Chapter 5 A Normal Day... as much as possible.
Disclaimer: I do not own God Eater or Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darouka / Danmachi
Note: Thank you for your comments, one thing that recurs in my fics is grammatical errors. With "He, she, his, hers." It's not on purpose or that I'm putting a pronoun in the characters, it's just a writing mistake that might go unnoticed in the review. Besides, my classes are back in session, so it'll be even longer before I post new chapters.
One more thing! I changed a small detail at the end of Naaza and Miach's conversation. And I realized that I wrote Ryu and not Ryuu, with the two U's. As soon as this chapter comes out, I'll have fixed that detail. But anyway! Put that aside and let's get on with the chapter!
[Hestia Family House].
Penny slowly opens his eyes, feeling refreshed after his bath and night's sleep. Even if the sofa isn't comfortable, he's had a good rest.
"Hmmm..." Penny stretches his body. Making his muscles stiffen and then relax, he stands up, glancing at the bed where Bell and Hestia were, he lets out a slight laugh. Seeing that Hestia is asleep clinging to Bell. "Looks like we've got a cute couple here."
He mentally scoffs, putting that aside, he walks over to his God Arc. Taking the two swords in his hand, he checks for any damage or broken parts. Seeing nothing wrong, he lets it rest again.
"Honestly..." Penny looks around. Seeing the bed, the sofa, the bathroom, a cupboard next to the bed, a headboard next to the sofa, he sighs. "There really isn't a kitchen in here?"
Penny was slightly annoyed, because as well as playing music, cooking also made him relax and forget about his problems. He walks to the corner of the room, inspecting the items he had bought, and picks up the flute.
"Time to put this beauty to the test!" Penny says excitedly. He puts the flute close to his mouth to play it, but stops before he starts. "I think I'd better do it upstairs." He walks to the stairs, but before going up he sees the papers that Hestia was checking yesterday.
Picking up one of the papers he sees that Bell's statuses, checking them he sees that everything is normal, but he notices a stupid part. The skills section is blurred.
Penny is slightly annoyed, he looks at Hestia who is still clinging to Bell, and with a sigh he puts it aside. "She must have her reasons." He thinks, walking back to the stairs and climbing to the top of the church.
Penny looks around and sees the walls with some broken parts, the pews also missing parts and some dust. He looks around and shrugs his shoulders.
"I've stayed in worse places." He doesn't take much notice. Walking over to a bench, he sits down and puts the flute in his mouth. Trying to think of a song to play, he remembers one. "Well, there was that really old movie that Zeke forced me to watch with him... what was the name again?..." Penny tries to think.
He only remembers that the movie was about a depressed boy with a giant purple robot.
"Ah, never mind." He shrugs. Putting the flute back in his mouth, he starts to play it.
(Play One Last Kiss - Evangelion 3.01.0 Flute Version.)
Penny closed his eyes as he played the music, remembering the notes and the tune, because he didn't like the movie, but he really found the music captivating.
He kept playing the song while remembering the moment when he and Hugo watched the movie with Zeke.
(Flashback.)
"Come on. Do I really have to watch that movie again? Isn't this the fourth time we've watched the same thing?" Penny asks angrily, he's sitting on his bed in the men's dormitory wing of Hilda's Caravan.
"What's it got to do with anything? We're going to finish watching it, now that it's the last movie!" Zeke says excitedly, picking up a laptop and placing it on a small table in the center of the room.
"But it's the same movie four times!" Penny says sighing. "The kid is depressed, he doesn't fly the robot, they use the people he loves to fly it, he flies it, he destroys the world and gets more depressed. Come on!" Penny lies down on his bed, picks up a pillow and throws it at his face. "I can't take it anymore!"
"Hugo! Do something, he's ruining the movie experience!" Zeke says as he clasps his hands together and pleads with his friend.
"Look, Zeke. I have to agree with Bell. It's the same movie four times." Hugo doesn't take much notice, he's lying in his own bed reading a book.
"You're two assholes!" Zeke turns up his nose and sniffs at them both. Turning his head away, he crosses his arms. "You two don't know how to appreciate real art."
"If the art you're talking about is a depressed kid fighting angels and destroying the world in the end. Then yes, I don't know what art is." Hugo says, still not taking much notice.
"I'll never call you two to watch old movies with me again!" Zeke says angrily.
"Thanks!" Penny and Hugo say at the same time. Which makes Zeke speechless at what they both say.
(End of flashback.)
Hearing footsteps approaching, Penny realizes that Bell and Hestia have woken up and are going upstairs. He continues to play his flute, realizing that Hestia and Bell have arrived, he plays some more before stopping.
Setting the flute aside, he looks at Bell and Hestia and gives them both a smile.
"Good morning, Bell! Good morning, Goddess Hestia! Did you sleep well?" Penny asks with a smile on her face.
"Bell..." Hestia murmurs in surprise, she walks over to the boy. Jumping on top of him, she holds his cheeks. "Can you play the flute?!" Hestia asks in a mixture of surprise, happiness and disbelief.
"Yes... is there a problem?" Penny asks as she feels her cheeks being squeezed and pulled.
"Generally, people don't know how to play instruments. Only rich and noble people can play instruments, how can you play this flute so easily?" Hestia picks up the flute in Penny's hand, still incredulous that her son can play it.
"I learned it when I found a music book in some ruins in my world..." Penny grabs the Goddess's hand and pulls it away from her cheek. "I asked my boss to get me a flute to practise on, and she gave me one." Penny rubs her sore cheeks. "And in my spare time I learned to play the flute and the violin."
"You can play the violin!?" Hestia shouts in even more surprise.
"Bell, get her off me, please." Penny begs, already feeling her ears start to hurt.
"Eh, Goddess. I think it's best to let him breathe." Bell speaks to her Goddess, she finally regains consciousness and stands up on the floor again.
