Miach Familia Premise Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you a brand-new story! It’s Danmachi again! Since I still have so many ideas waiting in the wings. As is the norm for these premises, Hestia never descends to Gekai…so, who takes in Bell? Well, a certain change, or perhaps expansion, of Bell’s earlier years as what amounts to a farmhand has given him a different outlook on life growing up. On the farm, everyone has to help out and being a jack-of-all trades is pretty common. What will a Bell that has such a mindset, while still loving Heroic Tales, the brave and kind acts of said Heroes, and his canonical interest in Magic increased a bit end up as?

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THIS IS ALL SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KYROS VASERA’S FAULT!!! HE KEEPS USING HIS TIER REWARDS TO GET MORE FIRST CHAPTERS OF MY VARIOUS UNWRITTEN PREMISES OUT!!! BLAME HIM!!!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 1 – Heroes of All Kinds and a Healing God

In a quiet mountain farming village, there lived a young boy and his grandpa. The two had settled here when the boy was merely an infant, but the villagers had been welcoming and kind. On the farm, everyone was expected to help out and that included the children when they were old enough.

The young boy, Bell Cranel, had rather unique features, being that he had almost snow-white hair and bright rubellite eyes. His grandfather always chuckled and told him he’d be a real lady killer when he grew up, making Bell blush. But the earnest young boy had taken to learning the ins and outs of various chores around the village farm and always completed his tasks each day.

As he grew up, Bell was read many Heroic Tales by his grandfather, many of which were written down and lightly illustrated by the older man himself. Bell had been enamored and amazed by the various Heroes almost immediately. Heroes of great strength that defended the people from Monsters and the wicked actions of other people. The Heroes that wielded powerful Magic and protected those that couldn’t protect themselves. And even the Heroes that didn’t fight, but brought cures to illnesses and plagues, healed the injured, and returned the joy of life to the people. Bell admired them all and wanted to be a Hero like them too!

It was when Bell was six-years-old that he’d had his first run in with a Monster, showing the young boy the dangers that Heroes stood up against.

And it had been on a day just like any other in the farming village.

“Come on… Not that way!” Bell put his wooden staff in the path that one of the sheep was walking. “Go with the others.” He urged the animal to stay with the rest of the livestock.

“Baa…” The sheep bleated before turning and following along with the others into the pen.

Once the last sheep was in the pen, Bell closed the gate and locked it securely.

“Greee…” An unfamiliar noise reached Bell’s ears.

“Huh?” Bell turned around and spotted a Goblin approaching.

The small, green Monster had been scrounging around the forest at the edge of the village. The Goblin had screeched and charged at Bell, but the boy swung his staff at the small Monster. He managed to smack it across the face once, but then had to guard against its sharp little claws as the Goblin screeched at him. Bell struggled against the attack and occasionally landed another smack or jab with his wooden staff. The attack ended when Bell’s grandfather had charged the Goblin with a farming hoe and nearly took the Monster’s head off with it. The dead Goblin lay in the grass and dirt as the young Bell dropped his staff and held onto his grandfather with tears in his rubellite eyes.

“You looked good out there, Bell.” His grandfather smiled down at the boy, gently patting Bell’s back. “You got hurt a bit…could hardly believe it. But you held your ground. You didn’t lose to that Monster. Be proud.”

“I…I want to be someone like you, someone strong like you.” Bell sniffled into his grandpa’s shirt. “I want to become my own hero.”

“That’s all?” The old man chuckled, kneeling down to be at eye-level with Bell. “Too low, too low! If an old geezer like me is your goal, aim for something even bigger!” The grandfather encouraged his grandson.

“Would you be happy if I became a Hero like them?” Bell looked up at his grandpa, the tears in his rubellite eyes had stopped for now.

“But of course!” The old man smiled brightly at Bell. “You’re my pride and joy and always will be,” He gently ruffled the boy’s white hair. “So, don’t worry about making these old bones happy.” That familiar wide grin, filled with both cheer and a bit of mischief, smiled at the child. “Real men chase after ladies’ butts! Rescue the damsels in distress! Show off! Always face forward!” He chuckled at the bright smile that appeared on Bell’s face. “If it’s for the women that you fall in love with, whether it’s becoming a Hero or whatever else…you can do anything. After all, you’re my grandson that I’m so proud of.”

“Yes!” Bell cheered, hugging his grandpa. The old man hugged him back, giving full support to the boy’s dream. “But…how do I become a Hero? The ones in the stories are strong and smart, they’re warriors and mages and stuff.”

“Then we’ll have to train you up so that you can be just as strong and smart as them, right?” His grandpa chuckled, only to burst into laughter at Bell’s excited nodding.

Bell’s ‘training’ consisted of helping more around the farming village they lived in. Tending the fields, helping with the animals, carrying water, gathering firewood, and helping with the harvest in the autumn, along with a bit more reading of various topics. The only thing different from what the other children were doing was the sheer amount of what Bell was carrying, hauling, chopping, and tending to. When the daily labor was done, Bell would learn the basics of fighting from his grandpa. Though it started more as play-fighting with the two wrestling around, Bell learned from the roughhousing, rather than formal instruction.

In this way, years passed by as Bell grew up, learning all that he could about the various tasks and skills found within the farming village.

-Years Later-

“Yah!” Bell smacked a Goblin in the head with his wooden staff. “Don’t! Come! After! Our! Livestock!” Bell punctuated each word with a strong smack on the downed Goblin. The Monster was beaten, broken, bleeding, and very much dead by the time that Bell stopped hitting it.

Bell looked around, making sure that no other Goblins were still lurking about, first and foremost. Then he looked towards the sheep, seeing all of them safely huddled together in the pen. With a relieved sigh, Bell set his staff down and pulled out the knife that he always kept on him. Opening up the Goblin’s chest, Bell quickly found the tiny sliver of a Magic Stone within and used the tip of his knife to extract it. The Goblin’s body began to crumble away into white ash as Bell put the tiny Magic Stone into the simple leather pouch on his hip.

“That was the fifth Goblin this month.” Bell said to himself as he picked his staff back up and continued watching over the sheep. “Busy month for Monsters, considering three is above average.”

The Village Headman approached Bell with a grim look on his face, making Bell curious about the older man’s expression.

“Headman? Is something wrong?” Bell asked the old man.

“Bell…” The Headman looked like he was searching for the right words. “I’m afraid I have bad news.”

-A Short Time Later-

Bell nearly collapsed into the chair next to the fireplace in the cabin he and his grandpa called home.

The Village Headman’s news was beyond bad…it was terrible. His grandfather, the only family he had in the world, was gone. The hunting party he’d gone with had been caught up in a small landslide and his grandfather had pushed the other men to safety, only to then be caught up in the moving earth and carried over a cliff. The deep ravine below had a fast-flowing river too, which prevented the men from being able to find the older man’s body.

Bell had felt hollow for hours after receiving the news. In his mind he kept running through different scenarios. He should’ve gone with them. If he was there, then he could’ve saved his grandpa…he could’ve…he could’ve done something…. In this state of grief and cyclical thinking, running through ‘what ifs’ and ‘I should haves’, interspersed with bouts of tears and deep sadness that made it hard to get out of bed in the mornings; Bell slowly mourned for the loss of his grandfather, the only person he had in the world. His family was gone.

Coming to terms with this new reality sparked a new desire in Bell. If he was the last of his family, then he’d have to find a new one, and make his own one day.

‘Follow your dream, Bell! Women love Heroes!’ His grandfather’s voice rang out in his mind, bringing the first small smile back to Bell’s face since he’d received the horrible news. For all of his grandpa’s noble qualities, the man was an unrepentant pervert and appreciator of the female form. Life slowly returned to Bell’s rubellite eyes as he remembered his grandfather. Slowly, but surely, Bell stopped focusing solely on the loss of his grandpa and started to celebrate the man’s life. He’d been with Bell for as long as the young man could remember and had made his life fun and taught him so much. There was far more to smile about than the loss of the kind, old man could overshadow.

“I’m going to do it, grandpa.” Bell decided, looking at the few books that his grandfather had left him, all of them Heroic Tales. “I’m going to be a Hero!”

But first, he needed a bath.

His bout of depression over his grandfather’s death had made him nearly stop taking care of himself. His white hair was dirty from not being washed. His clothes were the same ones he’d been wearing for the last couple of days too. With a shake of his head, Bell set about getting himself back to normal so that he could head for the one place in the world that could make his dream come true.

-Weeks Later ~ Dungeon City, Orario-

Bell had been traveling with a merchant caravan for the last couple of weeks from his remote farming village. He’d made money by selling all of the goods that he and his grandfather had, along with their cabin. He’d only kept a few very meaningful mementos from his grandfather’s things, and a few supplies for the journey. The young man had hiked down the forested mountain and crossed a large expanse of sparsely wooded grasslands before reaching the next town, which was along an often used trade route. There he’d bought passage on a merchant convoy headed for the Dungeon City, using up all the small Magic Stones that he’d managed to collect from fighting off Goblins over the years. Along the way, Bell had watched the hired guards deal with any small Monsters that tried to attack, usually Goblins, and daydreamed about doing it just as easily as these professionals once he became an Adventurer.

“Finally here.” Bell grinned up at Babel Tower, standing imposingly in the center of the sprawling, walled city.

Orario was everything that Bell had imagined and more! So many people of all different Races and cultures! Humans, Prums, Beastmen of more types than Bell knew existed, Dwarves, Elves, Amazons, and so many beautiful women too!

His grandpa’s ‘appreciation of the female form’ may have rubbed off on him over the years.

“All right…now, I just have to find a Familia and then register as an Adventurer; according to the guards at the gate.” Bell mumbled to himself as he started walking down the large street. The various Deities that called Orario home were spread out, having homes wherever they pleased, apparently. Now it was just a matter of finding them.

Only that was a little harder than he’d initially thought.

-One Week Later-

“Not one…” Bell lamented, sitting on the side of the street, his expression somber.

He thought it would be easy to find a Familia to take him in. On his first day, he’d gone around to all of the biggest Familia: Loki, Ganesha, Freya, but they all turned him away for his lack of experience, Magic, or any other benefit that he could bring to the Familia. His second day in Orario he’d tried to apply at some smaller Familias, but even the mid-tier Familias hadn’t wanted him. The third day was the same, as was the fourth. On the fifth day, Bell started looking at the smallest Familia’s, the ones that had less than a dozen members. He was met with more rejection. The smaller Familia’s didn’t even give a reason for their refusal. He’d had doors closed in his face, he had been laughed at until he left, and just a bit ago he had been physically shoved out the door and onto the ground outside. A full week of rejections, mockery, and ridicule had started to show their marks as the light in Bell’s eyes began to dull. He was starting to run low on money…maybe another few days at the cheap inn he was renting. Perhaps if he only ate one meal a day then he could make that last another week? He was already down to one average meal and a small meal in the evening, what was a little hunger compared to being out on the streets?

“I guess I’ll try in the northeast…there’s supposed to be a few small Familia there if what the Guild said is right.” Bell sighed heavily as he looked at Babel Tower once more, made easier by being on West Main Street which gave a clear view of the enormous tower.

Before Bell could muster the willpower to stand up, someone walking along the street stopped and spoke to him.

“What has ya down on such a fine day, young man?” The man asked with a kind smile as he looked at the sitting Bell.

He had long dark-blue hair and matching dark-blue eyes. He wore a simple black robe with a tan stole that reached down past his shoulders, and sturdy brown shoes. He spoke with an accent that Bell had never heard before, yet the friendly tone in the man’s voice made it pleasant.

It only took Bell a moment to register the feeling that only Deities could produce, a Divine Aura. This man was a God.

“Oh, I’m fine, Lord…” Bell gave the best bow he could from his seated position.

“My name’s Miach, lad.” Miach introduced himself politely, a small and friendly smile gracing Bell. “May I know your name?”

“I’m Bell Cranel, Lord Miach.” Bell said to the kind God that had deigned to speak with him. “I’m new to Orario and I’m not having much luck finding a Familia. I want to be an Adventurer, but none of the Familias have any use for some random guy from a mountain farming village.” He explained, knowing that no Mortal could lie to a Deity, there wasn’t any point in not answering Miach’s previous question properly.

Bell was still surprised when Miach offered him a hand up from the ground.

“My Familia is in a large amount of debt right now. But, if that’s alright with you, we’d be happy to welcome ya.” Miach offered Bell a place in his Familia with a kind smile.

“Th-Thank you, Lord Miach…” Bell took the offered hand and let Miach help him to his feet. “Thank you so much.” He gave a full bow to his soon-to-be God in thanks for giving him a chance when no one else would.

Miach chuckled softly and waved off Bell’s thanks. “No, no, thank you, Bell.”

