Demeter Familia Premise Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter! Bell continues his path towards his dreams with all of his grit, tenacity, and determination. He trains hard with Tione, Tiona, and Ais, delves deeper into the Dungeon with Lili, and keeps improving. But all work and no play makes Bell a dull boy! Perhaps the annual Monsterphilia festival will be something to enjoy!

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 5 – Thunder and Lightning

Bell stood across from Tiona, his rubellite eyes staring into her dark green while the two squared up against each other.

“No holding back, Bell.” Tiona said with a smile. “You can use your Magic!”

“Let’s start without it first.” Bell said with a grin as he launched himself at Tiona.

‘He’s faster than before.’ Tione and Ais thought at the same time as their eyes followed Bell’s speed.

Tiona grinned and slapped away Bell’s first jab. Without a wasted second, Tiona retaliated and threw her own jab at Bell’s face. Bell moved his head to dodge the jab and threw a knee towards Tiona’s stomach. The knee was blocked as Tiona raised her own leg and her fist screamed towards Bell’s face. Not wanting to get punched in the face (again) Bell’s hand shot upwards and pushed Tiona’s arm to the side, making her punch go wide. A flurry of blows were exchanged in only a couple of seconds, making Tiona and Bell’s arms look like blurs to most.

Tione watched each punch and strike that Bell and Tiona threw at each other. “He’s faster and stronger.”

“How…did he get stronger again?” Ais wondered aloud as her golden eyes tracked Bell and Tiona’s spar. Bell’s growth was beyond fast…it was abnormal, even for someone working as hard as Bell was.

Tiona had a wide smile on her face as she pushed Bell backwards with a palm strike. “Hehe! You’re doing amazing, Bell!” In the next instant a roundhouse kick came straight at the side of Bell’s head.

But Bell’s head wasn’t there anymore.

“Yah!” Bell had dropped into a crouch and then lunged forward while Tiona’s foot was still in the air. He managed to grab her supporting leg, but before he could try to take Tiona down, her raised leg came down on Bell’s back and flattened him against the ground. “GAH!”

“You need to keep your awareness on your opponent’s entire body, Bell.” Tiona said with a smile as she leaned over to look at Bell on the ground.

Bell nodded as he pushed himself back to his feet while launching an uppercut at Tiona’s face.

Whap

Tiona caught Bell’s fist with a bright grin. “That’s more like it!” She giggled and pecked Bell’s forehead before kicking him backwards when he blinked at the unexpected little kiss.

“Damn…” Bell grunted out as he rolled to the side and managed to skip up to his feet. He blurred as he kicked off the ground as hard as he could, he threw a side kick straight at Tiona’s stomach. Tiona raised her knee to block the kick…only for her eyes to widen as Bell’s kick dropped straight to the ground and he pivoted into a straight punch towards her face, putting all of the speed, weight, and torque he possibly could behind his fist.

“A feint.” Ais said, mildly impressed that Bell had managed to pull off even a simple feint at the speed that he was moving.

Tione nodded in agreement with Ais. “He’s improving every time… No. Every round.” It was impressive just how quickly Bell learned and applied what they were showing him.

Tiona’s happy grin gained a wild edge as her green eyes sharpened as Bell’s fist was blurring towards her face. She pivoted out of the line of the punch, making Bell overextend. The instant that Bell realized his mistake, Tiona’s hand latched onto Bell’s outstretched arm. The world blurred as Tiona threw Bell over her shoulder and onto the ground. All of the air was forced from Bell’s lungs as he hacked out a painful gasp. Before Bell could inhale, Tiona was sitting on Bell’s chest and holding his arms down to the ground with one hand on each of his wrists.

“That was good~” Tiona said with a nearly purring lilt in her voice as she leaned forward to lock eyes with Bell. “You’re faster and stronger and you’ve learned more about hand-to-hand!” Her excitement was practically visible as she smiled down at Bell.

Bell breathed in, coughing a bit as his lungs got back to work. “Th-Thanks…” He gave Tiona a lopsided smile, not minding that she was still straddling him as her hands let go of his wrists and moved to rest on his chest.

“No fair, Tiona!” Tione said loudly as she watched her sister enjoy her position on top of Bell a bit too much for her liking. “If you’re done, switch with me!”

“But we haven’t sparred hand-to-hand with Bell’s Magic yet!” Tiona argued back against her sister.

Ais looked between Tione and Tiona worriedly, holding her hands up halfway as she had a cute look on her face. If Tiona and Tione got into a fight here, things could get very bad and they didn’t need that!

Bell surprised Tiona as he bridged his body suddenly, throwing her up a bit into the air before he flipped them and tossed Tiona aside. “Got you!” He kicked off the ground and leapt backwards to make distance. “Spark!”

Lightning crackled into existence from Bell’s body, arcing from his limbs and suffusing his body in a blue-white glow. Bell’s white hair spiked up a bit as the electrical current flowed through it and his rubellite eyes sharpened as he locked onto Tiona.

And then Bell vanished.

Tiona’s eyes widened.

Tione’s eyes widened.

Ais’s eyes widened.

Bell’s sparking fist slammed into Tiona’s raised arm. His opposite fist nearly hit Tiona’s stomach, but the Amazon slapped it aside. A kick nearly hit Tiona in the back of the head, but as her hair began to stand on end from the static electricity, she ducked low and kicked out Bell’s foot.

He vanished before he hit the ground.

‘Faster!’ Bell pushed his spell and his body further.

Tiona grinned as she weaved around the even faster strikes from Bell. She ducked a kick to the head, pivoted to avoid a punch, ducked low and dodged a spearhand strike that would’ve pierced straight through most people, and the entire time her Amazon Blood heated up and practically sang.

“Ugh!” Bell grunted out as Tiona’s foot slammed into his stomach suddenly. Seeing Tiona’s fist coming straight at his face, Bell sparked and slipped around the punch, managing to slam his knee into Tiona’s stomach.

