'You're gonna do great things Bell, I just know it!'
'When out adventuring make sure to save lots of women! Make your grandpa proud!'
'Huh?'
'You have great power Bell, I can sense it. You have to dig deep down into yourself and grasp it. You'll have to learn to control it, because it might consume you. But... you're gonna show it who's boss! You ain't my grandson for nothin'!'
'G-Grandpa?'
'I hope you'll understand, because I might not always be around,'
'Wait! Don't leave me!'
'Make sure you make me proud by killing monsters and saving girls Bell, promise?'
'P-promise.'
'Heh, guess you really are going places.'
X——————————————————X
Bell woke up in a cold sweat on his bed, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes and sat up. He got up out of bed and went downstairs into the kitchen, all previous warmth in the old house gone and left a lonely coldness in its wake. He grabbed some flour, eggs and other cooking ingredients and whipped up a small stack of pancakes, he smiled at the memories of his childhood and his grandfather. A tear fell down his face, which were followed by many. His grandfather, he was...
Dead.
It had been a week since his death and Bell was still devastated, though he did have a right to as his grandad was his last relative alive, but he was going to get his act together starting today. So he gobbled up his pancakes, not even slowing down to taste the food, and got into the shower.
His body relaxed as the hot water flowed over his body, he sighed and shook his head and put on a smile. He was going to follow his grandfather's words of advice and go out adventuring and it wouldn't do the old man good if he was being moody. So he hopped out of the shower and wiped himself down with his towel.
He went into his room and pulled out his brown leather jacket and his black boots, put his jacket on over his black shirt and pulled on his boots. He ran into the kitchen and took out the biggest and sharpest knife they... he had and a little pouch. The red eyed teen took in a deep breath as he closed in on the front door and sighed out as he pulled it open.
It was a sunny morning outside and the village seemed to be just waking up. He fixed his jacket and walked down the road to the town hall, and walked in. He was greeted to the sight of a good few people going over the villages expenses and income and some more debating on which problem the village they should solve first. He chuckled and walked up to the bespectacled lady that was behind the front desk.
"Can I help you?" She asked a little impatiently.
Taken off guard by her sudden verbal probing, Bell stuttered "A-Ah, y-yea. Does the village have any monster problems?"
"Yes, why would yo-" she cut herself off after noticing his appearance, this was the boy whose grandfather was killed by a monster recently. She sighed and fixed her glasses. "Look, if your trying to avenge your grandpap. Just stop, would he want you to do this?" She asked rather domineeringly.
"Yes." The steel in Bell's voice startled the woman.
"W-Well don't say I didn't warn you... there's a small camp of goblins to the southwest of the village. Some other man went to solve the problem, but I'm sure he'll let you tag along."
"Thank you!" Bell beamed.
X——————————————————X
Bell was walking in the forest of the camp when he heard a twig snap, he swirled around only to have a short sword stop centimeters away from his throat.
"What are you doing here child?" A man in light silver plated armor asked.
"I-I'm here to fight off the goblins in the camp," Bell gulped.
The man sighed and removed the blade "You shouldn't be doing this at your age, you're too young,"
"W-Well I am! I'm gonna make my grandpa proud of me! And you can't stop me from killing those monsters." Bell let out a little bit of the anger he was holding in from his grief. The armored man paused for a second and looked at the kid and saw the fire in his eyes, he was reminded of another young boy who looked very similar to the one infront of him. Himself... he sighed, he was going to have to help this kid out.
"Well kid, c'mon then. These little basta- I-I mean buggers are gonna get a smack down," Bell smiled at the man's words and fell into step behind him, he was told many things about goblins by the man. He was told not to underestimate them, or anything really, and that they were smarter than you would think. He asked for Bell's weapon and he handed him his knife, which was promptly thrown into the head of a goblin scout. He handed Bell a better knife he had on him.
"See, these guys are keener than you'd think. You have to have constant vigilance, be prepared for anything."
