Chapter 12: Interlude 2

Bell was excited. Well, somebody would say he was always that way, but today was different! Today – and yesterday – had been simply amazing!

Yesterday, Taylor had given him a Skill – and wasn't that the coolest thing ever?! – then Lili had moved in, and then they'd made friends with Welf, a really cool guy who was almost as tall as Taylor!

Then today, they'd all gone into the Dungeon as a party and he'd gotten a chance to test his Skill. It was powerful. Against the Orcs it took multiple clones to bring them down via explosions, but against smaller monsters with less ability to withstand damage, a single explosion from a clone with of his stats was enough to take out a dozen Goblins instantly. The lightning was even able to kill War Shadows, bypassing their typical resistance to anything save magical attacks!

And that was just the explosions! Bell could gang up on stronger monsters and eliminate them with the help of his clones! He'd already tested that theory on Orcs, and the coordination between him and his doppelgangers was excellent. The limbs of a clone were extremely hot, and could burn flesh easily if they touched a monster, so Bell had already began to think about learning martial arts of some sort to teach his clones.

'Then, once Welf makes weapons the clones can hold, our efficiency will go through the roof!' Bell thought to himself in excitement.

"Miss Taylor, Bell is giggling to himself again," Lili's voice said from next to him, shaking him out of his day dreams of leading armies of clones into battle against the denizens of the Dungeon.

"Just swat him on the back of his head, that should knock the goofy out of him," Taylor drawled, amusement audible in her voice.

"It's rude to bother a man when he's busy thinking," Welf said on Bell's other side.

The four of them were heading out to eat dinner at the Hostess of Fertility, celebrating the formation of their new party. Welf had whole-heartedly agreed to join them as a contracted blacksmith, helping the Hestia Familia with their equipment needs.

Bell was glad the red-head had decided to join them, as having another guy in the group was nice, and balanced the team out. Not that there was anything wrong with having two girls in the party, but the white-haired adventurer didn't have any guy friends.

"What were you thinking about?" Lili wondered, politely curious.

"I was just coming up with ideas for using my Skill," Bell replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"There are a lot of ways to do that," Taylor agreed. "I think your Skill will become a vital part of your combat style going forward."

"Hey there, Bell!" Syr the waitress said as she appeared and placed a large plate of food in front of another customer. "You're in a good mood!"

"We made a lot of money today, and we went down to the Tenth Floor for the first time," Bell said proudly.

"Oh, awesome! Congrats!" Syr said excitedly. "You've made a lot of progress, haven't you?"

"We have," Bell said.

"Are these new members of your Familia?" she asked, looking at the two other members of the party.

"Not quite," Bell replied. "Lili here is a Supporter, she's been very helpful down in the Dungeon! And this is Welf! He's our new contracted blacksmith!"

"Wow! You're starting to look like a real adventurer!" Syr complimented. Bell blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, come on in! There's a table for four over here that has your names on it!" the hostess said, grabbing Bell by the arm and dragging him over to a small square table that had four chairs around it.

Bell stammered and blushed but managed to yank his arm out of Syr's grasp before sitting down.

"Looks good," Taylor said after giving it a look over.

"Great! I'll be back with the menus soon!" Syr declared before flouncing off.

"You know, I've never really eaten here before," Welf admitted as he sat down. "Usually too expensive."

"It is," Lili agreed. "If not for all the money we've been making in the Dungeon recently Lili would be hesitant to be in here."

"It's nice for a treat every once in a while," Taylor agreed. The Hostess of Fertility catered to adventurers rather than common folk. It was only adventurers who could afford to eat here regularly, after all. The cheapest thing on the menu was three hundred valis! Sure, they were large portions, but still!

Syr dropped off some menus for the four of them a moment later, and they looked over the food options. A pasta dish with shrimp was what Taylor settled on, along with water. Bell got a pot roast with apple juice, while Lili's choice was pork chops and Welf ordered a giant shank of meat like in the cartoons. The two of them also requested beers.

"Here you go!" Syr said cheerfully when their orders were ready. She was accompanied by a green-haired elf, Ryuu, her name was if Bell was remembering properly, who was helping her carry the dishes out to them.

