"Well, I am off Goddess Hestia."

Standing in from of the white church, the latter nodded as she commented, "You know what Bell, that salamander wool is a little more conspicuous than I thought it would be."

Bell stood in front of her, covered in red cloth that hid his white armour underneath it. Fortunately, and Hestia had to silently admit, they gave him a cute look with his red eyes matching the cloth.

"Well, I am gonna have to be extra prepared for the middle floors. Miss Eyna would have it no other way," Bell replied, before extending his arms as he showed the wool, "You are right though; it is a little bit flashy."

"Yeah well, if your advisor suggested it to you, then I guess you should probably listen but don't start pushing yourself too hard just because you are level 2 now, ok?"

Bell grinned and exclaimed, "Alright! Wish me luck" concluding with a quick bow and sprinting off towards the dungeon. Despite his excitement, Hestia could not help but worry about his disappearing figure, a feeling of dread silently itching at her heart. How long had it been since she had last felt this kind of concern for a mortal? Maybe a millennium ago, when he was still around.

Getting to the middle floors was not a challenge, Bell noted till he began to face the damned monsters. A hellhound, shaped like a wolf with glowing red eyes and dark black fur, charged at the party, digging its claws into Bell's white arm guard. The white-haired hero struggled from the momentum before positioning himself and the wolf such that a tall, redheaded figure took the opportunity to jump and slice the wolf in half with the greatsword.

Dissipating into black smoke and leaving behind a purple crystal, another hellhound appeared. However, this one kept its distance as it began to flame its mouth, readying its fire.

"Now take it out!," a tiny figure exclaimed from behind the redhead, as she lifted her right arm, displaying the onyx coloured crossbow attached and fired an arrow at the hellhound. The arrow shot into its exposed eye, making it howl in pain and, taking the opportunity, the gigantic man rushed forwards and killed it with a single swipe.

Bell and the tiny figure excitedly cheered, "Whoa!"

"Well, we survived our first middle floor fight! Not bad, huh?" the man spoke as he walked towards the rest of the party, handing the crystal to the tiny figure.

Bell nodded, "Yeah, that wasn't all that hard. Even the fire attacks from those hellhounds were pretty easy to handle."

The redhead figure, Welf Crozzo, murmured an agreement as the supporter, the tiny figure, Liliruca piped in, "We need to find an open area. This isn't a good place to be surrounded by monsters."

Almost on cue, a squeak made her pause and turn to look at the reason as she saw three bunnies with white fur and red eyes staring back at her. The more she looked at them, the more she could imagine the resemblance between the bunnies and Bell, what with their cute looks and big red eyes.

"They look like you," she spoke without realizing, making Welf nod in agreement, "Little Bell bunnies."

"THEY ARE CALLED ALMIRAJ!"Bell screamed, embarrassed. Perhaps it was not the best choice as the monsters snarled and jumped at the party, bringing out their axes.

Welf dismissively said, "Bell's angry."

"Can you calm down your little friends?"

"Ah they have nothing to do with me," Bell replied, unsheathing his knife. Diving into the fight, Bell drew his other knife and began stabbing and defeating the bunnies, gathering crystals with each victory.

Bell had lost count of the monsters he had killed, his mind preoccupied with continuing the adventure that he had set out on and build teamwork. Fortunately, the monsters seemed willing to server as educational material as the party implemented different tricks against the Almiraj and hellhounds.

Using his greatsword, Welf easily disposed off multiple Almiraj from a safe distance whereas Lili assisted Bell by shooting arrows at the Almiraj's feet to pin them to a spot while the party leader decapitated them.

"They keep coming," Welf grunted as he breathed heavily, "can't catch my breath!"

The trio gathered together as the monsters began to surround them. Their glowing eyes haunted the three as they backed away into each other.

Lili retorted, "Then maybe you shouldn't waste it by talking so much."

Despite their bickering, Bell contemplated the scenario, 'This is crazy. The enemies are tougher and there's way more of them.'

Dodging an attack from a hellhound, he leapt on a bunny and stabbed its forehead, the Hestia Knife sliding out smoothly. As he leapt off, two more bunnies attempted to attack him but he barely slayed one while dodging another attack mid-air and stabbing the Almiraj's back.

Multiple footsteps garnered his attention as he saw 5 people rushing in his direction, the man at the front carrying an unconscious person. They looked familiar but he couldn't put their faces to his memory as Lili called out, "uh oh, its not over yet!"

