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 bullshit 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.
A few minutes of intense battle later, Bell stood victorious and unconscious after creating an opening and using everything on his instant cast magic, Firebolt.
"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.
Two days after the Loki Familia left for their expedition, Hestia got up early in the morning and bid her farewell to everyone, "Well then, everyone, I'm off!" Hestia stood up after eating her breakfast, "I promise to get perfectly acceptable Aliases for everyone!"
"Do you think she can do it?" Kisuke asked.
"I highly doubt it," Yoruichi answered while munching on her bread.
The Denatus. It was a meeting of the Gods which was held once every three months. Although it was only a title, the Guild had recognized it as an advisory body composed of Gods. Even though a lot of the matters brought up there lacked seriousness and were discussed jokingly, it was also the place to decide the Aliases for Adventurers and suggested and reviewed recent and upcoming events that occur in the city.
To participate, a God must have at least one Level 2 or higher member in their Familia. Attending the Denatus was a sign that their Familia was one of the stronger ones in the city.
"What are you going to do if you don't get an acceptable Alias, nya?" Kuroka asked. She already heard what a Denatus was and how rough those meetings could become.
She also heard that Gods and Goddesses used this chance to name children of other Familias with painful and cringe-worthy names which didn't seem to bother the citizens of this world, most probably because the term and meaning of chuunibyou were foreign or unknown to them.
Instead of answering, however, Kisuke and Yoruichi only gave her a smile which gave her shivers, 'Not good... These two will absolutely cause chaos. But I wonder how much? I hope we get some really funny names.' But the shivers she felt were not from fear but the anticipation for the future. She really just wanted to see the world burn.
In the Denatus with Loki as the chairwoman, the meeting had started and Hestia couldn't help but cringe at what she was seeing, "Did you hear!? Poor little Soma got a warning from the Guild! He had to give up his one and only hobby!" One of the Gods shouted to everyone.
"Are you serious!?" Another God asked, "So, what's his hobby anyway?"
"I don't know."
"I heard he shut himself up in his room, sitting in the corner while hugging his knees!"
"I wanna seeeee!!!"
"Oh, there is information that the kingdom of Rakia is preparing to invade Orario."
"Is it Ares again...?"
"I think I'll go cheer him up!"
"You're just going to go over and rub salt into his wound, aren't you?"
Hestia muttered while shivering, "I expected something like this to happen, but this is rough."
"It's the usual." Hephaestus, who was sitting beside her, was already used to this chaotic sight of everyone just shouting at each other.
Clapping her hands, Loki gathered everyone's attention, "Alright, quiet down! To summarize, what we need to be concerned about right now is Rakia. I'll inform the Guild about it. Your Familias might be called to fight so be prepared."
Feigning a cough, Loki continued, "Can I say something too? A new and weird monster has been popping up these days."
"It appeared at the MonterPhilia and at a safety point in the Dungeon." This was the reason why Loki volunteered to be the chairwoman for today's meeting, 'The remnants of Evilus are acting up, which means that some God must be giving them a Falna.'
"They are richly colored like someone has dumped paint all over them. They're as strong as second class Adventurers and appear in various places. They'll appear anywhere including the city and the Dungeon." Loki continued, 'That God is probably here, considering that both power and information gathers here. A strange reaction should be enough...'
"The remnants of Evilus have been acting up lately, or so I've heard. You should all be careful." Loki finished her words, waiting for everyone's reaction.
However, the other Gods only answered with vague expressions and statements which didn't help Loki to gather any information at all. The atmosphere turned stiff because most of the Gods noticed Loki's intention and didn't want to get involved in this problem.
But amidst that, a certain God wearing an elephant mask stood up and said, "I'd like to say something too!"
"First off, I'm Ganesha~!" He introduced himself while doing a weird pose.
"Okay, now sit down." Loki retorted.
Not listening to her, Ganesha continued his antics, "Sorry, I made a mistake! Let me apologize first! I'm sorry for the mess we caused at the MonsterPhilia the other day! Nevertheless, I swear on my own name that we weren't the ones who captured those man-eating flowers! Please trust me!"
"Can I say more!?"
Waving her hand in resignation, Loki agreed with a fed-up face, "Oh, all right. Just hurry it up." However, deep inside her, she had been waiting for Ganesha to say the next words he wanted to say.
"On the same floor where those man-eating flowers rampaged on, one of my Familia members was murdered! I don't know if it has something to do with the MonsterPhilia but I want to avenge him!" Bowing his head to everyone, Ganesha pleaded, "Please tell me if you know anything about it!"
While crying his eyes out, Ganesha started muttering, "Kuh... Hashana... Why...? Why did you... Die while having sex!?"
Everyone froze up.
"I'm so jealous that you were seduced and killed by a hot busty woman!" Realizing what he just said, Ganesha corrected himself, "I mean, how disgraceful! Why didn't you trade places with me!?" But he still got it wrong.
"Hashana didn't die during sex." Loki corrected him.
"Huh?"
Sighing, Loki gave up on him, but she was laughing inside, 'Nonetheless, the mood has taken a turn for the better. This should make the small and medium-sized Familias realize that this is too much for them to handle, based on how the Loki Familia took an interest in it and how the Ganesha Familia has mourned and pleaded. Those who don't have anything to do with this won't stick their noses into it and at the same time, Evilus' movements should become more obvious. It should slow them down. Thanks, Ganesha. Your words will keep them in check.' She thought while looking at the Gods who already gave up entertaining themselves by meddling with this affair.
"Well then, let's move on to the Naming Ceremony."
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Anarchists corner
Alexander: Finally, I've been waiting for many weeks for this. I remember the fun we all had when we desperately searched for the most cringy Aliases. So, I feel like Kuroka, let Orario burn.
28th00: KUROKA! WE ARE BROTHERS IN ARMS FOR OUR ANARCHY, SISTER! This is how the world burns… IT BURNS BECAUSE OF BAD PUNS! It sucks for them, we've got demolition experts galore…
Goyya: We burn! We burn!