"Thank you," Bell said politely, even as his stomach rumbled eagerly.

"So, Miss Taylor, do you like it?" Bell asked as they began to eat.

"It's very good," the parahuman confirmed. She was eating daintily, and Bell admired how she was able to do so with only hand.

"So, tell me about yourselves," Welf requested as they ate. "If I'm going to be working with you lot, I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

"My name is Bell Cranel!" Bell said energetically. "I'm fourteen years old from a tiny village near Orario! I came here to be a hero!"

"A hero, huh? Big dream," Welf noted.

Lili is Lili. Lili is a Supporter, and that's all there is to know about Lili," the pallum adventurer claimed.

"Don't mind her, she's just shy. She'll come around eventually," Bell said warmly. In response, Lili kicked his leg angrily with a pout.

"Uh-huh, I see," Welf drawled, clearly not believing him.

"Lili just doesn't like talking about herself!" the short girl huffed.

"Why not tell us what you like?" Taylor suggested.

"Lili likes money," she said bluntly, and the parahuman and Welf both snorted in amusement at her dry delivery.

"I suppose it my turn, now," Taylor said next. "My name is Taylor Hebert. A newcomer to Orario like Bell. In fact, he saved me on my first day."

"Ah, so Bell's already a hero!" Welf said, shooting the white-haired boy a grin. That caused Bell to blush and stammer.

"I have the power to control insects," Taylor continued. She wisely chose not to show off her ability within the restaurant. "I also like to read."

"Oh, yeah?" Welf hummed. "What do you like to read the most?"

"I'm a fan of history," Taylor said. Part of that was because she wanted to learn more about the world she had ended up in. But she wasn't quite ready to admit that she was an alien to Lili and Welf just yet.

"She's been reading every history book she can get her hand on!" Bell said cheerfully.

"I've recently begun learning about the nations closest to Orario," Taylor admitted. "Rakia sounds quite… unpleasant to be neighbors with."

"You can say that again," Welf agreed with a grimace.

"Bad experience with them?" Bell guessed.

"Yeah. Uh, guess it's my turn," Welf muttered. "Name's Welf. I'm a blacksmith, hoping to Level Up soon, and my dream… well, it's to make a Magic Sword that doesn't break when its used."

"I've heard they're quite fragile," Bell hummed.

"I had a Magic Sword once, but Canoe stole it," Lili muttered darkly under her breath.

Welf shot Lili a concerned look but then answered Bell a moment later.

"Yeah, they are. Infamous for it, really. Sure, they pack a mean punch and can do all sorts of damage out of proportion for a wielder's level, but they break after two or three uses."

"Sounds like a glass cannon," Taylor mused.

"A glass what-now?" Welf asked, confused. "Is that a kind of weapon? Who makes weapons out of glass?"

"Nobody does, that's the point of the saying," Taylor replied. Welf still looked bewildered by her choice of words, and Bell laughed awkwardly before trying to change the topic.

"S-so Welf! What's it like being a blacksmith?"

"Hard work, but fulfilling," Welf replied, a tiny smile creeping onto his face. "Wouldn't want to do anything else, really. There's just something satisfying about creating something with your own hands."

"I agree," Taylor nodded. "There's something soothing about making things. Though I suppose in my case I cheat a bit by making my swarm do most of the work. Though technically, since I'm the one giving the orders to the bugs under my control, I still think it counts."

"Wait, are you saying you control each insect in your swarm individually? At the same time?!" Welf asked incredulously. Lili's jaw dropped in shock.

"It's not that hard," Taylor said with a shrug.

"Lili thinks Miss Taylor has different definitions of what is and isn't hard," the pallum said in disbelief.

"I'm just good at multitasking," Taylor replied.

Welf and Lili shared a look and then knocked back their drinks, emptying their mugs in a single, long quaff.

"Bullshit!" both of them exclaimed as they came up for air after finishing their beer.

Taylor looked perplexed at their response. Bell just snickered at the confused expression she wore.

The group enjoyed their evening out, and Bell was overjoyed that the party was able to get along so well together. Welf brought a new element to their team that was, quite frankly, amazing and which they'd desperately needed.

