Before running back to the surface, he still had to collect the monster drops and magic stones dropped by the monsters he had killed earlier.
Bell heard hurried footsteps coming from ahead while gathering his spoils while humming an otherworldly tune.
Turns out a group of four adventurers were running towards him from the front, all four wounded in places, blood smeared across their armour and weapons.
They did not even look at Bell, instead kept looking towards their backs after every hurried step.
As if a terrifying monster was chasing them from behind.
Bell looked at those running adventurers, as a female adventurer, battered and bloodied from their group looked at him with a face full of pity.
While the other adventurers in her group conveniently ignored him, like he didn't exist.
He watched as their group left him behind, looking back into the distance, as if the devil himself was chasing after their ass.
Bell was not a fool, he understood some dangerous monster was probably chasing them, It would be dangerous to keep standing here.
He threw the magic cores and drops in his hands to the ground, and tensed his legs to start running towards those adventures, now far ahead of him.
Bell knew if he let greed control him, he'd only be remembered in memories by the next week.
The ground started shaking like a 3.0 magnitude earthquake had hit the fourth floor of the dungeon.
He felt spooked as he looked back, where the adventures had come running from, and did not see any mutated or strong monster.
Instead, It was a group of different monsters, numbering in the hundreds, consisting of goblins, kobolds, dragon lizards and frog shooters.
'Your Mother!!'
Bell cursed to the heavens, looking at a whole mini pass parade running towards him consisting of more than a hundred monsters.
'Fuck!'
[Ittou Shura] rumbled to life, as Bell started running for dear life, cursing the whole ancestry of those adventurers who bought death straight to his front gate.
The adventurers were way ahead of him when he started running, but Bell reached them in a moment and spoke.
"Seems you oldies have lost your mind by diving continuously in the dungeon,"
"It's better for you fossils to retire and touch grass."
Bell waved a middle finger to their faces, and overtook them while speaking.
"So long, suckers."
He had no manners or kindness for those who had send him almost to meet his deceased Aunt Alfia.
The least they could have done was to at least warn him of danger, but they wanted him to keep the monsters busy while they escaped.
Bell increased his speed, reaching the stairs to the third floor and climbed them easily, running with his tail tucked between his legs, the adventurers and monster parade hot on his tail.
[Ittou Shura] revolved faster, his lifeforce burning brighter, as his speed skyrocketed further.
"Run! Run! Run!"
Bell screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the whole third floor, reaching all the adventurers hunting on it.
"Run for you lives! There's a train behind me,"
"The kind filled with monsters who want to chew on your bones and drink your blood!"
Bell's voice reached all the adventurers on the third floor, as he continued to run like his ass was on fire.
He watched as an old dwarf in heavy armour was ahead of him, taking something out from his pouch after hearing his screamed words.
Bell watched as the dwarf took out a blue colored pill suspiciously looking like a Viagra pill.
He overtook the dwarf in moments, [Ittou Shura] burning his life force, converting it into pure strength.
Bell glanced back as the dwarf swallowed the blue pill and bought his gaze back to the front—to focus on his own escape.
He glanced sideways after a moment, hearing the heavy clanking of armour on his left.
Bell's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Running besides him, matching his speed casually was the dwarf from before, that too in dense heavy armour.
"Child, child, you've still not seen the bigger world out there, or you wouldn't have been so surprised by my speed."
The dwarf rumbled like a sagely elder who had seen the whole world, his clanky armour and movements keeping up with him without a sweat—his face flushed red.
Whether due to the exertion, or something else was anyone's guess.
"We'll meet again later if fate wills it."
The dwarf spoke as he increased his speed, overtaking Bell without any effort, leaving Bell behind in dust.
'Fuck! Are Viagra's more effective than my [Ittou Shura]??'
Bell slowed down in incredulity, the dwarf running so fast that he probably could not catch up, even if he pushed [Ittou Shura] to the limit.
He really had to acknowledge, there were countless legends in the real world, way more than what was depicted in *Danmachi*.
Bell kept warning every adventurer he ran across or who heard his screams across the floors.
After running frantically for a whole 40 seconds, from the fourth to the first floor, Bell finally reached the surface.
Throngs of adventurers came out running behind him—out of the dungeon, such large scale movement causing mass panic.
