_____ 1 Day Later _______
Bell woke up from his deep slumber, sunlight falling on his face from a window across his bed. A yawn involuntarily leaked from his lips, while he stretched his stiff hands.
Right now, he was in a small house he and Goddess Astraea had bought on rent for a month yesterday after sundown.
Honestly, they did not have many things with them, Bell had all his meager belongings in his sachet, while Goddess Astraea did not have many things except for some extra dresses.
That was also one of the reasons he had dragged her to shopping in Orario yesterday.
Anyway, today was the day he would register himself in the adventurers guild and have his first taste of some of that RPGesque adventure.
He felt a little anxious and giddy just thinking about setting his foot into the dungeon, which he had read and heard so much about, from *Danmachi* as well as the people living in this world.
But before that, he had to get his Falna updated by Goddess Astraea, since he'd literally forgotten about it after he woke up after fainting.
Bell slapped both of his cheeks in encouragement and freshened up in a hurry and ran out of his room, running into Goddess Astraea in the lobby.
"Goddess, Goddess, can you please update my Falna? I forgot to get it updated after my fight with the hobgoblin." Bell spoke with enthusiasm while looking at Goddess Astraea elegantly sipping tea while sitting on the couch.
"Slow down Bell, you're such a child in some things." Astraea spoke in mock irritation while looking at him with barely hidden fondness.
Bell supressed the enthusiasm in his heart and sat on the couch opposite to her, letting her finish her tea.
"Alright, Alright, take off your tunic, and show me your back." Goddess Astraea spoke after finishing her tea as she looked at the fidgeting Bell across from her.
Bell took off his tunic quietly, and turned his back to her.
Goddess Astraea came closer to his back after fetching a needle and pricked her finger with a needle, letting her divine blood drop on the engravings on Bell's back.
Blue light illuminated his back as the Falna engravings on his back started to change and update.
[Name: Bell Cranel
Attributes -
Strength: 78 [I]
Endurance: 126 [H]
Dexterity: 54 [I]
Agility: 104 [H]
Magic: 0 [I]
Magic:
Skills:
Eight Handled Wheel -
Adaptation to any and all ph***m*na.
Ittou Shura -
Burn life, transcend limits, for a single minute, become a One-Blade Shura.]
Goddess Astraea looked at his Falna again, just to double check the description of his new skill [Ittou Shura].
"Bell, It seems you've got a new skill named IttouShura," Goddess Astraea mulled over the skill while speaking.
"It seems to be a very unique and strong skill, but it says you'd have to burn life to use it.....so, it's better to use it as sparingly as possible, especially with the one minute limit." Goddess Astraea finished her words after analyzing his new skill.
"Was this the skill you used to finish of those goblins and hobgoblins?....I guess it was, anyway, remember never to use this skill in the dungeon, because after the one minute limit you'd probably faint like you did earlier, which would be very dangerous in the dungeon." Goddess Astraea was an experienced Goddess and deduced from the skill description that this was the skill he had used to slay the goblins, and cautioned him about it's drawbacks in the dungeon.
Bell calmly agreed with her warnings in his mind while taking the sheet on which she had translated his Falna and went through it casually.
The Falna was approximately what he expected, though one thing caught his eye—before when he had gone through the description of his wheel, the phenomena word had three blocked letters.
But now they had turned to four blocked letters from three, why though?
Was his wheel even adapting to Falna?
But why?
Did a Gods Falna have some hidden dangers?
Or was it something else entirely?
Bell honestly had no idea, because even in *Danmachi*, the deep inner workings of Falna were a mystery, so he was as clueless about that as any other person.
He let it go since it was not something the current him should worry about, let the future him worry about these things.
Bell right now had better things to do, like diving for the first time in the dungeon.
He put on his tunic after getting his Falna updated and said a reassuring goodbye to the worried Goddess Astraea as he walked out of their home.
In fact Goddess Astraea had insisted that she would pull some strings to get a senior adventurer to show him the ropes in the dungeon, but Bell had declined.
The reasoning was twofold, first of all, the connections she spoke about was most probably her—the Gale Wind, a former member of Astraea Familia.
Which was a golden opportunity for someone like him, of course only if he did not get his head bashed in by Ryuu for dragging Goddess Astraea back to Orario.
Second was that he did not want many people to know about his wheel, which literally appears between his brows and flashes like a high end flashlight for the whole world to gawk at.
Yes, it looked cool but he was not some YoungMaster from the federation, who would first show off his things, only to later get killed by the main character.
But Goddess Astraea was adamant about getting him a mentor to show him the ropes, so in the end, Bell had to compromise by asking a week from her.
A week where he could dive in the dungeon on his own.
After that one week, he would follow all the arrangements she made for him.
Only he knew how hellish it was to get her to agree for letting him dive alone in the dungeon, only if for one week.
