Midnight Garden 7:00 -> 9:00 AM

  The morning sun cast long shadows over the familiar buildings and streets of Orario. The Erebus familia had gathered in the backyard for their daily training session, but one notable member was missing -

  -AIS.

  She had been absent since yesterday evening and even Aki, who claimed to have seen her entering Loki's office last night, hadn't spotted her since.

  As the hours went by, a sudden halt was called to training.

  "I am sorry Miss Alfia, but we need to get on patrol. We have reports that Evilus might be planning something. Also we won't be able to accompany Bell into the Dungeon today." Alise said.

  "Humph. Very well, I suppose that is acceptable reason." Alfia responded.

  "Thank you very much." Alise said before she turned to Zald

  "Uncle Zald, I have a request of you." Alise said as she smiled cheerfully.

  "who's an Uncle?" Zald muttered before he continued; "Sure kid, what is it?"

  "Could you please look after Stardust Garden and Goddess Astraea, while we're away?" Alise lowered her head in a bow towards Zald, causing shock amongst the others.

  "I am curious. Why do you ask this?" Erebus questioned, his eyes fixed on Alise.

  "I plan to take our entire familia out on patrol. There have been numerous drunken brawls in the city, as well as increased attacks by Evilus. I want to show the people that we are present and we will not allow the Evilus to run rampant." Alise straightened herself up as she explained her reasoning.

  "Might as well. I've got nothing else to do. Besides I already have to look after this one. What is one more" Zald shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he pointed towards Erebus.

  Alise beamed, "Thank you so much, Uncle Zald!"

  Zald let out a sigh.

  "It's no trouble, kid," Zald replied.

  As training came to an end, Goddess Astraea was invited over for tea at Midnight Garden by Alise's request. The Astraea familia in its entirety took to patrol, while Bell and his group prepared for their descent into the Dungeon.

  Dungeon:

  The dungeon's stone walls of the tenth floor echoed with the heavy breaths of Ais Wallenstein. She stood in the darkness, her hands trembling, the weight of the sword in her grasp offering little comfort. The sounds of monsters dying, her own breath rasping in the silence, had blurred into a ceaseless rhythm. A moment ago, there had been nothing but the thrill of the fight—the pure clarity of battle. But now, all she could feel was the emptiness of it. The fleeting, empty sensation of victory.

  She had been so certain that killing an infant dragon would be enough. That it would be the thing that would prove her worth. Enough to push her through the ranks, enough to show everyone she was stronger. But it wasn't. Nothing she did seemed to be enough. After she had been found by Bell and the others she had gone to Loki for a status updates only to get:

  25 POINTS

  And a failure to rank up.

  As the walls of the Dungeon closed in around her, she could feel it. The doubt, the uncertainty, the way her heart began to sink with each passing moment. Had she wasted everything? Was she really just… nothing?

  Her mind barely registered the footsteps approaching until she heard Bell's voice, urgently calling her name.

  "Ais!" The concern in his tone struck her as sharply as the blade she held.

  Before she could respond, Bell and his companions—Aki and the others—appeared at the entrance, their eyes wide with disbelief at the sight of her. Her face was pale, streaked with grime and blood running down her limbs, her armor battered from hours of fighting.

  "Ais, what are you doing here? You need to get out of the Dungeon. You're pushing yourself too hard!" Bell said as he rushed forward, his eyes scanning her as if trying to convince himself she was still alive.

  "I don't need your help, Bell." Ais said as she stiffened, his words cutting through her. She had thought Bell would help her with her wish. Her voice came out too harsh, but she couldn't stop it. The spiral inside her only deepened.

  "Ais, you're in no condition to keep going—"Bell's eyes widened as he started to approach her

  "NO!"Ais screamed as her words echoed in the Dungeon.

  Bell faltered at the intensity that was now burning in Ais's eyes.

  "I am getting a rank up," she repeated, her grip on her sword tightening. "I will not leave this Dungeon until I do."

  Bell's heart clenched at her words. He could see the desperation in Ais's eyes, the intense desire to prove herself. But he also saw the danger of pushing herself too far.

  "Ais, please," he pleaded with her, taking another step forward. "You can't keep going like this. It's not worth risking your life over. "

  He reached out his hand towards her, but she stepped back again, a fierce determination fueling her movements.

