Chapter 20 - chapter 20

There were not many things that could oppose him on this floor, or really, anything at all. His strength was too great for any creature to even dream of hurting him, were they even capable of that in the first place. This meant his task was all the more difficult to complete for his mistress, his Goddess.

Again he looked around having delved further down and even deeper into the medium floors, into spots and locations that weren't known by any adventurer, not even himself. Yet he wasn't daunted. Why would he be? His strength dwarfed any would be threat that dared to challenge him, in a way however, that was what the problem was. There was nothing that would stand against him. Nothing that would bare their fangs in challenge, nothing that would strike at him with claws, nothing that possessed that spark of defiance that he was looking for.

Nothing until now that is.

He heard a snort from behind him, not one of disdain from his presence, or of dismissal, or disgust. This snort was one of curiosity, as if finding a new scent and being curious, prompting further inquiry.

He heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching him from behind, prompting him to turn around and meet this new visitor.

Standing just outside the entrance of another tunnel, a massive bovine beast called a minotaur, looked at the man with red glowing eyes, the man in turn, met this gaze with an impassive one of his own, giving away nothing from what he thought about this occurrence.

The minotaur was bigger than him, that was plain to see. Not just in height, having to be at least two heads taller than him, but also in mass of muscle. Though the man possessed a physique that practically no one in the city could match, this monster still had more mass to him than the man ever could gain.

It was certainly the mightiest creature he'd seen so far on this floor of the dungeon and all the more unique for what it possessed in its hand. A landform weapon, a rare thing to witness a monster use in the dungeon, literally pieces of the dungeon that often spawned just for the beasts in the dungeon to make use of, should they have the semblance of intelligence to realize that and do so.

Given how the man could see the creature's firm grip upon the weapon, the creature definitely had the intelligence to do so.

For a moment, the two just stood there, eyes met in deadlock, each waiting for the first to make a move, the man wouldn't, that wasn't what needed to happen.

Eventually, with a bellow, the minotaur charged, its weapon raised for a mighty swing that would split any man in two.

Unfortunately for it, this wasn't just 'any' man.

With minimal effort, the man raised his hand and caught the blade of the weapon with almost contemptuous ease, his expression not changing in the least, not even blinking.

The monster snarled and huffed at having its weapon stopped so easily and made a move to draw it back for another strike, only to suddenly jerk back in place. It again attempted to pull its weapon from the man's grip but found it unable to do so, the man had a casual hold upon the beast's weapon yet it felt like he held it with the strength of a mountain in his grip.

But that would not stop the monster from trying, with a snort of anger, the minotaur changed tactics, it suddenly charged at the man, horns bared. It made impact with the man's torso and pushed him back. Finally succeeding in its attack, it pushed on, forcing the man back as fast and as powerful as he could until it slammed him into the wall of the dungeon with a mighty crash, sending dust and debris about the area.

The minotaur snorted in apparent satisfaction and felt the grip the man had on its weapon no longer in place. It pulled its head back, only to suddenly feel a hand holding it in place by a horn.

"Impressive," a voice, deep and powerful, rumbled from the man, "you have more potential than the other monsters I've seen down here."

The minotaur drew its arm back to swing at its prey with its weapon, only to be caught off guard as it realized something. It no longer held its weapon, no wait, it still did but only the portion that fit in its palm. He saw an arm enter its view just then and in its hand was the rest of the beast's weapon.

"Looking for this?" the man asked before tensing his hand and crushing the weapon into dust, "you won't be needing it."

The minotaur bellowed again and pushed its horn forward more into the man's gut, hoping to crush and disembowel the one who destroyed its weapon.

Again it was stopped, not by the man pulling it back by its horn, but by what the minotaur was trying to push against. No matter how much strength it possessed, no matter how sharp its horns were, it couldn't pass through the man's natural defense.

The man's grip upon the creature's horn tightened before he twisted his wrist and snapped the horn off, sending a flash of pain through the monster at such an action. It bellowed again in response, in equal parts rage and pain at what it experienced. Then the man suddenly pushed the minotaur back, the power of which sent the beast tumbling back a great distance until it slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the tunnel.

For a moment, the beast knew only blackness, until consciousness reminded it of the danger it was in and the foe it still faced. Blearily, it got back up on four limbs and hearing the sound of footsteps, turned its gaze up to see the man before it.

Standing just an inch below seven feet, his stature alone was intimidating. His eyes and hair share the same rustic color, with the eyes holding both wisdom and challenge in them. Adding to all of this was the physique of this man, muscles that looked to be carved from stone and simply had tan skin put over them.

The man's ears on his head twitched and the monster saw they weren't too dissimilar to a boar's ears.

Again the man stared down at the monster and the minotaur met that gaze with one of its own. It saw the unspoken challenge again in the man's eyes, as if he were asking it a question.

'Is that all you have to offer?' the gaze asked.

Enraged by this slight, though unspoken, the minotaur once again rose to its full height, huffing and snarling at the man who challenged it.

After blinking, the man's gaze turned into one of slight admiration and respect at the monster before him, though his face remained as impassive as ever.

Casually, he reached behind him to draw a massive curved greatsword with one hand, prompting the minotaur to brace for combat. To the monster's surprise, the man casually tosses the heavy weapon at the hooves of the monster. It looked down at the weapon before lifting its gaze back to the man, noticing him draw another blade from his back, identical to the one he just tossed.

"Pick it up," the man said neutrally, "it is a better weapon than the one you had," he took a stance then, his own blade pointed at the monster's chest, "you'll need it if you're going to survive what happens next."

The minotaur did not understand the man's words, did not comprehend them, but it could understand actions, for they spoke louder in the dungeon than anywhere else.

Never taking its eyes off the man, it reached down and picked up the weapon with one hand, holding in a similar way it held its landform weapon previously.

For a moment they just stood there, taking the measure of one another.

Eventually the deadlock was broken by the man, who decided to finally get things started.

"Begin," he said, his voice cool as steel.

The monster roared, louder than it ever did before, shaking the hallway itself. It charged, weapon held high and ready to bring down onto his new opponent.

The man saw this and made his conclusion for this task he was sent down here for.

'It should be ready soon, my Goddess.'

Bell was earnestly excited to get this day started. As he walked down the streets and to the dungeon, he couldn't keep the wide smile off his face, he was excited to venture down and test his new abilities after training with Ais. Eager to test himself.

"You're very jolly today Bell," Chitoge said from his side, looking at her captain with a bemused smile, "what's up? You have a good dream or somethin?"

From his other side, Elbia was smiling along with her captain, "Maybe he just wants to start his day with a smile?" she turned her expression to Chitoge, "it's contagious," she smiled all the wider and walked with a skip to her step and a wag of her tail.

Bell would like to tell them what he felt, about his excitement, but he felt he couldn't really put his feelings into words and it just made him smile more earnestly. He would just have to burn this excitement away in the dungeon.

"Bell! Bell!"

A voice called out to him prompting him to stop and look to where it came from. He saw Syr waving her arm at him from the front of the Hostess of Fertility, a troubled look on her face.

"Bell come quick! It's an emergency!" the silver haired waitress exclaimed, waving her arm again in emphasis towards him.

Bell, being the ever helpful soul that he is, immediately went up to Syr, his two companions following behind.

"What's wrong Syr?" he asked, "What's the emergency?"

When he saw the sudden glint in her eyes, Bell knew he made a mistake somewhere and he was too nice to back out of it now.

"This isn't an emergency at all!" Bell exclaimed from his position in front of the large sink, where stacks of dishes awaited him.

He should have known better, especially when it came to Syr, things were never as bad or as good as that girl claimed and she once again pulled the wool over his eyes to get what she wanted.

"Sorry Bell," Syr's voice came from door leading to the kitchen, she had her head poked out and was giving him a apologetic look, "Mama Mia cracked down on me and the others for having some fun a while back and I needed the help," she gave him one of her dazzling smiles, "I really appreciated that you didn't run off with your friends when they saw the work, you're so kind Bell."

Indeed, when Chitoge and Elbia both saw what awaited them should they follow their captain, they immediately backtracked and promised Bell they'd meet him in the dungeon when he was done and ran off. Bell did not blame them in the least and wished he acted that fast when the truth was revealed.

But Bell was a kind soul and in truth, he didn't mind helping out Syr. Though he'd be lying if he wasn't going to get something out of it.

"Can I at least get a free meal out of this?" he asked.

Syr hummed to herself for a bit in thought before replying, "I'll ask Mama Mia. I don't know about a meal but I can probably guarantee dessert."

Bell accepted that with a thanks and a smile before he set to work on the dishes. After a bit of time passed he was soon joined by another. He was surprised to see it was the green haired elf, Ryuu, who was now helping him. He tried to say she didn't have to but was cut off.

"It was nice of you to help Syr but you needn't have to," she said, scrubbing a plate clean in the soapy water, "she and the others reaped what they sowed with that little party of theirs," she handed him the plate so he may soak and dry it, "still, it is appreciated."