Bell followed after Miach at the God’s request. They walked straight down West Main Street and began to chat a bit to get to know one another. Miach seemed genuinely interested in Bell’s life up to now and what had brought him to Orario. Bell, not seeing any reason to hide anything, told Miach of his life in the mountain farming village and what had led him to come to Orario, including his dreams.

“Family and Heroism,” Miach nodded as his smile grew just a bit more. “Good goals for a young man to have. Learning all you could growing up, just to be able to help as many people as possible, is certainly praiseworthy, Bell.”

“I just wanted to be a Hero…but there were so many and they all accomplished their legends in different ways that I decided to try and do everything.” Bell chuckled a little and rubbed the back of his head. “I might end up a real jack-of-all-trades and a master of none.”

Miach turned a corner with a warm chuckle of his own. “Mastery comes in time, Bell. And there’s nothing that says a single person can’t master multiple paths. There’s some good things to be said about a jack-of-all-trades.”

The two stopped in a ‘courtyard’ space between four tall, yet rather rundown buildings. Against the back wall of the building that made up one side of the alleyway they’d walked down was a small (and rather dilapidated) rectangular building made of yellowish stones with orange-red tiles on the roof, two small chimneys, and a small covered area on the outside of the building next to the wall of another of the four rundown buildings that made up the courtyard.

“Welcome to the Blue Pharmacy, Bell.” Miach welcomed Bell to his Familia’s home. “It’s a bit rundown, I know.” He apologized with a small smile.

“It’s fine.” Bell didn’t much care what the building looked like. What was important was the fact that it was the home of his soon-to-be Familia.

The two walked through the only door and a small bell rang above it.

“Naaza, I’m back.” Miach said with a warmth in his tone that almost made Bell smile reflexively. It was clear that Miach greatly cared for his ‘children’ just by how he announced his return.

“Lord Miach, welcome home.” A woman’s soft voice called back as the curtain that separated the clear shop in front from the space in the back was moved aside.

The woman had long, light brown hair, purple eyes, dog ears the same color as her hair, and a fluffy tail with fur that matched her hair color. She wore a long, navy blue skirt that reached just above her ankles, from which her tail stuck out, and a teal shirt with a large vertical yellow stripe down the center of it along with yellow hems around the end of the sleeves. A peculiar fact about the shirt was that it had asymmetric sleeves, with the left being short and the right being long enough to cover her entire arm, and the woman wore a glove on her right hand as well. On her feet were simple brown leather boots to complete her outfit.

Bell, however, was a bit taken in by her perpetual ‘sleepy’ voice and expression. Not to mention the cute dog ears and the fluffy tail that his eyes kept looking between.

“Naaza, we have a new Familia member.” Miach smiled as he motioned to Bell. “This is Bell Cranel. Bell, this is the Captain of my Familia, Naaza Erisuis.”

Naaza looked at Bell for a moment, and even though her expression didn’t change much at all, Bell felt like he was being sized up and scrutinized strongly.

“I see.” Naaza’s expression changed and she gave Bell a soft smile. “Welcome to our Familia, Bell. Are you a pharmacist, by chance?”

Bell shook his head once, but then realize it would be rude not to talk. “I learned a little about herbal remedies and basic first aid and medical skills, but I’m not a pharmacist. I’m planning to be an Adventurer once I join the Familia, Miss Naaza.”

Naaza’s eyes narrowed just slightly, almost as if she was remembering something painful, before her expression was back to the ‘sleepy’ look once more. “That will be helpful. We don’t have any Adventurers right now.” She gave Bell a little smile in thanks for taking on the role.

Miach smiled happily, seeing that Naaza and Bell were already getting along. “Let’s give you my Blessing, Bell; then you can take care of anything you need to for the rest of the day.”

Bell nodded quickly, eager to get how own Blessing.

“Now, you’ll need to remove your jacket and shirt. I need to see your bare back to give you my Falna.” Miach patted the stool that he’d pulled over for Bell to sit on.

“Yes, Lord Miach.” Bell did as he was asked; pulling off his jacket and shirt before sitting on the stool with his bare back facing Miach.

“This won’t take too long. I have plenty of practice.” Miach smiled to ease any nerves that Bell might be feeling. He sat in a chair behind Bell to begin the process of granting his newest ‘child’ his Blessing.

Miach gently pricked the tip of his index finger with a needle he had gotten from a small box on the nearby counter. Placing his finger on to Bell’s back made a blue light begin to emit from Bell’s skin. Miach easily went through the process of granting Bell his Blessing. It had been a while, but the process was always the same. Miach wrote in a place for Bell’s name, his Level, his Basic Abilities, a place for Skills to manifest, another for Developmental Abilities, and with some surprise, three slots for Magic were able to be added. With the Falna complete, Miach pushed a tiny scrap of his Divinity into it and watched his Falna appear on Bell’s back like a tattoo. The image of Miach’s Falna was a stylized and simplified image of a healthy man with two rings around the ‘legs’ of the image.

‘Perhaps Bell will go down the path of a Mage?’ Miach thought to himself as having three slots within one’s Falna from the very beginning usually implied an aptitude for Magic. “All done, Bell.” Miach said with a smile. “Just one last thing.” He placed a blank paper onto Bell’s back and slid his fingertip across it. The instant his finger stopped; a copy of the new Status appeared on the paper. “Here you are.”

“Thank you very much, Lord Miach!” Bell eagerly took the paper to see his very own Blessing for the first time.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 0

Endurance – I 0

Dexterity – I 0

Agility – I 0

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

-

-Skills-

-

-Status-

Bell smiled at the blank Status, just knowing that it was his was more than enough to almost bring a tear to his eye after a week of rejections.

“Congratulations, Bell.” Naaza gave him a small smile.

“Thank you, Miss Naaza.” Bell smiled back happily.

Miach looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. “We’ll need to get you some proper gear so that you can start exploring the Dungeon, Bell.”

Naaza looked towards Miach with a small grimace. “Lord Miach, we don’t have much money right now given that we just made another payment.” She seemed annoyed by the payment itself, but also sorrowful…and she gave Bell an apologetic look as well.

“I still have some money that I brought with me.” Bell knew it wasn’t much money, but he’d been planning to spend it on equipment anyway. “I should be able to take care of the basics, at least.”

That brought smiles to both Miach and Naaza’s faces.

“Alright then, I’ll show you to your room, Bell, and then you can bring your things over.” Miach stood up as Bell stood and put his shirt and jacket back on.

It was a very short walk, given the small size of the Blue Pharmacy. Just beyond the long curtain and a few steps down the narrow hallway, Miach opened the simple wooden door and showed Bell his room.

The room was small and simple, which Bell didn’t mind. It had a basic bed, a small chest of drawers in the corner, and a rod over the chest of drawers to hang clothes on. “This is plenty.” Bell smiled at his new room.

“I know it’s a bit small, but I’m glad that you’re happy with it.” Miach had a small smile on his face at Bell’s good mood.

“I’ll be back after I take care of registering as an Adventurer and get my things from the inn, Lord Miach!” Bell said as he headed out of the Blue Pharmacy with a smile and a wave. “See you soon, Miss Naaza.”

Naaza gave a small wave to Bell from behind the counter of the shop as he headed out the door. “Come back safely, Bell.”

-Guild-

“Hello, how may I help you today?” The Cat Man behind the counter asked politely.

“Hello, I’m new to Orario and I wanted to become an Adventurer.” Bell informed the man with a polite tone.

“Ah, I see, well we’ll need to get the paperwork done to register you.” The man reached under the desk and pulled out a set of forms. “Do you have a Familia yet?”

Bell nodded to the man, a small smile appearing on his face as he thought about his new Familia. “Yes, Lord Miach accepted me into his Familia.”

“All right then, please fill out these forms.” The Cat Man gave him a polite smile before placing an odd item on the counter. “If you could, please place your hand on this so that we may confirm your Falna.” He placed a flat wooden tablet with what looked like a crystal set into it on the counter.

“What’s that?” Bell looked at the device curiously.

“A Divinity Sensor.” The man explained patiently. “If you place your hand on it without having a Falna, nothing happens. If you do have a Falna, the crystal lights up for a few moments. We can’t let unblessed people enter the Dungeon, because it’s basically suicide. I’m sure you understand?” That particular rule had been put in place after several hundred deaths over the years from unblessed people filling the role of Supporter.

“That makes sense.” Bell nodded and placed his hand on the device. A second later and the crystal lit up with a light blue glow for several seconds.

“Falna, confirmed.” The Cat Man nodded and began helping Bell finish the paperwork for his registration. When he got to the line for Familia, Bell happily wrote ‘Miach Familia’ onto the blank line of the form.

Once the paperwork was done, Bell was offered to buy some Average Grade equipment from the Guild. It was a limited selection, but the Guild sold it for a discounted price to new Adventurers. Bell ended up purchasing a piece of light armor for his chest and a staff as it was the only weapon he really had any experience with. The armor cost 3,000 Valis and the staff, being made of wood from a tree known as Iron Oak, cost 2,000 Valis. The total had cost Bell basically every Valis that he had left, but he’d been able to afford it…barely.

‘We’re in the red right now, but I’ll work hard to bring in money from the Dungeon!’ Bell nodded to his thoughts. It was the absolute least that he could do for his Familia.

“You’re required to go through a lesson about the Dungeon from one of the Advisors. Do you have a preference for who you’d like to advise you?” The Cat Man questioned Bell.

“Oh…um…maybe a woman?” Bell chuckled and looked off to the side.

“I see.” The Cat Man chuckled lightly and flipped through a few papers. “I’ll guide you to one of the lecture rooms, your Advisor will meet you shortly.”

Bell met his new Advisor a few minutes later, a lovely young woman by the name of Anna Claes. She had long, waist-length flax-hair, blue eyes, and a cute face. Like the rest of the staff, she wore the Guild uniform, a long-sleeved, white, button-up shirt, a black vest, black pants, and dress shoes on her feet. She carried a stack of papers in her arms and set them on the table with a smile.

Anna and Bell got along easily, Bell being polite and Anna (who was a couple years older) quickly taking on a big sister role for the newbie Adventurer.

What followed was almost two hours of learning everything that an Adventurer had to know about the profession. How the Guild worked, the Exchange where ALL Magic Stones had to be turned in within Orario, as selling them anywhere else was technically illegal. How the exchange of Drop Items worked, what merchants or Mercantile Familias had good trust with the Guild if he wanted to try making more money by selling to them instead. The Weapon and Armor Grading System, which had seven levels from Inferior Grade (used items) all the way up to Legendary Grade (unique masterworks forged by High Smiths that could cost hundreds of millions). Then to the first four Floors of the Dungeon and the Monsters found there. Bell learned where the Magic Stones for Goblins, Kobolds, and Dungeon Lizards were located, how each Monster attacked, and which ones were most often found in groups (Kobolds, followed by Goblins, with Dungeon Lizards mostly being solitary).

Needless to say, by the time Anna was done with the lessons, Bell’s head hurt a little and his brain was full. Regardless, he followed her advice and bought a map of the Upper Floors of the Dungeon so that he could navigate with some reliability. Strapping his armor on and carrying his new staff, Bell headed for the cheap inn that he’d been staying at to retrieve his things and move them over to the Blue Pharmacy.

-Blue Pharmacy ~ Evening-

Bell was making sure that he had everything ready for his first day in the Dungeon tomorrow. His staff was leaned up against the wall of his bedroom, his light armor breastplate was on top of the small chest of drawers with his old knife beside it, and his thin black backpack that he’d brought from the village was on the floor in front of the chest of drawers.

Hearing the bell over the front door ring, Bell perked up and wondered who could be visiting when the shop had closed a while ago. He left his room and peeked his head out of the curtain that separated the front shop from the rest of the small Familia Home.

“Ah, Bell,” Miach smiled at his newest ‘child’. “Went out to get something to celebrate you joining our Familia.” He had a brown paper bag of groceries in his arms.

“Lord Miach, you didn’t need to do that.” Bell said as he opened the curtain and let Miach walk through.

Miach shook his head. “Ah, but it’s not often that we get new members. A special occasion deserves a special dinner at least.”

Naaza let out a small sigh as she watched Miach happily take out some steaks, vegetables, and even a small cake that she knew came from a bakery on West Main Street. “It’s for our new member, so it’s fine…this time.” She gave Miach a look and the God tensed up just slightly. “But we need to make money, rather than spend it, Lord Miach.”

“Let me cook, at least?” Bell requested with a smile that Miach had spent money to celebrate him joining the Familia. According to Naaza, the Familia was still almost 120,000,000 Valis in debt; so it meant quite a lot to Bell that Miach wanted to spend what little extra the Familia had to welcome Bell properly.

