Chapter 6: Awakening 1

'96...97...98...99...100'

"Phew-"

In an area of the forest near Bell's house, he could be seen finishing up his quota of push-ups for the morning.

Zeus had cleared this area for the sake of allowing Bell to train in silence. Though it was situated inside the forest, he made sure no monsters wandered the nearby area so that his grandson could train in peace.

'That should be enough for today. Grandpa told me he would be busy in the fields, so we won't be able to spar like usual'

'...so what should I do now?...'

Though Bell had set forth onto the road of self-improvement. Outside of training, he didn't really put much effort into anything else. Especially his social life.

'I mean...training is straightforward, learning how to talk to people after years of being a loner? much harder in my opinion'

That is not to say Bell didn't try to make an effort. He has gained to take the initiative and courage to talk to others, but he now is lacking in conversational skills.

On multiple occasions, he tried to socialize with other children his age, but the difference in perspective and maturity has made his endeavors rather fruitless...

'No point thinking about it, I'm sure it'll improve eventually. I talk to the adults of the village relatively fine after all.'

Bell would take his time improving. The fact that he was moving in the right direction was already enough for him.

'Regarding what to do today...I'll think about what to do later. I need to take a bath first'

Smelling his body odor, and washing himself up automatically became Bell's current objective.

As he began walking back to his house from his makeshift forest gym and his house began to enter into view, he noticed some rather familiar faces along the path.

"Aunt Idyia, Medea! Morning!"

"Oh, if it isn't Bell, did you just come back from playing in the woods?"

"Something like that, I was heading back to wash up"

"Well, you better do that quickly alright? Wouldnt want you worrying your grandpa Zen with a cold now"

(Zen is the alias Zeus gave himself in the village)

"Will do Auntie'

His caretaker Idyia and her daughter Medea. In the past, he had distanced himself from the 2, but he has since grown close with both of them.

Idyia was quick to shower Bell with motherly affection, and Medea was the only success he had made in socializing with people his age.

"H-Hi brother Bell..."

"Hm? Hello to you too Medea. You doing good?"

"Y-yes..."

Seeing the soft-spoken little girl, Bell couldn't help but smile affectionately.

Medea was reserved just like Bell had been a year prior, though she was leagues more manageable compared to him. She didn't cut herself off from others, she was simply too shy to initiate the conversation herself.

Bell, having no other friends to talk to, began talking a lot with Medea in order to improve his skills. He would pick up on cues and lulls in their conversations and work to find habits and ways to maintain a conversation, even if the other side wasn't nearly as active.

That's not to say he didn't enjoy her company. Bell rather enjoyed fawning over the shy purple-haired girl, he just simply chose to pick 2 birds with one stone.

'But even though I can talk with the shy Medea rather easily, I still can't seem to find success with the other kids...Is there something about Medea that other kids don't have?...'

Bell pondered the possible reasons why he had been failing to socialize. But Medea became more flustered as Bell continued staring into her eyes while he contemplated.

"B-brother Bell?..."

Hearing Medea call out to him, Bell snapped out of his pondering, realizing what he had done.

"Oh, sorry about that Medea. I was just thinking about some stuff hehe"

"Stuff? What stuff?..."

Bell sensed something in the air, it was a chance...A CHANCE TO TEASE-

Having borne the brunt of his grandfather's endless teases, Bell has managed to pick up how to find an opportune teasing moment. And with no friend besides Medea, she in turn bore the brunt of Bell's teases. Such is the social food chain. Terrifying. Truly terrifying.

"Nothing much, just thinking how adorable my little sister is"

"!-..."

Medea, hearing this out-of-left-field compliment, had her entire face dyed red.

" *sigh* Honestly Bell, can you not resist turning my daughter into a tomato every time you 2 talk?"

Idyia, though she complained, couldn't help but smile seeing the banter between the children she had helped raise.

"Sorry Auntie, couldn't help it HAHAHA"

" *sigh* You are turning more and more into old man Zen with each passing day. I only hope you don't pick up his lecherous habits"

Bell had gained a lot of confidence when interacting with others, but he was not confident enough to be so openly and unapologetically perverted in public as his grandfather.

"Don't worry Auntie, I would never forgive myself if I became as perverted as grandpa"

"..."

Idyia couldn't help but doubt that statement. Though she was confident Bell wouldn't become a walking pervert like his grandfather. She couldn't help but feel he had an uncanny connection to perverted situations.

