Author's Note: Written in a week. I suck at dialogue. Need to reread the novels. Bell arrived in Orario three weeks before he encountered the minotaur, so it'll be awhile until we get there.

'Words' = Zeus' Advice

"Words" = Thoughts

It had been a few days since Bell Cranel arrived to the city of Orario and it looked as if on this particular day, he would find a Familia to be welcomed to.

Slam!

Just as the door closed right on his face, so did today's efforts to find a god or goddess that would take him in had been dashed away. Bell scratched the back of his head in confusion, perhaps he overestimated the kindness of the deities, or maybe adventurers weren't the type of people he expected on his way to the city, or both. He retrieved a parchment from his small leather pack and reread the small portion of it that he had been allowed only to read.

'Make sure to join Freya's Familia! Give this paper to her and she'll understand!'

The rest of the note had been sealed away, not particularly well but Bell was not the type of person to intrude on his Lady's wishes.

It wasn't as if he didn't try, he had gotten directions to their solemn mansion, Folkvangr, on the very first day of his arrival but he was immediately denied permission to ask for their goddess by the rude guards standing in attention outside. Unknowingly to Bell, they were disgruntled because their goddess had decided to leave without informing her Familia until a member of theirs found a letter saying she would be travelling. Apparently, the Freya Familia was the strongest in the entire city and only rivaled by another Familia on the other side of the city, this meant that newbies or, in the guard's words, complete nobodies were not allowed. Bell did try to have his letter passed to the goddess but the other guard dismissed it as a love letter with a disgusted look on his face and crumpled the paper into a ball.

"At least it isn't ripped…"

Not having any money at all, Bell's first night in the city was spent sleeping in the streets and woke up the next day from the harsh yelling telling him to sleep somewhere else. On his second day, he tried to find other deities that could hopefully pass his letter to Freya but got zero attention from the few that he could find. Once again, he went back to Folkvangr and was instantly denied once again, being told that the goddess was rarely present anyways and residing at the top of Babel, the colossal tower at the center of Orario.

The next day, he entered said tower and got completely lost. Asking for assistance from the uniformed men and women, he was informed that they were staff of the Guild, the organization whose goal was to manage different branches of Orario but most specially to manage Familias and the city's adventurers. He had asked for a meeting with Freya but they restricted such a thing with a worried look on their faces but did say they would consider sending a notice to her. They didn't promise him anything though because Freya had left the city and they had no idea when she would be returning and news like that had to stay quiet.

However, once they learned he was planning to be an adventurer, they directed him to the main building for the Guild, the Pantheon. There he applied to be an adventurer, which was a lengthy process but it was all worth it when a beautiful half-elf named Eina Tulle approached him and volunteered to be his advisor. He remembered what his grandfather had told him during his childhood. Asides from his stories of heroes and adventures, his grandfather's favorite topic to discuss was 'w-o-m-e-n'.

'Bell, always remember, one of the most important aspects of being a hero-'

"-is to have a harem of beautiful girls! A harem is a man's romance!"

Of course, the first meeting between Bell and Eina went absolutely terrible as she had instantly bombarded him with lessons about the dungeon, important locations in the city, how Familias and their god or goddesses functioned and plenty of other subjects. It took the whole afternoon to cram all that knowledge and she was expecting him to be there the next day because their time was too short for him to learn plenty of necessary information. On his end that was a disaster, and it certainly didn't help that he was a flustered mess at being stuck in a room with a pretty girl for so long. At least she looked quite happy once their session ended at night, appreciating his effort to keep up.

He returned the next day and it was spent exactly like the day before, but at least he was getting used to her presence and being educated about Orario. From his two days of studying, he was confident that he could get used to living a life in the city once he would get around to touring the city. She let him know about where he could get weapons and armor, potions and medical care and plenty of useful things he'd need to be in mind of once he became an official adventurer. To be one, he needed to fill out plenty of forms, get an okay from his advisor and had to be in a Familia in order to gain Excelia, otherwise his time in the dungeon wouldn't earn any increases to his stats. It was essentially redundant to enter the Dungeon without a Familia and the Guild wouldn't allow any unnecessary deaths from normal people fighting monsters.

Bell hesitated to tell Eina he was already sort of in a Familia but his case was quite complicated and his Lady forbid him to mention her to anyone in the city, particularly if it was any other god besides Freya. Eina had told him about Falna, a god's blessing or grace to their adventurer and it manifested onto an individual's back, which displayed that person's Status in language most people could not understand.

But there was a problem.

As he was mourning the death of his grandfather, a woman had approached him in the small village he lived in for fourteen years. She only told him her title, the Lady of the Night. A pale beauty with long black hair that almost reflected the night sky, dressed in a grand looking black cloak. A pair of bright red eyes like Bell's looking right at the boy in question, who was kneeling down by his grandfather's grave.

She told him that she used to know his grandfather and was coincidentally at the village to visit when she heard the news. Bell invited her to where he and his grandfather used to live, hoping that maybe it would help her grieve or help him get some closure to the only father-figure he had in his life. They had talked plenty in the evening and she regretted not knowing much about what kind of person he had become after he left, and so Bell let her borrow his grandfather's favorite book, the Dungeon Oratoria. This intrigued her and she asked if Bell wanted to pursue the dream of becoming an adventurer and fighting inside Orario's Dungeon.

"No… I don't just want to be an adventurer. I want to be a hero! Just like in grandpa's stories."

The lady smiled and then she paused in thought, after some time she told him that she could help with a blessing of her own. He wondered what she meant and the woman laughed a little at his confusion but never explained what she had meant. However, she did promise him that she could help him pursue this path of heroism and she help up a glimmering crystal. Maybe his emotions were a little intense that night but he didn't think twice about it.

He agreed.

She stayed over for the night.