“Not bad!” Tiona grinned wildly; her left hand having caught Bell’s electrified knee. “Your Magic always makes my body feel tingly when I touch it!” She shoved Bell away easily, the disparity in their power clear once more. A small spark arced off Tiona’s hand and she shook it out a second later before clenching and unclenching her fist to get rid of the lingering feeling.

Ais looked at the back and forth, her golden eyes able to follow easily enough since Tiona was still holding back. “His Magic… His speed and reaction time…increased.”

Tione was watching closely, gauging her sister’s speed and force throughout the spar. “Tiona’s keeping it to the upper limits of Level 2.” Seeing Tiona weave around a punch and land a punch into Bell’s gut, Tione’s eye twitched slightly. “His tenacity is…amazing.” She lightly bit her lip as her Amazon Blood was heating up and she felt her heart beat a little faster.

-Later-

“Hah… Hah…” Bell breathed heavily while lying on his back, sweat covering his face as his sparring with Tiona was finally finished.

Tiona had Bell’s head on her thighs as she gently moved his sweaty white hair off his forehead. The radiant smile on her face was just as bright as the sun as she had small marks on her bronze skin from Bell’s Lightning Magic striking her over and over again as they sparred. “You did amazing, Bell.”

Bell gave her a smile as he got his breath back. “Thank you, Tiona.”

“Need a nap?” Tiona giggled as Tione and Ais came over with water for Bell to drink.

“Not yet.” Bell denied with a chuckle as he accepted the canteen of water from Tione and drank greedily from it.

The three young women allowed Bell to rest as Tiona gave him a lap pillow. The gentle caress of Tiona’s finger gently tracing through his hair was soothing and Bell honestly considered taking a small nap. He shook that off though and looked up at Tiona, Tione, and Ais. “Beautiful…” Bell said softly as he enjoyed the beauty of the three women.

Tione grinned at Bell. “Sweet talker.” She placed her hand on Bell’s arm and slowly trailed it down until she reached his hand and gently took hold of it. Bell and Tione shared a soft smile when he softly squeezed Tione’s hand.

“Thanks!” Tiona beamed at Bell as she ran her fingers over his left cheek, leaving a soft tingle along his skin.

“Thank you… Bell.” Ais’s cheeks were a cute pink as she appreciated Bell’s compliment. Copying Tione, she slipped her hand into Bell’s free hand as her stomach fluttered like butterflies. Her cheeks burned red when Bell’s thumb gently traced the back of her hand.

The warm and gentle moment lasted for quite a while as Bell rested and regained his stamina.

Tione leaned close to Bell’s face, their noses almost touching, as she looked into Bell’s rubellite eyes. “Ready to go again?” The innuendo wasn’t lost on any of them…except Ais.

Ais cutely tilted her head when Tiona snickered at what Tione had said.

“Sure.” Bell agreed as he’d rested enough for now.

Tione stood up first and helped Bell to his feet. Tiona and Ais observed from the side as Bell got his sword and Tione unsheathed both of her kukri knives.

“Same as with your hand-to-hand, Bell. You can use your Magic whenever you need to!” She twirled her kukri knives in both hands before taking a firm grip on them and launching herself at Bell.

Ching

Bell blocked the first blade and pivoted to avoid the follow up slash from the opposite knife. His sword flashed upwards, looking to cut Tione’s face, but it was knocked aside by Tione’s left knife while her right went for Bell’s neck.

Shing

The ringing of metal sliding against metal was sharp and loud, but Bell managed to deflect Tione’s blade and then shift his stance to change where his weight was balanced. A quick turn, pivoting around Tione’s right arm before she brought her other knife forward, allowed Bell to take the Amazon’s back. His blade practically sliced through the air on its way towards the back of Tione’s neck.

Tione rolled forward…or so it appeared at first.

“GRK!!!” Bell’s jaw was slammed into from below as Tione’s heel met it from her forward flip. Staggering backwards in pain, Bell barely managed to block the slice aimed at his right arm with his blade. The incoming knife aimed at his left side forced him to reach out and grab Tione’s forearm, barely stopping the blade from reaching him.

“You’re getting better every time…” Tione said with a challenging smile.

Bell didn’t have time to reply as Tione easily forced him backwards and continued her attack. The clash of blades rang out through the air as Tione pressed her advantage and forced Bell backwards. In a flash of steel, Tione hooked Bell’s sword with her left knife and knocked the blade upward so hard that Bell could barely hold onto it. In the next instant the second kukri was coming at Bell’s side from his broken guard.

“Spark!” Bell cast his spell and his body lit up with lightning again. Tione blocked the bright blur that was Bell’s fist with the flat of her right blade. In less than the blink of an eye, Bell brought his sword down on Tione, the blade wreathed in lightning.

“Nnnnngghh!” Tione grunted and her body twitched and shook from the electricity passing through her as the lightning arced from Bell and his blade to touch her body over and over.

Bell was knocked backwards as Tione pushed against him. The difference in their Level made it easy for Tione to stagger Bell and break their deadlock. Bell blurred in a white-blue spark and took Tione’s back, his electrified blade aiming to bisect her at the waist. Tione demonstrated her amazing flexibility, strength, and body control as she backflipped over the swing and tried to kick the top of Bell’s head from above.

But Bell had already moved.

Tione blocked the stabbing thrust of Bell’s blade from below and twisted her body into a spin, knocking the sword aside. The moment she landed, Tione was forced to block Bell’s sword again. A pivot of her feet let redirect the blade and slam the back of her left kukri into Bell’s side.

Bell staggered to the right and as Tione tried to take advantage he unleashed a wave of lighting from his body to force her backwards. “Yah!” He swung his sword and knocked Tione’s right kukri aside before lunging forward into a thrust, the tip of his sword aiming straight at her chest.

