-Foreword-

Chapter 3 got updated on 9/10/2020, so if you read it before this date, I'd suggest you go over it again. Many weird dialogues were changed or descriptions were replaced and I've added more to the ending and wrote a new intermission showing the Loki familia's problems with the whole chapter 1 incident.

Many people told me to not upload an incomplete chapter on the fanfiction website and as a result, I've decided to post my chapters on spacebattle's creative forum before putting them on fanfiction. That way, I can get feedbacks on there and give you guys who are using fanfiction a more polished work.

I can't link anything or even place a dot net or else the fanfiction website will automatically delete it, so if you want to support me on spacebattles, I go by the username JSNachos. Looking forward to see you there!

That's about it. Enjoy reading!

x-X-x-X-x

Chapter 4 – Little Hero

"SHE DID WHAT?!"

Entering the Blue Pharmacy's workshop in the morning, Shalltear was greeted by the sight of Naaza hitting Miach on the head, who could only respond by letting out growls of pain.

"Well, it was an accident… And she agreed to help us out for compensation." Miach said.

"Humph. You asked for a payoff for once. You keep on giving away potions to everyone that crosses your path." Naaza said, head shaking in disapproval with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry." Miach said with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head that still hurt before sitting down at a small table with a sandwich. "Oh. Good morning, Aura! Did you sleep well?" He said when he noticed Shalltear had entered the room.

"Hmm… Yes~."

Naaza turned to Shalltear and sniffed the air slightly before commenting: "You smell like the dungeon."

"Eh?" Shalltear said. She was right in a way. Shalltear did enter the supposedly 'man-made' dungeon from a secret entrance last night, but how could that woman smell it from so far and recognize that it was the dungeon's scent?

"Hahaha. Naaza is a chienthrope. Her sense of smell is stronger than other races." Miach laughed, totally missing the point while Naaza looked rather concerned.

"Have you been in the dungeon? What familia are you in?" The chienthrope spoke out of concern and ignored her god's laugh.

"I don't have a familia… My god is not there anymore…" The silver haired girl looked devastated at admitting this fact.

"So, you went in there with your status outdated. You have a falna at the very least, but you should join a familia with a god that's active."

"No! I owe him too much to just do that~!" The girl looked furious, looking almost to the point that she would kill anyone that choose to press the matter further. Naaza shrugged it off as nothing serious and went out to get the mail.

"Hmm, I could give you a list of drop items I want from the 7th floor if you want to keep on exploring the dungeon." Miach said before taking another bite into his sandwich.

"Mister Miach! She's too young to go in by herself!" Naaza called out as she came back inside with the mail.

"You are right, she does need a party to accompany her." The god said firmly before looking back at the still standing Shalltear. "Anyways, you should eat. There are toasts in the drawer over there" He said, pointing in the direction of a small kitchen area.

"I don't need to ea-"

"Don't be ridiculous, you have to eat something if you want to be in top condition for work." Miach retorted. The god obviously didn't know Shalltear was undead, thus did not require food.

"Sure~." Shalltear complied, seething with anger. She took a toast and bit it in frustration. She really didn't like being bossed around by a god that sealed all of his powers to act weak.

Naaza, oblivious to Shalltear's current behaviour, was looking through some envelopes she got out of the mailbox.

"Wha ar they mbout?" Miach asked with his mouth full.

"Taxes, taxes, more taxes and, oh, there's a letter for you. It has the Ganesha familia emblem on it." Naaza told Miach.

"Wha ghoes it say?"

The chienthrope opened the envelope and read it for herself in silence before saying: "To put it short, it says that you're invited to a party with the other gods in two days from now."

"Ah, I see. Ganesha wants to entertain the gods before the upcoming monster festival." The god's carefree mood switched to a more excited one in anticipation for the party. Having finished his sandwich, he rose up from the table, beaming.

"You're not going to go, right?" Naaza sent the god a terrifying glare as if daring him to go.

"O-Of course not. I have too many things to do." He said, lowering his head and wiping away his tears of saddness.

Naaza gave an approving nod. She then turned to the silver haired girl in the kitchen.

"I see that you're done eating. Are you ready for work?"

The girl reluctantly nodded. She had, in truth, simply incinerated a toast to the point of not being visible to the naked eye. As far as she knew, dogs did not have enhanced vision so there was nothing to worry about… Well, except for the smell of ashes, but the animal woman didn't seem to comment on it so it was all good for Shalltear.

Miach, whom had recovered from the sad reality that he won't be able to go to the party of the gods, clapped his hand and said: "Very well! I'll let Naaza do the teaching. I must go buy more ingredients for the potions. I'll be back later in the late noon!" He then turned around and left, leaving the two girls alone in the shop.

"He's dumping all the work on me…" Naaza growled.

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again: "… Then, I guess we should begin?" and then proceeded to walk to the door that led to the main shop. She turned her head to look at Shalltear, who had not moved yet and said: "Come on."

