Chapter 286 - 5

[Raul Nord]

The sounds of steel rending flesh filled the air, and the bellows of a Minotaur dying soon followed.

Insanity.

That was only what Raul Nord could describe it all.

Raul and Anakitty had just made Level 3 a few months back, and they were on their way down to the middle floors with Alicia Forestlight, Narvi Roll, and Cruz Bussell who were still Level 2 to support Loki-sama's favorite child Aiz Wallenstein in her bid for Level 5. Her stats were there, but she needed the High-Quality Excelia to move up, and she was going to do what she always did which was throwing herself at the monsters until either they died or she did.

The event that lead to Raul's and Anakitty's Rank Up had been a horrible one- their party had attempted to assist a fellow party on the 22nd Floor when another group of monsters flanked both groups and turned an orderly, fighting retreat into a bloody scrap that left both parties in a daze. The fighting had been desperate, both groups of Adventurers taking horrible injuries, but when all appeared lost Aiz Wallenstein descended from the sky like a comet wreathed in the very winds themselves... and she fought all on the monsters their behalf.

No, she killed all of the monsters on their behalf, and while to everyone else, it was if an angel had landed in their midst, to Raul? He could only see a broken individual, a body without a soul. The blonde girl five years his junior fought like she was possessed, the child taking on large groups of monsters by herself with zero regard for her own safety; deep within the comfort and safety of his own mind, he thought that the only reason she saved them was that they were where the monsters were at.

Of course, such an opinion about the Sword Princess would spell his early demise in a familia that did nothing but sing her praises, so he kept his observations to himself and just stared in horror at the wounds the girl had received in her defense of them.

Before he had been too wounded and too exhausted to assist her any further, but now he was here, with his party at his back and Aiz Wallenstein standing by his side and he was watching it all happen again, except this time it was with the up-and-comer of the Hephaestus familia- the Smith Prince.

Raul Nord could do nothing except stand in place and watch. Follow him and watch. He could do nothing, however, not because he didn't want to, but because there was a Level 5 and his two Level 2 companions preventing them from taking action.

"This is his fight. He's worked very hard for this moment, don't even think of interfering." The half-dwarf grunted, her arms crossed underneath her gauze-bound breasts, "If he needs it, I will be the one to intervene. Watch if you want to, but if you go around, don't kill a single monster on your way out. Don't ruin this for him."​

Raul had wanted to go on ahead, but Aiz had been rooted in place, her unnatural, unblinking golden eyes tracked his every movement like a cat watching a string.

To be fair, everyone else just wanted to watch as well, and Raul hated it.

Having to sit back and watch one broken child endlessly pursue strength was one thing, but having to watch another do it as well? Did they not know how important and precious their lives were? Did they not care about the people they would leave behind?

Were they... not afraid of death?

The only thing that Raul could say was different about the Smith Prince was that he fought differently than the Sword Princess; he didn't appear to have a powerful Magic like Aiz's Ariel to cut through the monsters like they weren't even there. He couldn't scatter them with hurricane-force winds or pierce their forms with drills that parted flesh like wheat before the scythe.

No, he fired mundane arrows from a mundane bow, his arrows always finding their softest parts- their eyes, their ear canals, their mouths, and even their narrow nostrils could be filled with steel and wood. However, soon, his arrows ran out, and he cast his bow back to Tsubaki Collebrand to draw a red-tinted High-Steel shortsword that looked incredibly familiar- how could he not recognize its make when Loki had been sending her Level 1s to buy out the Guild's stock every time those blades hit the shelves?

"I'm not doing it because I like the kid or anything. He's shrimpy and annoying and he dared to criticize my Aiz-tan! However, if he's going to be selling these blades at rock bottom prices, I'd be an irresponsible Goddess if I didn't pick up my kiddies the best equipment possible! The fact I get to save a boatload of valis doing it is just the icing on the cake! Fufufufhahahahaha!"​

Unlike most Adventurers, however, the boy had no compunctions about abandoning his weapon when holding onto it would leave him in a disadvantageous position- if he couldn't retrieve his blade then he would draw two, long-bladed daggers and would use those until the Minotaur that stubbornly held onto his shortsword perished.

It was eerie just how skilled the boy was, every single strike, evasion, and parry was something that reminded him of the glass-faced grandfather clock that Loki-sama had in her office; when the enemy 'ticked' the boy 'tocked'. It was mechanical and fluid in a way that was similar to Aiz Wallenstein but yet different- they both danced, but the songs were different, and no less disconcordant. It wasn't like watching the Captain fight- Finn-sama always made everything seem smooth and graceful, like watching a well-orchestrated play whether he was fighting or conducting the fighting.

The boy, Bell Cranel, though he introduced himself as 'Bell Winters', only paused in between fights to heal himself and recover his breath. As soon as his chanting was finished he was tossing his staff back to his two companions- a Pallum girl no older than himself, and a cheinthrope girl that was just a few years older that Raul knew to be Naaza-chan; she was one of Miach-sama's Children, and the God had no problems boasting about her to Loki-sama whenever the two met for lunch to discuss business.

Which was uncharacteristic of Miach-sama because the man was always quite reserved.

If she had been training with this Bell Winters and was improving at an even a lesser rate, then that just might be what was needed to get the humble God to puff out his chest in pride at his Child's progress and accomplishments.

"Magician's Wonder." "Forest Breeze." "Total Body."​

Three spells. The boy knew three spells and he used them whenever he had the opportunity, with a frequency that astounded even his elvish companion Alicia; when she commented on someone without the Mage Developmental Ability using Magic with such ease, the Pallum girl chided her.

"Bell-sama isn't a prodigy of any kind. He is a hard worker, that is all. He practices every night for three hours before going to bed, often suffering the Ignis Faatus on his person so that he doesn't damage his staff."

The cheinthrope Naaza nodded. "Please, don't cheapen his efforts."​

How many Minotaurs had the boy slain so far? 20? 30?

It was hard to keep track of them all as their bodies were often dissolving to ash by the time the two groups caught up while leaving enough distance between themselves to not interfere and draw attention away from him. One of his Shadowsteel daggers broke, and the other one soon followed after it. His backup knife, a standard High-Steel knife barely 5-inches in length slew three more Minotaurs before it too broke, and that left Bell Cranel with just his shortsword.

The pathing the boy chose circled through every single passageway on the 17th floor, and while there were three paths to the Goliath chamber and the Wall of Despair, he didn't choose a direct route, instead, he snaked his way through every corridor to make sure that not a single Minotaur survived his purge.

How long had it been since they started watching? Raul didn't know- he would have to ask Narvi after; his fellow human had a pretty accurate inner clock. Not that it really mattered though- they were going to be behind on this dive anyway, but since Aiz was more than willing to waste her own fighting time to watch the boy... then Loki-sama wouldn't complain. Too much.

He hoped.

The passageway to the Goliath was just up ahead, and so were the last few Minotaurs standing in their way. They were a pack of four, and despite the boy's beat-up appearance- his armor in tatters, blood oozing slowly from his head as the Low-Quality potion he just imbibed did its best to stem the flow.

His shortsword was in tatters, with more chips and cracks running along its length than actual blade, but still, somehow, it held on- much like the boy was holding on.

The boy stepped forward, and the Minotaurs stepped away.

It was a surreal moment, to see monsters display survival instincts- he knew they had them because they ran away whenever the Executives strolled into the Dungeon, but to see them display such a thing with a Level 2 that was not even a teenager was something else entirely.

He charged, and while three charged in return, the final one fled, and Bell Cranel cut them down with none of the precision that he had started with- he was barely able to remain standing. His movements were sloppy but powerful, and they got the job done. The shortsword pierced a throat before the blade was yanked out sideways, showering the floor in a spray of arterial blood; the Minotaur collapsed and faded into ash. The second and third monsters followed not soon after.

The boy was off chasing down the Minotaur, and honestly, Raul didn't know where it was going to go- the Goliath had a penchant for slaying monsters that wandered into its domain just as readily as it did Adventurers.

"The Goliath isn't there," Anakitty murmured as they jogged after them, "The Freya familia killed it a week ago on their way back up. So what does this one think it's going to accomplish?"

"Maybe it thinks it can make it to Under Resort and disappear into the forest?" Alicia posited with a hum.

"Doesn't matter," Cruz grunted as they slowed their jog down to a walk, his eyes narrowing as they approached the stone passage, "The kid's already got him."

The two parties filtered into the Goliath's chamber and fanned out to watch the proceedings; the Minotaur had gotten almost a third of the way across the massive hallway before the boy caught up to it, his blade flashing out to bite into the back of the monster's knee. The beast let out a pained roar and swung its meaty fist in an attempt to backhand Bell Cranel, and when its fist swung just a little bit high - the monster's bottom knuckle ruffling the boy's white hair- it attempted to follow up with a combination of blows.

A left straight punch that was side-stepped, a right hook that was ducked under, and another left straight that was punished when the boy held up his shortsword and used the force from the blow to cut deeply into the Minotaur's forearm.

