After I took the knife from Ryu I headed back home. If I'm going, to be honest, I did not expect Lily to move so quickly. If it came down to me not going there though, I could have just ensured her hands didn't get near the knife.
I headed home and Goddess still wasn't there yet.
The next day rolled around and I went to our usual spot and Lily wasn't there. I guess it would make sense though.
I quickly walked around a little bit and saw her sitting on the side with a sad face.
"hey, Lily! I was wondering where you went!"
Her face looked surprised, but it quickly turned to shame "Ah, Mr. Bell. If you want to be mad at Lily go ahead," She hung her head downwards.
"What are you talking about?"
"Hmm?"
Lily looked confused as I pretended not to know what she was talking about.
"Haven't you realized? You knife...I-"
"Oh, yea as it turns out I dropped it. I came running back to the dungeon and luckily found it right outside the entrance,"
Lily looked confused. She seemed to be asking herself if Ryu had covered for her.
Suddenly she turned to a smile "Oh, well then never mind than Mr. Bell. It turns out that I was just overthinking some things...So shall we head to the dungeon again today?"
At this point, I was a little surprised. She was worse than I thought. She seemed to feel guilty but tried her best to suppress it.
As we headed into the dungeon I asked her a question "Hey, Lily. What Familia are you from?"
"...Lily prefers not to talk about it,"
"I would feel a lot better to know who you're with though..."
"...Soma,"
"What?"
"Lily is from the Soma Familia,"
The Soma familia...All I know about them is that they sell wine and they have a bad rep.
"Ah,"
We went hunting in silence after that, only speaking when giving callouts.
"Good work today Lily,"
"Thank you, Mr. Bell," She said with a bow
We then went our separate ways and I decided to stop by the Benevolent Mistress again.
"Oh! Hi, bell!" Syr said as she handed a customer their drink.
I waved hello and took a seat at my usual spot at the bar. Ryu was once again working here.
"What can I get you?"
"Your recommendation,"
She seemed annoyed that I kept on asking for that but she just gave me the drink that was easiest to make. Didn't taste that bad either.
That was when I noticed a book left on the counter next to my seat.
"What's this?"
"Hmmm..." Syr cut in "I think a customer may have left it here. It's been here since yesterday,"
I looked at the book and I figured that it was a grimoire. Ryu also seemed to notice it but didn't say anything.
"You can have it if you want Bell, If the owner wanted it back I'm sure they would have already come back," Syr said
"Thank you!"
I quickly finished up and came back home. Goddess was already sleeping but I opened it and read what it said. It first explained what magic was then asked.
"What is magic to you?" A voice said
'An ability that is able to do what normally isn't possible,'
"What sort of thing is magic to you?"
'Darkness, one that strikes you so quickly that you won't even realize what happened,'
"What do you want from magic?"
'To help me win,'
"Is that all?"
'...Yes,'
"Really? To win? Explain then, what is winning to you?"
'Winning is destroying the heroes. Whether it's by killing them or their dreams,'
"I see..."
.
.
.
.
"Be...l,"
I heard a voice calling me
"BELL!"
It was Hestia.
"What?"
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up!!! I've been calling you forever,"
I remembered the voice that was asking me questions
"Can you update my status real quick?"
"Sure! But don't expect anything to major, I just updated it a few days ago after all,"
That was what she said but after seeing it her eyes were in shock.
"M-MAGIC?!"
Magic: H-200
Just seeing this made a slight smile come across my face. My stats otherwise were nearly the same as when they were last checked so I wasn't worried about that.
"HOW?!" Hestia was still in shock.
"Mysterious..." I added
I quickly took off and went to the dungeon area again. I didn't know if Lily would still be there since I took a long time to get up, but when I came she was, her face seemed sad but brightened up when seeing me.
"Hello, Mr. Bell! I was worried you weren't coming today!"
"Haha...Sorry about that. Anyway, I got something and I want to test it out. So are you ready?"
"Yep!"
It didn't seem like Lily would do anything else for right now. However I knew she would. Her eyes while still looking guilty and plus looking at me like a closer person in her life still valued the knife way too much.
When we made it into the dungeon we went down to the 7th floor where we found a group of Kobolds running at me.
I wanted to make sure no one was around and I found a pretty good spot.
there were 5 in total but all I said was "Shadow spikes,"
Instantly multiple Spikes pierced through the Monsters at breakneck speeds.