The guild mobilised to take care of the mass panic, while Bell slipped away unnoticed in the panicking crowd.
He decided to go home first, and then go to the guild later to convert all the drops and magic stones he had collected in his sachet into valis.
Till now, he had gained two things from the adaptation of the wheel, [Ittou Shura] & [Instinct (A)] which had his strength and instincts covered, while it was true that with [Instinct (A)] he could decimate a large group of monsters, it was easy to do so only because those monsters did not know any martial arts, nor did they have any battle experience or superb instincts.
It would not be so easy to defeat a battle hardened and veteran adventurer as it was to defeat those monsters.
From outside, it might look like he was getting strong and overpowered, but only he knew how weak he currently was, even with both [Ittou Shura] & [Instinct (A)] he could be folded like a wet towel by any mage who knew decent magic.
His defence against any form of magic was nearly zero, he did not even know how to swing a sword properly, he could get this far with brute force and the newly gained instincts but the challenges ahead would be on another level.
Fist of all, he had to build a solid foundation in swords and martial arts.
Only then would he be able to bring out the all the power in his muscles.
It would be nice if the wheel could adapt and give him a martial art to set a solid foundation, like the [Rokushiki (Six Styles)] of the marines from *OnePiece* or [Zanjustu Techniques] from Shinigami of *Bleach*.
Though it depended on the situation and the wheel about what he'd get.
There was also the weakness of not having a movement technique, to run with brute force was like having a luxury car with the chassis of a Ferrari but the engine of a tractor inside.
That old dwarf from earlier was also using some kind of basic movement technique, which synchronised his heartbeat with his movements, increasing his speed exponentially.
Or did you really think Viagra was better than [Ittou Shura]?
Along with these, he still needed [Regeneration] or he'd become old in his twenties, along with some kind of magic like [Dragon Slayer] & [God Slayer] magics from *Fairy Tail* just in case.
Too many things to do with too little time.
Bell's thoughts came to an end after he reached his home, a smile appearing unconsciously across his face.
He walked in without waiting for a ceremony, his body a bit weak, mind a bit sluggish, but the smile on his face was wider than ever.
As he walked in, he could hear Goddess Astraea talking with another person, their voice a little childish and energetic.
Lo and behold, it was the famous Goddess Hestia.
Not famous here, but across the denizens of the old world.
She was standing at a petite height, possessing a frame that initially suggested a delicate, doll-like fragility. Her skin was fair and smooth, glowing with the pristine health of an Goddess. However, any impression of a "child-like" build was immediately upended by her famously voluptuous curves. She possessed a remarkably narrow waist that accentuates her wide, feminine hips and a bust that seems to defy the gravity of her small frame. Her limbs were slender and well-proportioned, ending in dainty hands and feet, giving her the appearance of a masterpiece sculpted from the finest marble.
Hestia's choice of clothing was as unique as her reputation. She was wearing a simple, thigh-high white mini-dress that clung to her figure, emphasizing her generous proportions. The dress was sleeveless, exposing her shoulders and the soft curve of her neck.
She was talking animatedly with Goddess Astraea, like she had run into an old friend after a long time.
Both Goddesses were so lost in their gossips that they didn't even see Bell walking inside the house after closing the front door.
Bell let them enjoy each other's company as he tiptoed to his room and wiped all the blood, sweat and muck from the dungeon sticking to his skin with a wet cloth.
He went down after changing into new clothes, his injuries from earlier hidden under the new t-shirt.
Bell walked to the Goddesses and spoke gently to Goddess Astraea.
"I'm back from the dungeon, Goddess Astraea."
His words pulled both Goddesses out of their gossip, their gazes now resting on him.
Goddess Astraea looked across Bell's body in gentle care, to make sure he was not injured in his first dive in the dungeon.
While Goddess Hestia looked at him with a curious and kind gaze.
He returned her gaze with a gentle nod of acknowledgement.
"Come here Bell, meet one of my few friend from 'Tenkai,' this is Goddess Hestia, and Hestia, this is the only new member of my Familia, Bell Cranel."
Goddess Astraea spoke while pulling Bell close to her and making him sit on the sofa besides her, her arm now wrapped around his shoulder.
'Ssss... even Gods like to show off in front of their friends?'
Bell questioned inwardly as Goddess Astraea went straight for the jugular of Goddess Hestia.
