Change of Fates (rewrite)

by Ventanus

The rewrite of my Change of Fates story, since there are many things I d like to change or wished I wrote differently. Bell will have three partners here. (third one cant be taken in the pull-down menu, so I take Lefiya since she is very important even when not Bell s lover here) Rating MA again.

6. What do you want and long for

"Bell, are you ready?"

"Y-Yes, grandfather!"

"It won´t hurt, don´t worry."

Bell was clearly nervous, Zeus would finally give him his blessing, under the condition that he took it from him on the day that Bell would go to Orario. At first, he wanted to do it the next morning, but Alfia sighed and said that her little angel wouldn´t be able to sleep then, he would be too excited.

Alfia sat in front of Bell, held his hands and smiled gentle. "It´s okay, Sweety, your grandfather won´t hurt you."

Zard smirked. "Yeah, he knows what he does."

Bell had taken his shirt off, while Zeus sat down behind him. "It may feel a bit strange, but you are strong Bell, you can bear with it."

Zeus poked his index finger with a needle and let a drop of divine blood fall on Bell´s back. Light shone and runes started to appear.

"Nnnngh!"

Bell squeezed Alfia´s hands slightly.

"Zeus! Are you hurting my baby?!"

"No, I don´t! You know that it doesn´t hurt! And don´t call Bell your baby, he is almost thirteen now!"

"He will always be my baby boy! My little angel!"

Bell gritted his teeth. "It feels weird, so weird!"

Irkh...her maternal instincts are too strong. I pray to my fellow buddies in heaven for the woman who will fall in love with him later and try to get together with him...they don´t know who they will have to face then.

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In that moment in Orario, two girls who were a few years too young to be called young women sneezed, and a young woman.

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After finishing his job, Zeus put a piece of paper on Bell´s back, drawing a circle with his finger, and waited for a moment.

"So, Bell. Here."

Bell´s eyes shone when he looked at the paper.

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Bell Cranel

Belongs to: Zeus Familia

Level: 1

Strength: I 0

Endurance: I 0

Dexterity: I 0

Agility: I 0

Magic: I 0

Luck: I

Abnormal Resistance: I

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Zeus had wondered about something when he looked at the paper at first.

Why does he start with the abnormal resistance? This never happened to any of my boys.

Zeus continued to read, the runes told him everything he needed to know.

Abnormal Resistance: I

Due to eating healthy meals filled with a mother´s love, an uncle´s insane skills...mostly because of "Uncle´s food"...and receiving much maternal love, increased resistance to poison, continuation will increase resistance further.

Dear heavens Alfia, how much of a Mom can you be? You have already given Bell a head start against all other adventurers!

"Hehe, I have a Falna. Now I can become a hero!"

Zeus and Alfia got blinded by the sheer joy and sparkles in Bell´s eyes, they got never used to it. Alfia was sure, her cute son could defeat undead and demon monsters with just the purity in his eyes.

Zard winked. "Then be very welcome in the familia, Bell. On behalf of Maxim, your father, and all the others, welcome to the family."

"But Grandpa, why are the points all zero?"

"Because every adventurer starts at zero in every status. Also, it will take a while to get magic, if you ever get it in the first place."

"Eeeeeh!? I thought I would get the same magic as Mom."

Alfia gently patted Bell´s head. "It is unlikely that you will be able to use the same magic as me, Sweety."

"Mouh...I wanted to be like you, Mom. You are my hero."

The way he looked up a bit sad to her and was so honest, it squeezed Alfia´s heart from cuteness.

Zeus grinned. "Maybe you will get it in the future, for now, focus on your training with your Mom and Uncle. I will update your status every evening after your training, so do your best to become stronger. You have two magic slots, three is the maximum someone can have."

"I will!"

"Old man."

"Boy?" Zeus often called Zard like that.

"Care to update my status too, for the first time in a few years?"

Zeus went quiet for a while. "Sure."

Bell couldn´t stop gawking when Zard took off his vest and long-sleeved shirt. "So muscular."

"Heh, you will come there too one day, Bell."

While Zeus went to work, Alfia went to the kitchen to make some tea.

"Is there a special reason you want your update?"

"For one, to show Bell what heights he can reach one day. For the other, curiosity if something changed."

"A good idea, look closely, Bell."

"I will!"

It took longer than usual for Zeus, mostly because he didn´t update a status in years, and was a bit emotional about it.

"Hah...one time..."

"Old man?"

"I just wish to update the status of a beautiful girl or woman one time!"

"Oy, oy. Don´t talk like that in front of Bell, Alfia will come for you."

"What´s wrong with such a dream?! Bell! Always remember your goals! And save all the cute girls and women from danger that you can!"

"I will, Grandpa!"

"That´s my boy!"

Zard shook his head, in a way Bell was like his father, just way more innocent and pure.

Eventually Zeus was finished, and showed them the paper sheet. Bell´s eyes nearly popped out.

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Zard ******

Belongs to: Zeus Familia

Level: 7

Strength: S 999

Endurance: S 999

Dexterity: S 910

Agility: B 702

Magic: D 553

Hunter: D

Abnormal Resistance: C

Crush: F

Strong Body: E

Supreme Fist: I

New Skill: Feast worthy of the gods

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"Oy, oy...my status actually grew a bit since last time, I didn´t even do that much. And Strong Body went up? My resistance too? How?"

Bell couldn´t close his mouth. "Uncle Zard! You´re super strong! Like really, really strong!"

He winked. "So is your Mom, in some ways much stronger than I am. Old man, what is this new skill?"

Alfia came into the room again. "Zard, put your shirt back on, you will get cold."

"Hay, hay."

Zeus read out loud what the skill did.

"Feast worthy of the gods: Increased cooking skills, cooked meals will give temporary status buff to those who eat it. And..."

"Old man?"

"Zeus?"

"Grandpa?"

"Will...slow down any illness..."

Bell looked confused for a moment, Zard and Alfia went quiet.

Zeus smirked. "Food that strenghtens people? It´s like your other skill, but reversed."

"Does it say which food does what?"

"No, we might have to figure this out, by having Bell eat your food, then I will look at his status."

Alfia frowned. "Don´t make Bell your guinea pig!"

"Alfia, this could be important for Bell´s training and his time in the dungeon later."

"So you don´t want Bell to eat my food in the dungeon later..."

Bell turned to Alfia. "Of course I want to eat your food! And Uncle Zard´s!"

Zeus shook his head. "Alfia, don´t be so worried, I didn´t mean it like this. But for example when Bell later has a party, they go onto an Expedition, maybe fight a floor boss or monster rex, this will be important."

"Then I will accompany them and make sure nothing happens!"

Zard shook his head. "Not a good idea."

"Et tu, Zard?!"

"Alfia...you can´t protect and hold your hand over Bell forever, you can´t baby him forever."

She put her arms around Bell and pulled him into a hug. "I will protect my baby from all danger!"

It would take them a while for Alfia to accept it, that this would be a bad idea, otherwise Bell wouldn´t grow up.

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"Hah-Puh...Hah-Puh...Hah-Puh...and finished."

"Puha! Uncle, you are amazing, to run this distance so easily."

"You will get there too, Bell. I´m proud of you, you did all that running and training without complaining once, worthy of our familia."

"How could I complain when my super cool, Uncle agreed to teach me?"

"Nice words won´t give you bonus points, since I´m not your Mom, Bell."

"I´m not trying to get bonus points, Grandpa just taught me to always be nice to women. To be polite. And I don´t think it should only be towards women."

Heh, Alfia will really have a hard time in Orario to shoo all these lonely, love starved women away from him.

There was something that Bell didn´t know, as a level seven adventurer, Zard shouldn´t sweat in the slightest from jogging around the village. And yet his white shirt showed signs of sweat, was partly see through. But jogging in a dark shirt would ruin it after a while, due to the salt in his sweat.

"You two, I brought you something to drink." Alfia came with a tray from the house.

"Alright, Bell, let us drink some water and then start with your training."

"Yes, Uncle!"

The sight of Alfia with her hair bound to a ponytail, her nape revealed, her shirt clinging tight to her body, since she had been cleaning the house and didn´t want her shirt to touch anything dusty, and her wearing shorts, many men would have paid for this sight, especially Zeus. Not even her fellow Familia members had seen her like this, only Meteria so far. She even had her shirt pulled up a bit, revealing her belly button. Alfia didn´t care that Zard could see her like this, he might be the only man where she didn´t care about it, because she knew he had no lewd tendencies.

Zard smirked. "Never fails to impress me how different you look now, compared to the past, my friend."

"Right back at you, old man."

"Hmm.."

"Bell?"

"Mom, why does your skin look so different from mine, Uncle Zard´s and grandpa´s?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your legs, your arms, and your stomach, they look so smooth."

"That´s because I am a woman, it is quite normal."

"Hm, okay."

After Alfia gave them the mugs, she returned to the house.

Both went to a tree stump, where they had put down their stuff before they went of jogging. Their wooden swords were there, as well as towels and bottles with special water. It was Zard´s creation, something that Zeus had shown his familia in the past, Zard had only "enhanced" it. According to the old god, in the long distant past, the mighty Heracles got taught about this stuff from his legendary trainer. A fact that let Bell´s eyes sparkle.

Lemon water.

It wasn´t only lemon juice put into water, but mixed with a bit of honey to counteract the sourness of the lemon, Zard had experimented with the lemon and honey, making them taste even better. That water was really refreshing and helped with fatigue, it was what kept Alfia going when she traveled with Zard from Orario to the village.

