The Life of an Argonaut

My Hero?

Bell's wheezing laugh filled the silent corridor. It was shaky, raspy, and wholly unlike his usual warm laugh that could either grate on your nerves or fill you with a certain type of warmth depending on the context. His pure white hair was stained crimson in a mix of his blood and the minotaur's. His wounds seared in pain, but nothing compared to how useless, how weak he felt. He desperately fought against the minotaur, using every ounce of his wit, every shard of strength, and determination. Yet he still failed. Yet he was through about like a ragdoll. Then Ais came, and with one swipe of her sword, made the enemy that Bell struggled with so desperately, look weak as though it wasn't even worth the effort to unsheathe her blade. 

Bell screamed. He didn't know if it was out of pain, embarrassment, or frustration for falling to the very thing that killed so many other heroes beforehand, but he knew it was one of them. He had to get away though, he couldn't let Ais remind him how weak he was. He wouldn't, couldn't let that happen. He couldn't give her another reason to doubt his worthiness being in the Loki Familia. He couldn't give her another reason to disregard him as nothing more than a weak, naive child. So he turned, and he ran. She said something. He didn't know what. There was a burning sensation on his face. Something wet. He didn't know if it was the blood or his tears. It was something though. He wanted to go home but the place he called home for a decade was no longer his to call home.  So he settled for the hostess.  

Bell didn't know how long it had been since he had left the dungeon, only that he was now at the back entrance of the Hostess. It would lead into the kitchen, and from there, if he was quick, he could make it up into the bathroom without Mia noticing. Although, he would have to bargain with the girls in order for them to keep their trap shut. In the short time he's been at the hostess, he did pick up a few things about the girls' likes and dislikes. Well most of them. Loki knows what Ryuu liked. He was profoundly grateful for her assistance, and if it wasn't for her, chances are he'd still be lying on that wall and still having no idea why his head would swim, his breath would fly away, like a bird who's finally been let out its cage, his body shake as if he was stark naked in a blizzard at Olympus and why his vision blackened quicker than a level 5 adventurer could move but getting her to open up about her interests was like trying to get a favor from the Freya familia without having to repay it or trying to get Zeus to stop being the 'alleged' pervert that he 'apparently' was. So in other words, impossible. It was with those thoughts that Bell walked into the establishment and, in accordance with his recent luck, guess who was on dishwasher duty? A certain blond elf. Great. 

Ryuu's eyes locked onto Bell's, and her eyes widened in alarm, which was fair considering that Bell was drenched in blood. Add that to his wrecked armor (that was basically brand bloody new) and a couple of very clear wounds, he probably looked like a reincarnated murder victim. Bell quickly drew his hand over his neck and shook his head, signaling that the blood wasn't his and that she didn't need to be alarmed. This might have been a white lie but he grew up in a village that didn't have the health benefits of Orario, Rome, Cairo, Athens or Ithaca, and so on. If you sustained a wound out in his village, you were expected to be able to heal it. They didn't have a reliable, relatively cheap source of magic potions and elixirs and spells. They had alcohol and bandages with a sewing kit. In other words, he knew how to handle himself. Ryuu caught the hint and while there was no visible body reaction indicating her relaxing beyond her eyes narrowing (because there was no visible body reaction to indicate her tensing in the first place, which he really had to learn how she was able to to it because if she walked through the door in the same condition he was in, he'd probably pass out) he knew she understood, Ryuu may not have been the most expressive, but she knew how to pick up on a hint. But, and this shocked Bell, her lips quirked up in a smirk. Bell knew he'd be in the deep end later unless he found an adequate way to keep her from telling Mia because in the three seconds he'd been frantically gesturing for Ryuu not to overreact and get Mia, blood had indeed got on her sacred floor. 

"I'll take care of this, Mister Cranel, but you will owe me," Ryuu said close enough so that he could feel her breath on his ear, her voice low enough so that nobody could hear her speak but Bell. Bell shivered at this, the combination of her hot breath brushing against his ear, her being very attractive and him being a teenager had him flustered.

"T-thank you Miss Ryuu" Bell stammered, and fled the scene as quickly as possible, leaving a bewildered Ryuu behind him, who could only look in curiosity at the place where Bell was before he sprinted fast enough to keep up with a level three.

Bell made it to his room and quickly grabbed a towel. He wanted the blood off of him, it had dried in and was very uncomfortable, every time he moved he could feel it breaking and he hated that feeling. Plus he had wounds to address. When that was done, his clothes thrown out and his hair brushed, he decided he'd go to the guild. He had to find information on Ais, and Eina should be able to help him with that. He wanted, needed to know how she got that strong. Because to be a hero, you had to be strong because how could you save someone if you were weak? Ais had saved him, and in doing so had trivialized an opponent that left him on the brink of death once before, an opponent that had battered and bruised both his physical body and his mental spirit. She was, to him, the definition of a hero, she was strong. He needed to get to her level. He desired to get to her level, because to him, Ais Wallenstein was the epitome of strength.

With this insight in mind, Bell sought to find his advisor, he wanted to know knowledge that she could hopefully provide him.

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"What do you mean you don't know how she got so strong so quickly?" Bell asked dismayed 

"It's not something that's disclosed to other advisors. Legally a record has to be kept, but considering how, barring you, the Loki Familia and I have no relations besides a mutual respect between us I have no access to that record, obviously I know that she holds the record for fastest level ups but apart from that..." Eina answered, slightly perturbed by how odd Bell was acting.

"Why do you even want to know, you seemed to not care about her when we done our lessons, well you didn't seem to care for her anymore than any of the other people you gushed about in our lessons would be a better choice of phrasing" Eina teased, enjoying the sudden shade of red Bell's face was, and it had nothing to do with being caked in blood this time. 

"So I decided to go to the dungeon this morning..." Bell explained the situation to her and watched as her face seemingly went through the five stages of grief before his very eyes. 

"The first thing I taught you was that the dungeon was treacherous and you must always be aware and what do you do? Forget it and the dungeon punished you for it!" Eina exclaimed, smacking Bell on his head. "Of course you've fallen for her, feels as though every male adventurer does at some point." She facepalmed

"I haven't fallen for her Miss Eina and even if I had I fail to see how that would be a bad thing" Bell said, defensive of the lady that saved his life. 

"I'm sure you haven't Bell" Eina let every bit of her frustration bleed into her sarcasm. "Technically nothing is wrong for you taking a fancy with her, besides the fact that you'd have to compete with over a thousand other suitors".

Bell visibly deflated. 

"And he says he feels nothing for her" Eina thinks, deadpanning.

"Cheer up Bell, go and exchange your magic stones and maybe look at replacing that equipment. You can't become the best by being underprepared. All you have to do, is keep sloughing away. I have full faith you'll make it." Eina encouraged, seeing that she had slightly, read as significantly, disheartened the kid.

Bell perked up a bit, and beamed at her with that special smile that could light up a black hole.

"Thank you Eina, I have to go back to the host- to Twilight Manor to get my magic stones, left them there in a hurry. Thanks for your help, love you!"

"Wha- Wa-Wait Bell" Stammered a heavily flustered Eina.

Bell was too far ahead to hear it.