Disclaimer: I don't own anything from God Of War or Dungeon Ni Deai

Making sure that the straps of his backpack had everything he needed for the day and that his chest plate was well adjusted, Bell made his way to the staircase that would lead to the upper level of the abandoned church. Just as he stepped on the aged wood as slowly as possible to lessen the creaking noise, he spared one last glance over his shoulder.

The basement could be considered an odd place to live in, and it certainly wasn't luxurious and despite its default function, it was cramped for a living quarter. Not to mention lacking in some aspects. Yet, even with those faults, Bell had no shame in calling the place his home. And that was thanks to the other dweller within the confined place.

With a soft smile, the boy watched as a small body writhed under the sheets of the bed, mumbling while she slept. Knowing how strenuous her afternoon would be at her job, Bell didn't have the heart to wake her up.

"I'm off to the Dungeon, Kami-sama." He whispered

With his new dream in mind, he set off for a new day of exploring.

(…)

Amber eyes snapped open. Just as abruptly, he shot up from his bed and quickly looked at his arms. As a bead of sweat trickled down his pale skin, he stared intently at his trembling appendages with ragged breathing. After a moment, the man closed his eyes and slowly but steadily inhaled to recollect himself.

Bloodcurdling screams disrupted the tranquility of the night as the flames licked all that was within its reach, slowly but steadily consuming everything. The scene before him was fitting to describe Hell.

It was all in his head, he wasn't there any longer.

He walked past a sea of blood and bodies, his ashen skin now drenched in blood, complemented the marks on his body. He paid them no mind, what only mattered was what he carried. Only his screams now could be heard.

Don't dwell on it. that was all in the past. Whereit should remain; buried.

Focusing on that, he willed all these intruding memories to the darkest corner of his mind, putting it behind seven locks. As the internal turmoil faded and his breathing regulated, silence took over. It was like a cemetery, void of any sound or life, but that was how he preferred things compared to the previous state.

His peace fell apart when a throbbing pain made itself know. The man's eyes shone in the barely lit room, eyeing his still trembling arms. Before lying in the bed, he had removed the leather garment that acted as his bracers, revealing bandages. They were old to the point that a shade of yellow spread throughout its length with smudges of dry blood.

As if noticing the man's gaze, the pain grew in intensity. The searing sensation radiated like it was melting his skin all the way to his bones. While the man reeled in his turmoil, one of the old cloth strips had fallen from its place, hanging loosely from his arm.

He took a sharp intake of breath at what the strip revealed to him, the sight holding him hostage; the sight of his point of no return. The faint sounds of chains rasping against each other echoed in his head.

After staring intently for longer than he wished, he clenched his fists and concentrated on the trembling. When the appendages regain their stability, he slowly raised his arm and grabbed the strip. The man mechanically rolled the bandage on his arm until he was sure the same thing wouldn't happen again.

He reached for his axe that rested at the side of his bed. He held the axe close to his chest and his hands firmly grasped the handle as a sense of calmness washed over him, relaxing him as much as possible. A lullaby from long ago caressed him, the searing feeling gradually losing its strength.

"Forgive me…" He muttered, tightening his grip on the axe

He allowed himself to indulge on the croon for a bit longer before getting on his feet and putting on what little of his gear he had cast aside to sleep. Donning his cloak lastly, he crossed the small but above average room.

The only source of light there was the lamp on the stand besides the bed, so he had no way of knowing if it was still night or not due to the lack of window. However, after what had transpired it would make no difference what time it was. Rest would not come to him, might as well do something productive instead of sitting idly in his bed. Lest risking his burden pounce at the opportunity again.

The purse on the back of his waist felt heavier than ever.

\\

The Kobold charged at him; swinging its arm in wide arc trying to claw away at him. Bell sidestepped and dogged with a hair's breath. Ruby eyes followed the lanky monster's disjointed movements, noticing that its back was exposed.

There it was; his chance! The monster was vulnerable. Grinning to himself, he leaned in for the attack.

"Kraah!"

Only to be foiled by another Kobold that slashed his arm when it was outside the adventurer's field of vision. Almost tripping on his own feet when he recoiled from the scratch, Bell stumbled away from the monsters.

He grimaced. Was there really another Kobold left? He was pretty sure he had narrowed the group down to one. Eina would surely chide him about his awareness. That mishap might even have earned him getting his ear pulled. Yay…

He quickly glanced at his arm, where the monster had struck him. Fortunately, it was a shallow enough that it barely grazed him; his beige jacket and black shirt took the brunt of the hit. His vitality wouldn't be getting a lot of points today by the look of things though.

Readjusting his grip on his dagger, he readied himself. The Kobold that surprised him lunged at him, baring its fangs and with its claws poised close at its side.