"Eh, you're right." Hestia clasps her fingers together, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Penny. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"No problem..." Penny stands up and dusts off her clothes. "Even, Goddess Hestia. I realize there's no kitchen here. Do you mind if I ask how you eat?"
"Ah, well..." Hestia looks away. "I usually eat at work."
"I buy food outside, but sometimes my Goddess brings us food from her work." Bell says, not taking much notice.
"Okay... mental note: Get money together to buy a bigger place, with a built-in kitchen." Penny thinks, he looks at them both. "Well, I want to do something at the Hostess of Fertility before I go to the Dungeon. I'm going to pack my God Arc e-"
"Penny, wait." Hestia speaks, and both Penny and Bell turn to her. "About the Loki family..." Hestia frowns at the thought of the Goddess she hates so much. "I don't want you to get involved with them, either for your own family or for Loki. I have... I worry about what she might do if she knew where you came from."
Bell and Penny watch the Goddess, seeing her worried face and rigid body, Penny goes over to her and strokes her head.
"Don't worry about that, I don't want any involvement with the Loki family, and it seems you have a falling out with them, don't you?"
Hestia was surprised that Penny could tell just by looking at her. How much more can this boy surprise her? But she brushes it aside.
"Well... all right then!" Hestia's expression changes and she's back to her cheerful self. "So, before you leave, I'll check your status!"
[...]
After a few more minutes of chatting, the three of them head back down to the basement. With Penny being the first to check the statuses, he lies down on the bed without his shirt. It's a good thing it's elastic, if it were any other shirt it wouldn't get past his tremendously large bracelets.
Hestia starts checking Penny's statuses, slightly surprised, but she realizes what he's done. She puts a piece of paper behind Penny's back and makes the statuses appear on it. After a few seconds, she gets off Penny and hands her the sheet with her statuses.
Bell Pennywort
Level 1
Strength: I1
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I1
Agility: I1
Magic: I0
Abilities
Devourer: The user can make their God Arc activate, the Aragami activates and leaves the God Arc. It can devour any living being that the user wishes it to.
Mode Change: The user's God Arc can modify itself to change between four different modes. Double Blade, Staff, Shield and Pistol.
Gunsmith: The user is able to create different types of bullets to be used with the God Arc, but it is necessary to have the right items and know how the bullet should work for it to be created.
Magic
Burst: When devouring a living being, the user can activate Burst Mode. By activating Burst Mode, the user gains an extreme increase in their physical attributes. Burst Mode has a total of three levels, but it shouldn't be used all the time, or the user could lose control.
"But Bell and I fought several monsters yesterday, and they only increased by one point?" Penny looks down at the paper, confused.
"Well... answer me, was it easy for you to fight the monsters?" Hestia asks the boy. Penny nods positively, Hestia sighs. "As I suspected..."
"What do you mean?" Bell asks, curious and confused.
"Well, for an adventurer to feed his status, he needs to gain excellence. Excellence comes according to the difficulty you experience in battle. Weak and easy-to-defeat enemies give little excellence."
"While the strongest and most difficult to defeat give much more excellence." Penny completes the sentence, already understanding the occasion.
"That's right!" Hestia points at the boy, looking proud.
"So, does this mean that Penny won't increase his status?" Bell asks, understanding.
"If he faces weak monsters, yes, he won't gain status." Hestia shrugs. She turns to Bell and points at him. "Now it's your turn, Bell!"
Bell, a little embarrassed, takes off his shirt and lies face down on the bed, Hestia wasting no time. She stands behind him and starts checking his status.
Penny, who didn't want to get in the way, goes to his clothes. He puts his shirt back on and puts on his chest plate. Finishing with his cape, he turns his gaze to Hestia. Seeing her surprised face, he is more tempted to find out about the blur in Bell's statuses.
After some more time, Hestia puts Bell's statuses on a piece of paper, getting off the boy and handing him the sheet. Bell takes the sheet and checks his statuses.
Bell Cranel
Level 1
Strength: I106 - H167
Endurance: I31 - H101
Dexterity: H101 - H149
Agility: H197 - G219
Magic: I0
Skills:
Magic:
"Waaa my statuses have increased so much!" Bell said excitedly as he ran around the room and held the paper in his hands in amazement.
"Look at that! The tips I gave you yesterday in the Dungeon have taken effect." Penny approaches Hestia as she sees Bell running excitedly around the room.
"Say? What do you mean tips?" Hestia asks, turning to Penny.
"I helped him, gave him instructions to improve his battle tactics. And it seems to have worked." Penny puts her hands on her waist, watching Bell happy with his progress.
"Oh, I see..." Hestia murmurs, feeling happy that Bell has managed to evolve so much with Penny's help, but at the same time, she feels kind of useless for not being able to help in the same way.
"Hey, Penny! Let's go to the dungeon! I want to test my new strength!" Bell approaches Penny and holds the boy's hands.
"Easy there, man. You forgot we're still going to the Hostess of Fertility to make up for it." Penny explains to Bell.
"Oh, yeah!" Bell remembers.
"What do you mean make it up to them? Didn't you get out of there without any problems?" Hestia asks curiously.
"It's just that I promised to teach the tavern owner a recipe as an apology for the fight yesterday." Penny explains to the Goddess.
"I think I understand, but anyway! Boys." Hestia draws their attention. "I have an important party to go to tonight, so don't wait up for me."
"Party? What party are you going to?" Penny asks, curious about the party.
"Let's just say it's the banquet of the Gods. So only the Gods can go to it." Hestia explains to both of them. She goes to her closet and starts to pick out a nice outfit for herself, even though she doesn't have that many.
"In that case, we won't get in your way." Penny turns to pick up his God Arc, but he turns his gaze back to Hestia. "Ah, Goddess Hestia. I'd like to discuss something with you later, do you have time after the party?"