The next day, he woke up to find her in the kitchen making him breakfast. He felt extremely embarrassed about a guest of his cooking food for him and pleaded her to let him cook for her but his stomach had other plans.

He felt extremely hungry.

Wolfing down the food she had cooked, she looked quite happy seeing him enjoy her food but told him she was pleased that the blessing had been performed successfully. She asked him to feel the center of his chest and when he did so, he felt something rather strange, like a slight bump as if he had been hit pretty badly. The Lady told him that this would help him become stronger than any other adventurer in the world but there was a price to pay. He needed to be especially careful of attacks aimed at that point in his chest otherwise the consequences would be very dangerous.

That frightened Bell a bit but he was willing to do what it took to become a great hero and she believed that similarly and that he had the potential to be the greatest. She warned him of one more thing, however, he could never let the Hunger overpower the strength of his will and the power of his belief or else he would be consumed by the Dungeon's darkness. When he finished breakfast, he found himself still quite hungry and she held out one of those crystals she had shown him last night. The Lady told him to eat it.

It took an hour for him do that, his teeth feeling pretty hurt after, but he was hungry no more. In fact, he felt oddly better despite the strange warning bells in his head warning him to never do that again. The ominous feeling left as soon as it came and the Lady congratulated him on his first step to becoming stronger. She left the room for a moment and came back with a pack of the same crystals, asking him to ration it until he reached the city and was able to enter the Dungeon. Asking for a piece of paper from Bell, she wrote down something on it but he averted his eyes to give some respect.

When she was done, she held out the paper to him, sealed with whatever substance she had used. The topmost part of it was readable though, and it told him to give it to someone named Freya, a goddess his grandfather had plenty to talk about with.

'The sexiest goddess in Heaven, I tell ya! If she sets her eyes on you though… she's a bit obsessive… Nah, it'd be completely worthwhile! Make her your woman, don't be her man!'

Bell didn't understand that at all but, nonetheless, he would try. Making a goddess a lover sounded impossible for him but if the heroes in the stories did it then he might have to as well.

The Lady said the goddess would understand if she read the letter and was confident in the boy's charm. He would only have to listen to Freya's orders once she accepts him and then it was up to him and how much effort he would put into his adventuring.

They chatted the afternoon away and the Lady learned much about what type of person Bell was, while on the other hand, Bell learned next to nothing about who the Lady was. She said she was old but looked nothing like it, she says she knew many of the gods and goddesses of Orario but never stepped foot in the city and other similar things that puzzled him.

Suddenly, she asked him if he wanted to know anything particular from her, something like advice that would help him become a better hero. Bell thought about it for a while but he couldn't really think of a good question to ask, she didn't know anything about Orario and he would much rather be surprised when he got there.

'Remember Bell, the most important aspect of a hero!'

His grandfather's words resounded in his head and felt his face go completely red. Grandpa had thought him a lot about that certain topic but, looking at the Lady, she might have something to say about that, right?

The white-haired boy liked to pretend that his sole purpose for travelling to Orario was to become a heroic adventurer but his grandfather's perverted teachings gave birth to an innate desire in Bell to meet girls in the Dungeon.

"Ummm… my grandpa made me promise something for him…"

She tilted her head, telling him to continue.

"Is it wrong to pick up girls in the Dungeon?"

The Lady looked completely impassive, giving him a blank stare.

"A-ah! My grandpa told me that having a h-harem is i-important to being a hero!" Bell managed to stutter out, hiding the fact that he personally desired such a thing himself.

Resisting the urge to palm her head, she wasn't really surprised, his grandfather taught him quite a lot of useless information and she very much expected him to teach the world's last hero to create a harem. Maybe it was because of the boy's cute face but whatever it was it pushed her to teach him a little thing or two about a woman's heart.

And yes, the Lady forced herself to teach the boy about how to charm women into a harem. The last thing she would've expected herself to do was teach Zeus' adopted son how to do such a thing. Perhaps she stayed too long away from home but taking a glance at the window, it looked as if she would be going there soon anyways.

It wouldn't click in Bell's head what the Lady truly was until the she had left, who noticed that it had become night, bade him farewell and thanked him plenty for his hospitality. She said that she would be returning to her home and praying for Bell's fortune in Orario but before she left, she went to the bathroom and hoisted up an opaque jar of what sounded like liquid. When Bell opened it, he tried to mask his disgust when he found it to be filled up with a thick red liquid.

She saw through the forced smile and waved her hands to calm him down, she admitted that it was her blood and incurred the immediate worry of the poor boy. Blushing at how much he cared, she explained that if he felt anything off with his body or didn't feel like himself, he was to dip the tip of his finger inside and apply it onto the center of his chest. Slightly embarrassed at how he acted, he didn't think much of the Lady's words but noted it down in the back of his head.

When she finally got out of the house, she stood outside for a moment and looked back to glance at the boy entranced by her beauty under the night sky. It looked like she was expecting something from him and Bell racked his head as to what.

She sighed, how in the world was a boy as dense as this was supposed to have plenty of lovers?

Walking up to him, she gave a quick peck on his lips and caused the boy to turn into a complete mess and fall right on his back. Once he got his bearings together, the Lady was long gone.

In the coming morning, Bell left for Orario to pursue his dreams.

"I can't believe she was goddess…"

He suspected it while he was travelling to Orario but now that he knew how a god or goddess performed a Status Update, it was cemented in his head that the Lady was deity and one that left him with a jar of her blood.

"If she gave me her blessing, does that mean I have to be converted into another Familia? Or was it a completely different type of blessing and I still need a Falna? Uwahh, how confusing!"

Regardless, he rejected Eina's offer to fill up the forms on that day since he doubted he was in an actual Familia. She gave him a list of recommended deities that he could approach and where they could be found in Orario and that was what he spent the next day doing.