Bell ducked under the monster, avoiding all its pointy ends- blessed be his highly improved agility stat- and delivered a swift cut to the Kobold's side. The pain caused the monster to flail in the air before it crashed onto the ground.

The other kobold tried to copy its kin by pouncing at the boy as far from his line of sight as possible. Bell, being this time mindful of both monsters movements, turned to face his attacker and got out of the range of the beast's swipe by falling backwards. Though not before counterattacking with his dagger.

Blood trickled from the monster's muzzle as it jerked back its head. With the support of his free hand, Bell rolled the moment he touched the ground. Pulling himself into a crouching position, he tensed his legs before darting towards the kobold and with both hands on the blade's grip, he pierced its chest. With a whimper, the monster imploded.

Not even having a chance of catching his breath, two hands clamped on Bell's shoulders. Eyeing the preying limbs, he saw the claws dug themselves onto his jacket, reinforcing its hold on the boy. With a snarl, the remaining kobold wrenched him, causing him to hit the ground.

Paying no mind to the pain that flared from his back, Bell hurriedly held his dagger in front of him, fearing a follow up attack. Barely a second passed when his arm withstood the impact of the kobold's move, the clash between its claws and the blade creating a resounding clang. As the monster exerted itself in hopes of pushing back the dagger, Bell knocked it away by kicking it in its chest.

Scrambling to his feet, the boy advanced towards the unbalanced kobold. The monster threw its arm in a sweeping motion to keep him at bay, but Bell, light on his feet as he was, leaped over it and landed a hit on the back of its neck. It fell limply afterwards.

"(sigh) That was a close one." Bell commented between breathes

After making sure that no more monsters were lurking nearby, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy the respite as he collected the stones left behind, humming a happy tune as picked one by one. Having finished the menial task, he stretched himself before venturing further into the Dungeon.

(…)

"I should be to repair my equipment- but dinner's priority- I can't always count on Kami-sama being able to bring back spares from her work…" Bell muttered

As he navigated through the corridor, the current tranquil gave way to Bell's worldly concerns to pester his mind.

"I still have a potion that Miach-sama gave me, so it should be fine fo-"

"GHAA!"

Bell's worries vanished at the sound of the shrill scream; with his weapon already in hand he dropped into a guarded stance. However, instead of being met with any sort of infringement to his well being, a kobold appeared, skidding on the rough floor. Instead of jumping at the downed beast, he faltered after his first step when he noticed the trail of blood that the beast had left in its wake.

The beast wasn't giving any indication of it wanting to get on its paws; rather it was just laying there taking sharp and painful breaths. The reason for such was glaringly obvious, in its chest there was a huge gash, descending from its shoulder all the way to its ribs on its opposite side. Whatever strength it had left after such devastating blow was quickly being depleted along with the flowing blood. Not long after it bled out.

Bell was barely able to take in what had just happened when another commotion ahead of him grabbed his attention. His eyes landed on a small pack of kobolds maneuvering as best as it could as they could to fight a single adventu…!

The boy almost lost his grip on the handle. He couldn't be really sure due to the distance and poor lightening of the Dungeon, but the visage of that adventurer's back seemed awfully familiar to Bell.

"Is it really him?" He wondered

As if intending to quench that doubt, one of the kobolds ran at his enemy. In response, the man brandished his axe and with one fell swoop, the monster was dealt with, its corpse landing further away from where it previously stood.

With wide eyes, Bell watched the faint blue glow emanating from the weapon. It really was the adventurer that saved him! There was no mistaking it, with the axe in hand it was as if his memory from he ran away the other day had been brought to reality. The same imposing visage that had stood between Bell and the minotaurs.

The remaining monsters all jumped from all sides at the man, showing their animosity with their snarls and bared claws. Bell could safely say from experience that such situation could fell overwhelming. He still had some small scar lines that he had earned thanks for him having frozen on the spot the first time it happened.

Yet, as the boy witnessed the man cleaving the kobolds left and right with each swing matching the speed of the incoming monsters, he started to wonder if maybe the pack wasn't just making it easier for him. At each swing, one or two kobolds met their demise.

An immovable obstacle-no, it border on the unsurpassable. To Bell, it felt only right to call it that if he survived yesterday's ordeal.

As the black smoke filled the pathway, one of the remaining kobolds used it to conceal itself long enough to get the drop on the adventurer. It maneuvered itself away from the deadly axe and jumped at the man, only for its attempt to be foiled by a hand that shot towards the beast the moment it revealed itself. With a vice grip, the beast was held effortlessly in the air by the neck.