“Great!” Tione’s smile was wild and excited, her Amazon Blood pumping like liquid fire in her veins. She caught Bell’s blade between both of hers and stopped it cold. She ignored the electricity striking her and practically tore the sword out of Bell’s hand and tossed it aside at the same time that she brought her right leg around and kicked Bell in the side, knocking him into one of the merlons atop the huge wall surrounding Orario.

Bell hit the wall, but kicked off of it with one foot, launching himself at Tione in a streak of lightning. The spearhand strike he tried to stab Tione with barely grazed her as she pivoted and swung her kukri at Bell. But Bell’s enhanced speed and reflexes allowed him to catch Tione’s wrist again.

“Auhauhauh!” Tione cried out as Bell’s grip poured lightning into her body. Her free hand smashing the back of her other kukri blade into Bell’s head stopped the attack as he fell into Tione’s chest.

Bell’s hazy vision was a result of both the hit to the head and the overuse of his Magic as he’d poured a large amount of his Mind into his spell to keep up with Tione’s vastly superior weapons handling. After spending a good amount of his Mind on his sparring with Tiona earlier, it was little surprise that his Mind would be running low.

Tione dropped both of her knives and wrapped her arms around Bell to prevent him from falling. Her heart thundered in her chest and her Amazon Blood sang in her veins, but the wild smile on her face had morphed into a warm and affectionate one aimed solely at Bell. “I’ve got you.” Tione said as she enjoyed Bell’s face buried in her tits. She slowly lowered them to the ground, letting Bell rest against her as one of her hands gently trailed up and down his back while the other held the back of his head, keeping him nuzzled up against her breasts.

“Is he…okay?” Ais asked as she approached with a Mind Potion for Bell. Looking at how close Bell and Tione were, she felt her stomach flutter a little…a new desire to give Bell a lap pillow flaring up within her.

“You smacked him pretty good, Tione.” Tiona chided her sister a bit for how shoed ended the spar.

Tione looked a little sheepish, knowing that Tiona was right. “I got a bit too into the fight.”

Ais showed Tione the Mind Potion, and the Amazon reluctantly pulled Bell from her breasts so that Ais could help him swallow the potion. As soon as the orange liquid was gone, Tione kept Bell’s head on her tits, letting him use her softness as a pillow as he rested.

“Once Bell wakes up, it’s your turn, Ais!” Tiona said with a happy grin for her sister in all but blood.

“Mm.” Ais nodded in agreement as she sat next to Tione and Bell, her golden eyes looking Bell’s sleeping face over with warmth. The small smile on her lips made both Tione and Tiona smile a little more as well. It was simply nice to see the normally closed off Ais happy like this.

It was certainly a very exhausting way to spend his day off, but Bell had insisted on it given that he knew time was limited for Ais, Tione, and Tiona to help with his training. He didn’t want to waste a second of their time that they’d so graciously offered to spend helping him to improve.

-Wheat Manor ~ Evening-

“Quite the rough day off you had.” Demeter said as she watched Bell’s Excelia for the day. The training that Bell put himself through with Ais, Tione, and Tiona was always increasing in intensity as Bell learned and got better with both combat and magic. “You should take a full day off tomorrow. Rest is important too, Bell.”

Bell, his arms resting on the backrest of the chair he was sitting backwards in, agreed with his Goddess with a little nod. “Yeah… I think I need a day.” His body still had a few sore spots even after taking a Low Potion at the end of his full day of training.

Demeter smiled softly as she moved Bell’s Excelia into his Basic Abilities and watched the numbers begin to rise. The amount of growth was honestly surprising to Demeter (who as the leader of a Mercantile Familia wasn’t used to seeing much growth in the Falna of most of her ‘children’) and she couldn’t help but blink when the numbers stopped rising. ‘Well… He did spend an entire day training against three Level 5 Adventurers. With Liaris Freese maximizing his Excelia…maybe this would be considered normal?’ Bell’s unique and unheard of Skill that boosted his growth made estimates on what was ‘normal’ rather moot.

“Goddess?” Bell looked over his shoulder at Demeter when she didn’t finish his Status Update.

“Ah,” Demeter shook her head once. “Sorry, Bell, I was thinking.” She gave him a warm smile before placing a blank paper onto Bell’s back and copying over the update with a twirl of her finger. “Here you go.” She handed the new Status Update to Bell while locking up his Falna.

Bell took the paper and gave Demeter a soft smile. “Thank you, Demeter.”

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – C 683 > A 879

Endurance – C 671 > A 882

Dexterity – C 698 > A 896

Agility – B 742 > S 937

Magic – B 739 > S 940

-Magic-

Caelum – Incantation: “Spark.” This Magic allows the user to imbue their body and weapons with Lightning Magic.

-Skills-

Liaris Freese – Fast growth as long as desire lasts. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user’s desire towards their goal. Makes the user immune to Charms and Mental Magics. Passive.

-Status-

“Quite the improvement, right?” Demeter giggled as she gently pressed herself against Bell’s back, her large breasts molding against Bell’s back.

Bell was still staring at his Status Update in shock. “I… This…”

Demeter wrapped her arms around Bell’s shoulders and eased him to lay back against her. “Shhh…” She whispered to him and just held Bell close as he processed his leap in growth.

“I grew so much.” Bell said sometime later, still looking at the paper in his hands.

“You did.” Demeter agreed as she placed a soft kiss on top of his fluffy white hair.

Bell breathed out slowly as he sank into Demeter’s embrace. “I guess getting beaten over and over again paid off then.” He joked with a half-hearted chuckle.

Demeter giggled softly. “Your desire, determination, and hard work are vastly more important, Bell.” She nuzzled into his soft white hair. “You’re my first ‘child’ to ever have stats reach the ‘S’ rank.”

“R-Really?” Bell blinked at the new information in surprise. “Not even Persephone or Lunoire?” It was hard to believe that neither of the higher Level women had managed to get their Basic Abilities to ‘S’ rank.

“Nope, you’re the first.” Demeter said with a proud little smile.