Bell nodded and looked over at the goblin's corpse, he surprisingly didn't even gag at the sight of it. The man noticed this and chuckled, he was starting to like this kid, just a little. They continued walking for a few more minutes till they heard intelligible chatter, the man grabbed Bell and pulled them into a bush.
"That's them, okay so what were gonna do is- kid!?" The man froze as he saw Bell running at a goblin with a scar over its right eye.
Bell had seen the goblins and was pulled into the bush by the man, but one of them stood out. That scar... the villagers spoke of how his grandfather had partially blinded the monster before it pushed him off a cliff. It was too unlikely to be a coincidence, this monster had killed his grandfather! He felt anger and guilt rack his being, the anger at the beast that killed his grandfather and the guilt of not being able to help his last relative, he dashed for the goblin. But its camp mates shouted at it before he could get a strike in, he swung regardless.
So close, he cursed.
He swung again only for it to be blocked by the goblin's own shoddy blade, it cast his knife aside and jousted for his chest...
He grabbed the blade,
and screamed in pain.
He felt himself heat up as he started to hyperventilate under the anxiety of almost being stabbed, he looked up at the green goblin infront of him. It smirked at the kid and pushed further, Bell whimpered in pain.
He didn't want to end like this, he needed to do something. He needed to help people! He-
'You have power Bell! Dig down and use it damn it!' His grandpa's voice filled his head.
He followed the voice and looked within himself, and sure enough there was a small transparent flame. He smiled at the sight of it and felt comfortable in its warmth, but he remembered his situation and willed it out into his right hand. Specifically his right index finger, where a small ball, around the size of a fingernail in diameter, of jet black and scarlet red fire appeared and shot into the green goblin. It didn't even have a chance to scream, it just...
Turned to ashes.
He looked down to his left hand where he had two scar lines going over his fingers and the palm of his hand from catching the knife, it had healed but had left a scar, a reminder that he needed to be stronger.
Stronger so he could protect people and the ones he held dear.
He looked up and saw a massacre of goblin corpses with the armoured man standing covered in gore and blood in the mits of it all, he was looking at Bell.
"Mr. Slayer," He said.
"S-Sorry?"
"You can call me Mr. Slayer," he repeated.
"O.. Kay, why?" Bell asked, confused.
"Well your going to have to address your master as something, won't you?"
"Master?"
"I'm going to train you young one, if that's alright with you that is," he finished.
"I-I'd love to!" Bell shouted in excitement. He went over to the man and hugged him, regardless of the blood and gore, while Slayer just awkwardly patted Bell's back. The white haired boy let go of the man and attempted to pull the man back to town, but he didn't budge.
"Looks like you made some spoils of war, ..." he pointed out.
"It's Bell, and what spoils?"
His new master walked over to beside the ashes of the dead goblin Bell had killed and pulled out a bone white knife. "This," he stated whilst walking back to Bell. "Is a very rare 'drop' from a monster. It lets the user do about twice, if not more, the damage to the type of monster it is 'dropped' from. There pretty durable, so you should use it. Trust me, this is top notch for monster killing. The only reason I won't take it is because I'm more of a sword guy. So... you gonna take it?" He asked.
Breaking out of his stupor Bell slapped his cheeks and took the knife, it felt a bit big in his grip. It was as long as his forearm and had a black leather handle. He gave it a few test swings and smiled at the almost familiar feeling it gave off as he swung his new knife. He smiled up at his new master and pulled him along back to town, Slayer sighed as he let the kid hold the wheel for now.
X——————————————————X
They strolled into the village with Bell still pulling Slayer along, some chuckled at the sight. That is until they felt their stomachs lurch as the saw the blood and guts covering the two. Slayer laughed lightly at their expense as Bell brought them into the town hall, the lady looked up and acknowledged the two.
"Oh! You're both b-! AAAAAAAHH!" She screamed at the sight of them covered in goblin bits.
"We've come to collect our reward," Slayer told the lady nonchalantly.
