back to the fight.

Meanwhile, jogging down the street, the two Hestia Familia members were chatting.

"That was amazing Nathan, the fact you were able to withstand Miss Ryu's attacks like that and without a weapon too."

"I did have a weapon. My instinct ability basically told me what her moves were going to be by telling me what I should do to avoid them. Anyway, I was still going all out for the most part."

"Really. You don't seem to be that tired."

"That is because I used lesson 4."

"Lesson 4?"

"Yep. If you are facing against an opponent in a situation you aren't sure of winning then allow them to tire themselves out and keep up your own energy for the end of the fight."

"That's cool, I'll keep that in mind. Wait, so you thought you were in a disadvantage situation just now?"

"Are you serious, my head was about cut off 10 times and I was dodging her sword by an inch each time? I will defiantly need my swords if I want a chance against Ryu. If it wasn't for my instinct ability kicking in every second, I would have been beaten in under a minute."

The two boys continued jogging down the streets of Orario until they finally reached their destination. However, an hour after, when they walked back down the same street as they were heading for the dungeon, some stall owners pulled them over.

"Master Bell and Mr Nathan should be more considerate next time. We have just lost about 10,000 valis in property damage because you two weren't paying attention."

It seems the two boys had not realised the speed they were going at and had accidently knocked over a few stalls on their way home, much to happiness of the stalls owners. Nathan had initially tried to say it wasn't them but the eccentric white hair that was very visible as they watched their goods fall onto ground made it very hard to argue back.

"S-sorry Lili, I guess we were just in a rush to get back home."

"Well if Master Bell wasn't sneaking out every morning then he wouldn't be late."

"Calm down Lil Lili, no need to get your knickers in a twist."

"You are of no help, Mr Welf. I blame you for Master Bell's behaviour. You are a bad influence."

The remaining Familia members looked on as the smith and the supporter got back into one of the daily bickers, enjoying the nice atmosphere it generated.

"Have you guys heard, apparently Rakia is planning another war on Orario," Mikoto said.

"A war, really?"

"Oh no, how awful."

Both Bell and Haruhime were somewhat fearful and concerned about the news.

"Ha, a bunch of idiots. Wish them luck though."

"What do you mean?"

"You think a bunch of level 1 and 2, with the odd level 3, will be able to even come near the walls of Orario. You know, the city that houses the Loki and Freya Familia." Nathan said in his monotone voice, though a bit of sarcasm could be heard in the undertone.

"When you put it like that."

"Don't worry about it. We won't be called on, though I might go watch. Could be interesting."

The jovial conversation of the Hestia Familia continued for the rest of the morning until they reached the dungeon, where another day of floor clearing was in store for them.

This chapter was the main reason why I decided with what I said at the top of this chapter. I have a few more cooking up but mainly I want time to make the Xenos arc as I believe it pretty much the most important one until we leave canon.

Nathan's growth in the story is seen in this chapter as now he will talk more and even have a bit of emotion in his voice. Though this is still around people who knows and trusts so expect to keep seeing the blunt and uncaring or silent Nathan towards eveeryone else.

I wanted to use this chapter to show where Nathan is in terms of power. As Ryu is thought of being one of the strongest level 4s in the city by the fandom, only Aki from Loki and Van from Freya could equal her in terms of a fight, I used this to show that Nathan is above her but not by much. He would still lose to most level 5s in Orario if they fiught equally in the collessium.

I said everything else at the top so go re-read that if you forgot what I wrote.

Reviews:

Magi Mari (Review 1): His clothes could be considered edgy but considering his skill to hide in the dark, it makes sense (Ignore how edggy that sounds) But tbf you wrote this on chapter 1. Also, who says Nathan is his full name. The falna only shows what the person believes their name to be. This is why Nathan doesn't have his last name on it as they disowned him, not allowing him that name. I think this because I don't believe Bell's last name to be Cranel as if that was his fathers last name then someone would have put it together. Even though he was the weakest the guy was still a level 4. And the fact that it is said Finn or Ottar could beat him, then most likely those two would have known of him.

Magi Maro (Review 2): It was this review that made me start wanting to add the teasing scene in this chapter. I like writing humour but in those starting chapters it jsut didn't fit. With it being dark and edgy, Idk. I just liked the tone and how it works in the dark underbelly of Orario surrounding Evilus. Not really going to be sunshone and rainbows down there.

Magi Mari (Review 3, damn bro calm down lad.) Your review says "Why would he pay for a knife he doesn't even own?"

Now Idk if you have only seen season 1 of the anime or any of it at all. With this review It makes me unsure if you know if this world as the Hestia Knife debt is a big thing. Of course Nathan would help pay off some of the debt that surrounds the familia he is aprt of. Also helping out the deity who gave him a second chance means a lot to the guy.

Jank4757: Hel shall be used in a very interesting way in future chapters. I look forward to writing her in properly as she is still just in my imagination atm.

With that, thank you for reading and I'll see ya in the next one, peace.

P.S I am posting this at 05:30 in the morining. I have no idea why I decided to write this so late but that is a problem for future me to deal with