Loki Familia Premise Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you a new chapter! Now that it’s been discovered that Bell’s ‘Growth Hack’ Skill can transcend the limits of the Falna, a temporary plan to just go about everything normally until Finn and Riveria return has been put in place. As Bell continues with his training and dungeon crawling how much further will he grow? But Fate is a strange thing and Heroes are often entwined with it.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 8 – Songs and Sagas of a Fate Determined

In the large back garden of the Twilight Manor two Adventurers stood across from each other.

“Ready, Bell?” Aki asked as she readied her sword.

Bell set his stance and leveled his sword at Aki. “Ready.”

In the next instant their swords clashed with the ring of steel against steel.

Aki took advantage of her experience and angled her sword to the side, pushing Bell’s blade away and launching a knee strike straight at his gut. Bell backstepped to dodge and freed his sword in the same movement. With a thrust of his sword aimed at Aki’s chest, Bell went to land the first strike of the spar. Aki blocked the thrust and forced Bell’s sword down before her left hand lashed out towards Bell’s face. Bell pivoted to the side and avoided the punch, countering with his own, only for Aki to deftly dodge the blow and force him back with her greater strength.

“Not bad, Bell.” Aki grinned at Bell approvingly. ‘He’s fighting more like a Level 2 than any Level 1 that I’ve ever seen.’

“Hup!” Bell swung his sword and Aki moved to the side, barely avoiding the tip of the blade. In the next moment her blade was heading straight for Bell’s face. “Ngh!” Bell grunted as he managed to put his sword in the path of Aki’s and made a hasty block.

Aki grinned and controlled Bell’s sword with the blade of her own, keeping it locked in position as she used her free hand to slam a punch into Bell’s gut. As Bell’s eyes widened in surprise, Aki hooked her foot behind his ankle as he stumbled backwards, tripping Bell and sending him to the ground. In the next second, Aki was straddling Bell, her sword hovering over his throat, her dark eyes stared into Bell’s rubellite gaze.

“I win.” Aki smiled at Bell as she straddled him.

Bell got his breath back, amazed by how much he’d struggled over such a short spar before being defeated. “That was impressive, Aki.” He smiled up at the Cat Girl with warm eyes that made her tail stand up straight behind her.

Aki stayed where she was for a long moment, just straddling Bell, before she finally stood up and then held out her hand to Bell. “You did well, better than I expected even. Your strength and speed are more like a Level 2’s than a Level 1’s, Bell.”

“Thank you.” Bell took Aki’s hand and let her help him to his feet. “I’m trying my best to get stronger.”

“You’re succeeding.” Aki laughed softly, a lovely sound that made Bell smile reflexively.

Bell readied his sword again as he and Aki looked at each other with challenge. “I’m ready to go again!”

Aki had a cheshire grin spread across her face. “Let’s see how many times you can go today then, Bell!” The challenge in her eyes didn’t hide the almost sultry purr in her voice.

“Aki…” Bell felt his face heat up slightly at his unintended innuendo.

The thrust of Aki’s sword scattered the less than pure thoughts from Bell’s mind as he deflected her blade and swung his own sword at her stomach. Aki backstepped and swung her sword towards Bell’s right arm to disable it. Bell jerked back to dodge the swing, only to step forward strongly with a quick thrust of his own. Metal clashed with metal, ringing throughout the air of the back garden, as Bell and Aki locked their swords again.

The two would continue training for most of the day as Bell took a day off from the Dungeon in hopes that the Tenth Floor would calm down before he and Lili went back down again.

-Dungeon ~ Eighteenth Floor-

At the same time that Bell and Aki were training, the group of Tiona, Tione, Ais, Finn, Riveria, and Lefiya had made it down to Floor Eighteen on their personal trek through the Dungeon to make money and pay off debts.

“Rivira seems a bit empty, don’t you think?” Tiona mentioned the distinct lack of people around.

Riveria looked around, listening with her sharp hearing. “Yes, something is off.”

“Perhaps it’s a good thing that it’s currently ‘Day’ right now.” Finn mentioned of the ceiling that was covered in crystals. The magnificent natural formation grew brighter and dimmer over time, creating a ‘Morning’, ‘Day’, and ‘Night’ on Floor Eighteen, though it differed from the time on the surface by several hours.

“Is it true that someone was killed?” One older Adventurer asked another.

“Yeah. Everyone is gathering up at Villy’s inn!” The other man, equally as old, confirmed as he motioned for the first man to follow him.

“A murder in town? That is unusual.” Riveria narrowed her eyes at the news. For all that Rivira was a town of rogues (Adventurers that rarely ever returned to their Familias) it didn’t have much in the way of crime beyond the occasional theft or a fight breaking out.

“What should we do, Captain?” Tione looked over to Finn for his leadership.

Finn thought about it for a few seconds before speaking. “We were planning on getting a room here. So, we can’t just pretend this isn’t our problem. Let’s go have a look.” He led the way towards Villy’s inn while the others followed behind him.

The crowd in front of the inn was large and crammed together. All of the residents of Rivira wanted to know what had happened. The Loki Familia group stood at the back of the crowd while trying to find a way to get to the front.

“Man, there’s no getting through here!” Tiona couldn’t even find a gap to squeeze into the crowd.

“I don’t…” Lefiya hopped to see over the crowd do to her slightly shorter stature. “Think we can…” She hopped again. “Get to the inn.”

“Hey, move over, please!” Tione tried to get into the crowd. “I’m just trying to see…” She wasn’t making much progress. “I said please! I know all of you can hear me!”

“I’ll go on ahead.” Finn spoke to Riveria. “Keep an eye on everyone, please.”

Riveria nodded to Finn in acceptance. She watched as he prepared to slip between the crowd’s feet, using his natural short stature and light feet that the Prum race was known for.

He didn’t get the chance though.

“GET OUTTA MY WAY!!!” Tione yelled and slammed her foot onto the stone ground, shattering it. “MOVE OR I’LL BUST SOME SKULLS!!!” The crowd rapidly parted in a panic to let Tione through.

“P-Please don’t go overboard…” Finn let out a sigh at Tione’s brute force approach to getting to the inn.

The Party of six managed to get to the inn without trouble from there. Upon entering, they noticed that no one was at the front desk and shared a look among the group. With a careful pace, they began to trek down the hall towards the rooms to try and find someone.

They’d only made it about a quarter of the way down the hall before a scent hit their noses.

Ais perked up, recognizing the smell. ‘This smell…’

“This is…” Tiona covered her nose with a grimace.

“Yes…” Finn agreed without covering his nose or even changing his expression.

It was the smell of blood and death…the smell of something that used to be a person.

The six of them got to the room that the smell was coming from and opened the heavy curtains that acted as the door. What they saw inside was a corpse…one that had its head violently smashed in at that. On the lone bed in the room sat Villy, the innkeeper, with his head in his hands. It was clear the Cat Man was at a loss for how this could’ve happened at his inn.

“Yuck…” Tiona wrinkled her nose at the sight of the corpse.