After a bit of back and forth on allowing Bell to cook (especially considering it was supposed to be a welcome dinner FOR him), Bell and Naaza eventually ended up cooking side by side in the small kitchen. Naaza was actually a bit impressed at Bell’s cooking skill and when she mentioned it, Bell had a simple answer.

“I used to cook a lot back in the village. Grandpa wasn’t bad, but he said that I quickly surpassed him.” Bell smiled at the fond memory of his grandpa’s smile while eating his food. “I’m no chef, but cooking is one of the things on my jack-of-all-trades list.”

Naaza gave Bell a small grin as they finished cooking dinner together and put everything on plates.

“To Bell, for joining our little Familia!” Miach smiled brightly as he raised his cup.

“To Bell.” Naaza raised her cup as well.

“Thank you very much.” Bell chuckled as they all took a drink at the same time.

The meals were quickly eaten, with a few compliments to Bell for how good the food was. While Bell tried to say it was nothing, neither Miach nor Naaza would let him brush it off so easily. Eventually, Bell just had to accept the praise from his God and his Captain, making him laugh at the warmth that he’d finally found within Orario.

-Next Morning-

“Mm?” Bell slowly opened his eyes, his internal clock still set to ‘farm time’ as he woke up at five in the morning, nearly on the dot. “Haaaah~” He yawned as he tossed the blanket aside and swung his legs over the bed. Bell stretched to loosen himself up and then got ready for the day as he changed and put on his clothes for the day, finishing off with his new light armor breastplate.

“Good morning, Bell.” Naaza greeted Bell when he walked into the small kitchen.

“Morning, Miss Naaza.” Bell said with a smile, inwardly a little surprised that she was up this early.

Naaza shook her head once. “Just Naaza, Bell. We’re Familia.” She gave him a small grin.

Bell nodded once. “Naaza then.”

“I have a set of Low Potions for you before you head to the Dungeon today.” Naaza told Bell as she made them a simple breakfast of eggs and toast.

“A set?” Bell was curious what that meant.

Naaza gave Bell a little smile. “A ‘set of potions’ refers to six potions that an Adventurer usually carries on them while in the Dungeon. This is usually because there is only so much space within an Adventurer’s armor or their bag to carry potions, six being the most common number. That is how the term ‘set’ began to refer to six potions.”

“I see.” Bell leaned forward a little as he sat at the wooden table. “Can you tell me more?”

“Of course. You’ll need to know this stuff, after all.” Naaza said before she began to explain the various classes of potions: Low, Mid, High, and Elixir. Then there were the Mind Potions that were classified much the same way: Low, Mid, High. After that came general Antidotes, good for most any regular poison, then specialized Antidotes meant to cure specific types of venom or poison, and finally the Elixir once more as it cured most any status ailment along with fully healing any injuries on the body aside from dismemberment.

By the time breakfast was served and Miach joined them both at the table, Bell had learned more than he thought possible about the various potions that the Blue Pharmacy sold. After eating, Naaza took Bell to the front counter and handed him his six Low Potions. Bell put them securely in his black backpack and smiled at Naaza and Miach.

“I’m heading out! I’ll be back this afternoon!” Bell smiled as he rested his new staff against his shoulder and waved to his God and his Captain.

“Have a good day, Bell.” Miach gave him a kind smile. “Come back safe.”

“I will!” Bell promised as he stopped at the front door. “Lord Miach, Naaza…” He turned to look at both of them again. “I’m going to do everything I can to get our Familia out of debt! I promise!” The sheer determination and conviction in Bell’s words nearly stunned both God and Chienthrope so much that they couldn’t even reply before Bell was out the door and on his way to the Dungeon.

Miach let out a small cough before a chuckle escaped him. “Quiet the honest young man, Bell is.”

Naaza agreed with a soft smile on her face. “Yes, he is.”

-Dungeon-

“Wow, it’s massive, and there are so many Adventurers.” Bell walked along with the crowd as he headed for the Dungeon entrance for the first time. Heading down a long spiraling staircase with the huge crowd of Adventurers, the white-haired young man took a deep breath to settle his nerves. With his dream of being an Adventurer in mind, along with his desire to become a Hero in his heart, and his promise to Miach and Naaza to get their Familia out of debt as his goal, Bell entered the Dungeon for the first time.

Following the map of the First Floor, Bell headed away from the main route that would lead towards the stairs to the Second Floor. Following the corridors, he took one turn, then another, before following a long and mostly straight corridor into a decent sized cavern. It was there he spotted his first Dungeon monster.

“A Goblin!” Bell noted the green creature. It was short, just the same as the ones that he’d dealt with on the surface growing up, it had the familiar clawed hands, sharp teeth, and deep-red eyes with no pupil. A Goblin being his first Monster in the Dungeon seemed almost fitting to Bell. Not only were they the weakest monsters in the Dungeon, but he had experience dealing with them. Bell readied his staff, holding it firmly and ready to attack.

“Graaah!” The Goblin snarled as it rushed at him with claws raised to strike. Bell answered its charge with his own and the shorter creature quickly lost out. The new Adventurer only had to take advantage of his greater range, which was rather substantial with his staff. The wooden staff smashed into the side of the Goblin’s head with a sharp crack. The Goblin was taken off its feet and hit the ground, it didn’t move again.

Taking a moment to blink and realize that he’d won; Bell smiled at his first successful kill in the Dungeon. Sure it was only a Goblin, the weakest of the weak, but it was the start of his path to becoming the Hero that he’d always dreamed about, a strong Adventurer, and paying off his Familia’s debt! Now all he had to do was retrieve the Magic Stone.

Bell thought it was a shame that Goblin Fangs, the Drop Item of Goblins, didn’t drop too often; the impoverished Miach Familia could certainly use the extra Valis. A quick slice with his old knife opened up the Goblin’s chest and there, right next to the heart, was the tiny purple Magic Stone, just like it always was back in the village too. Even in the Dungeon, the tiny Magic Stone wasn’t anything impressive at all, you couldn’t even see the swirling magic energy inside like you could with larger Magic Stones. But to Bell, it was the first thing he’d earned for his Familia! He removed the stone from the corpse with the tip of his knife and placed the fragment into a small leather pouch on his hip.

A cracking sound caught Bell’s attention and he watched as another Goblin emerged from the Dungeon wall. The new Goblin’s eyes snapped open as it pulled itself free of the wall and turned to face Bell. The Adventurer and Goblin stared at each other for a moment before the Goblin charged at Bell with a growl. The same swing, this time from the left instead of the right, once more cracked the Goblin’s skull, killing it. Bell marveled that such a basic weapon was so well-made in Orario. He cleaned the staff by wiping it off on the dead Goblin and then set about extracting the tiny Magic Stone. Once he added the second little stone to the leather pouch on his hip, Bell continued on his way through the Dungeon.

-Later-

“Hyah!” Bell guessed as he thrust his staff forward and crushed the throat of the Kobold lunging at him. He’d only ever fought Goblins back in the village, but with Miss Anna’s lesson yesterday, Bell knew that Kobolds had the same weak spots as most humanoid creatures: the head, the neck, and the stomach.

“Gak!” The Kobold coughed up blood as Bell’s staff collapsed its windpipe. Unable to breathe, and choking on its own blood, the Monster collapsed to the ground as a puddle of blood slowly formed under its jaws.

“Kobolds are definitely faster than Goblins.” Bell remarked as he flipped the Kobold over so that he could extract its Magic Stone. “But because they’re about human size, it opens up different ways to attack them.” He mentally noted that down as he cut open the dog-headed Monster’s chest and extracted the small, purple stone within.

Once he placed the Magic Stone into the leather pouch on his hip, Bell moved along to continue his day.

-Later-

“Ow!” Bell hissed as a Kobold’s claws grazed him, drawing blood on his left arm. “Hah!” He slammed his staff into the side of the Kobold, sending it staggering to the left. With a quick circle of the end of the staff, Bell aimed low and shattered the ankle of the Kobold.

“Yipe!” The Kobold’s yelp was loud as it collapsed to one knee.

Bell smashed the Kobold across the head with the staff before it could attempt to recover.

The Kobold hit the rocky ground, dead, blood leaking from the spot the staff had struck.

“Damn, that stings.” Bell grumbled as he looked at the injury. “It’s not as bad as I thought though.” The cuts had drawn blood, but they weren’t especially deep. “Good thing I was on my way back.” He pulled out one of the Low Potions and sipped about a third of it. The shallow cuts healed up a moment later and Bell marveled at the effect. “Potions are amazing!”

Bell had a full day in the Dungeon and it showed. He’d hunted and killed as many Monsters as he could, slowly teaching himself the best ways to kill Goblins and Kobolds with his staff skills. His effort was rewarded with a leather pouch that was filled to bursting with small Magic Stones. The best part was, he hadn’t stopped there and had even started putting the small purple stones into his thin backpack. The bottom of said backpack was filled with more Magic Stones and Bell felt a little proud of his accomplishment for his first day in the Dungeon.

-Guild Exchange-

“Place your Magic Stones in the tray, please.” The Werewolf woman on the other side of the glass requested, easily able to tell that Bell was a newbie.

Bell upended his pouch, nearly filling the tray. Then he shrugged off the backpack and poured out the remaining Magic Stones, which overfilled the tray just slightly. After taking a handful of the small stones out, the tray was pulled onto the Guild employee’s side and emptied. When the tray was pushed back onto Bell’s side, he placed the handful of Magic Stones into it and pushed it back onto the other side of the glass again.

The Guild employee placed the collection of Magic Stones on a scale to weigh. She noted the weight, checked another piece of paper, and then wrote something down in the ledger in front of her. “Your Magic Stones were worth 8,914 Valis.” She gave Bell a small smile. “Not bad for your very first day, kid. Keep it up!” The Werewolf woman encouraged the newbie as she placed the various Valis coins into the tray and pushed it back onto Bell’s side.

“Thank you very much, ma’am.” Bell nodded to the woman as he happily took the Valis from the tray and put them in the leather pouch. He couldn’t wait to show Naaza and Miach how much money he’d made today!

But first he had to make his report to Anna.

“Bell, you look like you did alright for your first day.” Anna smiled at him like a proud older sister, which made Bell chuckle a little.

From there it had just been recounting his day to Anna before heading home, the report would be stored in a file kept on Bell by the Guild so that they could keep track of his progress through the Dungeon.

-Blue Pharmacy-

“I’m home.” Bell called out, raising his voice just a bit.

“Welcome home, Bell.” Naaza greeted him before returning to the customer at the counter.

The customer, a rather rough-looking man, looked at Bell briefly before going back to his discussion with Naaza. “So, as I was saying, the Morbul you make works…but is there anything you can do about the smell?”

Naaza shook her head once. “I’m afraid the smell is part of the reason it’s so effective. Lessening it would lower the effectiveness of the Morbul.”

“Ah, damn. I was afraid you’d say that.” The man sighed and scratched his scruffy cheek once. “Still, they’re dead useful for getting down to Rivira without having to fight much. We only had to deal with a few Hellhounds trying to burn us with their flames from a distance last time. I’ll take another ten of them.” He pulled out his money pouch and placed several Valis coins on the counter.

“Thank you for your patronage.” Naaza gave the rough-looking man a short bow as she rummaged beneath the counter for a moment before bringing up ten small cloth pouches and placing them on the counter next to the money.

The customer took the ten pouches and Naaza took the money. With their business done, the rough-looking man walked by Bell, gave him a brief nod, and was out the door.

“I’m glad we had a customer.” Bell smiled as he approached the counter.

“He’s a rogue from Rivira, but he and a few of his associates in the Dungeon Town have come to be regulars for the Morbul that I created.” Naaza gave Bell a small smile. “You look like you made it out of the Dungeon without injury, Bell. Did you make some money?”

Bell nodded happily at that. “I got a few scratches and stuff, but a little from one of the Low Potions that you gave me took care of everything.” He put his money pouch on the counter with a small thump. “And I managed to make 8,914 Valis!”

Naaza’s eyes widened a little as she pulled the money pouch closer and looked inside to see the Valis within. “Bell…this is impressive for just your first day. You almost doubled our income today.” She praised him with a warm smile.

“I promised that I’d get our Familia out of debt, and I fully intend to keep that promise!” Bell said with utmost seriousness.

“Bell…” Naaza started to reach out with her right hand, only to stop and use her left hand to pat his head. “Keep doing your best. But always remember to come back to us safely.”

Bell barely hid his own reaction to Naaza’s refusal to touch him with her right hand…her prosthetic. He knew that it was the cause of the Miach Familia’s current poverty-stricken state with only Miach and Naaza left after everyone else had fled from the immense debt that acquiring the prosthetic had incurred. ‘I want to help Naaza. She shouldn’t bear this burden by herself! It’s not right!’