Black blood spewed from the wound, spattering the boy's face, but even then he had the wherewithal and the training to dive as far away as possible, scrubbing at his eyes to clear the beast's blood as he did so. The minotaur attempted to capitalize, but the blade flashed out and bit into its thigh, causing it to stumble, and the boy leaped into the air to finish the fight. Red steel sliced towards the monster's neck, but the Minotaur angled its head and the shortsword met hardened horn.

A massive chunk of the horn was chipped away, but the blade had finally absorbed enough punishment- the sword snapped at the hilt and sailed towards the two parties, bouncing and skittering across the stone to rest at Aiz Wallenstein's armored boot. The girl didn't notice, however, her eyes still on the fight.

A strangled cry snapped Raul's eyes back to the fight, and he watched as the boy, caught up in the grasp of the Minotaur's good hand, roared as the beat began constricting. The 'chink' of a blade being unlatched caught everyone's attention, the Hephaestus familia Captain was lowering herself into a stance to dash forward and intervene, but Aiz's hand raised. "Wait."

Raul looked back and saw the boy's hands come down and grip into the beast's thumb before heaving it back and snapping it at the base, and without that holding him in place, the boy spun out of the Minotaur's grasp and snapped two more fingers before diving into the monster's guard and began laying his fists and feet into everything he could.

Raul heard bones break as the small child's hand impacted against the inside of the monster's wounded knee; whether it was just the Minotaur's bones breaking he didn't know, but it folded sideways. The wounded forearm was useless for anything other than keeping it propped up, but a spin-kicked shattered the elbow of that limb; the hardened, segmented steel plating on the boy's leather greaves crumpling with the force of the blow.

A flying heel strike broke the other elbow, and the boy collapsed onto his back just outside of the monster's reach, his chest rising and falling as he gasped for air. Normally being on your back in such a position would be incredibly dangerous near a monster of the Dungeon, but that didn't seem to be the case here because the Minotaur was using its only remaining functional limb to try and edge itself away, its chin digging into the stone to try and make distance. The boy inhaled deeply for about a minute before he hauled himself up to his feet and staggered towards the beast that had managed to chin himself away almost two dozen meters in that time.

"Come on, Big Boy. Time to put an end to this." Bell Cranel grunted as he kicked the beast's knee out and moved towards the bull-like monster's head.

Two hands grasped the base of the broken horn while his boot found purchase on the other. A roar escaped his lips, one echoing from the mouth of the Minotaur as Bell Cranel began applying torque with all of the strength remaining in his tiny body. The strain proved to be too much on the broken horn and it snapped off, but with one hand still on the base he didn't lose much ground; if anything the clean break allowed him to grip onto the other side and he renewed his pull.

"Coooooommmmmeeeeeee ooooooonnnnnnn!" He howled out as the beast's arm weakly slapped at his leg, but the stance didn't falter. In a split second he eased off, which threw the monster off for just a fraction of a moment, and then he reapplied the torque in a solid jerk that finished the beast off- its head-spinning almost all the way around as a resounding -SNAP- echoed throughout the Goliath chamber.

The Smith Prince, the boy, Bell Cranel... stumbled at the loss of resistance as the Minotaur faded to ash immediately, his knees giving out on him. He collapsed onto the stone with a grunt.

"47," Aiz murmured to herself as she bent down to pick up the remains of the boy's blade before walking towards Bell Cranel with his party members.

"Ahhhhh! You almost gave me a heart attack, Bell-kichi!" The half-dwarf cried out as she scratched at the side of her head, "But! Mission accomplished, right? If that isn't your Level 3, then I don't know what would give it to you!"

"Hmmm. Good job, Bell-kun."

"Yup! Good job, Bell-sama!"

Raul didn't walk over and join in the festivities, because if anything it turned his stomach- the firm expression on Aiz Wallenstein's face as she handed over the broken blade and returned to their party did not bode well for them at all.

"Wow. What a kid." Narvi interlaced her fingers behind her head as she spoke.

"We need to fucking try harder." Cruz ground out as they walked down the tunnel to the Under Resort. "I am not about to let myself be outdone by a fucking kid."

Raul sighed as he watched Aiz take the lead of their little training expedition and took off in a jog. "A little late for that, isn't it?"

Spoiler: Bell Winters - Level 3

"Mage, huh? Why that one?" Tsubaki asked me as she sat me between her legs on her favorite bean bag chair in the common area that we'd taken over after our quarterly Status Updates; our Goddess wanted to revel with us, but unfortunately, she had a Divine's only gala to attend and needed to get her paperwork finished before she could get ready.

"Well, it's because I'm trying to get the Mystery Developmental Ability, and I think that being both skilled with Magic and having the Mage Developmental Ability is a prerequisite; with my Blacksmithing I shouldn't need to take Metalworking to unlock it." I popped a bit of celebratory chocolate into my mouth and just enjoyed the feeling of Tsubaki's warm hands pampering me. Lili was off doing her chores and Naaza was back with her God; she was talking about taking her Rank-Up now, even if she didn't have her stats maxed. I did my best to try and dissuade her of course, but seeing me finally blow through the entirety of the 17th Floor along with my climactic fight against the last Minotaur lit a fire within her belly.

I felt bad because I ended up playing up the difficulty of that last fight just a tad- I had enough strength in me to crush the Minotaur's head in with my boot, but snapping the damn thing's neck was far more cathartic. It totally wasn't because Aiz Wallenstein was watching me and I wanted to attract the kuudere's attention for possible waifuing outside of my smithing abilities.

Upon finalizing my High-Quality Excelia, I had many options for my Developmental Ability: Ranger, Mage, Metalworking, Abnormal Resist, Swordsman, and Fist Fighter.

I don't know if the Fist Fighter was because of all of the monsters I had killed barehanded in an effort to improve the difficulty while I was partying with Lili and Naaza down to the 13th Floor or whether it was the last fight with the Minotaur, but while it sounded pretty cool I would much rather fight with a blade than my hands; a lot of monsters had ludicrous hide durability that was often only overcome by a blade of some kind, and my wrists already screamed at me with the amount of punishment they sustained every day using a sword and knives. Breaking my knuckles was one of the few injuries I'd yet to experience in this world, and I'd like to keep it that way if at all possible.

If I picked up Swordsman at all, it would have to be a late-game pick up- something to give me an edge in an 11th hour Rank Up, while Abnormal Resist could be overcome with the proper potions and working in a party, and Ranger was superfluous with my Lead the Way skill. Just like Metalworking, although Tsubaki assured me that smithing with Metalworking made things so, so much easier- the few smiths that had it could churn out weapons at an incredible rate, although they ran through Mind potions to keep it going. With my exercised Magic stat and superior Mind control compared to them, I could probably churn out a dozen or more swords in a single day if I was inclined to pick it up.

Which I wasn't.

I had been waiting for the Mage Developmental Ability since I woke up in this world and got my falna- having a blanket improvement to Mind capacity, Mind control, spell efficacy, spell control, and spell efficiency was just too damn good to pass up! My buffing spells buff harder, my healing spells are going to heal better and provide improved stamina regeneration, and just maybe my Storm Circle will be potent enough to kill enemies outright and improve the effects of the paralysis towards stronger monsters. According to the information Lenoa was willing to sell me, Mage was also a requirement in learning the Concurrent Chanting skill, and I fucking wanted that skill. So fucking badly.

Not to mention I think it is a requirement for gaining the Mystery Developmental Ability.

I leaned back against Tsubaki's wonderfully squishy breasts and grinned. "Besides, I think I'm the first blacksmith in the familia to have the Mage DA, right? A familia first, to be sure!"

My senpai chuckled and scrubbed at my head before releasing me from her embrace and popping up to her feet, leaving me to tumble back into the hole that she left in the beanbag chair. "Well, I'mma run to my forge, watching all of that was nerve-wracking as hell, Bell-kichi, but it sure got me fired up! You kids have fun!"

Kids?

Naaza and a freshly bathed Liliruca came around the corner and took the opportunity to fill the remaining space on the beanbag chair, the small Pallum girl filling in my left side while the cheinthrope girl filled in the right side. Lili just sighed and squirmed until she got comfortable with her head on my chest, and when Naaza got comfortable she pulled my head into the crook of her arm; my cheek being squished against her budding breast.

Instead of ruminating on that, I decided to focus on her pleased yet always sleepy expression; she had her bangs pulled into thin strands with blue beads. I spoke as I wrapped an arm around Lili's waist and pulled her tight against me; kids liked to be held, right? "The beads?"

She blinked slowly and her perpetual pout turned into a blinding smile. "I got all of my stats to 999-S except for Magic, and I took the Rank Up. My mother bought me these beads to celebrate and Miach-sama put them in my hair. It's a family tradition- she got her beads from Miach-sama when she Ranked Up to Level 2 as well."

I smiled and reached around with my right hand and snaked it up her back so that I could scratch at the base of her floppy ears, the sound of beans being lightly thwacked filled the common area as her tail made her joy known to the world. "I'm very happy for you, Naaza-chan. I know how hard you worked for your Level 2, and I bet you feel amazing don't you?"