Bell gave her a nod and put the plate on the drying rack, "It's honestly no problem," he said, "I'm just glad to help."

For a while they didn't say anything, merely continuing to do the dishes. When they were close to finishing, Bell asked a question that was on his mind since the elf joined him at the sink.

"Miss Ryuu," he began, "you were an adventurer before, right?"

The elf gave no reply at first, still washing dishes, "I don't know how or who told you," she thought for a moment, thinking of Syr, "but I can imagine who at least."

Bell quickly shook his head, remembering something, "No it's just," he started, "when me and Chitoge were facing that guy down in the alleyway, you stepped in and scared him off," he gave a helpless shrug, "I just thought that you had to be an adventurer or something to have that confidence."

Ryuu stopped scrubbing the dishes, debating on answering. He apparently had Syr's trust and her affection as well if she was correct. She could extend a small measure of trust.

"Yes I was," Ryuu answered, "Some time ago but no longer. It's a past I don't really enjoy talking about."

To Bell's credit, he could take a hint, and for a while they continued just doing the dishes. Until the real question he wanted to ask finally came out.

"If you don't mind me asking," he began, "how does someone level up?"

Ryuu thought about his question, wondering how to answer. She didn't mind it, it wasn't a question about her past, which was what she wanted to avoid. Nevertheless it wasn't exactly an easy question, nor was it hard, it was just complicated to put into words.

Then again, leveling up wasn't meant to be simple. If it were, this city would be chock full of first class adventurers.

"You have to do something amazing," she began, drawing Bell's attention, "It's not enough to get your status up higher. You must do something extraordinary if you want to level up. What that is though," she shrugged her shoulders, "I couldn't really tell you, my experiences greatly differ from yours."

She turned her head, meeting Bell's gaze with her own. She stared into those ruby red eyes for what felt like an eternity, in order to get her point across all the better, before finally finishing.

"A better way to exemplify what I'm saying is this. You must do something that would impress the Gods themselves."

With that said, Ryuu turned her attention back to the dishes and left Bell to his thoughts. He too went about cleaning but with new thoughts running through his mind.

Eventually he finished cleaning the dishes alongside the elf, who he thanked for her aid. He waved goodbye to Syr and Mama Mia before returning to his trek to the dungeon and meeting up with his party.

All during his journey, he was thinking about the elf's words.

'What could I do that would impress the Gods?'

Hours, they had been going at it for hours.

Surrounding them were the results of their progress. Gouges in the floors, cracks running down the walls, and impact craters on their surroundings.

Its grip still tight on the sword, the minotaur was on one knee before the boaz man in front of it, its breath heavy and deep but its rage and determination still strong and lively.

"That should do," the man said, standing above the creature with a neutral expression. He saw the creature raise its head to look at him and the man saw something behind the red glowing eyes.

Rage, determination, and what he came down here to instill in such a beast.

Obedience.

"Stand," the man commanded, he didn't raise his voice, he didn't have to, the beast could definitely hear him.

He heard it give a deep groan before doing so, slowly at first, but eventually rising to its full height. Idley, he noticed the minotaur looked bigger, its muscles now looking as if they're too big for the skin to hold and the fur on its body had become a much thicker coat.

The man gave a hum of contemplation, maybe he overdid it in training this beast but now was too late to stop and he had his Goddess's wish to grant.

"Go up," he said, tilting his head in the direction, "your next opponent will be there."

For a moment, nothing happened, the minotaur stared at the man that bested it before turning its gaze upward toward the ceiling. A low growl emanated from its throat before it turned and proceeded to walk down a passageway. One that led to the floors above.

The man watched it go for a moment, until seeing its form disappear from around a bend in the path. With his objective complete, he moved to another pathway himself that too led to the upper floors.

It was time to ensure the plan continued without interruption.

Lili watched as Elbia once again make a mess of some incoming goblins. Tearing them apart with relative ease with her claws and kicking and punching wherever possible. No matter how many times Lili saw it, she was always surprised that the ever bubbly artist could attack with such brutal precision.

Though, if Lili were honest, there was another that could give her a run for her money.

Glancing over to the opposite side of Elbia, Lili saw Chitoge being as ruthless and precise with her strikes against any monster unfortunate enough to cross her path. She saw a frog shooter launch its tongue at the blonde, only for her to evade the attack and close in upon the creature. One uppercut and a savage side kick later, the frog was rendered to ash.

Bell too was impressing upon Lili with his fighting. She wasn't sure how, but Bell seemed much much better than the last time she saw him fight in the dungeon. Currently he was dancing around the strikes of a trio of wall shadows, before replying with swipes and cuts with his knife. A short time later, Bell was picking up the magic stones of his defeated foes.

Lili had truly ended up in an extraordinary party.

And she wouldn't change that for the world.

"Okay," she heard Bell breathe out, "that was the last of them. Anyone hurt?"

Chitoge gave a growl before rubbing at her side, "One of those frog shooters got me with their tongue but I can walk it off," she looked to Elbia, "How about you? You get hit at all, Elbia?"

The werewolf girl shook her head, "No damage here," she answered, "those monsters are nothing compared to the ones below," she gave a few air jabs, anxious to continue, "I feel my muse stirring with inspiration and ideas and I'm full of energy to express them."

Bell laughed at Elbia's apparent enthusiasm, "Don't worry," he said coming up to her, "we'll burn up that energy in no time when we reach a few floors below," he ended this by gently patting Elbia's head. Calming the werewolf down and making her smile from the action.

Lili stared at Elbia in undisguised jealousy, her own chienthrope ears and tail wiggling in frustration.

She wanted to be patted too dammit!

Bell stopped patting Elbia, drawing a sad whine from her, "We should get going," he said, "I'd like it if we arrived at a good floor before the others arrive."

Earlier today, after their morning training with Takeru, Bell was ready and raring to go into the dungeon to test his skills further after finishing his training with Ais. His enthusiasm was practically palpable and Takeru suggested an idea to him. He would go into the dungeon just to burn off some of that excess energy of his and the others would arrive later on and meet up with him in the dungeon. Bell readily agreed to the idea but before he headed out he was intercepted by Chitoge and Elbia, who had words of their own in having Bell go down into the dungeon by himself. After some words and agreements, the two joined him and headed off. With the others getting ready for the day themselves before joining up with them.

So now they continued on, wanting to reach a more challenging floor but not one that would overwhelm them. Which, after some discussion, was decided to be the ninth floor. Since the tenth led to a completely different biome for the dungeon, it was decided the ninth would be a good spot to wait for the others.

Bell did hope the rest would join up soon. He wanted to show his progress from training with Ais. Chitoge and Elbia alone were surprised by his new abilities and were spurred on by the sight of their captain to push themselves further.

Today was going to be an exciting day. Bell could feel it.

As they finished resting and left the seventh floor, it suddenly seemed off all the sudden and Bell felt his current enthusiasm falter at the change.

It wasn't just him, Chitoge and Elbia felt it too. With Elbia having a much stronger reaction to the change, given that her hair, from her head to her tail seemed to stand up on end.

What was happening?

They looked around themselves, trying to locate the source of the sudden phenomenon. Seeing nothing, they continued on, with great caution.

They checked around every turn and every corner they came across, trying to see if they could spot what was causing this sensation. Bell recalled feeling something like this yesterday, when he and Ais were attacked in the alleyway. Was it another attack by that strange group? Was someone coming after him next? Was it a new monster coming from the depths of the dungeon?

'Monster,' Bell thought in realization , 'Where…where are the monsters?'

Since passing the seventh floor and walking through the eighth, Bell and his party hadn't run into another monster. No sign of tracks, no growls from the shadows, or even cracks in the walls that signified a monster spawning.

What the hell was going on?

Upon reaching the ninth floor, the sensation they felt now was practically flooding their senses. They should turn back, this was getting weird. Already they could tell that nary a monster had been in this area recently, in what was normally a fairly active floor for the upper levels. To see it this quiet and empty was unnerving to say the least.

Before Bell could give the command to head and wait for the others, a sound rang through the halls. A concussive bang that shook dust from the ceiling, followed by a cry of fear.

A human cry.

A normal person would run away upon hearing that sound. Add in the strange atmosphere they were experiencing and it should have been obvious that the most natural reaction would be to run away.

But Bell wasn't a normal person by any means. He heard someone in trouble and his first reaction wasn't to run away.

But to run after.

With little warning, he dashed down the hall to where the sound came from, his party giving squawks of surprise before running after him. Elbia was first to reach him, followed by Chitoge, who said not so flattering things about his impulsive decision. He also heard Lili voice similar unflattering words about his choice of action. He wanted to apologize but right now he was focused on reaching his destination.

After a moment, they eventually saw a large opening ahead of them and in the dim light the dungeon provided, they could make out the figure of two men, both quite injured.

Not too far from them, veiled in dim shadows, was what potentially hurt them.