Bell gasped, "We get a reward!?" He asked in glee. His master nodded and Bell grinned "Man, adventuring just keeps on getting better and better!" He shouted in happiness, his bad mood earlier today completely forgotten.
"That is until I start training you, Bell."
The lady raised her hand from underneath her desk "Y-your rewards," she put out two small brown pouches with coins in them on top of her desk. Slayer grabbed both and handed Bell one.
"Thank you for your business," he thanked as he guided Bell out, as the boy was marveling at the small pouch. Bell refocused and ran ahead, he called for Slayer to follow him. His master caught up in seconds and Bell pulled him into his house.
"What is this place?"
"My house!"
"Your house? Why woul-... ah, right," he had heard the story about his grandfather.
Bell went on to show him around the house and then brought him back to the kitchen, where he made a sandwich for the two of them. They ate in silence at the table till Bell spring a question.
"When are we going to start my training?"
"In a weeks time, it will take a while for us to get to the destination I have chosen,"
"Destination? Where are we going?"
"The North," Slayer answered back emotionlessly.
"T-The North!? Isn't it like super cold there? What about the monsters!?" Bell choked.
"Yes it is extremely cold there, but that will help condition you. Also, the monsters are there for your taking up there. They will be your opponents."
Bell sighed and grabbed his and Slayer's plates, Bell's sandwich uneaten. He washed them and sat back at the table.
"When do we leave?" Bell asked rather seriously.
"Today."
Bell was taken aback by this, but stopped. Reassuring himself that this was necessary.
"Pack your things you wish to bring with you, preferably clothes. Seeing as I don't have any clothes that fit you,"
Bell nodded and ran upstairs. He looked around his room and smiled. He grabbed his rucksack and put all of his clothes, shoes etc. into the bag. He looked at a picture of him and his grandpa smiling at him and put it into his bag aswell, he also put in his small pouch of Valis in there too. He closed it up and jumped face first onto his bed, grabbing the blanket and hugging it. Almost like he was trying to squeeze the memories out of it, he let go and jumped off his bed.
He walked downstairs with his bag on his back and told Mr. Slayer he was ready, he took one last long look around him, and they left.
X——————————————————X
"Are we there yet?" Bell asked, tired from this long walk. He thought they were going to take a carriage.
"No. We have about another five or six days travel by foot and stop complaining, this is part of your training,"
Hearing his master's last words he perked up and was renewed with some new unknown vigour. Slayer sighed at Bell's antics, this kid was really trusting towards people.
So they continued to walk for the rest of the day. Bell promptly fell asleep as they set up camp, two blankets and a small fire provided by his master, while Slayer secured the perimeter and then walked to a nearby village. He walked into the stables and addressed a stable boy.
"You there. Do you know where I can buy a carriage?" The teen looked up from his haystack-bed.
"Depends... you got the money for one?" he asked, mirth filling his voice and showing on his face.
"I do, how much is your standard carriage?"
Taken off guard by the man's nonchalant response stuttered a little, imagining the wealth the man had at his disposal. "F-Forty thousand Valis, can I interest you in a horse?" Slayer stayed quiet and the boy took it as a 'no'. "O-Okay then," he got up and led Slayer outside to a court yard where four carriages were lined up beside each other. They were all the same, but the one made from rich mahogany did catch his interest. The boy saw him eyeing it up and tried to strike off a deal. "Fifty thousand Valis, take it or leave it." He said, full of himself.
"You said they were forty thousand Valis."
"Well yes, but this here is made from some fine mahogany an-" he cut himself off when he saw his possible client place his hand on the handle of his blade. "B-But for you... how about twenty five thousand Valis and I'll throw in some horse gear and a guide book." The boy ran off to retrieve the goods while Mr. Slayer was left standing there, marvelling at how such a simple gesture was so effective.
The boy came back arms full and dumped his load into the carriage, Slayer tossed him his twenty five thousand Valis that was in a bag and grabbed the carriage by the reins and started to pull it along.