Shalltear reluctantly followed and entered the main area of the shop from the back and followed the chienthrope all the way to the counter at the front.

"We'll simply be going over the basics for how to run the shop. Making potions may be a little too hard for you at the moment, so leave that to us." She began. She then went on to explain things about the shop such as: how to talk to customers, what each item does, how to handle the customer's money, etc.

After about half an hour of formation, the bells from the front door jingled to announce the first customer of the day.

"Welcome to the Blue Pharmacy." Shalltear greeted the customer, behind the counter at the front of the shop. The customer was wearing a shoulder plates and a breast plate along with a sword attached to his belt. His face was covered with scars and he had an eyepatch. The man was most likely a hardened dungeon veteran.

"Mornin'." He greeted Shalltear with a gruff voice and his sole eye opening slightly in surprise. Shalltear guessed that the man was either surprised in seeing a new employee or was merely mesmerized by her above-the-divine beauty. Perhaps even both.

Following what Naaza taught her, Shalltear continued, though not without a slight stutter of embarrassment at the words she was about to say to a lower being. "W-What can I do for you?". Shalltear couldn't help but be infuriated at what she was currently forced to do. This had to be the worst day in her entire life!

"I need potions, obviously. Where's Miss Erisuis?" The man replied and asked to see someone whom Shalltear supposed was Naaza's last name. She pointed further in the back at the chienthrope making some sort of medicinal potion.

The man nodded and approached the woman from behind, greeting her with a quick, but loud "Hello!"

Naaza jumped with a small yelp of surprise and the man laughed at her reaction. "Oh, Mister Elton. Please do not do that again… I suppose you require more physical healing potions, slightly diluted, for your trips in the dungeon? Didn't you already buy those from us a few days ago?"

"Correct, but you know, we've heard some terrible rumors about a monster that went on a rampage yesterday on the upper floors along with a minotaur party. Apparently, it killed over forty adventurers, but that could be a slight exaggeration."

"Oh. That's awful…"

"Yea, it is. Although the death count may be an exaggeration… Who knows?" He shrugged and then went on. "They say the guild gave a heavy fine to the Loki familia. It apparently was their fault for scaring em' off on the middle floors and that they've dealt with them already, but you never know if one or two minotaurs were left out, so we'll be a little more cautious in today's trip."

"That's good. Better be cautious than to injure yourselves or even die from it." Naaza gave an approving nod before opening the cabinet that held potions and picked up a small bag. "How many?" She asked the man.

"Four will be enough. Thank you." He said as he picked up the small bag that contained the potions and made his way back to the counter near the entrance where Shalltear waited impatiently.

"I'm back. Here you go. These are slightly diluted potions." He told Shalltear as he placed the bag on the counter.

'If I can recall correctly, slightly diluted potions cost 240 valis each, so times four equals-ahhhh! I don't know! Math is too complicated… I'll have to resort to underhanded tactics.'

"240 valis each." Shalltear said with a smile, satisfied with her answer that saved her from solving the equation.

The man grins and places the money on the counter. "Here you go, new girl!" He exclaimed merrily and exited the shop after waving Naaza goodbye.

After that, Naaza walked over to the counter with a smile. "You did well for your first customer. And it was the first time I've seen you smile. You should do it more often."

Shalltear wasn't certain about what to say… That smile was simply her being proud of herself for using her brains instead of having to do difficult math. It didn't have anything to do with the customer. Why would she want to smile to lower life-forms? That just didn't make any sense and she really hated her job.

The vampire sighed.

This was going to be a very long day…

x-X-x-X-x

Miach walked through the streets of Orario to buy all the supplies he needed to run his shop. Even so, he had another matter to attend to before that. A very important one at that. Not for the business, but for a certain someone's happiness.

The god approached a food stall where a small raven-haired girl with a giant pair of boobs prepared a few potato croquettes. "Hestia… It has been a while." Miach smiled, remembering the eternities they had spent together back in Tenkai.

"Oh, hi Miach, how are you doing?" She said happily, raising her head from the food when she saw who it was.

"I'm doing good. Anyways, I don't want to take too much of your time, so I'll go straight to the point; do you think Bell would like to have another party member?" He asked, causing the girl to reflect over it, not expecting that kind of question.

"… That definitely could help him out… But why do you ask?"

"It's that I have a problem child working for me and I need a few drop items from the dungeon." Miach answered.

"Ah err. If it can help Bell in the dungeon, I don't see why not. What's his name?"

"She's a girl of about the same age as Bell. Her name is Aura." Miach said and became perplexed when he saw Hestia turning red in rage. "Uh? Is something wrong, Hestia?"

"What does that girl want to do with my Bell?" She said with a killing glare.

Miach sweatdropped at Hestia's frantics. "Calm down, calm down. Just because it's a girl doesn't mean that they'll fall in love with each other."

"Still, I can't let Bell near other women for safety measures. I don't want him to start looking at other girls lustfully, except for me, uh, I mean no!" Hestia shouted angrily, making Miach recall how Bell felt uneasy and blushed when looking at Shalltear's appearance. He wondered if this was a good idea after all.