When he had shown it to Bell for the first time, he wasn´t so sure because of the honey, Bell really didn´t like sweetness. But the moment he told him the story about this water, Bell was eager to drink it! If the great hero Heracles got strong because it helped him with his training, it would help him too!

After drinking something, Zard always had an eye on Bell to make sure he was well hydrated...or Alfia would complain and hunt him, both took their wooden swords and went to the are they used for training.

"Assume your basic position."

Bell took a deep breath, grabbed his sword with both hands and got into his position.

"Lower your arms a bit more, feet a little further apart."

He didn´t answer, just followed his Uncle´s orders.

"Alright, form one."

He raised his sword, the tip next to his shoulder, Zard took the same stance. At first Alfia insisted on training Bell how to fight with swords. But while she was a genius, Zard was just better with it, and the better weapon teacher. For most other things, it was Alfia´s job.

"Forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, and again."

Following his words, they moved the swords in unison.

"And from below. Forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, and again."

He changed how he held the sword and made the same movements as Zard did.

"Parry overhead, right side, left side. And stitch technique. Straight ahead. From the side as in a hook. Backhand stitch from the other side. And again."

They always started with the basics, it helped them to loosen up and focus Bell´s mind to his weapon. There was a large number of ways to swing his sword and Zard made sure he rememberred them all. He also had promissed Bell, after he had begged him, to show him the fighting styles of other familia members. Like his father´s or Maxim´s.

Thankfully, Alfia gave her okay...at the beginning of the training, she was the one to decide what was right and what not.

Alfia didn´t even want to think about what could happen if Bell just went to Orario, got a starter weapon from the guild and went into the dugneon without training.

"Okay, next as a pair, from the start."

Now both faced each other and slowly worked their way through the entire movement, only touching the edge of the others sword lightly. When Bell made a mistake, he pointed it out with patience.

Alfia was very similar in her training with Bell, in fact, she was much softer.

No other person would get this kind of treatment from Alfia, she would fight much faster and more brutal, driving the other to a near death experience. She had done this in the past, knew no mercy, but Alfia had changed, at least when it came to Bell.

"Step two."

Again they moved through every step, but a bit faster.

"Step three."

There were five steps, each time they got faster.

"Continue with step five!"

Again and again Zard let Bell move through every step, this time with the highest speed. Their swords clacked now whenever they hit against each other. Bell felt shocks running through his fingers and arms, he relaxed them for a splitsecond whenever he pulled his sword back, like Zard had shown him. This way he wouldn´t get a cramp, or at least delay it as long as possible.

Sweat started to run over both of their bodies. Compared to the past, Zard really was out of form.

But also due to his illness.

At his full strength, there probably wasn´t another adventurer in the world who could stand a chance against him in close combat. Well maybe Maxim or the Empress, but even with being a level below Maxim, he was able to overpower his captain.

A fact that always made Maxim laugh, but he was known as "The Laughing Warrior" for a reason.

Just like Alfia, he had defeated Ottar before, with a single strike. He didn´t know all the details, but right now there should be three or four level seven adventurers in the world. Himself, Alfia, Leon Vardenburg fromt he Education District, and mabye Thor´s captain. The next candidate he thought of would be Freya´s captain, Ottar. Maybe he already became level seven? Knowing the ambition of this warrior, Zard could believe it.

Zard knew Thor´s captain, from their fight against the Behemoth. And both knew Leon Vardenburg, Alfia from the fight against Leviathan, and both afterward when they traveled and helped with...the barrier.

Alfia and Zard were past their prime, their illnesses made them weaker. Yet, Bell´s presence seemed to heal Alfia in some ways, Zeus called it maternal love for him. And in Zard´s case, maybe the peaceful life...and of course his food. Since his skill worked on him too.

But not all days went well.

In the second week of their training, Alfia had suddenly started to cough a lot and broke down to her knees, Bell was instantly at his Mom´s side, Zard came running. She shook so heavily that he lifted her up and carried her to the house, Bell nursed her for the whole day, while Zard made food that could help her a bit, even Zeus helped where he could.

She had promised to Bell to be careful and take it too far, that she would tell him if she got too exhausted during their training.

And by herself, Alfia swore that she would only use her full power when Bell or her own life were in danger. She had promised her sister to watch over Bell and she could only do that while being alive. Alfia would give him the chance to grow and let him do his thing, but Mama Dragon would always watch over her little one.

And if even one woman from the pleasure quarter will even look in Bell´s direction, I will obliterate the whole district!

These thoughts came more often to her, Alfia slowly had to accept that Bell was growing up...even when he was still a child!

"And freestyle!"

Now Bell was allowed to use the form he wanted to and attack Zard as fast as he could, he would only block and counter. Even when he was weakened, Bell didn´t have the strength to counter one of her blows.

"Move your feet, don´t stand still! The rigid tree will break in the storm, only the swaying reed will stand!"

It was a bit strange for Zard to say this, since he fought differently. But it was an universe advice.

That was actually something the Empress used to say, Zard saw no reason why not to use it. To make sure that Bell didn´t stand still, he moved back and forth, turned this and that way. All the time he kept looking at Bell and focussed on his breathing and how he moved his arms.

He was completely focused on his opponent, a mistake he would show him.

While pulling his sword back and making a fast step forward to follow her, Bell´s foot suddenly caught on a tuft of grasss, breaking his balance.

"Wuah!"

With a thud, Bell landed face first on the grass.

"Ouch..."

"Are you okay, Bell?"

"Yes, I´m sorry, I forgot to look out for my surroundings."

"No problem, you noticed your mistake and you learn from it. Now back to fighting stance."

"Yes, teacher!"

They started again with the ground pose, went through the steps one to five, until they went over into freestyle again. Sweat rained down from their bodies and splashed around. While it was exhausting, Zard liked the feeling, it felt somehow honest.

And he was well aware how Alfia had leaned out of the window when she heard Bell´s cry, also...he felt the killing intent, she couldn´t do anything against that. Whatever threatened Bell, awakaned the urge in her to destroy this threat.

Her behavior made him a few problems, also when she was training with him.

Alfia had frowned a bit when she noticed something, Bell refused to use a few movements during freestyle, he refused to aim at a certain part of her body. Not that he could actually touch her body with his sword or hurt her even when he did.

"Bell, is there a reason why you don´t aim for my chest? I told you it is a weakpoint."

"I can´t! Grandpa told me I should never aim at this place at a woman! A-And Uncle Zard told me to be careful with you two!"

"Bell, I´m wearing protection, you should never hold back with an opponent."

"But-!"

To make her point clear, Alfia made a swift step forward when Bell raised his sword over his head. She grabbed both of his wrists with her hand, pulled them down behind his head and grabbed his waist with her other hand, pulling him close to her.

"Eek!"

"Startled?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Good, learn your lesson."

Alfia let go of him and stepped back, she definitely didn´t do it just to hug Bell...well maybe a little bit.

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"Lefiya! Do you want to go to the café?"

"No, thank you..."

"Aww, come on! They have the new potato snack frappuchino!"

"I´m not in the mood for that..."

"Mh...you sure?"

"Yes, thank you, Alisa."

"Hm...okay then.."

Like most of the times, Lefiya sat on a high place in the Education District, looking over the ocean, a book next to her. Whenever classes were over, she came here, to be alone. The human girl, Alisa, was the only person that came even close for a friend here.

She never lost her gloomy nature, almost every night she had a nightmare, of the time when her parents threw themself in front of her, to protect her from the monster, telling her to run.

When the memory came up again, tears flew out of Lefiya´s eyes. She hid her head between her arms and cried.

As she did so often...

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While Lefiya cried, the Education District moved further through the ocean, soon her class would take a land expedition.

Not something she looked forward to.

During the last expedition, a student got killed by a monster.

She rememberred how he jumped forward, tried to use his magic.

"Domain Expe-!"

He never got further...the monster simply cleaved the student in half. The student had only recently reached level two and got his magic. He was too eager to test it

Dead...so easily. The teacher told them to never underestimate monsters, something like this incident always reminded them of this.

What Lefiya didn´t know, the land expedition this time had a special reason. The Education District got letters, that more monsters appeared at a coastal area, and more from the inland. As if something had settled further away from the ocean, and let the monsters flee from there due to the presence.

It would still be about a month until they arrived at their destination.

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"Guha!"

Time went like honey for Alfia. Bell flew backward after she had dealt a straight thrust, due to him moving in a different direction than she had thought, she had hit his forehead instead of his shoulder.

"Bell!"

She dropped her sword and jumped at him, but Bell didn´t move, he had lost consciousness.

"Bell, my baby, wake up!"

In panic she rolled him onto his back, thankfully he was breathing.

She heard steps and a voice behind her.

"What are you two doing?"

"Zeus, Bell lost consciousness!"

"Mh? Ah don´t worry, he will soon wake up."

"How can you say that? My baby might be hurt! And it is my fault!"

"Then just heal him."

"How!? I have no healing magic."

Zeus shrugged his shoulders. "Put the back of his head on your lap, stroke his hair, and wait, it works wonders."

She frowned. "Are you making fun of me in a situation like this?"

"I don´t make fun of you. This is one of the world´s laws. A man receiving a lap pillow from a beautiful woman will heal up to 125% faster."

"This is stupid!"

"I didn´t make this rule. If you don´t want to help your son, just wait. I´ll go and get a few "cookies" from Zard."

The cookies that Zard made, didn´t have much sugar, most people wouldn´t like them, but Bell did. And the effect of these cookies were amazing, they helped to regain stamina.