"Well, I really won't have much to do. Apart from helping Heaphestos in his stores, I have nothing else to do. So yes, I will have time." Hestia says, giving Penny a pleasant smile.
"Right." Penny walks over to her God Arc, switching it to Pistol mode and places it on her back. "Let's get going, Bell."
"Oh, right!" Bell quickly picks up his equipment. Taking a few minutes to get ready, he follows Penny to the stairs. "After we've been to the guild, are you going to teach Miss Mia how to make this pizza?"
"Exactly. As well as teaching them, I want you to taste the pizza I promised you." Penny says to the boy. As the two of them left the basement, Hestia was still choosing an outfit.
But she stops to think for a moment: "Pizza?" She says, confused by Penny's statement.
[...]
(Guild.)
"You never get tired of surprising me, do you?" She sighs, already tired of the two twin boys in front of her.
"Yeah, d-sorry, Eina!" Bell quickly apologizes as her face turns red.
"Is this all about the stupid rumors?" Penny asks as one of her hands rests on her waist.
"Silly rumors? You got into a fight with a member of the Loki family and made a horse out of him... honestly. I'm surprised you're so calm now." Eina says, resting her head on one of her hands as she tries to relax, but it's impossible for her.
"I'm sorry about that." Penny apologizes. He hears some whispering around him, glancing back at the people around him. Some feel a slight chill at the sight of his murderous gaze. "But anyway." Penny turns her attention to Eina. "Eina, I'd like to go down to the sixth and seventh floors today."
"Are you crazy or something?" Eina's voice hardens, so suddenly that even Penny didn't see it coming. "You became an adventurer almost two days ago and you already want to take a chance?"
"Eh, Eina. It may not look like it, but Penny's pretty strong and-" Bell tries to defend him, but is quickly cut off by the girl.
"That's beside the point." Eina speaks with a firm voice. "Penny, I know you have good equipment and great weapons, but I can't allow you to go that much deeper into the dungeon."
"Eina, with all due respect. But the monsters from the first to the fourth floor are nothing to me. I've been through so much worse than these monsters, they're like cutting paper with a very sharp knife." Penny speaks to the girl, crossing his arms as he waits for her answer.
"Ahh..." Eina sighs. Even by the boy's affirmation, and seeing in his eyes that he's not lying, but still. "Look, I understand. You're strong and can fight these monsters with ease. But understand one thing. Adventurers shouldn't venture out."
"In other words, we shouldn't take risks?" Penny asks, already understanding the analogy of that phrase.
"That's right." Eina looks away from Bell. "Bell, you've only been an adventurer for a little over a month, couldn't you control your brother's impulses?"
"Well..." Bell scratches his cheek a little embarrassed. "I can't exactly control him, but I can assure you that he's very strong. After all, he fought the Loki family werewolf and managed to win."
Eina is shocked to hear those words. "Wait, Bete..." She looks at Penny. "You fought Bete?" She asks in surprise, Penny nods positively. Eina inhales and exhales, forcing herself to calm down she looks back at the two boys in front of her. "I need to have a serious talk with you two." She says as she stares at the two boys. With Bell feeling anxious, while Penny feels annoyed by the look.
[...]
"Okay, did you understand correctly?" Eina says to the two of them, sitting at a table in a more secluded part of the guild. With Bell and Penny sitting in front of her, they both nod. "All right." Eina gets up from her seat. "I'll let you go up to the sixth floor, but you'd better be careful, understand?"
Bell and Penny nod, agreeing positively to the question. Eina sighs, glancing back at her service desk, she looks back at the two of them.
"I've got more to sort out around here, so if you're going to the Dungeon, you'd better go soon." Eina says to them both.
"Actually, that's why I wanted to go to the sixth and seventh floors." Penny stands up and catches Eina's eye. "We're not going to be in the dungeon for long today, so I wanted to go a bit deeper to try and get more money more quickly."
"Oh, so that's it." Eina puts her hand to her forehead, she tries to think of something to answer, but her mind goes blank. "Right, just don't be careless."
"Y-yes, Eina!" Bell stands up and bows to the receptionist. "I promise we won't take any unnecessary risks!"
Eina smiles and walks back to her counter, leaving Bell and Penny alone.
"So... do you want to eat that pizza?"
[...]
(Hostess of Fertility.)
"How does he do that?" One of the waitresses says in surprise to Anya.
"I don't know niaw, but I was wondering niaw how he moves his hands so fast with those bracelets niaw!" Anya said as she stared in amazement at the sight in front of her.
Penny, who was in the kitchen, was spinning a large circle made of dough. He used his fingertips and changed hands little by little as he spun the dough in the air. He moved his hands glamorously and quickly, he spun the dough faster and faster, then threw it up, caught it and spun it again.
"Kid... how do you do that?..." Mia asks, still incredulous at the skill of the boy's hands. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Well..." Penny kept turning the dough. "Let's just say it takes a lot of practice."
Penny stopped turning the dough, put it on the counter, picked up the sauces and ingredients, opened the dough a little more, spread the tomato sauce on it, then placed a mixture of cheeses on top of the sauce and put some fragrant leaves on top.
The other hostesses watched the boy work on the "Pizza" he had mentioned. With Bell just looking on, a girl approached Bell and nudged his shoulder.
"Hey, Mr. Cranel." Ryuu spoke to the boy. "What exactly is this pizza he's making?"
"Well..." Bell thinks for a moment. "I didn't understand very well either, but he told me that this pizza is very good and delicious!" Bell speaks with a smile, but he notices the touch on his shoulder and turns slightly red.
"Well, I've never seen a recipe like that before." Syr says curiously, she approaches Bell and looks at the pizza. "I never thought of mixing dough, tomatoes and cheese. I don't think it will turn out well."
"Then just wait!" Penny says with a debauched smile on her face. He finishes preparing the pizza, puts it in the oven, closes the small window and starts to wait. "That just leaves it to bake."