"...Alright, I'll trust you Bell"

Idyia simply gave up trying to explain her inkling feeling.

Having their small banter come to a close. Bell bid goodbye to the mother-daughter pair as he prepared to enter his home to bathe.

Medea looked conflicted as she watched Bell walk away. Eventually, before he was out of sight, Medea called out to him in an uncharacteristically loud voice.

"B-BELL! MEADOW!"

Turning to the source of the shout. Bell couldn't help but be surprised at how loud Medea was, even Idyia beside her was shocked.

Though he was surprised, his shocked expression soon turned into a smile. He and Medea would often play together in a meadow near their village, so the word had become a code between them if they wanted to hang out.

Seeing Medea breathe heavily from raising her voice, Bell readied to reply in an equal if not louder intensity.

"GOT IT! SEE YOU IN A BIT!"

Medea, hearing his reply, smiled brightly. Bell turned to enter his house, but even now that he was gone from sight, Medea's smile didn't leave her face.

Idyia, seeing her innocent face, couldn't help but grin.

'Looks like I understand why Bell can't resist teasing my daughter...when Medea looks like this...how can I not?'

"Looks like someone's happy...has my daughter possibly gotten herself a crush?"

"!-.."

Deja vu-

Medea's face instantly brightened up at her mother's accusation.

"W-we're just friends mom!"

Seeing the bashful response of Medea was all the confirmation Idyia needed.

"Kyaa! The 2 kids I've raised are childhood sweethearts!! Don't worry honey, mommy will teach you the tricks I used to snatch daddy!"

Medea only blushed even further

"MOM!-"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH-"

And Bell, unaware of this interaction, simply hummed as he prepared to bathe.

...

..

.

Underneath the shade of an oak tree set amidst a sprawling meadow, 2 kids of tender age rested beside each other, steadying their breathing after a day of playing.

'For how quiet Medea appears, she sure does have a lot of energy, though I can obviously outpace her'

Whenever Bell and Medea played together, Bell would have a natural advantage against her due to his training. Though he did find the sight of Medea getting frustrated for always losing adorable, he would at times lower his pace to allow the quiet girl to win occasionally.

Bell looked towards the horizon and saw that the sun had begun to set. The night will soon come again for this rural village.

'Looks like it's time to leave'

Bell moved up to begin leaving, but before he could, the little girl resting beside him had gripped his body.

"...b-bell..."

In the time the 2 had rested, it would appear that Medea had fallen asleep next to him. The sight tugged on Bell's heartstrings, but he knew their parents would start to worry if they didn't leave now, so he attempted to wake Medea up.

"Wake up Medea, it's time to leave"

Bell had shaken the girl lightly, trying to rouse her from her sleep. But all he received from her were grunts, indicating her desire to sleep longer.

Though he wished to leave soon, Bell wasn't in a rush, thus he continued patiently trying to wake Medea up.

After a while, however, he began to notice some peculiarities in her.

'Hm?...Medea's breathing...her eyelids...and that small but definite body movement...this kid is pretending to be asleep!-'

Bell had learned to begin noticing small but peculiar details ever since his training with Zeus. Zeus taught him that such minor details in combat can possibly lead to an easy victory or swift defeat. As such Bell has gained an above-normal acuity.

'What should I do?...my dear little sister is trying to pull one over her dear brother...yes...as the elder its only right I correct her behavior immediately...such is the responsible thing to do'

Bell just wanted to tease her.

So Bell began sneakily getting close to the fake-sleeping Medea. Once he determined he was close enough, there was only one thing he needed to do. That would be to blow on the girl's ear.

"GAH!-..."

Having received such a sensation, Medea instinctively jolted away from Bell. Seeing the bumbling mess, Bell could only laugh.

"HAHAHAHA, next time try to be more convincing when you try to trick me, alright Medea?"

Seeing the smug look of her friend, Medea could grumble in embarrassment and frustration.

"... That's not fair... How come you can tease me but I can't?..."

"Experience young child, something which you lack~"

"You're the same age as me!"

The 2 children bantered for a while, but Bell brought it to a stop once he saw that the sun was almost finished setting.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry Medea. But we have to start moving soon"

Bell reached out his hand to help Medea up from the ground. Medea seeing this, simply grumbled a quiet reply.

"...carry me..."

"Hm? You say something Medea?"

Medea spoke softly as her request embarrassed her quite a bit, but she was determined to make it come true.