With a small gasp, Bell turned towards the direction that the party had come from as growls grew increasingly louder.

"They pass paraded us!"

Right as she completed her sentence, a horde of hellhounds charged in with glowing red eyes, hungry look staring at them, making everyone pale.

"Are you serious?" Welf snorted as Lili spoke up, "Lets retreat. Head for that passage."

The trio began running towards a dark entrance of a cave with Lili in the lead, their sudden movement distracting the monsters causing them to change their target and follow Bell and his party followed by several Almirajs.

Running for their lives, Bell looked back at the monsters gaining a lead towards them and made a split decision, "Lili, keep running!"

"Master Bell!"

"Firebolt!" the white-haired hero yelled as orange waves of flame burst through his outstretched palm, engulfing the entirety of the ground and the monsters that were foolish enough to continue charging.

A few monsters, though, still managed to break through the wall of flames; one was sliced by Bell but the other two leapt over him, their fangs bared towards Lili and Welf as the latter called out, "Have some of this" before killing it mid-air.

The third and final hound bit into Lili's large bag as she pinned it on the wall, leaving an opportunity for Bell to stab its head and kill it. Panting exhaustedly, the duo collapsed to the floor.

"Lili, you are not hurt, are you?" Bell asked with a concerned voice.

"I am fine."

"You okay Welf?"

Welf meanwhile stood there, his right hand covering the bite on his left arm, before he grunted in a relatively low voice, "uh yeah, I think so."

Bell, however, still managed to catch a glimpse of the growing red colour on Welf's dusty wool and felt extremely miserable. 'This is nothing like the upper floors! They are both hurt because of me'

His thoughts were interrupted by growling noises of hell hounds from the entrance, making them turn in that direction.

"There's more?" Lili asked as she struggled to her feet, her hands gripping the bag straps tightly.

"That's not all," Welf took a 180 turn as they saw glowing eyes on the other end of the cave.

Bell took a few steps to grasp the situation, "Looks like we are surrounded."

"Why do these monsters on the middle floors always catch up to us so fast?" Welf asked in exasperation.

Lili replied back shortly, "Yeah, that's just how it works down here."

Their discussion drew a memory in Bell's mind as his grip on his knife tightened.

'Mr Cranel, the dungeon is a cruel place. It'll overwhelm you with small challenges until eventually, you are left with an impossible and painful burden... and then-" Ryuu paused as she looked at the table, as if a memory was haunting her, "you let go, you give in and you collapse like a castle made of sand. You don't have time to rethink your strategy. So once its prey cries out in anguish, weakened to the point of exhaustion, the dungeon finally bares its true fangs!'

The party kept dodging and slaying monsters but the more they attacked, the more monsters replenished in the area. Finally, when they were down to a few monsters left and a little bit of energy remaining, Bell felt a shiver down his spine. His instincts told him to look at the ceiling and he heard the cracks slowly approaching till it collapsed and more hounds appeared, baring their fangs at him.

"There's more?" he yelled before the debris fell on the area.

After the dust settled, Bell noticed Welf struggling a few feet away and rushed towards him. Welf lay on the ground, his right ankle buried under a huge piece of rock. Before Bell could register Welf's condition, Lili's pained groan distracted him.

Gritting his teeth, Ryuu's words echoed in his mind as he tried to think of a way to escape with his party.

Growl.

He slowly looked up at the chasm that had formed and saw a hellhound standing at the top, its glowing red eyes staring at the party with murderous intent. Smoke slowly appeared from its jaw as orange flames slowly began to churn inside its mouth.

"This... is... it," Lili breathed out while Welf struggled to get free from the rock pinning him down, the redhead only being able to think, 'He's not going to make it.'

The wave of flames washed towards the frozen figure of Bell, the heat getting warmer as it neared him but he couldn't feel it. His thought as the fire grew closer was, 'So these are the middle floors.'

Soon, Bell found himself walking in a random direction, supporting Welf as they tried to find the exit or any sign of escape. Taking a wrong step, Welf let out a pained yelp, making the white haired hero concerned.

"Still hurts?"

Welf looked at Bell, their heights finally seeming to be equal as they stared at each other's eyes and he replied, "Uh yeah, pretty bad. Hey, how awesome are we? Soon as we tried to make our way back upstairs, we end up falling down 2 floors."