Bell!

Alfia´s body moved before her mind could decide. Zeus wasn´t ashamed about what he said, Bell got the first lap pillow of his life from a really beautiful woman.

I´m quite the good grandfather I must say.

Zeus had also discovered why Bell already had the Luck ability, maybe it was too much to call it lucky pervert accidents since they were mother and child, but the old god was surprised that Bell´s fall got cushioned often by Alfia´s body when he lost balance. More than a few times her bosom even caught his face.

She moved by instinct during that, wanting to protect her son.

Kuh! Bell you are so lucky! I want to do that too!

From now on, whenever Bell lost consciousness during their training, Alfia would do that for him, and it really helped. She tried to be very careful and would never do that on purpose. But sitting in the sun, gently caressing Bell´s hair, while looking at his peaceful face was nice.

My baby boy.

Alfia wanted to lean down to kiss his forehead, but two things got in her way, for a moment Bell´s head got sandwiched between her thighs and her chest. While he was unconscious, Bell had the feeling as if heavenly soft clouds enveloped his head.

Whenever she accidentally hit Bell during their training, Alfia felt much more pain than Bell did. She apologized to him over and over again every time. That went on until Zeus scolded her for forgetting the purpose of Bell´s training, that she went easy and soft on Bell even after training for two months, and that going soft on Bell would be dangerous for him in the future.

It was a good thing for Bell, that this awakened Mama Dragon.

While being the most loving and caring being on the surface in their free time, Alfia would become strict and more forward during the training.

After two weeks of training, Bell´s status had risen a bit.

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Bell Cranel

Belongs to: Zeus Familia

Level: 1

Strength: I 98

Endurance: H 102

Dexterity: I 99

Agility: I 80

Magic: I 0

Luck: I

Abnormal Resistance: I

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"Aaaaaah, nothing better than taking a long break and relaxing once in a while with my grandson."

"But grandfather, this isn´t meant as a break."

"Ah, Bell. Not so serious, we have to take it easy now, or we won´t catch anything."

Zeus and Bell were sitting on the banks of a gently flowing river a little way from the village, both with their shoes and socks off, dangling their feet in the water and each holding a fishing pole. Every now and then they would come here to catch fish and spend some "man time" together. In the past, Bell was only interested in spending time with his grandfather, but as he got older, he used the time to ask him questions he couldn't or wouldn't ask Alfia or Zard.

It was early autumn and this was an important time of year for the village as the salmon run had started again. It was a particularly important time for Bell as Alfia loved the taste of salmon. But others in the village also liked him. Catching salmon at that time wasn't particularly difficult and since Zeus was relatively strong and Bell wasn't exactly weak by now either, they caught more than they needed and gave the rest around the village in exchange for other things. Like every late autumn, the village prepared for the winter with all those preparations that still had to be done. And being able to eat fish in winter was a small luxury. The good thing was that the village wasn't that big, so they couldn't catch too many fish with the crowd moving through the river.

"Oh, something bites!"

"Hoho...Bell, You want to make your grandfather look old, huh? Catching the first salmon before me."

"Y-You normally win each year!"

"Hehe, I´m joking. Not so loud or you will scare the other fishes away."

Bell did his best and caught the salmon, putting it in a large bowl with river water. They would kill and gut the fish before they left. This had made Bell cry when he was a child, he was almost thirteen now, so according to his grandfather, he was almost a young man! Alfia vehemently spoke against this.

Zeus had explained to him that that was nature and since they were taking something from nature, it was their duty to see that the fish did not suffer. Just like Alfia had shown him how to hunt, always making sure a shot was deadly. And that they only took as much as they needed or, in the case of the salmon, would trade.

"Oho, a good size, now let´s see who will catch the biggest one."

Bell smiled at his grandfather´s words and threw his fishing bait back into the water.

"I´m sure you will, Grandpa. You have much more experience than I have."

"Hehe, no wonder since I´m much, much, much older than you."

"But you are still handsome, Grandpa."

"Ah, Bell. You are balm for my soul."

For a moment both went silent and just enjoyed the sounds of nature.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"You really won´t come with us to Orario?"

Bell looked a bit sad when he asked that.

Zeus smiled and gently patted Bell´s head with his right hand.

"No, Bell. My place isn´t in Orario, I was there for nearly a thousand years. Also, it would cause problems since I had a bit trouble with a few gods there. And I don´t want my grandson to get problems because of me."

"Oh."

Zeus winked. "Also, I don´t want to charm all the cuties that will be all over you."

"E-Eh?!" Bell got red.

"What? I´m sure there will be tons of girls and women all over you. Your Mom will have a hard time, that is for sure."

"Eh, b-but, I-I mean..."

"Hehe, don´t you want to save a cute girl in the dungeon? I thought that was your dream."

"It is!..And saving Mom."

"I´m sure you will save your Mom, Bell. If anyone can, it´s you. And for your other dream, always remember, it isn´t wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon. Listen to the wise words of your grandfather, I have experience."

"Did you ever pick up a girl in a dungeon?"

"No, sadly not. The dungeon doesn´t like us gods. So if you manage to do that, you will have achieved something that even this old man couldn´t do."

Zeus grinned and Bell got red again. Since he had no contact with women, except for his Mom, Bell was still a very pure boy, that didn´t even dream of holding hands or kissing a girl. Sure, he got more than one kiss on the cheek from Alfia, but his love for her wasn´t in a romantic way.

"I wonder how it will be in Orario."

"Loud, trust me. Much louder than our village."

"Are the people nice there?"

"Some are, many are. But I guarantee you, there are people there that are not so nice. It is the center of the world, the capital of Gekai if you want."

"Gekai?"

"Oh, that´s how we call the "lower world"."

"Hehe, sometimes I forget that my super cool Grandpa is a god."

Zeus winked. "Well, first and foremost I´m your grandfather, everything else is second."

"And I see you only as my grandfather."

Bell meant what he said and nothing would ever change how he saw Zeus.

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Both kept fishing for a while and caught a few salmons. Whenever they caught one, the others got scared away and not one wanted to bite. But the fishes kept on swimming and after a while, the fishes around their baits wouldn´t know what they meant.

"Bell, that reminds me, what kind of girls do you like?"

"Eh?!"

"I mean I know you don´t have contact with any girls except for your Mom, but did you never imagine one? Maybe her eye color?"

"Uhm...maybe green or blue?"

"Ah, I can see where this comes from."

The only women that Bell had ever thought of as beautiful, were his mother and Alfia. And while Alfia had a green eye, Meteria had a blue one.

"And I´m sure there is a beautiful girl in Orario just waiting for someone like you."

"Mmmmh..."

"Who knows, maybe even two or three."

"Mmhhhh!"

Sometimes Zeus liked to tease Bell a bit.

"And what´s your type? Maybe a beautiful swordswoman? An exotic far eastern beauty, maybe even a samurai or a ninja? Or a cute elf? Or maybe a fox girl like the one in your story that you like so much. Or a cat girl. Or...maybe a goddess?"

"G-Grandpa..."

"Hehe, sorry, sorry, this old man loves to joke around a bit."

They continued to fish for a while and Zeus indeed managed to catch a bigger one than Bell had.

"By the way, how is your training going?"

"Mom has become very strict and sometimes a bit harsh, but she told me it had to be."

"She is right, your Mom trains you strictly because she loves you very much. I have met many mothers over my long life, but I don´t think I ever met one that is more doting. Alfia is the best trainer you can have and she does her all to prepare you for the dungeon.

While the dungeon is a wonderful, romantic place, it is also dangerous. And your Mom is really worried about you, so she has to be strict."

"I know and I´m really thankful for that. She told me that the heroes of the past had also trained very harshly and sometimes even harder than I am."

"Well only one name comes to my mind, one who trained much, much harder than you."

"Who was that?"

Zeus grinned. "Heracles. But he was really something else. Oh now that I think about it, maybe Albert Waldstein, man he was crazy."

"Did you know him!?"

"No, that was before we came down from heaven. But I watched him train sometimes from up there."

"How did he manage to get so strong that he drove the One Eyed Black Dragon away, without having a Falna?"

"Well he was a hero, back then there were a few people that got really strong. Like the queen of all elves."

Now that I think about it, Loki´s elven mage looks a bit like her, but she is royality, maybe a descendant.

"I want to become as strong as Albert Waldstein was!"

"Maybe you will, if you listen to your Mom, follow her training and always eat what she makes for you."

"I will!"

Bell leaned his head back and looked up for a while.

"How was it in heaven?"

"Ah, much to do, but a bit boring after a while. I wandered around a bit and visited the other territories, like Odin´s north or Amaterasu´s east."

"You knew the goddess of the sun?"

"A little bit, like my small, yet older sister, she was a shut in."

"A shut in?"

"Yeah, you read the story about Ama-chan moping in her cave right?"

"Ama...chan?"

"Oh, I probably shouldn´t have used her nickname. Please don´t ever use that in front of anyone...especially a god."

"I won´t."

"And with your small sister, you mean..."

"Hestia. She was mostly alone and remained in her temple. As far as I remember, she was very good friends with Hephaistos and Artemis. I wonder what she does now, maybe she also came down to Gekai."

"Can´t you sense or know that?"

"No, when we came down, we decided to not use our powers, it is forbidden. When a god does that, he or she will immediatelly sent back to heaven."

"But what if there is an emergency?"

"Even then. If we used our powers here, the mortals would...dwindle."