"Are you sure this will work?" Mia raises an eyebrow, curious about the boy's answer.
"Yes!" Penny raises his index finger, looking proud as he speaks. "Let's just say that pizza is a very popular food where I come from." In fact, he discovered this recipe in a book he found in the ruins of a city. Yes, exploring and finding anything to survive was necessary for Penny and her friends. "Let's just wait, it'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Hey, Penny!" Syr walks up to the boy. "There's something I'm curious about." Syr looks at the boy with a cute look, Penny just raises an eyebrow in response. "What exactly are those black things on your head?"
Penny is confused, but he remembers that he was wearing his communicators on his head. Yes, he used to wear these little wings on his head to communicate with his group and to analyze the areas where he went on missions, but now it's just an ornament, as there are no satellites in this world for him to use.
"Oh, they're just hair ornaments I found." Penny refuses. He picks up the communicators, takes them off his head and puts them on Syr's head, making them float near her head. "They're not much use."
"Owww!" Syr looks excitedly at the little wings on her head, wiggling them she sees that the devices aren't falling off. "They're floating!"
"Is it really niaw?!" Anya approaches Syr, fiddling with the communicators, they move sideways, but quickly return to their original position on Syr's head. "Woo how cool!"
Anya continued to play with the communicators on Syr's head, with the two girls having fun with the devices.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Ryuu approached Penny. "How much more are you hiding?"
"Not as much as you." Penny looks into Ryuu's eyes. With the two of them staring at each other for a few seconds, Penny breaks eye contact. "Well, before we eat the pizza, I have to do something."
"What do you mean? But it wasn't ready yet?" Bell asks confused.
"Right, it wasn't, but now..." Penny opens the oven. As soon as the small window opens, a wonderful smell of cheese floods the tavern kitchen.
Penny grabs two cleavers and takes the pizza out of the oven, using them as a support. Placing the pizza on the counter, the girls and Mia are surprised by the appearance of the food.
"Wow! The cheese has melted and it's perfect!" One of the girls says in surprise.
"I didn't expect it to look that good." Another girl says in surprise.
"And the smell... hmmmm delicious niaw!" Anya says as she marvels at the food. She tries to take a piece, but is hit on the forehead. "Ouch!"
"Hold on, it's not quite ready yet." Penny says, leaving most of them confused. He takes the cleavers back, using them to cut the pizza into slices, leaving her with exactly eight slices. "Now we're talking!"
Penny takes two slices, he walks over to Bell and hands him one of the slices. Leaning on the wall, he starts to eat the pizza.
"Hmmm! Delicious as always!" Penny mutters with her mouth full as she savors her slice of pizza. He looks at the other girls and Bell, seeing the hesitation on their faces. "What? Don't you want a taste?"
"Ehhh..." Bell hesitates a little, but takes courage and takes a bite of the pizza. As he begins to chew, he feels a slight hint of crunch and softness. And the cheese melts in his mouth. "That's... that's..." The girls get worried, but Bell quickly continues eating and finishes the slice in a few seconds. "That's delicious!"
The girls are surprised by the statement and Bell's happy face. Penny just laughs comically at the boy's reaction. Syr, taking courage, goes over to the pizza and takes one of the slices, eating it, her face lighting up.
"It's delicious!" Syr says excitedly with a smile on her face, she goes back to eating and the girls relax.
With the rest of the girls taking the other slices, their reactions are almost the same. They found it delicious, tasty, soft, crunchy and elastic because of the cheese. Anya ended up stretching the cheese too far and got stuck with it around her body. Ryuu went over to the girl to help her free herself from her cheese prison.
"Boy, you never cease to amaze me, do you?" Mia slaps Penny on the back. She laughs as she sees her hostesses delighted with the pizza.
"Come on, you don't need all that flattery!" Penny scoffs, he looks at the girls and gives a slight smile. "See, I told you I'd reward you somehow for trashing the tavern last night."
"Haha! And you made good on your promise!" Mia laughs out loud as she revels in the situation. "Well, if I could sell that pizza, sales would certainly explode."
"Don't worry about that." Penny reaches into his breastplate and pulls out a piece of paper. "Here's the full recipe, step by step, the amount of ingredients and the time it needs to bake to be crispy and soft, and what not to do to prevent it from burning. Here, you can have it."
"Are you sure? Wouldn't the owner of the recipe be angry that someone like me is selling his food?" Mia asks, suspicious of the boy's gift.
"Actually, the recipe is much older than you think. So you can make it without heaviness in your soul, the creator passed away centuries ago." Penny retorts, placing the sheet in Mia's hands and giving her a debauched smile. "Just owe me the winnings!" He gives her a teasing wink.
"Oh you little pest!" Mia laughs as she feels a slight anger inside, but she also finds the situation amusing.
"Well, what do we do now?" Bell asks Penny.
"Now, let's kill monsters." Penny says, he walks over to Syr and catches the girl's eye. "Excuse me, Syr. But I'll take this back." He puts his hands on Syr's head and picks up his communicators.
"Ah, but already?" Syr makes a sad face as Penny puts the communicators back on his own head. "I wish I could stay longer with the accessories." Syr puts his fingers together while making a cute expression.
"I'm sorry, but the answer is no." Penny says to the girl. He waves goodbye to the girl as he walks over to his God Arc, which is leaning against a wall next to the counter.
Bell and Syr stood there, staring at each other while Bell tried not to make eye contact.
"Well, I guess I'll go with him." Bell says goodbye and tries to leave, but Syr speaks to him, and he stops.
"Wait, Bell. Take this!" Syr hands over a small box of food, she smiles at the boy as she waits for him to take the box of food.
"Eh, well. I don't know if I should take it because-" Bell tries to refuse, but Syr quickly puts the box in the boy's hands.
"Don't worry, you can take it. I'm not hungry after eating the pizza!" Syr smiles at the boy, she waves as she says goodbye to him.