Miach poked his head out of the back of the shop and smiled upon seeing Bell. “I thought I heard you come back, Bell. I hope you had a good first day in the Dungeon.”

“I made 8,914 Valis, Lord Miach.” Bell told his God with a smile.

“That’s impressive, Bell.” Miach praised his newest ‘child’ warmly. “How about we update your Status and see how much you’ve grown?”

Bell perked up instantly at that. “Yes, please!”

In a short time, Miach and Bell were sitting in the chairs from the kitchen table. Bell sat backwards in the chair, resting his arms atop the backrest with his bare back facing Miach.

“Now, let’s see how ya did.” Miach let a drop of his blood touch Bell’s back. A second later and a blue-white light began to glow from Bell’s back as Miach’s Falna seemed to emerge from Bell’s skin like a tattoo. Miach watched Bell’s Excelia and saw his day in the Dungeon. Bell clearly had some experience with a staff as a weapon, and he’d used several of the Monsters as practice for different moves as he got better and better over the course of the day at killing the Goblins and Kobolds of the First Floor. “You did very well, Bell. Happy to see you only got a few minor injuries especially.”

“The potions that Naaza gave me took care of everything, they’re amazing.” Bell said with a smile. He didn’t know that just beyond the curtain that separated the shop from the rest of the building, Naaza’s dog ears perked up and a little smile crossed her lips.

Miach moved the Excelia into the Basic Abilities and watched the numbers rise as the Falna grew stronger. “Well, you’ve made your first steps as an Adventurer now, Bell.” He placed a blank paper onto Bell’s back and copied the Status onto it with a swipe of his finger. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Lord Miach.” Bell accepted the paper while Miach locked up his Falna again.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 0 > I 12

Endurance – I 0 > I 10

Dexterity – I 0 > I 11

Agility – I 0 > I 10

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

-

-Skills-

-

-Status-

“Forty-three points… Is that good?” Bell asked after a moment to admire his first progress.

Miach gave Bell a smile. “It’s very good for only one day, Bell. I’d say you have some talent as an Adventurer.”

Bell couldn’t stop the small grin that came to his face at the praise. “Thank you very much, Lord Miach.”

“You’re the one that worked so hard, Bell.” Miach chuckled warmly.

The evening at the Blue Pharmacy was spent in warm companionship and enjoyable conversation.

“What are your Domains, Lord Miach?” Bell asked, wanting to know more about his new God. “I’d guess Medicine is one of them, given the pharmacy and all.” He chuckled a little.

“Yes, Healing and Medicine are my Divine Domains.” Miach confirmed with a small nod. “I was talented enough to become one of the chief healers among the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Pantheon that is my home in Tenkai.” He took a drink and let out a small sigh. “Though that did cause friction with my father.”

Naaza’s eyes narrowed as she thought of the said God.

“But let’s not spoil the evening with sad tales.” Miach smiled to cheer up Naaza and Bell. “You like Heroic Tales, right, Bell?”

“Very much so, Lord Miach!” Bell leaned forward a bit with a smile.

Miach chuckled at the excitement. “Then how about I tell you one?”

“Yes, please!” Bell was ecstatic to hear a new Heroic Tale.

“Alright then, hmm, but which one…?” Miach thought about it for a moment and then snapped his fingers once he’d made his choice. “How about the legend of Cú Chulainn? He was a warrior with a heavy fate. Plus, it can lead into the story of his teacher Scáthach for next time.”

Bell nodded happily, making even Naaza chuckle at his excitement.

-Dungeon ~ Next Morning-

“Alright, let’s try and get even more Magic Stones today!” Bell smiled as he moved through the deeper corridors of the First Floor. His staff was at the ready in case of any sudden surprises, his senses were sharp, looking for any movement and listening for the slightest of noises.

“Gereh?!” A Goblin rounded the corner and stumbled backwards as it nearly ran into Bell.

“Hah!” Bell cracked the Goblin over the head with his staff before it could get its bearings and attack him. The small Monster hit the stone floor, dead, blood pooling from the large dent in its skull that had split the skin. “That’s one.” Bell smiled as he kneeled down to quickly harvest the Magic Stone with his knife.

-Later-

“Fifty-six!” Bell crushed a Kobold’s throat with a swing of his staff. “Fifty-seven!” The second Kobold’s skull shattered as Bell spun and put his bodyweight behind his next swing. “Fifty-eight!” He jabbed the end of his staff into the third Kobold’s in the throat, crushing it. “Fifty-nine!” The final Kobold of the pack of four got its knee shattered by a swing of the staff, and as it fell, Bell spun the spun the end of the staff counterclockwise so that it slammed into the side of the Kobold’s head. With the Monster dazed and near death as it lay on the ground, Bell brought his staff down one final time to crush its skull almost completely.

A pack of four Kobolds and Bell had won on his own, and on his second day, no less!

“Ow, ow…damn that hurts.” Bell grimaced at the multiple cuts he’d taken from the four Monsters. He’d had to run, duck, parry, dodge, and counter to finally win…but he’d taken his fair share of injuries from the unfavorable odds. “I’m going to need a new jacket soon.” Bell said as he saw the various small tears in the sleeves. Thankfully his single piece of light armor had protected his chest well, the claws of the Kobolds having scratched it here and there when Bell’s amateur defense had been lacking. He drank one of the Low Potions entirely and sighed in relief when his injuries healed up. “Four more Magic Stones for me.” Bell grinned as he started harvesting the Magic Stones. One by one the Kobolds turned to white ash after their stones were removed. But on the fourth Kobold, something else was left behind.

One of the Kobold’s black claws lay among the white ash on the stone floor.

“A Drop Item!” Bell cheered at getting one for the first time. “Put that in the backpack!” He took the Kobold Nail and placed it away for safekeeping. “Let’s keep going!” Bell was determined to get stronger and do better in the Dungeon. For the sake of his dream, and for his promise to his Familia!

-Guild Exchange ~ Late Afternoon-

“Your Magic Stones are worth 9,548 Valis and the Kobold Nail was worth 900 Valis. Your total exchange today is 10,448 Valis.” The Hume Bunny woman smiled as she pushed the tray of Valis coins back onto Bell’s side of the glass. “Have a nice day.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Bell gave a smile as he collected the money and put it in his leather hip pouch. Now he just needed to give Anna his report and he could head home.

“Bell!” Anna’s voice was clearly heard in the Guild a couple of minutes later as she lightly admonished her new Adventurer for the injuries he’d sustained, even if they had been healed by a potion. But hearing that he’d fought a pack of four Kobolds went a long way to explaining why he was roughed up.

-Blue Pharmacy ~ Evening-

“Dinner is ready!” Bell smiled at Naaza and Miach as he put the food onto three plates and placed them on the table. “Chicken and rice with a simple butter sauce.” He explained the meal that he’d made for his Familia.

“It looks wonderful, Bell.” Miach smiled as he picked up his fork.

Naaza took her first bite and enjoyed it for a moment before looking at Bell. “It’s very good. Thank you, Bell.”

Bell waved it off. “It’s nothing fancy. I’m glad you both like it though.” With the Familia’s limited funds (always having to save up for their next payment on their debt) inexpensive ingredients like rice and chicken were prioritized for their meals. ‘But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the best meals that I can for them.’ Bell thought to himself as he enjoyed the smiles on Miach and Naaza’s faces.

After dinner Miach updated Bell’s Status again.

“Even more than yesterday, I see.” Miach commented on Bell’s increase in slain Monsters as he finished watching Bell’s Excelia.

“I want to get stronger.” Bell said as he felt the paper pressed against his back. “The harder I work, the better off we’ll be.” He’d made a promise, and he was going to keep it!

Miach handed Bell the new update and gave his ‘child’ a soft look. “We both appreciate it, Bell. But make sure that your first goal is always to come back home safely.”

Bell took the paper with a nod. “I will, Lord Miach.”

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 12 > I 24

Endurance – I 10 > I 23

Dexterity – I 11 > I 22

Agility – I 10 > I 21

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

-

-Skills-

-

-Status-

“Your hard work does pay off, Bell.” Miach chuckled at the bright grin that was on Bell’s face as he looked over his update.

“I’ll keep doing my best!” Bell promised with a bright smile.

Miach nodded in agreement. “Of course, just try to be safe about it and come home afterwards. Did you want to hear another Tale tonight?”

Bell shook his head once. “I promised Naaza that I’d help her stock the store. She agreed to teach me more about healing items and the other things we sell here while we work.”

“Best not keep her waiting then.” Miach chuckled as he waved Bell off to go help Naaza. As Bell quickly slipped his shirt on and headed towards the storefront, Miach couldn’t help but smile as he saw how much having Bell in their Familia was helping Naaza. He grimaced a little as he once more lamented his inability to help her through her guilt and her trauma from the incident in the Dungeon that had taken her right arm.

-Next Day ~ Dungeon ~ Second Floor-

“Take that!” Bell spun and cracked a Kobold upside the head. The Monster’s neck twisted unnaturally with a dull cracking sound before it dropped to the ground dead. With some experience under his belt now, Bell easily removed the Magic Stone from the slain Kobold’s chest and watched it disperse. He blinked when he noticed something was left behind.

“A Drop Item! Yes!” Bell cheered as he picked up the Kobold Nail and placed it into his backpack. Drop Items were harder to come by without a good Supporter, since they could focus on harvesting the dead Monsters while an Adventurer like Bell fought more. “Still, two in two days is lucky!”

Bell continued on his way until he entered into another corridor and stopped dead.

“Grah?”

“Greeah!”

“Raaahh!”

Goblins…a lot of Goblins…ten from Bell’s count…were crossing the cavern when Bell had stepped into it.

“Shit.” Bell summed up his situation fairly well as he readied his staff.

“KREEE!!!” The Goblins let out a screech as they rushed him all at once.

Bell shifted his hold on his staff as the Goblins charged him, now holding it by one end. He made a large sweep with the weapon and knocked aside the first three Goblins all at once.

“Gree!”

“Gaauh!”

Two were injured by the sweep, but the first one that had taken the brunt of the blow was dead. The fourth Goblin was almost in his guard by the time Bell had gotten his staff into a block. The fifth clawed at him, scratching his breastplate, before Bell kneed it in the face and then knocked the fourth Goblin backwards with a push of his staff. Two more Goblins managed to claw him, but Bell swung his staff and sent both of them flying to crash down on the hard stone floor. The eighth Goblin leapt upwards, trying to claw at Bell’s face.

“Damn it!” Bell cursed as two of the claws cut his cheek. H brought his staff around and smacked the Goblin out of the air, its body hit the ground and bounced a little before lying still.

The ninth Goblin missed its attack as Bell backstepped and busted its head with a swing from his staff. The tenth Goblin was kicked in the head so hard its feet left the ground before it collapsed like a sack of rocks. One of the two injured Goblins tried to claw at Bell’s leg, but got the end of Bell’s staff smashing its face for the attempt. The final injured Goblin had snarled at Bell, even as it began backing away from the Adventurer. Bell didn’t let it go; he rushed forward and brought his staff down in a powerful overhead blow that nearly smashed the Goblin’s head like a melon.

“Hah…hah…ow, damn it…” Bell was breathing heavily from the short but intense fight, the stinging pain from various injuries once more reminding him that he was still an amateur as an Adventurer. “Potion…” He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the vials. Uncorking it, he poured a little onto the claw marks on his face. The pain slowly faded away until it vanished entirely. Bell drank the rest of it and felt the relief as all of his various scratches and claw marks healed up rapidly and the pain disappeared. “I need to thank Naaza for these again.” He marveled at the medicine and the complete lack of pain. “Now to get all of the Magic Stones.” Bell cleaned off his staff by wiping the gore on one of the dead Goblins and then pulled out his knife. “I bet if I had Magic, this fight would’ve been easier.”

At the very least, Bell believed that he wouldn’t be going through the potions that Naaza brewed. Their potions and items were the only lifeline that the Miach Familia had to stay afloat at all. Using up potions for his own Adventuring was almost like taking money from the Familia.

‘No, no, both Naaza and Lord Miach said coming home safe is the most important thing! I just need to focus on doing more for the Familia and bringing in more money from the Dungeon!’ Bell resolved himself further, strengthening his already powerful determination.

Bell did walk away from the cavern with a smile, a new Goblin Fang now added to his backpack alongside the Kobold Nail from earlier.

-Guild Exchange ~ Late Afternoon-

“Your Magic Stones were worth 9,739 Valis, the Kobold Nail was worth 900 Valis, and the Goblin Fang was worth 600 Valis. Your total exchange today is 11,239 Valis; have a good evening.” The man behind the glass nodded to Bell while pushing the tray over to his side.