"Sir!" The man stopped and turned to look at the boy. "I-If you don't mind me asking, why do you want a carriage?" the man seemes to contemplate this before he gave his anwser.
"Because. I am Goblin Slayer." And he left, never to be seen by the boy again.
X——————————————————X
Bell looked out before him and saw a grass plain as far as the eye could see. slightly cloudy skies and a nice soft breeze greeted him, he smiled under its feeling.
He gazed at the horizon again and saw a building in the distance. He ran to it in what felt like seconds and was in shock at the houses structure. It was his home from his village. Down to the last detail he could remember, he entered inside and walked into the living room where a transparant flame sat in his fireplace. He sat down on the couch and basked in the heat it gave off...
"Now that is one unique soul you got there," a voice said casually as it sat on the couch beside him. Bell looked over and saw a man with black graying hair and white feathered wings wearing a black and white robe.
"W-Who are you? And where are we?" He asked, slightly unnerved by a stranger being in his 'home'.
"Names Morpheus, and right now we are in your mindscape."
"O-Oh, right," Bell answered back, in a daze after realizing he was speaking to a God of dreams. He snapped out of it and nodded at the fire. "That's my soul?" Bell asked incredulously.
"Yes, though it will move as you grow stronger. It will relocate itself inside your mindscape in order to grow..."
"Why are you here?"
"Z asked me for a favour; wants me to show you how to use your magic. Only because Hecate was being lazy though, so now I'm here. Anyway, wanna learn some magic?" Morpheus answered back, slightly peeved at the magic Goddess' recent laziness.
Bell stopped himself from answering and contemplated it...
for like two seconds that is.
"Heck ya! I can really learn magic !?" Bell's eyes sparkled with all sorts of ideas springing into his head.
Morpheus chuckled and patted Bell's head. "Ya buddy, now... ask yourself..." He tapped Bell in the center of his forehead and the boy slumped.
He came to in an empty black void. Utter silence. Until a voice echoed throughout the void.
"What do you seek from magic?" it asked.
"An aid, an aid to help me in my journey of becoming a hero. A power that counters my weakness." he responded.
"What is magic to you?"
"An energy, flowing through everything and everyone, forever adapting and evolving to help its needs. Forever evolving to improve and grow in strength."
"What do you want to get out of it?"
"To become the strongest so i can protect everyone in need."
"That all?"
"If possible, I want to be like the heros in the stories my grandfather told to me."
"So childish."
"Ya, well. That's just me!" the voice then echoed him and power shot into his being.
X——————————————————X
Bell shot up from his 'bed' and frantically looked around himself. Mr. Slayer was under his blanket sleeping in his armour and there was now a carriage beside them.
Energy crashed into him and he was up on his feet in seconds. He ran over and inspected the carriage. Information flowed into his mind about the mechanics of it and that it was made of rich mahogany. He didn't know how he knew, he just kind of... did.
He ran around their camp continuously for over half an hour until he was grabbed by the shoulder and slapped across the face by his master.
Goblin Slayer muttered something about calming down and giving him a minute. He did some basic streches which Bell copied, they stood up and Goblin Slayer dropped into a stance.
"We're going to spar. No weapons allowed." he stated.
"Alright!" Bell shouted back, pumped up.
Goblin Slayer was upon him in seconds and sent him to the ground. He stood over him and shook his head.
"You have much to learn." he told him. He then started talking to himself. "Some martial arts would be good, he'll have to learn how to wield multiple weapons. Ranged, short, long, heavy, light, naturally ocuuring, the lot of them. Oh and he'll need to work out on the daily to muscle up that skinny frame. I'll teach him lock picking on the side aswell." Bell sweat dropped at his master's antics.
Goblin Slayer picked him up and put him in the carriage. He packed up camp and stored their stuff in the back with Bell. He grabbed the reins and turned back to look at Bell.
"I want you to do fifty push ups, sit ups and squats each by nightfall, understood?"
Bell's eyes widened but nodded nonetheless, Mr. Slayer nodded back at him and started jogging with the carriage with him.