Even though he couldn’t see it, Bell could practically feel the happiness and pride in Demeter’s words for his accomplishment.

Bell relaxed more into Demeter’s warm embrace. “Thank you, Demeter.”

“You’re welcome.” Demeter said softly as she continued to hold Bell and soothe him with her warmth and care.

-The Next Day-

“I can’t believe I forgot that today was Monsterphilia.” Bell said to himself as he moved along with the crowd on West Main Street. He’d been wanting to see the festival and the Xenos Monsters since he’d learned about them from his friends and Familia. But he’d still forgotten what day it was because of how busy he was with his training and dungeon crawling.

“Nya! Wait up white-hair!” A female voice called out and Bell stopped instinctively. He knew his hair color was pretty rare outside of older people normally. Looking towards the source of the voice he spotted one of the waitresses standing outside of the Hostess of Fertility.

“Miss Anya?” Bell blinked at the brunette Cat Girl calling out to him. “Good morning, did you need something?”

“Good morning, sorry for calling out to you like that, nya!” Anya smiled at him brightly. “Here.” She placed a fairly heavy coin purse in Bell’s hands. “Give this to that scatterbrain, okay?”

“Um…?” Bell looked at her confused, wondering what she was talking about.

“Anya, that’s not enough information, Mr. Cranel is confused.” Ryu walked up to the pair.

“You’re so silly, Ryu!” Anya held up both hands with a shrug. “Syr wanted to go to Monsterphilia, but Mama Mia wouldn’t give her the day off, so Lunoire volunteered to go…but then she forgot her wallet. So, since Bell is Lunoire’s boyfriend, I want Bell to take it to her, nya. He knows that much without me saying it.” Anya said with confidence that her previous explanation easily conveyed all of that information.

“That’s how it is. Sorry for the insufficient explanation the first time.” Ryu gave a slight bow to Bell. “Would you please accept our request? We are busy with preparations and unable to go ourselves.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. I was actually headed there myself.” Bell smiled at the waitresses. “Do you think Lunoire would be around the Amphitheatron or somewhere else?”

Anya tilted her head. “Not sure, nya! Lunoire said that she was going to buy souvenirs for us!”

Ryu deadpanned at the Cat Girl. “Wasn’t that at your request?”

“Then I’ll look for her as I make my way towards the colosseum!” Bell smiled at them both. “I’ll make sure to stop by for dinner again soon!” He waved to them as he took off.

“We’ll look forward to serving you then, Mr. Cranel.” Ryu gave a short bow to Bell as he left, managing not to blush too much at seeing Bell’s warm smile again.

“Nya, come by whenever, white-hair!” Anya waved back without a care.

-Amphitheatron ~ Monster Holding Area-

“Hey! What’s the hold up?! Why isn’t the next Monster up there yet?” A female Adventurer of the Ganesha Familia demanded as she opened the large wooden doors. She gasped when she saw the other members of her Familia all struggling with the crates and cages that held several of the Middle Floor Monsters. “Why are they so agitated?!”

“Because of that!” One of the armored members of the Ganesha Familia told the young woman while pointing to a broken open cage and a broken wooden exit door “We need a minute to get these Monsters under control! And we need to find the escaped Monster!”

BAM

The largest crate rocked again and the steel bars that made up the door bent outwards from the force of the captured Sword Stag’s strength. The blade-like antlers of the Middle Floor Monster actually left shallow grooves in the metal bars. The loud metallic clang of metal hitting metal almost made the Ganesha Familia members’ ears ring.

BAM

Another charge bowed out the steel bars even further the sound echoed throughout the holding area.

“I’m here! I’m here!” One of Ganesha Familia’s Tamers arrived after getting the message about the Sword Stag’s aggressive behavior. The man was tall and very muscular, with a thick black beard. Seeing the situation, his face became stern as he walked up to the shaking crate. “Sit down!” He threw a punch straight between the bent bars and socked the Sword Stag right in the face.

The deer Monster staggered and hit the side of the crate. “REEEAAAUUHHH!!!” It bellowed at the Tamer, but the man didn’t even flinch, staring the Sword Stag down in a clash of wills.

“Calm down.” The Tamer said again and the Sword Stag backed up a step, giving in to the greater strength of the Tamer. “That’s better.” The man nodded to the Monster. It wouldn’t hold for long, since Taming was a Skill that had to be liberally used and reinforced against Monsters. But this would at least keep the Sword Stag calm for a while.

As part of the group moved the damaged crate out of the holding area and towards the doors leading to the colosseum floor, the others moved to secure the rest of the agitated Monsters. The remaining Ganesha Familia members quickly rushed out of the broken exit door to track down the escaped Monster.

The Monster in question had been brought up from the Middle Floors as well, it was comparable in strength to a Minotaur, but with much better speed and mobility: a Ligerfang.

The massive tiger-like Monster was captured especially because of it’s abnormal speed and strength when the Ganesha Familia had found it. It didn’t look much different from an average Ligerfang, it was just faster and stronger. It was only during the difficulty of actually capturing the Monster that the Ganesha Familia realized that this Ligerfang was a true irregular.

It had above average intelligence for a bestial Monster, able to react and adapt to the Ganesha Familia’s tactics and attempts to capture it. Only when the Level 3 members of the capture team had ganged up on it was the Ligerfang subdued and captured for Monsterphilia.

“Find it immediately! We can’t have an irregular running around on the surface!” The lead Ganesha Familia member said to the other nine members as they quickly spread out to find the Ligerfang.

-East Main Street-

“The festival is so busy, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to find Lunoire.” Bell was starting to realize just how hard it was to find a single person in a crowd this massive. He hadn’t managed to find Lunoire even after looking for quite a while now.

“Hey, did you hear something?” A Hume Bunny woman asked the man she was with.

“No,” The human man looked confused. “Did you?”

The sound from a distance caught Bell’s attention this time. “Was that a scream?”