“Thank you.” Bell said as he collected his money. He’d give Anna his report and then head home for a nice shower and dinner.

Only a minute later and the Guild heard Anna’s opinion of Bell’s clearly tattered appearance. “BELL!”

-Blue Pharmacy ~ Evening-

“Another successful day?” Naaza asked Bell when he came home.

Bell’s response was to place his leather pouch on the counter with a grin. “Even more than yesterday, Naaza!”

Naaza smiled for a moment as she accepted the money, but then looked over Bell with critical and experienced eyes. “You got in trouble today.”

“Just a pack of Goblins that I wasn’t expecting.” Bell tried to assure her, But Naaza took his wrist and dragged him into the back.

“Let me see.” Naaza pulled off Bell’s damaged jacket, noticing that it wouldn’t be worth stitching up again if it got damaged anymore.

Bell was a bit shocked as Naaza pulled off his jacket and then his shirt, leaving him bare-chested in front of her. “N-Naaza?!”

Naaza shushed him as she looked him over and then turned him around to look at his back. “I’m just checking you over for injuries, Bell. Don’t be so shy.”

“I-I’m not…” Bell said as he straightened up a little. “I’m just not used to having a woman taking my clothes off.”

“Heh,” A small laugh escaped Naaza at that. “We can get you used to it, if you want.” She said in her normal ‘sleepy’ tone, a little smile on her lips.

“Naaza…” Bell’s deadpan delivery made the Chienthrope woman grin at him.

Naaza finished checking Bell over and then let him head for the small bathroom to get a shower. They didn’t have space for a proper tub to soak in, given their cramped home, but the water at least stayed at a good temperature.

After finishing his shower and changing for the evening, Bell was once more getting a Status update from Miach.

“You came out of that situation rather well, all things considered.” Miach pointed out as he finished watching Bell’s ten-on-one battle against the group of Goblins. “Sure, you needed a potion afterwards, but for only having three days of experience, you did well.”

“Thank you, Lord Miach.” Bell appreciated the praise from his God.

Miach gave Bell a grin as he placed a blank paper onto his back to copy the update. “Just keep yourself safe, Bell, and you’ll reach your goals in time.”

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 24 > I 40

Endurance – I 23 > I 41

Dexterity – I 22 > I 39

Agility – I 21 > I 38

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

-

-Skills-

-

-Status-

“Fighting that group of Goblins and increasing the number of Monsters that I hunt each day seems to be working out.” Bell said as he went over his growth.

“Indeed,” Miach laughed softly, a warm sound that made Bell grin. “But don’t forget to take time off too. Rest is an important part of getting stronger.”

“Yes, Lord Miach.” Bell agreed as he knew his armor was getting rather scuffed up now after three days.

-Two Days Later ~ Dungeon ~ Third Floor-

“Hup!” Bell smacked a Kobold under the chin with his staff, violently knocking the dog-headed Monsters jaws upward. He dodged the swipe of another Kobold and cracked it across the back of the head, sending it crashing to the floor unmoving. The first Kobold was holding its jaws in pain and didn’t even see Bell’s staff coming down on it before it died. A third Kobold lunged at Bell, but the adventurer pivoted out of the line of attack and tripped the Kobold with his staff. Before the Monster could get up, Bell smashed its head with a single strike from his staff.

“Grrr!”

“Bark!”

“Raawwr!”

The remaining Kobolds snarled and barked at Bell.

Bell charged them suddenly, making the Monsters hesitate for a second, and spun his staff around, making the end spin and obscure where it would land. The Kobold on the left found out it was the target when the end of Bell’s staff jabbed into its throat and crushed it. A swift swing and the center Kobold’s head erupted into blood as the staff cracked the skull wide open. The last Kobold tried to claw at Bell, only for the young man to drop low and sweep his staff at the Monster’s legs.

“Yipe!” The Kobold yelped as its right leg was shattered and its feet were taken out from under it.

“Hyah!” Bell was quick to stand and bring his staff down in a powerful overhead swing that finished off the Kobold for good, shattering its ribs and making it hack up a large about of blood before it went still.

Not hearing any more Monsters around, nor the telltale cracking of the walls, Bell let out a long breath and smiled at his accomplishment.

“Six-on-one and I made it out without injury this time.” Bell couldn’t help but be just a little proud of his growth. “I’m starting to get better.”

As he set about harvesting the Magic Stones, Bell mentally tallied up his kills for the day.

“These six bring me to one-hundred-thirty-one for the day.” Bell smiled as the last Kobold crumbled away into white ash. “Aww, no Drop Item?” He couldn’t always be lucky enough to get one, so Bell picked up his staff and continued on his way.

-Guild Exchange ~ Late Afternoon-

“Your Magic Stones were worth 9,913 Valis, the Kobold Nail was worth 900 Valis, and the Goblin Fangs were worth 1,200 Valis. Your total exchange today is 12,013 Valis; have a good evening.” The Raccoon Man behind the glass nodded to Bell while pushing the tray over to his side.

“Thank you, sir.” Bell collected his money and put it into his pouch with a smile. His money secure, Bel headed over to the meeting areas to give Anna his report for the day.

-Blue Pharmacy ~ Evening-

“Thanks Bell, I love you.” Naaza smiled at Bell as she took the money that he’d put onto the counter.

“…Naaza.” Bell gave Naaza a small grin.

“You don’t look injured today.” Naaza pointed out as she looked Bell over.

Bell pulled off his backpack and jacket. “Did you want to check?”

Naaza gave him a playful grin. “Do you want me to?”

The two stared at each other for a moment before they both cracked up into laughter.

“Come here.” Naaza patted the stool that she pulled from under the counter.

Bell took off his black shirt and sat on the stool so that Naaza could look him over for any small injuries that he might not even realize he had. The fact that he felt Naaza’s soft hand against his skin was just a bonus, really. But Bell would admit to having really started noticing Naaza as a woman the longer they spent together. From her cute ears and tail, her lovely purple eyes, her nice breasts, the trim waist that flowed into wider hips…Naaza was truly beautiful.

‘She still doesn’t want to touch me with her right hand though.’ Bell noticed the distinct difference in the amount of times that Naaza’s left hand touched his skin compared to her right hand. He truly wished that he could fix that, to help Naaza through her trauma, but so far Naaza had only shared what had happened with him. She wasn’t quite ready to open up about how the traumatic injury had affected her mentally…at least not yet.

After dinner, as had become routine, Bell was once more getting a Status Update.

“Did I grow about the same, Lord Miach?” Bell asked as he felt Miach finishing up his update.

“You did, Bell.” Miach confirmed with a small grin. “There’s definitely an improvement in your skills as well. Your Endurance is starting to grow mostly from how hard you’re working, rather than how many injuries you take.” He tapped Bell’s upper left arm once. “Not that you aren’t still taking a few injuries.”

Bell rubbed the spot, recalling that a Kobold had managed to claw him there about halfway through his day. “I’m lucky to have Naaza’s potions with me for those times.” He smiled at how Naaza always kept his set of potions topped up, never letting him leave without six Low Potions on his person.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 55 > I 71

Endurance – I 57 > I 74

Dexterity – I 54 > I 72

Agility – I 53 > I 70

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

-

-Skills-

-

-Status-

“I might be able to get my Basic Abilities to ‘H’ Rank soon.” Bell smiled at his improvement.

“You might.” Miach agreed with a small nod. “Just remember, the higher your stats, the longer it takes to improve them. Excelia gain is an exponential process and it’s why almost half of all Adventurers bever make it past Level 1.”

Well, that and the fact that most wouldn’t risk their lives to gain the necessary quality Excelia over time or to accomplish a Grand Feat and overload their Falna all at once.

-Two Days Later ~ Dungeon ~ Fourth Floor-

Bell nearly cursed as he juked to the side to avoid the snapping jaws of a Kobold. He managed to block the follow-up claw swipe, but hissed when a Goblin managed to scratch him from behind. “You little!” Bell threw a mule kick into the Goblin’s chest, knocking it backwards. At the same time he threw the kick backward, he thrust his staff forward to jab the Kobold in the stomach. The dual motions let Bell preserve his balance and get back to his ready position with the break he bought himself. “Hyah!”

The sweep of the staff shattered the skull of the recovering Goblin, killing it instantly. Bell took a strong step forward to slam his staff down on the injured Kobold, finishing it off as he crushed its head.

“Ssshrrraaa!” A Dungeon Lizard leapt down from the ceiling, only for Bell to slam his staff upright on the ground. “Gkh!” The Dungeon Lizard nearly impaled itself on the staff that was braced by the ground and Bell’s firm grip.

“Yah!” Bell used the dying Dungeon Lizard as a bludgeon on the end of his staff to smash another Goblin into the ground. A quick stomp of his boot crushed the Goblin’s head as Bell knocked a Kobold’s claws aside with his staff and spun it in a large half circle to slam the end into the side of the Monster’s head with a sickening crack. The Kobold dropped like a sack of rocks and didn’t move again.

“Graah!” A Goblin leapt at Bell with both of its clawed hands raised to strike.

Whack

Bell swatted the Monster out of the air with his staff, sending the Goblin ragdolling through the air to crash into the stone wall. He was given no reprieve as a Kobold came at him from behind. A low sweep took out the charging Kobold’s ankle and Bell pivoted to the left as the Kobold crashed to the floor. A swift and strong strike to the back of its head split it like a melon and finished the Monster off.

“Bark!”

“Grrr!”

Two Kobolds rushed him from both sides and Bell grit his teeth. He raised his staff and held it horizontally, using the ends to disrupt the claw swipes of both dog-headed Monsters. With a quick thrust the right end slammed into the Kobold’s chest. A similar thrust staggered the Kobold on the left as it took a step back. Bell spun the staff into a full circle, smacking the right Kobold on top of the head, while the other end crashed into the jaws of the left Kobold from below. With a quick series of back and forth swings, Bell struck both reeling Monsters in the chest, the stomach, the groin, the thighs, and then the shins.

“Yipe!”

“Yipe!”

The painful yelps from the two Kobolds as they crashed to the ground were ignored by Bell.

“Hup!” Bell’s staff came around and shattered the skull of the Kobold on the left. He used the rebound of the force to spin one-hundred-eighty degrees and do the same to the Konold on the right.

With both Kobolds dead, Bell quickly scanned the rest of the cavern.

“That looks like all of them.” Bell breathed out, using his staff to help hold him up as he caught his breath. “This far from the main routes through the Floor…really do…build up with Monsters.” He hissed a bit at the pain he was in and got a potion from his backpack. “Hsss…” Bell grimaced as he poured a little of the potion on his leg where the Goblin had managed to get him. “Still…that was twelve-on-one…and I won.” He drank the rest of the Low Potion and let it heal up the rest of his more superficial injuries. “I should probably start heading back.”

Bell began to harvest the Monsters as quickly as he could. The last thing he needed right now was for more Monsters to show up or be born from the Dungeon walls.

-Blue Pharmacy ~ Evening-

“You’re taking a couple days off.” Naaza’s tone brooked no argument as she sat Bell down and helped him take off his ruined jacket. “You didn’t even realize that you still have some scratches on your back, did you?” She questioned, her left hand ghosting over the red lines that were only partially healed.

“No…” Bell admitted to not feeling the small half-healed injuries.

Naaza nodded once and picked up one of the vials of blue liquid off the shelf next to her. “You’ve been pushing yourself too much, Bell. Take two days off, you’ve brought in plenty of money over the last week.” She lightly applied the Low Potion to Bell’s half-healed cuts and scratches and watched them disappear.

“Are those doctor’s orders?” Bell joked with a small chuckle.

“Don’t make me leash you like a misbehaving dog.” Naaza threatened as she put the empty vial aside.

Bell sputtered at Naaza’s words as his mind conjured up the image…only to quickly change the one wearing a collar and leash from himself to Naaza. “Naaza…leash?”

A light swat atop the head from Naaza let Bell know that he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Bell.” Naaza said in her normal tone. If Bell had looked over his shoulder he would’ve seen Naaza’s cheeks a lovely red color as she also imagined what Bell had said.

After another dinner cooked by Bell, Naaza was once more setting up the shop for tomorrow while Bell got a Status update from Miach.

Miach hummed thoughtfully as he watched the large fight that Bell had been in near the end of the day. “You almost got yourself in trouble, Bell.” The words weren’t spoken harshly, but they carried a hint of disappointment that Bell felt was almost as bad. “What did I tell you about rest?”

“That it’s important to getting stronger.” Bell repeated what Miach had told him before.

“Exactly.” Miach nodded, even if Bell couldn’t see it. “Take at least two days off, Bell. I’m sure you’ll find the downtime to be a relief. You could see more of the city, shop for some replacement clothing, get a meal out somewhere. There’s plenty to do in Orario besides going into the Dungeon.”