Bell's thoughts finished by the time he was standing outside the adventurers guild.
He opened the wooden doors of the guild and entered inside, unlike the last time, when he had walked away after observing it for a bit.
The atmosphere was as boisterous as it looked from outside, some people taking about some rare monster in deep floors, some drinking ale while chatting with others, some checking out the report board about the new news.
Every single person inside was busy with their own things, yet all of them seemed to carry themselves with the composure of a hunter, just like a band of mercenaries.
Someone like Bell, with his boyish physique, innocent face and rabbit like hair was like an anomaly walking into the den of wolves.
Every eye inside snapped towards him like he was a unique breed, some looked at him with disdain, some looked indifferent, some looked at him like he was easy pickings.
Every single one was measuring his worth, from his build, demeanor and the way he held himself.
Bell looked all of them in the eye on by one with indifference, especially those with malicious intentions and let [Ittou Shura] rumble to life.
His very presence warped from that of a harmless rabbit to an apex predator at the very top of the food chain.
His childish side was only for his Goddess, for others with malicious intentions towards him,
The one to greet them would not be the child,
But the Shura.
He deactivated [Ittou Shura] in a second after spooking the shit out of those adventurers who were looking at him the wrong way.
He knew Orario from *Danmachi* and knew that if he did not show them the price of crossing him now, then he'd considered an easy target and might even have his bones devoured by these vultures.
*Danmachi* was a story and might not show too much of the dark side of Orario, but this was no longer a story but his reality.
He did not remember who but someone from *Danmachi* had even spoken that Orario was a city of dreams, yet it was also the place which had devoured countless people and their dreams whole.
Bell mused as he reached the reception desk, where a male elf was standing casually, going through a thick register.
"Hello, I'm Bell Cranel, a newly minted adventurer. I would like to register my name and Familia in the achieves." Bell spoke casually while leaning against the counter, keeping his focus on the elf.
"It's nice to meet you, new adventurer Bell Cranel, I'm Ronald, a guild receptionist, can you give me a moment please?" Ronald spoke after taking a look away from the register towards Bell and resumed his work.
"Hn." Bell acknowledged with an affirmative sound while calmly waiting for him to finish his work.
Ronald finished his work after five minutes and fetched a new register from the adjacent counter.
"So Bell Cranel, Right? Can you tell me your age? Your place of birth? Why do you want to become an adventurer?" Ronald asked different questions like a rapidly firing gun.
He answered his questions one by one, some he answered honestly, some he refused to answer and some answers he made up on the spot.
"Alright, everything is done, now one last question, Do you have Falna? If so then which Gods?" Ronald asked the last question with the casual ease of someone who had asked the same question countless times.
"I already have a Falna, I'm a part of the Astraea Familia." Bell spoke truthfully, since it was better to disclose it on his own, since the spread of the news of Goddess Astraea's return to Orario was inevitable.
"..." Roland looked up from the register, taking a deeper look into Bell's eyes, wondering if he had heard wrong.
Seeing the serious look on Bell's face, Roland realised that what he'd heard was indeed not wrong, after which he ran upstairs and bought down a manager from the guild.
Bell thanked the Gods that it was not that fat pig Royman or his day would have been ruined.
Taylor walked behind Roland down from the stairs and invited Bell to a private room on the second floor.
After which Taylor had Bell show them his Falna to conform that it was indeed the Falna of Goddess Astraea.
The guild had some records of how the Falna of Astraea Familia looked from before and compared it with Bell's, conforming that it indeed was her Falna.
After which they had Bell sign a document about the guild having no responsibility if he died in the dungeon.
Bell finally walked out of the adventures guild after everything was said and done.
He then finally looked at the Tower of Babel and started walking towards it.
The Plaza beneath the Tower of Babel was full of adventures roaming here and there, some waiting for others, some resting on benches, and some adjusting their gears before diving in.
Bell bought a spare sword from the blacksmith shops on the surface, since his old sword was chipped in places and was unsuitable.
He took a deep breath and started walking to the entrance of the dungeon, which was merely a colossal vertical passage going downwards underground, leading straight to an abyss filled with monsters.
Bell walked down the natural stairs build at the corner of the passage straight down and reach the first floor after walking down for ten minutes straight.
Adventurers were coming and going from the first floor, mostly in teams but some even solo.
Bell ignored the others and walked deeper inside the first floor.
His old friend's were being spawned from the walls of the dungeon, yes the first floor spawned goblins.
As three goblins spawned and were about to pounce on him, an eight handled wheel tattoo materialised between his brows, shining like a conspicuous bulb in the dark surroundings.
He really did not want his head to shine like an LED light whenever he got in a fight.
Bell willed the wheel to no longer release golden light.
