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Kanu stood there in shock, a sitting duck out in the open, as the smallest of sounds fell out of his mouth.

“Mroo—”

But it was enough for the Minotaur to hear him.

The Minotaur turned, its face still contorted by rage.

Its eyes, surrounded by a splatter of fresh blood, shot through Kanu like hot knives into butter.

The adventurer’s body stiffened, as if chains had enveloped him from the inside out. Kanu started to hyperventilate.

“Mroooooooo!!”

He ran.

Breaking free of his mental chains, he put so much power into his first steps that he nearly fell flat on his face.

Regaining his balance, Kanu ran as fast as he could, the echoes of the beast’s roar right on his heels.

He was moving so fast that his boots sounded like whips as they hit the floor, his eyes wide. His mind was beginning to leave him.

The hideous god of death was catching up.

You’ve got to be kidding—?!

His breath was ragged, panting like a rapid dog. His thoughts were going all over the place, but none of his thoughts came to any kind of conclusion.

It was as if his mind was boiling inside his own head. Hot, much too hot.

Rivers of sweat flowed from his body as he sprinted like a madman.

Kanu had been running without much thought to where he was going. He nearly lost his balance many times, focusing only on making his escape.

It was nighttime outside the Dungeon. There were no other adventurers prowling these halls. He was truly alone in the Dungeon. It had become an endless labyrinth where the same walls and patterns went on into eternity.

Can’t shake it, can’t shake it, can’t shake it……?!

He couldn’t escape the overwhelming presence that was just behind him.

This wasn’t right. The beast’s aura was drowning him in his own fear.

Minotaurs were supposed to be known for their head-on bull-rush attacks, or so Kanu screamed at nothing in particular as he tried to put some space between himself and the monster.

Half of one of the Minotaur’s horns was missing, broken off by something else. It was as if through that pain, the beast gained intelligence.

The Minotaur held the cleaver in its right hand, giving chase with all speed.

“Haa-ha-haahaa?!”

Kanu gasped for breath as he made a sudden change of course, throwing his body into a small side path.

Desperate to go forward, desperate for distance.

All semblance of calm gone, the man wished for nothing more than a release from the fear that consumed him.

He had absolutely no idea where he was or how he got there.

His boots treaded grass as he prayed for the speed to escape death.

Before he knew it, he’d run himself into a room with no exit.

“Son of a—?!”

His eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets.

His voice sounded tight, like his vocal cords were seconds from snapping.

Once he realized what had happened, Kanu turned around with his eyes shaking.

The thundering footsteps that had been chasing him were gone. It was a moment of silence so thick it was suffocating.

The next moment, out of nowhere…

The half-horned Minotaur stuck its face out from around the corner.

“—?!”

A scream to end all screams rocketed out of Kanu’s ragged throat.

He had crossed the line from fear into sheer terror. Panic flooded his body.

The Minotaur fully emerged, gripping the cleaver in its powerfulgrasp. The massive sword would require two hands and an incredible amount of strength for a normal person to wield. However, in the hands of the Minotaur, it looked like nothing more than a longsword designed to be held in one hand.

Savage breath passed through intimidating, sharp white teeth.

Its dripping red weapon and bloodshot eyes were starving for another kill.

“G-get away!”

Kanu reached behind his back and pulled out a crimson knife.

Aiming the magic blade at the slowly oncoming monster, he waved it frantically until its power was unleashed.

“GUWOU……!”

“Go! Scram! Get the hell away from me!”

The flames that shot forward from the magic blade hit their target head-on.

Kanu shook the blade with all of his might; volley after volley of flames found their mark. With nowhere to run, this wall of fireballs was the only thing between him and certain death.

The Minotaur shielded itself from the onslaught with one of its huge arms. Kanu launched round after round after round…That is, until he heard a loudcrack. The blade fell to pieces in his hand.

“Haa…whaaa?!”

The now lifeless magic blade had reached its limit, crumbling into smaller and smaller pieces as it fell to the ground.

The adventurer somehow managed a scream of surprise as his last line of defense fizzled out.

At the end of it all, Kanu was betrayed by his own weapon.

“Hnfff, hnfff…!!”

“Eeee-eeeeeeee!!”

Sparks still smoldering in its blood-soaked fur, the Minotaur had come close enough for Kanu to smell the beast’s putrid breath.

Enraged eyes bore into him.