“Talk about gory…” Tione eyed the corpse with a grimace.

“The hell are you lot doing here?!” A gruff voice called out, getting Lefiya’s attention as she was the closest to the, now opened, heavy curtain. “Are my lookouts sleeping out there?!”

The speaker was a well-built, muscular man with black hair and one teal eye, with an eyepatch covering his missing left eye. He wore a sleeveless open jacket that showed his muscular body, he had on arm covers and gloves, blue pants, dark boots, and a belt that had a red monster face carving and fur. This was Bors Elder, a Level 3 Adventurer, and the current leader of Rivira by virtue of having the highest Level among all of the residents.

“Hey there, Bors.” Finn greeted the man. “We’re planning to stay for a while. So why don’t we help you figure this out as quickly as possible?”

“Tch! You sure talk the talk, Finn.” Bors scoffed at the Prum’s greeting and offer. “Doesn’t matter if it’s you lot or Freya Familia… Always walkin’ in here like you own the place, just because you’re strong.”

“Do we know anything about who the victim is…or the attacker?” Finn questioned Bors about the situation.

“Oi, Villy! This is your place! Get your head outta your hands and speak up!” Bors barked at the Cat Man.

“I don’t know who they were…” Villy raised his head, revealing six red stripe tattoos on his face, three on each cheek, like stripes or whiskers. “The man was covered in full plate armor, I couldn’t see his face because of his helmet.” The Cat Man shook his head, his black cat ears drooping. “He and a lady in a robe showed up last night and asked to rent out the whole place.”

“The entire inn to themselves?” Finn only took a second to understand why. “Ah… That’s what they had in mind.”

Ais tilted her head curiously, only for her cheeks to turn pink a few seconds later as she understood.

Lefiya’s entire face, all the way to the tips of her ears, went dark red and steam seemed to be rising from her head as she understood the implications.

“You got it.” Villy nodded to Finn. “And look at this place. Even the slightest moan echoes forever. But they paid with a large sack of Magic Stones. If I get paid, I ain’t got a reason to say no.” He dropped his head and let out a heavy sigh. “I stepped out to the bar; no way in hell was I listening to that all night… Then I come back this morning to this mess. Was a damn shock, I tell you.”

“So, the guy bites the dust…and his lady disappears. She’s the culprit, no doubt about it.” Bors declared with a nod.

“At the very least, she knows more than we do.” Finn wouldn’t say ‘case closed’ on this just yet. “We still need to know the victim’s identity.”

“Where’s that Status Thief?!” Bors yelled out into the hallway.

The sound of two pairs of footsteps were heard as two of Bors’s men came rushing to the room.

“I’ve got it right here, boss!” The younger-looking Adventurer handed a small bottle over to Bors. It was filled with an odd liquid that vaguely resembled blood.

“Status Thief… Isn’t that?” Lefiya eyed the bottle warily.

Riveria also narrowed her eyes slightly. “It’s solely designed to reveal our Statuses.”

Status Thief was an item designed to pick the ‘lock’ that a Deity hid the Falna of their followers with. It could only be made by someone that had the Mystery Developmental Ability and access to the blood of a Deity, also called ichor by some. It was outright illegal and incredibly expensive.

“This ain’t the time to be worrying about rules.” Bors pulled out the stopper and let a single drop of the Status Thief touch the dead man’s back. The Falna slowly faded into view with an emblem that was rather familiar to most people in Orario. “Shit…” Bors cursed, able to recognize the emblem of Ganesha Familia. “I know that mark, but I can’t read Hieroglyphs.”

“I can read Hieroglyphics.” Riveria stepped forward.

“Me too.” Ais followed a step behind Riveria.

Everyone let the two have some space as they deciphered the ‘God’s Writing’ for a moment.

Riveria grimaced at what she read. “His name was Hashana Dorlia.”

“He was Level 4.” Ais read off the deceased man’s Level for everyone.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock that a Level 4 had been killed like this, seemingly unable to even put up a fight against his murderer.

“Hold it!” Hold it, hold it, hold it!” Bors shook his head before running his hand through his short brown hair. “Hashana Dorlia, Hard Fist Fighter, was murdered?!”

“That means if the woman really did kill him like this…she must be Level 5…or even stronger.” Ais mentioned as she briefly glanced at the smashed head again.

Bors looked thoughtful as he stood next to the corpse. “The suspect is a woman…”

Villy spoke up, looking at Bors. “And one strong enough to strangle a Level 4 Adventurer to death without him even being able to fight back.”

The two men turned to look at the Party from Loki Familia with blatant suspicion in their eyes.

“Eh?” Lefiya’s eyes widened as she picked up on the unspoken accusation.

“Well…? It adds up, doesn’t it?” Bors questioned the group. “You folks acting like you just showed up, sticking your noses into everything… Who’s to say it wasn’t one of you?!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Villy stood up next to Bors. “Any one of them could’ve seduced him…and then, when his guard was down…”

“Was it you?” Bors looked at Ais. “You?” His gaze nearly stabbed into Lefiya. “You?” He eyed Riveria for a second. “Or you?” Bors’s eyes locked onto Tiona, only for his gaze to drop down to her chest. “Uh…yeah, probably not.” He shook his head.

“Nah, not a chance.” Villy agreed with Bors.

“Nyeeeaaah! Where were you looking when you said that?!” Tiona demanded, making both men take a step back in fear. “Besides, I’ve already got a man.” She huffed out while thinking of Bell.

Bors and Villy looked over at Tione last, their eyes running over her body briefly before locking onto her tits. Her crossed arms had pushed them up slightly, making them appear even bigger than they already were.

“Well now…she seems suspicious.” Bors mentioned, his face developing a sleazy look.

Tione’s eye twitched at both the accusation and being eyed up by the two men.

“Yeah… I’d say we have some strong suspects.” Villy leaned forward, his face turning a bit red as he stared.

Tione’s eye twitch became more prominent and she ground her teeth in anger.

“I mean oh my God! The evidence is really stacked against her!” Villy let his mouth run and promptly put his foot into it.

Crack

Tione’s stomp cracked the stone floor. “YOU FILTHY LITTLE SHITS!!! I’VE GOT A MAN!!! WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?! YOU FUCK WITH ME AND I’LL TEAR THAT PIECE OF FILTH BETWEEN YOUR LEGS RIGHT OFF!!!” The Amazon roared at Villy and Bors for daring to accuse her.

“EEEAAAHHH!!!” Bors and Villy both squealed in fear as they covered their junk with their hands and squeezed their legs closed for good measure.

“Yeah…sorry.” Finn held his hand to his forehead at the stupid line of ‘logic’ that Bors and Villy had just gone down. “But as you can see…none of these women are the Seductress type.”