“It’s a Monster!” A much louder scream tore through the air and the crowd around the area all went wide-eyed in fear.

Six people rushed out of a side street in a wild panic as they fled from whatever was chasing them. The rest of the crowd quickly ran screaming in any direction away from the large Monster that leapt out of the side street. Bell instantly moved in front of the Monster, putting himself between it and the fleeing people. He felt his heart pound in his chest and his eyes widened when he actually saw what the beast was.

“A Ligerfang?!” Bell said as he gazed up at the large tiger-like Monster. The Ligerfang had clearly escaped from somewhere, judging by the shackles and broken chains still attached to its four legs. Bell only knew about Ligerfangs from talking with Lunoire and Ryu while eating at the Hostess of Fertility. This was a Monster that was normally only found between the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Floors. They were known to be highly dangerous, even to new Level 2 Adventurers.

“ROAAARRR!!!” The Ligerfang roared loudly as people fled from it in terror. Its bright silver eyes locked onto Bell as it bared its infamous large saber teeth.

“Spark!” Bell immediately cast his spell while drawing his sword. Lightning arced off Bell’s body, his hair practically glowed with the blue-white electricity as it spiked up slightly.

The swipe of the Ligerfang’s claws passed through where Bell had been a fraction of a second ago. Bell was at the Ligerfang’s side as his lightning-coated blade slashed through its striped silvery-white fur. The Ligerfang leapt away, its fur was soft, yet durable and the wound from Bell’s sword barely bled. In the next instant its was on top of Bell, its claws came from both the left and right while its huge fangs came at Bell from the front.

BAM

The Ligerfang smashed the part of the street that it hit, but Bell wasn’t there any longer.

“ROOAAUUHH!!!” The Ligerfang roared out in pain, swiftly turning around and swinging its tail at the sparking Bell that was behind it.

Bell ducked beneath the tail swipe and blitzed the Ligerfang again…but the tiger-like Monster jumped to the side to dodge. With wide eyes, Bell saw the claws of the Ligerfang coming straight at him and barely managed to bring his sword up to block.

Clang

Bell’s back hit the wall of the building across the street. “HAK!!!” He coughed out from the force of the impact. Not wanting to fall to the ground, Bell focused on his spell, making lightning spark around his legs. He landed on his feet and ignored the blood falling from his arm and hitting the street.

“ROOAAARRR!!!” The Ligerfang was already bearing down on Bell.

“Sssss!” Bell breathed out, lowering his body to avoid the claws coming at him as lightning wreathed around his body intensely. ‘Faster!’

The people that had hidden in the shops and buildings around the area for safety (and to watch the fight) only saw a flash of lighting followed by the clap of thunder.

Bell was behind the Ligerfang again, having left a deeper slash along the Ligerfang’s underbelly. Blood fell to the street, but the Ligerfang wasn’t down yet as it turned to glare at Bell. It leapt at Bell and Bell vanished in a streak of lightning.

Clang

Shing

Krakboom

Thunder and lightning surrounded the Ligerfang on the street. The tiger-like Monster was moving in a blur as well, its claws and fangs practically cutting through the air as it fought with the lightning swordsman. None of the citizens of Orario could even follow the movements of the two locked in deadly combat, it was nothing more than blurs, flashes of lightning, and the crash of thunder.

“GAH!!!” Bell bounced across the street from a claw swipe. He hacked out a bit of blood and hissed in pain as the lacerations across his chest bled freely.

The Ligerfang was in better shape…mostly. Its fur had red bloodstains in multiple places and its face had a cut across it from below its left eye across its muzzle and down the side of its face.

“Grrrrr!” The Ligerfang growled at Bell. It took a strong step forward, its clawed paw cracking the street.

‘Faster!’ Bell thought as he poured more Mind into his spell making lightning crackled around him furiously. He shot forward in a streak of lightning and swung at the Ligerfang’s face. But the tiger-like Monster had seen this attack before and dropped low, letting Bell fly over its head and back. Bell twisted in midair, ignoring the screaming pain in his body from the maneuver, and slashed his sword towards the Ligerfang’s back.

Krakboom

Lightning leapt from Bell’s sword and crashed into the Ligerfang’s back.

“GROOOAAUUWW!!!” The Ligerfang roared in pain as it kicked off the ground and shot forward in a blur, trying to get away from the painful lightning.

Bell managed to land on his feet, only staggering slightly despite his aching body. ‘Faster!’ Bell screamed in his head as the lightning around his body flared up, arcing across the street and leaving lines of black across the cobblestones. He vanished in another streak of lightning and passed by the Ligerfang in less than the time it took to blink.

The Ligerfang’s side sprayed a wave of blood through the air and coated the street next to it.

‘Faster!’ Bell focused more, pouring more Mind into his enchantment. Lightning screamed around Bell’s body and sword as he shot back the way he came again.

The Ligerfang managed to turn, only for the thick mane around its neck to be obliterated into burning fur as the Ligerfang staggered to the side as electricity sparked all over its body. “GROOOAAAWWW!!!” The pained roar was loud enough to shake the air and several of the watching citizens covered their ears…but some collapsed to their knees in primal terror. The pained roar was a ‘Howl’ a type of vocalization that certain Monsters were capable of using to stagger and disorientate their prey.

But Bell was moving too fast to stop.

Shing

Krakboom

Lightning crackled and thunder roared across the Ligerfang’s less injured side. Blood and burnt fur flew into the air as the Ligerfang’s roaring ‘howl’ was interrupted.

Bell crashed into the street painfully, but the lightning sparking around his body prevented him from locking up from the debilitating roar of the Ligerfang. He forced himself to his feet, spat out the blood that had built up in his mouth and turned to face the Ligerfang. ‘Faster!’ Bell roared in his heart and mind as his body sparked and glowed brightly. He vanished only to meet the huge fangs of the Ligerfang as it had leapt forward to intercept him.