It was huge.

Bell acted quickly, raising his arm while he ran he shouted, "Firebolt!"

A barrage of three firebolts shot from his hand and headed straight for the monster, impacting with explosive precision.

The monster stepped back from the men and inadvertently deeper into the smoke from Bell's spell.

Bell and the others reached the room and stood in front of the cloud of gradually disappearing smoke. Without looking he said to the men, "We got this! You two get out of here!"

Neither man said anything to that, choosing to quickly vacate the area without a word and with quick steps. Leaving only Bell and his party to face off against whatever monster this was.

Bell tensed, drawing his Hestia knife and getting ready for battle. He could scarcely see Chitoge and Elbia beside him, each also getting ready for the inevitable fight ahead.

They waited until the smoke finally cleared. When enough of it faded, they could just make out the glowing red eyes most common in the monsters of the dungeon.

What they could not have expected was the height in which they saw the eyes resting at. As more and more of the smoke cleared, they could now clearly make out the creature before them.

The sight of it made Bell feel like his heart was in danger of stopping.

It stood tall, towering over everyone. Its bulk was equally gigantic and was only scarcely covered by patches of thick and matted fur. In its hand it held a large greatsword that Bell would need two hands to just barely fill the handle, nevermind the weight of such a weapon and the strength it would take to lift it. Its head is what Bell stared at the most, seeing the bovine head, both sharp and crushing teeth that littered its jaws, and most of all, the signature horns upon its head, though reduced to just one now did not take away from the lethality of it.

It was a minotaur, the biggest one Bell had ever seen. Bigger than the one that cornered and nearly killed him more than a month ago. A monster that had no right to be here so high on the upper floors.

A monster that Bell feared with paralyzing clarity.

His muscles wouldn't move, his joints seemed to lock in place, he could feel the sweat pour down his face and back at the terrifying sensation that overwhelmed him. He could scarcely hear anything, his senses focused upon the massive beast before him. Was someone calling out to him? He could barely make out any other sound besides the deep and terrible breathing coming from the minotaur.

Finally, the monster snorted, creating a steaming mist from its exhalation. It raised its massive weapon and aimed it down upon Bell.

'I'm going to die,' Bell thought with horrific clarity.

"Dammit Bell! Move!"

A sudden blow struck him from the side, knocking him tumbling with his apparent savior, just as the monster's weapon crashed down into where he once stood. Carving a savage gash into the ground that shook the whole floor.

Bell finally regained his senses and his survival instincts flooded him with adrenaline and focus to make up for his previous delay. He looked to his savior and was horrified at what he saw.

Chitoge was sitting beside him, her face a grimace of pain, her arm leaking blood in a river that covered her entire sleeve and gauntlet.

"Damn," she cursed, "thought I dodged that attack completely," she hissed when she stood and moved her arm, "dammit that hurts!"

Bell looked at Chitoge, horrified not only by her injury but by her getting hurt because of him.

Why had he froze up like that? This was the worst time to freeze up like that! Especially with an enemy as dangerous as a minotaur.

Bell knew the answer though and it was as painful a realization as it always was.

He was scared.

A growl tore through the air, prompting Bell and Chitoge to look back at the monster. They watched in shock and amazement at what they saw.

Elbia decided to go on the offensive and strike back against the minotaur, having latched herself to its back and was clawing at its neck with her claws. Elbia was growling loudly enough for Chitoge and Bell to hear, a noise that sounded absolutely at odds with the otherwise cheerful and enthusiastic artist. Though her growl, at first, sounded like one of determination, as she tried more and more to cut at the beast's throat, it eventually became one of frustration as despite her efforts, she couldn't get past the monster's thick fur and she doubted she could break its skin for that matter, given the muscles she could feel with each swipe of her claws.

With a grunt of annoyance, the minotaur suddenly tensed before tossing his head forward, then back, and launching Elbia from its back, the werewolf girl flew through the air before impacting against the wall with concussive force, sending rocks and dust flying.

"Elbia!" Bell cried, running to his fallen comrade. He didn't make it halfway before he was intercepted by the minotaur swinging its sword down, blocking his path. Bell jumped back and away from the creature, his knife held defensively, the minotaur went after him and swung its sword again at his side. Bell saw the attack coming and moved to intercept it with his knife. Metal met metal and Bell was worried the knife would break but was glad enough to see the blade held true against the sword.

That was Hephestus crafting for you.

Though he blocked the blade, he couldn't block the force and was sent sliding across the ground. He kept his balance throughout the brief slide and brought his blade up to block the strike aimed at him this time.

He blocked the strike correctly this time, ensuring the force wouldn't knock him back again nor strike his blade from his hand.

He leapt back from a follow up strike and raised his free hand at the monster.

"Firebolt!"

Five bolts of red and orange fire struck the monster, covering it in hot smoke that covered its body from sight.

Bell waited, hoping he did enough damage to end this terror. He didn't.

Bell barely had enough time to dodge a strike that split the smoke apart and pushed the air around him, the minotaur snarled when it finally caught sight of Bell, annoyed by his magic act.

Bell watched from afar, trying to see if his spell did any damage to the creature. He spotted a few tufts of fur that were singed badly enough to fall in clumps from the beast's shoulders but no signs of burns where the flesh was visible.

His magic did next to nothing against this monster, a fact that chilled Bell.

His magic was useless, he couldn't get in close enough to do damage with his knife, he didn't know if he even could do damage to it, and he nearly had his back against the wall.

Too damn ironic for his tastes, it was like a repeat of the last time this happened, only now the minotaur had a weapon, which just made things more terrifying.

Bell and the monster stood apart from the other, neither making a move. For Bell's case, he was afraid to make a move, one wrong decision could very well end his life here and now.

For the minotaur, it was suddenly a matter of caution for it. It knew it could easily kill this little man before it, but the sudden use of magic surprised it enough to look at Bell with a little more caution. Wanting to be ready should this foe pull another surprise out of nowhere.

Bell caught something from the corner of his eye, just behind the minotaur and a ways away from him. He saw Chitoge and Lili pull an unconscious and bleeding Elbia from the rubble. He saw her injuries, seeing the blood run from a gash on her head, something Lili saw to, she poured a vial of health potion over the werewolf's head, gradually closing the wound there. Elbia still remained unconscious however.

Chitoge looked back to Bell and looked ready to charge in to help him, only to stagger and wince as the pain in her arm flared up. Lili acted quick again and made to get another health potion, only to suddenly pause as she felt her hand go through one of the pockets in her bag, the pocket she kept her and the parties' health potions.

Bell guessed Lili had her bag damaged in the initial attack but found himself grateful that she didn't get injured.

It made what he planned next easier in a way.

"Lili!" he shouted, "You and Chitoge get out of here! Get to the surface, fast," he adjusted his stance prompting a warning growl from the monster, "I'll hold it off. I have his attention, as long as I keep it busy, it shouldn't go after you."

Chitoge was the first to respond to Bell's idea, "Are you out of your mind!" she yelled, "That thing will kill you! We can fight it together!"

Lili was beside her, voicing her objection, "Master Bell, that's suicide! Lili will stay and help!"

Bell gritted his teeth in frustration before replying, "Chitoge, you're hurt! You can't help with one good arm and one with a bad injury at that! Lili, you're the only one that can get my familia members, my friends, out of here! Please, I'm counting on you!"

Chitoge and Lili both hesitated, both wanting to find some reason to stay, but Bell's words struck them with cold logic that they couldn't deny.

Even still, they wanted to stay. They couldn't stand the thought of running away while Bell fought this thing.

"Do it now! Get out of here!" Bell roared.

Frustratingly, Chitoge and Lili moved to Elbia's sides and lifted the werewolf up before carefully making their way from where they entered.

The minotaur heard them move but made no motion to attack, its attention focused on Bell, waiting for his move.

When Chitoge and the others were at the entrance, the blonde turned around and shouted, "We're coming back Bell! We'll get help and come back! So don't die, ya hear?!"

Bell smiled but gave no reply, choosing to continue the stare down with the monster. When the others had finally left, Bell dropped his smile and put all his energy into his focus.

He knew he couldn't win a straight fight against this monster but that didn't mean he would be an easy kill either.

He dashed to the side and made to maneuver around the beast. It gave a grunt of surprise before growing at its prey's sudden evasiveness. It charged and swung its sword at Bell causing him to leap back again, the sword crashed into the ground that shook Bell.

He couldn't afford to get hit even once, he had to use his superior speed to his advantage.

He only hoped he could last long enough for help to arrive.

Koukin and the rest of the familia were finally in the dungeon and making good pace. They had hoped to run into Bell sooner but she knew her captain would want to venture further down. At least she knew he was confident enough to do so but cautious enough not to overreach.

"Maaaaan this is boring," moaned Ibuki, trudging along with her arms dangling, "these monsters are hardly a thought, let alone a challenge with a group our size."