While some of them would consider letting him join, those were gods whose Familias weren't looking for a new adventurer to help them go to deeper and deeper floors. Miach and his Familia, or his one sole follower, seemed like the nicest people in the city but they wanted someone to help them gather important ingredients that could only be found in the dungeon. And the chienthrope follower attempted to trick him into buying potions for a higher price, unluckily for her, he was flat broke.

Bell came across another Familia that Eina had heard word of that was trying to rebuild their members to continue exploring deeper levels. He met up with the blonde god and his elven follower and they were both quite strange characters but it didn't seem like the god was the least bit interested in Bell. The elven girl kept staring at him though and he wondered if there was something on his face, he waited for her to approach him or something but the god had already dismissed him and so he left.

However, for the rest of the day he could almost feel the girl's eyes still burning holes in him but whenever he looked back to check, no sign of her at all.

The next Familia was a god's named Ganesha but the sheer number of the members would've risked Bell's secrecy with the Lady. Plus, apparently the crystals he had been munching on since the past week came from the bodies of monsters. He knew he should've been horrified or felt something about it but a voice in his head soothed his worries and then he simply just didn't care about that fact at all. What he did care about was the Lady warning him to keep silent on the matter of his eating, absolutely nobody had to know.

Ganesha's Familia did tame monsters and this would make snacks while outside the dungeon convenient but they'd probably be worried about their monsters going missing.

Hephaestus Familia was a no-go. Bell wasn't interested in smithing but Eina had told him that having a contract with a blacksmith would be extremely useful in the long run.

Hermes Familia was a similar case to the Ganesha Familia, except what they lacked in numbers, they made up for being the stealthiest Familia around. Information was their weapon and Bell knew better than to be anywhere near people that could use it against him. They were quite oriented around making money too and that potentially meant fewer stones to chew on.

Then there was the Loki Familia, whose guards at the front gate rejected him before he could even open his mouth.

That brings Bell to the current day, he had gone through the list that Eina provided and the last Familia on it had just slammed their door shut. He didn't really understand why they were so opposed to allowing up and coming adventurers to prove what they were truly worth. Most of the Familias he encountered today didn't allow him to meet their god or goddess, the adventurers took one look at him and weren't impressed with his cute face and weak stature.

The growing feeling of being lost in a big city almost drove Bell to tears, sleeping on the streets and being alone was slowly driving him into a corner and he could hardly endure it. Tiredness compelled him to sit down on the alley he was currently in, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling so that he could calm his heart. Thinking where to go next, he couldn't make a fool of himself in front of Eina by going back and letting her know that not a single Familia would take him in. If he kept bothering the Freya Familia, that would only make them more and more frustrated and he knew that if those people were to be his future teammates, it was best not to get on their bad side.

Looking inside his pack, he moved aside the one extra set of clothes that he had and looked beneath it to find that there weren't a lot of magic stones left inside. He had used them as meals once his funds had run dry from the travel and to keep away a different type of hunger that kept clawing at him. The jar of blood that he attached a handle to was sealed tightly shut and set carefully beside him, he didn't want it to get knocked over and spill everywhere. That might get him arrested after all.

He did take out one other important item that he took with him before he left his town, his Lady's last gift, a human-sized rabbit skull with its bottom jaw missing. It was left on the bed where the Lady had slept on and terrified Bell when he went inside the room for cleanup. On it was a small note saying,

'It's a Magic Item. Have fun figuring out what it does.'

It was a little creepy and thought better of wearing it around, even if it wasn't an actual skull. He wrapped it up in leather so that people wouldn't see it and get weirded out by Bell.

Thinking about what to do next, he didn't notice the sound of footsteps gradually coming closer to him until they were practically a few meders away from him. Bolting his head in caution, a robed woman accompanied by a massive hulking man had entered from the alley's entrance and had stopped moving as soon as he noticed them.

"You there, boy, what's your name?" The man almost bellowed.

"B-Bell Cranel!" Was his frightened response.

"Our goddess has spotted you coming by our headquarters, Folkvangr, and asking around the Guild to meet her. She found you interesting. Now state your purpose."

"I-I wish to give her this letter!"

He jumped up to stand as straight as he could, holding out the parchment in his two hands with his head bowed straight to the ground.

The robed woman slowly approached and Bell could smell her aroma permeate even stronger, making his head feel light and turn bright red. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that if he looked up to glance at her face, he would never be the same person ever again. Feeling the paper leave his touch, Bell kept his eyes on the floor, counting how much time had passed as she read whatever had been written down on it.

Melodic laughter left the woman lips and to Bell, it sounded like the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

"I see," she said, "Though I wonder why she would go so far to help an old friend's child…"

Bell felt the parchment on his hands once again and he took it back from the woman, a little nervous awaiting her next words. He hoped that the woman was the goddess Freya because otherwise, he let a random stranger read a very important document and he had no clue if the letter held anything that would trouble his stay in Orario.

"Ahh, such as beautiful soul…" the woman suddenly exclaimed and he didn't understand what she meant by that but he could see her coming closer to him, close enough that her robed bottom half was in vision. Then, he felt something smooth play with his hair, curling his locks and tugging gently. The touch made him feel giddy inside for some reason and he wanted to tell her to keep it on his head but he was too bashful to actually say it.

Eventually she pulled her hand away and opened her mouth to say the words Bell Cranel had always wanted to hear ever since his grandfather read to him the stories of heroes.

"I am the goddess Freya, and Bell Cranel, you are welcome to be part of my Familia."

Freya had recently arrived from her little vacation outside of Orario, reflecting much on what had happened in her journey. She returned with her nosy executives who followed her without permission but she could not have had the same journey if they weren't there in the first place.

They had just travelled back to the city after crushing another kingdom's army for the sake of a promise between Freya and a little 'prince'. She had assumed the 'prince' to be the next person to light a fire into her after Freya had gotten bored being locked in the city but at once they bid each other farewell, it turned out that her destined partner would not be 'prince' Arry.