"Mmmhhhmmmm..." The girl hummed and she nestled into the chair to get comfortable before her lips parted in a yawn, a yawn that forced me to yawn as well. Sympathetic yawns were funny like that. After a few minutes she was nodding off and Lili had fallen out almost the moment she set her head down on my chest.

I was... stuck.

Well, nothing for it, it wasn't like I was going to do anything else except sit down with some of my senpais and talk about what materials I should make my next blade out of- Herd Culler died, unfortunately, but there was nothing to do for it except reforge the blade entirely so that I could have it mounted. I'd do the same for Last Laugh as well- my Goddess might have commandeered the original for the Hall of Memories, but I wanted to have my own little Weapon Wall as well. I really wanted my future children to see what their old man was using in the Dungeon.

To leave a tangible Legacy that they could put their hands on. Even if I perished for whatever reason, they'd still have a piece of me that they could carry with them on their own journies, and for me? That would be enough.

[Hephaestus - Goddess of the Forge]

The Goddess of the Forge had checked herself over one last time in the mirror and stepped out of her room and strode down the Hall of Memories towards the waiting room outside of her office. The slippers she wore made nary a sound on the hardwood, and she was glad that she had decided against the heels because if she had worn them then she would have likely missed out on one of the cutest sights she'd seen in a very long time.

Helena was one of the retired smiths that had opted to continue her service to the familia by taking up a clerks position in the finance office, and when she wasn't counting valis and depositing them into the familia vault, she fancied herself an artist when she had the chance. The old dwarf's snow-white eyebrows quirked up as she looked up from her sketchpad at her Goddess, a wry smile on her lips.

Her study for this particular piece? Well, it was the three children passed out on the beanbag chair that Tsubaki-chan liked to use; her young Smith Prince in the middle of the puppy pile with little Liliruca-chan splayed out on his lower half with her head on his chest, and Naaza-chan from Miach-dono's familia was doing her best to curl around his upper torso. The young cheinthrope-teen cradling the boy's head to her budding bosom.

Hephaestus' lone eye crinkled as she motioned for Helena to bring the finished work to her office so that she could use her transcription spell on it to make as many photocopies of the drawing as they could stuff around in various nooks around the familia compound; this was going to be prime material to whip out whenever she could years down the road when all of them were good and grown.

The old dwarf smirked back and nodded as her charcoal pencil resumed its feather-light scratching on the pad.

Maybe she should send a copy to Zeus? Yes, his familia portrait, along with his Level 2 and soon-to-be Level 3 portraits should do nicely; maybe she should send along two copies? Skadi-dono and Lupo-dono seemed to know the tribes in which his betrothed belonged, maybe they would like some as well?

[Bell Winters]

There had rumors of two Level 3 Amazons taking on all challengers at a small bed-and-breakfast called 'The Wayfarer's Inn' on 4th and 7th. With the Tower of Babel acting as the city's center, the main avenues were numbered from one to eight, leading one to believe that it had a layout like the spokes of a wagon wheel. However, it was more laid out like a spider's web, as each Avenue had fifty numbered streets that connected them through each 1/8th segment of the city. There were more unnumbered side streets and alleyways, but the chances of having to go down through those to find anything I needed was slim to none.

Spoiler: OrarioThe Hephaestus familia's primary Forge District was a trapezoidal block on 3rd Avenue that ran from 20th street all the way to 30th street; dozens of large warehouses held the stock to feed the 81 forges that supplied the city with weapons, armor, and other everyday items.

I took the 25th street entrance from the forge district, took a right onto 3rd Avenue, and then moved my way down towards 7th street where I took a left and towards the 'Wayfarer Inn'. I took the opportunity to keep an eye out at the various shops and stalls that dotted the streets; I was going to need to buy some new clothes soon, as my current sets were getting tight. Considering how loose I kept my casualwear that was saying something.

The closer I drew I double-checked my potion holster and my knife- only a fool went into Orario unarmed, and only a stupider fool showed up to a fight with two Amazons who had literally been raised from birth in an Amazonian pit-fighting arena where every fight was to the death. Tione had been forced to kill the older woman who practically raised her, and Tiona killed all of the other children who were in their "room" so that Tione wouldn't have to kill anyone she knew ever again.

They coped differently with it from my memories- one learned to read and had her "tutor" read to her stories about ancient heroes, and despite the hardships she faced and she still forced herself to smile and laugh; it was a 'fake it until you make it' sort of deal, with some 'I'm smiling for all of those other children whom I killed, because now that they're dead they don't get to smile anymore'. Meanwhile, Tione bottled all of those feelings up and buried them deep inside until their past came back to greet them.

That lead to Tione having a pretty heaping helping of resentment towards Tiona that came to a head during the Kali fiasco in Melen because how could Tiona still smile and laugh and live after everything they had been through?

Why had they lived when the others had died?

Why did they get to just... walk away from it all when everyone else was buried six feet under?

Those sorts of thoughts sat in the back of Tione's mind for years, slowly eating away at her until- for a brief moment- she despised her sister just as much as she did Kali and the Khalif sisters, at least until the air was cleared between them in true shounen fashion by pummeling each other with their fists.

I was hoping that just maybe I could act as a pressure relief valve for these two while maybe snagging myself two beautiful Amazon waifus. It was maybe self-indulgent of me, and a bit of a stretch, but my four wolfy-waifus were all for a large 'pack' surrounding a strong man, and Amazons had no problem sharing strong men as well; as for Aiz, Naaza, and Lili? Well, if they weren't on board for the harem life, then so be it. I already felt like I was reaching the limits of what one man could reasonably be expected to care for, even if my wolfy-waifus were incredibly self-sufficient and raised in a lifestyle where the man wasn't expected to wait on his wives hand and foot.

The sounds of fighting had reached my ears well before the sights of it, and when I rounded the curve of the street I was greeted with the sight of two teenage Amazons pummeling a large group of about twenty Adventurers like they were a bunch of children.

With an easy smile on my face, I checked the tightness of my suspenders and stuffed my hands in my pockets, and strode towards the fighting without a care in the world.

Deep inside though my inner geek was freaking out because this was clearly an incredible shounen "A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES" moment.

Oh, Goddess Hephaestus, my sweet Goddess of the Forge, please, tell me when you update my status in a quarter if this looks totally fucking cool or not- I didn't think to grab anyone else, and now I was regretting it, because who is supposed to spread the bad-assitude that was about to happen to the rest of the familia!?

Man, I really hope this isn't cringe. YOLO!

[Tione Hiryute]

"That's the last of them!" Tione watched as her sister in all but blood hefted a werewolf above her head, the man struggled weakly in her grasp but he was so delirious that he couldn't put forth much effort.

"This is the best that they can offer?" Tione huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "Sort of pathetic."

If the Amazon was being honest, this fight had been a little exhilarating- when was the last time she had gotten to fight without being forced to slay her every opponent? Sure, they'd had a few challengers on the roads on their journey to Orario, but those had been bandits, and even a pit-born Amazon knew that bandits who preyed on the populace deserved little mercy; they would be executed anyways for their crimes, so they might as well do the deed themselves.

"Now, now. That's pretty harsh, don't you think?" A young voice spoke out behind them, and Tiona squealed, her sister spinning around and chucking the dazed werewolf in her grasp at the interloper.

Tione shifted her head and watched the werewolf sail through the air, and the target reached out and caught the back of the man's shirt and the waistband of his pants; the boy spun slowly with the toss to bleed out the momentum. The "elder" sister felt her eyebrow rise up as the speaker was revealed to be a boy a few years younger than themselves; the child cradled the werewolf man over his knee and tilted the man's head to the side so he could vomit on the street.

The boy sighed and lifted the man up in a bridal carry and walked towards the sisters before he sat him down on the street and began to gather all of their fallen opponents, putting them into a cluster. "It's not good to throw a man who has a concussion; injuries to the brain should be handled with more care. Help me get the rest of them into place around me; I'm a Support Mage and healer."

"Ooooohhhhh~, Magic! Healing magic!" Tiona squawked as she hopped on her toes a few times before rushing around to carefully gather their opponents and began arranging them in a tightly packed circle around the boy. "Show me, show me, show me!"

Tione used the opportunity to get a better look at the younger boy while her sister pranced around and gathered the others. He wore black breeches that hugged his legs and ended mid-calf, the white stockings shown on his lower legs probably ended just under his knees. Brown boots only went up to his ankles and were laced together with black string. A short-sleeved white button-up covered his torso while black suspenders held up his pants; she was quite surprised to see how muscular- and vascular- his forearms were. Rough callouses covered his hands but they were by no means unpleasant to look at.

His stark white hair stood in contrast to his ruby-red eyes and lightly tanned skin, and the youthfulness of his face, when compared to his muscular body, was almost uncanny. Jarring and odd, but not unpalatable.

This boy wasn't like the others they'd seen coming into the city- he was an Adventurer for certain.

"My aura is the aura that solidifies the bonds around me."