"Why?"

"Imagine everything bad that happens would get immediately solved by a god or goddess. The mortals had no reason to strive forward and do something, why should they when a god does everything for them. Also, we gods wanted to take a break from all our work in heaven."

"I guess that makes sense. And, do you enjoy your vacation?"

"Oh very much. The life on the surface is so refreshing."

Zeus grinned.

"Especially my wonderful grandson, that I love very much."

"I love you too, Grandpa."

It really warmed Zeus´ heart. Bell was always honest and unable to lie or trick someone. If he said he loved his Grandpa, he meant it.

After they got enough fish and enjoyed the day together, Bell and Zeus returned to the house, after bringing a few fish to the village.

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.

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"Welcome back, you two."

"We´re back, Mom!"

"The house looks wonderful, Alfia."

"Heh. Of course it does."

Wow, a smug grin, never thought I would see her making one of those.

"And the food smells wonderful, Zard!"

"Heh, of course it does. Now bring me one of these fishes."

"Coming!" Bell walked with the bucket in his hands to Zard.

Alfia smiled. "And what did you two talk about?"

Bell grinned. "Fishing, Heroes and the Gods."

While it wasn´t easy for Bell to watch, he still stood close to Zard, while he prepared the fish. He explained every step. After eating the meal, and Zeus immediately looking at Bell´s status, they discovered something interesting.

When Zard made a fish dish, it gave a bonus to mind, as if someone had more mind power than usual. Not that Bell had anything from that, due to not having magic, but in the future maybe.

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"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*"

"Mom, please take it easy and rest."

"*Cough* But...the house..*Cough*..the dinner."

Zard shook his head. "I will make it all, rest."

Alfia didn´t look very good, she was lying on the couch in the living room. Zeus had left early in the morning to help in the village and be a bit for himself. Before Bell and Alfia could go outside to train, Alfia had suddenly started to cough heavily.

It wasn´t the first time that her sickness made her unable to move, Bell had immediatelly supportet her and brought her to the couch.

"But.."

"No but. This is an order, Alfia."

"Okay...old man..."

Alfia was too weak to argue with Zard, but she knew he was right.

"Bell, you will watch over and take care of your Mom, alright?"

"I will!"

So she remained on the couch and tried to rest as good as possible. She should feel better after a while, but during the time that the sickness kicked in, she was nearly defensless. If that would happen during a dangerous situation, it could be fatal for Alfia.

But while she watched Bell watching over her, it worried her more to see him so worried. Bell had gotten stronger, was able to control himself better, but more than one time he cried when Alfia got struck down by her sickness. More than one time she woke up in her bed after recovering from it, to find Bell sitting or kneeling next to her bed, his arms and head on her mattress, marks from his tears on his cheeks.

My little baby...

Since he didn´t want to worry her when she was weak, Bell had practiced often enough to do the house chores alongside Zeus and Zard.

And there was something else that Bell did for Alfia when she was like that, but only when Zeus wasn´t around.

"Mom, you´re sweating very much."

"Hah. *Cough* I know.."

"This isn´t good, you could catch a cold."

"I am aware, Sweety. I will take a bath later."

"No you won´t, you are too weak to move away from the couch, I will help you."

"Bell, it´s ok-"

"It´s not okay!"

Alfia´s eyes slightly widened. It was rare that Bell shouted, especially at her. She saw that he was worried sick about her, every time her sickness brought her down, his determination to help and cure her rose. He had read the old hero stories again and again if there were hints of items with healing power. Bell even asked Zeus many times if he knew any, he told him that there were a few legendary items in the legends, but most of them were gone and some even not more than legends.

A special note for himself was when Alfia mentioned she had felt better after eating a branch from a sacred elven tree. Bell had thought loud if it could heal her, in case she ate the whole tree. Zeus couldn´t help but imagine how Bell nearly force fed Alfia a whole tree.

She gave up to argue against Bell, it was no use when he was so overprotective about her, but then again she wasn´t different.

"Mom, I will take your shirt off now."

"Okay.."

Alfia wasn´t embarrassed about Bell seeing her bare upper body, he had done that countless times as a child. And she knew Zard wouldn´t look in her direction now, he was so different from his god.

Also, Bell didn´t see Alfia as a woman, like he would others. She was his Mom and that was all. He used a soft sponge and warm water to wipe and wash away the sweat on her upper body, first the back, then the front. After that, her legs, Alfia did her crotch by herself.

Bell also gave her fresh, dry clothes and made sure she lay down again and he put the blanket over her again.

"Please try to sleep, Mom."

"Bell, I´m not tired."

"I can see it in your eyes, you are tired."

"But-"

""No buts.""

Zard spoke from the kitchen together with Bell. "Listen to your son, young lady."

"Hay hay..."

When it came to her, Bell was adamant. Alfia had seen this when they took a walk in a forest, a bear had appeared and growled at them. Bell had used a hand to push Alfia behind him and got a dangerous expression on his face, she thought it was very chivalrous. But the bear felt that they were stronger and it was just a natural reaction before he left.

Alfia had given Bell a kiss on the cheek as a thank and his reward.

Now after she closed her eyes, she felt that Bell leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I will watch over you and protect you, Mom, so please sleep."

"I will, Sweety."

Ah, that feels so nice.

Alfia had trusted only very few people in her life enough, so that she would sleep in their presence. First was Meteria, later Erebus and Zard. And then, Bell and also later, Zeus. She trusted the old god enough now, that he wouldn´t dare to peep or touch her in her sleep. In contrast to how she saw him before, Zeus was a really good grandfather.

And falling asleep under Bell´s watchful eyes, while he quietly made the house chores and later prepared dinner, was nice.

I am so happy.

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Bell Cranel

Belongs to: Zeus Familia

Level: 1

Strength: G 252

Endurance: G 298

Dexterity: H 199

Agility: G 201

Magic: I 0

Luck: I

Abnormal Resistance: H

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Bell sat in the living room after Zeus had updated his status again, looking at the paper, before showing it to Alfia and Zard. This was the result after four weeks of intense training.

"You really got strong, Bell."

"Is this rise in status good?"

"I would say it is extraordinary, you trained for almost a month now and and didn´t go into the dungeon or had any real fights. I grew a bit faster in status than you did, Zard a bit slower. Others from our familias were similar."

Zard winked. "You´re still growing very good, Bell. Worthy to be called a follower of Zeus."

"Hehe, thank you. But what do you mean with real fights, Mom?"

"Life and death situations or a fight with a monster of the outside world. And no, the rabid chipmunk that you fought doesn´t count as a monster."

"But it was a really hard fight!"

"I believe you, but it was no monster."

"So I have to train more and become stronger."

"I agree with you, but status isn´t everything. When two people fight, the weaker one can overpower the other when they have mastered techniques, at least to a certain degree."

"And to what degree?"

"About a level difference, with two levels it is mostly impossible to win, except you manage to outsmart your opponent completely. But adventurers who are two level higher than you, had their fair share of fights and events too, so it is hard. Yet, there is something you could always use when you fight against stronger opponents that aren´t monsters."

"And what is that?"

Zard took over to explain.

"Hubris. Many upper-tier adventurers of level three or four tend to be a bit arrogant and rely only on their status. As long as they stay away from areas where stronger adventurers are, they think they can get away with everything. Zeus told me it is apparently better in Orario now than to the time I left, he is exchanging letters with someone."

Bell looked at his grandfather. "With whom?"

Zeus winked. "A secret for old men."

Alfia continued. "But be sure, a level one or two adventurer would never stay a chance against a level five or six. This is how the peace in Orario is secured, that the strongest Familias are just so much stronger than anyone else."

Bell frowned. "But I wonder, Grandpa you told me that the goddesses Loki and Freya kicked you out of the city. Does that mean they are mean gods? Isn´t it bad when they are the strongest in the city? Who would stop them from doing what they want?"

Zeus smiled. "They aren´t mean or evil, Bell. Loki and Freya did what they had to do to protect the peace in Orario. And what would happen if they did what they wanted, trust me when I tell you, Loki and Freya would never work together and have some kind of rivalry ever since heaven."

"But what if they changed?"

"Gods don´t change so fast."

"Oh."

"And there is another faction to keep them in check. Astrea, Ganesha and the guild."

"But aren´t Lady Astrea and Lord Ganesha also two of the four big familias in Orario?"

"Yes, but their nature forbids them to try to get the top spot and rule over people. Ganesha has a heart of gold and cares a lot for the people. And Astrea...well she is called the goddess of Justice for a reason. And the guild has ways to keep them in check. For example, would Freya or Loki or both decide to take over Orario, they would ruin their lives on the surface.

They had to be constantly guarded by their followers, could never enjoy any party again, since all the gods would be against them and they could never leave their home unprotected. While their children are very strong, you learned that over the course of history, tyrants were rarely defeated by strong people, but someone you wouldn´t expect. The god is the strongest and weakest part of a Familia.

Let´s assume they would decide to reign supreme, the strength of their children means nothing when someone manages to send their gods back to heaven, their strength would immediatelly fade. Also, the leader of the guild, Ouranos, has...ways. But I will not go into detail."

Zard put his hand on Bell´s head and ruffled his hair, Alfia looked a tiny bit jealous, that he did that before she could, so she settled down with putting her arms around Bell, hugging him.

"But you don´t need to worry, Bell. The gods love their fun and can´t stand to have a boring life by doing something like that. And the dungeon keeps them busy enough. I really doubt that Loki´s children or Freya´s went as far down as Maxim and the boys."