The Minotaur’s muscles tightened as its shadow on the wall, and it raised its sword high.

“N-nooooo—!”

Kanu’s consciousness disappeared into oblivion with a crushing, splitting pain in the center of his head.

Crack!

The handle of a mug broke off.

“……”

Hestia stopped moving, her gaze snapping to the spot.

The white mug broke on its own, the separated white handle teetering on its back like a seesaw.

It was a clean break; the mug had become a handle-less cup.

“……”

Hestia stood there quietly, staring at the former mug, feeling uneasy. This kind of a break wasn’t normal. The sound of hurried footsteps and heavy clothing made her turn her head in time to see Bell walk past the table.

He had just finished his training with Aiz. Whether he was anxious to put his new skills to the test or not, he seemed like he was in more of a hurry than usual to get an early start in the Dungeon.

Hestia looked at Bell as he passed by. The boy paused for a moment, just past the broken mug. A sudden feeling of dread overtook her; she had to stall him.

“All finished cleaning up, Goddess! If you could turn off the magic-stone lamps before leaving, that’d be great!”

“Ah…Bell!”

Hestia managed to get words out of her mouth the moment that Bell had one hand on his light-armor-filled backpack, and the door handle in the other. She knew that there was no way she could convince to him to stay here today just because she “had a bad feeling.” She didn’t fully understand it herself.

However, she couldn’t ignore the tightness in her chest, either. She felt like the cup was trying to warn her. Hestia finally took her eyes off of it and looked up.

“A, ah—…Wha…what about your status? We haven’t updated it in a few days, yeah?”

“That’s…true…”

“What are you worried about? It’ll only take a minute, so…please?”

Hestia tried so hard to hide her unease that a confused smile emerged on her face. Seeing this very strange look appear on his goddess, Bell let his eyebrows relax and accepted her offer.

Hestia did her best to get the cup out of her mind and quickly set to work.

“…So, um, Bell. How are things with your supporter?”

“Goddess…you’ve asked that at least ten times already.”

“I-is that so?”

The silence was getting to her, so Hestia said the first thing that she could come up with to start a conversation, but it only got an uncomfortable smile out of Bell.

Hestia had her own reasons for wanting to know exactly what was going on during the days that Bell and Lilly went into the Dungeon together, and as a result had been asking almost nonstop since she’d allowed them to work together.

Her face went red as she sat on the small of Bell’s back. Pricking her finger on a needle, she drew out the ichor—the power in her blood—and set to work inscribing hieroglyphs into Bell’s back.

“Moving on, it’s only been a week, right? The Kenki must have beaten the living daylights out of you. Your Defense has increased enough to close the gap with your other abilities.”

“…Ha-ha-ha-hah.”

Bell’s empty laugh in her ears, Hestia quickened her pace.

It had become the usual pattern. Whenever Hestia updated Bell’s status, her mood got steadily worse as time went on. The cause of her foul mood was, of course, the skill behind Bell’s rapid growth rate: Realis Phrase.

Hestia didn’t look at all amused as she suddenly asked something that had been bugging her since she’d found out about his training sessions with Aiz.

“Bell. Sorry to bring up the past, but you and that Kenki…Youdidn’t do anything…touchy-feely, did you? Like having your head in her lap or something like that.”

Bell sputtered from his facedown position on the bed until:Cough, cough.As she watched, his ears turned bright red.

Damn you, Wallensomething……!!Hestia clenched her teeth.

The boy’s status had made a considerable jump, for some reason. Judging by Bell’s reaction to Hestia’s question, she had more than enough reason to believe that they had much more contact than just his head being in her lap.

That vixen!Jealousy reared its ugly head in Hestia’s heart.

“A-ah, Goddess! Do you know if my status can go up without fighting monsters in combat? Like, through training?”

Ran away, didn’t you?Hestia thought, but didn’t make any comment on the matter. She was a goddess, after all. She had the ability to do that much.

Her needle hand slipped.

Bell could only whimper in pain. Hestia ignored it as she answered the question.

“Yes, it’ll grow. Excelia can be gained through fighting monsters or training to do so. However, playing around will do nothing for you. Remember that only hard, honest work will leave an excelia imprint that I can use to make your abilities increase.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Whether you’re taking your experience seriously or not. Your focus determines the excelia that is left behind. After that, all gods have to do is find them in a status update.”