When they had reached Orario, she and Ottar decided to venture around the city for no particular reason while the others would return to Folkvangr and have them prepare for their goddess' glorious return. Freya found that a bit excessive since it was only a few days of not being present and she even stayed for much longer periods in Babel than in her own Familia's mansion. However, while they had been walking around, an employee of the Guild had spotted them and told her of a boy who had been looking for her specifically, saying that he had an important letter for the goddess to read.

Freya paid no mind to it, plenty of men had done the same and she had no time for them after Arry had recently denied the invitation to become a follower of hers. She didn't feel like entertaining whoever the Guild employee was talking about. That was, until the employee caught a glimpse of the rabbit-looking boy running in their direction and pointed him out to Freya. On sight, it felt as if her previous encounter with Arry had been absolutely outshone by the brilliance of the boy's soul. So stunned was she that the boy had ran past them and didn't give her a chance to stop him and ask for that letter the employee mentioned.

Later on, she'd be told that someone who had just arrived to Orario had approached adventurers of her Familia, asking for a meeting with their goddess. Lo and behold, that person happened to have snow-white hair and rubellite eyes.

The goddess of love spent that night up in her quarters at the top of Babel, eyeing the boy from way up the tower, lying down on the streets cold and shivering but fast asleep. She felt her heart ache at someone whose soul was so beautiful to be treated so unjustly. Thinking to herself, should she claim him right then and there, perhaps tomorrow? Or she could wait for him to eventually find a Familia of his own, grow by himself and eventually, when the time called, wrench him away from it so that he could finally be with her?

After some time, a decision had been reached. No, rather than a decision, it was a condition that she personally needed to make sure of. A memory called to her about the boy having a letter that he would only let the goddess Freya read. Its contents would be the deciding factor.

The orange hue of the sky had finally dimmed down and the moon's luminous glow bathed the night with its luster. Bell thought that they would have been in Folkvangr by now and not in an expensive looking restaurant, sitting across the goddess his grandfather had spoken so perversely about. He could hardly look her in the eyes but he did peek every now and then to admire just how beautiful the woman was. Glossy silver hair that went down all the way to her back, piercing silver eyes that both scared and excited Bell, fairest of skin like the snow in his picture books and unparalleled beauty even greater than his Lady.

He wasn't the only one peeking at her though, plenty of the other guests in the restaurant were also doing so. Unfortunately, there were glares being directed at him by the same people. Freya only had her eyes on him or on her meal, which she had just finished.

"K-Kami-sama!"

She looked up from her clean plate and he avoided her eyes once again.

"Please, Bell, call me Freya."

"H-how about Freya-sama…?"

"That's fine, we'll work on that in the future," she kindly laughed.

"I want to thank you again, Freya-sama!"

"You don't need to keep thanking me every minute, Bell. I'm just as thankful that you saved me the trouble of asking you to join."

"But why would you want a nobody," the words of the Freya Familia guards rang again in his head, "to be part of such a strong Familia?"

A wide smile graced her features and she answered with, "Because I can see your beauty."

He felt his face burn up and he waved his hands furiously in front of him.

"Wah! Please don't say such things, there's no way I'm good looking enough for a goddess of love!"

Another laugh escaped from her and Freya wanted to just gobble up the little rabbit right there but she had more elegance than that. She would not stoop down to those like that harlot Ishtar.

"You are adorable Bell, but in my eyes, your soul stands above everyone else's in this city."

"...Thank you, Freya-sama…" he meekly let out.

She let Bell continue eating his food, taking small sips of her fine wine and looking at him fondly. His soul was perfect but what she wanted to see next was how much finer it could become under the pressure of the Dungeon. If he could not overcome her trials, then his soul was for naught and she would leave him to be just her precious doll.

For Bell Cranel to be able to truly shine, she had to make him suffer.

Later that night, Bell and his belongings were put into a sack and was currently being hefted over the shoulder of the mighty boar man, Ottar. Freya did not want him to be seen by her Familia in Folkvangr and graciously asked Bell to be stowed away inside the large burlap until they reached her quarters inside the mansion.

He couldn't refuse and Freya would not have taken a 'No' from him either.

According to her, some of her Familia had a tendency to be jealous of special cases, particularly the Gulliver brothers, like him and she wanted to avoid any feeling of resentment towards her precious rabbit. They would not dare offend their goddess by hurting Bell but they were potential hindrances to his growth and she could not afford that. Their ire would help him grow but not in his early stages, she would wait until he had earned great achievements, meaning Excelia.

In due time, she would officially declare him as one of them but not in his Level 0 or 1 state. But Freya couldn't just ask Bell to be hauled in everyday by Ottar just to be able to get inside the mansion and rest. No, she had to think of someone who would be willing to take him in despite not being affiliated with their Familia. It seems like that invitation to Ganesha's meeting held for the celebration of the gods in around two weeks would come useful after all.

For tonight, he would rest here. Specifically, in her quarters. Bell didn't know that but she'd pleasantly surprise the boy with that tidbit later.

Freya's arrival sparked a rare buzz in Folkvangr, she hardly came by to visit and when she did, it was spent updating the status of her prized adventurers. She would know which ones had achieved a feat worthy for an update and would come to Folkvangr to perform the update and celebrate with her Familia. Whenever she was here, they would excitedly run up to kneel before their goddess and the sight always gave her pleasure knowing to have such devoted followers. However, today her visit was for a different issue and she had no need for her keener members like Allen Fromel to be sniffing around Ottar's luggage.

Waving them away and telling them not to bother her while she rested in her quarters, they quickly dispersed like the obedient bunch that they were but it looked as if her Familia executives had a different idea.