"If I recall correctly, Aura told me that she had an interest in other girls, not boys, so I doubt she will attempt to seduce him if that is what you're worried about." At the mention of Shalltear's gender preference, Hestia's eyes lit up as she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"If that's the case, she may be a perfect companion for Bell!"

"Um yes, although she somehow has experience in the dungeon, I'm not too certain about who she received the falna from. Her god is supposedly 'gone' if that says anything." He said with a serious expression.

"No, it doesn't… I hate to ask, but how would you profit from this affair? Surely you don't just want drop items to make special potions, do you?" She asked with a skeptical look, knowing him too much to know that this was not the real reason.

"I do, but it is out of concern for the girl. She's very lonely and depressed… I thought making friends with someone of her age would help her out through whatever she's struggling with. And kids these days all go explore the dungeon. It wouldn't be nice of me to restrict her." He said solemnly, making Hesta smile.

"Ah~. You always get yourself into trouble because you're too kind for your own good, you know?"

Miach smiled back in amusement. "Is that an insult? I see nothing wrong with that."

Hestia laughed heartily at that answer. "Well then, it's alright with me, but I'll have to talk to Bell about it. I don't want her to slow down my child's progress… How about a trial tomorrow morning? The two of them go in the dungeon and see for themselves if they want to form a party together."

Miach nodded. "Sounds good. I'll relay the message to her. Have a good day, Hestia." He said before going on his merry way.

"See you." The goddess waved before going back to making her jagamarukuns.

x-X-x-X-x

Miach came back in the late evening with a cart holding boxes and bags on it. With Shalltear's help, they both carried the supplies inside the shop.

"You sure took your time…" Naaza commented as she came out of the workshop and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her non-robot hand. She looked exhausted after this long day of work.

Miach gave a small laugh and answered with: "I'm sorry."

The chienthrope gave him a disapproving look and shook her head. "Anyways, do you have everything we needed?"

"Yep, and we might eventually be able to get our hands on the expensive drop items required for our experiments."

"Oh really?" Naaza asked with widened eyes.

"That's right, I found someone that can form a party with Aura to retrieve the drop items." The god proudly told the two girls inside the shop.

""Uh?!""

Both Naaza and Shalltear were surprised by this statement.

"What do you mean?" Naaza asked.

"Well… Aura is at an age where it's normal to go venture in the dungeon once in a while with friends and I believe it to be a good opportunity to retrieve the drop items since you cannot go in the dungeon anymore…" Miach said, clearly saddened by that last fact.

"Mmggh. Fine!" Naaza gave up and left the room angrily.

Miach turned to Shalltear: "Are you fine with that? I did not want to have you work in a shop at such a young age. Teenagers like you should go explore the dungeon and I understand why you wanted to go in there, but I cannot allow you to venture in the dungeon without a party. It is too dangerous for you to go alone." He said in understanding.

'What does he mean by teenagers usually go in the dungeon?! No, more importantly, when did I say that I wanted to go back in there?!' Shalltear screamed in her head.

Taking the girl's silence as a yes, he continued: "You remember Bell from yesterday?" He said, and the girl's eyes widened in shock. "Yes, well, you may go with him. I know he acted strangely last night, but he's a very nice boy and here's hoping you two could become friends by supporting each other in the dungeon." The god smiled warmly.

Shalltear was on the verge of crying. 'Please stop… Please don't make me babysit that white-haired brat… Please don't make my existence any worse than it already is by sending me back in the dungeon…'

Miach was surprised to see the girl looked as if she was about to cry. He didn't expect his proposal to impact her so much that she could cry in joy. Just what was her life before this? Did she suffer from abuse or had any friends to begin with?

From everything he had heard, her story sounded like she was left alone and very sad until a mysterious god picked her up and made her happy again only to disappear later. He wasn't entirely sure if his reconstruction was accurate, but whatever the girl went through must've been something similar to that.

He gave a reassuring smile and patted the girl's shoulder. "It's alright, you know. Nothing bad is going to happen. Bell is a nice young man and would never try to hurt you. Don't worry about it."

'As if that kid would ever be able to hurt me, a creation of entities superior to the gods! Damn it! That stupid god is totally missing the point!' Shalltear thought desperately.

After a few minutes of silence, the god looked through the window to see the night sky covered with black clouds and the rain starting to fall over the city.

"It's getting dark outside. You should head to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for you."

x-X-x-X-x

Storm clouds hovered in the night sky.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Bell was running through the heavy rain. Tears flowed from his eyes. The events of last hour at the Hostess of Fertility were replaying in a loop in his mind.

He was so embarrassed that he wanted to just disappear for the first time in his life.

'Why am I so stupid?' He told himself. Every words of the animal man from the Loki familia hurt even more every time he heard it in his head.

Weak, feeble, trash, tiny, pathetic, little bitch…

The question in his mind wasn't 'What can I do to get close to her.', it was 'If I don't do something, I don't even have the right to stand by her side.'