Bell exhaled deeply and got down and started doing push ups. He did ten and fell on weak arms then, without mopping, started to do squats to make full use of his time. He had to sit down after twenty bit he could already feel his arms' muscles knitting back stronger than before at a much-faster-than-a-normal-human's pace.
He lied down and sucked in his stomach to get the most out of his exercises and started doing sit ups, lifting himself with his core. He only just about got five when he fell back, panting.
He gave himself a five minute breathing break and went back to the push ups, doing eleven this time, then squats, twenty two, and then sit ups, six, and a five minute break. He repeated this process a few more times till he had his push ups and squats done and went back to sit ups. But instead of just doing his required ones he went on to the max he could do.
Whilst doing his last set he marvelled at his body's repair rate. He'd heard of body builders needing to wait a day or two till their muscles repaired, whereas his only took about fifteen minutes! His mind wandered back to Morpheus and the voice and the learning of magic, could this be part of his magic? Regardless he was going to ask Morpheus next time he saw him.
He started to wonder how to enter his mindscape again when a voice snapped him out of it.
"Well done Bell! That was much better than I expected from you," Goblin Slayer congratulated.
"Huh? O-Oh ya." Bell stood up and noticed his chest seemed a little bit peck-y-er. He noticed that Goblin Slayer had set up camp amd that it was nearly dusk.
"Seeing as you're good as new, we will be securing the area together. Grab your Goblin Knife and meet me by the fire,"
Bell did as he was told and met up with him at the fire. He led the way and when all looked clear, a kobold shot out of a bush and latched its teeth onto Bell's neck. Bell screamed and on instinct stabbed his knife through its eye and into its brain, killing it instantly. Though the damage was done.
He was was infected by kobold saliva, and it would either drive him insane or make him go on a rabees inflicting rampage. Pretty much the same thing. He felt his magic working overtime analysing the saliva and he felt confident that it would sort out the problem with that.
But there was also the problem of him bleeding out. That, he was pretty sure, couldn't be helped by his magic. He collapsed onto the ground below him.
Goblin Slayer ran over and knelt down beside him, he pulled out a healing potion and forced the liquids down Bell's throat. The wound healed up quickly enough.
But, if Bell's magic was already working overtime it sure as hell was being pushed to its limits right now; it analysed both the saliva and the potion, took the good aspects from both the dna of the saliva and the molecular composition of the potion and altered his dna to match it.
His eyes, ears, nose and mouth burst into a frenzy of pain, though with the help of the healing potion aspect of his dna his healing factor had shot up tremendously. Meaning the pain only lasted for a few seconds until it faded away. Goblin Slayer shook him.
"Bell! Bell are you okay!?" He asked as he turned Bell around to get a better look at him. Bell raised up a weak hand and gave a thumbs up, then passed out.
Goblin Slayer took a second to take in Bell's appearance; he still had his trademark white hair and scarlet eyes. Actually, he looked pretty much the exact same. Though if you looked closely you could see he had slightly longer-than-normal canines. Oh and he was growing in height pretty rapidly.
On the spot Goblin Slayer dumped Bell into the carriage and started to walk into the night to finish the two day journey that was left to The North.
X——————————————————X
Bell woke up. And all he could think was...
'These last couple of days have been crazy, I've almost died twice...!
And I'm only thirteen!'
X——————————————————X
I've been wanting to do a Danmachi fic for a while now and lots of different idea keep coming to mind. Oh and to clear some things up;
* Goblin Slayer is in this yes, but he's only here to help train Bell and then he'll be off to start his own canon somewhere. He won't be back.
*Bell will be stronger, but I don't want to make him too strong. Ya know? I'll try and keep him in check.
*He will be smarter, cuz magic and shiz. I dunno.
*Harem-ish maybe? He'll at least be with a few girls though, but not like ever one under the sun.
*Ya so Bell'll be better all around, not saying canon him is back tho, he'll be taller and better built btw.
Uh, Sparetime out!