  "It is worth it!" Ais retorted, her voice breaking with emotion. "I HAVE TO GET STRONG! I will not give up now."

  Bell's heart ached as he gazed at Ais, seeing how much she had sacrificed for this one goal. But he couldn't let her throw it all away for a chance at a rank up.

  "You don't have to prove anything to anyone," Bell said softly, his voice gentle but firm. "Ranking up takes time…."

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Bell tentatively reached out to lay a comforting hand on Ais's shoulder, but she violently recoiled, her voice rising in a shriek.

  "STOP IT! STOP IT! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND! BELL!, WHY DON"T YOU UNDERSTAND? I THOUGHT WE HAD THE SAME WISH!? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND!? INSTEAD YOU…"

  Ais turned on Bell, pushing him away with such force that he stumbled back, bewildered. Her heart pounded with anger and grief, but she refused to let the lump in her throat win.

  "You... you sound like Riveria," she spat out, the words unleashing her pent-up frustration.

  The moment they left her lips, she knew they had struck a nerve as Bell's face flushed red and his features contorting into an unfamiliar mask of coldness. His hand curled into a tight fist.

  "DON"T YOU EVER COMPARE ME TO HER. THAT SHITTY PRUM BASTARD OR ANY OTHER SCUM IN LOKI Familia!" Bell roared causing the others to flinch back in surprise.

  Bell's eyes blazed with a fury none of them had never seen before. It deep and unbending RAGE. His words echoed through the Dungeon, ricocheting off the walls. "The Loki Familia is nothing but a bunch of worthless bastards. ESPECIALLY THAT SHITTY CAPTAIN who uses people like pawns to achieve his goals.!"

  Ais flinched as if struck, her heart constricting at the venom in Bell's voice. Aki had also begun to tremble at what Bell was saying. Did he really see her the same way? As just another Loki Familia member to be despised? the Mini-Ais in her head began to tremble and her eyes grew red.

  If he hated them so much why had he formed a party with her?

  "THE PRUM only pretends to be hero, but he is rotten to the core," Bell continued, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Always scheming, always seeking glory. HE doesn't care about anyone but himself and his ambition. ANYONE THAT IS MEMBER OF THAT FAMILIA CAN"T BE TRUSTED. I WOULD NEVER WILLINGLY BE FRIENDS WITH ANY OF THEM…"

  Aki's eyes widened in shock, but it was the way Ais froze that made Bell stop. Her breath hitched, her already pale skin turning even more ashen. Ais took a hesitant step back, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "Bell do you really mean that?"

  Each word felt like a dagger to Ais's heart. She had known Bell had issues with the executives, but to hear Bell speak of them with such unbridled hatred... Did that hatred extend to her as well?

  And the little girl in her head remembered that is had been Alfia to accept her as student while Bell had merely acquiesced in fact she now remembered how cold Bell had been when they had first met.

  Maybe he was just going along with what his aunt told him to do.

  .

  .

  .

  Maybe the friend she thought she had wasn't really her friend.

  .

  .

  .

  Maybe he was just going through the motions.

  .

  .

  .

  "Do you actually hate me?" Ais's voice cracked, her usual composure crumbling under the weight of her emotions.

  In his is sudden anger, Bell forget one very important thing. HE HAD FORGOTTEN THAT AIS WASN'T PART OF HIS FAMILIA. He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come. He wanted to say something—anything—but his mind was blank. Ais's eyes were wide, searching his face for something, anything that could tell her the truth.

  The mini-Ais in her head began to wail and something broke in her at the thought of her Bell hating her. Not waiting to hear Bell's response, Ais spun on her heel, her footsteps echoing as she fled out of the Dungeon, her figure swallowed by the darkness.

  "Ais!" Bell's voice cracked, a moment too late as Ais had just disappeared into the darkness of the Dungeon

  The others were silent, unsure of what to do. Bell stood there, his hands trembling at his sides. His heart pounded with regret, his mind racing. He wanted to go after her, to apologize, to make everything right—but the words, the hatred he had spoken, lingered. How could he undo it?

  Just as Bell began to move.

  A deafening crack reverberated through the Dungeon, signaling the arrival of a new wave of monsters. Bell sprang into action, unsheathing his sword with practiced ease. His companions followed suit, engaging in fierce combat against the onslaught of creatures pouring from the walls. But despite his swift movements and skilled fighting, Bell's mind was elsewhere, replaying the hurt expression on Ais' face after their last conversation.