That animal man's words, and the laughing faces around him made Bell angry. Angry at himself for not being strong enough for Ais Wallenstein to notice him.

It hurt to know that everything the animal guy said was true and that he couldn't stand up to defend himself. It hurt to know that he was nothing more than an ant to the sword princess. It hurt that he didn't even have the right to talk to her.

Bell stopped in his tracks and looked up at the raining sky to see Babel tower, the tower that housed the dungeon underneath it.

'I have to get stronger so that I can stand by her side'

He clenched his fist with a determined look on his face. He had to get stronger so that he could become a hero, just like in the stories his grandfather told him. That was the only way she would ever fall in love with him.

x-X-x-X-x

The Next Day…

In the morning, Shalltear waited impatiently in plaza in front of Babel tower. She stood by the fountain at the middle of the public square, waiting for a certain young boy that she had to accompany.

Said boy came running in her direction, equipped with a few daggers and wearing only a small breast plate for protection. It was better than Shalltear's current attire that had absolutely no armor and were simply the same boring clothes that she had stolen from the guild. Miach and Naaza seemed concerned for her safety and thought she acted recklessly but it wasn't as if she really needed any protection. From what she'd seen already, there was nothing dangerous awaiting her in the dungeon.

Remembering the other day's events on the fifth floor, Shalltear sincerely hoped that she wouldn't have to jump in to save the boy, whom she had already forgotten the name, from every single monster they encountered in the dungeon. That would be extremely boring and a huge waste of her time. At the very least, Naaza gave her a couple healing potions so she wouldn't have to waste her healing magic on the white-haired brat.

As the boy finally arrived, he blushed and clearly felt uneasy with being so close to a girl of divine beauty such as Shalltear. She hoped that the boy would not attempt to flirt with her. Her love was reserved to the supreme beings after all.

"E-Excuse me! Is it you that wants to join my party? I-I j-just remembered you were w-with Miach so-"

"Yep it's me~. My name is Aura Bella Fiora~." She told the boy in a sing-song voice.

The boy's cheeks became even redder. "I-I see… My name is Bell Cranel, n-nice to meet you." He said as he extended his hand towards Shalltear who glanced down at it with disgust for a second before back up at Bell's face, causing the young man to pull it away awkwardly.

"I shall see if there is any worth in forming a party with you today~." She said firmly, remembering how lame the boy was when he ran from the weak beastman monster.

"Y-Yes." Bell responded awkwardly.

"Okay, and I will be the party leader~!" Shalltear said in a commanding tone that suggested no objections would be tolerated.

"Eh?! Do we really need a party leader?" He asked, causing the vampire to reflect over her statement for a few seconds.

After pondering over the question for a while, Shalltear answered the pathetic brat's question; "Of course, we do." That was a lie. She knew that there was absolutely no point in having a leader in a two-member party, but the vampire couldn't stand being seen as equal to that boy. There was no way she'd accept that fate. Moreover, there might be more people joining their little group eventually, so she had to take any advantage she had to make herself above others.

"Then I guess it's fine… I don't have much experience in leadership anyways… Say, are you a magic caster?" The boy asked, seeing that Shalltear did not have any weapon or armor on herself. Even so, it was still quite weird given that magic casters usually had a staff and carried secondary weapons to deal with monsters that came too close to them.

"I do have some magic, but I use a lance as my main weapon. It is stored within my pocket dimension." She explained to the stupid brat. She had forgotten how people in this city apparently don't have an inventory, so his concerns were not unfounded.

"Whoa! So that means you can store things into an invisible bag? Is it endless?" He asked many questions consecutively with stars of amazement in his eyes.

"Yes~. Although it only works for weapons~." Shalltear lied once again. She did not want her inventory to become the go to place to store all of these weaklings' things. She would never accept to be seen as a nothing more than a pack mule.

Seeing Bell's admiring glare pleased Shalltear by quite a bit. With enough time and training, he may become a good pet. "If you are quite done admiring my abilities, then let us proceed~." She said proudly after the boy's praises and began walking towards the dungeon's entrance with Bell following closely behind her.

"Say, what are your stats like, Aura?" Bell asked as Shalltear flinched at the lack of honorifics in her name. Shouldn't she be called 'master'? Or perhaps this sounded a bit wrong in this environment, so why not captain?

"What my stats are~?" Shalltear repeated and Bell answered with a nod. The vampire hadn't thought about what to answer with beforehand. She couldn't tell him what her actual stats were, and even if she did, she doubted that the boy would understand due to the level system not being the same to the one where she came from.

"I… I don't know, but it is above most adventurers~." She finally gave her reply before entering the dungeon and walking down the spiral staircase to the dungeon's first floor.

"Aura… that's amazing! Will you be taking out your spear right away?"

"No. Those creatures on the upper floors are not worth staining my spear on them~. I will be using my spells and please use an honorific when talking to your senior~. I shall tolerate you calling me 'miss' or 'captain'. Have I made myself clear~?"