"The floor caved in so fast, it's a miracle that the three of us were able to make it out," Lili chimed in, looking downcast but relieved.

Bell agreed, "And if I wasn't wearing this salamander wool, those hell hounds would have burnt me to a crisp." The salamander wool lay across Bell's armour, soot covering the spots that the fire had grazed while holes seemed have been charred by fireballs and dirt. The bright maroon colour seemed to have faded or maybe it was just Bell's imagination in the dark and dreary floor.

"Your fashion advisor's pretty smart," Welf commented.

"No kidding."

The trio stopped at the corner, staring at the dead end on the path. Frustrated, Lili yelled, "Again?"

"Another dead end."

They were corrected soon as growls became louder on the other side of the wall. The sound having become so common for the amount of time that they had spent in the dungeon fighting the creatures that they could no longer even bat an eye.

Welf smiled slightly, "Listen, you need to leave me behind if things get too bad, alright?"

Both Lili and Bell gasped at the proclamation while the party leader screamed, "What are you talking about?"

"Admit it! I am just going to slow you guys down."

"There's no way we are going to leave you just because you are hurt!" Bell berated Welf, his eyes blazing with concern.

Welf attempted again, in a more convincing tone, "There's no other choice."

"Wait," Lili spoke up, piquing both of their attentions, "I think I might know a way. We may be able to get out alive; if we somehow make it down to Floor 18."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Bell responded, "What's the point of us going further down?"

"The monsters are gonna be stronger!"

Lili exhaled, "Just hear me out guys. Floor 18 is actually a dungeon free zone, which means monsters don't spawn down there. If we can meet up with some higher level adventurers who might be on their way out of the dungeon, it will give us a much better chance of surviving this."

"Yeah but how do we get there?"

"We'll use a pit."

Her response only got confused looks as they wondered what she was talking about. To provide an example, Lili turned around and pointed at a crevice on the floor, "The middle floors are full of pits like that one there. Going straight down through the floors will get us there a lot faster than searching for the stairs. It's the most efficient way down."

"But," Welf spoke up, "what about the floor boss? Some of them are huge like the one on 17."

"That's Goliath but the Loki Familia should have already beaten it and when you consider its average recovery time, we should just barely make it," Lili answered.

Bell stood silently, contemplating the suggestion whereas Welf asked, astonished, "Have you lost your mind?"

"I am afraid it's the only option we have left." Stepping forward, Lili faced Bell who seemed conflicted and continued, "Master Bell, you are the party leader. Its up to you."

"Up to me?" Bell asked uncertainly.

"Go on decide," Welf urged, "Ah don't be afraid Bell. We won't blame you for whatever happens."

Lili nodded in agreement, strengthening Bell's decision as he chose, "Let's go."

With that, Bell's party began to walk slowly towards the pit that Lili had pointed out. Using Welf's greatsword as a bridge between the rift and a rope from the bag, the party members took turns to slowly climb down the pit to the next floor.

The next problem was dealing with the monsters. Going through the lower floors would mean more monsters and their strength being more than they could handle.

"Master Bell, I have something that can repel the monsters temporarily but," she paused for a second, "it has a very foul smell."

"We'll take anything right now!" Welf yelled, followed by a nod from Bell. With that said, the solution that she had come up with was, while effective, very disgusting.

Walking through the floor, they could only breathe through their mouth as they struggled to avoid the scent of the pouch.

"Please little bit, can you please do something about that smell?" Welf whined as he walked alongside Bell, treating him as a clutch of sorts.

Infuriated, Lili turned around and yelled, "Oh, just SHUT UP! How do you think I feel you jerks?! I am the one who is holding it!" she tried to shove it towards them but the two boys immediately backed away, "Why don't you try carrying it? You think you are the only one who doesn't like? How dare you talk to me like that?"

"I am sorry," Welf tried to apologise while Bell murmured incoherent words as his vision almost faded in and out.

"This stink bag is our last hope for survival. As long as it keeps on smelling disgusting, hopefully it'll keep the monsters from trying to attack us."

The redhead blacksmith replied, "I understand that but, ugh."

"We'll just have to deal with it," Bell muttered, before getting interrupted by a stray hellhound. The hound began to churn flames in its mouth as Welf shrugged Bell off and said, "Let me get this one. Ignite Heretic Spell, Will o' the Wisp."

A gust of wind burst through his palm and the party watched as the flames returned back into the hellhound's mouth, making it stand perfectly still for a few seconds before the hound exploded, the flames threatening to burn the area, leaving behind a darkened spot on the floor and a crystal.