Tiona pulled Tione into a one-armed hug to help her sister calm down. “Easy, Tione… Just think of Bell.” She whispered into Tione’s ear. The older twin began to relax a little as images of Bell filled her mind. The way he looked at her, the smiles he gave her, how he complimented her cooking. The tension almost visibly bled off of Tione as she calmed down. “Those two losers wouldn’t know what to do with a woman anyway.” Tiona glared at Villy and Bors, Tione following suit a second later, making both men slump their heads at the blow to their masculine pride and from their fear of the two Level 5’s.

With the mistaken accusation cleared up, it was quickly deduced that the killer had been looking for something…but hadn’t found it. Meaning that the killer was most likely still in Rivira, looking for what they were after and willing to kill for it. The entire town had been locked down, Ais and Lefiya keeping the north gate secure, Tione and Tiona securing the south gate, leaving Finn and Riveria in the center of town to watch over the growing crowd.

When Bors announced that they’d be doing body checks of all the females, the men had cheered loudly. Naturally, the women were NOT amused in the slightest and it looked like a fight might break out.

Riveria and the girls had stepped in to quell the brewing hostility. Announcing that THEY would be doing the checks and the men would stay right where they were until everything was done.

Many of the women had rushed towards Finn, the Prum being very popular in Orario, for both his looks and his strength. That had led to another mess where Finn had to explain that only the female Loki Familia Adventurers would be checking the women. Riveria pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling like a headache was coming on. Lefiya tried to get the women to line up in front of her to actually begin the inspections, but that was going poorly.

In the confusion, Ais noticed a woman slowly backing out of the center of town. She was a Chienthrope and looked incredibly nervous and uneasy. As soon as she’d made it outside of the crowd, she bolted away, holding her bag to her chest and not looking back.

“That girl…” Ais took off after the fleeing Chienthrope woman.

“M-Miss Ais?!” Lefiya ran after her quickly.

None of them noticed that an Adventurer in damaged and worn black armor had noticed them and began to follow.

-Outskirts of Rivira-

“Hah hah hah…” The Chienthrope panted as she ran as fast as she could. ‘Damn it! Why did I agree to take this stupid, secret Quest?!’ She didn’t expect that her contact to retrieve the weird item from would end up murdered! Now she was being followed by two members of Loki Familia! Looking back, she saw Lefiya chasing her, the Elf girl was clearly out of breath and not used to running for such a long distance at top speed. ‘Wait… Where’s the other one?!’

Ais landed in front of the fleeing woman, cutting off the Chienthrope’s only path of escape on the staircase surrounded by a wall of crystal on either side.

“Eeeeh?!” The Chienthrope looked at Ais, then back at Lefiya, then back at Ais.  She realized that she was trapped and slowly sank to her knees in fear.

“Th-The pincer formation…worked perfectly…” Lefiya slowly steadied her breathing. “You’re amazing, Miss Ais.”

“Not really. The plan worked because you pushed yourself, Lefiya.” Ais gave her friend praise for fulfilling her part perfectly. “Who are you? Why did you run?” Ais questioned the Chienthrope woman.

“Perhaps we should leave interrogation to the Captain?” Lefiya spoke up, knowing that neither of them had any experience with such things.

Ais thought about that for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s go back to the square.”

“No! Please!” The woman nearly leapt forward to grab onto Ais around the waist. “If I go back there! If I go back…! It’ll be me they find dead next!”

“Huh?” Lefiya blinked at the terrified Chienthrope woman.

“Why would you think that?” Ais raised an eyebrow at the other woman’s words. She saw the woman clutch the bag tighter and made an educated guess. “Is it because you have something from Hashana?”

The Chienthrope looked up at Ais in shock, before her ears drooped and she slumped forward a bit. “I never should’ve taken this request…” She mumbled out, feeling like the walls were closing in. “My name is Lulune…Lulune Louie. I’m from Hermes Familia, Level 2.” She lied about her actual Level, just as Hermes had instructed her to.

“Miss Lulune, please come with us so that we can sort this out.” Lefiya requested politely.

Lulune looked at the Elf like she was crazy, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t go back there! I’ll die!”

“You mentioned a Quest. Who gave you the Quest?” Ais asked to get Lulune to focus. Any information about this suspicious secret quest would most likely lead to whoever had murdered Hashana.

“I don’t know…” Lulune shook her head, looking down at the steps. “It’s true! It happened the other night while I was walking through a deserted alley! A person in a black robe appeared, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, and they offered me what seemed like a simple quest to come down to the Eighteenth Floor, give a password to a man wearing full plate armor in one of the bars, and then return the item to the surface.” She clutched her bag tightly again. “Of course I was suspicious… But the reward and the money paid up front were too good to pass up!” She still remembered her joy at seeing the money, her tail had been wagging non-stop. “I should’ve turned them down…” She moped, her entire body slumping forward.

“What did you receive from Hashana?” Ais questioned Lulune again.

“If we know what the murderer is looking for then we might be able to locate them easier.” Lefiya said as she looked at Lulune with a soft smile, trying to calm the Chienthrope woman down.

Lulune looked around, still terrified that Hashana’s killer was lurking around. “I-I’ll show you… But not here! Not out in the open!”

Lefiya and Ais looked at each other, debating on where they could take Lulune that they wouldn’t be found for a while. Eventually they practically picked up Lulune and took her to Rivira’s large storage area. A place that was fenced in and had so many crates and barrels stacked up that they could be hidden from prying eyes. With all of Rivira currently locked down, no one would be anywhere near the place either.

None of the three women could’ve known what would happen when Ais saw the item in question. Nor of the disaster that would follow afterwards. More of the Flower Monsters, Hashana’s murderer turning out to be a Tamer, and for Ais…the murderer calling her ‘Aria’…her mother’s name.

The mental spiral that would cause would lead to Ais making a drastic and dangerous decision.

A decision that would be only further fueled by what the group from Loki Familia would stumble upon on their way back to report the entire incident to Loki.

-Next Day ~ Dungeon ~ Tenth Floor-

Lili was harvesting another Orc as she and Bell got a break from waves of Monsters. “It’s not nearly as bad as the other day. But the amount of Monsters is still a bit high.” She pulled out the Orc’s Magic Stone and watched the body crumble away into white ash. She ‘tsked’ when no Drop Item was left behind.

“So this is similar to what the Tenth Floor is normally like, Lili?” Bell asked as he kept watch for her as she worked.

“Yeah, plenty of Monsters, but a Party can reasonably get short breaks here and there.” Lili said as she placed the Magic Stone in her large green pack. “All done with this group.”

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

Lili perked up. “Do you hear that, Bell?”

“Yeah.” Bell readied his sword, ready to face whatever Monster was approaching.

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

The sound got louder and louder, becoming recognizable as footsteps.

A LOT of footsteps.

“Buuhhiii!”

“Gee!”

“Gii!”

“Bwarh!”

A large group of Monsters, more of a stampede really, charged out of the mist towards Bell and Lili. Orcs, Imps, and even Needle Rabbits rushed headlong towards the two Adventurers all at once.

“Shit!” Lili brought up her bowgun and took aim.