"Magic begets Magic."

"Magic strengthens Magic."

"A pact as old as time is once again revealed to the world."

"Let all who cast here find their Magics brought to the peak!"

"Magician's Wonder."​

Tione felt a slight chill slide over her flesh as a Magic circle formed under the boy's feet, and when the spell was cast, the area surrounding him for four meters became inundated with a soft glow- a purplish, hazy mirage forming in the circle.

Tiona was bouncing in place now with her fists pushing against her cheeks. "Did that do anything? It didn't look like you healed them!"

The boy chuckled and shook his head. "No, this is a preparation spell, one that improves the strength of all spells cast within its boundaries. Some of these wounds are a little bit more serious than my normal healing spell can handle, but if I combine this spell along with my Mage Developmental Ability, then I should have just enough power and range to heal everyone here. I didn't bring my focus with me, so it will take me a moment. So just relax and enjoy the light show."

Her sister giggled, and Tione used the time to look around and scan the small crowd that had gathered.

"All hail the spirits of the forest,"

"The keepers of the mountains,"

"The carpet of the earth,"

"Let the unfortunate feel the relief of your healing breath,"

"Let the cuts be mended, the bruises be healed,"

"O' great spirits of the forest, come to me,"

"Let the sintered bone be splint, let the blood be returned,"

"Rejoice in this harmony, for the whispers of Gaia shall bring thee peace,"

"Forest Breeze."​

The wind seemed to shift as he finished his chant, and the air ruffled his hair as a circle of verdant green light sprang up from the spell circle beneath him- its borders expanding almost two meters in every direction. Tione's sister gasped in awe and began clapping as the visible bruises on their foes faded, their cuts were mended shut, and even their broken fingers righted themselves with a chorus of snapping pops.

One by one the men began to wake up, scrambling to their feet in a daze as they frantically looked around- their eyes widen and their bodies ready for action. The boy clapped his hands to get their attention when they all turned on the sisters. "Hey, you guys lost. I healed you, free of charge, so if you would please, those of you who can move... collect your companions and return to your familia. Also, this man still will have a slight concussion, so do please be careful in handling him, okay?"

The boy pointed towards the werewolf resting against his leg before picking him up and offering him to the closest man; "My Mage DA and the improvements of my spell circle boosted my healing spell by quite a bit, but a head wound such as this is beyond its ability to heal completely- though it should have reduced the swelling in his brain considerably."

"The Smith Prince?" One of the gobsmacked men muttered to himself before he bowed slightly and took his companion from the boy; the squat dwarf gingerly settling the man across his back, "Thank you for your healing, laddie. You thinking about trying your luck with these two?"

The boy smiled and nodded his head before his hands slipped back into his pockets. "I think I'd like a chance to test myself against them, yes. Although I don't know if they'd be happy in my familia; I can already tell just by looking at them they seem like a pretty free-spirited pair. Swinging weapons instead of making weapons; that fits their style more, no?"

"Ha!" The dwarf laughed out, and immediately lowered his volume when he realized that his mouth was right next to the werewolf's ears, "'S probably the case with these two, good luck boy. Have fun."

It took less than a minute for the men to clear out, the twenty of them picking up their companions and walking off, a sight better now that they weren't all bruised to hell and back; not that Tiona or herself hit them particularly hard- they were a motley collection of Level 1s and 2s at best.

No match for Level 3s like themselves.

Tione tilted her head back and looked down her nose at the boy, and she was just about to speak when the boy's head turned to look at a quartet that had just arrived on scene. "Apologies, Loki familia, but I hope you don't mind if I take my turn first? I did arrive here before you after all."

The flatty goddess looked like she was trying to chew leather. "You shrimpy brat! You always try to mess with me, no matter where I go!"

The boy was young, yes, but he was hardly a 'shrimp'; if anything he was taller than the Pallum man with the long spear who was weakly trying to restrain his irate Divine.

Yes, the Pallum was feeble. The High Elf there looked as haughty as could be. The dwarf was stroking his beard, crumbs falling from within its hairs as he gave them a critical eye. Feeble, Haughty, and Dirty.

The boy was far more pleasant to look at, even if he was young; Tione hadn't seen much magic since she left Telskyura, but the little she did see had the mages holding onto sticks and took forever to cast their spells. The boy cast two spells in just under a minute without a... 'focus' was it?

"Your magic was quite impressive, Smith Prince," The elf spoke, and Tione resisted the reflex to roll her eyes, Goddess, she even sounded haughty! "Especially without using a focus. I did notice the spell circle; you just Ranked Up recently and took Mage?"

The boy crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, "How astute, Riveria-ohime-sama. Yes, I ranked up yesterday, and I chose to take Mage as it is quite the force multiplier for my style of casting. I'm self-taught, so flashy destructive magics like yours are outside of my reach, so I'm building up through progressively more complex Support and Healing magics- hopefully one day my control will be good enough so that I don't blow myself or my focus up when I finally obtain a wide-area destruction spell."

The elf's placid smile morphed into one of interest, and Tione felt her hackles rise. Since when did she and her sister become the sideshow?!

Tiona just gasped. "Oh my gosh! Is she really a Princess? And are you really a Prince!?"

The elf blinked and made to speak, but the boy shot the elf woman a smirk. "Why of course! You, my dear, stand in the presence of Riveria Ljos Alf, First of Her Name, Crown Princess to the Elven Kingdoms, and soon to be Empress of the High Elf Empire."

Tiona covered her mouth with her hands and began to wriggle and squirm as the boy spoke. He bowed low to the supposed Elf Princess with a genial smile and an eloquent bow just like she'd seen in her sister's picture books; after holding the bow for a few seconds he righted himself and placed his hand to his chest and continued. "Unfortunately, I am a Prince to no one, my alias is naught but a moniker- I am but a humble smith of no important lineage. I am a hunter, a smith, and a homegrown, self-taught Mage. So I do apologize that I can't be your Prince, my Lady Tiona."

It was interesting to note that the Goddess' eyes cracked open as the boy spoke, and her disgusted frown became just a touch more... thoughtful?

The girl blushed and covered her eyes with her hands. "Oh, gosh! Tione, what do I do?!"

"Oh, barf!" Nope, the Goddess' disgusted frown was back in full force, "Spare me the theatrics, you shrimpy little snow-white bunny bast-"

"Just hit him, Tiona! He said he wants to fight, so let's fight and get this over with already!" Tione ground out, her foot stomping hard enough to crack the cobblestone beneath, "Our food has likely gotten cold already."

That seemed to pull her sister out of her delusional spiral and the younger Amazon smacked her fist into her palm. "Okay, nee-chan! You better be ready, Smith Prince, I won't go easy on you just because you're cute, okay?"

The boy uncrossed his arms and moved into the center of the street with an easy smile. "Likewise, Princess Tiona of Telskyura. So, submission, unconsciousness, or pin? Three seconds, both shoulders on the ground?"

"Sounds great to me! Hee hee!" The boy reached down and removed his belt, the knife attached to it along with some sort of hardened leather pouch coming off. The boy motioned towards the crusty dwarf, and the man nodded before holding his hand out; the belt landed in his outstretched palm and he began inspecting it closely.

"Seeing as I already know your names, it is only fair that I tell you mine as well." The boy settled into an easy stance, his hands coming up to defend the sides of his face, "My name is Bell Cranel, but I would prefer it if you called me Bell Winters. I am a blacksmith of the Hephaestus familia- it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Alright, now let's-!" Tione felt her ire grow as her sister halted and placed a finger to her lip, "Wait, how do you know of us? I don't think my sister and I have said who we were?"

The boy's face morphed into a knowing, infuriating smirk. "Would you believe me if I said I saw you both in my dreams?"

"Oh! Oh gosh!" Her sister began swooning, "Nee-chan! I can't handle this! It's too much!"

"Just fight already before I lose my lunch! I'm dying over here!" The irate Goddess spat out while muttering a few more uncharitable things about the white-haired boy.

"Oooooookkkkkkaaaayyyyyyyyy! Hee hee! Here I come!"

Tiona shot forward, closing the few meter's worth of distance between them in the blink of an eye, her fist lashing out towards the boy's face. It was fast, fast enough that Tione herself would be hard-pressed to react to it, but the boy grinned and tilted his head to the side and let it whistle past his ear. A punch, followed by a straight kick, into a quick combination- the boy dodged them all with a massive grin on his face.

"Wow, Level 3 sure is something! There was no way I could have kept up with you yesterday." He ducked under her right cross and delivered a rabbit punch to her sister's liver that sent her stumbling back with a grunt.

Tiona stood there, shocked for a moment as her hand came down and palmed over where she had been struck. "Ow! I mean, that hurt, but it didn't hurt that much! Did you hit me as hard as you could?"

The boy blinked before he shook his head. "Why would I want to hurt you? We're just having a little spar, a little fun, right? It's not like we're fighting for a prize or anything, right?"

Tione felt herself twitch. What was this brat going on about!? They were the prize! For the last two days since they arrived everyone has been coming to challenge them, and if they could be defeated then they would join the familia of whoever could best them!