Lily was in shock.
We went through and I kept testing my ability in new ways.
The first thing I noticed was that the closer I was to an enemy the more damage the spikes would do. Secondly is the fact that more light=Less damage. So fighting in the daytime and using this was practically useless regardless of how close I was. 3rd, I noticed that I couldn't summon Spikes through other people's shadows. So quick killings like that were impossible. Finally, the less spikes made the more damage.
"Mr. Bell is...Incredible,"
"Thanks!"
Lily was still amazed I learned magic but it seemed that she still was persistent in trying to steal my knife.
The next few days went by without any issues, and finally on the last day of the week, Lily made her move.
"Mr. Bell?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to go down to the 10th floor today?"
Over the week we made out way down to the 9th but she never recommended it before. I already had a few ideas of what she could try but I'm just going to have to count when the time comes.
As we were walking down Lily asked that I use a different knife since she bought a new one at a great price. I agreed and put the knife in my pouch. Along the way though there were tons of monsters. Almost like there were more than usual.
We made it down and we were in a foggy area with a forest surrounding us. You could barely see right in front of you.
"Lily?" I asked, not expecting a reply.
"..."
She was gone.
Would she try and lure the monsters over here or did she have some hidden ace that not even I knew about?
Hiring adventures was out of the question considering her reputation so I was curious about what she planned to do. Honestly, I was hoping for the second option.
I suddenly saw a troll coming my way and I slashed it down using the knife Lily gave a killed it pretty easily. First, a slash behind the knee then stab it right in the head.
Then I noticed multiple red orbs.
'...How boring,'
She chooses the boring way.
I noticed that there were probably 10-15 trolls around me and I heard an arrow go off. I quickly moved to the side and avoided my bag getting stolen. However then a second one came in and snagged it.
I let her go and turned to fight the monsters.
I made good use of my agility and endurance and made sure to tank the attacks that I knew I could take with as little damage as possible while making good use of my stamina. Although, since they were trolls getting hit still hurt like hell.
Nearly 5 minutes passed and they were all dead. I stood in the middle of 15 trolls' corpses.
I then made my way up and took out my Hestia knife, which Lily was so confident she stole.
(Lily's POV)
I ran with all my might holding onto the pouch. I'd done a good job holding onto the pouch but my hopes shattered in an instant.
The Soma Familia. They were waiting.
"Hey, there runt. I'm sure you know why we're here,"
I guarded the pouch. If I can sell this...I can be free.
However, I didn't have the strength necessary. They ripped it from my hands as well as stole the magic sword from my body. When they opened the pouch though their eyes widened. Mine also widened as I not only saw what was in the pouch, but what was around us.
"Monster...Lures?!"
My face sank.
'HOW?!'
Monsters were around us from all angles. Killer ants.
"FUCK! PAVE A WAY! THE RUNT TRICKED US!"
They started making their way out. However when I tried to follow they put the lures in my arms and pushed me back.
'This was it, Lily was going to die,'
However, my only light in this world of darkness appeared. Bell, blood all over himself walked closer. He was the only one who treated me nicely. Gave me more than a fair share and never bullied me, but after all that...I still betrayed him. And now, he was coming to save me again.
I raised my eyes and my beaten body moved back, however, despair was the only thing I saw.
I then remembered what was in the bag. My Face sank for the 2nd time that day.
"M-MR. BELL! PLEASE! MR. BELL! LILY WON'T BETRAY YOU ANYMORE PLEASE!"
However, nothing happened. he just watched.
My eyes darted around, trying to find a way out as the monsters closed in on me.
I tried to throw the lures but that only made a few go away.
"Please...Mr. bell," I creaked out.
My watery eyes met his and he moved...Only to sit down.
"Why..." That was the last thing I could ask as I felt the giant ant bite me.
"Please...I'll be good,"
Another one joined and succeeded in tearing off a chunk of my calf.
"AHHHHHHH!"
bell only watched though.
'Please...I'll do anything, anything...just please let Lily live...'
My eyes, not crying, not full of pity but expressionless met his. And just like that Shadow spikes impaled all of the ants.
He walked up to me.
"Soma is no longer the one you serve. I am. Understood?"
I nodded as he put a high potion on my leg, the chuck itself regrew but the skin did not, nor did the blood loss.
'At least...Lily is safe for right now,' was the last thing I thought before I passed out.