As the beast futilely clawed at the bracer to get away, without turning, the man threw his axe into the black mist. A wet, gasping sound echoed, followed by the loud thump of a body collapsing. A sickening crunch caused the other suspended monster to stop struggling.

The popping sound of the monster's bodies jerked Bell back to reality. He blinked once, then twice before gaping in awe at the display of skill that took place in front of his eyes. Whereas it would have taken several minutes for the boy to kill every last one of the kobolds, it only took seconds, a minute at most, to the man to do the same.

Bell bit his lower lip. What he had just witnessed served as a reminder of the long road he had ahead of him to properly support his goddess and himself. To reach the same foothold that she stood. He shook his head and smiled. Aspirations and goals aside, this was the perfect opportunity for him to thank the other adventurer for saving him!

The boy moved slowly towards the man, who was now focused on getting the magic stones he had earned. A small voice kept ringing in the back of Bell's mind that this silent approach was far from being ideal, but that voice was drowned by the caution he felt when watching the man. He felt as if it might not bode well for him to make any sudden movements.

He stopped at what seemed a healthy distance and- mustering every ounce of courage he had- called the adventurer. "Excuse m-"

The rest of his sentence died in his throat as in the blink on an eye the very sharp end of an axe almost became acquainted with the boy's face. Bell's countenance quickly became the same color as his hair while his courage shattered like glass and his mind tried to caught up to this rather dire turn of events.

Just how fast did the man turned? And did the axe just flow by itself? Did he mention just how sharp the axe looked up-close?

Fortunately, the weapon was soon lowered and Bell exhaled in relief. Still, he flinched at the penetrating glare that he could feel from inside the hood.

"You again." He growled

Yep. Definitely irritated at him.

"Are you that eager to embrace death boy?"Bell flinched. In retrospect perhaps the quiet approach was far worse than the alternative.

Bell didn't have time to answer, as the man decided to end there the one-sided talk and turned his back to him. He hooked his axe in his back resumed collecting he stones.

"Ehehehe s-sorry, I didn't mean to scare yo- not that I did! I just, you know, um, sorry!" The boy said awkwardly

His grandfather in the past had tried to teach him many things that were undoubtedly inadequate and questionable to a young child, even Bell knew that. Teaching him, however, the importance of when to thank or apologize to someone was one of the more laudable ones he had managed to instill.

The man paid him no mind, ignoring the boy's rambling. Though it didn't come as a surprise such response, the boy still felt a bit miffed. Nevertheless, he trudged on.

"I-I wanted to thank you." The man paid him no mind and continued on with his task

"About yesterday, y-you know." The sound of magical stones hitting one another as they fell on the man's pouch was the only reply he got

Grabbing the hem of his jacket, Bell stopped himself before saying anything else. He couldn't hold back here, uttering half assed gratitude won't get him anywhere.

"I really thought I was done. When the minotaur raised its fist. I thought I would die there full of regrets, that I would abandon the people I care about and would make them sad."

He felt the prickle in the corner of his eyes. He recalled the fear he felt, not only for his life but the solitude he would leave his Kami-sama in that quiet church. How badly it would affect Eina who continuously fretted over him, advising him as best as she could. He shut his eyes to avoid it spilling over.

"S-so thank you so much for saving me!" He only realized that he was shouting by the time he finished

Bell felt as if he ran a marathon; he was completely out of breath. But there was no denying that he also felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off his chest. However, with that emotional baggage and self imposed obligation out of the way, he felt embarrassment creep in as the silence stretched.

Had he said too much and overstepped his boundaries? The man wasn't exactly friendly with him. Would he laugh at him? Was him even capable of that? Bell fought the urge to fidget, this was too unnerving!

The boy slowly opened one of his eyes, risking a glance at the adventurer. The man was crouched with his back facing him. As Bell's eye kept wandering, he stilled when his gaze met the man's, who watched from over his shoulder. He instantly looked away, the compulsion to look at anywhere else taking hold of him.

When no rebuke of any form came his way, Bell's gaze strayed back to the hooded man. The greenish illumination of the Dungeon glistened on his outlines and while the hood still did its intended job, the faint light did showed some of his face. Aside from the beard and the sculpted nose, the feature that caught Bell's attention was the eye.

Though it was not the first time he had seen it, this time it felt different. It wasn't that unflinching stony glare that the boy saw. No, the eye seemed somewhat softer as it stared at him.

Curiosity. Though small, it was there. And it was aimed at him.

Bell was lost. What could he possibly have done to make someone like him interested in a nobody like him? Yet, even while confuse, he felt happy of getting that out of a person who had been indifferent to him up to this point.

He must have been showing his thoughts outwardly, as that small spark in the man's eyes was snuffed out, returning to its glassy state. He then turned back and got on his feet, stalking towards the remaining stones left around.