She clenched her fists and forced herself to calm down. If he somehow managed to defeat her sister, then Tione would make him take this seriously.

"Woah! You sure do got that right! Everyone tries to make this out to be far more important than it actually is- I'm glad someone is-!"

"Tiona!"

"Alright, alright, fine." Tione watched her sister huff and puff out her cheeks before settling back down into her stance. "Well, let's make this a fun bout, Usagi-kun!"

"Always with the rabbit comparisons!" He grunted under his breath before he shot forward, his fist lashing out toward Tiona's face.

Fist met palm, and a clap echoed down the street as the wind buffeted the area where their hands met. Much to her surprise, the Amazon felt her heart start to beat a little bit faster as she watched her sister and the white-haired boy fight.

Tiona was a few inches taller than him on account of their age difference and had the longer reach, but that didn't seem to help her out any as the boy was just as nimble as his begrudging namesake; Bell Cranel slipped around her strikes with a technical precision that she had not seen before. Her sister's spirited strikes were deflected and countered when he couldn't dodge them entirely, but he didn't shy away from hitting her back- if anything he seemed to be trying to end the fight with painful and debilitating blows that were otherwise not lethal in nature.

"Wow! You really do know how to fight, Usagi- hrk!" Another liver punch landed, and this one was strong enough to lift Tiona off of her feet and send her skidding down the street. Not that it kept her sister down, as she was flying right back towards him with a broad grin on her face and her fist cocked back.

They exchanged a few more strikes, but the boy managed to grapple onto Tiona's arms and he threw her over his hip hard enough to crater the street, and he slipped down to follow her- his knee pressing onto her chest while his hands gripped her wrists; Tione felt her eyes widen slightly as she watched the boy's lips move while her sister tried to regain control over her arms.

"-two, three!" The boy spoke as he swiftly moved off of the girl and held out his hand. "The pin was clean, so I do believe that this is my win, no?"

The Amazon watched her sister blink a few times before she wriggled on the ground and realized that both of her shoulders had indeed been pinned. Tiona began to laugh boisterously, and Tione felt her anger surge from deep within her gut. "I guess that is my loss, huh? Sort of forgot that was a condition, yanno? Ha! Great fight, Usagi-kun!"

"Take this seriously, Tiona!" Tione ground out through her teeth, "This isn't a game! We're basing our familia off of whoever defeats us- if this soft boy isn't willing to try his best then we're better off fighting Haughty, Dirty, and Tiny over there!"

The boy frowned as he pulled Tiona out of the small crater he made on the street and ushered her off to the side. "You think that I'm weak?"

"Pulling your strikes, adding on a pin as a win condition!" Tione popped her neck and strode into the street, "If that isn't weakness then I don't know what is. If you don't take me seriously, then you'll get hurt."

Bell Cranel's posture shifted minutely. "They really hurt you a lot, didn't they?"

Her breathing stopped for a moment as images from her life flashed before her eyes- the blood, the broken bones, the barehanded monster fights, the killing of her sisters- everything flashed to the fore and a scream of rage tore from her lips. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?"

"Probably more than you'd like, Tione Hiryute." His voice was soft, pitying, and it sent her over the edge as her vision went red.

She shot forward with every ounce of strength her body had, cratering the ground beneath her feet, and he just barely managed to squeak past her first punch- her knuckles brushed his nose. The second strike wasn't so easily dodged, and her knee met his floating ribs, sending the boy careening down the street; the cobblestone cracking each time his body impacted the road.

He managed to correct his trajectory by spreading his limbs and he slid along the road with his hands and feet; reminding the Amazon of a cat. He coughed and stood up while shaking his hands out- the pads of his fingers were bright red and bleeding from the friction. "Not... gonna... lie. You...caught me... off guard there..."

He took a deep breath and settled himself before he took off in a sprint towards her that was a fair bit slower than he'd displayed previously, but Tione wasn't content to just sit back and let him come to her; no, this boy had run his mouth off about things he didn't know the first thing about. She wouldn't kill him, but he would wish that she had.

Tione's fist shot out, and it was deflected off to the side by a sweep of his wrist, and his own hand impacted her diaphragm; the air left her lungs while lifting her off of the ground a few inches. A quick combination impacted her face and floating ribs before she managed to recover and put her guard up, and she backpedaled, letting her forearms take the next few blows so that she could breathe again. The boy was a lot stronger than he let on!

A right hook glanced off her forearm and she took the opportunity to retaliate, her fist chambering before punching out towards his collarbone; much to her surprise he leaned back quickly enough to take the majority of the force out of the strike, and while it looked like he'd lost his balance, the tip of his foot hooked around the back of her leg and he tugged her forward. His hand lashed out and caught her chin before his foot planted itself in her gut and she found herself rolling through the air; the sky and ground spinning wildly as she flew.

The impact she felt wasn't enough to be more than uncomfortable, as he didn't throw her that hard, but it was more disorienting than anything. She regained her feet and the boy began to speak. "You must have had it pretty rough, huh? I'd imagine that place was a hell-hole worse than the Dungeon."

Shut up. She charged forwards, her fists seeking his face- if only to get him to stop running his mouth.

"Forced to fight and kill lest you be killed yourself. How disgusting they were to force such a thing on you and your sister."

Shut up! Her blows became more powerful than before, but that seemed to work against her as they became more telegraphed, and the boy managed to slip in and around her; his voice taunting her the entire time.

"Such a thing shouldn't happen in this world, but it did. However, you escaped that, right? You made it out of there on your own power, didn't you!?"

SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Her fist impacted his ribs and she felt them crack, but his return blow smacked the outside of her leg and sent a thrill of agony up her thigh.

"You-*hack*- escaped! Your darkest days are behind you now, aren't they!? Why are you continuing to look back when you should be looking towards the horizon!"

A kick flashed out and while he caught it with both of his arms, the top of her foot still impacted the side of his head, sending him off of his feet and tumbling down the street. She didn't let up, the Amazon following him- her fist lanced out towards his face, but he shifted his head at the last second; her hand cratering the stone foundation of the building. His foot lashed out and impacted her knee, locking it back and forcing her to stumble away, and this gave him enough space to stand up and dash in; the punch landing on her jaw hard enough to make lights flash in her vision.

He spat onto the street, a few teeth tumbling to the cobblestone. "You're holding yourself back, you're weakening yourself by trying to hold onto the past. You're focusing on what was instead of focusing on the important things."

Tione steadied herself before shooting forward her hands forming claws that reached out to tear this little bastard's flesh. "And what would you know about these important things!?"

He dipped his head back and to the side, his fist lashing out and impacting the inside of her elbow, sending a jolt of white-hot pain up her arm, but her second swipe caught him across the chest; four angry red lines welled up with blood as her nails tore into the flesh of his chest. "I know that you're alive! I know that you've got your sister beside you! Isn't that important enough!?"

A straight kick impact the inside of her left thigh, stumbling her, and he hopped slightly to adjust his lower body to lash out with another kick that managed to check, but his foot still connected with her calf. When her leg came down to the street it locked up momentarily, and he capitalized on it with yet another kick to the outside of her leg again- the top of his foot smashing into the already bruising flesh of her thigh. A cry escaped her lips as tears reflexively invaded her vision, but she was used to pain- even this amount was nothing.

Not compared to the beatings regularly bestowed upon her.

Spoiler: What she is used to

She regained herself and charged in; he still wasn't fighting her seriously! He was still trying to lecture her over things he knew nothing about! "You know nothing about me!"

A roar escaped her lips as she lashed out with her claws, two fringers managed to catch his forearm, and the flesh parted, sending blood onto the street. Her foot impacted his belly, doubling him over and sending him right back into the foundation of the building. Vomit was forcefully ejected from his throat, but he still got back up and charged back in; none of the precision that he had displayed with Tiona was there- no, he was angry.

"Well if you feel that way, then why don't you tell me what is important!?" He took a claw to the face and retaliated with his fist hitting hers, "Tell me! What makes Tione Hiryute get out of bed in the morning!"

His blows hammered her body, and her strikes cut into his, and he just wouldn't stop fucking talking!

Her fingers speared down and almost penetrated his calf when his shin impacted her ribs, but he managed to rechamber it time to only receive some nasty cuts. Her other clawed hand swiped out for his face again- the Amazon trying her best to give the preaching boy another set of whisker marks on his cheeks so that he could match, but he managed to just barely dodge and- she felt her knuckles pop painfully when his fist impacted the backs of her fingers.

She hissed and leaped back to make space, her good hand coming back to reset her dislocated fingers with a roar of fury. "You're not going to make it in this world if you don't have something to fight for! People like you-!"

He dashed forward and ducked under her fist, and he caught her wrist and tugged her out of balance before his forehead caught her nose- the world sparkled black and white as she felt the cartilage on her nose almost crumple under the strike, but her Endurance kept it from breaking. She had been rocked back on her heels, but his grip on her wrist kept her from falling backward, and he lashed out with a knee that caught her in the belly hard enough for her own bile and lunch to spew onto the cobblestone. "-Will die the moment they encounter a situation- that they believe to be unwinnable- because they don't have anything to live FOR!"

