Coming out of the private room, Bell and Hestia were both met with the whole of their current familia's members.
"Bell, go get dressed, and grab that bag you told me about, I'll handle this here."
"Right, goddess!"
As Bell left the room, Hestia let out a heavy sigh, and sat down on the couch, she squirmed with erratic emotion, and then rested her arms on the couch's back.
Ryuu sat down on the other couch across from the one Hestia sat upon, the coffee table in the center filling the space between…
"Goddess Hestia, what happened to Bell? What could possibly have happened that would level him up in his sleep?"
"Any more questions?" Hestia grumbled, as her eyes darted around the room, to each of her familia's children. "Everyone take a seat, and listen up."
Hestia waited for each member to sit down, and eagerly awaited the response from their goddess.
Liliruca was beady eyed wondering if she could pull it off too.
Welf was concerned about what would happen to the equipment he'd been making if Bell used it now.
Mikoto was worrying all over the place about how she felt useless now.
Haruhime was eagerly awaiting the tale as if it was going to be another Hero story.
Hestia took a deep breath and then exhaled.
"If I were to tell you everything I was just told now… I'd only confuse you. So I'm taking Bell to see Hephaestus. Ryuu, Welf, the two of you will be in charge of exchanging some magic stones for money. Don't ask about how he got them, I can't begin to wrap my head around it right now. When you're done, I want you to join Bell and I over at Hephaestus' place."
"Of course, but Lady Hestia, we have so many questions, at least tell us how he did it-" Mikoto tried to ask.
"Can- can you settle waiting for the answer till after I talk with Hephaestus about this? I'd rather ask Zeus about it, he'd know way more. Arg! Why'd he have to limit it to Hephaestus!?"
"What, huh? Zeus, know about what? And who's done the limiting?"
"Ugh this is so frustrating!"
Bell came back, in full armor for his guard duty.
"Goddess, I'm ready to go! And, Miss Ryuu, these are the stones that need to be exchanged."
Bell handed the bag to Ryuu, she opened it slightly, the curiosity getting the better of her, she closed it up right away, and set it down on the table, and sighed.
"No one in their right mind would believe we got these by any normal means."
"What? Can you explain Ryuu?"
"These are all magic crystals hovering around the level 9 quality at the very least. If Bell, and I are boosted with Haruhime's magic, on top of everything else we have, it would be a gamble just to handle a level 8. Let alone this. In short, we can't sell this directly, to anyone. Even Lord Hermes would have a difficult time finding a way to explain things."
"Huh!? So we can't sell them?"
Liliruca pouted, clicking her tongue, she decided to have a look for herself. Opening the bag, the sparkle she saw was so far beyond what she'd seen before… One in particular caught her eye, she picked it up, and smiled so wide it was painfully obvious she was having thoughts about money when… Huh?
"Hey, are there any other uses for these things? I figure that just one of these would run at least 100 million if they were to be traded on the market. And, I feel something different with these ones. I almost want to eat it…"
"Huh? You want to eat the core of a monster- Wait, that might actually be the idea."
Welf stood up and looked inside the bag, his expression changed once he felt something different. He pulled it out, to reveal a rolled letter, he unraveled it and began attempting to read it.
"Hey, Lady Hestia. I can't make all of these characters out."
"Let me see that!"
Liliruca said, snatching the paper note, and she started translating every single letter she could figure out.
"Hey Miss Ryuu, do you know what these ones mean, it's in an elvish I can't make out?"
"That's the language of the gods, but yes. It's an expression of excitement, though I don't know how to pronounce it."
"I'll just use glad for it then… And…" Sticking her tongue out reading over the note… "It's done!" She put both the translated, and original side by side on the table.
Everyone got a chance to read the letter.
"So that's how he meant for us to get the money? Isn't that just telling us to work?"
"No, Lady Hestia, judging by what he said, these magic crystals are a little different. Ones that have the same potency as grimoires, or better yet… It has the power to unlock a skill. And the only requirement is to feel drawn towards the crystal. With this I might actually be put back on track to grow stronger!"
Bell chuckled a little, and wore a calm smile.
"With proof of what I learned, I know how to get all of you up a couple of levels in quick succession. There's also a technique I'd like to teach all of you how to use. But we should do that later."
Hestia picked up the original letter, and read the signature… Her heart skipped 15 beats before she took another breath.
"If he's on the side of the mortals, then there's no way they would have any problems, right?"
"It's fine Goddess, I ate a couple of these, but I still don't know what changed."
"Bell, I know I had you get ready to leave, but with this development, I think it's best for everyone to stay home. I'll tell Hephaestus I need her to visit, we can use Welf as the public excuse if needed."
"Fine by me, I'm eager to see how she rates my newest works."
"Yeah… I'd bet you are."
The familia had dinner, and didn't speak about the matter again, opting for lighter hearted topics. And then the following evening came around, Hephaestus, and Tsubaki had arrived… And been told what happened.
Then, despite it being incredibly bold, and unheard of, Bell willingly let Hestia update his status in front of everyone. Where, the book, sealed within Bell's soul by the Hestia of the past, was freed, and in doing so, Bell's status, well… It changed considerably.
--------------------------
Bell Cranel
Hestia Familia
Level : 6 -> 7
STR : (I -> SSS -> I) : (0 ->1479 -> 0)
VIT : (I -> SSS -> I) : (0 -> 1601 -> 0)
DEX : (I -> SSS -> I) : (0 -> 1483 -> 0)
AGI : (I -> SSS -> I) : (0 -> 1542 -> 0)
MAG: (I -> SSS -> I) : (0 -> 1471 -> 0)
--------------------------
Development Abilities :
Luck : F -> B : 370 -> 729
Abnormal Resistance : G -> C : 279 -> 652
Escape : G -> E : 238 -> 427
Chain Attack : I -> G : 0 -> 201
Supreme Attack : I -> G: 0 -> 204
Spirit Pleasure : I : 0
--------------------------
Skills : Liaris Freese, Argonaut, Ox Slayer, Vanadis Tevere, Chaos Chosen, Time Traveler, Spirit Human
Magic : Fire Bolt, Soothing Serenity
--------------------------
The changes were nothing to scoff at… Hephaestus was so shocked that she couldn't even begin to comprehend the ramifications of things like this.
"We really need Zeus, he'd have more answers relating to things like this than anyone. We should get Hermes in the loop. In the meantime, I'd follow that young man's advice. What did you say his name was?"
Hestia froze, but Bell responded.
"The gods there called him one name, Fenrir, quite a bit. Like, saying he was the real one or something like that."
Hephaestus went through a similar moment of cold sweat upon hearing that name.
"I see… No wonder he's so overwhelmingly mighty…"
…