Bell blinked. He didn't receive any answer to what he had blurted out. But there was no anger or annoyance this time either. So far that seemed to be the man's default reaction to anything he did. Had he somehow just managed to interact with the axe wielder and not screw up?

He felt a smile pulling his lips. In the end he was ignored but it didn't mattered. He took a step forward.

"I was watching you fighting just now. I never had seen someone kill a whole pack that fast!"

He didn't know what compelled him to talk, and he was pretty sure that a part of his head was going crazy raising red flags to stop, that this was a terrible idea.

As he expected, the man carried on as if nothing happened. A small voice told Bell that he should stop before he irked the man, but he didn't wanted to.

"I hope to one day be able to handle monsters like you did." Bell sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just starting as an adventurer, so there's probably a lot of things that I have to learn and-"

"Your footwork is horrible and your situational awareness might be even worse." The man said. Having gathered all the remaining stones, he walked to the opposite end of where the boy stood, intending on further exploring the Dungeon.

Surprised that he got an answer and flustered at being brutally pointed out his flaws, Bell's eyes snapped to his feet with his cheeks beet red. "Y-yeah, I'm still trying to pick up the basics."

For a while a lull had settled in, only broken by the sound of the footsteps. "Stop merely reacting to what happens around you. You have a head, use it."

"Eh?" Was the eloquent reply the boy came up with

"Stop attempting to land attacks carelessly. You look as desperate as a vagrant with a piece of bread. It's unsightly." Even as the distance between the two grew, when the man spoke his tone was just as powerful as if he hadn't moved away at all.

Bell's face was the textbook definition of shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Underneath all the cutting marks thrown at him, laden with indifference, there was advice. The man that had saved him was giving him advice on how to be a better adventurer, as brutally honest as it may have been.

A full-blown smile spread in a blink of eyes, the boy's face positively beaming. He bowed his face almost at his knee's level. "Thank you so much! I-I'll be sure to remember this things!"

When he looked up again, he was alone. The man didn't even wait for him to say anything. But it was fine, he was perfectly content with how his leap of faith ended.

\\

The man marched onward the deeper levels of the Dungeon. Axe in hand, ready for any monster that might creep out of the walls.

Brutal and unforgiving. Those are the words that can surmise the world as it really is. However, to every rule there's an exception. He had found innocence and kindness a few times in his lifetime. Some lasted more than he expected. Others ended far sooner than they should have.

He scowled. Abandon this train of thought. It will do no good dwell in a past life.

And yet, on the place where the dreams of many are hopelessly crushed by the world's reality, he had found another exception. Small and fidgety, his complexion often as pale as his hair, that boy exuded those characteristics. It still eluded him why he had stepped up to help him. The boy was weak and clearly unprepared for the dangers that lurked in the dark corners of the Dungeon. He spoke shyly and was quick to spill apologies, which grated the man immensely.

But even with all that, the boy had found courage to speak to him, when it was obvious how intimidated he felt by him. Furthermore, his words sounded so sincere that the man could only stare at him, as if he were something foreign. So despite all the misgivings he had about the boy, the man begrudgingly gave him some clues to better himself.

The man stared at his axe melancholically. How long had it been since he had seen something so genuine? How long had it been since he had last seen-

He shook his head. "Focus on what's ahead of you."

After reprimanding himself, he forbade anything related with the boy from his mind. Hopefully this would be the last he'd seen from him.

A/N: I'm finally back! I'm very sorry for being away for so long, but life in general just got more taxing than ever to me. Back to the chapter, I think that one of the highlights of this one is that small peek at Kratos past. That scene was really fun to write down and I hope it is as good to you folks as it looked to me. The other highlight is that small interaction between Bell and Kratos. This one was another reason why this chapter took a bit longer to be done. It was that situation where I had the idea in mind but the right words never came when I tried writing it down and I wanted to keep them in character as much as possible while making it an interesting scene. There were two fight scenes in here, I kept in mind what you readers commented on the reviews about last chapter's fight, so here's hoping the ones in here are better.

Crossovernaru once again is at the helm of beta reading the chapter. He'll be sure to keep a keen eye out for any typos and other aberrations that might be lurking around.

Once again, I'm sorry for long wait. It sucks having long periods in between chapters but I was unable to fit in time to write. I want to thank you all for fav/follo the story and, of course, reviewing it. Ghost Of Orario quickly became my most reviewed story and that was only in the spawn of 2 chapters. You guys really are the greatest.

Hope you guys liked the chapter, if possible do consider leaving a review. I'll see you all on the next one, sooner rather than later hopefully. Have a great day.