The aforementioned Gulliver brothers: Grer, Alfrigg, Dvalinn and Berling. The Familia member who would gladly tell Bell to kindly fall over in the Dungeon, Allen Fromel. Finally, there were the two elves who put aside their differences long ago just to stay with the goddess Freya: Hogni Ragnar, a dark elf, and Hedin Selland. All of them had recently decided to leave the city to protect her, worried about their goddess' safety, and she dearly cared about the bunch. But they were the jealous types, and that meant quite a lot because everyone in her Familia trained blood, sweat and tears away just to win her affection.

The executives were quite vicious in that regard.

"Ottar, you can go ahead and tidy up my quarters, I'll have a chat with Allen and the others," her implied words didn't escape the boaz's attention.

'Bring Bell to her room and prepare him for the giving of the Falna.'

The large man nodded his head proceeded to enter.

"What's in the sack?"

"None of your business," was Ottar's gruff answer.

Freya hoped she could take their minds away from thinking any deeper about the sack's contents.

Bell sat in a comfortable, yet expensive looking cushioned seat in the most grandiose bedroom he would probably ever see in his lifetime. It was easy to assume that it was Freya who owned it, Bell recognizing the scent of her perfume all over the room.

He had been inside the uncomfortable burlap for what felt like half an hour, hugging himself tightly so that it didn't look like there was a person inside and that there wasn't a kidnapping happening in the middle of the streets. Using his pack and jar, he deformed the shape of the sack hoping to fool people outside but holding them in place for so long was quite difficult. Then he was dropped pretty unceremoniously on the ground when he heard a door open to which the boar man told him that he could now let himself out. As soon as he did, the door was shut close and the Boaz nowhere to be seen.

Finding a seat for himself, he waited for the goddess to come inside and give him the Falna, which Eina had explained for him a day ago. Bell almost couldn't believe it, tonight he would become an adventurer and fighting for the strongest Familia in Orario no less. He'd rush out the next day and fill those forms up in the Guild, imagining how Eina would react to what Familia he belonged to, and go straight to the Dungeon.

And then he'd explore deeper and deeper floors, slaying monsters, becoming stronger and-

'Picking up girls for your harem!'

Bell felt his face heat up at the thought.

"Grandpa why'd you have to make me grow up like this…"

If only he were still alive today, he would've been so proud of Bell. A beautiful advisor in the Guild and Freya as his goddess, up next would have to be the damsel in distress inside the dungeon, the cute flirty waitress, the gentle elven magician and the wild-in-battle-and-in-the-bed Amazon warrior. Form an all-female party and show adventurers what a harem king looked like!

Bell's face felt even hotter than before.

"I wonder what the Lady thought of grandpa and how they knew each other."

Her last lessons on charming women made Bell a little embarrassed, he was definitely not confident he could follow what she said. His grandfather taught him quite well about women too but most of it would've flown over a young child's head or ingrained it subconsciously. One time he had admitted to his grandpa that he wasn't sure he could make so many women attracted to him but his grandfather didn't doubt Bell at all.

'Don't be so worried, Bell! I drilled all my best advice into your head during your entire childhood! Trust me, you're a natural!'

The girls in the village that were his age told Bell differently. All they'd ever do was chase him around and try to tackle him down! They were why he was so agile in the first place! The older girls who hunted for the village were even worse and he could hardly get away from them. His grandpa wasn't a big help either, saying he was a lucky bastard for being a girl magnet.

He just couldn't understand his grandfather.

The sound of the door opening shook Bell from his thoughts and he ducked down in case it was a Freya Familia member checking inside but luckily for him, it was only the now unrobed Freya.

"Oh my Ouranos…"

Putting his hands up to cover his eyes, his face absolutely feeling like it was on fire. She was wearing a very revealing outfit that only mildly covered up her body, a black and red 'dress' that fit parts of her like a second skin. In the words of his grandfather, Freya's body had the perfect golden ratio and Bell would've started stammering out words in a frenzy if he weren't told to stay quiet or else.

"Don't be so shy, Bell. You'll have to get used to this after all…"

"F-Freya-sama, were you wearing that under your robe in public?!" He semi-whispered, semi-shouted.

She giggled and left the boy unanswered.

"Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed…"

He would've fainted if he didn't remember Eina's words about how a god gave a Falna to their new Familia members. Swallowing his fluster, he obeyed his goddess' words and quickly took of his brown coat and black sleeved top, removing his boots and then laying down on Freya's bed. With a heart beating like a drum, his eyes couldn't help but stare at Freya slowly waltzing her way closer and closer, the movements of her hips mesmerizing the immature boy.

Climbing on the bed and sitting on top of Bell's legs, Freya shivered in delight at the boy's eyes staring at her, brimming with innocence and a hidden excitement. When the two caught each other's gazes, Bell smacked his face on the bed, wanting to hide how red his face felt.

What a shame she couldn't just devour him right then and there.

Taking her glove reaching all the way to her shoulder off, she took out a small needle she kept around her person and gently pierced her finger, allowing a small drop of her divine blood to seep out.

"This won't take long, so stay still. Alright, Bell?"

He mumbled out an incoherent sound, head still buried into the mattress.

Sometime later, Freya got off of Bell and went to a desk in her room and began writing down his Status on the paper. His status made her heart thump in excitement. Yes, he had so much potential for someone who grown up outside of Orario.

An individual who received a Falna would have their stats such as Strength, Endurance and Agility at I-0 and Bell was no different but what was so impressive was the inherent skill and three magic slots, one of which was already filled up. A brand-new adventurer with those stats meant gods would want him, adventurers would envy him, and yet she had him all to herself.

"Ah! I can barely hold myself back! Absolutely nobody must know!"

Litlauss Einherjar. It was a vague skill but from Freya's understanding, it allowed Bell to rise when he fell in battle, to come back and butcher his enemies. What that meant, she hoped Bell would tell her when she'd eventually push him into using it.

But to also be waited on by his Valkyries… she hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant. The thought of sharing Bell with anyone because of his status was very unpleasant.