This winding conversation was close to Hestia’s way of explaining how to use his Skill, but she didn’t come right out and say it. She thought that putting it this way would be easiest for Bell to understand.

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Once Hestia finished updating Bell’s status, she sat back for a moment to see what it said. Her lips started to quiver.

“Dah…! Goddess, look at the time. Sorry, I’ve got to get moving!”

Bell happened to look up at the clock and started to get up.

Shifting his weight to the side so that the goddess would fall lightlyto the side, he jumped from the bed. Grabbing his backpack, Bell was out the door seconds later.

“B-Bell! Your status…!!”

“Sorry, tell me when I get home tonight! See you then!”

Bell looked very rushed as Hestia watched him close the door.

Alone now, Hestia lowered her outstretched arm and let out a long sigh.

She glanced up at the broken mug on the table again, before sitting up to look at the spot where Bell had been just seconds earlier.

She thought about what she had seen written on his back.

Bell Cranell

Level One

Strength: S 982    Defense: S 900    Utility: S 988    Agility: SS 1049    Magic: B 751

“Just what is ‘SS’ supposed to mean…”

Hestia put her right hand on her cheek, as if holding her head as she spoke under her breath.

The sun was starting to rise over the mountain range outside the eastern edge of Orario’s city wall.

Aiz watched the sunrise from a square window in her room. She was just high enough to see over the wall and take in the more natural scenery beyond the city limits.

The still, reddish-orange morning glow reflected off her hair as she pulled it back behind her ears.

After fixing her saber—the only weapon she carried—to her waist, Aiz tapped on her wrists guards. Satisfied with how they fit her arm, she looked forward.

She was completely armed and ready.

The sunlight surrounded her in an orange outline, blue armor, silver breastplate, and hip guards all glinting in the morning glow.

She was the lady of the sword, the Kenki. Aiz looked every bit the warrior princess that had become her reputation.

“Hey, Aiz, ya still in there? How long ya gonna make us wait?”

“…I’m coming, now.”

Responding to Bete’s voice from the other side of the door, Aiz took one last look at her reflection before reaching for the handle.

Ten and two days had already passed since she ranked up to Level Six. Today was the day she had been waiting for: the expedition into the Dungeon.

A group ofLoki Familiaadventurers was planning to venture below the Lower Fortress, and the expedition was beginning.

Aiz had become too strong for “normal” trips into the Dungeon. This was her chance to venture to new depths, her only chance to see just how powerful she was.

“Aiz, let’s get going! Let’s see who can slay more monsters, too!”

“Such a pain…What the heck are ya doin’ here, Tiona?”

“Look who’s talking. The lowly dog should act like one and keep his tail between his legs!”

“I’m no dog, I’m a wolf, damn it! And whaddya mean by ‘lowly’?!”

“You were flat-out rejected, remember? ‘I have nothing to say to a lowly dog,’ was it? Heh-heh!”

“Grrrrrrr!!”

The area outside her door had become noisy, but Aiz ignored them. A sudden, different sound caught her attention and she looked back outside.

A deep echo reached her ears. The morning bell towers had been struck.

She found the closest one outside her window to the east as the bell rang out again.

Ping.A sudden pain in my neck.

“……”

“Mr. Bell?”

I rub the spot with my hand as I look around the area.

A wide room with a thick, grassy floor and yellow walls. We’re on the ninth floor, but I can’t hide my anxiety.

Lilly’s staring up at me, but there’s no way I can make an excuse.

“Is there something bothering you, Mr. Bell?”

“…It’s probably nothing.”

…Is something watching me?

I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s an eye on me right now.

It doesn’t feel like it wants to hurt me, or anything like that…I just feel this strange weight on my shoulders.

Lilly and I had decided that we’d prowl the tenth floor today, so I left early to get a head start. I think I saw a few adventurers a couple of floors up, but the Dungeon is still mostly empty.

There was that one beast-person adventurer a few rooms back—that guy was huge.

Could these eyes be his? He’d have no reason to follow us…but it’s getting to the point that I can’t just ignore this feeling.

“Lilly, could we swap equipment here?”

“Ah, yes, sure.”

Looking flustered, Lilly quickly takes my protector and the baselard off her back and hands them to me.

I get my light armor out of the backpack and equip everything, double-checking that every piece is strapped on tight.

I was hoping that the feeling of protection that this armor gives me would help alleviate some of this nervousness…but the weight in my neck and shoulders is still there.