Zard snorted. "No way."

Alfia nodded. "Or us."

"Woah, so you really were that strong?"

Zeus grinned. "Stronger, my boy Maxim was the strongest man in all of the world. But he would have no chance against the Empress...or your Mom."

Zard winked. "Or me, well he had a chance, but even on my bad days, I was the best with a sword."

Alfia growled almost softly. "Don´t make me sound like a monster, old man."

"Do I have to remind you of the time when you defeated Freya´s champion with one attack?"

Bell looked amazed up to Alfia. "Whaaaaat!? One attack?! Awesome!"

"Well he wanted to fight me, so I did fight him."

Zard laughed. "That wasn´t a fight, my friend!"

"Woah, Mom, you really are crazy strong."

Alfia sighed. "Please don´t phrase it like that, Sweety."

"Okay. Mom, you are as strong as you are beautiful and young."

"Haaaah..." Alfia sighed, this time it sounded different...happy.

Zeus showed Bell a thumbs up, as did Zard. Bell had noticed that Alfia always looked a bit happy when Zard or Zeus called her young.

Alfia coughed slightly. "A-Anyway, to get back about techniques. It is important to find your own fighting style and master techniques that define you. Using them at the right point will bring you victory and can save you and your comrades."

"You mean like your copy ability?"

Bell meant Alfia´s ability to copy movements she saw once, but was unable to copy physical attributes at the same time, which made sense. Zeus had worked on various wooden swords for Alfia, all looking slightly similar to the ones that her fellow Familia members or Zeus´ children had used. Even a really big one like Zard had used, up to this day, he only cleaned his armor and sword, never using them. Like this they had trained with Bell in many kinds of ways, sometimes exchanging the wooden weapons between her attacks, since they stuck in a circle around the trainings ground.

The sudden change should help Bell to not only focus on one kind of opponent and be prepared for sudden changes. Even when they were directly related by blood, Bell wasn´t able to copy Alfia´s ability, but as Zeus had pointed out, Alfia´s whole existence was basically a cheat to the world. Bell was never able to surprise her, due to her enormous speed to respond to an attack.

"Yes, mastering forms of martial arts is a big help, like you started to do."

Bell had started to develop his own form of technique, he got the idea from a hero story again. There was an old story about a golden guardian, said to be the perfect bodyguard and no one ever broke his defense. Bell´s plan wasn´t to rely on defense, but the fighting style sounded interesting. At first the golden guardian fought more passive, used a few moments to analyze his opponent´s weapon, movements and techniques, before he countered with a swift and strong attack. But unlike the golden guardian, Bell didn´t fought with a halberd. He still tried his best and memorized the teaching of this story, patience was a weapon.

Zeus looked back and forth between Alfia and Bell while they talked as if he was in thought.

"Alfia."

"Old man?"

Zeus just looked at her without saying a word, then his eyes wandered to Bell, then back to her again.

"Do I have your permission, Mommy?"

"You mean "that"?"

"Yes, "that"."

Bell looked confused. "What is "that"?"

Alfia looked a bit uneasy and took a deep breath.

"No, not so early. Please wait a year or two."

"Alright."

Zard nodded. "I agree with Alfia, it is too early."

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

Zeus smiled. "About something you will get in the future. But your Mom and Uncle are right, it is too early. But Alfia, will you give me permission to at least show it to him?"

"Mmh..."

Zard put a hand on her shoulder, every other man would get slapped for that, but not him. "At least let Zeus show him "that" of the two."

"Mh...alright. Showing Bell, yes. Give it to him now, no. A clear no."

"Alright."

While Zeus went to get whatever they talked about, Alfia looked up at Zard.

"If you already touched me without permission, you can at least give me a shoulder rub, they´re getting stiff again."

"Hay hay, young lady."

Bell had tried to give Alfia a shoulder rub, but while she said it felt really good, because it was Bell, he was actually too weak. And it wasn´t the first time that Zard massaged Alfia´s shoulders. He was the only man except for Bell, who would ever be allowed to touch her body in any way. And it would be the furthest they would ever go.

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A few minutes later, Zeus returned with two long items, wrapped in blankets.

"Bell, you have reached a point where it is okay to show you this."

Zeus handed Zard one of the bundles. "It´s your job as the captain, to give the vice-captain this."

"Me? Captain?"

"Like it or not, you are it now, even when you´re only two."

"Fine."

Zard sat down on the couch next to Bell.

"You will finish the shoulder massage later, Zard." It wasn´t a question from Alfia.

He smiled wryly, used to her behavior. "What a troublesome young lady."

Zard held the wrapped-up object in his hands.

"Bell, what I will give you now is something important. And it belongs to you. I gave it Zeus in the past, to keep an eye on it, in case it would ever be the time to give it to you."

"Hm?"

Zard put the object on the table, then he pulled the wrapping away. What became visible, was a sword in its scabbard. It didn´t look like anything special but was good craftsmanship.

Carefully, since Bell wasn´t allowed to touch it, Zard unsheathed the sword. There wasn´t a speck of dust or dirt on it. Zard had taken care of the sword after they arrived when Bell was asleep or out of the house with Alfia.

"Bell...this was your father´s sword."

He became quiet, none of the three adults said something.

Bell slowly moved his hand and touched the handle. "Papa´s?"

"Yes. And now, it is yours."

"So, he...what did he fight with this?"

Zard picked up the sword and showed the broadside to Bell. "He went deep into the dungeon with us, as deep as the 71st floor, the deepest floor ever achieved. And your father stood there, in the rearguard. I explained to you what the job of the rearguard is."

"You said it is very important, as important as the vanguard and the main force."

"In some ways even more important. Because the way back is the way out. And despite the fact that he was often afraid and scared, he found the courage inside him to fight with us, being part of the rearguard. He assisted in the fight against the Behemoth."

"The king of the lands, that you slew?"

"Yes, but without all of the others, it wouldn´t have been possible. And...he came with us to fight the black dragon. I took the sword with me, fulfilling his last wish. That you should have it one day."

Tears slowly gathered and flew out of the corners of Bell´s eyes.

"Thank you, Uncle Zard...thank you."

Zard carefully sheathed the sword and gave it to Bell, who hugged it to his chest, tears fell on the scabbard. His uncle put one arm around his shoulders and let Bell cry, holding him.

While Alfia thought that a sword wasn´t a good gift for a boy who was still to become a teenager, she knew that this sword was important to him.

For a while, they could just sit there and watch, how Bell cried in Zard´s arm.

You really became a good uncle, old man.

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After Bell had calmed down, and laid the sword back on the table, while it was his now, Alfia would still decide when he was allowed to wield it. The only thing she would allow was that Bell could train to use it carefully after his thirteenth birthday. For her taste, it was way too early. But Zard and Zeus had talked to her while Bell was asleep. Arguing that the world wasn´t a nice place. While she would protect him from everything possible, it would be best if he at least learned how to defend himself. After all, Zard and Alfia had learned how to fight even earlier.

And when he would go into the dungeon in the future, it would be best to learn how to fight with his sword from two masters early on.

Eventually, Bell looked at the second bundle, it was on Zeus to open it, it also was a sword. This one had a blue scabbard and was a bit shorter than his father´s. It had also a blue-colored crossguard and a long handle, that had a pointy end. The handle was long enough to use it with one or two hands, judging by the sheath, the blade was more slender, a bit like a rapier.

"You said you wanted to be like your hero, Argonaut. As you know, Argonaut used two swords at the same time. So Bell, this is my gift to you."

"It´s...beautiful."

"Unsheath it."

"I-"

"No he won´t!" Alfia took the sword and slowly unsheathed it.

"This isn´t a toy, Zeus!"

"I know, take a look, Bell."

"Woah...it looks so...silvery...and...amazing...almost like..."

"Hm?"

"Albert Waldstein´s."

"That´s my grandson! What an amazing eye for details!"

"Huh?"

"Take a closer look."

Bell leaned closer, Alfia made sure he didn´t get too close to the blade.

"It looks like his, in every detail."

"Bell."

"Grandpa?"

"You know your grandpa is an old man, right?"

"Not that old."

"Hehe. Bell, do you know what one of the first things was that this old man did after coming down from heaven?"

"I don´t."

"Well, I came down close to a spot, where a certain sword came to rest after a certain hero inflicted a wound on a dragon´s eye."

Bell´s eyes became big. "So this...this is..."

"The sword of Albert Waldstein, the real deal."

Bell´s jaw dropped, he couldn´t believe it.

"I took care of it for all these years, holding on to it for roughly a thousand years now, time sure flies."

"Sir Albert Waldstein´s...sword...the real one..."

"Jup."

"Does it...have a name?"

"From what I know, Tempest."

"Tempest...Mom...can I...hold it? Just for a moment?"

"Mhh...mh..."

"Mom?"

Zard winked. "Alfia, come on. Just for a moment, I´m sure Bell won´t swing it around."

"Mh...alright...BUT! be very careful, Bell!"

"I will."

When Bell´s hand closed around the hilt, Alfia let slowly go, he held the sword up.

"It is so light, father´s sword is heavier."

"But it is way sharper and stronger. Your father´s sword is very strong, not one level four or five would have such a strong weapon today, probably not even most level six. But Tempest is something else."

"The blade that destroyed one of the black dragon´s eyes..."

Zeus smiled.

"And was blessed by the greater wind spirit, Aria."

"Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"She...Aria...isn´t the blade, right?"

"You mean like Argonaut´s sword, Jupiter?"

"Yes."