Bell could admit that aside from the blacksmith, none of them were exactly what one would call strong. Oh, the Falna made it possible for even a brand-new Level 1 adventurer to easily overpower a veteran soldier without a Falna, but prior experiences and a person's body type made certain things simpler.

The white-haired adventurer knew he was never going to be able to swing around a giant weapon like Welf could, or wear massive and heavy suits of armor. Bell had also come to accept he likely wouldn't grow up to be as tall as Taylor or Welf. Therefore, speed and a nimble, quick-footed fighting ability was what he focused on.

Welf filled a niche that was sorely needed, and Bell was already thinking about how far they could get with him on their team. He had a feeling Taylor was also contemplating how exactly he'd be able to fit in.

'Though I wish I knew why Miss Taylor kept referring to Welf as a 'tank,'' he mused to himself, glancing at the otherworlder. And wasn't that another thing to be amazed by? He knew an actual alien! Grandpa would never believe him!

"Did you all have a nice meal?" Syr asked as she approached, distracting Bell from his thoughts.

"Yes! It was lovely!" he said, and the waitress giggled.

"That's good to hear," she said. "Mama will be happy. And so will I, if you came back again soon!"

Syr winked at him, and Bell flushed.

"Damn, that's good customer service," Welf muttered. "No wonder Bell likes to eat here."

Bell spluttered and tried to deny it, but Welf patted him on the shoulder. "There's no shame in being seduced by a sexy lady, Bell. It's a man's romance, after all."

"Ah… really?" Bell asked, glancing over at Lili and Taylor.

"Don't look at me, I'm not a man, so I wouldn't know about what men like," Taylor retorted dryly.

"Same," Lili agreed, though she had a smirk on her face as she was looking at the two boys.

After that little bit of amusement and embarrassment, they paid their bill and left the Hostess of Fertility behind. The moon and stars were fully out in the sky, and the weather was nice and cool. The group spent a moment staring up at the heavens, admiring the beautiful of it, before a yawn from Lili broke the silence.

"Well, it's been fun, guys, but it's getting late," Welf said, stretching a bit while also holding back a yawn of his own. "Gonna head on back."

"Travel safely!" Bell said, waving farewell. "And thank you for agreeing to work with us!"

"No problem. I think working with you guys is going to be interesting, if nothing else," the blacksmith chuckled as he walked off.

"Welf had the right idea. We should be heading back to the church as well. Don't want Hestia to worry about us," Taylor suggested.

Bell bit his lip, before bringing up something he'd been thinking about for a while.

"Actually, Miss Taylor, I think I want to go back into the Dungeon," Bell admitted.

To her credit, she did not immediately deny his request. Instead, she just gave him a long, searching look. Bell did his best not to squirm as she scrutinized him.

"Are you sure you want to go back into the Dungeon?" Taylor asked. "It's getting late."

Lili nodded her head, staring at Bell like he was completely crazy.

"I won't go beyond the First Floor," Bell promised. "I just want to test my Skill out some more."

"Alright," Taylor said with a sigh. "Don't push yourself, though. And if you aren't back in two hours I'm going in to look for you."

"Understood, captain!" Bell said, saluting her, though there was a teasing note to his words.

"I'm not the captain, Bell," Taylor told him.

"But you do all the paperwork with Hestia," Bell reminded her. "And look after us, making sure we eat enough and have plenty of supplies in the Dungeon."

"And you have an ability to multitask that would make the Guild workers weep in envy," Lili added. "Plus, Lili thinks you have the qualities of a leader."

"I'm… I'm not sure if I want to be in a position of authority again," Taylor admitted, looking away.

"I think you're the best choice," Bell replied. "But if you don't want it, then that's fine."

"You're a good kid," Taylor said with a tiny, rueful smile, ruffling his hair fondly which caused him to pout.

"I'm going now!" he said, breaking away from her head pats.

"Keep track of time!" Taylor ordered as he ran off to the Dungeon. He waved nodded and waved a hand as he darted off.

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"Phew!" Bell said, wiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead. He'd been running around the First Floor for an hour now with a clone, and even his Falna boosted stamina was starting to flag. Considering he'd already been fighting monsters earlier in the day, that wasn't much of a surprise.

"What should I do next?" Bell wondered aloud to himself. "Should I head back up to the surface?"