"But, but... I'm not... hungry either." Bell sees Syr leaving and realizes that she hasn't even heard him. He gives up and just accepts the food. Walking over to Penny, Bell stows the box in a small pouch at his waist.
"Ready?" Penny asks, he puts his God Arc on his back and turns to the boy.
"Yeah... actually I've already been to the fifth floor and... I was almost killed by a Minotaur." Bell scratches the back of his head, a little embarrassed.
"What do you mean? Minotaurs don't appear on the fifth floor?" Penny asks confused, because from what he can research in that library, strong monsters like a Minotaur only appear in the depths of the dungeon.
"Eh, well..." Bell looks away. "I went deeper to see if I could find a girl and one of the minotaurs had escaped from the upper floors, but an adventurer came to save me before the Minotaur killed me." Bell looks away while pouting.
Penny looks at Bell, with the gears of her mind turning for him to understand what happened, and he opens his eyes wide, already noticing a detail.
"Wait, you're not going to tell me that the girl who saved you was that blonde girl from the Loki family?" Penny asks incredulously.
"Wait, how did you know? I didn't even say her name!" Bell says, surprised by the boy's sharp question.
"I caught a glimpse of their conversation last night." Penny starts walking out of the tavern, he rubs his forehead as he thinks. "And I noticed the look of admiration you gave her. So I just deduced the obvious."
"Gee, was I that obvious?" Bell asks, not quite believing Penny's assertion.
"A little, but I'm also very perceptive." Penny says to the boy. "Well, now we're going to the Dungeon, and you're going to train by killing the monsters there."
"What? What do you mean?" Bell asks confused.
"Didn't you say you wanted to get strong? Then I'll be your mentor until you reach your full potential!" Penny looks at Bell with a determined gaze.
Bell looks into Penny's gaze, feeling a determination growing inside him, he stiffens and nods positively at Penny.
"Got it!"
[...]
[Dungeon - Sixth floor.]
Bell swiftly cuts off the head of a Frog Shooter, causing it to disappear in a puff of black smoke. Bell breathes heavily as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. He breathes a sigh of relief and looks at Penny. Penny waves her hand in the affirmative and Bell becomes slightly cheerful.
"You don't look like you did yesterday." Penny says surprised, he walks over to where Bell had killed the Frog Shooter and picks up the magic stone.
"Thanks to you!" Bell breathes heavily, still feeling tired, but very happy.
"Thanks to your efforts." Penny reciprocates. He stands up and stows the stone in a small pouch on his left thigh. "We've only been here a few hours. Do you want to go down to the seventh floor?"
"Actually, we've only encountered Goblins, Koboids and Frog Shooters. If I'm not mistaken, there's still a monster on this floor." Bell says, looking around.
"Well, I don't know about that. Since I haven't done any in-depth research on the monsters in the dungeon." Penny says, also looking around as he tries to find something. "Will the monsters stop appearing?"
"Really... usually after the fourth floor, monsters are born more often." Bell says, also sounding cautious.
The two of them hear some noises, and looking back to where they came from, they see several yellow orbs coming towards them. They both realize that they look like humanoid beings, but their bodies look like dark shadows.
"What is that?..." Bell says, a little terrified.
"Bell, get ready!" Penny picks up his God Arc, putting the two swords together, he switches to double-bladed staff mode. He spins the staff through the air, placing it behind him, he faces the Shadow Wars. "Those look strong."
"C-right..." Bell swallows, looking nervous, but he pulls himself together and raises his knife in front of him. He faces the Shadow Wars, feeling intimidated, but he doesn't allow himself to be frightened.
The Shadow Wars ready their claws as they advance towards the two of them. One of them jumps at Penny, but the boy dodges the attack and swings his staff to try to cut the monster, but the blade passes through his body.
Penny is surprised, but he's not shaken. Dodging the claws, he continues to try to cut the Shadow War's body. Seeing another one advancing against him, he continues to dodge, now two. Twirling his staff, he continues to try to slash, but the blades go straight through.
Bell, who with a little difficulty, dodges two Shadow Wars on top of him. Also trying to cut through their bodies, but to no avail. A Shadow War advances against Bell, managing to graze his arm. But the boy manages to dodge it with difficulty.
Bell jumps back, holding his shoulder; he feels pain, but it's bearable. He tries to get a potion from his bag, but the two Shadow Wars advance on him again.
Bell moves a little further back, but the Shadow Wars won't let him breathe. Penny, still trying to kill the Shadow Wars around him, sees Bell in danger and discards his double-bladed staff. Picking up his left blade, he throws it in Bell's direction.
Managing to hit the Shadow War's head, he disappears into thin air. Penny is surprised, but he sees the shards of the monster's eyes on the ground.
"The eyes!" Penny mutters. He dodges a cut made by a Shadow War and hits it in the eye, making it die instantly. Dodging another, he looks at Bell. "Bell! Aim for the eyes!"
Bell is confused, but sees Penny hit the Shadow War in the eye and make him die. Turning his attention to the other Shadow War, he dodges its claws. Raising his hand, he grabs the Shadow War's eyes and pulls them out, causing the monster to die.
Bell is surprised to see the magic stones in his hand and the Shadow War die. He looks at Penny and sees him jump backwards and dodge an attack from three more Shadow Wars.
Bell advances towards Penny, jumping in front of him, he uses his knife to block the attack of one of the Shadow War's claws. Landing next to Penny, he breathes heavily.
Penny stands next to Bell and raises her God Arc to the three Shadow War in front of her. The two of them face the three Shadow War in front of them, and advance against him.
Bell, dodging an attack from one of the monsters, manages to cut out the eyes of one of the Shadow War, causing it to die. Penny, using her God Arc quickly, also hits one of the Shadow War's eyes.
The last Shadow War feels slightly threatened, but he glares at them both with something that looks like anger. Even if his expression is almost imperceptible. The monster lunges at them both, but in one swift movement, Bell cuts out the monster's eyes.