He didn't let her go, however, the boy clamped down even harder, and his forehead struck her cheek, rattling her. Her foot slipped but he didn't let her fall, no, his knee stuck out again, this time aiming a little bit higher- hitting her square in the floating ribs. Only when her legs gave out from the blow entirely did he let her fall, and she immediately curled onto her side and wheezed, the Amazon trying to get her breath back into her.

"Everyone thinks that you need something to believe in, a cause worth killing for, a -haaah- a cause worth dying for." He bent over her body with his hands on his knees as he struggled to get his breath. "But dying? That's easy. Anyone can die, it's effortless."

"What you need to ask yourself, Tione Hiryute, is what is worth living for?"​

The Amazon blinked her eyes, trying to force the tears from his strike to her nose away, and when she managed to get enough breath back in her lungs, she exhaled sharply to force the blood out of her nostrils. She tried to move, but her body protested. His strikes hadn't broken her as Argana's had, but they were no less debilitating.

She coughed and her eyes slid over the watching crowd and stopped on her sister who was staring at her in slack-jawed shock, her hands covering her mouth. For the first time in a long time, Tiona Hiryute wasn't smiling anymore. Her happiness and exuberance were gone, like the morning mist in the light of the afternoon sun.

Why?

Why did that hurt so much? For so many years she wanted Tiona to grow up, to take things more seriously. To not treat the world as if it was her personal storybook- her little fairy tale! Now she was finally taking things seriously, and yet from the very depths of Tione's heart, she wished that it wasn't the case.

"What is worth protecting? What is your reason for being? What would you fight for? Be it a person, ideal, or dream?" Bell Cranel stood up straight and a series of cracks echoed across the street as a wince flared up, his hand coming up to his bleeding chest, "If you can't move forward, past the tears, past the pain; then you'll never be able to ask yourself those questions. Then you'll stagnate, and then? Then you'll die."

He raised his hand and the crusty dwarf tossed the pouch, the boy barely catching it, but he managed to hold onto it; the pouch popped open and he pulled out two vials- potions- and tossed one back. He let out a pained breath as snaps crackled throughout his body, a hiss escaping his lips as his wounds closed shut leaving nary a mark behind except the blood on his flesh.

Bell Cranel dropped down to one knee and he reached out, dropping the potion into her hand before closing her fast around it; his hands squeezing her's gently. He looked her right in the eyes and spoke lowly. "And if you think for even a second that you are the only one who was hurting, then you should step back and reevaluate. No doubt your sister- she's important to you, right? No doubt she's hurting too, but she's coping with her pains differently than you are. Maybe, just maybe, if you opened up to her, she could tell you just how exactly she's feeling."

His lip quirked up slightly, "I don't think you need me to tell you this, but family is important, ne?"

She snorted a little bit, but she didn't have it in her to argue. Right now she just wanted to drink this damn potion, and thankfully he released her hand as he stood up.

Tione sighed in relief as the potion coursed through her veins and her pains abated. When she was no longer feeling like she was going to puke up her lungs, the girl looked up and grasped the outstretched hand he offered. "Man, dunno where all of that came from; I'm usually way less preachy. Sort of feel like an idiot now."

He blushed as he released her hand and noticed that his clothes had been shredded by their fight pretty severely, the boy tore off the remains of his shirt and knotted the two torn suspenders together, and turned them into a makeshift belt.

He was... pretty built for a boy. Her belly still sizzled from his words, but he was indeed stronger than her.

Tione's eyes slid back towards her sister, and she felt her anger get doused with relief as she was now smiling again, her cheeks bunching as Tiona's hands interlaced behind her head. "Wow! Great job, Usagi-kun! To think you'd be able to beat up nee-chan like that!"

Tione twitched but didn't reply, and she arched an eyebrow when he offered her a green-colored potion. "It's a stamina potion, I do believe you have another fight?"

He nodded his head towards Crusty, Haughty, and Tiny. She took the potion and downed it quickly, the Amazon feeling strength return to her limbs as the concoction did its work as advertised.

Bell Cranel scratched at his cheek before he bowed towards her. "Well, aside from the impromptu... unsolicited pep-talk... it was very fun. Good luck fighting the Executives of the Loki familia. They're pretty strong, so if you don't give it you all it will be pretty embarrassing."

He righted himself and waved to Tiona, who bounced in place and waved back with both arms. "Bye-bye, Usagi-kun! I'll see you again!"

"See you again, Tiona-chan! Stop by the Hephaestus forge district if you're ever looking for a weapon!" He called out from over his shoulder as he walked away, "I'll see what I can do for you!"

While he slowly walked away, the body cinched his belt back in place, tightening the pouch back onto his thigh, and Tione felt a small frown slip across her lips.

What was important, huh?

She blinked and shook her head as her eyes locked onto the bouncing girl who was currently limbering herself up across from Tiny, the Pallum standing there easily with his hands on his hips. "Alright, let's do this, tiny-man!"

Tione let out a small huff as her sister charged in, her fists and feet flashing. Just why had she gotten so worked up in the first place?

There was a blur as Tiona's form sailed through the air to impact against the inn's wall, her body slipping down it to land on the sign.

The man's face was as smug as can be, and she felt her anger spike.

This tiny little bastard!

[Bell Winters]

Fuck! Fuck! I overdid it, didn't I?

Note to self, never attempting that shit again, my heart just isn't good enough for talk-no-jutsu. I should have just let it be and let them work it out on their own- man, Tione probably thinks I'm such an asshole. Hell, I feel like a giant asshole. Time and place, time and place. Ugggghhhhhhh.

I just want to crawl up into a hole and die. Did half of the shit coming out of my mouth even make any sense? I mean, sure, I feel like I nailed the landing, but the spiel leading up to it felt pretty weaksauce. God, I'm going to be known far and wide as that kid that gives horrible pep talks in front of dozens of people, I just know it!

Please, someone, kill me now. I don't think I can live with the shame. Fuck me. Cringe. God, I'm so cringe. How did Bell make this shit work?

Come on, center yourself man, the best thing to do here is blank this whole day out of my mind and pretend it never happened.

Denial is a powerful tool. I should use it.

I spent the next few hours in the forge, trying to put together a longsword for Tiona- Damascus, double the thickness- nice and weighty. She would at least come, so I should have something ready for her- just hammer all of my embarrassment into the sword. Yes, that's it.

By the time I finished putting the edge on the blade, I heard the door to the forge I was using slide up, letting the waning light of the sun shine in. As I gave it a few practice swings I heard a smarmy voice cut through the air. "So... Bell-kichi."

No.

The only thing that was audible was the crackling of the coals and the 'shhik, shhik' of Tsubaki's sandals sliding across the stone floor. As she got closer I could hear her low giggles growing louder and louder with each step.

I placed the sword on the workbench and buried my face in my arms. Please. Tsubaki. I'll never make fun of you again. Just let this die. "Hee hee hee."

Two hands came down and gripped the meat of my shoulders at the base of my neck, giving it a firm squeeze. "I just so happened to hear that you got into a little tussle with two cute little Amazon girls over there at the Wayfarer's Inn on 4th and 7th a few hours ago."

"Tsubaki-nee-"

Her fingers clenched and I felt like my head was about to pop off of my neck. "No, no, no, no, no. Nope. Don't 'Tsubaki-nee' me."

I felt the hair of her bangs tickle my shoulders as she leaned down and brought her mouth close to my ear. "I heard things got pretty heated. Maybe something about... a cute little speech? Hmm? Ring any bells, Bell-kichi?"

"It never happened. I am always calm, mature, and composed. I would never vomit at the mouth such words. I'm terrible at improv, you know this. I would never live down the shame if such a thing were to ever have happened." I delivered as deadpan as possible, my cheeks burning fiercely was just a side-effect of working in a hot forge. "It would be social suicide. I'm not suicidal."

"Oh, huu huu huu huu. I don't know, people seemed pretty certain it was you. Loki-sama just hasn't stopped running her gob about the Smith Prince who hand-delivered to her two Level 3 Amazons."

I shook my head in denial. "Lies and slander. You know full well that she doesn't like me. That Goddess wouldn't hesitate to drag my name through the mud. However, hypothetically speaking, if such a thing did happen- which it most certainly didn't- they wouldn't have liked it here anyway; they're more into killing monsters with weapons than making weapons for other people to kill monsters with."

"Oh no, that's not where I'm going with this, at all." Eeeeeeeeeeee! Why are you tightening your fingers!? Tsubaki-nee! No! Tsubaki-sama!

"I'm not angry that you didn't bring those girls into the familia," Her mouth got very, very close to my ear, "I'm angry that I just received invoices from the Guild for over 100,000 valis in damages. Can you see why maaayyybbbeee I'm just a little, teensy bit angry?"

"Shhhhiiiiiiiiitttttt," I hissed out, "I totally forgot about the owners! I was going to pay, Tsubaki-sama! I am going to pay! I just forgot about it after the embarrassing fight that totally didn't happen! Have mercy!"