Indeed, since their initial arrival in the dungeon, the party had made swift, almost negligent work, of the monsters on the upper floors. Having a party of their size was good enough to handle the novice monsters they currently faced. Add in the fact that the party was composed of a strategist with a lifetime of war under her belt, a samurai who's skills remained unmatched so far, a soldier who fought with absolute aggression for her country, a mage who could vaporize these monsters to less than ash with a word, a artist who honed her traditional art alongside her martial art, and the lackadaisical ninja who was more formidable than she appeared.

Needless to say, no monster on the upper floor could handle such a force.

"I wouldn't complain so much," Kallen said to Ibuki, "could be worse. We could have been stuck outside while that familia made their way in in its entirety."

Indeed, in Koukin's opinion they were lucky to have entered in the time they did. For when they arrived at the dungeon entrance, they saw the great numbers and might that is the Loki familia, getting ready for their next big expedition into the depths of the dungeon.

Koukin even saw their captain, Finn Deimne, giving a speech to the gathered crowd.

Her experience in her previous life already taught her not to judge a book by its cover. Already she could tell that despite being a pallum, Finn casted a shadow as large as a mountain and his demeanor in front of his familia demanded respect already earned. His fellow familia members and subordinates definitely saw something amazing in the man and they would follow him into the mouth of Hell if that was where he wanted to go.

Koukin knew people like that and even served under some of them and knew the characters of each. Finn was definitely someone with a set ambition and goal in mind. Whatever that was, she couldn't guess, but it did tell her one thing.

She didn't want her familia to ever run afoul of such a person.

Those with ambition like Finn, made terrifying enemies to face.

She hoped Bell left a good impression upon the Sword Princess during their training. Such an action would go well in allying with a powerful force like the Loki familia. If only just to avoid being enemies.

"Shuuyu," Takeru said from the side, "there is someone ahead of us."

Koukin and the others looked and spotted two men limping their way. One was badly injured and the other wasn't any better but was still supporting his friend in standing despite his injuries. They caught sight of the group and pushed on further, "Hey! Please! Help!"

Both men suddenly collapsed against the wall, their wounds finally taking their toll on them. Koukin and the others acted quickly, with Kallen and Hana both offering their health potions for both men, who accepted them graciously.

The two men finally had a time for respite and earnestly thanked the party before groaning in apparent lingering pain, despite ingesting health potions. Koukin and the others gave them a moment to catch their breath and regain some strength. She was about to ask what happened when a rude voice rang through the hall.

"Eh? What the hell happened to those two?"

Koukin turned and saw that they had some new arrivals. Coming down the hall were the executives of the Loki familia, with Finn, of course, leading the way, the pallum's eyes scanned the two injured men and suddenly narrowed in thought, "Those are some strange wounds there sporting," he turned his attention to Koukin, "awfully similar to blade cuts. You have a falling out?"

Koukin sighed and turned to greet Finn directly, but was caught off guard by the reactions she received upon seeing them face to face.

"What the hell," the gray haired werewolf said in disbelief, "I know it can get a bit hot down here but that's just too much."

"I usually keep to myself upon others' choices in wardrobe," the emerald haired elf said in astonishment, "but this is definitely pushing the envelope."

"So big," Ais said in amazement upon seeing her and commenting on her chest before waving a greeting.

A familiar flat chested amazon stared at Koukin in shock, more accurately at her chest before coughing blood and falling back as if she was just hit by a devastating attack.

A long haired amazon looked at Koukin before looking down at her own chest, she pushed her breasts up in some sort of attempt to make them bigger before letting them drop. A cloud of depression overhead at her fruitless action.

Finn coughed politely and directed his drifting gaze back up to Koukin's eyes, "Sorry about that. It's just well…" he trailed off, unable to say something un-incriminating.

Koukin sighed, maybe she did need a wardrobe change, "No worries," she began, "you all are not the first and definitely won't be the last to react to my unique tastes in clothing."

She briefly heard Kallen muttering behind her, something about 'exhibition' or something.

If it was what she thought, she was going to smack that girl upside the head.

"Back to the matter at hand," Finn said, gesturing to the two men, "those two, were you the ones to hurt them?"

Koukin shook her head, "No," she answered, "we found them like this when we were on our way to join up with the rest of our party," she turned to where the men came from. It was a risk to turn her back on someone suspicious of her but she couldn't help it, looking down the path and hoping Bell and the others were alright.

"Given your actions, it seems I was wrong in my initial suspicions," Finn said wryly with a smile, having finally noticed Ibuki finished wrapping one of the mens' heads in some gauze.

"Nevertheless, those wounds aren't typical of a monster attack," Finn continued, "they were attacked by someone and having a random bandit down here wouldn't help the start of our expedition."

One of the two men coughed then and turned to look at Finn, "You're wrong," he began, "It was a monster that did this."

That got everyone's attention, not least of all Finn. He walked up to the injured man, "What attacked you then?" he asked.

The man groaned in pain at the memory but answered, "It was a minotaur."

The answer startled everyone. How was a minotaur up here? On the upper floors no less?

Members of the Loki familia exchanged looks with one another but it was Bete, the werewolf, who asked, "Did we miss one? I thought we cleared the floors for any trace of them last time?"

One of the amazons, Tiona, nodded her head, "Yeah! We went back and forth and up and down hunting for those things! There shouldn't be any left."

Again the injured man spoke, sharing more information, "I saw this thing just walk up from the eleventh floor. It saw us and tried to run us down, we evaded it the best we could but we were out of stamina and health potions and couldn't get away. Eventually, it cut us down somewhere on the ninth floor. We would've died had that kid not blast that monster and draw its attention from us."

Koukin renewed her focus on the man, a new question on her tongue, "Who was this person? What did they look like? Was he in a group?"

He was about to answer before an ache in his ribs stopped him from answering. Arue gave him a health potion to down and the man did so readily. When he got his voice back he answered, and it was everything Koukin feared.

"It was a white haired kid with red eyes. He was in a group of girls, three of them I think."

Koukin felt a chill go up her spine, she looked at the others and they all had similar expressions.

Bell.

Before she could give the order to move, a strong breeze blew past her and the others. She blinked in surprise before hearing the shocked cries of the Loki familia.

"Ais! The Hell?!" Bete exclaimed before going on the move himself.

"Alright we're on a mission!" came the excited voice of Tiona, who made a dash past them carrying a large and strange weapon, the other Amazon followed behind her, scolding her lightly for not waiting for their captain's order.

Koukin wasn't going to be left behind, not while her captain and fellow allies were in danger, "Hestia familia! Move out! Our captain is in danger!" she ordered, her voice loud and hard as steel.

"Right!" the rest of her party replied and ran to aid their captain and friends, with Koukin bringing up the rear.

"I guess from your reaction, you know who he was talking about?" came the voice of Finn from Koukin's side, she looked to see Finn and his elf companion keeping pace with her casually, "And your captain no less, I hope you don't mind if we tag along to aid you, my familia seemed to take the choice out of my hands."

Beside him, he could hear his high-elf companion muttering something about an 'impulsive girl.'

"Not at all," replied Koukin, returning her gaze forward, "I would be a fool not to turn down aid from a first class adventurer and a notable one at that."

Finn nodded his thanks and kept his pace the same alongside her.

They rushed down further and Koukin only hoped they wouldn't arrive too late.

Ais moved as fast as she could in the dungeon, quickly finding the best route to take to get to the ninth floor. Any monsters nearby were blown away and any in front of her were cut down in flashes of her blade.

Her driving force was to get to Bell as fast as possible. His training with her may be done but he was nowhere near strong enough to fight a minotaur.

She recalled the time she first met him, seeing him nearly killed by her own mistake, seeing his eyes filled with fear.

She didn't want to see that fear in him, she didn't want him to feel that scared again, not from anything in the dungeon…

And not from her either.

Ais passed a bend and found herself in a straight hallway that would take her to the ninth floor and not long after that, hopefully, to where Bell was.

Something caught her eye just then, a figure, no, three figures limping their way down the hall towards her. She saw it was a short brown haired pallum, carrying a large bag on her back and helping two others with walking, or at least one of them with walking while the other dragged an unconscious werewolf girl over her shoulder.

Ais saw the girl who was carefully dragging her friend, her friend's arm held over her uninjured shoulder while the pallum supported her injured side. She knew this girl, she helped her pick out some clothes last time they saw each other. Her name was…

"Chitoge," Ais called, making her way towards her. Chitoge looked up and a relief expression crossed over her face when she saw who it was.

"Ais," she said, "thank goodness you're here," her expression shifted to one of pain when her injury flared up again, "Urgh! We need help! Bell needs help!" she gestured behind her with a twist of her head, "He's back down there, fighting a minotaur, by himself!"

Ais moved to her side, withdrawing something from her waist. It was a small vial of health potion, she looked at Chitoge's arm, found the injury, and poured the contents over the wound. Chitoge winced when the cool liquid flared her injury for a brief moment but relaxed considerably when the pain disappeared and she found herself able to use her arm much better now.