"No, she isn´t. A part of her power maybe went into the sword, but she didn´t become the sword."

"Did you watch all this from heaven?"

"Every moment, I saw how Albert and Aria met for the first time. I saw everything that happened between them."

Alfia squinted her eyes. Pervert.

Zeus just winked with a grin, that Bell didn´t notice.

"But Grandpa...why did you never give it to one of the others?"

"It wasn´t the right time, nor did one of the others use such a sword."

"The sword of a hero..."

"Fitting for one who wants to become a hero, right?"

Bell smiled. "But...am I worthy to wield it?"

"Bell, answer me one question. Is it better to acknowledge what a hero of the past did and just look at his sword getting old and rusty. Or to wield it, and defend girls in danger?"

Before Alfia could say something about Zeus´ question, Bell´s face lit up.

"To protect girls in danger!"

"That´s my boy!"

Bell carefully gave the sword back to Alfia, who sheathed it.

Zeus made a serious face. "Bell, for now, you will not wield this sword. But from this day onward, you will take care of it, clean it, oil it. Tempest doesn´t need to get sharpened, your father´s sword does. Like this, you will learn how to take care of your future equipment. But only once a week. It is important for you to not only start to train. Enjoy your childhood."

Zard nodded to agree with Zeus. "And starting after your birthday, I will show you how to wield your father´s sword."

Alfia didn´t look happy. "Zard..."

"Alfia, this is my decision, to help Bell. I promissed it to him, but if you are strongly against it, I won´t do it for now. You are his Mom after all, he is your son."

Bell looked at Alfia, she at him for a long while. Eventually, she nodded.

"But carefully! And I will watch!"

"Of course."

Bell smiled brightly.

Zeus grinned.

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"Mylady, would you like to sit here?"

"Ehehe, you are such a gentleman."

A tall, sturdy man guided a beautiful woman with his hand to an empty seat so that she could sit down in a very ladylike manner.

"Offering you a hand is the least I can do."

"And I gladly take it."

Many gods in the hall rolled their eyes about the behaviour they witnessed.

"Tche, Astrea and Ganesha are showing off again."

"Hestia, that´s not really nice, they just are in love."

"Hmpf."

Many goddesses were jealous or envious about the loving relationship between the two gods. To find eternal love was rare, especially for gods.

But did Astrea and Ganesha actually fell in eternal love?

No.

What they currently did, maybe it was a bit mean, but they were gods after all...they pulled a prank on the others. Some of them had guessed from their behavior that there might be something like that. Both were slightly annoyed by the questions, so they decided to have a bit fun.

Hephaistos smiled slightly. "Just let them be, I don´t think they do that on purpose."

"If you say so."

"And remember, you go straight back to work when the Denatus is over."

"Hay Haaay."

The small goddess had come down from heaven to experience the life here too, but she had never managed to find a follower on her own. So instead she ended with working part time for Hephaistos so that she let her stay and part time at the potato snack stall. She often played with the children around there when she had her break.

Maybe she didn´t make a big name for herself, but she was still well liked. And even Ishtar had offered Hestia a place to work for her, not in a sexual way. But Hestia´s mere presence and nature was anathema to the Pleasure Quarter. Before she went to work for Hephaistos, Hestia actually worked half a week for Ishtar, doing house chores of a house where some of her girls lived. But even amazons had their libido killed when they looked at the innocent virgin goddess! This had been bad for business. To protect Hestia, and make sure something like that never happened again, Hephaistos gave her a job immediately afterward.

"Hephaistos?"

"Yes?"

"How is it to have a follower getting a name?"

"Not as fun as you might think, the others love to give them silly names. Only when a child gets really strong, they tend to give them more "cool" names."

"I can´t help but think that they are sometimes a bit cruel, when I think about your captain."

Hephaistos smiled. "Tsubaki loves her alias."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Hm. Maaaaan I want to have a follower on my own, start my own Familia."

"That would be nice, I would get one of my rooms back then."

"Hey, I´m paying rent and I attract customers!"

"I won´t argue with that."

The chatting between the various gods ended when Hermes stepped forward.

"My dear fellow gods, it is time that we meet again for a Denatus, to give those of our beloved children that went up a rank a new alias."

All of the gods were allowed to give suggestions, there were only two gods that were a small exception. Astrea didn´t made suggestions for Ganesha´s children and viece versa. The reason was the other gods, because these two would only come up with good and serious names and not silly ones, and that killed the fun for the other gods.

Like every time, they started with the lowest levels and moved their way up, today would be a bit special, since they had the chance to name a really strong child.

"Okay, for the one that many of you waited for, Astrea´s child!"

That was what many gods had waited for, naming a high-level child always took a while. Hestia observed Astrea´s expression. Most of the time she smiled slightly or even chuckled by a few names. But one or two times, her smile froze, Hestia couldn´t remember to have ever seen Astrea really angry.

"That decides it, Astrea´s child will be known by the name of..."

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"""""Cheers!"""""

Wooden jars banged against each other, accompanied by the cheerful voices of a bit over a dozen women. The Astrea familia visited the famous pub to celebrate the level up of one of them, a very important level up. Most of them were seen here very often, since many worked part-time here, Ryu for a while even full-time.

All of them wore casual clothes, and the elves of course clothed up. The ones who drew the most eyes in were Astrea and Kaguya. Astrea because of her divine beauty and Kaguya because of her silver arm. She was probably the first person in Orario to show this arm openly at all times, it wasn´t shameful for her, but a badge of honor.

The waitresses of the pub were busy bringing the Astrea familia their food and more drinks. Astrea told them to go a bit wild and drink as much as they wanted.

When one of the waitresses passed her, she gently tucked at her sleeve.

"Lunor?"

"Yes, Lady Astrea?"

"Will you accompany the others during the next Expedition?"

"If Mama Mia allows it, I will take some time off."

"We promise to bring her some dungeon gifts for her kitchen."

"I will ask her."

Lunor smiled, while she never had any interest in the past to go into the dungeon, it felt a bit lonely at the pub when all of her friends, except for Syr of course, had their dungeon days or went on an Expedition. So after asking Demeter for permission, Astrea had offered Lunor to take part in an Expedition, to see the wonders of the dungeon.

It actually was quite fascinating down there. And, even when she was too shy to show it, she was really happy to spend time with her friends, telling Syr their "war stories" afterward.

One of Astrea´s followers especially would accept the offer to go wild.

"Wooohooooo!"

Alise cheered the loudest, visibly happy.

A few mumbles were heard around them.

"It´s the Astrea Familia."

"Hey, that´s her."

"The captain?"

"Yeah, the scarlet harnel?"

"No, she got a new alias today."

The prum Lyra raised her mug as high as possible.

"To our captain! Cheers to the "Angel of Justice!"

Angel of Justice.

The new alias of Alise Lovell after reaching level five due to her deeds during the last years. After she got banned from the dungeon, Astrea talked with Ganesha. Alise trained with many of his members in one-on-one fights and sometimes multiple at the same time, Shakti took part in it too. Alise didn´t want to be left behind. Shakti and Ganesha had a talk, that it was important for Orario´s shield to become stronger too.

One day, Astrea met Freya by chance in the city, Freya had offered Alise to take part in the baptism in her familia, but Astrea strictly forbade it.

Despite being banned from the dungeon, Alise was the first of her familia to reach level five! The others surely were baffled because of it, even when Kaguya and Ryu got closer to it. There were a few level-ups in the familia. Filvis had reached level two, Tiona and Tione level three, Neze and Lyra level four.

But for Alise, something had changed. It was due to a new skill that she got, or rather a change in her magic. Her magic Agaris Alvesynth covered her hands, legs and sword in fire, that was nothing new.

But now the cost of mental power had dropped and she even started to heal as long as the fire burned. They had seen this, Alise had received a wound on her thigh, but before the battle ended, the wound had already stopped bleeding. It wasn´t as fast as healing magic, but it really helped a lot. And Alise loved heat even more than before, she loved to take long baths together with her goddess...even Kaguya couldn´t bear the heat that these two liked so much.

And with the fiery wings behind her, she really looked like an angel. That and what she did during her rampage, defeating the darkness, and protecting the people during the dark times, the gods demanded to give her a cool name.

At first, the title was much longer, but Astrea declined many proposals. Eventually Freya had raised her hand and suggested this title, smirking slightly. Freya told Astrea that Alise was quite fascinating for her, Astrea told her smiling she would never let go of Alise, Freya had just smiled. Astrea couldn´t know just how much Freya...or Syr, actually liked Alise. And adored Ryu! She was just too cute to tease.

Astrea smiled lovingly. "I´m so proud of all of you, you really did well."

Neze emptied her mug. "Now we are close behind the Loki Familia!"

Kaguya smirked. "Not really, they have three level six and the sword princess is also level five from what I heard!"

"We still became strong!"

"Can´t argue with that."

"To our beautiful and yet still single captain!"

Alise laughed. "We are all still single!"

"And let´s see who makes it faster to level five! Kaguya or Leon!"

While Kaguya knew about her own strength, even she had to agree that Ryu had the strongest raw potential in the familia. But even with the new members, most of them younger than Ryu, she was still their little one. She would never lose this special title.

They allowed themself to be a bit silly tonight, but Mama Mia didn´t mind it since they paid good money for the food and drinks. Alise drank more alcohol than all the others, yet she would be life itself the next morning, while most of her familia members had a hangover, except the elves of course, her self-healing ability also fought poisoning in her body to a certain degree, which included alcohol.