“Frost!” Bell cast his Ice Enchantment and the partial ‘ice armor’ covered his body and frosted mist began to emanate from his blade.

Just as Lili and Bell were about to attack, the speedy Needle Rabbits rushed straight past them without slowing down. Both Lili and Bell looked at the fleeing Monsters in surprise. When the Imps glided past them on their small wings, both Lili and Bell looked at each other in confusion. Without saying a word, Bell and Lili moved aside and watched as the large Orcs ran past them as well without even trying to attack.

“They weren’t coming to attack us?” Bell was confused, never having seen any Monsters act like this before.

Lili looked at the mist and fog that the large group of Monsters had come from. “They were running from something else.”

Bell and Lili tried to see through the fog and mist for whatever had made the Monsters flee in such a panic. There didn’t appear to be anything chasing after them though. There was a strange tension in the air, however, that both Bell and Lili could practically feel against their skin.

Out of nowhere flames erupted from the fog, blasting it away in a large torrent as the directed inferno headed straight for Lili and Bell.

Bell vanished in a burst of snow. A second burst of snow appeared right beside Lili for a brief second as Bell grabbed her and then vanished again. The flames evaporated the cloud of snow near instantly, but Bell and Lili were already gone.

“Are you okay, Lili?” Bell asked as they reappeared in a fourth burst of snow a distance away.

“Lili is fine.” Lili confirmed as she aimed her bowgun straight at the area the flames had come from and unleashed four quick shots. The bolts flew through the fog, but there was no sound of impact nor any sound from an injured Monster. “Where did it go?”

Bell felt the heat behind them because of how cold his body was when using his Magic. “Behind!” He swung his sword as he spun and unleashed a wave of ice and frost that formed a thick wall between them and the flames. The fire spread across the surface of the ice and quickly began to melt it. Lili darted to the right while Bell went left with another use of Snjógöngur.

What the two managed to see for a brief moment was a reptilian Monster’s head disappearing back into the fog. Lili fired two more bolts and this time there was a light sound of the projectiles hitting something.

“What is it?!” Bell asked quickly as he tried to see the strange Monster.

Lili looked puzzled as well, having never seen this Monster look or act like this. “It’s an Infant Dragon! But it’s different! Its scales have turned the same color as the fog and it’s using ambush attacks!”

There was a whooshing sound and Lili’s eyes widened.

“Dodge!” Lili threw herself to the ground a second before a long, thick tail swiped through the air where she’d been standing.

Bell swung his sword, unleashing another wave of ice at the incoming tail.

Crack

The ice shattered, but managed to stop the tail swipe, and the long tail quickly disappeared back into the thick fog.

“Shit!” Bell cursed as he vanished into a burst of snow just as a burst of flames covered the area he’d been standing in a second after the tail disappeared.

Lili stood up quickly and reached into her beige cloak. “Bell! Lili will try to force it out of the fog!” She pulled out two handfuls of Purple Moth Poison Grenades and began tossing them all around the area, unleashing thick clouds of purple dust that tinged the fog with a light purple hue.

“RAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” The Infant Dragon’s roar was louder than anything that Lili or Bell had ever heard before. A torrent of flames burned away the poison and some of the fog along with it, thinning the mist that was helping hide the strange Infant Dragon.

“It’s… It’s huge!” Lili cried out in shock at finally getting a look at the strange Infant Dragon.

A normal Infant Dragon had orange scales and was roughly six meters long from nose to tail tip and stood at a meter-and-a-half tall at the shoulder. They were capable of breathing out gouts of flame that could burn regular armor easily and were classed as Level 2 Monsters making them the ‘pseudo Monster Rex’ of the Upper Floors where there was no Monster Rex. The Rare Monster was considered a ‘wall’ for Adventurers heading for the Middle Levels to face on Floors Eleven and Twelve as an unofficial test to prove that they were ready.

But this Infant Dragon was MUCH different from a normal member of its kind. It stood at least two meters tall at the shoulder and was roughly twelve meters long from nose to tail tip. Its scales were also a dull white-grey color that mimicked the fog that was present on the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Floors. Even its flame breath was far more powerful than a regular Infant Dragon’s.

“RAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” The irregular Infant Dragon roared powerfully, trying to keep its eyes on both Lili and Bell at the same time.

“Strengthened species…” Bell breathed out as he saw a Dungeon Irregular for the first time.

Wsh

Wsh

Two bolts raced for the Infant Dragon’s eyes, but the irregular tilted its head and both projectiles bounced off its grey-white scales. Flames filled its jaws and it unleashed a torrent of flames at Lili for her attack.

“Shit!” Lili cursed as she took off as fast as she possibly could to avoid the fire.

Bell appeared next to the Infant Dragon’s left flank and slashed its scales with his sword. His blade scored the scales, but barely did any actual damage…until his Magic covered the entire side of the Infant Dragon in thick ice.

“ROOOAAARRR!!!” The Infant Dragon bellowed out as the chill seeped into its body, cooling it down significantly. It turned its long neck and unleashed a conflagration upon the frozen area and Bell at the same time.

Bell vanished in another burst of snow to dodge and reappeared on the other side of the Infant Dragon. With a swipe of his extremely cold blade along the ground, the grass froze over in thick ice, spreading across the area and trapping the Infant Dragon’s feet.

“Got you!” Lili took advantage of the irregular’s distraction and let off two quick shots towards its upper neck, just beneath its jaws, one of the only soft spots on the Infant Dragon, according to Finn.

The first bolt glanced off the scales along the Infant Dragon’s neck, but the second lodged between two of the scales and sank deep into the skin beneath.

“ROOAARR!!!” The white Infant Dragon swung its long neck around and unleashed a wave of fire in a wide arc, setting fire to the grass in the are and partially melting the ground from Bell’s ice. Lili ran from the flames again, trying to keep ahead of them as best as she could.

“Hyah!” Bell swung his sword against the Infant Dragon’s rear right leg. Once more the blade only scored the scales, but the wave of ice unleashed by Bell’s Magic nearly encased the large irregular’s body entirely.

Lili, having escaped the flames again, stopped on the opposite side of the Infant Dragon from Bell. “Bell! We just need to keep wearing it down like this! The bolt that I hit it with had poison on it!” She wasn’t entirely sure how effective even the refined poison from the Purple Moth would be on an irregular like this, but it should be hindering the Infant Dragon to some degree.

“Got it!” Bell called back, relying on Lili’s greater experience in this unexpected situation.

Neither of them expected what happened next.

“ROOOAAAWWWRRR!!!” The irregular Infant Dragon roared loudly enough to shake the air. And then it exploded into flames that shattered the ice encasing most of its body from thermal shock and then evaporated it from the sheer heat. The shockwave of the blast and the wave of flames that spread out in all directions knocked Bell and Lili away.