Bell was perplexed by this statement. Aura was about the same age as him, so wouldn't calling her 'miss' sound somewhat wrong?

"Sure… I guess…"

x-X-x-X-x

Shalltear felt slightly bored.

They had entered the dungeon two hours ago, and they had yet to encounter any kind of threat at all. Most of it were kobolds, goblins and sometimes ants and lizard monsters. The brat, Bell Cranel, progressed throughout the dungeon at a satisfactory paste and knew the upper floors' layout which meant that the two of them did not waste too much time.

The vampire had not brought out her Spuit Lance yet and had simply used the third-tier spell, [Lightning]. The spell shot a small bolt of lightning from the tip of her finger and electrocuted to death any monster that she pointed at. Shalltear wasn't sure if Bell Cranel was actually praising that weak spell of hers or if he was simply mocking her.

They were already down to the fifth floor of the dungeon which looked no different than the floors prior to it and nothing of note caught her interest. The boy tried to small talk, but she had little interest in him. Up until now, he had done nothing that caught her interest. Shalltear wasn't entirely sure if she was setting her expectations for both Bell and the dungeon a bit too high.

While the walls and floor of the fifth floor were light green colored compared to the light blue color of the four floors prior to it, they were essentially the same; corridors forming a maze filled with low level monsters and useless traps. Nonetheless, Shalltear was still curious if there would be anything different beyond those floors, remembering that so called 'man-made dungeon' from the other night, so she decided to ask the boy.

"Do you know if all floors look like this~?" She asked Bell out of a mild curiosity before a group of kobolds emerged from the walls and ambushed the two adventurers. Kobolds were average sized reptilian humanoid creatures and one of the weakest spawned monsters one could encounter in both YGGDRASIL and the dungeon.

"No. This is just how the first floors are made. I've heard from some adventurers that some floors look more like an actual jungle or a winter landscape with ice and snow." Bell answered quickly as he ran at a kobold and cut it with his dagger.

'Hmm… That description sounds somewhat similar to Nazarick's fifth and sixth floor, although I've never visited any of them. Based on this, there may be types of environment other than those the boy described too.'

"I see, so does it stops being a maze at a certain point? [Lightning]." She asked the boy while blasting her spell at one of those foolish dragonoid creatures that attempted to jump on her divine self.

"Yep." The boy answered quickly, too immersed in his fight to deliver a longer response.

"Good~. [Lightning], I hate spending time on finding a way down~." She commented while shooting at another kobold, leaving only two of these monsters left that ran towards Bell.

"I-It's n-not that hard o-once you memorize t-the layout." He stuttered, all the while slaying a kobold and kicking away the other, sending it crashing in the wall, unmoving.

He turned to face Shalltear. "You've used your lightning spells quite a lot… Are you sure that you don't want to rest? You could get a mind dow-"

"Watch out!" Shalltear shouted quickly.

Bell only saw a flash when Shalltear pulled a giant spear out of nowhere and swung it over his shoulder. Hearing the spear piercing something from behind him, Bell turned to see the severed head of the kobold that he had sent flying into the wall earlier. It appears that his earlier kick wasn't enough to finish it off…

"That was careless of you~. Though I doubt that reptilian would have been enough to injure you~."

"T-Thank you." After the few seconds of silence that it took for Bell's brain to process everything that had happened before his eyes, he finally spoke in agitation: "…That was fast! I didn't expect you to be this amazing, miss Fiora!"

"That is only to be expected from someone like me~!" Shalltear puffed out her chest proudly, leaving the boy smiling and feeling slightly awkward at his captain's overly self-centered behavior.

Bell noticed strange bubbles forming into the lance that pierced the kobold and right after that, a green light surrounded the girl and faded a few seconds after. Still wondering what was exactly going on with the lance, Bell widened his eyes as he looked closer at the giant spear that his captain had just pulled out of what he supposed was her secret 'pocket dimension'. It was at least twice as big as the teenage girl, making her look a bit ridiculous while wielding it, though it didn't seem to bother her that much. Its design was very strange, almost alien looking, but something else surprised Bell. "That lance… Was it you who killed the minotaur the other day?"

Shalltear stiffened her pose.

She had been found out.

How careless of her.

She was not certain if she should lie to him as he saw her with her glowing crimson-red eyes, but ultimately decided to go against it since her cover was already blown. "That is correct~."

"T-Then, t-thank you for saving me and please f-forgive me for running away!" The boy stuttered before bowing down on the floor. "Miss Fiora… I have a request."

"Uh?! A request~? Then speak your mind~." Shalltear said, a bit confused by the boy's actions. Was he going to swear loyalty to her? She couldn't see how his services could be useful to her in any way. Perhaps she could simply reject his allegiance-

"Please teach me how to become strong!" He finally exclaimed, with his head rising up to look at her in the with pleading eyes, similar to that of a puppy. While he looked cute, there was definitely a glint of determination in his eyes.