"Damn," she muttered, "where can we get those? Our healing potions aren't nearly as potent."

Which sounded weird to Ais, it was just a basic healing potion. She could get it almost anywhere in the city. What healing potions was Chitoge getting?

She cut her thoughts off when she remembered that another one of them was injured. She went over to the werewolf girl and looked her over, before determining the best action. Taking another vial from her side, she gently lifted the girl's head and poured the contents of the vial down her throat. For a moment nothing happened, then the girl gave a groan and gradually began to open her eyes.

"Jumping on a minotaur's back," she began, "poor inspiration."

"Elbia!" Chitoge exclaimed, relief flooding her, "Thank goodness!"

Ais was happy to see them alright but now she had another matter to get to.

"Keep heading back," she told the trio, "I'll go help Bell."

Not waiting for a response, Ais made to continue her journey, only to pause when she found her way blocked by someone.

Someone anyone in the city would recognize just by the sight of him. He was the captain to the familia her patron Goddess was rival to, the only adventurer in the city who was level seven, the highest level in the city in fact.

He was Orario's 'King' as bestowed by the Gods, recognized for his immense strength by all, be they mortal or divine.

He walked forward a few steps and Ais saw him much better and the giant sword held nonchalantly over one shoulder.

Ottar, captain of the Freya familia, stood before Ais, his gaze focused upon her. He brought the sword forward and pointed it at her.

"Sword Princess," he said, in a voice that shook Lili just by hearing it, "I challenge you. Draw your blade."

Lili and her two companions were shocked by this development, the strongest adventurer in the city was here and was now challenging Ais Wallenstein to a fight. First the minotaur and now this! What was going on today?!

Lili felt Elbia shake from where she held her. She turned to see the werewolf girl staring at Ottar with abject fear in her eyes, the hair on her tail and ears stood on end at the sight of him. Lili had never seen her so scared and neither had Chitoge, who turned to check on her fellow familia member.

Elbia's instincts were in a storm of warning. Every aspect of her was telling her to run and run fast. She had felt that warning before when she saw the minotaur but nothing like this. She at least felt confident, at the time, that she could do some damage to the beast and maybe debilitate it. Not now though, not against this man. This man was more than just powerful.

He was a force of nature.

Ais drew her blade and readied herself to attack. Ottar got ready himself, holding his blade in both hands now.

A second past and Ais was the one to make the first move.

"Tempest!"

With a shout and an explosion of magic, Ais launched herself at Ottar, a gale of wind surrounding her and her sword in green ethereal nimbuses of light.

Ottar met her attack head on, swinging his sword down and blocking her strike, the force great enough to ring throughout the halls of the floor and cause the nearby Hestia familia members and Lili to wince and cover their ears.

Ais pushed with all her might against Ottar's blade, determined to break his guard and make it past him, but the giant boaz held firm, not even shaking from the pressure being put on by Ais's magic.

Ais quickly broke off suddenly and made to strike at Ottar's head, he quickly brought his sword up and Ais's blade slid off the side of his colossal blade. Ottar swung his sword at Ais in return, the speed surprising her. She just barely dodged out of the way thanks to her magic and she again countered with a strike of her own that was once again blocked with contemptuous ease.

For a whole minute, they traded blows with one another. Each moving at speeds that no normal person could see with the naked eye.

Ais was frustrated she couldn't get past this obstacle, this titan of an opponent she faced. She knew he was strong but he was also fast enough to keep up with her and swing that giant sword around as if it were a stick in his hands.

After exchanging more strikes, Ais shot both her feet out and against Ottar's sword before propelling herself back with a graceful flip. Ottar made no move to pursue her, simply staring and waiting for what she had next to throw at him.

Lili and the others finally had a chance to blink after that whole exchange. What was happening was almost unreal. Two first class adventurers clashing with one another right before her eyes. This did not just happen, especially from opposite familia members. Lili wanted to run, but she couldn't, the spectacle had her enthralled.

Chitoge was in a similar state, though her reasons were different from Lili's. She too was enthralled by the amazing battle before her but at the same time, a frustration built inside of her. Her frustration at her own weakness. She knew she was formidable, a skilled fighter in her own right, especially as a beginner adventurer still, but compared to the two in front of her, she was a pebble looking up a mountain. She clenched her fists at the comparison, a new flame of resolve burning itself in her chest alongside her frustration.

Elbia was watching the fight before her with wide eyes. Her artistic muse a flame of activity and awe. What she was seeing before her were two forces of power clashing, like a hurricane versus an earthquake. It reminded her of some old art she recalled in her previous world and in this world via museums she visited. Displays depicting contrasting emotions via color or epic conflicts being illustrated in large. This fight was those pieces of work and she wished so desperately to put what she saw to paper or canvas.

But another part of her felt something different from watching the battle unfold, something that gnawed at the back of her mind until she finally gave thought to it , 'Could I look like that?'

Ais was a good distance away from Ottar by now and a new plan formed in her mind.

Meet force with force and break through the guard.

"Lil Rafaga!"

Again, the green nebulas winds surrounded her only more fiercer than they were before, coating her body and blade in the wind itself.

She launched herself at Ottar and locked blades with him again, determined to break past his guard, the boaz gritted his teeth, finally feeling the amazing strength behind Ais's magic.

He decided now was a time to change tactics.

Now was a time to 'try'.

He roared all the sudden and pushed his blade against Ais, pushing her back and making her nearly bend her knee at the sudden change of power. Eventually the power behind his sword became too great for Ais and she jumped back, just in time for Ottar to slam his blade into the ground where she stood, blasting rock and debris aside in a cloud of dust.

Ais stared at Ottar for what seemed like the first time in her life with wide eyes, now having felt the power of the city's strongest adventurer firsthand and she knew immediately she couldn't win.

But she had to get past him, she had to get to Bell.

She heard footsteps coming from behind her, bare feet too.

Ottar brought his weapon up to block the strikes of Tione and Tiona, the two amazon sisters having their weapons out and ready against the King.

Now was her chance. Ais dashed forward as fast as she could, successfully passing Ottar as he was dealing with the sisters. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and with a burst of strength, he pushed the amazon duo back and made to strike at Ais from behind.

Only for his attack to be intercepted by an irate werewolf, who blocked the sword with his raised armored boot and both gauntlets. Bete Loga stared at Ottar with undisguised fury, "What the hell do you think you're doing, boar bastard?!"

Ottar watched as Ais dashed down the hall and toward where Bell Cranell would be.

Ottar watched Ais go, over the head of a very irate Bete, he had failed. He had hoped to avoid anyone interfering with what was happening behind him but unfortunately the fates weren't with him today.

Nonetheless, a part of him was confident about the potential outcome, his Goddess would certainly be pleased.

"My my," a new voice said, "I didn't expect to run into 'The King' down here."

Finn walked towards Ottar with a nonchalant air of confidence about him and sporting a bemused smile on his face at the whole situation in front of him. Beside him was the emerald haired elf Riveria, who sported a guarded and cautious look as opposed to her captain's whimsical attitude.

He then saw the rest of Hestia familia, who quickly ran over to Lili and the others and immediately checked over them, the only two who didn't were a long dark haired woman with glasses, sporting a long whip, and a purple haired woman with eastern clothes and armor, who had a hand on her blade, ready to draw.

"Well Ottar?" Finn suddenly questioned, "What brings Freya's strongest to the upper floors? Your Goddess have an interest in what's going on right now?"

Ottar didn't say anything at first, choosing to measure his words before responding, "No," he eventually answered, "I acted on my own in this manner."

Finn didn't lose his smile but Ottar saw his eyes sharpen in thought, "I see," he said in reply.

Ottar wasn't a fool, he knew Finn suspected something was off but knew he couldn't press further without evidence. Without that, this was as it looked, another minor skirmish between two rival familias, nothing more.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Ottar made to leave, walking past Finn and Riveria and eventually passing by Koukin and Takeru respectively. He briefly looked down into Koukin and then Takeru's eyes as he passed them, a sort of silent evaluation, they met his gaze with remarkable iron in theirs, neither one flinching at his presence.

'Hardy,' he thought, 'very strong willed.'

He continued on, ignoring the glares directed at his back. Eventually he heard them make their way to where his Goddess's focus was.

He hoped the young man would pull through this ordeal he was set against. Should he succeed, he will see new sights he could never see as a novice adventurer. Should he fail, then this would be where his thread will be cut and that will be the end of it.

"Break out of your shell," he said, seemingly to someone far away, "reject the help of others and face your own adventure, the only direction that you need to look is forward."

He glanced back, "answer that person's love," he finished before moving on.

Bell Cranel dodged a stomp that would have crushed his chest into powder, rolling aside a strike from a sword that would have bisected him in two.