It reminded Freya of a certain other god's Familia and they lived up to their name when they fell in battle alongside that god. She could have sworn though that he was still around but she didn't think there was a point looking for him, whatever he was up to she didn't care to find out. What mattered right now was that this skill symbolized a deeper connection between Bell and Freya, as well as the other northern gods and goddesses.

The important point there was that-

"Ahhh! Bell really is my destined one!"

Bregðask i Óvættr.A spell to change form, curiously enough, into an evil creature. Freya had a good idea why the boy had attained that magic; her eyes and intelligence allowing her to be aware of the boy's condition. It would be his greatest asset or his fatal flaw and she would not forgive the goddess that granted him that state if it meant that his power would consume his own mind. Freya could only put her trust in Bell's willpower to resist his monster.

The closest comparison she could make was a beast human's natural ability: Beastification or Ottar's skill: Vana Arganture, which allowed him to beastify and raise his abilities to a greater level. Perhaps when Bell had reached a sufficient level, he would let Ottar test his magic against his skill, the boar man didn't seem like he'd be levelling up anytime soon.

"U-umm, is everything alright, Freya-sama?"

Looking up from the paper she had written his status on, she had not realized how long she'd been staring at it for. Taking the paper, she stood up from her desk and handed it to Bell, who had sat up from his lying position with his black shirt back on and was waiting for his goddess to say something.

"You have a bright future ahead of you, Bell."

Reaching for it, he didn't know what to expect but the look in his eyes said it all once his gaze drifted to the bottom half of the status.

"I have a skill! And I can use magic!?"

"Bell…" Freya reminded him with a finger between her lips, "remember to stay quiet."

"Ah. Sorry…"

His excitement reigned in; Bell looked fondly at the paper.

"This is it grandpa… I'm an adventurer now. Just like in your stories…"

He rubbed his eyes, feeling tears well up and threatening to burst.

"Welcome to the Freya Familia, Bell Cranel," Freya – no, his goddess said with a kind voice and gentlest of smiles on her face. The plasticity of it never crossed the boy's head.

Like the straw breaking a camel's back, he rushed towards Freya and wrapped her in a tight hug, surprising the goddess and tinging her cheeks a slight shade of red. She didn't mind the feeling of wetness on her from his tears now freely flowing, allowing the boy to release emotions he hadn't let out since he discovered his grandfather had passed.

They stayed in that position for some time until Bell realized how compromising they looked and quickly pulled away to the disappointment of Freya, who had enjoyed giving comfort to the boy. Looking up to face his goddess, he was still a little flustered but he had calmed down now, and in the place of the disappearing agitation was a budding steeled determination that lit something in Freya.

A thought seemed to cross the boy's mind and a shy blush suddenly returned to his face but even through his embarrassment, he gathered up all the courage he could muster and took her hand in both of his own.

"I won't let you down, Freya-sama."

"Ahh! He's too adorable! I suppose he deserves this much…"

Leaning forward, she pecked his forehead with a gentle kiss.

Needless to say, the determined look he had managed to bring out was immediately shattered. This time it took longer for Bell to recover but he eventually would, not so much because he had gotten used to being in a room alone with the goddess of love but rather from him realizing just how tired he was. Letting out a yawn, an important question popped into his head that he hadn't bothered to ask ever since they arrived.

"Freya-sama?"

"Yes, Bell?"

"You never told me where I'll be sleeping tonight…"

She gave him a mischievous smile.

"Why, here of course!"

"Ehh!?"

"Voice, Bell."

"Ah, sorry… but you don't mean on your bed, right?"

"There's nowhere else to sleep… and you're not leaving this room, either!"

"B-but my clothes are all dirty from sleeping in the streets for so long…"

"Looks like they're gonna have to be taken off then~"

"I-I haven't taken a b-bath too…"

Pointing to another door in the room, "you can have a shower in my bathroom."

"K-Kami-sama!"

Bell felt steam come out of his head, he was in a complete mess once again as the goddess playfully wrapped him around her finger.

"Beeeell~ I'll be waiting on the bed…"

Lightly guiding Bell to the bathroom, or was it just pushing? She almost shoved the poor boy inside.

"You'd better not make me wait too long~"

Swallowing his embarrassment, he stripped himself of his unwashed garments and slowly made his way to the goddess' personal shower. Fumbling with the knobs, he managed to make them work and the feeling of water pouring felt like an absolute blessing on his grimy body. He lost track of how long he stood there under the shower but he shook his head, worried that he was abusing Freya's hospitality.

He was hesitant to use the toiletries but he would take advantage of this opportunity to get as refreshed as he could. By the end of it, his hair felt smooth and silky and his entire body felt and smelled amazing

"There's a spare toothbrush in the cabinet," he could hear from outside the bathroom.

"You're going to need it~"

"She doesn't mean… that, right?"

He may have been a young but he had knowledge on things like that, after all, he was raised by his grandfather.

"Maybe she just wants me to have a good oral hygiene…? Eating monster stones isn't terrible for the teeth, right? Or my breath?"

Thinking about it a little more, he tested it out by exhaling onto his hand.

Sniff, sniff.

Bell would spend half as much time as it took for him to bathe just to brush his teeth but smelling his breath afterwards, he was quite satisfied with the results.

However, he was completely done with all that he needed to do in the bathroom and now would come the true challenge. Quietly opening the door just enough to peek outside, Bell found that the lights had been shut off in the entire room and that he couldn't see a single thing.

"Freya-sama?"

"You can find bathrobes to wear in there…"

"Ah. Thank you."

Thankfully for Bell, the robes were long enough to cover his entire body and he didn't need to worry too much about not wearing any underwear. Still, it wasn't fully comforting to be wearing nothing under the bathrobes.

"Are you done?"

"Y-yes.

"Why don't you come out then~?"