With the last Shadow War gone, Bell rests on his knees and breathes heavily, feeling his body grow heavy and tired. He breathes a sigh of relief.
"Ahh..." Bell sighs as he feels his face wet with sweat. "I thought I was going to die..."
"Almost dying is part of life." Penny says nonchalantly. He walks over to his God Arc embedded in the wall and picks it up, walking back towards Bell, he places his swords on his back. He taps him on the shoulder. "Do you want to rest before we go to the seventh floor?"
"Yes..." Bell says relieved. Sitting down on the floor, he breathes heavily. He closes his eyes and continues breathing, trying to keep oxygen in his blood and lungs.
"By the way, Syr gave you that box of food, didn't she? Why don't you have a snack?" Penny says, sitting down next to Bell.
"Yeah... I guess you're right..." Bell agrees, reaching into his bag for the box of food. Seeing the delicious Bento that Syr had made, Bell feels his mouth salivate. "Well... do you want some?..." Bell hesitates to ask, but he honestly wanted to eat it all himself.
"No. I'm fine. I didn't have to work as hard as you, so I don't need to eat now." Penny nods in denial, he rests on his knees while hugging his legs.
"Oh, all right then." Bell is slightly surprised, but he accepts Penny's answer. He starts eating his Bento quickly, looking like the boy has been starving for days. Penny looks at the scene and laughs slightly. "What's wrong?" Bell asks as his face is smeared with rice.
"Nothing, it's just... it's just nice to have these moments..." Penny looks thoughtful as she stares at Bell. "Hey, Bell."
"What's wrong?"
"You couldn't tell me your story yesterday. Tell me, why did you come to Orario?" Penny asks, looking very curious.
"Ohw..." Bell hesitates for a moment, but decides to speak. "If I tell you, won't you laugh at me?"
"I give you my word." Penny puts her hand to her chest, even though her breastplate blocks her from feeling her heart.
"Well..." Bell sighs. "Well, I lived in the mountains with my grandfather, as I've never met my mother, my father, my uncle, aunt, or any other living relative I may have and don't know." Bell speaks a little wistfully. "Well, since I lived with my grandfather, he taught me a few things..." Bell looks away slightly red-faced.
"And what did he teach you?"
"He..." Bell turns even redder. "He told me to save several girls and create a romance with them!" Bell says, closing his eyes as he waits for the laughter.
"So... he encouraged you to set up a harem?" Penny asks Bell.
In his normal voice, Bell is surprised by the question. Still surprised that he wasn't laughing.
"É... that." Bell eases up a little, but is still wary. "He taught me that since I was a child."
"Bell, honestly..." Penny says to the boy. "I'm sorry to say it, but your grandfather has a mental problem." Penny says and Bell is startled by the answer.
"What?"
"Look, an old man teaching that to a child is hardly surprising." Penny gets up and cleans his clothes, brushing the dirt and dust off him. "But if that's your wish, I won't judge you. Everyone has their own dreams, convictions, passions, hobbies and responsibilities. If you want to have a harem, I won't judge you, but if you want help with that I don't know if I can exactly help you."
"Oh... just not judging me is fine..." Bell says a little sadly, but is also relieved by Penny's response.
"Right. Sorry for asking such a personal question." Penny holds out her hand to help Bell up.
"Oh, no, no!" Bell takes Penny's hand and stands up. "It's no bother! Honestly, I feel lucky that you found me that day." Bell says to Penny.
"Hehe!" Penny smiles at Bell. "Hey, finish eating and we'll get going."
"Oh, right!" Bell quickly finishes eating his Bento. Stowing the box back in his bag, they start walking through the Dungeon.
[Dungeon - Seventh floor.]
A Killer Ant lunges at Bell, but the boy sticks his knife in its head and twists it off, killing it instantly.
"Penny! Don't let them release their pheromones again!" Bell says angrily.
"I know! Sorry about before!" Penny continues to use his sword to slash the ants, cutting off their heads and killing them in a few moments.
The two of them continue to kill the ants, one by one, but more and more of them appear. Coming from the bottom of the floor.
"We won't be able to cope with that many!" Bell said nervously as he watched the ants approaching.
"Bell!" Penny catches his eye. "We won't be able to cope with that many! We'd better back off for today!" Penny says and Bell agrees.
The two of them turn around and start running back towards the stairs, but the ants are still chasing them. Without much choice, Penny switches her God Arc to Pistol mode and starts firing in the direction of the ants. She fires neutral bullets at the ants, but the swarm doesn't diminish.
"Shit, I'm out of ammo!" Penny complains.
"What do we do?" Bell asks as he continues to run.
Penny looks around, seeing only a corridor in which they were running and the ants chasing him. He tries to think of something, and finds the right solution.
"I've got an idea!" Penny speaks, he switches from God Arc mode to double blade mode. He extends his right sword, and activates Devour mode. Making the Aragami come out of his sword, he advances against the ants and devours some of them.
The Aragami returns to the sword, Penny sees that the Oracle Cells have returned, he smiles. Switching God Arc to Pistol mode, he aims upwards and starts shooting at the ceiling.
"Penny, what are you doing?" Bell tries to say, but he sees the ceiling start to collapse on the ants, and, surprised and impressed, he sees the ants being crushed.
The stones collapse and fall on top of the ants and most of them die from the crushing. Some manage to get through the stones, but only a few.
Bell and Penny stop running and face the ants. Running up to them, the two of them begin to cut up the ants. Managing to kill them quickly, the two eliminate each of the ants.
"Ahhh... finally..." Bell sighs with relief. He looks at the magical stones that have fallen to the ground, and quickly picks them up and puts them in his bag.
Penny, also helping to pick up the stones, the two of them begin to put them away. Hearing more growls, the two look at each other. With a nod, the two run back out of the dungeon.