She didn´t know how it happened since she got a bit tipsy from moonberry juice, but Ryu found herself used as a living body pillow by Alise in the morning...again. The captain smiled happily in her sleep and squeezed the embarrassed elf a bit.

"Mehehe~~~Ryu is so soft~~~"

Grope.

"Mwehehe~~~squishy buns~~~"

"Eep! A-Alise, w-watch where you put your h-hands! Ack! N-Not my butt!"

But Ryu had no chance against that level five strength anymore, she herself was more the speed and magic type, while Alise was more the strength and magic type. In the end, she gave in to her destiny for now and had to wait until Alise woke up. Alise was the only person anyway that Ryu had not much problem with getting touched by like that...well and Astrea, and Ardee. Kaguya had once joked that maybe Ryu had a thing for women who had names starting with the letter A.

As an elf, Ryu couldn´t and wouldn´t admit that this skinship felt a bit nice...and thankfully, Alise´s thigh went only one time between Ryu´s legs for a second. The sensation of that touch was...unfamiliar. If she thought about it, Syr had done it too a few times when Ryu slept at the pub...And even Ardee at home...she really had to hold her ground and tell the others that she was no bodypillow...

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Ryu and Kaguya continued their shadow work in Orario. One night, after getting tips and lot of information from Syr, both accompanied her to a certain casino in disguise. It turned out that Syr was a master player.

When she put down the last cards to defeat the villain, and lure him into the trap, she sat there with a smug smile, Ryu on her right side, Kaguya on the left.

And a hooded figure, cowering in a dark corner at a high window. The figure had dark skin and white hair, watching over his mistress. Recently he had seen the two Astrea familia members often, since when they did hidden work, Freya had asked him to do the same, and watch over them. Hogni didn´t have interest in them, but when his mistress asked it of him, he would follow. Also, it was pretty nice of her to ask him to always stay hidden and never interact with them.

Like this Hogni could mumble his phrasis to himself, while he watched the scenery unfold, and how much fun his goddess in disguise had, that alone made it worth.

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Bell had various kinds of dreams over the years. In the beginning mostly about being a hero, saving a princess, and fighting some imaginary monster. Later about spending time with his Mom and he was truly happy at that time. Then about being a hero again and often saving his Mom from her illness.

But a dream like he had now, this was the first time. He slept peacefully in his bed, an opened book on his chest, he had read the myth about his grandfather again, one of his favorite stories. During the day, Bell had listened to Alfia´s explanation about magic, even when he wasn´t able to do it, he should have the knowledge.

And so in the night after his thirteenth birthday...

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He wandered through an old building, made from stone and nothing else, his boots clacked whenever he made a step forward. Torches lit the way, he wondered who hung them up there. It looked like he was walking through a tunnel or maybe a corridor. Bell looked down, his feet seemed to move by themself, sometimes he noticed strange runes in the walls, they appeared glowing, then vanished again, in various colors. Some of these runes looked like forms, familiar forms. He saw horns, fangs, scales, and other things.

Where am I?

The corridor seemed to be endless, but even when he tried to, he couldn´t walk faster. The corridor went on and on, and eventually, after an eternity, Bell noticed a change. There were steps at the end since he had no other choice, Bell climbed them up. He arrived in a big hall, it was the stage of a mighty theatre. The seats were filled with shadowy figures, and the ceiling that he couldn´t see was supported by enormous pillars. He had seen this architectural style before, his grandfather called it Olympian.

Noises could be heard, some sounded like these of animals. Roars. Hissing. Other noises. But not from simple animals, all of them sounded...enormous. For a few moments, the theatre shook under thundering stomps of something colossal.

Bell heard steps and looked up, a figure approached him, a male figure.

He heard the voice of his Mom in his head, what she told him today.

Bell, there are two types of Magic: innate and acquired. As the term "innate" suggests, this type of magic can be used by various races based on genetics. From ancient times, these races have had the potential to become magic users within them and are trained in magic at a young age through rituals. You read about this in your story about Argonaut, his sister Feena was such an example. While the types of magic they can use are rather limited, the strength and scale of these spells are often ver-

His eyes followed the figure as it came closer. It was indeed a young man, about as tall as him, maybe a year or two older, with white hair and closed eyes. He wore white armor over a black body suit, and two long knives hung at his hips.

The theatre shook again, in the distance, behind a giant window, he saw a shadow...a shadow with multiple heads.

Bell turned his head when he heard more steps. A second figure approached from the side, also a young man. But this one wore dark clothes, a long black coat, and had two swords on his back, also with white hair and closed eyes.

A titanic roar, as if the biggest lion of the world announced its presence, shook the air.

Finally, a third figure approached from his other side, wearing red and golden armor, holding a long sword and a shield in his hands, his helmet looked like a crown of flames.

A grunt like no other came from a different direction, the theatre shook again.

Wait...this is me, all of them.

Neighing, from many horses.

The figures stopped about two meters away from him and opened their eyes. Now he could see it, all of them had red eyes and white hair. It was him, him and him. Each a different type of Bell Cranel, maybe possible future? In the corner of his eyes, Bell noticed the flying runes again, but whenever he turned in their direction, they moved and appeared just in the corner of his eyes again, it were twelf in total. It was like those little floating things that he saw sometimes when it was bright enough as if there was something on his eyeballs.

Alfia´s voice again.

Acquired magic refers to the possibility of Magic given to those people who receive Falna, and appears on its own at some point, without needing to wait for a level-up. With almost no restrictions, this kind of magic takes many different forms. Fire. Ice. Rock. Lightning. Gravitation. Wind. Light. Shadow. And many more. The effect of the Magic depends heavily on Excelia...and who you are.

More runes appeared, they had various colors, each fitting one of the magical elements. They were different from hieroglyphs and any language of the races that his grandfather and Mom had shown to him.

Bell looked at the three other Bells.

"What do you want from me? Why am I here?"

They just looked at him in silence, a noise like flowing water, one of the twelf runes glew slightly. Barking, from three titanic dog heads, another rune glew.

Magic is interest. This is a vital factor for all acquired magic. What holds your interest-what do you accept, hate, want, grieve for, worship, swear to, long for? The trigger is already within you. Your Falna will carve your soul into a blazing sun.

The first other Bell that had appeared opened his mouth.

"Let us begin."

The three Bells started to talk one after the other.

"What is magic to you?"

"I don´t know. But it is something great and mysterious."

"The mysterious power used by heroes, to slay monsters. To summon strength."

A golden shine, the figure of a tree at the side of his vision, another of the twelf runes started to glow.

"I always wanted to do that at least once."

"Why?"

"Because I saw my Mom doing it and read about it, it was so cool."

Cries of titanic birds, the fourth rune started to glow.

"Is that all? What is magic to you?"

"A great weapon to wield, so that I can protect those I hold dear. Not a shield or a healing hand, a strong power to overcome the obstacles in my path."

The warcry of an amazon like no other, the fifth rune shone.

The Bell with the sword and shield raised his blade, fire washed over it. The one with the knives raised them and they shone in light. The one with the two swords raised them and they vibrated slightly as if they wanted to unleash a rapid series of attacks.

The titanic lion roared again, six runes shone now.

"""What kind of a thing is magic to you/me? What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about it?"""

What kind of a thing...what is it?

Bell looked up, he heard a loud growl from outside of the theatre and saw light flashing for a second. And the noises of the titanic animals.

"Lightning. Legends. Heroes."

The multy-headed shadow hissed again, a seventh rune glew.

For Bell, the first thing that came to his mind was lightning. Magic had to be lightning. Whenever he saw lightning during a thunderstorm, he admired the beautiful color, from white to an actinic blue and the loud sound it made.

For a moment, the whole theatre shook and threatened to burst apart, as two titanic shadows collided in the backround, one had horns, the other grunted.

Two additional runes shone, almost all of them now.

Strong, ferocious, unstoppable. Destroying and splitting everything in it´s path. Faster than any opponent could react. Unleashing a sound that made everything living duck down and flee. Splitting the mightiest trees and even blast pieces out of rock. The heavenly arrows like the ones that his grandfather had used when he was still in heaven.

An elegant figure, like a giant hind, jumped over Bell and vanished.

One by one, the other runes started to shine, now all twelf were glowing.

Running along the sky, faster than anything...the wrath of heaven.

Lightning. Thunder. It represented his grandfather. Zeus. The King of Olympus. Father of the greatest hero of all, Heracles. Who did the twelf trials...

"I want to wield lightning and unleash thunder. To see the legends come to live."

Twelf titanic shadows formed a ring at the walls of the theatre. He knew every single form, what it represented.

"Why do you seek magic?"

"To become strong, like her. Like my Mom. Like him. My Uncle. For me."

A picture of Alfia filled his mind, then Zard´s.

"To look a bit like him."

A picture of Zeus came appeared, the twelf shadows roared in unison.

"To be the light that breaks down from heaven, races across the sky. To unleash what is almost forgotten."

"Is that all of your reason."

Bell smiled. "It also looks very cool."

"A childish reason."

"Maybe."

"What else?"

"To crush everything that the lightning can´t with the sheer sound of it. And the impact of history."

"Where does that come from?"

"My Mom, she is my hero, I saw her magic. And my grandfather is the God of Lightning. And my books...his stories."

"Is that all?"

"I want to become a hero, stronger than anyone. And to find a cure for my Mom, to save and help people. Impulsive. Unstoppable. Faster than anyone. A shining light. I love the legends of old."