A bolt of lightning shot away from the Ligerfangs jaws. It struck the second-story of the building off to the right side of the street and shot at the Ligerfang’s back. A shrieking electrified blade passed through the Ligerfang’s flesh as the streak of lightning touched the street for a fraction of a second and then shot upwards to hit the second-story of the building on the opposite side of the street. All the citizens of Orario could see was streaks of lightning bouncing off the street and the walls as the lines of lightning passed through the Ligerfang over and over again.

“GROOOOAAAAWWWRRRR!!!” The Ligerfang’s roar nearly cracked all of the windows on the street. It lashed out with its massive claws at the lightning.

“Guh…” Bell hit the street dozens of meters away from the Ligerfang. He lay on the ground, lightning sparking across his injured body as he twitched. Bell gasped for breath, not realizing that at some point his body had surpassed his lungs’ ability to supply oxygen.

“Rrrrrrr…” The Ligerfang’s growl was much lower than before. The Monster was incredibly injured now. Half of its tail was gone, cut off by one of Bell’s uncountable slashes, its body was covered in bleeding cuts, and the paw that it had tried to swipe Bell out of the air with had been cut off entirely, the paw lying on the street next to a half destroyed vendor stall.

Bell used his sword to help him stand up and turned to face the Ligerfang. “One…more…”

The sound of armored Ganesha Familia members was heard in the distance, yet not a single person’s eyes looked away from Bell and the Ligerfang.

The Ligerfang was losing a lot of blood…but so was Bell. Monster and Man stared each other down.

“Spark!” Bell said in a rough voice, his throat sore and stuck with a bit of blood. Lightning crackled around Bell again wrapping tightly around his body and his sword. Sinking down a bit to steady his weakened body, Bell locked his rubellite eyes on the Ligerfang.

In a spark, Bell vanished.

The Ligerfang leapt backwards to make distance, the higher than normal intelligence it had allowed it to understand that this was Bell’s final strike. It only needed to dodge and then it could kill the human that had injured it so badly.

A bolt of lightning shot down the length of the street so fast and bright that it nearly burned itself into the eyes of everyone watching.

KRAKBOOM

The thunderclap that followed the lightning shattered the windows that weren’t already broken by the Ligerfang’s previous roar.

Bam

The Ligerfang’s body hit the ground.

Thump

The Ligerfang’s head landed on the street a few meters behind its body.

Clink

The upper half of Bell’s sword hit the cobblestones, the blade battered, the edge dulled, and the weapon snapped under the force of the final swing that had decapitated the Ligerfang.

“BELL?!” Lunoire’s scream kept Bell from passing out as he fell forward, his entire body tingling as his head went fuzzy from the depletion of his Mind. He was caught by a Lunoire before he could hit the street, his face pressed into her white shirt as she held him upright. “Bell! Bell?!”

“I… Stopped it…” Bell slurred his words a bit as he managed to barely look up at Lunoire.

Lunoire couldn’t stop the tears that pooled up at the corners of her eyes as she saw how battered Bell was. He was bleeding badly from multiple lacerations, his body was clearly overtaxed beyond measure, he was succumbing to Mind Down…he was a complete mess. “Y-Yeah… You stopped it, Bell…” She held him close and felt the first tears fall as Bell went limp.

“WHOOOOOAAAAAHHH!!!” All of the watching people finally roared out in praise and cheer for Bell and his defeat of the Ligerfang.

The Ganesha Familia members that had seen the final strike rushed over to Bell and Lunoire. The two had sunk to the ground as Lunoire tried to stop Bell’s bleeding.

“Move! Stand aside!” The Ganesha Familia members yelled out loudly because a crowd was forming as more and more citizens came out of hiding. “Bring the High Potions!”

Among the crowd was a red-haired young man in a black yukata-style robe with a blue sash around his waist. His blue eyes were wide at the life and death fight that he’d just witnessed. “Amazing…” A fire that he’d long honed since childhood flared up brightly within him as he looked towards the Ganesha Familia members that had surrounded Bell. “I’d like to make his weapons…” The man uttered out, his craftsman spirit burning brightly within his heart as he eyed the slain Ligerfang.

“Well, damn.” Loki said as she had just arrived with Ais. “I wonder if this is related to those colorful Flower Monsters or not?”

Ais said nothing, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Her golden eyes were locked onto Bell’s location and she strode forward without a thought. Once she was close enough, she let out a breath that she didn’t know that she’d been holding.

Bell was lying on the street, his shirt remove…or the scraps that remained of it, at least. The last of his physical injuries were healing up as the Ganesha Familia members applied a second or perhaps third High Potion to Bell’s body. Lunoire’s fingers were gently running through Bell’s hair and she refused to move away from him.

“I’m part of his Familia!” Lunoire snapped at the Ganesha Familia members when they tried to move her aside. “I’m not going anywhere!”

Ais standing next to Lunoire drew a lot of people’s eyes.

“The Kenki…”

“It really is!”

“Did the Kenki come to slay the Monster?”

“She’s a bit late…”

The words didn’t reach Ais though as she kneeled down and looked at Bell with a soft and relieved smile. “You did great…Bell.”

Lunoire wiped her eyes and gave Ais a small smile. “He really did, didn’t he?”

“A real Tiger Killer we’ve got here.” Loki said loudly with a bright grin on her face as she stopped behind Ais and looked down at the unconscious Bell.

“Tiger Killer?”

“I mean he did…”

“That lightning magic was cool!”

“Did you see how it wrapped around his body?!”

“Yeah, then he was just a flash of lightning!”

“Lightning and thunder!”

The chatter of the masses grew as the excitement of the incident only grew since no one (other than the ‘Hero’ that slew the Monster) had been hurt.

“Tiger Killer!”

“Tiger Killer!”

“Tiger Killer!”

Some of the children began to cheer as they hopped up and down next to their parents.