Nervously doing so, he left the bathroom and closed the door behind him, the last remaining light source snuffed out. Standing in place so that he could let his eyes adjust to the dark, he eventually spotted a silhouette waving at him to come closer; said silhouette being where Bell remembered the bed to be in the room.

"Bell~"

"Y-y-yes!"

"Come here and let your goddess help you get a good night's rest~"

Gulp.

He would not remember if he got any sleep that night or what happened in general. For what reason, only Freya knew and she wouldn't tell him.

The next day, Bell found himself back in front of the Guild's main building, the Pantheon and was waiting outside for a particular reason with an absentminded look on his face. He had gotten lugged out in the same sack from yesterday earlier in the morning, Ottar depositing him in an alley somewhere nearby. Before he left, Freya had mentioned something about finding him a more convenient place to live in and would send someone to look for him a little later in the afternoon. She had also asked if he wanted to leave behind his pack and strange jar but he rejected the offer and instead, asked for a few thousand valis so that he could buy the Guild's basic equipment for new adventurers.

As for Status Updates, she would ask the boar man to carry him back inside Folkvangr every now and then but his goddess told him that she was always watching over him, even in the dungeon. So, if an event gave him a lot of Excelia, she'd take time off of her schedule to have him be given an update. It sounded like a solid plan to Bell but he was a little disappointed he wouldn't get stronger at the end of every day.

He had just finished speaking with Eina about the matter of his Familia and he couldn't forget the look on her face, saying that he had joined the strongest Familia in the city. She couldn't even believe it until she used a Status Thief to reveal the Status on his back, which displayed the noble emblem of the Freya Familia, the Valkyrie. Bell had asked they do that in a private room and told her to keep his Familia under the wraps of the Guild, a request from the goddess herself. Naturally, the Guild had to obey but Eina herself didn't like that Bell wouldn't get a proper recognition and questioned why a new adventurer like him was getting this treatment.

Still, she was happy for him and gave him the necessary forms to fill out before he entered the Dungeon. In little over an hour, they had finished and Bell celebrated his official adventurer profession with a loud whoop while Eina looked on with a low-spirited smile. She didn't know what brought her to advise over the boy, he wasn't anything impressive and he could easily die from the Dungeon's horrors. But instead of discouraging him, Eina supposed she would help him achieve his dreams and keep him alive by teaching him everything about the Dungeon.

With his basic equipment bought and packed away into his complimentary bag, he brandished the weapon of choice that he had been given, a steel knife, and felt it in his grip before swinging it in the air a few times. Eina had already helped him equip his armor of choice under his coat that he had bought as well, the standard Guild provided light armor, their cheapest offer for new adventurers. He was an already agile person and he didn't want to be weighted down by heavier armor and he couldn't move fast or strong enough yet to swing a sword around without getting tired.

Bell looked like he ready to leave and begin his foray into the Dungeon.

"Don't forget, we still have plenty of lessons to go through!"

"Gotcha! I won't let you down, Eina-san!"

The tense smile she had relaxed into a genuine one, optimistic that if she drilled knowledge in his head hard enough, then he could be fully prepared to fight against the different monsters in lower and lower floors. Bell saw that smile and a faint pink dusted his cheeks, reminded how lucky he was to have a lovely half-elf advisor.

As Eina was looking at Bell, a strange look suddenly came across him and she wondered what he was thinking.

"Let's take a page out of grandpa's books…"

Flashing what he thought was a dashing grin, he shouted out,

"I'm glad to have an advisor as beautiful as you!"

Before bolting out faster than she could think of any response to that. Eina was left completely flustered under the audience of adventurers and Guild employees who laughed or wolf whistled at the flustered state of the half-elf.

"That little…"

"Only the first floor today, alright!?"

"Okaaaaay!"

She had no notice of the upturned corners of her mouth, rather focused on the thought of extending their little study sessions together.

"What an unreliable rabbit!"

Meanwhile, outside, Bell had ran out with a big blush on his face but an even bigger smile on it. He had almost brushed it aside in the first few days of his stay in the city but now that he was an actual adventurer, his inner reason for going to Orario was right back into the forefront of his mind.

As he stood there in the middle of the bustling morning crowd, looking at the multiracial crowd of adventurers or ordinary folks of the city, his eyes darted towards the elegant elves to the cute prums to the exotic Amazons and even to the pretty human females. Eina's beauty had reminded him that he had come to Orario to have a destined encounter with a girl like the heroes in the stories.

"Grandpa I'm in Orario!"

He not may have thought of himself as a lady killer but his grandfather would damn Bell if he wouldn't try to charm them into a party. However, those thoughts were instantly crushed when his reasoning instantly threw a brick into that plan.

"Why the heck would any girl party up with a newbie adventurer!?"

His grandfather always told him that he needed to be a lot stronger because his cute looks could only take him so far. Women and especially elven women, grandpa specified that race the most, were attracted to strong guys who could protect them. And in the city of Orario, where female adventurers could mitigate the difference in physical strength through training and ranking up, Bell needed to get as strong as he could if he wanted to prove he could protect such women.

That's what he needed to do first before he started picking up girls in the Dungeon; train, kill monsters, chew on their monster stones and equip strong weapons and armor. He thought to himself just how screwed it was that the thought of girls went before the anxiety of having to fight for his life in the Dungeon but he blamed his grandfather for that. That did bring to Bell's attention an important bit of information.

Fighting monsters brought a little anxiety, it wasn't his first time seeing one because his old village would get attacked sometimes and claimed the lives of people he knew.

Like his grandfather.

But the village had older folks that would handle them and that meant Bell had no fighting experience whatsoever, not even against kids his age. He would have to learn first hand how to take them down and it scared him that if he made one mistake it could probably result in an injury or worse, death. Maybe if he thought of some strategies before he'd venture into the Dungeon that it could help?