Leaping back up and shooting another firebolt at the beast, Bell Cranell knew he was close to his end. No matter how much magic he shot, the minotaur took it with negligible ease, only coming out of the attack more annoyed than anything. Every time Bell was lucky to get close enough to cut it, he found his knife's edge only strong enough to break the skin, unable to cut through into the muscle and bone beneath.

This was a battle that could only have one real outcome. He would die, his Goddess would lose her first child, his familia their first captain, and he would never be able to accomplish his goals.

Never see his familia grow into something amazing, never be able to become the hero he always dreamed to be.

Never stand beside the girl who inspired him the most.

Bell brought his knife to block the giant sword that came for his guts, the Hestia knife holding true but launching Bell back into the rock wall a great distance away.

He felt his remaining armor crack, he heard that sound a lot during the fight, the shoulder plates were already destroyed, one of his knee plates was gone, having burst loose and falling somewhere, and his chest piece was already shattered and broken from being tossed around so many times by the beast. A miracle that it held out for as long as it did.

Bell heard the roar of triumph of the minotaur echo around the room with deafening force, satisfied that it once again brought Bell low. He heard the pounding sounds of rapid hoove falls and immediately rolled out of the way, just in time to see the creature slam the sword down where he once was. He saw its glowing eyes stare at him, a gaze that told of hunger and bloodlust in excess.

Bell couldn't last for very long, not that he expected to. His goal was only to distract the monster long enough for his party to escape. He knew they would get help for him as well but by the looks of things, that help wasn't going to come anytime soon.

He found himself dropping to a knee, the weight of the situation, the exhaustion from the fight, the aches in his injuries, it was becoming too much.

As the monster approached, Bell could only wait for the end.

'Goddess, everyone,' he thought regretfully, 'I'm sorry.'

Suddenly, a breeze of wind swept over him and heard the monster give a snort of surprise. Bell looked up to see a familiar figure before him.

Her blade held outstretched to the side, her blonde hair flowing beautifully as ever, Ais Wallenstein stood in front of Bell and faced the minotaur.

Bell was momentarily left breathless at the sight of her, his pains briefly forgotten.

Ais turned her head to give Bell a side eyed view and a smile of reassurance, never lowering her guard all the while, "Are you alright?" she began. Bell was still too stunned to reply, "You've done your best," she continued with a gentle smile, turning to face the beast, "I'll help you now."

Bell stared at Ais, her words ringing in his head.

Help him? She was going to help him. She was going to save him again. Just like last time.

'Like last time,' he thought.

Like when he first started out as an adventurer. When he had no real idea how the dungeon operated or what dangers truly existed down here. When he had negligible knowledge or experience in combat. When he was weaker.

'What changed?' he asked himself.

He obtained strange magic. He summoned allies and friends from across space and time. He no longer fought alone. He faced a silverback. He obtained a weapon forged from a Goddess. He saved a dear friend from her own familia. He was taught how to fight by a stern samurai. He was taught strategy from one of the greatest strategists of her world.

He was trained by the Sword Princess herself.

'And despite all of that,' he thought bitterly , 'I'm being saved again.'

He wanted to be different from how he was last time. Wanted to be better. Wanted to be stronger.

He didn't want to be saved again!

Bell pushed against the ground, trying to stand. He felt his body yell at him for such an action, bruises, cuts, and cracked bones telling him that what he was doing was foolish. He ignored it and pushed on.

'Get up,' he told himself , 'Get up!'

He rose to his feet but looked seconds away from collapsing again. He pushed himself to stand firmer, stand proud and strong. He pushed the pain behind him, focusing only what was in front of him.

His idol, his goal and in front of her…

His opponent.

He walked forward , 'The person who I admire and long for is here!' he thought , 'If I don't get up here, if I don't reach for new heights now.'

His legs stabilized and he walked forward.

'When will I?!'

Ais heard Bell stand, heard him walk towards her. She turned to stop him, to stop him from doing something he'd regret. She felt a hand in her wrist pulling her back. Ais was more than strong enough to shake that hand off but found she couldn't when she met the eyes of the person she was trying to save.

Eyes that burned with determination. Ruby orbs that shined like fire, that held unwavering resolve.

"I can't let Ais Wallenstein help me anymore!"

Ais felt her soul shake at the declaration. She wasn't offended by the words, the opposite in fact. Those words were not spooked out of anger or rage, they were spoken out of drive, out of desire, a desire she sympathized with.

A desire to grow stronger, regardless of the risks.

Ais let herself be dragged back, watching as Bell took her place against the minotaur.

Bell readied himself again, his knife held at the ready, the minotaur adjusted its grip on the sword it carried, sensing something different about his opponent this time, its instincts telling it a different challenge awaited it.

Soon though, newcomers had arrived in the area. Ais's allies from the Loki familia and Bell's familia along with Lili. Everyone saw the scene in front of them, a small novice adventurer against a massive minotaur. This garnered different reactions, from horror, trepidation, wonder, curiosity, and many more.

Koukin eventually stepped forward, moving just near Ais, "Captain, we are here to help," she began, "let Takeru and I distract the beast and we-"

"No," she heard Bell say.

Koukin blinked at the interruption, "I'm sorry captain, but this is a threat we have to face toge-"

"No, Koukin. This is my fight, don't interfere," Bell said sternly this time, surprising her further.

Koukin looked at her captain, her summoner, her student. What was going on? Had he suffered a concussion? Surely Bell knew this was a fight he couldn't win.

"Captain, with all due respect," she began, only to be cut off again.

"Do not interfere, Koukin! Or anyone! That is an order!"

Koukin froze when Bell said that. Surprise didn't even begin to cover what she felt right then. In all of their time together, in all that she faced with him, that they all faced with him, never once had he given an order. Sure he gave plans and suggestions but he never gave an order, Koukin had been giving orders around whenever necessary, but always waited and pushed Bell to be more assertive about what he wanted.

Now he was giving her an order, an order that told her this was his fight and no one else's. It was a selfish order but a powerful one. One spoken with strength and clarity that she didn't expect Bell to have at that moment but once again she had been proven wrong and was surprised and impressed with him.

She would be damned if she was going to disobey her captain now after hearing him like that. He wished to fight this monster by himself, so be it. For reasons she suspected but couldn't conclude.

She raised her arm up, "Stand down Hestia familia," she said sternly, "our captain commands it."

Outrage was the expected action and sure enough, a few members made their thoughts clear.

"Are you out of your mind?" Kallen said, "Do you see the size of that thing? Bell's crazy if he thinks he can take that thing alone."

"I don't want to gainsay but," Ibuki started, "this seems like a very very bad idea."

"The abyss awaits our captain," Arue postulated seriously, "less we act now or lose him forever."

"Enough," Koukin said sharply, "our captain has given the order. This is his fight now, not ours, respect his wishes."

Before any more arguments could be made, Takeru spoke up next, "Everyone be silent."

They turned to her, sharp words on their tongues when they saw her gaze focused forward with absolute focus.

"Look upon our captain," she said, "what do you see?"

The others turned their gaze to Bell and watched him, wondering exactly what she was talking about.

It didn't take them long to guess what she was talking about. They stared at Bell's back as he faced off against the minotaur, seeing his feet set and shoulders raised along with the weapon in his hand. Bell was absolutely determined to fight this monster, determined to beat it. This was his fight and his fight alone.

"Our captain has never once been selfish," Takeru said, moving to stand beside Koukin and in front of the others, "just this once, let us indulge our captain for his wishes. Let him fight this monster, no," Takeru's eyes shone with pride as she continued to look upon Bell, "let him defeat this monster," she corrected.

The others still wanted to argue, about how this was reckless, about how this was crazy, about how this was stupid, but looking at Bell and seeing him stand confidently in front of this monster, ready to fight it and determined to defeat it, how could they dare interfere after seeing their captain like that?

Chitoge and Elbia were the only ones that still had some reservations, having felt the might of the monster first hand, but they were silent in the face of Bell's visible determination. Nevertheless, Chitoge clenched her hands in worry, an action mirrored by Elbia, they felt the strength of the minotaur first hand and the thought of Bell fighting this thing without backup was distressing.

In front of two familias, Bell and the minotaur stared the other down, the tension in the air becoming palpable between the two opponents.

Bell adjusted his stance, sliding one foot slightly out, ready to charge forth.

The minotaur exhaled a steaming cloud from its nostrils and tensed its grip on its sword, prepared to kill at the first opportunity.

The tension broke, and both charged at the other.

Bell dodged out of the way of the strike aimed to split him down the middle and retaliated with a cut across the beast's stomach. To Bell's surprise he managed to draw blood this time, the wound wasn't deep but it was better than nothing. He leapt back as the monster reached for him, trying to crush his skull, he charged again and cut along the monster's hand.

With a grunt of annoyance, the minotaur slammed its hoof against the ground, shaking the floor and knocking Bell off balance. It delivered a backhand to Bell that sent him flying. To its shock however, Bell recovered after rolling across the ground once and was up on his feet a second later, bleeding from a cut on his head but ready to fight.