-Next Day ~ Wheat Manor-

“Nngh…” Bell grumbled a little as he awoke. His body felt oddly stiff and he had a small headache. “What happened…?” Bell’s eyes went wide as he recalled his memories before he’d lost consciousness. “THE LIGERFANG!!!” He shot upwards but grunted as his stiff body spiked with little pins and needles of pain. Bell fell back onto the bed and let out a slow breath.

“Bell?” Demeter’s voice got Bell’s attention as the door to the room was opened. “BELL!” The Goddess was across the room in an instant as she gently hugged Bell as best as she could while he was lying down.

“BELL!” Lunoire was right behind her Goddess, having been pulled out of the room several minutes ago to eat since she’d ben at Bell’s side since yesterday. “Are you okay?! Do you feel any pain?!” Her worry for him was so intense that Bell couldn’t help but smile at Lunoire.

“I’m fine…just a little stiff.” Bell said as Demeter pulled back from hugging him. He sat up slowly and quickly had his arms full of Lunoire as she sat on the edge of the bed and hugged him.

“You scared me.” Lunoire whispered into Bell’s ear as they held each other close. “I saw the last strike you made…and you were so injured…” She tightened her hug as her body trembled.

Bell hugged her back just as much, pouring his love and care for Lunoire into his embrace. “But you were there to catch me.” He whispered into her ear in return.

Lunoire tightened her hug just a little more. “Always.”

The two slowly pulled back from each other, their eyes meeting.

“Oh~” Demeter cooed softly as Bell and Lunoire softly kissed each other as love, relief, and a dozen other emotions practically poured off their bodies.

“Don’t make me worry like that…okay?” Lunoire said as she gently rested her forehead against Bell’s.

“I’ll do my best.” Bell promised with a warm smile.

Demeter smiled warmly at Bell and Lunoire and sat on the edge of the bed next to Lunoire. “I’m glad that you’re alright, Bell.” She giggled as she wrapped an arm around Lunoire’s waist. “And congratulations you two~”

“Demeter…” Bell rubbed the back of his head with a smile. He was gently pulled into a group hug with Lunoire by Demeter as she cuddled them both close.

Lunoire and Bell looked at each other as their faces were pressed into Demeter’s immense divine tits. A gentle kiss was placed on top of both of their heads as Demeter held them. Both Bell and Lunoire wrapped one of their arms around Demeter, and their other arm around each other. The group hug now complete, the three just comforted each other and shared their love and affection in a comfortable quiet.

It was exactly what all three of them needed after the incident with the Ligerfang at Monsterphilia.

“The whole Familia will want to celebrate your recovery, Bell.” Demeter said as the three slowly ended their shared embrace. “I’ll go let everyone know that you’ve woken up.” She stood up from the bed and then leaned over, nearly putting her cleavage into Bell’s face, and kissed his forehead softly.

Lunoire sighed a little as Demeter giggled while leaving the room. “Your face is red, Bell.”

Bell shook his head once. “Is it still red?”

“Yep.” Lunoire said as she leaned in to kiss him again, gently pushing him back down onto the bed.

Bell welcomed Lunoire’s advance and pulled her on top of him, letting her straddle him as they continued to kiss.

-Demeter’s Room ~ Night-

After a long party with the entire Familia along with plenty of food and alcohol, Bell was sitting in front of Demeter with his shirt off for a Status Update.

Demeter let a drop of her blood fall onto Bell’s back and the blue-white glow appeared as the update began. The fight honestly didn’t take that long, the sheer speed of Bell and the Ligerfang made it seem long for them, but to those watching it hadn’t even taken more than a minute or so. The sheer amount of Excelia, and quality Excelia at that, was incredible and more than Demeter had ever seen in any of her ‘children’ before.

“Truly a Grand Feat…” Demeter whispered with a fond smile as she moved the Excelia into Bell’s Falna and watched it grow much stronger as the numbers of his stats rapidly rose and his ‘vessel’ grew.

“Hm?” Bell glanced over his shoulder at Demeter. “Did you say something, Goddess?”

Demeter giggled softly as she wrote in what had manifested within Bell’s Falna. “You’ll see, Bell.”

Bell accepted the Status Update with curiosity as he felt Demeter lock up his Falna.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1 (2)

Strength – A 879 > SS 1,167

Endurance – A 882 > SS 1,171

Dexterity – A 896 > SSS 1,204

Agility – S 937 > SSS 1,225

Magic – S 940 > SSS 1,230

-Magic-

Caelum – Incantation: “Spark.” This Magic allows the user to imbue their body and weapons with Lightning Magic.

-Skills-

Liaris Freese – Fast growth as long as desire lasts. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user’s desire towards their goal. Makes the user immune to Charms and Mental Magics. Passive.

Argonaut – Allows a charge for a counterattack. The longer the user allows for charging, the stronger the counterattack becomes, until they reach their physical limit. When the user desires, the charge can be released as a single powerful strike through body, weapon, or spell. Another charge cannot start until the user has recovered from their last charged strike. Active Trigger.

(Developmental Ability)

(Hunter)

(Abnormal Resistance)

-Status-

“I… I…” Bell’s hand literally shook as he stared at his Status Update.

Demeter pulled him into a soft hug, running her fingers through his soft white hair to help calm Bell down. “Shhh… You did amazing, Bell.”

“B-But… ‘SS’…? ‘SSS’…?” Bell knew that shouldn’t be possible. The Level Up potential was also incredible to Bell…especially as he knew it usually took much, MUCH longer to achieve such a thing after his talk with Lunoire and Ryu.

“All of your hard work and your heroic nature made you take on a Monster that you shouldn’t have been able to defeat, and all for people that you didn’t even know.” Demeter smiled at Bell warmly as she placed a soft kiss on his lips. “That makes you a true Hero, Bell.”

Bell smiled a little and leaned into Demeter’s lips this time. “Thank you, Demeter.” He said after pulling away from her soft lips. He was much calmer now and his heart had stopped trying to hammer its way out of his chest.