Bell thought about it and did agree that he needed to replace his jacket and two of his black shirts that had been practically shredded by now. “Alright. I’ll take a couple of days off then. I’m sure I’ll find things to do.”

Miach nodded happily as he copied Bell’s update onto a blank paper and handed it to him. “I’m happy to see that you’ve settled into our Familia so well, Bell.”

Bell blinked in confusion at Miach’s words as he accepted the paper.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – I 87 > H 103

Endurance – I 90 > H 106

Dexterity – I 88 > H 104

Agility – I 85 > H 102

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

Leigheas – Incantation: “Gather the herbs to heal the body. Banish the evils of pain and sickness. Restore the body to wholeness; succeed where the father failed. Heal all who seek wellness.” Healing and Cure Magic that restores the target’s body and stamina, while also removing abnormalities like poison, paralysis, curses, and charms.

-Skills-

-

-Status-

“M-Magic…” Bell nearly gaped at what he saw in his Falna. “Lord Miach, is this real?!” He shot to his feet with a beaming smile. “I’ve become a Magic user?!”

Miach’s laughter was bright and cheery. “Hahaha! Yes, Bell, it’s true.”

“Congratulations, Bell.” Naaza said as she came through the curtain after hearing Bell’s loud exclamation.

“Naaza!” Bell surprised everyone, including himself, when he quickly wrapped Naaza in a hug and twirled her around once. “I have Healing and Cure Magic!”

Naaza blinked as she was set back on her feet, but she smiled warmly at Bell regardless. “That’s good to hear. It seems you’ve been quite influenced by Lord Miach.”

Bell smiled and nodded, but added on to Naaza’s words. “And you too, Naaza! You’ve taught me plenty since I joined the Familia!”

It was a night of jovial celebration in the Blue Pharmacy; something that was becoming more common ever since Bell had joined.

-Next Morning-

Naaza looked up at Bell as he stood on a step stool in the small work room that was in the back of their home. It was where she and Miach brewed their potions and other items. “Bell… What’re you doing?”

“Taking measurements.” Bell answered simply, using a tape measure to measure part of the ceiling. “This hole needs to be fixed.”

Indeed, there was a sizable hole in the roof right over the work room.

“You know how to fic a roof?” Naaza raised an eyebrow at that.

Bell came down from the step stool and quickly wrote the measurements he’d taken down on a piece of paper. “Yeah. It was something I learned back in the village. We all had to pitch in if someone’s home was damaged.”

Naaza smiled a little. “You really are a jack-of-all-trades, huh?”

“I try.” Bell laughed slightly as he headed outside with Naaza following after him.

Naaza watched Bell place an old wooden ladder against the side of their small home and climb up towards the roof. Bell counted out the tiles around the hole and then wrote the number down. Once he had the information he needed, Bell climbed back down the ladder.

“I’ll be back in a bit, Naaza!” Bell smiled and waved as he jogged out of the courtyard area and onto West Main Street.

“Did he take any money?” Naaza wondered, only to be answered.

“I gave him some from what he’s earned for us.” Miach said as he returned to their home with some bags of new groceries and supplies for potion-making in his arms. “When he said that he wanted to fix up our home a bit, I thought it was a good idea.”

Naaza couldn’t’ help but agree. “It would be nice to not have to worry about the workroom getting flooded every time it rains.” They’d been using a small tarp to keep the hole covered, but it was never a guaranteed thing.

Not too long later and the rhythmic sound of hammering filled the courtyard as Bell got to work fixing the roof of the Blue Pharmacy.

-Next Morning-

“You think it’ll work?” Bell asked as he finished up his breakfast.

“It will.” Naaza nodded as she took the dishes towards the sink. “Many Adventurers come out of the Dungeon injured, even if they’re able to walk under their own power. A small fee for Healing Magic like yours would be very helpful for them so that they didn’t have to trek to one of the other Medicinal Familias for treatment.

Bell nodded in understanding. “But is that allowed?”

Miach smiled at Bell clearly wanting to help people with his new Magic. “It is, as long as you’re not doing it within Babel Tower itself.” He chuckled as Bell’s rubellite eyes lit up. “I occasionally hang around the park outside of Babel to offer potions and point more Adventurers towards our pharmacy. But I believe that offering your services might see us get a boost in customers if they know the effectiveness of our new Healer.”

“Then I’ll do my best today!” Bell was already standing up.

“Take a Mind Potion.” Naaza stopped him with her words. “We’re not sure just how much Mind you have but, in anyone that’s not an Elf, it’s usually only enough to cast their first spell a handful of times.”

Bell made a mental note of that so that he kept track of how many times he used his new spell today. “Should I have a sign?”

“Already taken care of, Bell.” Miach smiled as he left the kitchen are briefly and came back with a wooden sign with ‘Blue Pharmacy’ painted onto it in blue and silver letters with the Miach Familia’s old emblem on it.

“Alright.” Bell picked up the sign with a smile, already able to tell that it probably hadn’t been used since Miach Familia’s ‘fall’ from being a midsize Familia to its current state. “I’ll be back later on!” He made sure to pick up a Mind Potion on his way out of the shop and put it into his backpack.

-Outside of Babel Tower ~ Afternoon-

“I probably should’ve waited until about this time to begin with.” Bell mumbled to himself as he saw the large amounts of Adventurers coming out of Babel as they finished their day in the Dungeon. The morning had been dead, not a single person coming over to request healing at all.

A commotion caught Bell’s attention.

“Just hang on! We’re on the surface now! We’ll get you healed up!” A man in armor said as he and one of his other Party members practically carried their third member along.

They were moving as fast as they could with the badly injured man.

“Myorn… I don’t think they can save his leg.” The other man helping to carry their friend said just loud enough to be heard.

“You don’t know that!” Myorn, a Dwarf, said firmly, even if he looked like he didn’t believe it.

Their fourth Party member, a Prum that looked to be a Supporter, was rushing behind them as they moved. “We’ve used up all the potions already! But that injury… Fuck, why did we have to run into an Infant Dragon?!” He cursed their rotten luck.

“I’ll heal him.” Bell offered loudly, getting the Party’s attention.

“Huh?” Myorn looked over and saw the sign proclaiming ‘Blue Pharmacy’ next to a young man with a staff in hand.

“Who the hell’re you?!” The other man carrying their injured friend demanded.

Bell approached the Party quickly. “I’m from the Miach Familia, a Medicinal Familia.”

The Prum Supporter looked at both of the other men and then at their severely injured friend. “We should let him try! We might not make it all the way to Dian Cecht’s hospital!”

Myorn only took a second to decide. “Please.” He gently knelt down and, with help from his friend, laid their injured Party member on the ground. “Please heal him!” He bowed his head to Bell.

By now the group had attracted quite the crowd. When the damp cloth that had been covering the injured man was pulled away, more than a few of the Adventurers and citizens of Orario that were watching recoiled in horror.

The injured Adventurer’s body was burned badly, from his head down to his stomach was a red and black mess of burns. The injury to his leg was even worse as the blood-soaked bandages were barley hiding the mangled form of the leg.

Bell knelt beside the injured man, who was thankfully unconscious through all of this. With the lessons on casting that Naaza had given him last night, Bell began to chant for the first time. “Gather the herbs to heal the body. Banish the evils of pain and sickness. Restore the body to wholeness; succeed where the father failed. Heal all who seek wellness.” Bell’s hands began to glow brightly with a pure and beautiful light. “Leigheas!”

The injured Adventurer’s body glowed with the light of the spell and before everyone’s eyes the horrific burns began to heal rapidly. Blackened skin turned back to red and blistered, then back to red, then to normal skin. The mangled leg glowed from beneath the blood-soaked bandages as well for a moment before the spell ended a few seconds later.

“Markus!” Myorn called out to his friend.

“Mnn… Myorn, shut up… You’re too loud.” Markus muttered out as he slowly opened his eyes.

“No way…” The other man that had been carrying Markus gaped at seeing his friend healed.

The Prum Supporter was also staring in shock as Markus sat up under his own power. “It’s like…Dea Saint…” He looked over at Bell in near disbelief.

Markus suddenly seemed to recall what had happened as he looked around in panic. “Fuck! The Infant Dragon!” Only seeing people around, Markus blinked twice as he calmed down. “We’re on the surface?” He looked up at the sky to confirm and a relieved breath escaped his lips a moment later. “I thought I was dead.”

“You almost were!” Myorn said as he pulled Markus into a one-armed hug. “You shoved me outta the way of the flames! What were ya thinking?!”

The murmurs of the gathered crowd filled Bell’s ears now that he wasn’t focused on his Markus’s recovery.

“Did you see that?”

“Healed him completely in just a few seconds!”

“I thought only Dea Saint of Dian Cecht Familia could do that?”

“The sign says he’s from the Blue Pharmacy.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard of them?”

Bell’s attention was quickly pulled back to the Party that he’d helped by Myorn.

“What do we owe ya, lad?” Myorn asked, looking like he was ready to hand over everything of value that he had.

“10,000 Valis or equal trade.” Bell said, using the price that Naaza had given him.

“That’s all?” The Prum Supporter and the other man that had helped carry Markus asked in surprise.

Healing Magic of this level usually cost far more than that. Healing from the Dea Saint was usually a minimum of 100,000 Valis at the Dian Cecht Familia’s hospital.

Myorn placed his entire money pouch in Bell’s hand. “Take it all, I won’t hear a word against it!” The Dwarf man was firm in his words.

“Thank you for your patronage.” Bell smiled, hiding the fact that he’d barely managed to get the ‘thank you’ that Naaza had told him to use with customers out. He was just THAT surprised by how much Myorn had put in his hands.

With the emergency over, Myorn and his Party all gave Bell a short bow before they headed off to sort out their things. Bell briefly heard Markus suggesting a few days off from dungeon crawling before a few more Adventurers approached him for healing as well.

It got busy for Bell for the rest of the afternoon.

-One Week Later ~ Dungeon ~ Fifth Floor-

“Where did this thing come from?!” Bell ran and ducked around a corner.

“MOOOAAARRRGGGHH!!!” A Minotaur’s fist smashed through the rock. The rampaging bull-headed Monster came around the corner with powerful stomps, its cloven hooves cracking the stone floor beneath it.

Minotaurs were classed as Level 2 Monsters by the Guild, and they should’ve only been on the Middle Levels starting around the Fifteenth Floor. It was no surprise that Bell was beyond confused at the appearance of one on the Fifth Floor. But at the moment he was only able to try and get away.

“I only just got my stats to ‘G’ rank so that Miss Anna would clear me for this Floor!” Bell ran as fast as he could. His reaching ‘G’ in two weeks had astounded Anna (and all of her coworkers, unbeknownst to Bell), but faced with the rampaging Minotaur chasing him, there was no chance of Bell winning.

“MOOAARRGGHH!!!” The Minotaur continued to chase after Bell, slamming through stone corners with its powerful frame. It swung at Bell every time it got close to catching up with the young man. Several of the swings were close enough that Bell felt the wind off the blows.

‘This is not what I expected on my first day on the Fifth Floor!’ Bell yelled within his mind, opting to save his breath for more running. He took a left turn and heard the Minotaur smash through the corner a second later. Bell had to take a right next, since it was the only option available to him, but he was forced to skid to a stop a moment later. “A dead end?!”

“MOOOAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” The Minotaur stomped into the rectangular cavern that Bell found himself in, huffing and growling after having chased Bell through the Fifth Floor.

Bell turned to face the Minotaur, holding his staff at the ready. “Shit…” He saw the labored breathing of the Monster and wondered just how long it had been running to get up to the Fifth Floor and then to chase him. The Minotaur moved, it’s right cloven hoof taking a step forward to close the distance.

Whack

Only for it to recoil reflexively as it was hit by Bell’s staff.

“MOOAARGH?!” The Minotaur seemed confused that the light tap (in comparison to its own strength) had made it take a half-step back. With a snort, it threw a punch while lunging at Bell.

Bell jumped to the side and watched the Minotaur’s fist shatter the rocky ground like it was spun sugar. He struck quickly with his staff, three quick jabs to the Minotaur’s outstretched arm.

“MOOOOAAARRGGH!!!” The Minotaur bellowed and swiped at Bell with a backfist. Not hitting Bell as the Adventurer backpedaled, the Minotaur spun to face Bell and threw a punch with its opposite fist.

“Damn it!” Bell cursed as he threw himself to the side and the wall behind where he’d been shattered under the Minotaur’s strength. “I can’t hurt it at all!” He REALLY wished he had attack Magic right now!”

The Minotaur snarled and bellowed as it tried to grab Bell. But the human was always just out of reach. “MOOOOAARRGGHH!!!” The Minotaur’s anger was rising as it clapped its hands together to try and crush Bell between them, but Bell wasn’t there.