"Ah?!" Shalltear exclaimed. She did not expect that kind of request. The boy was asking for another favor from her, a big one at that, right after she graced him with her divine protection, twice even. How dare he! Well, she might as well play with him for a while. "And why do you want more power~?"

The boy seemed hesitant to this question. "I… I want to become a hero…" He said, feeling a bit embarrassed by his answer.

"Fuhahaha! What a generic goal~." Shalltear couldn't help but laugh at the boy's reason for wanting to grow stronger. He almost sounded like the heroes in fairy tales.

Bell rose from the floor with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I know it may sound foolish… But that is what I aspire to be… There's someone I need to overcome in strength for her to notice me."

"Oh. So, it's for girl~?" Shalltear asked skeptically. She really did hope that the girl in question was not herself. She would never accept a lowly human's feelings. Perhaps except for Ais, but the blonde human girl would have to be the underdog in their relationship, nonetheless.

"[Charm Species.]". The vampire chanted. After casting this 4th tier spell, Bell's eyes turned the same color as Shalltear's.

"Am I the girl you need to catch up to?" She asked with seriousness in her voice.

"No." He replied with no hint of emotion. In truth, it was because he wasn't really conscious anymore. He was under a mind control spell.

"Good~." Shalltear said as she released her charm spell off of Bell. The boy acted as if nothing happened, confirming that he wasn't conscious during her mind control effect or forgot everything that had just happened.

"Sounds interesting enough~. I guess I can teach you the basics~." Shalltear told him playfully. She actually didn't really know how to train anyone. As she was born with power already, the vampire really had no idea what the steps were to become stronger. Her fellow guardian, Cocytus would've been better with this sort of thing… Even so, it was good opportunity to replace the co-worker bound by a master and pet bound instead and all she had to do was to throw monsters at the brat and praise him for all his hard work. One thing that she knew was that puppies always loved receiving praises from their masters.

"Thank you." He gave another bow while standing. The boy should really stop bowing all the time, but Shalltear gave up on that idea reasoning that it was better for him to show her too much respect and gratitude than none at all.

"I don't need your false gratitude~. Instead, how about you repay it by collecting all the magic stones before the monster corpses disappear~?" She said in a sweet commanding tone. There was no way she'd stain her hands by retrieving some worthless stones out of the corpses of disgusting reptilians. Having a pet accompanying her wasn't so bad after all.

"Y-Yes!" Bell responded and went on to pull out the magic stones from the dead kobolds. The monsters vanished into dust once their core was pulled out.

'How can he be so cheerful while dissecting a group of disgusting monsters to retrieve a few worthless rocks?' Shalltear thought to herself as she watched the boy collecting the magic stones effectively all the while humming some annoying song.

After being done putting all the magic stones into his small pouch, Bell walked towards Shalltear happily. "I am done, teacher."

Shalltear flinched at the horrible title her new pet had given her. The vampire felt irritated at how the boy easily forgot what honorifics she had told him to use. "Teacher won't do~. You may keep on referring to me as 'miss' or 'captain', understood~?"

"Y-Yes. I'm so s-sorry." Bell stuttered and hanged his head low in shame. He had easily forgotten that this girl, no matter how close she was to him in age, remained her senior when it came to combat experience.

When she noticed the boy's shame for not knowing his place, Shalltear nodded in satisfaction. "Good~. Now then, let us head further down~." She said as she began to walk towards the stairs that lead to the floor beneath the one they were currently on.

When she reached the stairs down to the sixth floor, she stared down at the darkness, hoping to see something, but it seemed that she was too high up to see what awaited down on that other floor.

Making sure that her newest pet was still behind her, she started walking down the stone stairs.

"What is the furthest floor you've ever been on, boy~?" She asked, without leaving her gaze from the direction in front of her.

"T-The fifth floor…" He said in embarrassment.

"Oh. So, it seems we both don't know what lies beyond this point~." Shalltear stated which confused Bell profusely.

"Uh, miss Fiora… May I ask how you've gotten your stats so high without exploring the dungeon at all?"

"No, you may not~." She replied angrily. Why should Bell Cranel even care as long as she treated him like the good dog that he is. He should be grateful that she acknowledged him at all.

Noticing that he somehow upset his captain, Bell decided to apologize. "Eh, ah! I'm sorry for asking!"

Bell could see that his captain was going through some kind of conflict, maybe even depression. He didn't know why he didn't press the matter further… He was usually of the compassionate kind, but there was something off about his captain. It was very cold and the idea of hearing more about her somehow sent chills down his spine. It was as if all his senses screamed death.

After minutes of descending the long stairway, they had finally reached the ground of the sixth floor and it looked just exactly like the fifth floor with the light green lights on the walls and ceiling.

"Miss Fiora… Are we going to go head even further down after that?" Bell said, a bit afraid of what could happen in this unknown territory, despite knowing that his captain was most likely strong enough to beat anything in here without a flinch. He had tried to ask information about the sixth floor to his dungeon advisor, but she refused, saying that this was a strategy she'd found out as a way to stop him from attempting to venture even further down.