Demeter smiled lovingly at Bell. “Do you want to Level Up right now, Bell?”

“Yes.” Bell nodded as their lips met again for another kiss.

“This won’t take long.” Demeter said with a little giggle once their lips separated. Bell turned back around and with another drop of Demeter’s blood, his Falna appeared again with the same blue-white glow. With a few movements of her finger across Bell’s back, Demeter advanced his Falna to Level 2. “Which Developmental Ability would you like, Bell?” She asked him to choose between the two options that currently resided within his Falna.

“Hunter, please.” Bell chose easily, knowing about that particular Developmental Ability from Ryu telling him about how it was acquired.

Demeter had figured that Bell would choose the rare Ability and wrote it into his Falna before finishing the update. “Congratulations on becoming Level 2, Bell.” Demeter praised him as she handed him his first Level 2 Status.

Bell accepted the paper with a smile. “Thank you, Demeter.”

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 2

Strength – I 0

Endurance – I 0

Dexterity – I 0

Agility – I 0

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

Caelum – Incantation: “Spark.” This Magic allows the user to imbue their body and weapons with Lightning Magic.

-Skills-

Liaris Freese – Fast growth as long as desire lasts. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user’s desire towards their goal. Makes the user immune to Charms and Mental Magics. Passive.

Argonaut – Allows a charge for a counterattack. The longer the user allows for charging, the stronger the counterattack becomes, until they reach their physical limit. When the user desires, the charge can be released as a single powerful strike through body, weapon, or spell. Another charge cannot start until the user has recovered from their last charged strike. Active Trigger.

-Developmental Ability-

Hunter – I (Improves abilities against monsters that the user has fought before and gained Excelia from.)

-Status-

“I also have a new Skill…” Bell finally managed to notice his new acquisition and read over it. “A charged attack?”

Demeter giggled and leaned into Bell’s back, pressing her large breasts against Bell’s muscled back. “Argonaut, huh~” She teased cutely, lightly blowing on Bell’s ear. “You really admire the Hero’s of legend, don’t you, Bell?”

Bell nodded as his body heated up at Demeter’s teasing. “I’ve liked them since I was a kid.”

“A Skill like that allows you to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Bell.” Demeter told him warmly. “What you have there…is a Heroic Strike.”

“Heroic Strike…” Bell breathed out as he looked at his Argonaut Skill again.

The Status Update drifted to the floor as Bell turned to look at Demeter, only to see his Goddess pull the top of her dress down, freeing her massive tits for Bell’s eyes to gaze upon for the first time. Demeter giggled as Bell’s rubellite eyes practically devoured her breasts as if he was trying to memorize them.

Not that anyone could blame Bell for doing so as he gazed upon the largest pair of Divine Tits in all of Orario. Demeter’s breasts were the same soft white as the rest of her skin, each capped with pink nipples that were currently perked up.

“D-Demeter?” Bell managed to tear his eyes away from Demeter’s divine breasts.

“A little reward to celebrate the fastest Level Up in history.” Demeter offered as she cupped her own breasts and bounced them in her palms for Bell’s viewing pleasure.

If Bell wasn’t so…distracted…he probably would’ve acknowledged what Demeter had just said. But his mind was focused entirely on Demeter’s tits.

Demeter giggled as she offered her breasts to Bell. “Touch me, Bell~”

Bell didn’t need to be told twice as he and Demeter shifted to her bed and Bell cupped her huge tits, his fingers slightly sinking into their softness. “Amazing…” He breathed out as he massaged and fondled Demeter’s breasts, totally enraptured by their size, softness, and how perky they were despite their immense size.

“Ooh~” Demeter moaned softly as Bell began to play with her nipples. “Just like that, Bell.” She cooed to him as she threaded her finger through his white hair and pulled him to her lips.

“Demeter.” Bell breathed out once they pulled back from their lip lock. Demeter’s eyes were filled with temptation as she guided Bell’s face to her tits. Without needing further instruction, Bell took one of her hard nipples into his mouth and began to suck and swirl his tongue around the hard nub.

Demeter gasped and let out a low moan as Bell enjoyed her tits. “Mmm, yes, enjoy me more, Bell~”

The two would continue to explore each other and further their relationship late into the night…but they didn’t go all the way. It wasn’t time for that yet and both of them knew it. The two were about to sleep when Lunoire slipped into Demeter’s room with a little pout on her face.

“Move over.” Lunoire said as she stripped down to her panties, letting Bell see her tits for the first time.

“Lunoire…” Bell said only for Lunoire to capture his lips as she pushed him down onto the bed next to Demeter.

“Shh, you need to rest, Bell.” Lunoire said with a soft purr and her eyes filled with love.

Bell didn’t argue, he wrapped his right arm around Demeter’s waist and pulled her into his side. His left arm took hold of Lunoire’s waist and pulled her into his left side. “Goodnight, Demeter.” He kissed Demeter softly. “Goodnight, Lunoire.” Bell kissed her lips gently.

“Goodnight, Bell.” Lunoire and Demeter said back as they snuggled into Bell and pulled the blanket over them.

All three of them were asleep within moments, not caring about the craze that was already spreading throughout Orario by Bell’s feat. They weren’t even thinking about how much crazier it would get when the Guild was informed that Bell had reached Level 2 in only twenty days.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Damn!

Fast as lightning, Bell is!

Level Up in only twenty days!

But he definitely earned it! Pushing himself far beyond what ANY Level 1 should be capable of and then going even further than that! All for complete strangers that were in danger.

That’s a real Hero.

Lunoire makes her move and deepens her relationship with Bell.

Demeter does as well!

Lucky rabbit!

Ais even saw the result of Bell’s fight!

Did Loki just end up giving Bell a nickname in Orario?!

Where did the remains of the Ligerfang end up? Those belong to Bell!

Perhaps a Drop Item or two will be left over, along with the Magic Stone!

Maybe that red-haired man could make Bell something impressive from said Items?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!