*Click*
A *Click* was heard as the wheel between his brows stopped releasing golden light, turning into an ordinary and normal tattoo between his brows.
Bell watched the three goblins surround him and beheaded them easily, his new sword moving smoothly and cutting through muscles and bones like a butter knife.
After cutting apart the goblins surrounding him, Bell stored the monster stones dropped from them in his sachet along with the special drop items—goblin fangs.
He farmed the monster drops on the first floor for an hour straight, acclimating to his surroundings and refining his body control and sword swings.
At the end of the day, he was still a novice in both of them.
Bell went down to the second floor after he could take care of goblins in groups of four or five.
Kobolds spawned on the second floor, monsters with a dogs head and humanoid bodies.
He ran into a group of five Kobolds who started running towards him the moment they laid their eyes on him, like a group of dogs spotting a bone.
Bell walked towards their group as they ran closer to him.
[Ittou Shura] roared to life for a moment.
It was over before it could even begin, the group of Kobolds were decimated in a single second.
Now that a lot of monsters were spawning, he could deeply feel his own weakness, to even go against a group consisting of five or more monsters, he had to use [Ittou Shura], even if for a single second.
Bell resolved to no longer use [Ittou Shura] even for a single second, from now on to fight.
He walked deeper into the second floor, injuries starting to accumulate over his body, the wheel tattoo between his brows starting to shake.
He took a claw to his back.
*Click*
He took a sword to his thigh.
*Click*
He took a bite to his arm.
*Click*
The tattoo in between his brows continued to revolve, but Bell ignored it.
*Click*
A laceration appeared on his chest.
*Click*
Another claw tore at his calves.
*Click*
By the time Bell came to himself, he was already on the fourth floor of the dungeon.
8 goblins surrounded him from the left, 7 Kobolds surrounded him from the right, and two groups of 4 dungeon lizards each surrounded his front and back.
All the monsters surrounding his bloodied and torn form pounced on him as blood dripped from his body, all across the floor.
He had reached here by carving a bloody path all the way from the second floor without using any skills.
Just he, himself and his sword.
Time once again slowed down for him, monsters in the air, pouncing towards him, colour bled away from the world, his mind clearer than ever even as death surrounded him from all sides.
Deep in that abyss of death, surrounded by monsters from all sides thirsty for his blood, accompanied by the incessant *Click* of his wheel, did the realisation come.
'To fight against one, you need strength.'
'To fight against tens, you need a sharp mind.'
'To fight against hundreds, you need wisdom.'
'And to fight a war....'
'You need Instinct.'
*Click*
This conclusion came with the final turn of his wheel.
Bell looked at the monsters pouncing towards him, but instead of just the monsters, he could now see golden lines weaving through them, his mind seemed to analyse his surroundings at supernatural speeds.
His mind showing him the most optimal way to move.
His body starting to move on it's own.
His instinct showing him the only path to victory.
Bell took a single step back, a goblin pouncing on him missed him by a millimeter, it's face crashing brutally against the dungeon floor.
He swung his sword with precision, another kobold pouncing on him seemed to impale itself on his swinging sword.
From far away, it even looked like the kobold willingly offered it's own guts for Bell's sword to impale.
Bell pulled his upper body backwards by exactly 30 centimeters, two other dragon lizards colliding against each other, where his torso was just a moment ago.
His sword seemed to turn into a viper, trailing after the vitals of the dragon lizards, piercing through their necks easily.
Bell turned left as a goblin tried to jump backwards hurriedly at his movements.
The goblin had just clenched it's legs to jump backwards when Bell put his foot on the goblins foot, exactly a moment before it was about to jump, breaking it's momentum and balance.
Bell watched with indifference as the goblin tripped towards him, it's neck heading straight where his sword was held.
Hence, the goblin beheaded itself by just a touch from Bell.
His swings seemed to defy directions and logic, swinging to the left at a moment, then midway turning towards another direction altogether.
The monsters surrounding him were not being outnumbered or overpowered,
They were being outplayed on a level so deep that it seemed like they were trying to play 3D chess, while Bell had turned the whole board to a 4D version of chess.
One after another, the monsters were killed casually, some seemed to deliberately throw themselves in the path of his sword, some seemed to accidently injure each other, and some even felt so bewildered and incredulous that they stopped fighting all together.
Bell caught his breath after he finished absolutely decimating the monsters surrounding him, some even still had confused faces in death.
They were quite literally played to death.
What he had gained from the wheel was [Instinct (A-Rank)] from a certain Ahoge King from Nasuverse (Fate). It was the ability to instantly identify "the best personal course of action" during combat. The A-Rank of the skill meant it was in the realm of predicting the future. Essentially, this skill showed him the path to victory in any form of combat.
Now, it was probably time to run back to the surface to get himself patched, and hopefully not get chewed out by Goddess Astraea for his injuries.