Bell charged the beast and it did the same, both yelling and roaring at the other.

Loki familia were watching the fight with disbelief, this kid, this newbie adventurer had refused the help of The Sword Princess and his own familia to fight this thing. Already their first impression of this kid was that he was either arrogant or foolish.

Yet they watched on, enthralled by what they saw.

Bete Logia remembered this kid, he had a vivid memory of him covered in blood and running from Ais after she saved him. He had mocked this person, cursed his weakness, but now?

Bete watched as Bell landed two slashes against the minotaur's shoulder and sweeping under the follow up strike that would have crushed his head.

Now Bete was enraptured by this fight, by the tenacity being displayed. He shouldn't be impressed by this fight, it was just a minotaur, he could kill hundreds of these things and never get tired or feel threatened.

But seeing this kid fight for his life, fight for his pride, fight for the glory. It made his hair stand on end.

'Dammit,' he thought , 'just who is this punk?'

Finn saw Bell leap over another heavy strike that would have crushed him into a gory mess and saw him follow up with a cut at the minotaur's neck, cutting past thick fur and tough hide, the minotaur growled and tilted his head sharply, knocking Bell back with its one horn.

Finn felt his thumb tingling the second the fight began before him. Feeling something off with the monster, it was clearly more powerful than a normal minotaur should be, add in the fact it possessed a weapon that wasn't a landform one and it was obvious that this monster was either a unique abnormal or potentially a tamed beast. Neither of which bode well for the young man fighting it. It was obvious, painfully so, yet he kept fighting, dodging strikes he couldn't block, slashing at every opportunity presented to him, and never once losing that look in his eyes.

That look of bravery that Finn spent his whole life cultivating and improving.

Finn clenched his fist, his thumb tucked into it, "He's good," he said aloud with a smile, "really good."

'To think I, 'Braver', would be impressed by another's courage.'

Tiona watched Bell fight, watched him push himself further and further, against the odds and against his limits. It sparked a familiar story she read, her favorite one.

"He's like the Argonaut," she said with a gentle smile of nostalgia, "like the story. I always like that one growing up."

She saw Bell struggling on and on against the beast, despite the risks, he still pushed on and Tiona felt herself be inspired by the display. She silently urged Bell on, her voice low, as to not distract him from his fight.

It was safe to say Bell had bitten off more than he could chew.

Dodging under another sweep of the sword, Bell jumped up in an amazing burst of speed and landed a cut on the minotaur's shoulder, drawing another growl from the beast's throat as again it was made to bleed.

'Not deep enough,' he thought as he landed , 'I'm making him bleed but I'll run out of breath before it runs out of blood.'

He was happy his attacks were landing with better purchase now than they were before but it still wasn't going to be enough. He needed to somehow get more damage from his knife or…

Bell looked up at the minotaur again, more accurately, at what it was holding.

'That could work.'

He waited for a moment and wasn't disappointed when the minotaur charged at him again, sword raised high to split him in two.

Bell raised a free hand and shouted, "Firebolt!" launching a barrage of fire in quick succession at the monster.

"Magic?! With such a short chant?!" he heard someone say from the crowd but paid it little attention when the minotaur was obscured by smoke. He dived to the side as the sword came haphazardly down upon where he once stood, the smoke having thrown off the monster's aim and giving Bell the opportunity he needed.

Bell ran the hand that held the sword and plunged the knife into its wrist before twisting, causing a spray of blood and a howl of pain from the monster. It let go of the sword and Bell was quick to capitalize.

He put his knife away and made to grab the sword handle as the monster stepped back in shock at this new development. Bell lifted the sword from the ground with a groan and a ton of effort but managed to lift it up to his shoulder in an amazing display of strength from someone his size.

Bell and the minotaur locked gazes again before Bell charged back into the battle and swung the sword across the monster's chest, cutting deep and spraying its blood in a fountain. One, two, three strikes Bell delivered to the beast, each one cutting flesh with considerable ease then his knife ever did and doing far more damage.

Bell drew his new weapon back again to strike at the beast, only for another new development to occur, the minotaur raised its head and reeled its arm back before punching out with a fist that met the blade head on. Metal cut through skin and flesh but was stopped by bone that was harder than rock.

Any normal man would be in shock at this sudden new development but Bell simply drew the greatsword back and prepared to swing again the same time as the monster brought back another fist to punch out again.

They clashed in another violent display. Steel meeting flesh and bone again and again in gratuitous battle. Both opponents neither letting up or slowing down in their attacks. Bell felt like his arms were filling with hot lead that threatened to burst but pushed on regardless, the minotaur blocked any pain it would feel from meeting the blade bare knuckled, its desire for battle fueling it to endure and push on.

Both fighters were approaching their limits but neither cared. They both wanted one thing out of this conflict.

Victory!

Up above the dungeon, above the city, inside the Tower of Babel, a Goddess looked down with a face that could only be described as rapturous. She watched as the pure soul that enamored her so, fight for his life, flashing and shining with brilliant intensity.

"So beautiful," she whispered, her voice breathy and soaked in desire, "his soul, his struggle, his spirit, his will, all of it is so beautiful."

Her plan couldn't have gone any better, Ottar went above and beyond when she gave the order for him to cure the young man of his fears so that he may grow and shine

And shine brightly he did.

In a sudden moment of sober clarity, her gaze drifted elsewhere, still directed at the area she could see her beloved, but also where she spotted the unique souls that were near him.

They were a variety of colors, not as pure as the blinding white of her beloved's soul, but each were unique in their own ways that she found dazzling to look at.

What was interesting though, was the thin trails of light that somehow connected their souls to his. It was faint, a minuscule spectral thread that connected them to him.

'Curious,' she thought.

She did not dwell on it for long, another bright flash from Bell's soul caught her attention again and her gaze once more returned to the spectacle before her.

"Fight. Fight long and hard," she whispered the words with heated breath, lit by passion.

"My Odr."

One last resounding impact with one another pushed Bell and the minotaur back from each other. Both combatants breathing in whatever breath they could claim in this moment of respite.

Bell's body was sore beyond anything he had ever felt before. His injuries flaring up and warning him of the damage that he was doing to himself. He didn't care and pushed aside his body's warnings in favor of readying for another attack.

Faring little better was the minotaur, whose wounds were screaming at it in a similar manner, though it wasn't bothered by the pain. It wasn't bothered by the cuts from the knife, or the gashes in its torso from the sword, or even the cracked and split knuckles from it punching the blade. What bothered it was a strange sensation, a sensation foreign and new to its existence. If it had the ability to, it would try to guess the words for it, struggling all the while, but realized that wasn't what really bothered it. What was bothering it was being unable to comprehend the sensation.

What was it feeling? It wasn't rage, that tasted hot and burned the body. It wasn't fear, it was far from that. Close to satisfaction, like making a successful kill. What was the word? What was the sensation? What made fighting this young warrior so thrilling? What made it wish it could fight like this forever and ever against such an opponent.

Somehow the word for what it was feeling came to the monster and it finally understood.

Joy.

It was enjoying this fight. This fight, unlike any other it faced before. No rival monsters came close to giving him this feeling, even that man who broke its horn couldn't give it what it felt right now.

It was enjoying this fight with this young warrior but it and Bell knew that this fight was at its climax and it was time to end things here and now.

Never taking its eyes off Bell's, the minotaur lowered itself, lone horn pointed at Bell, ready to charge.

Bell adjusted his grip on the sword in his hand and did likewise to his stance, ready to meet the attack head on.

Both stared at the other, each with the same desire pushing them on.

I want to win!

Bell charged forward the same time the minotaur did, both meeting the other in a headlong collision.

Bell swung the sword down, hoping to split the creature's skull, only to see the beast adjust its head to catch the blade on its horn. As reliable as the sword was, it had endured the abuse of the monster and of Bell and could now longer last, it shattered the moment it made contact with the horn. Depriving Bell of his best means of killing the monster.

But not his only means.

As the horn came closer to skewer Bell, he dodged at just the moment the horn caught on his shirt, tearing it. He rolled under the beast and came to its side, Hestia knife in hand and stabbed into its unprotected flank.

It raised a massive arm, prepared to crush Bell, when it felt a searing heat flare in its side.

"Firebolt!"

The flare of heat became an explosion of pain as Bell pressed his other hand into the butt of the knife and shot his magic through it.

"Firebolt!"

Again a flare of pain and a flash of light coursed through the beast. It gave a groan of anger and pain as the sensation scored through it. It felt the heat cook its insides, the smell of its own flesh cooking new to its senses.

Even still, it raised a massive hand to crush Bell.

"You want some more?!" Bell roared, "Fine! Firebolt!"

Again the pain flared and light could be seen flashing beneath its thick skin.

"Firebolt!"

A flash again, more visible, steam emerging from the minotaur's eyes and mouth.

"Firebolt!"