It’s putting pressure on my heart. My insides are screaming.

“Isn’t this a little strange…?”

“A little strange?”

“There aren’t enough monsters.”

I finally mention another thing that had been bothering me for a while. Even Lilly looks back over her should and whispers, “Now that you mention it…”

The Dungeon has been eerily quiet ever since we arrived on the lower ninth. We’ve been here a while, too, the stairwell that leads tothe lower tenth is just a room or two away, but we haven’t encountered a single monster yet.

Well, there was a group of goblins running around, but they didn’t attack us. It looked more like they were running away from something, actually.

Anxiety is sinking even deeper now; my guts are twisting into knots.

I’ve felt like this before, and it’s bringingthatback into my mind.

Yes.

On that day, the Dungeon was this quiet, too.

I violently shake my head.

“M-Mr. Bell?”

“…Let’s go. To the tenth floor.”

My hand over my mouth to steady myself, I manage to get words out through my fingers.

I want to say, “Let’s get out of here,” but I just can’t.

It’s like my spirit is trying to push my body forward, away from here.

We enter the next room. It has two exits. One I remember leads to the stairwell—that’s when it happens.

—Now then, show me.

Wha?

A voice, suddenly in my head. Not my voice—it’s like something is talking to me frominside. I’m on full alert.

A second later…

“—Mrooooooo—”

My legs freeze.

“……”

“W-what was that…?”

Lilly is saying something. I don’t hear her.

My ears are busy with something else.

That sound…it sounds too much likethatsound. Every nerve of my body is on fire as the noises are on replay in my mind.

“…”

Like a rusted door with no grease, my neck clicks ever so slightly until I can see behind me.

The sound is coming from the room we were just in. There’s something in the exit.

I’m hyperventilating. My fingers are shaking. I can’t make a fist.

My throat won’t budge, but in my mind I’m thinking,It’s not true. My mental voice sounds like a kid crying.

Lilly’s eyes are shaking; she sees it, too. I’m praying to something like my life depends on it.

Then…

“…Woouu!”

There it is.

“—Huh?”

“……”

I was right. Damn it.

Then again, there’s no way I could forgetthatvoice.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard it during nightmares. It’s impossible to guess how many times I’ve heard similar howls from other monsters and flashed back to that day.

I can’t count how many times I’ve been scared byit.

“Woooohoooohooo…”

Minotaur.

“W-why is there a Minotaur on the ninth floor…?”

That’s what I’d like to know.

But there’s something Idoknow.

I know this feeling of helplessness.

This despair that words can’t describe, I know it too well.

My body has felt this uncontrollable shiver before.

It’s the same.

Exactly the same as before.

“Mroooooooo!!”

The mad bull roars.

Its overwhelming power and force wash over my body; I can’t holdit back. It’s a sound powerful enough to break the fighting spirit of anything the Minotaur comes up against.

Lilly and I are no exception as a torrent of fear hits us full-force.

It takes one more step into the room, into the light. Its broad, silver weapon is stained with fresh blood.

“L-let’s get out of here, Mr. Bell! We don’t stand a chance! Quickly, while there’s still time…Mr. Bell?”

My eyes are locked in place.

My legs aren’t moving, either.

Fear has frozen my spine; I can’t budge.

It might be my own body telling me to give up.

It reminds me of the scarecrow Gramps made when I was a kid. He put armor on it and everything…That’s me, right now.

“Mr. Bell?Mr. Bell?!”

Scared scared scared scared scared scared.

So scared.

The monster is absolutely terrifying.

Tears are pumping into my eyes. My lungs are on the verge of jumping out of my chest. I can’t close my jaw.

I don’t have any words to describe the color my face is right now.

The Minotaur’s aura gets heavier with each step of its hoofed feet. It’s crushing the grass beneath it, getting closer and closer.

Fear itself has materialized in front of me. My body feels like it’s about to explode.

“Mroooooooo!”

The Minotaur springs forward like a cannonball.

The beast covers this distance between us with breathtaking speed.

I have to draw a weapon, but my arms won’t move. I can’t do anything.

It’s over.

Its sword is raised high, poised to slice me between the neck and shoulder. And here it comes.

“—ah?!”

“Huh?”

My eyes suddenly see the ceiling, and a soft cry hits my ears.

Even before I realize I’m still alive, I sense Lilly’s warm body make contact with my stomach.