"Wow, that's a great spell! I assume it uses the enemy's own magic to make it self-destruct," Lili explained.

Welf sighed in exhaustion and with a small grin replied, "Yeah and well, I never knew when I was going to have to actually break it out and use it."

"Are you okay though?" asked the ever concerned Bell, "You have been casting the same spell a lot."

"Don't you worry. I'll be fine," Welf said while he struggled to stand up, leaning with more pressure on Bell but, nevertheless, gave them a tired smile.

They had walked for perhaps no longer than an hour when Bell noticed something strange. He could barely even smell the nasty odour of the stink bag.

"Lili-" he raised his voice to get her attention and she turned around, holding the thin pouch in her shivering hand as she noted, "Yeah, we are all out of the stinky stuff." To emphasize the diminishing effects, growls began to increase in intensity.

"You are kidding me," Welf said as the walls began to shake and crack, "this isn't funny anymore. I mean, what the hell?"

A minotaur appeared out of a crumbling cave, larger than them by at least 3 times, brown fur on his back with long white horns that seemed slightly chipped due to constantly being crashed into walls and hunters. It roared loud, as if trying to kill them with its roar, but it was nothing for Bell anymore.

Bell, instinctively, sprinted towards the minotaur, drawing the Hestia Knife and leapt as the minotaur's fist collided with the spot that he was on. Rotating repeatedly in the air, he landed gracefully while the minotaur yelled in pain as its left leg and left arm slowly dismembered from its body. Without wasting a second, Bell jumped onto a wall and ricocheted towards the minotaur, slashing it on its torso before bouncing back from the ground and slashing the torso again.

As if that wasn't enough, three more minotaurs entered, each carrying a stone axe in their hands.

"What the-" Welf looked astonished at their arrival.

Mad with frustration and furious at his cowardice, Bell charged at them, the axe beginning to glow brightly as his skill Argonaut enhanced its abilities along with his. What happened next was unbelievable for all three of them.

In his frenzied attack, the wall that once blocked their path had crumbled to show a path. Meanwhile, Welf could only watch in admiration as the heavily breathing Bell stood at the spot, hunched to ease the stress, as the redhead's doubt got confirmed.

Thud

Welf was brought out of his thoughts as he saw Bell fall onto his knees. Breathing heavier than he had been.

"Master Bell! Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Lili asked as she jogged towards him before gasping at the sight of blood. Was it Bell's blood or the monsters', she had no idea. She turned to Welf in hopes for any solution but the latter could only look at Bell with a distraught expression.

They ventured deeper down the dungeon, walking through several paths and defeating countless numbers of monsters. Their bodies ached unstoppably but they continued to stride forward towards the 18th floor.

"Will o' the Wisp," Welf muttered as the gust of wind wrapped around a hellhound, extinguishing its fire and destroying it. Bell watched for a second before he felt Welf going limp and all the weight leaning into.

"Welf! Welf! He's gone Mind Down," Bell pondered before turning his head to the back, "What do you think we should do?"

He was met with her figure lying on the ground, the side of her face barely visible underneath her cloak and the massive bag. He called out her name twice but there was no response.

Growl

Bell gritted his teeth as he tried to think of a solution before nodding in determination. Ripping the bag that Lili was carrying, Bell used its fabric to tie the two to him as he started to carry them down to the 17th floor. He could feel a pair of eyes watching him but when he turned around, he saw no one.

Dragging the two of them, he walked to the edge of circular pit, the end not visible at all but Bell convinced himself that this was it. With tight grip, Bell hopped into the pit and let gravity take control. The tunnel led straight down or so he thought when he felt someone grab his salamander wool and pull him outside.

"Wha-" Bell tried to ask but stopped speaking as he saw the person who stood before him, the trench coat calmly breezing even though there was no wind. But what surprised him was the number of monsters that they were facing. Orcs, hellhounds, silverbacks and a few minotaurs stood, blocking a path.

The white-haired teenager tried to stand up but collapsed back to the floor and could only watch in horror as the monsters charged at the person, "Hey, watch out!"

The entire fight, however, ended within a second and the figure that once stood in front of him now stood on the other side. Bell's mouth hung low in shock as the figure finally turned around, the dark smoke of the monsters casting shadows at the figure but one thing was certain: the person had bright sea green eyes.