Volume 8 Chapter 443 - A Rabbit and A Minotaur
The trio reached the room where the white-haired Adventurer was supposed to be attacked by the Minotaur. When they saw it, the first thing they noticed was that the Minotaur was different from the rest, due to its fur being dark red in hue and it was currently wielding a greatsword which was clearly forged by a person's hand instead of being a natural weapon.
However, when they saw Bell's condition, the trio decided to not to step in and help him, "What's this? Aren't you doing well?"
Bell immediately noticed them, "A-Aika-san!?" He shouted as he dodged the Minotaur's strike, breaking the boulders around him.
"What's up with that face? Do you want our help?" Aika asked.
"P-please!" Bell pleaded as he continued dodging the Minotaur's attacks.
"Sure, but are you going to run away again?"
Bell froze on his spot for a moment before he started moving again to dodge, "I-I…"
"You want to be a great Adventurer? A hero? How laughable~! The way you're now, no way that's going to happen. Even you could see that, right?"
"B-but I can't defeat the Minotaur!"
"Sure, sure, but that's just the bullsh*t you believe. Do you even see the reality right now? Aren't you doing fine in the face of that cow head? And that knife, it can properly cut open that walking roast beef."
"…"
"It's up to you if you can actually do it, though~! But what are you waiting for? A great Adventure is waiting in front of you, a doorway to your dreams. Aren't you going to take it?"
Bell continued to dodge the Minotaur in silence and a few seconds later, a light burned brightly in his eyes and asked, "Is Lily safe?"
"Yep. We came across her earlier and she should be fine now." Aika answered.
Gritting his teeth, Bell faced the Minotaur properly this time. He was still very much scared, however, a burning passion in his heart was slowly melting it away, "Thank you…"
The rest from the Loki Familia soon arrived with Lily in tow. When they saw a lone Adventurer and obviously a newbie facing the Minotaur, Ais, Tione, and Tiona were about to help, but the trio blocked their way, "What are you doing?" The usually energetic Tiona frowned at them.
"Hah! It's true that first come first serve in the Dungeon and we can't steal other's prey!" Bete supported their decision but for a different reason.
Hearing this, the still weak Lily immediately pleaded to him, "P-please… Adventurer-sama… Please help Bell-sama!"
Seeing her pitiful state and earnest plea, Bete clicked his tongue and stepped forward, "Damn it! Move away!"
However, the trio still didn't move despite his threatening atmosphere.
"Oi, move away if you don't want to be forcefully moved!"
In response, Aika only replied, "Are you blind? Does it look like he needs help?"
Bete got pissed but he still looked towards Bell and the Minotaur duking it out in the middle of the room and was shocked with what he found, "Oi… Didn't this little brat say he's just a Level 1? How can he match the movement of a Level 2 Minotaur?" He asked everyone.
Everyone couldn't move, but it was much more shocking for Finn and Bete to see this, as this was their first time witnessing a Level 1 going against a Level 2 monster which was normally an impossible feat.
"Is it really that surprising? We did it too last time." Aika muttered.
Bell could only match the Minotaur's movement because he recalled every tip and trick which the trio taught him. Every time they would meet while the trio was stocking up on potions from the Miach Familia. Aika and Koneko would teach some things to the newbie Bell to flex their superiority as 'Seniors' and the naive Bell would believe them completely.
Although Sona didn't agree with their thoughts, she also gave him some tips. While Aika and Koneko would keep on teaching him reckless things, Sona would counter that with her own teachings of analysis so that he could use their tips properly. Thanks to that and his unusually high status for a Level 1, he got a chance to defeat the Minotaur which Freya had unreasonably thrusted upon him.
"H-he actually did it…" Bete muttered while gritting his teeth. Even though he watched a very low-level battle, the fact that someone who could risk his life with every move existed, reignited his burning passion for Adventure, but at the same time, he was extremely frustrated since he knew he couldn't do the same thing if he was in Bell's shoes, "Damn it all…! Old Hag, you can read hieroglyphs, right? Take a look at his status!"
"That's incredibly rude and would infringe on his private information."
"Can't you see, he's displaying his back for everyone to see! You'll see it eventually when you start taking care of him!"
Riveria sighed and finally agreed with him because she was also curious. Even from the distance, she could already see Bell's status through his torn shirt. Approaching him, she started reading his status in earnest but became careful so that she wouldn't be able to see his skills, "Status all S. One of them even broke through the limit."
"Wah!?" Bete clenched his fist. In Orario, only Ais and Ottar reached the status of all S and Ais became one of the strongest Adventurers while Ottar is known as the strongest, but even then, they never got anything higher than S.
"Bell Cranel, is it?" Finn muttered. This fight became more memorable to him as he personally witnessed it. Even if he knew that the trio managed to do something similar or even harder, he couldn't easily believe such claims and always had some doubts.
.
.
.
On the extreme top of the Tower of Babel, Kisuke was quietly standing while looking down with his umbrella blocking the direct sunlight. He was currently watching Freya having a satisfied expression after Bell defeated the Minotaur but also a slight regret that she wasn't the reason why he could defeat it, "I see… So that's how it is. In hindsight, she does things similar to me, but she only cares about the soul and throws everything else aside, only depending on chance. Well, I guess that's one way to unearth heroes, at the cost of quite a few dead bodies."
"As my girls grow stronger, it would be detrimental for them to keep their souls sealed from her sight. It looks like the future will be fun~!" Kisuke muttered as he disappeared from the tower.
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The Late Corner:
28th00: Well, now we know how Bell survives Freya's machinations without his usual plot armor. He has the Trio teaching him quite literally world-changing abilities, which are just basic skills to them. And since he's an absolute NOOB, he takes their word as gospel. Honestly, the poor kid was absurdly lucky before, but now he'll technically have some base skill besides his absurd parameters. I wonder how his Hero Worship skill works now, or if his potential manifested in another manner instead? Bete being a tsundere is pretty cute though.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om