“GAH!!!” Lili cried out in pain from the blast and the burning flames. She hit the ground painfully several meters behind where she’d been and rolled along the grass with a pained grunt. “Hah… Oww…” She hissed out as smoke wafted off her beige cloak

Bell wasn’t much better, having hit the ground and bounced off the grass twice before coming to a stop. “Hah… Fuck…” He cursed out, steam rising from what little of his ‘ice armor’ remained. With a grunt he forced himself to his feet and focused his mind to further empower his enchantment. The ice armor reformed and the frozen mist from his blade became a thick cloud of vapor. “What the hell is that?”

The irregular Infant Dragon was clad in a blazing cloak of fire along its entire body. The intense heat had blasted all of the fog in the area away. The previously frozen ground was now scorched black as the white Infant Dragon stalked towards Bell, seeing him as the bigger threat as he’d stood up.

“ROOOAAARRR!!!” The Infant Dragon roared as it charged straight at Bell, putting its powerful legs to use as its claws tore up the grass and dirt in the same instant that it was scorched black from the flames.

Bell vanished in a burst of snow and the blazing dragon tore through the area a second later. “Yah!” Bell reappeared behind the Infant Dragon, his ice armor steaming from the proximity to the fire, and swung his blade while unleashing a massive wave of ice directly against the flames.

Steam exploded from the clashing temperatures and nearly staggered Bell from the force. The thick steam obscured his view and he didn’t see the flaming tail until it slammed into him and sent him flying across the area.

“Gack!” Bell hacked out as his back hit the ground and he quickly rolled around to put out the minor flames that had clung to him. “Hah… Hah…” He panted and felt the ground shaking as the Infant Dragon charged at him again.

Bell vanished in a burst of snow to dodge again.

“ROOAARRR!!!” The Infant Dragon whipped around, scattering flames everywhere as it searched for its prey.

“HYAAAHHH!!!” Bell roared as he covered his body in ice and rushed through the flames emitting from the Infant Dragon with Snjógöngur. His blade stabbed against the grey-white scales with all of the force that he could muster.

FSSSSHHHH

Steam hissed and a massive cloud blasted from the point of contact. Bell poured more and more Mind into his spell even as his ‘ice armor’ melted from his body and left scalding burns along parts of his skin. But as more and more ice and chill poured out from Bell’s sword, the heat began to die down. Frost began to stick as the white scales hissed and steamed before being covered in ice.

“RAAAUUURRR!!!” The white dragon roared in pain as it thrashed around and charged off to get away from Bell.

“Get back here!” Bell roared out as he vanished into a burst of snow. He reappeared in front of the Infant Dragon and swung his sword, unleashing a wave of ice that stopped the dragon in its tracks.

With a deep inhale, the irregular blasted a concentrated cone of intense flames straight at the ice wall. The ice steamed and then shattered before the flames torched the ground where Bell had been a second ago.

“YAAAHHH!!!” Bell slashed the grey-white scales along the Infant Dragon’s left back leg. The ice encased the limb almost instantly and the frost crept over the body, spreading along the lower body and the base of the tail.

The Infant Dragon didn’t roar, instead it whipped its head around with its long neck and bathed its own body and the entire are where Bell was in flames. The ice melted and steamed as the Infant Dragon lashed its tail around, hoping to hit Bell in a wide swing. Bell burst from a cloud of snow straight at the Infant Dragon’s neck.

He didn’t see the Infant Dragon’s right claws burst into flames and come at him until the last fraction of a second.

“GAUGH!!!” Bell hacked out, his ice armor shattering, his actual armor mangled and torn from his body from the force of the blow. With a heavy gasp that filled his chest with pain, Bell managed to turn in midair and land on his feet. Bell felt the stinging pain of burns across his skin, hot blood was seeping from the shallow cuts across his torso that his armor hadn’t been able to stop.

“ROOOAAARRR!!!” The white Infant Dragon roared out as flames appeared in its jaws while it reared up on its back legs to tower over Bell.

Wsh

A single bolt stabbed into the Infant Dragon’s right eye, making it nearly explode into a shower of blood.

FWOOOOSSSSSHHHHH

The blast of fire went high into the air as the Infant Dragon thrashed around in pain form the loss of its eye.

“Hah… Hah… Lili isn’t…down yet!” Lili managed to shout through her labored breathing, her beige cloak half-burned, leaving only the top and the sleeves with ragged, blackened ends. Her body had small burns here and there, her hair was disheveled, and she was struggling to stand…but she refused to leave Bell to the irregular Infant Dragon.

“HYAAAHHH!!!” Bell dumped as much Mind as he could into his spell and vanished into a blast of snow as he pushed Snjógöngur past the limit of what his body could handle. His blade slammed into the white-grey scales of the Infant Dragon’s underbelly and the combination of magic, speed, and strength finally managed to overcome the defense of the dragon’s scales. The sword slashed through the Infant Dragon’s stomach, sending blood flying through the air before it was frozen solid. Ice and frost spread through the irregular’s body freezing flesh and blood alike. “AAAHHH!!!” Bell blasted upwards in another burst of snow the instant his feet touched the ground. A long cut split the grey-white scales along the Infant Dragon’s long neck.

“ROOAAAWWWRRR!!!” The bellowing roar of the grievously injured dragon rang out through the air as it fell to the side with a loud crash.

Bell hit the ground, his legs nearly giving out beneath him as he hit one knee, and he struggled to breathe properly. There was pain everywhere, but it all muddled together in his mind. With another burst of snow Bell vanished and came at the Infant Dragon again. He brought his sword down in an overhead swing with a battle cry. “YAHHH!!!”

The Infant Dragon lunged forward, its fangs nearly flashing as it tried to snap Bell out of the air.

Crrrkkkllleee

What the irregular Monster got was its snapping jaws filled with thick ice. Its blind side didn’t allow it to see as Bell reached the base of its neck and swung his sword with all the force and magic that his body had left. Blade met scales and stalemated for a moment, before the ice spread between the scales and forced them apart, allowing the blade to bite into the hide beneath and split the skin as it began to freeze over.

“AAAAHHHH!!!” Bell roared so loud that he couldn’t even feel the sharp pain in his chest. The rapidly spreading ice forced the blade deeper into the Infant Dragon’s neck while also forcing the frozen flesh apart at the same time. When the sword finally passed through the thick neck entirely, Bell collapsed at the sudden lack of resistance and hit his knees.

The long neck and head fell to the ground with a thud, ice covering the stumps on either end. Red ice crystals, frozen blood, fell all around Bell, covering him in shards of red and dustings of red snow. The white Infant Dragon’s body collapsed to the ground loudly, but Bell didn’t hear it. His vision was fading in and out already and all he could feel was the various pains he’d built up over the battle with the irregular. But now…even the pain was fading away as Bell’s conscious slipped from him. The remaining ice covering Bell fell apart and his sword fell from his hands.

“BELL!!!” Lili yelled as she staggered over to her injured friend, her right leg flared with pain but she ground her teeth and forced her way through it. She managed to get to Bell and gasped at the mass of injuries all over his body. “Bell?! Bell!!!” She shouted as she tried to keep him conscious.