“Yah!” Bell had dropped low, beneath the Minotaur’s clapped hands, and slammed his staff into its groin as hard as he could.

“MOOOAAAUUHH!!!” The Minotaur staggered back a half step in pain. While it didn’t have genitals, no Monster did, the area where they would be was still a focal point of nerves used for moving its legs and hips properly. No nerves liked to be hit by a staff that was almost as hard as metal!

“There!” Bell saw a chance to escape if he could just stagger the Minotaur. He slammed his staff into the Minotaur’s right ankle, as it seemed to favor it. The thud shook Bell’s arms a bit, but he kept going anyway. “Hyah!” He slammed the Iron Oak staff into the Minotaur’s left ankle, then it’s inner knee on the right, then the same spot on the left.

“MOOOAAARRGGHH!!!” The Minotaur’s legs shook a bit from the assault and it clenched both of its fists above its head before bringing them down like meteors on Bell.

Bell barley three himself backwards in time.

BOOM

The floor practically exploded from the force of the blow. Shrapnel flew through the air, striking Bell here and there and drawing blood. His light armor breastplate saved him from wounds that would’ve been serious had they struck his chest directly. Even as he felt blood run down his face, Bell kept moving as the grasping hand of the Minotaur tore through the dust to try and grab him.

“Damn it!” Bell rolled along the ground to avoid the grabbing hand. He managed to barely get back to his feet before the Minotaur’s fist was screaming towards his face. Bell ducked, letting the blow pass through the air above his head, messing up his white hair. He brought his staff up and clocked the Minotaur under the jaw, stunning it for a second as its red eyes widened at the brief pain.

“MOOOAAARRGGGHH!!!” The Minotaur bellowed and tried to slam its hand down on Bell to crush him. Bell juked to the right and the minotaur swung with its left, Bell backstepped and the Minotaur lunged forward with its right fist.

Bell had no idea just how lucky he was. This Minotaur was barely a few hours old. It had been part of a Monster Party spawned by the Dungeon when a large group of Adventurers were passing through a huge cavern in the Middle Levels. But the Adventurers had proven vastly more powerful than the horde of Minotaurs, so the Monsters had panicked and stampeded through the Dungeon heading up into Floors that they never normally treaded upon.

This Minotaur was too young to have any combat experience aside from its bestial instincts. It had never had time to learn how to use a landform weapon, nor to even grab one from the Dungeon. It was as ‘weak’ as a Minotaur could get, for a given definition of weak when it came to Level 2 Monsters. And that was what allowed a newbie like Bell to stay alive.

Thunk

“Gnnn, shit!” Bell cursed as his strike towards the Minotaur’s eye was blocked by the Monster’s incredibly sturdy horn. The jarring into his hands, wrists, and up his arms into his shoulders was painful. “I’M NOT DYING HERE!!! I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF!!! TO MY FAMILIA!!! I REFUSE TO DIE BEFORE I REACH MY DREAM!!!”

“MOOAAARRRGGHH!!!” The Minotaur cocked back its fist to kill Bell.

Bell was about to try and jump to the side, only for his eyes to widen in shock and surprise.

BAM

The Minotaur’s head whipped to the side, blood and teeth flew through the air. The Level 2 Monster’s feet left the ground as its entire body turned from the force of the blow that it had been hit with.

CRACK

The wall shattered as the Minotaur’s head crashed into it, splattering the stone with red blood as the fractured skull of the Monster couldn’t hold up to the force of colliding with the wall. The dead Minotaur fell to the ground, leaving a trail of blood and gore down the length of the wall where its head had dragged straight down as it fell.

A lithe figure filled Bell’s eyes. A green hooded cloak fluttered from the movement of its wearer. A white shirt and green bloomers filled his vision next as the person landed between him and the Minotaur. The fluttering cloak began to fall, but not before Bell’s eyes had practically memorized the shapely bottom in front of him.

“Are you alright?” A woman’s voice asked Bell.

“Huh?” Bell blinked once, twice and focused on the woman speaking to him. “Beautiful…” He said without a single thought.

It was very true.

The Elf woman that had saved Bell had sky blue eyes and green hair. Though Bell swore he saw just a trace of golden blonde mixed in faintly. Her almost snow white skin looked soft to the touch and Bell couldn’t help but compare her to a fairy from the old stories. The white shirt hugged her figure, revealing a lovely pair of breasts and a trim waist. Her hips were wide, giving her a nice figure, and her green bloomers showed off her strong thighs. Her arms and legs were both covered by matching long brown leather gloves and boots. On her right hip were a pair of shortswords, and in her hand was the weapon she’d slain the Minotaur with in a single blow, a wooden sword.

The Elf woman looked into Bell’s rubellite eyes for a moment, seeking any hint of deceit or lust, but only saw gratefulness and awe. “Thank you.” She accepted Bell’s compliment for now. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay.” Bell said after snapping out of his daze. “A little roughed up, but I’m fine.” He waved off his own injuries.

“You did very well to survive.” The Elf woman said to Bell as she gauged his strength with experienced eyes. “Using such a simple weapon to stall a Minotaur is no small feat.”

Bell was still a bit too stunned to feel any pride in that statement, but looked towards his weapon…only to see one end barely hanging on. “Ah?! When did that happen?!” His staff was shot! The wood had split almost completely with only a few strands of wood on one side holding the staff in one piece!

“If you struck the Minotaur’s horn with your staff, it probably broke then.” The Elf woman said after only a moment of thought.

Minotaur horns did share many traits with the metal Adamantite, so a wooden staff was unlikely to come out of a clash between them in one piece.

“Thank you very much for saving me.” Bell bowed at the waist to the Elf woman. “Because of you, I’ll be able to return to my Familia today.”

“It was the right thing to do.” The Elf woman said to Bell’s bowed form. But in her heart a small warmth appeared for the first time in a while. A feeling that she associated with her long lost Familia and all the fighting and work they’d gone through together to bring justice to the people of Orario. The smallest of smiles graced her lips from Bell’s genuine and heartfelt thanks.

The sound of people running was heard from the corridor and Bell straightened up to look at who was approaching.

The Elf woman pulled up the face mask that had been around her neck and covered everything below her eyes from view.

“Oh thank goodness!” An Amazon let out a relieved exclamation as she saw Bell and the Elf alive and the Minotaur dead.

A second Amazon stopped beside the first a second later. “They killed the Minotaur? That’s good…” She took a deep breath in relief.

It was a moment later that a third person arrived, clearly out of breath. “Miss Tiona, Miss Tione, you’re too fast for me to keep up.” The beautiful Elf said as she looked at her Familia members.

The Amazon on the right with the short, black hair had two long bangs framing her face. Each of the longer bangs was held together with a simple bronze hair ornament near the end. Around her neck were golden-colored neckbands, the largest of which sported three blue gems. Her chest was covered by a white breast wrap that left just enough to the imagination. She wasn't very busty, but it certainly didn’t detract from her beauty in the slightest. Her smooth and toned stomach was left fully on display, like many Amazons chose to do. She wore a golden armband on each forearm and had golden anklets similar to her neckbands adorning her ankles. The pareo around her waist was a dark yellow color with a green band around the hem, worn long with the ends falling around the woman’s ankles. The garment partially covered her legs and the brown loincloth that hung down to her shins. A thick, brown and white belt with a golden buckle featuring a stylized sun sat around her hips, over the tied-off pareo.

This was Tiona Hyrute, ‘The Slasher’ of Loki Familia, a very well-known Level 5 Adventurer, though she was missing her signature weapon, Urga.

The Amazon on the left had long, black hair going down to just past her butt. Two long, braided bangs framed her face and were held together with silver-colored hair ornaments near the ends. Her ears were pierced, each one sporting a round, blue gem. Silver-colored neckbands adorned her neck and a deep-red bikini top covered her very large breasts. The garment was wrapped around her back, and was tied off behind her neck. A circular, silver moon ornament kept the top pulled tight to prevent any slipping. Like many Amazons, she left her toned and smooth stomach fully displayed. She also had a folded pareo tied around her waist, a dark yellow color with a green band around the hem matching Tiona’s. Red leggings attached to a garter belt around her waist drew the eye of many a man. She also had silver-colored armbands and anklets to finish off her look.

This was Tione Hyrute, ‘Jörmungandr’ of the Loki Familia, another very well-known Level 5 Adventurer.

“Y-You’re the Hy-Hyrute Sisters…” Bell managed to get out after a brief bout of being a bit starstruck. Who DIDN’T know the big names of Loki Familia within Orario?

The Elf woman with the two Amazons was quite the beauty in her own right. She had long, light orange hair that she kept in a high ponytail, even still, it flowed down her back until it reached just past her bottom. She had clear, dark blue eyes, and pointy ears like all Elves did. The cute Elf wore a rosette pink cape on top of a white shirt and pink corset dress, with a purple bow hanging at the collar and matching pink shoes on her feet. Her legs were covered up to her thighs with white stockings attached to garters that disappeared beneath her dark pink skirt.

“Cute…” Bell said, catching the attention of the Elf and making her blink at him in surprise…right before her cheek turned pink from the compliment.

“Lefiya!” Tiona smiled at the Elf. “There’s no need to worry! The Minotaur is already dead!”

“It is?” Lefiya finally took in the situation and, seeing the dead Minotaur, let out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness.”

The Elf woman looked between Bell and the three from Loki Familia. “You should be safe now.” She said to Bell before looking towards Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya. “If I could trouble you to escort this young man back to the surface. He fought hard to stay alive against the Minotaur and lost his weapon in the battle.”

“You fought this big cow?” Tione asked Bell as she looked at the slightly injured young man and his broken staff. “Hm, not bad.”

Tiona smiled brightly at Bell, “Good job! Thanks for stalling it so that no Level 1’s got caught by it!”

Lefiya gave a short bow to Bell. “Thank you, sir.” Her eyes caught sight of the broken staff in Bell’s hand. “Isn’t that the staff they sell to new Adventurers at the Guild?”

“It is.” Bell confirmed, trying not to stare at any of the beautiful women for too long, he didn’t want to offend them. “I’m a little sad to see it go…I only got it two weeks ago.”

That made all four women stop for a second.

“Huh?” Tiona and Tione both said at the same time.

“Eh?” Lefiya blinked at Bell.

Bell’s savior even had her eyes widened slightly before she quickly schooled her expression again.

“Wait… Are you saying you got that staff two weeks ago? As in you became an Adventurer two weeks ago?” Tione didn’t look like she believed what she was even asking.

“Yes.” Bell answered before he realized that he hadn’t introduced himself properly. “Ah, my name’s Bell Cranel, a new member of the Miach Familia!” He bowed to the four women slightly.

Tiona put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Miach Familia… Hasn’t Airmid mentioned them once or twice before?” She asked Tione for confirmation.

“I think so?” Tione nodded once as she crossed her arms, pushing up her large breasts and making them look even bigger.

Bell only glanced down for a second…he’d swear it!

“That would make your Familia a Medicinal Familia, wouldn’t it?” Lefiya asked Bell curiously.

“Yes, ma’am.” Bell confirmed with a smile, making Lefiya smile back.

Inside Lefiya was giggling a little. ‘Ma’am? What a respectful man.’

“You’re Level 1?” The masked Elf asked and that seemed to refocus everyone’s attention.

Bell nodded once. “Yes, ma’am. Today was my first day on the Fifth Floor. My Advisor wouldn’t clear me for this Floor until I had my stats at ‘G’ Rank and I managed that just the other day.”

“At ‘G’ Rank in just two weeks?” Tione looked at Bell in surprise.

“Don’t most people take two weeks to even get to ‘H’ Rank in a few of their stats?” Tiona had a bright smile on her face as she looked at Bell.

“Miss Anna did say that it was shocking.” Bell recalled Anna’s disbelief, even as she looked at a copy of his Status that Miach had given him to hand in.

The masked Elf kept her thoughts to herself. ‘It’s more than shocking. Growth like that even exceeds the talented that work hard.’

Lefiya looked at Bell closely, but didn’t get any sense that he was lying. ‘He certainly doesn’t give off the air of a First-Class Adventurer.’

“As impressive as your fight against a Minotaur is, I’m afraid I must take my leave.” The masked Elf gave a nod to Bell and then looked at the three women from Loki Familia. “If you could take Mr. Cranel up to the surface in my stead, I would be grateful.” She certainly hadn’t expected such a situation on the day that she was returning from putting flowers on her fallen Familia members’ graves.

“Sure thing!” Tiona agreed with a smile.

“It’s the least we could do, this whole mess was kind of our fault.” Tione agreed with a nod, looking Bell over almost appreciatively.