  "Mr. Bell, we've got a monster party!" Lili's panicked voice broke through the chaos as she aimed her crossbow. The others quickly took their positions, leaving Bell to take up his place at the front lines.

  The Dungeon walls trembled as group of monsters emerged, their growls and shrieks filling the air. Orcs with jagged tusks, imps with twisted horns, and giant bats with leathery wings all joined the fray, their eyes locking on to the adventurers before them.

  Bell tightened his grip on his sword, determination blazing in his crimson eyes.

  As the monsters attacked, Bell fought with increasing rage and had to rely on potions and healing from met the monsters head-on, his sword flashing in a deadly arc as he cleaved through the creatures with. Black ichor splattered across his armor.

  Aki joined him, her black hair whipping around as she fought off monsters. Amid and Lili provided support with their weapons and magic. Lili's crossbow sang as she fired bolt after bolt into the group off monsters. While Amid summoned her magic to provide a healing ground for the party.

  As the fight progressed, Bell's fury mounted and he begin to repeatedly exposed himself to avoidable wounds and repeatedly needing to drink potions in between Amid's healing spells.

  As the last monster fell, Bell stood among the corpses, panting heavily and trembling. His sword felt heavy in his hand, but it was the weight of regret that truly weighed him down.

  He collapsed to his knees, the Dungeon echoing with his silence. "I didn't mean it… I didn't mean any of it…" he whispered, but the words felt hollow, even to him. His eyes closed, his body still trembling.

  Lili's voice called out to him from a distance, but Bell couldn't hear her. All he wanted to do was scream and release all of his pent-up frustration and anger, but he remained quiet and still.

  "Just leave me alone…" he murmured again, as the weight of his words, and the moment he had lost his temper with Ais, pressed down on him like a suffocating force.

  "Mr. Bell. Mr Bell."Lil butted into his ever spiraling thoughts as she began to shake him.

  "Just give me 10 minutes, please," Bell begged, his voice tight with frustration. His eyes, wide and pleading, locked onto Lili as if she were the only thing standing between him and the ever spiraling thoughts in his mind.

  Lili, was standing with her arms crossed, looked back at him coolly, but there was a flicker of concern in her chestnut brown eyes. "Lili will give Mr. Bell 10 minutes. If Mr. Bell is not back in 10 minutes, Lili will inform Ms. Alfia and recommend Mr. Bell receive remedial education."

  Bell's face twisted, and he shuddered at the thought. "Urck. Not fair."

  Lili's expression remained unchanged, but there was an edge of sternness in her voice. "Lili is not part of the Astraea Familia, Mr. Bell. She is not worried about being fair or just. This is the Dungeon. Lili is worried that Mr. Bell is not in a good enough shape to be left alone right now."

  Her chestnut eyes softened as she spoke, the hint of concern still there. Bell could see it, despite her cool demeanor. She wasn't wrong. He probably shouldn't be alone but…

  "Thank you, Lili," Bell said quietly

  After they left, Bell stood alone for a moment in the quiet, the weight of his thoughts pressing down on him. The Dungeon seemed to close in on him, its cold, stone walls a reminder of everything he had been trying to escape.

  Without warning, the dam inside him broke.

  "GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNN IT!"

  Bell screamed, his voice raw with rage. The words tore out of him like an explosion, a futile attempt to release the pressure building up inside. He shouted as if the very sound of his voice would bring clarity, as if the Dungeon itself might provide an answer.

  But nothing changed. The stone walls stood unmoving, silent in response to his fury. The only answer was the echo of his own voice fading into the empty air.

  His breath came in ragged gasps as the anger, frustration, and self-loathing all tangled together. He gritted his teeth, shaking with the force of it. There was no escape. No simple way out of the mess he had found himself in. No answer to the questions that gnawed at him.

  Bell slammed his fist against the stone wall, the impact reverberating through his arm, but the pain didn't give him the release he needed. It didn't do anything. It never did.

  With a final, ragged breath, Bell closed his eyes, his mind racing. The moment stretched out, the only sound now the steady thud of his heart pounding in his chest. And slowly he went to rejoin the rest of his party and they left the Dungeon.