Without even looking back, the two continued to run without hesitation.
(Guild.)
"YOU DID WHAT!?" Eina shouted extremely angrily at the two boys. Bell and Penny listened to Eina's scolding, knowing full well that they were wrong and in trouble for being caught by a swarm of Killer Ants.
"I'm really sorry... Eina..." Bell apologizes in shame.
"I'm sorry, Eina. I didn't know that ants released pheromones that attracted other ants of the same species." Penny apologizes, looking defeated.
"I told you..." Eina puts her hand to her forehead, forcing herself to calm down so as not to explode in front of so many people. "So, are you going to listen to me now?"
"Yes, we will." Bell and Penny say at the same time.
"Okay... right." Eina takes a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She breathes again. "Okay, go exchange your Vales while I try to calm down."
Bell and Penny nod as they walk away from the receptionist. The two of them make their way to the voucher exchange ward and exchange their valis. With a large bag of valis, the two are surprised to see the amount. 33,000 valis, a large sum for one day for two novices.
"Wow! That's a lot of money!" Bell says happily as he stares in amazement at the money in his hands.
"Yeah, and I realized something." Penny looks at Bell and sees his clothes. "How about we buy you some new clothes?"
Bell is confused, but he looks down at his body. Seeing his slightly broken chest plate, and his torn clothes, he laughs nervously.
"Well... I guess I should update my equipment." Bell scratches the back of his head.
The two of them look at Eina and notice that she's calmer, walking back to her counter, she sighs when she sees the two of them again.
"Penny, do you understand why I didn't want you to go so deep into the dungeon?" Eina asks as she stares at the two in front of her.
"Yes, I'm sorry. It only happened because I was careless." Penny scratches her cheek in embarrassment. "I'm going to do more research on the monsters in the dungeon so this doesn't happen."
"What about you, Bell?" Eina looks at Bell.
"É... well..." Bell doesn't know what to say. "I didn't think we'd be taken by surprise."
"My God..." Eina puts her hands to her face. Still trying to calm down. "Okay, go home. Rest for today, but you're not free yet, understand?"
The two of them nodded and started walking out of the guild. Eina was still there, still trying to process the fact that the two of them had almost died to Killer Ants. A receptionist approaches Eina and taps her on the shoulder.
"Hey, Eina. Are you okay?" The girl says to Eina.
"Do I look okay?" Eina looks at the girl next to her with a cold stare.
"Eh, sorry. I didn't mean to stress you out." The girl says nervously.
"Sorry, I just..." Eina sighs. "I was just shocked that they... that they almost died..." She says, calming down a little, but still worried.
"I understand... but if they ran into a swarm of Killer Ants and survived, they're no small feat, aren't they?" The girl said, trying to reassure her.
"Well..." Eina rests her head on the counter. "I know they're strong, but... I still worry about them." Eina looks at the door the two left.
On the street, Penny and Bell were talking about what had happened.
"I'm sorry I let the ants call for help." Penny scratches the back of her head in concern.
"Don't worry about that, we don't need to worry about that. We survived, didn't we?" Bell shrugs.
"É..." Penny puts her hand on his shoulder, as the wound from a kobold heals, he's worried. "Yeah, there's nothing to worry about."
"I even need to return Syr's box of food!" Bell said, remembering.
"Oh, yeah." Penny agrees. He gets pensive and looks at Bell again. "Hey, Bell. Want to help me develop the fire bullet?"
"The fire bullet?" Bell asks confusedly, but he remembers. "Oh, yeah! You haven't made the bullet yet!"
"So you want to help me?"
"Of course! I want to see how it's made!"
"But first we're going to buy some things for Goddess Hestia to eat."
"Right!"
[...]
(Hestia Family House)
(Dusk.)
Hestia was in her room (Basement.) looking at herself in a mirror as she put on an outfit in front of her to see if she looked nice. She sighed in frustration.
"Ahh... I don't know if I should wear this..." Hestia murmured a little sadly, she heard footsteps approaching, looking at the stairs she knew who was coming.
"We're here!" Bell and Penny say at the same time
"And we've brought food!" Bell says excitedly as he lifts a small basket with the food they both bought.
"Today was productive. We almost died, but we're fine." Penny says nonchalantly as she raises her arms and stretches her back.
"I'm going to ignore that last part, because I'm really undecided." Hestia says, trying to ignore the fact of 'Near death', she walks over to the boys and gives them a big hug.
Bell and Penny are surprised, but decide to return the hug without question. They stay like that for a few more minutes, until Hestia releases them and returns to her usual smile.
"All right, shall we eat then?" Hestia gives them both her reassuring smile.
The two of them walk over to a small table in the center of the room, place the basket on it and take out the food. A small bucket of chicken thighs, potatoes, a small portion of salad, in a pepper sauce.
"Waa did you buy all that!?" Hestia looks excitedly at the culinary wonders the boys have bought.
"Yeah, let's just say this is a thank you for letting us be part of your family." Penny says, laughing a little.
Hestia, without hesitation jumps on Penny, giving her a kiss on the cheek as a thank you. She goes over to Bell and does the same, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek too. But unlike Penny, Bell turns red and falls to the ground in shame.
"Oh my God, Bell!" Hestia shouts worriedly.
[...]
After Bell had finally calmed down, the family began to eat their dinner. Hestia devoured the chicken thighs quickly, not looking like a lady eating, but who cares, right?
"By the way, Goddess Hestia. You were indecisive, did something happen?" Penny asks, and he picks up a potato and starts eating it.
"Wo, well..." Hestia stops eating the chicken leg and thinks. "It's just... I told you I'd have an important feast of the Gods tonight, or rather, in a few hours, isn't it?" Hestia says, and they both agree. "It's just that I'm not sure what to wear."
"Oh... Hey, Penny!" Bell looks at the boy. "How about we give the Goddess some vouchers so she can buy a dress she likes?" Bell suggests.