"Hmm… I believe Miach wanted something from the seventh floor but has not told me what it is~. He must've thought that I would not be able to reach that floor yet~."

"S-So, a-are w-we g-going further than the sixth?" Bell asked once more since his captain only dodged the question.

Shalltear turned back to look at the panicked boy and gave a huge sigh. "Well, I guess not~. Still, if we could find another small monster party, then we can call it a day after that~."

And as if the dungeon was simply waiting for Shalltear to demand that, a group of humanoid shadows turned the corner to a corridor and ran up to the two of them.

"War shadows?!" Bell exclaimed in fright. The vampire recognized these creatures as the same kind to the first monster she had come across ever since being sent into this world. She reckoned that if the boy feared these creatures, then they were perfect for his training.

"I'll leave the beating up to you~." She said playfully as she gave a small push on the boy's back, sending him stumbling a few steps forward.

The war shadows surrounded the panicking Bell, preparing for battle. Their arms transformed into pitch black blades of the same color as their bodies.

"Ghaa!" Bell let out a growl of pain as he couldn't doge one of the shadow's attacks.

It was true that the war shadows' attack pattern was relatively strong and fast, and their reach was too long for the boy, who only had a dagger. Shalltear wondered why the brat used a dagger as his weapon of choice. As far as she remembered, the guild offered plenty of other kinds of weapons like swords, spear and bow.

Looking at the boy getting attacked from all sides, she wondered if she should step in after all, but ultimately decided to go against it. These monsters weren't really worth her time. If Bell Cranel was to lose to these pathetic monsters, then he was not worth her time as well.

"Gaaaa!"

Bell's clothes were torn apart and blood flowed out in huge quantities. Shalltear could see the boy getting dizzy and eventually fell on the ground. She licked her lips as she thought about all the delicious blood-related cocktails she would make out of all of this if the boy died. Shalltear was almost certain that he was going to die until-

A shadow rose above him, striking to kill. "Gotta do it!" Bell screamed as he quickly rolled to the side to dodge and stood up.

"Gotta do it! Gotta do it!"

He charged headlong into the war shadows' advancing ranks.

"Or else I can't stand by her side!"

And as if a new flame had awakened inside of him, the boy dodged the shadows' attacks, his dagger's blade faster than before.

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash.

And just like that, Bell Cranel had beaten a group of war shadows he had troubled dealing with seconds ago. He remained standing, with his hand over his belly that had been pierced and was bleeding out. His clothes were shedded to pieces and the boy looked like he was about to crumble from exhaustion.

"I… I did it." He said smiling as blood came out of his mouth.

Shalltear remained staring at him dumbfounded.

While these monsters were still very weak, the boy had managed to entertain her either way. She could not help but think that this brat really was just like heroes in stories. His goal was enough to make him grow stronger than before.

"Mph. Good Job~." Shalltear said nonchalantly as she approached the boy. While she was impressed, she could not possibly show that to him. Other than surprise, she was slightly disappointed that she wouldn't get to drink his blood. She could've if he passed out, but that wasn't an option as she would never allow herself to carry him all the way up to the surface

As she got closer, she placed her hand on Bell's chest, surprising the boy. "[Greater Heal]".

As a holy magic user, Shalltear could easily cast healing spells on anyone. And like that, a green light surrounded the boy and every cuts and bruises on his body were immediately regenerated back to their original state.

The reason as to why she had to reveal that spell to him was simple; the boy had spilled all the healing potions on the floor during his fight.

Bell's mouth opened in a 'o' shape. "Whoa… Your magic is amazing as always, captain!"

"Umu. It is only to be expected~. Though you should use healing potions next time~." Shalltear told him, not wanting Bell to become reckless and always come back for healing. Would a master always give a treat to their dog every time the dog asks for it? Of course not, because it wouldn't be seen as a reward for their loyalty anymore.

"I understand! You must've used up a lot of mana for that spell." Bell nodded in understanding.

"Mmh… Yea~." Shalltear admitted reluctantly. If an excuse like that could work, then there was nothing wrong with it. The boy would probably still admire her considering a measly third tier lighting spell is seen as amazing.

"Very well then. And as we previously agreed on, we'll call it a day. Go collect those magic stones first and then we shall head back up~." Shalltear ordered her pet.

Bell seemed hesitant. "But miss Fiora… After you used your magic on me, I feel like I could keep going for longer…"

"Nah~. You've done enough fighting for today~." Shalltear reassured him. In truth, all the vampire wanted to do was to get back out of the dungeon since they have been down there for almost an entire day and it will also take a few hours to get back up. She has had enough of babysitting this brat and just wanted to go back to crying in a pillow or something like similar to that.

x-X-x-X-x

"Although, you might want to consider buying new clothes~. Ah, and borrow a new weapon from the guild~." Shalltear instructed essentially pointless stuff to Bell as the two of them returned from the dungeon, just as the sun was setting.