He rubbed his throat. "I should have brought water with me."

"Are you alright?"

"Gah!" Bell exclaimed in surprise, not having heard anyone approaching, jumping in place before spinning around.

Behind him were two women, both of whom were looking at him and his clone curiously. One was an elf with green hair and a robe and staff, marking her a mage, while the other woman was one Bell couldn't forget even if he tried: Ais Wallenstein, the adventurer who'd rescued him from the Minotaur weeks ago.

"Hello," the blonde swordswoman said in greeting. Bell wasn't sure if she remembered him or not, but he bowed his head politely in return.

"Oh! Hello!" he said. "And I'm fine, thank you! I was just training!"

"That's an interesting spell," the green-haired elf mused, observing the lightning clone.

"Um, actually, it's a Skill," Bell replied.

"Fascinating," she murmured.

Embarrassed by the scrutiny he was receiving, he dismissed the clone, much to her disappointment.

"Hmm. Well, in that case, we should be going," the mage of the Loki Familia said. "Come on, Ais. We need to get you some replacement armor, too."

"Yes, Riveria," Ais nodded in agreement, and proceeded to walk off.

"Wait!" Bell called out, causing Ais and Riveria to pause.

"Yes?" Ais asked, turning back to him.

"Thank you!" Bell said, bowing his head towards her. "For saving me back then! And I'm sorry for running away from you at the time! I was just very intimidated by your beauty!"

Ais just stared at him, and he fidgeted for a moment, while at her side Riveria had a hand pressed over her mouth, trying and failing to keep a snort of amusement from escaping.

"You said you were training?" Ais inquired, and Bell nodded. "Tomorrow. Six am. Meet me on top of the northern wall."

"Uh… yes! I will!" Bell said, giving her a salute. He then watched the two of them walk off.

Only when both had disappeared from view did Bell react. He let out a deep, bone-weary sigh and collapsed to the ground, all strength having left him.

"I did it," he murmured. "I talked to her…"

That had been something he'd wanted to do for a while now. Ever since he was rescued, in fact. But he'd never had the chance. Being trained by her was just icing on the cake at this point.

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"Lady Hestia? Miss Taylor? Lili? I'm back!" Bell called out as he walked into the underground living area beneath the church.

"BEEEELL!" Hestia cried out, tackling her first (and not-so-secretly favorite) Familia member.

"Lady Hes-!" Bell began, only to flinch as she immediately to wail on him, smacking his chest with her tiny fists. It didn't hurt, in fact it was quite adorable and Bell could see Taylor and Lili smirking from the couch. So he just stood there and took it like a man, just like his grandpa had taught him.

"What were you thinking, going into the Dungeon so late at night?! And with nobody to back you up?!" Hestia demanded angrily, pouting up at him.

"Um, I was perfectly fine?" Bell replied nervously.

"That doesn't matter!" Hestia shouted. "I was worried!"

"Um… oops," Bell mutter. "I'm sorry?"

That didn't cut it, and Hestia smacked him a bit more before finally huffing and walking off. "Bedroom! Now!"

"Careful, Hestia," Taylor called out. "Most people take other people to their beds after a date or two."

Lili laughed as Bell and Hestia both turned crimson with their embarrassed blushes.

"Sh-shut up! That's not what I meant and you know it!" Hestia shrieked. She grabbed Bell's hand and dragged him off, kicking him onto the bed.

A few moments later, Bell walked out with his newly updated Stat sheet.

"Whoa," he murmured to himself. This was quite the jump!

BELL CRANEL

LEVEL 1

POWER – B 707 A 818

ENDURANCE – C 633 B 798

DEXTERITY – B 737 A 888

AGILITY – A 823 SS 1001

MAGIC – I 0 G 255

"I didn't know Stats could go over 999," he hummed thoughtfully.

"Your Stats did WHAT?!" Lili shouted, toppling off the couch in shock.

"Bell," Taylor said tersely, sticking out her hand, and Bell flinched before dutifully handing it over. As Taylor and Lili stared at his stat sheet, Hestia walked out of the bedroom, an exhausted expression on her face.

"Hestia, is this correct?" Taylor demanded, looking up sharply at the goddess.