The chill in the air was still intense from Bell’s Magic, and ice covered various parts of the ground all around the area of the fight. Lili, not wanting Bell to lose consciousness, smacked his cheek lightly to keep him awake.

“Lili…” Bell’s rubellite eyes opened a bit more as he focused on Lili’s face. “Are you… Are you okay?”

“Lili is fine!” Lili said immediately, unconcerned with her injuries at the moment.

Bell managed a small smile for his friend. “That’s…good…”

Lili’s eyes widened as Bell reached down to the frost-covered ground and grabbed his sword. “Bell?”

Shakily, Bell managed to slowly stand up, the sharp pain in his chest made his breath shallow, but the intense pain from his legs and body kept him awake. “We need… To get out of here…Lili…” Bell said with a raspy breath as bit of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Even in the haze of pain and creeping unconsciousness, Bell knew they were still in danger and wanted to get both of them out of the Dungeon.

Unfortunately, his legs wouldn’t move anymore.

Voices caught Lili’s attention and she snapped her gaze over to where she heard them. “Help! Please! Irregular!” She shouted, no matter how much it hurt her battered body.

“From the fog that had slowly started to return to the area of the battle, a familiar blonde woman in a white battle dress appeared. Her sword was drawn, her expression sharp, and yet she gasped as she saw the scene before her. “Bell?”

Tione was at Ais’s side a second later, quickly followed by Tiona and Lefiya.

“What the hell happened here?” Tione managed to get out after a short moment.

“Bell!” Lefiya was already running towards Bell as soon as her blue eyes fell onto him.

Tiona rushed over to Bell as well. “Bell?! Potions! Do we have any potions?!”

Riveria and Finn were right behind the girls, their eyes widening at the sight of an enhanced species Infant Dragon. The Rare Monster was already a formidable opponent for most Level 1 Parties. A strengthened species of an Infant Dragon would likely be pushing close to Level 3.

Finn gently took Lili into his arms, looking her over with experienced eyes. “Are you alright, Lili?” He asked her directly, his eyes looking into Lili’s soft brown and reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.

“B-Bell… The dragon…” Lili barely knew where to start.

Riveria was already chanting for her most powerful healing spell after seeing the condition that Bell was in.

“Bell…” Ais looked into his hazy rubellite eyes. Her heart felt like it was being torn in two just seeing him like this. Compounded with her already tumultuous emotions from fighting the red-haired Tamer that had called her by her mother’s name…a deeper desire and desperation to grow stronger than ever before let the ugly, black flame within her burn ferociously.

“I won…” Bell managed to utter out as he managed the barest of smiles for Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya as they all helped to keep him standing. It was the last thing he said as his consciousness finally faded just as the light of Riveria’s Magic enveloped them all.

-Twilight Manor ~ Night-

Hours had passed since Bell had lost consciousness in the Dungeon.

Loki had been beside herself with worry when Bell had been brought into their home. He was physically healed thanks to Riveria…but his Mind Down was severe and the list of injuries that Riveria had been able to notice was extensive. Bell had three cracked ribs and one fractured one that had punctured his left lung. Burns covered almost a third of his body ranging from superficial to serious. He’d lost a moderate amount of blood, though his ice magic had sealed the lacerations on his chest and prevented him from losing too much overall. Both of his legs were riddled with torn muscles form pushing his body too far with his Skill. The rest of his body had been littered with various bruising and small hairline fractures here and there.

Lili had gotten off mostly fine after Riveria’s healing, thankfully. Loki had hugged Lili close for a long moment before practically handing her off to Finn, both Prums disappearing together the moment that no one was looking. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where they’d both gone and that they’d be cuddling together for the night. Finn, for all his composure as Captain and his image as ‘Braver, Hero of the Prums’ needed to hold Lili and know that she was okay, to feel her and assure himself that the one that he loved hadn’t been taken from him.

Lili had sought out Finn’s embrace and the comfort of having him with her again. It was a soothing balm for her heart and mind to know that the one she loved was close and that she wasn’t alone after such a horrible experience.

The entire Familia had come by to visit Bell’s sleeping form, even if only briefly, with even Bete sticking his head in the doorway enough to see Bell sleeping for a second before leaving. Ais, Tiona, Lefiya, Tiona, and Aki had sat at Bell’s bedside with worry for hours until the night grew late and all of them had eventually fallen asleep right there.

“My snow bunny…” Loki murmured quietly to Bell as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. “My brave, heroic Bell.”

“Nnnmm?” Bell’s face scrunched up a little and his eyes slowly opened. Seeing the ceiling of his room at Twilight Manor was confusing at first, but then his eyes met the ruby gaze of his Goddess. “Loki?”

Loki smiled warmly at Bell, a tenderness in her eyes that most would never see. “Hey, Bell…”

Bell blinked a few times to clear his vision as best as he could. “I fought a large, white Infant Dragon.” He said, mostly to himself, as if to jog his own memory.

“You did.” Loki nodded to him, still whispering so as to not wake up the other five girls.

“Is Lili okay?” Bell asked, his eyes sharp and clear as he asked about his friend’s wellbeing.

Loki smiled and nodded once. “Lili is fine, Bell, You were both in rough shape, but you slayed that irregular and made it back home.”

Bell smiled at that, the brief tension that had filled his body falling away. “That’s good… I’m glad.” His exhaustion was clearly catching up to him again as his eyes began to droop. “Sorry, I worried everyone.” He mumbled as his eyes looked over the girls leaning against his bed, sleeping.

“It’s fine, Bell. We’re all just happy you came home.” Loki assured him softly. “You were a real Hero today.” She leaned forward and placed a warm and gentle kiss on Bell’s lips.

“Hero…” Bell said in a quiet whisper. “Love you.” He was asleep as soon as the words passed his lips.

Loki’s heart was filled to bursting as she looked at Bell’s sleeping face. “Love you too, Bell.” With Bell’s condition clearly improved, Loki finally laid down with her arms crossed on the bed near Bell’s pillow and fell asleep.

-Morning-

“Bell!” The bright exclamations from Lefiya, Tiona, Aki, Tione, and even Ais made Bell smile as he sat up in bed after waking up.

“Good morning.” Bell greeted the women with a bright smile. “Sorry that I worried you all.”

Tiona was hugging him before he realized it. “That’s not a problem!”

Aki took his hand in hers with a beautiful smile on her lips. “We’re just glad that you’re alright, Bell.”

“I… I knew you’d be… O-Okay…” Tione sniffled a bit, clearly having been worried after finding Bell in such a bad state yesterday. Tiona smiled and released Bell, making room for Tione to move forward and hug Bell.

“I’m alright, Tione.” Bell said to her softly, gently running his free hand through her long hair to soothe her.

Lefiya had tears in the corners of her eyes too as she smiled at Bell. “We were worried, but Riveria healed you… And you looked better… But your Mind Down was so bad that you wouldn’t wake up.”

Bell kissed the top of Tione’s head before smiling warmly at Lefiya. “Thank you for caring for me, Lefiya.”