"Ah… Err, yes! Will we spar in the dungeon?" Bell asked worryingly, and Shalltear herself didn't feel like sparring in the dungeon though for different reasons than Bell.

"Is fighting allowed within the city grounds?" The vampire asked, not wanting to spend more time than what was necessary in that sickening place.

Bell thought about it for a moment before answering: "Not everywhere, but my goddess and I live in small church not far from here... We can train in the backyard without anyone seeing us or complaining."

"Then, that's settled~. If that is all, I will see you tomorrow morning~." Shalltear said, and as she prepared to teleport away, something pulled on her shoulder.

"Wait m-miss Fiora?! Are we not going to split the earnings for today's dive?" Bell said as he removed his hand from the vampire's shoulder, seeing that she had turned around to hear him out.

In all honesty, Shalltear didn't care about money. All she really wanted was entertainment to forget that her masters were still very far away from her… That entertainment right now consisted mostly of anticipation for the monster festival massacre and watching this brat try to become a hero.

"Hmm… Aren't you supposed to be registered at the guild to exchange magic stones into your money currency~?" Shalltear asked the boy a question that seemed to confuse him a lot.

"Well yes… Are you not registered as an adventurer?" He asked incredulously.

Shalltear shook her head. "Nope~."

Bell felt a bit puzzled at his captain's short response. "Why not?"

"I don't feel like doing it~. You can keep the money~." She waved her hand at the bag filled with magic stones as if it was mere dust.

"I… I can't do that after you've helped me so much!" He exclaimed aloud. Seeing her silence, he went on: "If you insist on not registering, I'll exchange the magic stones and give you your share tomorrow, when we see each other again."

Shalltear felt perplexed by the brat's persistence on giving her half of their earnings, but she ultimately gave up, seeing the determination in his eyes. "Mph. Fine. Do as you wish, little hero~." She gave him a smirk before somehow disappearing, leaving the boy to wonder if her words were to be taken as an insult or not.

x-X-x-X-x

In the dungeon, stood a person wearing a black robe that covered its whole body, red shoes, red gauntlets, and a red mask. It was impossible to know the robed person's gender simply by looking at the figure.

The mysterious person stood in silence, as if waiting for someone to arrive. Soon after, small footsteps resonated through the corridor and revealed another figure, clearly male, wearing a white battle outfit with a skull mask. The man slowly approaching the black robed person.

"G-Good evening, Ein." The newly arrived man stuttered, slightly afraid of the individual that stood in front of him.

"What are the reports on the incident from two days ago?" The black robed individual, codenamed Ein, did not return the greetings, and instead directly asked the man that just arrived in a muffled voice so as to prevent its real voice to be heard.

"Hum. Y-Yes, well… It seems that the death of so many adventurers were attributed to a single monster… and it was humanoid looking… It also wore clothing and talked…" The man reported, which got the black robed individual's interest.

"Oh? And do you believe it to be an intelligent creature?" Ein looked right through the skull masked man. Even if its eyes could not be seen through its red mask, the man felt as though he was being x-rayed.

"T-That is v-very likely. It probably stocked on magic stones to achieve its current strength." The man stated. Ein stayed silent for a few seconds before asking:

"How strong are we talking about?"

"Hmm… That remains unknown, but over thirty adventurers lost their lives fighting it. The strongest among those victims were level 3s… The creature vanished before the extermination party could find it."

"This definitely is strange… The creature must've sustained damage and went hiding… Investigate this incident further and find me that creature if it isn't already dead. It could be a great addition to our strength. You may use force if it refuses to collaborate."

"O-Of course." The man said as he bowed to the red masked figure in black robes. He then proceeded to leave, walking away in silence through the tunnel's darkness.

x-X-x-X-x

Written by: JSNachos

Hey! Thanks for reading once again! I appreciate all the attention and support my story is getting.

Just to clarify, I made Shalltear call herself 'Aura' mostly because 'Shalltear' sounds like a monster's name, which she technically is. I tried interactions with her real name before and she just sounded so out of place in the conversations with that psychopath name of hers.

And concerning the story... Perhaps I may have made Shalltear a bit too nice? She's still clearly evil in this chapter, but quite far from her 'Extreme Evil' karma and I found that I liked Shalltear better if she was more nonchalant than wanting to cause trouble over anything else. Seeing it from this point of view, you may say that my interpretation of Shalltear has gone slightly OC.

I don't plan on changing that, sorry. Even so, if you can think of a way in progressing the story that Shalltear would resemble her original character as much as possible, then I encourage you to share it with me.

Re; I've read some of the reviews on this newly released chapter and some of you misunderstood me. I said that my interpretation of Shalltear won't have an 'Extreme Evil' Karma. That does not mean that she now is a paladin of justice... Looks like I need to clarify this: Shalltear IS STILL evil.

Reminder to follow me on spacebattles' creative writing forums if you want a better interaction with me when writing the chapters.