So, he spent an hour standing outside the Pantheon with a far-off look in his eyes and completely focused on imagining the battle scenario, unaware of the odd looks he got from the many adventurers entering and exiting the building.

A black-haired cat person, however, looking for a certain white-haired adventurer wearing a brown coat had noticed him loitering there and walked up to him.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Bell shook away his thoughts and turned to his side to find a cute cat girl looking at him with a weird expression plastered all over her face. She was wearing a green dress and white apron over it and a headband, it sort of made her look like a maid in his grandfather's stories and it involved stuff that Bell didn't want to think of while in front of the girl.

"U-umm hello? Did you want something?"

The girl, suddenly realizing why she approached him, laughed a little at whatever she was thinking.

"Sorry, sorry! Are you Bell Cranel?"

"Ah, yes I am. But who are you?"

Giving him a cute look, "My name is Chloe Rollo and I work at a pub named the Hostess of Fertility."

"Are you here to invite me to eat?"

"Haha no, but I know someone who'd definitely trick you into enjoying our meals~"

Nervously chucking, Bell asked, "Then do you want something from me?"

"Oh! Mama Mia, she's the proprietor of the pub and my boss, got a request from your goddess to let you live there."

"Ehh? Live inside a pub?"

"Don't worry! There should be one available room in case of a new employee or a guest! Do you want to head over there now?"

Wanting to drop his stuff inside somewhere safe before going into to the Dungeon, Bell nodded and let her lead the way. While walking, he took in the sights that he hadn't enjoyed while he was worried about finding a Familia and a place to belong in. The city was a marvel for a country person like him, with all of its structures and people, and he wanted to enjoy it before he started getting used to the environment.

The two of them talked for a bit about the pub and how it took in those with troubled pasts and gave them a new life as an employee of a humble tavern.

"Does that mean you've had a terrible past too, Chloe-san?"

The smile she had on the whole time dipped a bit, remembering her business as an assassin for hire, "Yes, and I never want to go back to doing what I used to live for. This time, I've got a dream that I'm saving money for."

She looked back at him with an expression that showed a much more genuine happiness than before and it made him feel a little warm inside. He was someone who travelled a long distance away from a home he had grown up in to go to a city he had never been in, had no knowledge of, and contained a Dungeon where he would fight for his life in. But it was all for the sake of his dream to be a hero, and even though it was a little silly but it was also for the sake of the dream to meet girls in the Dungeon.

"I travelled here to Orario for a dream too, Chloe-san! Let's do our best to achieve them!"

The cat girl's expression shifted a little but not enough for Bell to notice.

"Oh~ Would you mind helping me with my dream?"

"I'd love to help!"

Bell felt a shiver run through his body. For a second there, he thought he saw a very perverted grin on her face but after he blinked, it was just Chloe's normal smile.

He figured he just imagined it. Right beside him, Chloe was imagining the younger boy in compromising positions with her, having a good idea inside her head of what the boy could help her with.

"You'll be living with me – I mean, with us now."

"Bell-san, you said you had a dream, can I ask what it is?"

"I want to be a hero like in the stories my grandfather told me about!"

Putting a finger to her chin, "Like the hero from Dungeon Oratoria?"

"Yeah! Especially like him!"

"That's quite a dream, Bell-san. You went all the way to this city for a such a pure ambition."

"I kind of wish I had been the same…"

Noticing the somberness of her tone, he glanced over to the cat girl by his side and briefly saw the sad smile on her face before it vanished and the playful smile returned.

"I wonder what kind of person Chloe-san used to be?"

They stayed quiet for a while, not knowing how to progress their conversation but Bell knew what his grandfather would say if he ever saw a girl within reach looking sad. He had to try and cheer them up and he thought hard about what he could say next that could lift Chloe's spirit up.

"Chloe-san, I might not know your circumstances but you said you were starting fresh at where you work…"

"…I think you're a different person when you have a new purpose to live for!"

Hiding her slightly widened eyes, she feigned impassiveness to his comment.

"We only just met, Bell-san, how would you what kind of person I am?"

"A-ah well… i-its's because you're a cute girl…"

She laughed like it was the best joke she heard all day.

"What a naïve kid, haha."

"Well, you didn't need to tell me that. I know I'm happy leaving behind my past and moving forward by getting what I've always wanted in life."

"Can you tell me what your new dream is, Chloe-san?"

"Oh, it's nothing special. I just want to live a luxurious life with cute boys."

"Boys? I never knew a girl would want a harem too! Orario sure does have a lot of unique people like me… But I wonder what kind of guys she likes?"

He could feel his grandfather's words wash over him again.

'A girl that wants a harem? That's nonsense, Bell! All you have to do is satisfy her in the bed and make her think only about you!"

Bell didn't want to think badly of his grandfather but it was difficult not to sometimes.

Meanwhile, Chloe wouldn't mention to him that her new dream after quitting her assassin occupation was to have plenty of boys, specifically shotas,serve her as she rubbed them all over.

"Maybe I've found my first cute little boy? Ah, I can't wait for him to live with us! I wonder if he minds that he's living with only girls though?"

Chloe wondered if she should have told him that but found it funnier if Mama Mia would be the one to break the news. The level six former adventurer didn't look very pleased when she ordered Chloe to find the boy and drag him there. She hoped the dwarf wouldn't work the poor boy to death while he lived there, Chloe couldn't have the rabbit live with them without knowing how to serve her after all.

"How to give massages must be the first thing I have to teach!"

We'll end it there. I could have written more and end right before Bell goes down into the dungeon but this is already 10k words and I'm tired. You can leave guesses on who the Lady was in reviews but she won't be integral to the story.

Important Note: The magic Bell has to transform into a monster, it needs a chant but I have no clue how to make one. If any readers are feeling creative, you can write one up and add it into your review. It's a Concurrent Chant and shouldn't be too long.