He always wanted to be a hero, that wish had never vanished nor changed, it only got stronger and stronger in him.

"You almost rejected the sword of a hero."

"It isn´t my place to wield it for now."

"Why do you want to become a hero?"

"Because it is what my heart wants. To protect the people I care about, to end what my predecessors started. And...maybe to save a beautiful girl...or two."

"""You are pretty childish."""

Bell smiled wryly. "Maybe. Sorry, but that is who I am."

The three other Bells put their weapons away. All of them were possible paths for him to take, but he would take his own past. It wasn´t the Burning Fighting Fighter, not the White Rabbit, nor the Black Swordsman. His path was a different one.

His three versions all smiled and closed their eyes, then everything went black and Bell´s dream ended The last thing he saw, was that all the runes flashed for a moment in an actinic blue.

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"Good morning, Grandpa, Mom, Uncle Zard."

"Morning Bell."

"Good morning, Sweety."

"Good morning, young man."

"Mmmmmh! I feel really good today."

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did!"

"The thunderstorm didn´t wake you up once?"

"Thunderstorm?"

"Yes, it got quite loud sometimes. Hm, but then again you always loved them."

"I really didn´t hear anything."

"I hope you were properly wrapped in your blanket, I don´t want you to get a cold just because you sleep with your tummy exposed again."

"Ehe, don´t worry, Mom."

Zard rolled his eyes. "Geez, Alfia. Bell isn´t a kid anymore."

"He will always be my little one, old man. Also he is only thirteen!"

"So a teenager."

"Still a child!"

"Okay, okay, Mommy."

"You can´t tease or taunt me with that, I take that as a compliment."

Zeus smiled. "Okay, come Bell, let us update your status then you and Zard can start with your training."

"Yes."

As always, Bell took off his shirt and sat down on a chair, his back facing Zeus, it would be his first status update since the one he had almost a month ago.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Sweety?"

"Could you explain that about magic to me again from yesterday?"

"Of course, we do that while warming up."

Bell smiled. "Thank you."

Alfia returned the smile. "Everything for you, Bell."

"Magic..."

"Hm?" Bell looked over his shoulder after he heard Zeus mumbling.

"Magic and a Skill have appeared."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!? Grandpa?!"

"Bell, here."

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Bell Cranel

Belongs to: Zeus Familia

Level: 1

Strength: G 252 - F 399

Endurance: G 298 - E 420

Dexterity: H 199 - F 301

Agility: G 201 - F 380

Magic: I 0 - I 1

Luck: I

Abnormal Resistance: H

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Magic:

Thunderbolt (Swiftstrike Magic)

Heroicae Fabulae

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Skills:

Blood of Zeus

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"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!?"

Bell couldn´t hold himself back and screamed on top of his lunges, pure childlike joy filled his eyes, his hands shook and he felt immense happiness.

Alfia looked a bit perplexed at first, but just had to smile by the sheer joy she saw in Bell.

"Sweety, can you let me see?"

"Here, Mom!" He grinned all over his face.

"Hah, it really is magic, and a skill together with that."

Alfia handed the paper back to Zeus, she wasn´t able to read the explanation for the skill and magic.

They had to wait a few moments until Bell calmed down again to listen.

Zeus took the paper again and started to read.

"Thunderbolt:

Swiftstrike Magic, no Incantation. Two split spell. Depending on the emphasis, will create a lightning bolt or a shockwave of thunder."

"I can shoot lightning?!"

"Apparently yes."

"Awesome! And that second part, it sounds like Mom´s magic!"

Alfia looked surprised. "It sounds indeed a bit like it."

"Heroicae Fabulae:

Chant magic. Able to summon legends of old. Collection: Trials of Heracles"

Bell´s eyes sparkled so intense, Alfia had to avert her eyes.

In his mind, inside the shadow, a disc appeared, parted in twelf sections, each showing a picture that represented one of the twelf Trials of Heracles. At the top part, there was an arrow, pointing down. The disc slowly rotated.

"Now for your skill."

"Blood of Zeus: Desire to become a hero acknowledged. Granting the ability to grow beyond oneself and one's limitations. Excelia gain increased when getting close to normal limitation, depending on persistent desire to become a hero.

Grants similarity of Magic due to the mutual love of and for "The Mom". Increased attraction to women due to kinship with the King of Olympus...That´s my grandson!"

"What!? Zeus, what did you make out of my pure boy!?"

"I didn´t do anything! And look how much you smile because of that magic sentence!"

"B-Be quiet!"

"Mom! Grandpa! Uncle! I have magic! Finally!"

All three were blinded again by the purity and joy in Bell´s eyes, they literally shone.

"Ehehehe! Now I can be like you Grandpa, and you Mom, at the same time!"

"It is really surprising that you got it after just a bit of training, without going to the dungeon."

"But Mom, you got your magic also very early."

"True."

Bell took the paper again. "But I wonder what this about limitations means."

Zeus looked like he was in thoughts. "My guess, you maybe are able to go past the limitation of rank S 999."

Alfia looked shocked. "That´s ridiculous! No one was ever able to do that!"

"It´s just a guess. Also, you did."

"Hm..."

"Mom, Mom, Mom! Can we please test it out? Right now?"

"Bell, please calm down a b-"

"I can´t! Please let us test it out!"

Alfia sighed, then she smiled slightly. "Alright, I guess you won´t calm down before that."

"I go with you, I want to see how my Grandson throws lightning like me."

"This will be so awesome!" Bell jumped to his feet and ran to the door.

"Bell, your shoes."

"Oh, right! Thanks, Uncle Zard!"

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Since testing out new magic could be a bit dangerous, they decided to walk for a while. Bell could barely hold himself back from running. They arrived at an area with many rocks.

"Okay, Bell. For your first try, aim for the sky, it is the safest way."

"Okay!"

He took a deep breath. Bell clenched his right fist before thrusting his arm straight upward and spread his fingers, his heart pounded like crazy.

"THUNDERBOLT!"

An actinic blue light flooded his vision a second later. A bluish-white lightning flashed out of his hand and shot upwards. The bolt carved sharp, random lines through the air while moving more or less straight upward, before vanishing after a while without hitting a target.

A light thunderclap accompanied the magic spell.

"Ha...haha...haa-haa-haa! Magic! I did it! I casted Magic! Mom! Uncle! Grandpa! Did you see?!"

Zard laughed. "That was wonderful, Bell!"

Alfia nodded. "It looked really good, Bell. How do you feel?"

"So excited!"

"No, I mean tired or something like that?"

"Nope!" He grinned.

"Hm, Bell please aim next for these rocks."

He was about forty meters away, maybe fifty.

"Thunderbolt!"

A new lightning flashed out of his hand, smashed into the rock and blew it to pieces with the sound of a louder thunderclap this time. Zard stood ready, just in case splinters would fly in their direction.

"That was awesome, Bell!" He was visibly happy.

Zeus was as excited as Bell and Zard were. "That´s my grandson! Already throwing lightning just like this old man!"

Alfia nodded, but she wanted to see one last thing.

"Bell, please aim for this rock over there, but try to emphase it different. More on the thunder part."

"Yes, Teacher!"

Bell took a few deep breaths. "Thunder-bolt!"

This time it was different. Instead of a lightning shooting out of his hand, small lightning exploded around his hand and send a massive shockwave forward. It was a bit similar to Alfia´s Satanas Verion, but more a wave than a block. And while her magic wasn´t very loud, Bell´s roared to the heavens.

Small lightning accompanied the wave and made it slightly visible, but when it hit the rocks, they just exploded.

"Yeeeees!"

Bell jumped around happy.

"Now I am just like Mom! And Grandpa!"

"Bell, that was g-"

Alfia stopped when Bell suddenly fell backwards onto the grass.

"Bell!"

Zeus grinned. "Looks like he experienced his first mind down immediatelly."

As always, Alfia rushed to Bell, he ended with his head resting on her thighs.

It would become an interesting time to experiment with his new magic.

But first, because he recently had birthday, they would make a trip to the sea.

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A bit away, on a titanic ship, Lefiya Viridis sat on her favorite high place, and wondered why at a sunny day, there was a lightning bolt in the distance, shooting up in the sky.

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Something was about to happen, a meeting of two souls. One of them, longing for a happier environment...longing for a family.

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And when Bell would test out his second magic during this trip...he would become more than just surprised. Mastering this magic would become much harder than his lightning magic.

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Author`s Note: First things first, I want to say a huge thank you for the Reviews, especially from Erebus and RiftPowers. Such long Reviews help a lot and make me happy. Some give me ideas for the future, to add minor changes to stuff, some let me exhale more air through my nose when you get in some points good guesses about the future stuff.

Dredgon: So far I don´t have a name for the four hero nerd squad. Only a name for a specific squad if it is ever formed. Tiona, Ryu and Chloe, team "True Justice"...Kaguya´s idea for the name.

Starting with the next chapter, there will be an Arc that didn´t exist in the original story. Also, I will work to include some Freya familia members in the story, to give it more depth.

Also, I want to say something that may repell some people, and they will stop reading the story. But I want to spare them from reading the story, then when this thing I will now mention comes, they will get angry or disappointed and then leave.

Ais will have a male partner in this story, not Bell. Ryu will have a male partner in this story, also not Bell. Other women, like Lily, will also have partners, not Bell.

Just because Bell is taken, isn´t a reason for me to not give them partners. These relationships will be build up over time.

Maybe there is a time error in this chapter since the original work had bigger time jumps. At the chapter´s end, Bell is thirteen years and two days old.