“I… I…” Lefiya’s cheeks turned a cute shade of pink. “I barely helped at all.” The pink turned to a dark red as she shook her head, having only helped take care of Bell and get him into bed when they’d returned to Twilight Manor.

Ais stepped forward with a small smile. “I’m glad…that you’re okay, Bell.” The writhing black flame within her wavered at seeing Bell awake and looking so much better.

“I’m glad too.” Bell’s smile made Ais’s heart flutter and the ugly black fame flickered for a moment again. “I’m lucky to have so many people that care about me.” He looked at each of them with warmth and affection that had all five girls blushing just slightly.

Grrrmble

“Are you hungry?” Tiona asked with a giggle after Bell’s stomach growled so audibly.

Bell chuckled as Tione pulled away form him a bit. “I could eat.”

Tione kissed Bell’s kips for a short moment before she stood up. “I’ll go make you breakfast!”

Aki laughed as Tione was quickly out of the room and rushing down towards the cafeteria. “I suppose someone should let Loki and the leaders know you’ve woken up.” She leaned in and kissed Bell’s cheek before standing up and heading out of the room.

Tiona, Lefiya, and Ais stayed behind for a bit before the lud and enthusiastic running steps were heard in the hallway.

“Snow bunny!” Loki cheered at seeing Bell awake and alert. She nearly threw herself at him, but was caught and stopped by Ais.

“Bell…just woke up.” Ais said with a serious voice that was almost as sharp as her sword.

Loki rubbed the back of her head. “Right…sorry.” She sat down on the edge of Bell’s bed and pulled him into a warm hug.

Bell quickly returned the hug and even kissed Loki’s cheek, much to the surprise of Tiona, Lefiya, and Ais. They all knew that Loki was fond of Bell, and that Bell didn’t mind her affections, but they didn’t know for sure that he genuinely returned them until now. “Good morning, Loki.” He smiled warmly at his Goddess.

“Good morning, Bell.” Loki’s smile was beautiful as she looked at Bell with love and affection.

It was a look that Ais, Tiona, and Lefiya had only see a portion of when Loki looked at them after acceding to their requests not to physically touch them against their will. Seeing the depths of their Goddess’s true love and affection made all three young women realize that despite her rather forward nature, her love was real and she offered it to them freely. It was wholly up to them if they wished to pursue anything with it.

For the first time ever…all three wondered what that love might be like.

-Late Morning ~ Loki’s Office-

“Now, let’s see this irregular that you two faced.” Loki smiled as she looked between Bell and Lili.

A folding screen partitioned the middle of the office into two with Lili on one side and Bell on the other. Finn, Riveria, and Gareth stood on the appropriate sides (Riveria with Lili and Gareth and Finn on Bell’s side) as both Adventurers exposed their backs to their Goddess so that she could give them a Status Update and through their Excelia, see all that had transpired with the strengthened species Infant Dragon.

“Ladies first.” Bell said as Loki hesitated for a second between him and Lili.

“Such a gentleman.” Loki giggled as she took a seat behind Lili and let a drop of her blood fall onto the Prum’s back. The familiar blue-white glow appeared and Loki quickly tuned out the rest of the world as she focused on Lili’s Excelia.

There was silence in the office as Loki continued to watch Lili’s Excelia. It wasn’t tense or stifling, just the calm and respectful silence people would give to someone doing important work.

Loki finally blinked a few minute later and then leaned back with a heavy sigh. “That was intense.” Lili had seen most of the battle even after she’d almost been taken out of it. Just seeing what Bell had gone through from Lili’s point of view had been both incredible and nerve-wracking. “Lili Bean…” She smiled as her finger moved along Lili’s Falna-covered back.

“Yes, Goddess?” Lili looked over her shoulder at Loki.

“Congratulations on Leveling Up!” Loki cheered loudly as she finished the Status Update.

Lili looked at Loki in shock, unable to comprehend what her Goddess had just said for a moment. “Lili… Lili can Level Up?”

Loki paced a blank paper on Lili’s back and copied over the new update. “You sure can, Lili Bean!”

Gareth chuckled as he saw the smile on Finn’s face at Lili’s Level Up. The Dwarf didn’t say a word, merely gently nudging his friend with his elbow.

Finn shot Gareth a grin and looked at the partition with happiness and pride.

-Status-

Liliruca Arde

Level 1 (2)

Strength – E 400 > E 411

Endurance – E 497 > D 509

Dexterity – A 806 > A 824

Agility – A 829 > A 847

Magic – A 882 > S 900

-Magic-

Cinder Ella – Incantation: “Your wound is mine. My wound is mine. Echoing message of midnight.” Transformation Magic that enables the user to transform into anything around their size.

-Skills-

Artel Assist – When the user is carrying a certain amount of weight, this Skill will help compensate in abilities. The amount compensated depends on the weight.

Resilient Spirit – Increases pain tolerance and mental fortitude. Provides resistance to the fire element and ice element.

(Developmental Abilities)

(Abnormal Resistance)

-Status-

“Lili has a new Skill?!” Lili practically shouted in surprise as she looked over the Status Update.

Loki laughed brightly. “Yep! You certainly earned it, Lili Bean!” She gently hugged the Prum from behind with a smile. “Your first new Skill since you joined my Familia.”

Lili was beaming at her Status before she turned her head to look at Loki. “Can Lili Level Up now?”

Loki grinned at the question. “Of course!”

It only took Loki a minute to advance Lili to the next Level and hand the Prum her very first Level 2 Status.

-Status-

Liliruca Arde

Level 2

Strength – I 0

Endurance – I 0

Dexterity – I 0

Agility – I 0

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

Cinder Ella – Incantation: “Your wound is mine. My wound is mine. Echoing message of midnight.” Transformation Magic that enables the user to transform into anything around their size.

-Skills-

Artel Assist – When the user is carrying a certain amount of weight, this Skill will help compensate in abilities. The amount compensated depends on the weight.

Resilient Spirit – Increases pain tolerance and mental fortitude. Provides resistance to the fire element and ice element.

-Developmental Abilities-

Abnormal Resistance – I (Negates the effect of abnormalities such as poison and paralysis.)

-Status-

Lili looked at her Level 2 Status with a bright smile before the light applause form Bell, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria caught her attention. She blushed faintly as she quickly put her shirt on and then trotted around the partition to show Finn her Status.

“Quite the useful new Skill.” Finn smiled as he praised Lili. “Congratulations, Lili.”

“Lili wouldn’t be here without your help, Finn.” Lili said with a cute smile for the one that had saved her from the hell that she’d live through in the Soma Familia.

“Your turn, Bell!” Loki smiled brightly at her lover as she let a drop of her blood fall onto Bell’s back.

Bell looked at Loki over his shoulder with a warm smile. “I’m in your hands, Goddess.”

“First, let’s see your Excelia…” Loki once more zoned out to the rest of the world as she watched every second of Bell’s Excelia and his encounter with the white Infant Dragon. Her intensity was possibly even greater this time as she saw everything from Bell’s point of view.