"C-c-carry me back home...and I'll f-forgive you..."

Medea brought her message clear, but her face has once again turned into a tomato, an adorable tomato with purple hair. Seeing his adorable little sister, Bell promptly complied.

"If it means my adorable little sister forgives me, I'll do anything"

"!-..."

Bell quickly picked her up in a princess hold. His training gave him the strength to do it without a hitch.

"Hm?...you're quite light Medea...you eating alright?"

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Medea began blushing beyond comprehension. Bell, noticing her complexion, couldn't help but laugh.

"HAHAHA, it's not a bad thing you know Medea, it's adorable!"

Bell began walking towards the village with Medea in his hands.

"I gotta agree with what Uncle Aeetes and my grandpa say about you y'know? You're definitely going to break a lot of hearts in the future HAHAHA"

Medea, entranced by the twilight sky and the bright smile of the boy she cared about, couldn't help but utter her true feelings in a small voice, imperceptible to most.

"...you're the only one whose heart I want...idiot Bell"

Hearing the small mumblings of the girl in his arm, Bell asked for clarification.

"You say something Medea?"

"N-nothing!..."

'Hm? This situation feels familiar for some reason?...'

Though Bell could recognize the standard love flag scenarios from the stories he read from his past life, it would seem his overwhelming desire to care for Medea as a sibling has blinded him from any possibility of romance between them.

'I guess it's nothing. No point thinking about what I can't even explain.'

Thus, under the cover of twilight, 2 young children set off toward their homes, unaware of what fate had in store for them in the future.

...

..

.

(Incoming fight scene. This is my first time writing one, so give me your comments on how I could improve)

Night had fallen as the sun had finally gone under the horizon. Bell and Medea continued walking back home, albeit at a slow pace so that they can enjoy each other's company a bit longer along with the starry night sky.

'It's hard to believe I spent my entire past life stuck inside my apartment, never taking the chance to watch a night sky like this...'

Though Bell had seen the night sky numerous times over the past year, he still finds himself in awe at its grandeur and scale

'Limitless. Unbounded. It resonates with me for some weird reason'

Bell's heartbeat would begin to increase every time he looked to the sky as if it were drawing him in. He didn't allow himself to be swept up by its allure due to his focus on training, but he wondered what would happen if he did in the future.

'Perhaps I'll become a person of wanderlust like Freya? That could be fun every once in a while'

He recalled Freya's various journeys across the world to find her Odr, her fated love. How it inconvenienced her various familia executives, and how she even threatened the guild to let her leave Orario without warning every time.

'I wonder if she'll consider me her Odr? My soul isn't the same as the original Bell's so maybe she won't even take a glance at me as I am now?...'

'Well if she ever did take a glance at me...Though it would be dangerous...I would like to get to know her better'

Though Bell knew the dangers involved with associating with Freya, knowing what he knew, he couldn't help it.

Though many labeled her a slut, from what he could recall, the love portrayed by most of her Familia members towards her mostly stemmed from the fact that she saved most of them as children and raised them to adulthood.

Though she wasn't beyond bedding others for benefits or casual pleasure, so were most other characters in Danmachi. The only prominent virgins in the series were Hestia, Artemis, and Athena. So that would have to imply that even fan-favorite Hephaestus had some experience too right?

Looking beyond her status in bed, Bell felt a sense of responsibility for her. His grandfather took away a majority of her familia members in a bet while she was trying to first establish herself in Orario, and his familia members bullied her familia captain Ottar to the point that he became a battle-obsessed freak for a while.

That's not even getting into the horrible stuff Hera, the head of her mother's familia, had done to her personally. Hera abused Freya so much that she became known for a while as Hera's "plaything".

Bell felt he needed to do her right for all the wrongs his family had done to her. But most importantly, above all that was mentioned prior.

'She seems so alone...'

Kept as an ornament piece in Tenkai. Bullied in her first years in Genkai. And constantly searching for her promised companion.

Though their circumstances are different, Bell couldn't help but relate to the sense of loneliness she experienced.

'There was also the fact that the plot of the unreleased volume of Danmachi before my death revolved around the fact that the original Bell somehow resolved himself to save Freya'

So there was definitely something genuine to Freya beneath the layers of manipulation and scheming she was portrayed with for all this time.

'This all hinges on the fact I can even get her attention in the first place though...'