"I'm just as shocked as you are," Hestia groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"Lili has never heard of this happening before!" Lili exclaimed. "Also, what the Hell is with these numbers?! These are the Stats of an elite, multi-year veteran adventurer, not a newbie not even half a year into their career!"

"Is this really that weird?" Bell asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Most adventurers only get a couple points per Stat after a few straight days in the Dungeons!" Lili shouted. "Lili once got an increase of Twelve points in Dexterity, and that was after a month of non-stop accuracy training with the wrist crossbow and using monsters as pincushions!"

Most adventurers treated Dungeon delving as a 9-5 job. It was only those willing to constantly throw themselves into battle and danger that rapidly gained Excelia. It wasn't easy, or safe, and many adventurers perished before making it that far. But for those who did? They were the ones who became renowned throughout the city.

"So this is the effect of Limit Break?" Taylor muttered to herself as she stared at the sheet, though it was so quiet Bell wasn't sure he'd actually heard her.

"Well, I guess this is a bad time to tell you I was invited for training tomorrow morning by Miss Ais," Bell muttered. Not quietly enough, though, as the living room erupted in shouting once more.

It was quite late by the time anyone was able to settle down and go to sleep after all the revelations.

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Ais didn't understand why Riveria was grinning at her like that. Well, it was just a slight upwards quirk of her lips, but for the Level 6 elf, that was practically an effusive display of overt amusement.

"What?" Ais asked, turning towards her mentor. The woman who'd taught her how to read and write (and other things) just grinned.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just glad to see you're starting to grow up, is all," Riveria replied.

"Oh," the Sword Princess replied. What did a growth spurt have to do with this, though?

Sensing her confusion, Riveria just waved a hand dismissively. "Ignore me," she requested. "You'll understand when you're older."

Ais tilted her head to the side, before deciding to think about something else. Like the white-haired adventurer she'd just agreed to help train.

She was glad to see him, again. The younger boy had survived the Minotaur attack and had come out of it significantly stronger, if his interesting Skill was any indicator.

'How many more monsters could I kill if I had more copies of myself?' Ais wondered idly.

It was always good to see more adventurers within the Dungeon, especially one with the drive to improve themselves. Most treated it as a routine job. But for Ais, it was more than that. All monsters had to be exterminated.

'I'll have to see what I'm working with before I decide what to do with his training regime, but from what I saw back there, the boy has his Agility and Dexterity stats in a good position and can handle the mobility side of things, but needs to work on his Power and Endurance more so he can kill monsters in a single hit, and take heavier blows,' the adventurer mused to herself. 'Hmm… I wonder what his name is?'

Ais resolved to ask him his name the next time she saw him. And maybe if she did a good job of training, she could pat his hair? It looked very soft and fluffy.

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Canoe had been having a bad day. Actually, it'd been a bad couple of days.

First, his sheets got infested with bedbugs. Then some roaches got into his kitchen, ruining his stock of rare, imported tea, his one non-Soma related vice. Some centipedes had decided his boots would make for a lovely home as well, and his clothing was infested with fleas.

'And now I find out Lili survived?!' the raccoon-man growled as he scratched himself violently, drawing blood. The brat was supposed to have died in the Dungeon! She'd been getting too big for her britches, and Zanis suspected she was getting close to having enough money to buy her way out. The pallum's death was supposed to treat the other sheep in the Familia to toe the line from now on! But now the plan was ruined!

It was all that damned bug girl's fault! He couldn't prove anything, but come on?! Who else could cause so many insects to invade his home and ruin his stuff?!

'In hindsight, trying to kill Lili with Killer Ants was probably a bad idea,' Canoe admitted to himself, though he'd never say it aloud. He'd known the newbie could control insects and insectoid monsters. She walked around with a damned Crystal Mantis, for Soma's sake!

Why had he gone along with Ged's idea for revenge in the first place? The man was a complete idiot! He'd hired Lili to be his Supporter, after all.

Canoe grunted. 'Whatever. It's in the past, now. I just have to put up with this until the bitch gets bored. Then I can plot a more proper end for both her and Lili.'