“It must’ve been something for Loki to zone out like this.” Gareth said under his breath so that only Finn could hear him.

Finn nodded once to Gareth. “From what Lili told me last night; it was a strengthened species capable of both ambush and great physical and magical power.”

“It’s always something with strengthened species.” Gareth shook his head once, having had more than his fair share of run-ins with said irregulars over the years.

“Hah…” Loki let out a heavy breath as she blinked a few times to moisten her eyes after not blinking for a while. “That was intense.” She gently placed her hands on Bell’s shoulders. “You really pushed yourself far beyond what anyone could expect from you, Bell.” She wrote in the new thing that had manifested within Bell’s Falna and then placed a blank paper against his back. “But…” Loki’s expression once more turned excited and joyful. “BELL IS LEVEL 2!!!”

That made Finn, Lili, Riveria, and Gareth all look at Bell and Loki in absolute shock. Their eyes were all wide, even Riveria’s as the normally composed High Elf worked to comprehend what was seemingly impossible. Gareth’s mouth was agape as he knew exactly how long Bell had been an Adventurer and the record that the young man had just broken. Finn managed to school his features after a moment and hummed thoughtfully. Bell breaking the record for fastest Level Up with only about thirty days as an Adventurer was not only unheard of, it seemed absolutely impossible, but Loki clearly wasn’t lying as she handed Bell his Status Update.

Lili was still stunned speechless as Bell accepted his new update from Loki.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1 (2)

Strength – SS 1,068 > SSS 1,280

Endurance – SS 1,059 > SSS 1,312

Dexterity – SS 1,077 > SSS 1,303

Agility – SS 1,071 > SSS 1,296

Magic – SS 1,103 > SSS 1,355

-Magic-

Aurora – Incantation: “Frost.” Ice Enchantment Magic.

-Skills-

Eilíft Frost – Provides protection from cold along with Ice and Water Magics and makes all Ice Magics the user casts use less Mind while significantly increasing their power.

Einhuga Löngun – Fast growth as long as desire lasts. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's desire. As a side effect it makes the user immune to Charms and Mental Magics.

Snjógöngur (Snow Walks) – Allows the user to vanish into a burst of snow and rapidly accelerate in a desired direction. The distance able to be covered and the speed at which the user moves are dependent on the Magic and Agility stats. Active Trigger.

Einherjar – Allows a charge for a counterattack. It requires time to charge and the user continue fighting during the charge. The power of the charge can be used for any type of attack but the effects will dissipate when the user stops fighting or mentally gives up.

(Developmental Abilities)

(Abnormal Resistance)

(Hunter)

-Status-

“I have a new Skill too?” Bell said in shock as he read over his new acquisition. “Einherjar?” He knew the term, thanks to the Heroic Tales that Loki told him from time to time.

Loki wrapped her arms around Bell’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head, lightly snuggling into his soft white hair. “A true Hero. A warrior chosen to dwell within Valhalla and prepare for Ragnarök.”

Bell couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. “You told me it means ‘army of one’ in the common language.” He chuckled at Loki.

“That too.” Loki giggled and nuzzled into Bell’s soft hair some more.

“Should I Level Up now?” Bell asked after letting Loki hold him for a little longer.

“Sure, do you want Hunter or Abnormal Resistance?” Loki asked as she released him.

Bell only took a second to think about it given what he knew of both Developmental Abilities thanks to his Familia. “Hunter, please.”

Just as easily as she’d done with Lili before, Loki advanced Bell’s Falna to Level 2. Placing the next blank paper onto Bell’s back, Loki copied the first Level 2 Status over with a twirl of her fingertip before handing it to Bell.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 2

Strength – I 0

Endurance – I 0

Dexterity – I 0

Agility – I 0

Magic – I 0

-Magic-

Aurora – Incantation: “Frost.” Ice Enchantment Magic.

-Skills-

Eilíft Frost – Provides protection from cold along with Ice and Water Magics and makes all Ice Magics the user casts use less Mind while significantly increasing their power.

Einhuga Löngun – Fast growth as long as desire lasts. The strength of the effects corresponds with the level of the user's desire. As a side effect it makes the user immune to Charms and Mental Magics.

Snjógöngur (Snow Walks) – Allows the user to vanish into a burst of snow and rapidly accelerate in a desired direction. The distance able to be covered and the speed at which the user moves are dependent on the Magic and Agility stats. Active Trigger.

Einherjar – Allows a charge for a counterattack. It requires time to charge and the user continue fighting during the charge. The power of the charge can be used for any type of attack but the effects will dissipate when the user stops fighting or mentally gives up.

-Developmental Abilities-

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

-Status-

“I’m really Level 2…” Bell marveled at his new Level with a smile on his face. “I don’t’ really feel any different though?”

Loki laughed at that. “There’s never any upsurge in power, Bell!” She hugged him from behind. “You’ll just need to get used to what your new Level 2 abilities can allow you to do!”

“Right! I’ll do my best!” Bell declared as he put his shirt back on.

“Lili Bean! Snow Bunny! Go let the rest of the Familia know that we’re going to celebrate tonight!” Loki said while pointing at the door to her office.

“Yes, Goddess.” Lili and Bell said at the same time before looking at each other and breaking out into laughter.

As soon as the door closed behind the two new Level 2 Adventurers, Loki’s expression became dead serious. “Finn, Riveria…there’s something that you both need to see.” She called them over and held out Bell’s last Level 1 Status Update so they could see that Bell’s Basic Abilities had broken the limit of the Falna.

“Impossible…” Riveria breathed out, getting hit with a second shock today right after Bell’s seemingly impossible Level Up in only a month.

“Yet we’re looking right at it.” Finn said as he took the paper from Loki and examined it closely.

“The Falna doesn’t lie.” Loki said with the same serious tone. “Bell’s growth Skill is even more powerful than we thought.”

While the rest of the Twilight Manor quickly became excited, incredulous, and lively in preparation for celebrating Lili and Bell’s Level Ups (even if the one month time frame of Bell’s Level Up was seemingly impossible) the intense meeting between the four that led the entire Familia only grew more serious.

-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! Bell really has a Heroic Fate, doesn’t he?

Finn, Riveria, Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya have their first encounter with the mysterious red-haired Tamer down in Rivira! Ais’s heart is in turmoil from both the thorough beating that she receives and at the mysterious woman that knows her mother’s name.

Bell’s training with Aki certainly helped out as well, pushing his over the limit stats even higher before he encountered the irregular, strengthened species Infant Dragon!

Lili and Bell both Leveled Up! Woohoo!

They both got new Skills too!

But the seriousness of the situation with Bell has been shown to Finn and Riveria since they returned a bit early from their dungeon crawling because of the incident in Rivira. Their newest member’s abnormal strength and now record-breaking Level Up speed is going to draw A LOT of eyes towards Loki Familia.

How will things go in Orario with so many odd things happening right before a Denatus?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!