Its belly distended at the pressure of power it was subjected to, the arm the monster raised falling to its side as its strength ebbed from it.

"Firebolt!"

It was too much now, the spell Bell unleashed then blew the minotaur apart in a mighty explosion, a twister of flames and ash blasting into the air and scattering around the room.

When the smoke cleared, Bell stood, standing with his head held high and knife in hand, unconscious.

A moment passed and no one moved, no one said anything, too amazed at what they saw.

A level one rookie had just killed a minotaur.

Eventually the silence was broken by Lili, who quickly ran to Bell's side, "Master Bell!" she exclaimed when she got close, checking for any serious injuries. With the remains of his shirt gone with the blast, she could see the bruises, cuts, and even burns more carefully. She was frankly in awe that Bell could fight with such wounds.

A way back, Ais was looking at Bell in pure amazement. He did it, he actually won. Against the odds he triumphed over his foe. All the while, still just a level one adventurer.

Ais felt the questions burn in her mind. How did he get so strong so fast? What did he do to obtain such strength? What was it? Was it a skill?

At the last question, Ais looked closely at Bell, seeing his bare back towards her. At his exposed falna, listing his status, abilities, or any skills he may possess.

She found herself walking slowly towards him, to see what it was. What made Bell grow so much in such a short time.

And if maybe she could learn it as well.

A gentle hand grabbed her shoulder, stopping her progress. She turned to see Riveria looking at her with a stern but not unkind expression, "That's enough," she began, "Even if it was unavoidable for us to see his status. Going any further would be unreasonable."

It was at that moment the Hestia familia moved to their captain's side, concern and caution written on their faces at Bell's injuries and his exposed status. Arue removed her robe and draped it over Bell, blocking any further view of his back.

Koukin walked up to them, "Thank you for respecting our captain's wishes," she said with a grateful nod, "we are sorry if this delayed you in any way."

Finn came up, his polite smile on display, "No worries. Just another day in the dungeon," he gave a shrug, "can't predict anything that happens down here. Delays are inevitable," he focused his gaze at Bell, "I was nonetheless amazed by such a fight. Tell me if you can, who is that young man?"

Koukin smiled and turned her gaze back to Bell, pride showing in her eyes, "Bell Cranell, proud captain of the Hestia familia."

After that, the Hestia familia made to leave, Bell being carried by Takeru and Lili by Ibuki. Finn and the others watched them go, their eyes still trailing the firm of the unconscious captain.

"Quite an eccentric group," Finn commented, "and a lucky captain to have that many women worried about him."

Riveria sighed at that, "Seems like he is the sole male of his familia. Quite an enviable position, should others find out."

Finn nodded, "Let's keep that a secret. I don't want to bring any trouble on their heads, especially from those of a jealous mindset."

After such a dazzling display from their captain, it was the least he could do. Though seeing a bunch of women carrying one man out of the dungeon might render that gesture moot.

Oh well, nothing to be done about that.

"Hey Reveria," Bete suddenly said, "you saw the kids back, right? What were his stats?"

Reveria scoffed at the werewolf's question, "And why should I say? Didn't you hear me, it would have been intrusive and unnecessary, and quite frankly," she leveled a glare that made it seem like she was talking to an idiot, "none of our business."

Bete wasn't deterred, "C'mon, I'm not asking for his skills or anything. I just want to know what his numbers are. Hell, everyone here wants to know too."

That was true enough. Ais had seen his status thanks to her talent of reading divine hieroglyphics, a talent that Riveria earned her own way through rigorous study.

The high elf looked around her, seeing the impatient werewolf and the twin amazons who couldn't hide their curiosity either,

Riveria gave a sigh, it honestly wouldn't hurt, in fact it may even motivate them in the battle ahead.

"S," she said.

"What was that?" Bete asked, wondering if he heard right.

"All of his status are over rank S," Riveria said, saying no more on the matter.

She didn't need to, Bete and the amazons were shocked into silence by what they heard.

Eventually they moved on, quietly wondering how a rookie adventurer could go from a scrawny weakling, into an impressive fighter in a little over a month.

And secretly, how they could push themselves to do similar.

He would never know, but Bell Cranell did something amazing, other than defeating the minotaur.

He inspired the veterans of the Loki familia that day.

In a place that was above the city of Orario, above the Tower of Babel,above the world itself, and even above space itself, a God of love and sex watched the world bellow through a reflecting pool with a bright and beautiful smile.

It couldn't have gone better. His gift couldn't land in better hands than that boy down below.

He had a fire in him that Eros had rarely seen before in a mortal, a passion for growth that very few had.

And his accomplishments, the God laughed, the tasks. He had been blowing through them with speed and gusto. When he had these tasks assigned, they were made with the average adventure in mind, tough but doable. In Bell's hands though, those tasks might not be hard enough.

He wouldn't change that though, this way his plan can actually be accomplished faster than he thought, which was always good.

Eros brought his focus back on the mortal he bestowed his gift on, a gentle smile on his face now.

"You truly went above and beyond, mortal," he gave a laugh of self admonishment, "I'm sorry, Bell, "he corrected. He then took one finger and dipped in into the pool, a light shining around where the image of Bell showed, "after that ordeal, you have earned this little reward on top of what you have already gained," his smile turned a bit more wistful and he sighed, "I just wish Hestia wasn't such a prude in telling you the full use of my gift. Though I shouldn't be surprised, she never did take a shine to me. Despite my attempts at politeness."

Granted his 'politeness' could have used more clothes and conversation not start with 'Hey Hestia! Want to hear about these two mortals I saw going at it in a field?'

Her drop kicking him out of her domain was the response he got from that. That little Goddess could kick hard.

"Though from the looks of things. She won't be able to delay any longer," he poured himself a glass of wine that materialized near him, "not after his allies saw him fight that fiercely and recklessly. Any one of them would want to grow stronger after that, whether through traditional means," he took a slow sip of his drink, enjoying the exotic flavors tingling his tongue, "or unorthodox means," he finished.

He would have liked to dwell on the topic more, were it not for a sensation that swept over him and his realm.

He tensed as he felt it course over him and even through him. This was a divine power he hadn't felt in what felt like millennia. It was also familiar to him too.

He didn't look around to where it came from, it would have been useless to attempt given it didn't come from Heaven at all.

It came from the mortal world, it came from an old associate.

"Ouranos," Eros began, talking to the air itself, "finally made your way to me. I was wondering when you were going to get here."

"You know of what I am about to ask!" came a voice that was everywhere but nowhere.

Even down in the mortal world, Ouranos was still a force to be reckoned with and Eros was arrogant, but he wasn't 'that' arrogant to deceive someone like him.

Besides, if he were honest, he didn't want to. He was hoping he would find out eventually. Hell, he kinda hoped he found out sooner. Nevertheless, this was good.

"Indeed I do, old friend," Eros said, "you are about to ask me about the blessing that fell from heaven," he gave a flourishing bow, "allow me to congratulate you in finding the culprit. Yours truly of course."

A moment of silence passed, Eros would like to think Ouranos was stunned by his confession, expecting a lie if anything.

Eros wasn't one to lie though, he found honesty a good additive to passion, which he was all about.

"I am surprised," Ouranos said , "the others were not as forthcoming and their answers next to nothing to go on. It is a relief that you are honest enough to speak the truth. That and the last one I spoke to claimed to be the aid of your blessing."

Eros smiled, "I wouldn't dare call him an aid. Svarog is more the architect to my gift. Though I did have to put in my own leg work to ensure smooth progress."

He didn't say what he did to help the smith of stars, that answer can wait later.

"Then I ask my final question," Ouranos paused, as if the question held a great weight , "Why?"

For a moment, Eros didn't answer. He could, very easily. He had no reason to keep any secrets against a God as mighty as Ouranos, especially since he actually held a great deal of respect for him.

But still he paused, debating to answer. Until finally he gave one.

"I'll tell you alongside the other Gods and Goddesses at the next Denatus. It is soon, correct? I will reveal my intentions there before you and every other deity that attends. I know quite a few are chomping at the bit about what exactly happened and your investigation has only garnered their curiosity all the more," he made a flourishing gesture, as if he was an actor upon a stage, "allow me to satiate their curiosity and explain my reasons there, just this once."

His domain was silent as Ouranos contemplated. Eros knew that the first God to descend to the mortal world could just very easily refuse his offer and compel him to answer, which Eros would do with no fanfare, not wanting to cross Ouranos. Nevertheless, he hoped he would be open to his offer.

"Very well," he intoned , "I will speak to Hermes about setting up communications with you just for that day. Until then, wait until you are called and have your answers be forthcoming."

Eros smiled, conscious Ouranos couldn't see it but hear it in his words, "Aren't I always?"

He didn't receive a reply to his glib response and felt the sensation of Ouranos focus leaving his realm.

"Finally," Eros said, walking back to his temple, "I can tell them how I really feel."

Among other things, that was for sure.