The hands on my shoulders immediately released me, and a sigh escaped my lips unbidden. I straightened up, but all that did was bare my neck, and the older woman laughed and put me in a rear-naked choke. "That's great! Now, tell me allllllllllllllll about these little Amazon cuties that you were trying to impress! What were they like, huh? Did they put up a real fight? Tell your onee-chan all about it!"

No, please, no more, just snap my neck and be done with it! Tsubaki-sama, please!

The next week in the Dungeon was an awkward affair as Liliruca and Naaza gave me the cold shoulder, complete with upwards nose tilted 'hmpf's and disapproving stares.

God, you'd think I just murdered someone. Give me a break! I could hardly look Hephaestus in the eyes! She just wouldn't stop laughing at me!

The only thing I have going for me right now is that I can just chalk it up to 'boys being boys'. I would have literally committed suppuku if I'd ever done that speech as an adult.

"So, Bell-sama," Lili sniffed pedantically, "Are you going to help us pick up these magic stones? Or are you going to find some other girls to give adorable little speeches to?"

"Oi, lover boy. You've got two guests for you at the front gate." I blink and pulled my face away from my forge, and look up at one of my smithing senpais. It had been three weeks, and I was still getting the third degree from these wise guys.

I sighed and wiped at my face with the cloth hanging off my waist and stretched real quick to pop my spine. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up while you can, ya jerks."

I left the steel in the furnace- it would take a few more minutes before it got up to temperature, and without me working the bellows it would stay that way for a good while. Time to see who was waiting for me.

My hand came up to block the sun, but I relished the feeling of its rays on my skin- I felt a hell of a lot better as the breeze rolled down the street and caressed my sweat-soaked form; I was more than a little ripe, but trying to go take a bath while they were waiting for me would be just as rude as making them wait in my opinion. I gave the smiths passing me by some tight smiles and they laughed and joked at my expense- yeah, I wasn't going to be living that down any time soon.

Within a few minutes, the front gate came into view, and I caught sight of the current guard making what looked to be small talk with two very recognizable figures- though they honestly weren't who I was expecting.

Two pairs of pointed ears swiveled in my direction, as did two pairs of golden eyes. They raked over my form, and that was when I became very aware of the fact that I was shirtless with a do-rag on my head. Two pairs of lips pulled up into pleasing smiles as their eyes crinkled, their tails swishing back and forth rapidly in barely restrained joy.

Spoiler: Sooka - "Blackie"Spoiler: Khemi - "Browni"

"Arjuei." "Arjuuni."

[Betrothed.] [Husband.]

Sooka and Khemi, or as I used to call them "Blackie" and "Brownie". Two of my four betrothed from the Beltor and Rimurad tribes; they were the oldest two. I was 12 years old now, so... that put Blackie at 16 and Brownie was 14.

Boy, did they grow up quickly; Sooka had been a gangly thing last I saw her, but now she had filled out her hunting leathers in such a way that no doubt turned heads on the street. Khemi was on track to be the same as her tribe sister if her mother had been any indication. Both were rather womanly already, even if they were still young in my eyes.

"Aksani."

[Wives.]

I smiled back and tilted my head to the side, and the two young women rushed forward and embraced me heartily, their noses dipping down to touch my neck before they bared theirs in turn; I nosed their necks in the traditional greeting of the werewolves.

I was smothered by their hugs and I did my best to wrap my arms around their waists to squeeze them gently; they were unblessed mortals after all, I could easily hurt them if I wasn't careful.

"Oi, kid, you uhh... know these two young ladies?" Durnar looked rather surprised by their enthusiasm, and he stroked his beard.

I blinked as I managed to part the bountiful sea of feminine flesh that had ensconced my head. The girls had quieted down, and instead took the opportunity to give me a few huffs; ah, I forgot that scent was such a big thing for them. I smelled pretty bad, but they seemed to be delighted as could be.

Wait.

This was... an opportunity!

I gave him a small smile, making sure not to make it too smarmy. "Why yes, these are my betrothed; my wives to be when I come of age. Well, two of my four wives to be."

"Whu?" His smile slipped right off of his face. Shock turned to disbelief as he shook his head. "No, no. Impossible. Stop... pulling my leg, lover boy. There's no way."

Ha! Hahahahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Yes! Stew in your own anger and disbelief, you incel! You can marry the forge, I'll marry these four beautiful werewolf women!

I felt my eyes crinkle up as I looped my arms around my betrothed's and slowly started to lead them back towards my forge. As we walked away I heard the door to the guard shack slide open. "He was kidding, wasn't he?"

Blackie and Brownie didn't speak, if only because they didn't like to talk much- they were the quiet sort. Shiro and Kuro on the other hand... well, they were little chatterboxes. Also, don't rag on my nicknames, they love them- Sooka and Khemi were "Blacki and Brownie" due to their fur colorations, and Asami and Kimiko were "Shiro and Kuro" due to their colorations; Asami and Kimiko's father was a hunter from the Far East, and wanted his daughters to bear given names from his heritage. Considering he was the third-best hunter in the Rimurad tribe he had more than earned that small concession from his two wives.

He had been less than pleased to hear that both of his daughters had decided to chase after the same boy, but his wives chided him thoroughly, and he relented. It wasn't as if he could give me the shovel talk considering he was far weaker than I was, that and my mature and respectful disposition- along with the fact that he could actually speak Far Eastern with me when he was the only speaker in the tribe- had him warm up to me over the four seasons that I had spent there.

"So, my dears, not that I'm not pleased to see you again," I spoke as he swept into the warehouse, past the gobsmacked expressions of my senpais, "I take it you came to Orario to do more than just visit?"

I released their arms and moved past the forge to prop open the door near me before I walked around the workbench to grab two stools for them to sit on. "Yes, when we received your letter from your grandfather-"

Wait, what?

"We saw your Rank Up portraits," Soone looked meaningfully at Khemi and they both nodded, "And realized that we were not improving at the tribe."

"Yes," Kemi's brown ears flicked, and her tail lifted up as she took a seat on the stool, her voice was grave. "You have grown by leaps and bounds here in Orario, fighting against the monsters of the Dungeon. Level 3 in less than three years, and yet we have languished- stagnated. Our hunts only grow easier... we fear that you will continue to grow and one day leave us behind, Arjuuni."

"Indeed." Sooka took her seat and ran a hand over the fur of her ear, "You are strong, Arjuei. We would never forgive ourselves if we sat on our heels and watched you blaze a trail- should you seek a Great Hunt, then we should accompany you. As is proper."

I felt my chest ache as a sigh left my lips; my hands reaching out to grasp onto theirs tightly. "Sooka, Khemi... you are both my Aksani. No matter how strong I grew, I would never leave you too behind."

Small smiles pulled at their lips as their tails began to wag. Excellent, I don't need sad wolfie-waifus. My heart just couldn't take it.

"Now, why don't we speak while I forge this blade, hmm? I need to get this finished- we can go bathe afterward and I will show you to my room." I spoke as I moved back over to the forge and gave the bellows a dozen good puffs, it was just shy of where it needed to be, "I take it that you came straight here and didn't look for lodgings?"

Sooka shook her head, "No. The city is... strange. There are so many people here."

"Yes, more people than I ever thought I would see in my life," Khemi murmured as I pulled the blade from the forge and grabbed my hammer.

"Mind your ears, dears, this could get a little loud."

My brides to be smiled and folded their ears to their scalps as my hammer descended.

"So, the Skadi familia?" I mused as I pulled the leather on the longsword's hilt taut; my fingers keeping the last wrap in place while my other fingers worked the thick ribbon around.

"Yes, Skadi-sama has been a patron of many of our tribe members in centuries past, and a few of our tribesmen and women are already there." Blackie wiped at her nose as a bit of coal dust filled the air from a few forges over; why Brahm, looking mighty sour over there my guy! What's the matter? Feeling a little envious? Green isn't a good color for you man.

Brownie hummed as her head bobbed, "While the smell of the forge is pleasant on you, I do not think my nose could handle all of this dust. I am a huntress, not a smith; no, as much as I would love to stay by your side every day, Arjuuni, it is best if we worked separately."

"Where is he!?"

Ah, what a beautiful sound.

Both women were startled as the sliding door to the forge warehouse slammed open, and I just nonchalantly hammered the pommel into place before I twisted it with my hand and inserted the bronze pin; man, having Level 3 strength was great, because instead of trying to tap this little damn pin into place I could simply push it in!

The 'shhik, shhik' Tsubaki's sandals filled the air as I once again found myself in a headlock, the half-dwarf woman's knuckles digging into my scalp. "Youuuu lllllliiiiiiitttttttlllllllleeeeee rascal!"

"Ah! Ahhh! This isssss abuuuusssseeee! Unhand me, Tsubaki-nee!" I just barely managed to set the blade onto the workbench as both hands came up to try and interpose themselves between my noggin and my senpai's knuckles.