Goddess Hestia was first shocked by her words, but then nearly cried right then and there.
"Waah....Waah.... E-Even you want to show off to me, Astraea?" Goddess Hestia questioned with a chocked voice, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.
"Alright...Alight, no need to cry Hestia, I was just joking with you, no need to cry like a baby, you're making me loose my good impressions in front of my child." Goddess Astraea spoke, nearly having a heart attack at Hestia's tears at her joke.
Bell kept his head down, feeling like he was sitting on a field full of dynamite, whose fuse could be lit anytime, he did not want to be a part of the divine gossip of the Goddesses.
He quietly excused himself, with his tail tucked between his legs, running even faster than he had run with a monster parade hot on his behind in the dungeon.
Bell could handle monsters in the dungeon, he could even handle malicious adventurers in the dungeon, but he dared not sit on a field full of gunpowder as Goddesses went after each others jugulars.
Who knew if one of them blamed him for just sitting there, eavesdropping in the corner? He dared not to gamble about what went inside a female mind, even if they were Goddesses.
Bell decided to first go to the guild to have his spoils converted into valis, he couldn't really continue to live on Goddess Astraea's money, right?
After fetching his sachet full of monster stones and drops from his room, Bell walked outside of their home and went towards the adventurers guild.
There was still some panicked people crowding around the guild when he reached it.
He had to push around some people to make way inside, where people were moving around in tension, with the guild employees busy with extra work due to the earlier incident.
Bell walked to the only acquaintance he knew among the employees, Ronald.
Ronald was buried in a massive amount of books on his counter, black circles beneath his eyes, it seemed he'd been forced to work for hours without lunch.
He pulled his eyes up from a book he was scribbling frantically in when he heard footsteps heading for his counter.
Upon looking that it was Bell, he merely pointed to the back room, Inviting him in a place isolated from all the panicking people and the noisy guild.
Bell came out of the guild, his sachet full of valis instead of monster drops and magic stones.
All in all today was still a productive day, having gained something new from the wheel.
He concluded while walking back home, his arms behind his head with casual indifference as the sun was about fall, shadows covering the medieval buildings along his path .
As he walked down an open path leading to his home, with his mind lost in future adaptations and thoughts about people.
A sudden chill ran down his spine, from his tailbone all the way up to the top of his head, his instincts screamed like a bomb exploding inside his head.
Bell felt his limbs turn stiff, his bones turning cold, the very blood flowing through him freezing over.
He felt it, especially due to his new [Instinct (A)].
A gaze was looking at him, with a lust so overwhelming that Bell nearly gagged, It was a gaze so rude and naked that Bell felt like the gaze was stripping him of his clothes, skin, bones, even his sense of self.
Looking at something deep and personal inside of him with blatant want, Bell had the urge to vomit at that gaze.
Compare it to leering, multiply it a hundred times over, that was what Bell felt.
It felt like literally being violated by a gaze alone.
Uncomfortable. Very Uncomfortable.
When Bell followed his instincts, he concluded that the gaze came from the very top of the Tower of Babel.
He knew who it was.
The Goddess with an army of simps.
Freya.
The wheel tattoo materialised between his brows, revolving faster than it ever had before, responding to the danger from divine.
*Click*
*Click* *Click*
*Click* *Click* *Click*
His wheel turned so fast that a metaphysical roar was released from his whole being, pushing back against the malicious Goddess's gaze.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
*Click* *Click* *Click*
*Click* *Click* *Click*
The color of his red eyes, usually filled with flames of resolve and an inherent kindness, bled away, replaced by an abyssal back filled with absolute indifference.
He returned that repulsive divine gaze with his own absolutely indifferent one, his vision tearing through space to the very top of the Tower of Babel.
A silver haired Goddess gazed at him with the obsessed eyes of an unhinged yandere from there.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
*Click* *Click*
*Click*
As the last spin of his wheel concluded, he spoke, gazing into those obsessed violet eyes across space.
"Asura Soul Reaping....."
______________________________________
Deep inside him.
The Eight Handled Wheel spun forcefully against the flow of absolute darkness surrounding it.
It's golden and holy colour bled away into a blood red hue with each of it's revolution.
A single chain conjured of darkness, intertwined with a divine gold was still wrapped around it.
Numerous cracks ran all over the chain like fine scars.
It was close.
So very close.