I look down and see her head, as well as a heck of a lot of blood.

“L-Lilly…?”

I’ve been thrown to the ground. The beast didn’t hit me; this has to be from the force of Lilly’s tackle.

Thanks completely to her jumping into me from the side, I managed to get out of the path of the weapon. But in return, Lilly got hurt.

Did the sword hit her? No—but one of the rocks the Minotaur kicked up in its wake must have.

My body hits the ground at a shallow angle. Grass and chunks of the floor fly into the air behind me as I slide a good meder or two.

Lilly’s head shifts, and a soft moan comes out of her mouth.

Gah…My whole body comes back to life, burning from the inside.

“!!”

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Energy floods into my cowardly muscles as I climb to my feet.

I’m scared. I’m absolutely frightened. Utterly terrified.

Seeing that Minotaur right in front of me is even scarier than when it was at the other end of the room. I can’t control my fear.

But the thought of Lilly dying is far more terrifying!

“MROOOOOOOO!!”

SORRY!I silently yell to the girl in my arms as I throw her to the side with all my might.

I don’t wait to see where her small body lands. Instead I turn to face the beast’s heaving, gigantic frame head-on.

I brace my teeth against my quivering lips. Staring down the beast as it raises its sword for another killing strike, I raise my right arm and scream at the top of my lungs:

“FIREBOLT!!”

“Mrooo?!”

A web of scarlet bolts of flame envelopes the Minotaur’s body.

Overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of flames, the Minotaur backs away, shrouded in cloud after cloud of sparks.

As far as I can see, there’s little hope that my Magic can finish it off. But I have to try.

Fighting back fatigue, I fire again.

“Y​E​E​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​A​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​H​!​!”

Again. Again. Again.

Blindly taking shot after shot, I put all my faith in the Magic.

My sharp bolts of flame keep finding their targets, explosions igniting on the monster’s flesh. A new plume of flames erupts with each blast echo.

I didn’t have this powerthen. The Firebolt is my one ray of hope—and I’m not letting up!

I just keep pulling that trigger in my mind.

“Haa-haa…!”

Once I come back to myself, all I can see is a cloud of black smoke.

All of the grass around me is burned; I can smell it. As for the Minotaur, I don’t know. I can’t see or hear it.

—I won?

With only the sound of the still-burning plants around me, I lower my arm.

“Mrooo…”

“—”

A sudden, unexpected sound pierces the silence and slams into my eardrums.

The smoke cloud parts without warning; a massive arm emerges.

The arm drops down before swinging up like a wrecking ball, and straight into my gut.

The living boulder hits my armor dead-on.

Shock waves tear through my body as my armor cracks.

“DAHH?!”

My line of sight spins. All the air is forced out of my lungs—what just happened? My mind is going in circles as I fly backward.

But there is one thing I do know: Aiz saved me.

Since my body flew back immediately, I don’t absorb the full force of the blow.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I felt nothing. If I’d taken that hitflat-footed, there’s no doubt in my mind my stomach would have exploded. That grim thought in my mind, I fly helplessly backward and into the dungeon wall.

“—?! …ah, gah?!”

The wall cracks on impact. A new wave of pain floods in from my back as I realize something very disheartening: I’m wedged into the wall.

I can’t speak. There’s a loud crack near my head and I fall bottom-first onto the floor, along with a small avalanche of rubble.

My armor is, in a word, broken. Totaled.

The back plate must have shattered; it’s lying in pieces beside me. With the support piece gone, any part that was still intact fell off my body the moment my butt touched the ground.

How many times is this thing going to send me flying?!

Reduced to only my damaged and torn inner shirt, I climb to my feet on trembling legs.

“Hnnnnfff…!”

“……!”

Its face is scrunched. It looks angry.

But not hurt.

I hit it with more Firebolts than I can remember, but there it is, the picture of health. I can’t even see a wound on its body.

Sure, burn marks are scattered all over it, but there’s nothing even close to life-threatening.

I’m too weak.

With a quick glare at my stunned face, the Minotaur throws back its head and howls toward the ceiling.

“M​R​O​O​O​O​O​O​O​O​O​O​O​A​A​A​A​A​H​H​!​!”

So this is anadventure.

The first one for the adventurer, Bell Cranell.

—It’s hopeless. I can’t win.

I can only see despair as I look at the ferocious beast in front of me.

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