My wives to be sat back with amused expressions on their faces as my Captain and I stumbled left and right, bumping into shit and knocking things over; Tsubaki crowing at the top of her lungs just what a little stinker I was.

My Goddess tilted her head as she swept her eyes over my Aksani and then back to me. Sooka and Khemi, for their part, were properly demure in front of my Goddess, likely because this was the first time they'd ever experienced the Aura of a Divine; unless they'd passed by one on the street to get here. "And you want them to stay in your room until they have finalized their membership into Skadi-dono's familia?"

Deadpan. Keep it deadpan. "Yes?"

Nailed it.

Hephaestus leaned back in her armchair and covered her smile with her hand while Tsubaki chuckled openly, my Captain looking like Christmas had come early.

"You could just purchase for them a room at one of the local inns. I know that you've got the money for such things." Her lone eye crinkled, thankfully, Khemi came to the rescue.

"We wish to stay with our Arjuuni, Hephaestus-sama, as is proper now that we are reunited." Her brown ears lowered to her scalp as her head dropped low, "However, if you do not wish it to be so, then we will leave and seek our shelter elsewhere."

Hephaestus blinked and she leaned forward, "Now, now, I never said that. I just merely posited a possible alternative. I would never ask for you to part with your... Arjuuni so soon after you have arrived from your journey."

Ah, sweet relief. "However, there will be some ground rules."

Sooka perked up, her cute black tail swishing. "Ah, yes. Of course, Hephaestus-sama."

"Good, while I am glad to see that you are interested in young Bell-kun's work, I would like to remind you that all other forges are off-limits. We do offer some leeway to spouses of my Children, but those privileges are limited. Stay only to the dorms, the canteen, and his forge."

"And the training area? They wish to join me." I asked, knowing full well that she would allow it; it was merely a formality.

Hephaestus nodded, "Of course, of course."

I was honestly a little surprised that she didn't try to move us into separate rooms, but considering my junk didn't even work, the amount of pre-marital mischief we could get up to was very limited. Still though, Hephaestus-sama- you're such a bro!

It was difficult to keep the smile from my face as I massaged the soap into Sooka's luscious black hair, doing my best to keep the lather out of her ears; Khemi sat by patiently on her own stool, her brown tail thumping the tiled floor of the bathroom lightly. Oh God, to think that I had once tried to bury my face in exasperation at these betrothals!

Her ears swiveled to the side as the doorknob to the bathroom wiggled, but the chair from my room that I'd jammed up against the door kept it closed.

"Occupied," I called out, moving around to pick up the showerhead and I cupped a hand in front of her ear as I rinsed the shampoo out, before cupping her other ear as I worked the showerhead close to her scalp.

"Occ...upied? What? Damnit, brat. I just spent 12 hours in the forge, and I want a bath! You can't just hog the bathroom! It's a shared bath for a reason!"

"I can when my wives are in here with me. Come back in 15 minutes, we'll be out by then." I spoke back with an amused lilt to my voice as I dropped onto my knees and began to lather up her tail; it was always amusing how floofy their tails were, but when you got them wet all the volume just... disappeared.

The man on the other side of the door spluttered. "What? You mean the other guys weren't yanking my crank?"

"Afraid not my friend." I couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping my lips as Sooka and Khemi looked back at me with wry grins on their faces. I hosed off her tail before I pulled Blackie's hair into a thick ponytail and lifted it over her shoulder, my hands scrubbing a bar of nonscented soap as I began to scrub at her back.

My hands drifted down to the generous swell of her ass, my thumbs working into the indents of her lower back. A soft gasp left Sooka's lips, and Khemi's tail started to thump just a little bit harder as she waited for me to get over to her. I grabbed the washcloth and soaped it up before I lifted my bride-to-be's arm and scrubbed firmly, under one arm and then the other, and after a few moments of indecision I reached around and began to soap up the swells of her generous breasts; she didn't object at all, if anything she leaned back into me.

If my testicles had descended she'd be feeling my rock-hard cock against her spine, but alas, she just had to settle for my pre-pubescent length instead. Gods above and below, she was gorgeous; her thighs parted as my washcloth quested lower until I gently scraped and scrubbed at her lower lips. She convulsed and her hand clenched onto my wrist- I thought maybe I had fucked up, but instead, she began to move my hand, her hips rolling against me.

A blush inflamed my cheeks, but I wasn't a young boy experiencing a woman for the first time! I let the washcloth go and let my thin fingers quest through the soapy forest of black curls until my middle finger slipped right over her button, and she soundlessly twitched again; her breasts bounced pleasantly, and I began to gently stroke her clitoris. In less than a minute she was shaking, her thighs quivering until she clenched around my hand, her fingers gripping at my forearm and bicep like a lifeline.

Once her trembling stopped I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers- her lips were chapped, but that didn't take away from how pillowy soft they were. "I love you, my Aksani."

Whoo, didn't even have hormones coursing through my veins to let my mouth get away from me. However, this was a moment, and I was going to enjoy it.

She shivered and leaned back, her lips pressing against the base of my ear. "And I you, my strong Arujei."

I kissed her neck before I grabbed the showerhead and rinsed her off before moving towards Khemi, who has been a very good girl, the teen shivering and trembling as her ears folded down on her scalp and brown tail helicoptered around.

I showered her with the same affection and care I showed Sooka, and when I finally got around to lathering her breasts her mouth opened up and Sooka's hand lashed out to cover her mouth and nose. "Those who cannot be quiet and be respectful towards their campmates do not deserve attention."

I blinked. Ah, yeah, being quiet when doing the deed was sort of a virtue in the tribes; sure, everyone knew what was going on in the tents of the married, but you didn't advertise it. If you wanted to be loud, you took your business towards the forests.

"Anh~, sorry, my beloved Arjuuni." She whispered into my ear, "I can be silent. Please, lavish me with your affections as you have my Sanhei." [Sister-wife].

I placed a gentle kiss at the base of her ear and gently groped her breast while my other hand slipped into her honey-brown curls and began to circle her clitoris. Sooka was quite large for her age, about the size of a small melon, and she would only grow larger as she continued into adulthood. Khemi was only slightly smaller, but with how small my hands were it would be years yet before I could properly handle my puppy's puppies.

I pinched a puffy nipple, causing Khemi to arch her back and bite down firmly on her lip, and within a dozen more seconds she was tensing up as her orgasm rocked her; her body convulsing as a small spray of fluid left her womanhood and coated my hand. Oh, so she was a squirter? I grinned and placed a firm kiss on her lips before I grabbed the showerhead and rinsed her off.

Finally, it was my turn, and with four hands scrubbing at my body, my cleaning went far quicker than theirs. There was some disappointment as they both took turns groping at my... boyhood and found that it got no reaction.

Trust me, girls, I'm just as sad about this as you are. Come on, chins up. Kiss, kiss. I love you both. Come on, let's get up and get out, we're close to the fifteen minutes.

We stood up, got dried off quickly, and I put a fresh pair of pants on while my fiances pulled on linen shifts that barely covered their ass cheeks with their tails wagging from side to side. I grabbed my dirty clothes as they grabbed theirs and removed the chair from the door. As we stepped out of the bath and into the hallway of the dormitory, I caught sight of more than a few jealous faces as we padded over to my room.

With the door closed behind us I placed my clothes in my hamper and walked over to my bed before handing my women four towels- one for their hair and one for their tails; they were practiced in tending to each other, brushes were brought out and I brushed Sooka's black tresses while she tended to Khemi. When I began brushing her tail it was impossible to keep my eyes away from the swells of her ass cheeks, and my inner man wept at not being able to stuff my face between them. To bite them and then kiss them better. Asses like this should be praised properly.

I wrapped her tail up in the dry towel before tying a knot at the base while she did the same with Khemi, and once the towels were wrapped around their gorgeous locks we slipped under the covers of my bed- which I found out was a very tight squeeze for three people, let alone two.

As I settled into the puppy pile, I felt a profound sense of satisfaction.

Who could ask for more?

Special thanks to Artillery, Dinero1121, Xodarap4, LMC 9389, DrkShadow, AuraofCalm, Zerak, Omar, and R.Bulut for being Patrons!

You guys rock! 

A/N: Okay, seriously, I spent the last three days going over the speech to Tione, and damnit I fucking had it. Then when I woke up this morning to actually write out the scene I farted with my brain and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it back. It probably isn't as bad or as cringe as I felt about it, but I decided to just run with it because no amount of re-writing was going to get the mojo back for that one. So I'll just keep the MC's inability to give a proper shounen speech as a funny little quirk of his. lol

I hope that you found the fight entertaining, and the interactions with Sooka and Khemi- the first of his two kemonomimi werewolf-waifus to arrive; they really are the bestest of girls.

**EDIT** You know what, upon reading it again it didn't come off as cringe as I had feared... maybe a tad bit preachy for someone who "doesn't know her", but I feel like I managed to capture her frustration adequately. Thoughts?

**DOUBLE EDIT** Here are Shiro and Kuro for reference since it will be a few chapters until they're introduced.