"Hmm... that's a good idea!" Penny nods in agreement as she laughs a little.
"Wait!" Hestia shouts at them both. "And... I... I can't accept that. It's your money. You worked hard to get it, I can't accept it."
"As for that..." Penny reaches into his cloak and pulls out a bag of vouchers, he places them on the table. "Here are 15,000 vouchers. Use them to buy a dress you like."
"But, but, but, but..." Hestia tries to say something, but Bell interrupts her.
"Goddess, we talked about this on the way home. And we realized that without you, we wouldn't be able to live here in Orario. So accept the vouchers as thanks for making us part of your family!" Bell says to her with his cute smile.
Hestia is even more surprised and shocked by Bell's words. She stares at Bell, and then at Penny. Feeling her eyes grow moist, she gets up. She walks over to the two of them and pulls them into an embrace again, this time a warm, loving embrace.
"I... I have the best children I could ask for..." Hestia says as tears well up in her eyes. Bell and Penny just hold each other, grateful that their Goddess is happy.
[...]
After everyone has finished eating, Hestia goes to the bathroom. Taking a quick shower so as not to be late for the important event with the Gods. Leaving the bathroom while covering herself with a towel, Bell covers her eyes with her hands, while Penny tidies up the small table to make something.
"All right!" Hestia goes to the closet, grabbing a more social outfit. She gives the boys a look, they both turn the other way, and Hestia starts to get dressed. "Ready!" She puts on her clothes. A white dress slightly above her knees, a short blue coat with short sleeves, purple ribbons at the beginning of where her two ends of her hair start, and rather fancy sandals.
Hestia walks over to the bed and picks up the bag of vouchers.
"With this I can finally buy that dress I wanted so badly!" She spins around the room as she raises the vouchers above her head. "It's a good thing the store doesn't close until just before 10:00pm hehe!"
"That being the case, you'd better not be late then, hadn't you?" Penny says, turning back to look at Hestia. "You do look nice in that outfit, though."
"Oh, yeah..." Hestia blushes slightly at Penny's words. She looks at Bell and waits for him to compliment her too. "And... and you Bell..."
"Oh, me and..." Bell hesitates, he turns slightly red, but decides to compliment her. "I also think you look very beautiful... Goddess."
Hestia is even happier to hear Bell's words. With her evening complete, she gives them both one last hug.
"As I said, I'm going away for a few days, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Hestia tells them both, as a mother would tell her children not to make a mess. They both nod in agreement. "Great! See you later!" Hestia says goodbye, picking up the vouchers, she begins to climb the stairs.
"So... what do we do now?" Bell asks as silence hangs in the room.
"Simple, now we'll try to create the fire bullet." Penny takes the glass vials and places them on a small wooden box, he takes the monster items he had bought earlier and places them on the table. Picking up the mind potions, he places them on the table.
"Right, Bell. Let's get started." Penny picks up one of the horns and begins to crush it with her hands. Bell approaches the table and sits down next to Penny, waiting for the order. "Bell, take one of the mind potions and put some of the liquid in one of those glass vials."
"Right." Bell takes the mind potion, puts the liquid in one of the vials and waits for Penny's next order. "Ready."
"Okay... now..." Penny holds out his hands for the flask, he starts pouring in the items, which are now powder. The powder falls into the liquid and the mind potion, which was blue, turns orange.
"Did it work?" Bell asks, watching the potion change from orange to blue, and from blue to orange, and it repeats the process. "It's changing color."
"Hold on, I'm going to try something." Penny sticks out his thumb, using his canine tooth, he uses it to make a hole in his finger. With a drop of blood coming out of his finger, he pours a drop of his blood into the potion. The potion changes color again, now turning a shade of orange to red.
"Wow! I've never seen that color before!" Bell says in amazement. "Did it work now?"
"I don't know, but we'd better try it out." Penny holds out her hand, and Bell hands over the bottle. "I just don't know how we can-"
EXPLOSION!
A huge cloud of smoke floods the entire room. Bell and Penny are lying on the floor, in shock at what has just happened and processing that they have just been blown up by a vial.
"What *Cough.* What happened *Cough.*..." Bell looks around, seeing the sofa, the bed, the walls, and various parts of the room stained by smoke.
"Something's gone wrong *Cough.* My God...*Cough.* I didn't know *Cough* it was going to explode..." Penny says in surprise, he looks around and despairs a little. "Oh my God... Hestia's going to kill me..."
"Correction... she's going to kill us..." Bell says frightened, still staring at the room all dirty with smoke.
End of chapter.
Note: If you're paying attention, I've already put in an indication for future chapters. As I said before, a comment gave me an idea for a future chapter, and I'm already putting that idea into practice. And honestly, I only put in the fire bullet detail because I really wanted to write that scene of them blowing up the room, but I changed my mind and made it so that the room was only stained by the smoke. Anyway, critical comments that add to the development of the story, I'll read them all. If you just want to swear at me, please, we both have better things to do, don't we?
Thanks:
For'Sleep 3rd : Yes, Penny is a boy. These "he and she" mistakes end up recurring in my Fic, but I'm working hard to improve this detail.
Yo'Student'Here : I think I can make an encounter between Penny and Hephestus, so maybe I can make her feel sick when she sees the inside of the God Arc, but that's for a future chapter.
About the Rebuild and Repair function, I didn't quite understand what you meant. As for the Anbadoned God Arcs, I'm not going to include this element, because... there's only one God Arc in this world, and that's Penny's.
About God Eater impersonating a person, maybe I'll add that element, but I'm not sure when I'll add it, but if I do, it certainly won't be now.
And about God Eater Online, I haven't played it and I haven't managed to play it. So I don't know anything about that game, sorry. And again, about the "Dela" I missed it because I was already tired of correcting the chapter and I couldn't see that mistake.
Anyway, thanks for the criticism!