He wasn't sure why the other adventurer was torturing him like this. Normally, disputes between adventurers in Orario were settled in the Dungeon. And often times lethally, at that. Bug girl was either naïve or sadistic. The raccoon-man wasn't sure which was worse.

For now, though, a bath with special soap to try and soothe the bites and stings was in order. Yet when he turned on the faucet to fill his tub with water, the only thing that came out was a torrent of wet and soggy spiders.

The screams of a frightened and wounded pig rang out through the night-darkened streets of Orario. It scared children, spooked adults, and created rumors of a ghost haunting the alleys, screaming as it reenacted its murder.

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Freya tapped a finger against the side of her wineglass as she stared out at Orario. She couldn't decide if she was happy or not.

On the one hand, her beloved Bell had proven he was truly a kind-hearted soul, going so far as to give his Familia member the gift she'd procured for him. On the other, he now had one of those thingslatched onto his soul, just like that bug controlling girl. She would have to increase surveillance on that mortal to ensure she didn't further taint the boy.

'Yet somehow, his soul remains pure,' she thought to herself. Where before he'd possessed a crystal clear soul, there were now bolts of golden lightning surrounding it like a protective barrier.

Furthermore, it felt like something had been woken up within Bell's essence. A previous life was coming to the fore, something that should have been utterly impossible. The past existences would not overwhelm Bell, so there was no danger of the white-haired boy turning into a different person, but he would start to grow even faster than he already had been doing.

'I shall have to instruct Ottar to speed up the training of Bell's next test,' she thought to herself. The Minotaur was already a deadly beast, but with some more 'encouragement' it'd be a proper tool. A whetstone to sharpen her new champion's blade.

Freya couldn't help but smile in anticipation. Bell Cranel would become her Odr. There was no other choice. She could feel the strings of fate binding them together.

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"Report," Ouranos said tersely.

"I have been unable to locate the source of the disturbance, nor have I been able to narrow down where it came from. All we know was that it originated from somewhere in the west of Orario," Fels informed the impatient god. "It was simply too short a time frame to figure out anything else."

Ouranos held in a sigh, feeling frustrated. Ever since that strange burst of energy the day before yesterday, the Sky God and Anchor of the Dungeon had been on edge.

For a brief moment, it had felt like the Dungeon had escaped its confines, but the feeling had faded as quickly as it appeared and after double and triple-checking the seals and wards, Ouranos had confirmed that the Dungeon had not managed to breach through into the city.

Worse was that in response, the Dungeon had gotten… moody. There was no other way to describe it. There were no abnormal monsters being born, at least as far as he could tell, nor were there any shifts in the layout of the floors, but the Dungeon was not happy.

It was almost as if it was sulking. But that was impossible… wasn't it?

'Then again, I assumed that something like the spike of foreign energy was impossible until it happened,' the chief god of Orario mused to himself.

Aloud, he asked, "Royman, how have the gods been reacting?"

"Most of the gods are on edge," Royman Mardeel, the head of the Guild, said after clearing his throat. The portly elf looked worn down, having had to deal with the complaints and messages from the Familias for the past two days. "They want answers, and we have none."

"Tell them that the Dungeon tried to escape again, but I managed to contain it," Ouranos said after thinking it over. It wasn't the truth, but it was close enough to not matter.

"It won't calm them down," Royman claimed.

"I think it will," Fels interjected. "The Dungeon trying to break free from its prison is, while not a common occurrence, something that happens often enough that the gods will understand it as an excuse and settle down once they realize it was a one-off event."

Ouranos wasn't so certain the spike of Dungeon-like energy was a one-time occurrence, nor did he share Fels' confidence that all of the gods would stop caring. Hermes, Loki and Freya would definitely investigate.

"Regardless of how the gods act afterwards, the statement alone should sooth nerves and assure them we have everything under control," Ouranos said, and his two loyal servants bowed their heads in understanding before leaving to complete their duties.

Only once they were gone did the god sag on his throne. "What is happening in this city recently? Not since Evilus have so many mysterious incidents appeared one after the other."

First the Xenos, then the Outsider arriving, and now this alien energy? What next, an adventurer reaching Level 2 in under a year?

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Author's Note: Thanks for reading! If you'd like to read early chapters or support my work, Akashicrecordstrue over on Pat-re-On is where to go!