(Sorry for the tangent. I was planning on adding Freya to MCs future harem, but I knew the general view readers have about her in Danmachi fics, so I hope this can convince you that she isn't pure evil)

Medea watched in silence as she saw the contemplative look in Bell's eyes as they walked to the village.

'He always seems like he's looking at somewhere far away...like he's going to go beyond my reach soon...'

Medea was sensitive to the emotions of others, so she could sense clearly the great ambitions held within the boy she admired.

Though she wouldn't do anything to hamper his dreams, she felt reluctant at the idea that she might not ever see Bell ever again.

As the 2 children contemplated deeply, Bell's acute senses began noticing something coming from the bushes beside the path.

"?..."

Medea became confused as she saw Bell switch from an expression of contemplation to one of concern.

"Is something?-"

"Quiet Medea..."

Medea, sensing his seriousness, promptly complied. Bell vigilance was raised to its absolute limit, and then...

"KRIIIIII!-"

"Shit-"

A goblin jumped at the pair with the ferocity that befits its title as a monster. But Bell promptly brought power to his legs in the nick of time to swiftly dodge the talons on the green monstrosity.

"Bell?!-"

Medea began to panic, still held between the arms of Bell.

"A goblin...and if I'm right..."

Shortly after the goblin's lunge failed, 2 more goblins appeared beside the first.

"So I did sense the sound of breathing right..."

Bell found that something was wrong once he began hearing haggard breaths nearby. The cadence emanated a sense of violence, and the low growl sounded of pure brutality.

'3 goblins...The original Bell did mention he was once attacked by a goblin as a child...Did something change that increased the number of encounters threefold?...'

Bell had prepared himself for any possible butterfly effect his presence may cause to the timeline, but he didn't expect it to have started taking place in his childhood.

'In addition...they're all brutally wounded...as if they had escaped from a fight recently'

The 3 goblins were covered in various wounds across their body. Given the fatal nature of some of them. They were desperate to catch prey and recover.

'This will be a hard fight. Desperate opponents are always more dangerous...'

The last thing Bell noted was the stature of one of the 3 goblins. It was noticeably more well-built than the other, and it carried a chipped and dirtied dagger. And with the way it admonished the first goblin for its failure, it was most likely the leader of this group.

'It isn't distinguishable enough to be a variant, but its obviously stronger than the other 2'

'So 3 enemies, though injured, desperate. And there's a semi-variant among them'

Bell analyzed the situation using the training he got from his grandfather. Though it wasn't an experience forged through life or death battles, it will be sufficient for him at this moment.

"Medea, I'll distract the 3 of them here. You start running towards the village, all any adult, but preferably my grandpa if you can"

Bell knew he couldn't take on all the enemies, so the best course of action is to ensure the safety of the non-combatant Medea, and allow her to call for help.

"B-but!-"

Medea didn't want to leave Bell to these 3 goblins, but he promptly intervened before she could speak anymore.

"This is an emergency Medea. Trust me. Run. Now!-"

Seeing the urgency in Bell, Medea reluctantly left Bell, sprinting with all her might to the village. Praying all the while for his safety.

The leader goblin, seeing Medea flee, ordered 1 of the 2 regular goblins to chase after her. One of the goblins heeded and began chasing after Medea, taking in deep breaths to assure it catches up to her.

Sensing the goblin's intent, before it could move past him, Bell intercepted.

He positioned himself in front of the goblin, and brought strength to his left leg, performing a kick to the goblin's side. The strike forcefully disrupted the flow of air within the monster, leaving it breathless and stunned.

Once Bell had confirmed the success of his debilitating strike, promptly stomped his left leg onto the ground, gathering power for his next strike. He twisted his body with strength and delivered a right hook straight into the goblin's chest.

Blown away from Bell's blow, the goblin tumbled into the ground, coughing from the recoil.

The other regular goblin began to express worry, while the leader goblin narrowed its eyes at the unexpected strength of its prey.

Bell, feeling the adrenaline that came from his first real battle, could only grin at the thrill of it all. He was on such a high, he decided to try messing around with his opponent for a bit.

'I don't know if goblins can understand our language, but I always wanted to try saying this'

Bell reverted from his right hook position back into the basic stance of Pankration. The form he exuded showed little to no gaps in his defenses, each limb perfectly positioned to respond to any attack, a form beaten into him by a god.

His muscles radiated power. His grin grew wider at each passing moment. This was what he had waited for in both of his lives. An Adventure!-

"If you want to get the girl...You're going to have to get through me!"