Lefiya nodded once to the other Elf. “We’ll keep Mr. Cranel safe.”

“Thank you, my Elven sister.” The masked Elf nodded to Lefiya before she took off down the corridor and was out of sight quickly.

“Wooo~” Tiona whistled at the Elf’s speed.

Tione estimated the speed and a curious look appeared on her face. “Level 5, like us?”

“I think she might be.” Lefiya agreed having felt a similar presence from her ‘Elven sister’ that she felt from Tione and Tiona.

“Ah, I never got her name.” Bell realized with a small grimace.

Tiona smiled at Bell. “No need to worry! Some First-Class Adventurers are like that!”

“We should probably get the Magic Stone.” Tione said before casually flipping the Minotaur over with one foot. In a flash of silver, one of her kukri knives flashed out and split the Minotaur’s chest cleanly. “There we go.” Tione casually plucked the fist-sized Magic Stone out of the Minotaur. “Catch!” She tossed it to Bell.

“Huh?” Bell caught the Magic Stone, seeing the spiraling lights of magic energy within. “I didn’t kill the Minotaur though?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Tiona waved it off with a grin as she leaned into Bell a bit. “You deserve it for putting up such a good fight against a Minotaur.”

Lefiya agreed with Tiona, even as her blue eyes looked at the closeness between the Amazon and Bell with an adorable little blush on her cheeks. “Miss Tiona is right. This Minotaur escaping from the Middle Floors was our fault. Please, take the Magic Stone as compensation.” She gave Bell a polite bow.

“Al-Alright, I guess.” Bell wasn’t used to having so much attention from beautiful women on him and he almost mechanically put the Magic Stone into his bag.

-Later-

Bell waited with Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya for the rest of the first half of the Loki Familia’s expedition team to return to the surface.

“Ah~ First fresh air in two weeks!” Tiona stretched her hands above her head and stood on her tiptoes.

Bell didn’t make a sound, but his rubellite eyes drank in the sight of Tiona’s body and all of her exposed skin. While she might not be very busty, her waist and hips were definitely making Bell’s more…primal…mind react.

“The sun feels great~” Tione agreed as she leaned back on the bench she was sitting on with Bell and Lefiya.

Bell’s eyes were quickly drawn to Tione’s body as she enjoyed the sun. Her flawless bronze skin and her voluptuous curves were on display and Bell couldn’t stop himself from looking for a second.

The young man had no idea that Amazons often flaunted their bodies for a man that attracted their attention. Neither Tiona nor Tione had said anything, but their own Amazon instincts were making subtle motions to draw Bell’s eyes.

“The wind is nice too.” Lefiya had a soft smile as a gentle breeze blew her long hair a bit.

Bell felt a small smile form on his face at seeing Lefiya look so cute. It was complete reflex to relax and enjoy the sight of the cute Elf and Bell would attest to that for the rest of his life!

The excited chatter of the nearby Adventurers heralded the return of the Loki Familia from the Dungeon.

Finn Deimne, Captain of Loki Familia, led the large team of Adventurers as he always did. At his side was Riveria Ljos Alf, the Vice-Captain of Loki Familia and the greatest Mage in all of Orario. Behind them were the many Loki Familia members of the first Party.

“Captain!” Tiona waved as she rushed over with a smile.

Tione matched her sister’s pace easily and reported as she was supposed to. “Captain, the last Minotaur we were chasing was eliminated by an outside party.”

Finn smiled at the two Amazons, glad to see they were alright after the incident that had forced their expedition to end early. “As long as all of the Minotaurs were eliminated and we had no casualties, then everything is fine. But who eliminated the Minotaur?” It was always good to know who to thank in situations like these.

“Well, we don’t’ actually know, Captain.” Lefiya said with a nervous shuffle of her feet. “It was an Elf woman, probably Level 5, but she kept her face covered, so we couldn’t identify her.”

“Hmm, a Level 5 Elf woman would definitely narrow it down.” Riveria hummed thoughtfully. Her jade green eyes spotted Bell and a small smile graced her lips. “Who is this?”

Bell bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle. “I’m Bell Cranel, ma’am! I’m a new Adventurer of the Miach Familia! It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Bell held his own against that last Minotaur until the Elf showed up!” Tiona praised Bell with a bright smile. “He’s only Level 1!”

Now both Finn and Riveria were eyeing Bell with some interest.

“Quite impressive.” Finn smiled at Bell after a moment to take his measure. “As Captain you have my sincere apology for the danger that you found yourself in.” Finn bowed his head to Bell. “We should’ve eliminated the Minotaurs swiftly and without letting a single one escape.”

Bell could hardly believe that THE Finn Deimne was apologizing to him. “N-No, no… It’s fine! I was saved in the end, so everything is okay.” Bell waved off the accident for what it was. “Um, you’re Party looks in rough shape though, so that was probably why any of the Minotaurs escaped, right?”

It was true, many of the Loki Familia Party were looking haggard, worn out, and a few had bandages covering various injuries.

“Yes.” Riveria was the one to confirm Bell’s observation. “Our expedition has been long and fraught with battles.” What went on during said expeditions was only for the Loki Familia to know.

“Captain… I don’t mean to interrupt, but could we head home? A lot of us need potions and a long nap.” A black-haired man wearing a silver breastplate, a black undershirt, and thick white pants with brown boots spoke up.

“Right you are, Raul.” Finn agreed with a nod. “We should be on our way.”

Bell looked at Raul, the man having bandages wrapped around his head and his left arm was heavily bandaged and supported by a sling. “Um… I …”

Finn and Riveria looked back at Bell.

“I could heal your injured, if you’d like.” Bell offered with a smile. “As thanks for Miss Viridis, Miss Tione, and Miss Tiona escorting me to the surface after I lost my weapon to the Minotaur.”

“How about it, Raul?” Finn asked Raul with a grin. “You’re certainly the worst off at the moment.”

Raul looked between Finn and Bell. “Well, if you don’t mind, Captain?”

Bell looked at Raul, then back at the rest of the Party. “That many…should be doable.”

That got everyone’s eyes on Bell in surprise.

“Gather the herbs to heal the body. Banish the evils of pain and sickness. Restore the body to wholeness; succeed where the father failed. Heal all who seek wellness.” Bell chanted as his hands began to glow with the bright and pure light.

Riveria and Lefiya both widened their eyes at the amount of magic energy that Bell was suddenly putting out! It was absurd for a Level 1! Especially a non-Elf at Level 1! Humans didn’t have the same natural affinity towards Magic that Elves did (no other Race really did, in fact), so the amount of Mind that Bell had to have to produce this much magical energy was astounding!

“Leigheas!” Bell finished his spell and pushed his hands towards the Loki Familia Party.

“Hey!”

“What in the world?!”

“Magic?!”

“I’m healing!”

The calls of surprise from the Party were varied, but all of them quickly realized that their injuries were being healed and their stamina restored.

Raul looked amazed as all the pain in his body vanished and he no longer felt like he was about to collapse. Slowly, he pulled his left arm out of the sling and moved it around. “I’m healed? That fast?” He undid the thick bandages and could only marvel at his arm being perfectly fine.

Bell stopped glowing and let out a heavy breath. “That’s about my limit right now, I think.” He swayed once on his feet, leaning a bit too far, only for Lefiya to support him, her blue eyes looking at Bell like she’d never seen anyone like him before. “Thank you, Miss Viridis.”

“N-No problem.” Lefiya felt her cheeks turn red but couldn’t do anything about it.

“Astounding.” Riveria murmured under her breath.

Finn had easily heard Riveria’s words and agreed. “Very impressive, especially for a Level 1.” He held his chin thoughtfully. “Miach Familia, was it?”

Once Bell had taken his Mind Potion, and gone through a parade of thanks from the Loki Familia Party, he’d headed for the Blue Pharmacy. He’d make his report to Anna tomorrow and turn in the Minotaur’s Magic Stone then too.

-Blue Pharmacy-

“What do you mean a Minotaur?!” Naaza had raised her voice more than Bell had ever heard before. “Let me see you!” She quickly had Bell nearly stripped, leaving only his boxers, as she began to thoroughly examine him. Any injury she found was healed with an application of potion after she cleaned off the blood. “You’re lucky that none of this shrapnel hit you in the eye or somewhere else fatal!” Her worry was clear in her voice as she fussed over Bell and did everything in her power to make him better.

A bit later, Bell’s face still red at Naaza nearly stripping him bare, Bell was resting his arms against the backrest of the kitchen chair while Miach was watching his Excelia, seeing the chase and the battle against the Minotaur.

“Well…can’t say I expected that.” Miach let out a breath he didn’t realize that he’d been holding. “I’m glad that you’re alright, Bell.”

“I wish I could’ve thanked that Elf woman more properly.” Bell said as he thought about the incident again. His greatest desire had practically put on display before him in the Elf woman that had saved him from the Minotaur. ‘That’s the kind of strength that I want to have. The kind that let’s me save others when they need me. Strength that’ll let me keep my promises!’

“I think you did just fine, Bell.” Miach assured his ‘child’ as he finished watching the Excelia. “Hm?” He narrowed his eyes as he saw something manifest within Bell’s Falna. ‘A Skill?’ He deciphered it through the hieroglyphs and smiled a little at what he saw. He wrote the Skill into Bell’s Falna and then moved the newly gathered Excelia into the Basic Abilities. “Eh?” He couldn’t stop the surprise at seeing the numbers rapidly rise.

“Is something wrong, Lord Miach?” Bell asked as he looked over his shoulder.

“No…just a little surprise.” Miach said with a grin, hiding his own amazement. Just as he was about to finish the update, something else stopped him. ‘I’ve never seen this happen before…’ Miach eyed the Skill that he’d just written into Bell’s Falna. ‘Is this Skill truly that powerful?’ Not wanting to take too much longer, Miach quickly deciphered the new addition and almost let out a relieved sigh that it was something normal. Or normal enough, at any rate. Quickly writing in the new acquisition, Miach finished the update and placed a blank paper on Bell’s back.

Bell took the paper eagerly after Miach mentioned something surprising.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – G 208 > F 304

Endurance – G 210 > F 306

Dexterity – G 209 > F 305

Agility – G 207 > F 302

Magic – H 168 > G 259

-Magic-

Leigheas – Incantation: “Gather the herbs to heal the body. Banish the evils of pain and sickness. Restore the body to wholeness; succeed where the father failed. Heal all who seek wellness.” Healing and Cure Magic that restores the target’s body and stamina, while also removing abnormalities like poison, paralysis, curses, and charms.

Lasair – Incantation: “Burn brightly.” Conjures fire in proportion to how much Mind is used.

-Skills-

Edelbell Asabria (A Willful Promise to a Deity) – Fast growth. The greater the effort towards the user’s goal, the greater the effect. Blocks things that would interfere with growth, such as Charms.

-Status-

“My numbers…” Bell nearly felt like he was choking at seeing the massive boost to his stats. “I HAVE A NEW SPELL?!” Bell shot up out of the chair. “A SKILL TOO?!” He nearly felt lightheaded from the trio of shock s in a row.

“Easy, Bell…” Maich carefully took hold of Bell’s shoulders and turned him around, gently sitting him back down in the chair properly. “We can go over it slowly, together.” He turned to face the curtain separating the shop from the living space. “Naaza, please close the shop early, we need to have a Familia meeting.

Naaza walked through the curtain as second later. “I heard Bell’s shouts, so I already closed up the shop.” Her tone was steady, but her purple eyes were wide in shock at what Bell had shouted out.

-Later-

Bell was nearly dozing off as he lay down.

“I’ve got you, Bell.” Naaza spoke softly to him, a warm smile on her face as she ran her fingers through his hair. “You’re safe. You’re home.”

Bell relaxed more, releasing the stress and tension from his near-death experience with the Minotaur. “Thank you, Naaza.” He sighed as his eyes closed. “Love you.”

Naaza’s eyes widened at what Bell had said...but seeing him so peacefully asleep with his head on her thighs, “Love you too, Bell.” She felt safe to say it back.

-End Chapter-

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I hope that you’ve enjoyed this pilot chapter!

My longest chapter of ANYTHING EVER! Over 20,000 words!

This time Bell was taken in by our favorite God of Healing (and unknowing playboy) Miach! Woohoo!

Bell fights with a staff! That’s different!

Our boy is on his way to being a beast in melee and magic!

Red Mage Bell! Yeah!

And just like his God that attracts so much female attention; Bell is standing out to a few women already! Hehehe~

Adorable Chienthrope! Sexy Amazon Sisters! Cute Elf! And Best Elf!

After his display of powerful Healing Magic to the Loki Familia, things will certainly change going forward!

Just how will this version of Bell progress in the future? How many lovely ladies will he attract? You’ll have to wait to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!