50

Gaea fell asleep as soon as she intruduced herself which startled at me, I was worried something went wrong with her extraction or something but Astraea told me that she was just resting because she left most of her power behind within the core of the Dungeon.

Overtime she will regain her power like Astraea did and will be able to communicate with us again which was a relieve to know, it seems like I now had a second Goddess living in my soul and I could only wonder what she would do with the connection with the System she has.

I looked around the Core Chamber making sure nothing wrong had happened, I then stared towards where Gaea's body layed inside the massive orb of energy, I couldn't see any of her features from out ide the orb but her body seemed fine, in fact she almost seemed like she was just sleeping like her soul was.

With that done I nodded to myself and then teleported my Pokemon and myself back to the surface where I headed to the guild to let Eina know everything I had found out about the Dungeon and exchange all the Magic Crystals and Loot I don't want into Valis.

She of course panicked when she heard how deep I actually went and almost had a heart attack when I told her that I even seen the bottom of the Dungeon.

She was curious about it sure but in the end she decided that it was best for her not to know that information, instead she asked me to described all the floors and monsters I found during my journey down in the lowest floors of the Dungeon.

Which I did with the help of the System I was able to give Eina a semi walkthrough of the Dungeon with a complete Monster Book, I decided to keep soem information exclusive to the Hestia Familia, of course Eina was very happy with I gave her since it was farm more information anyone ever gotten from the lower floor of the Dungeon, she believed that this would help save a lot of lives and that was fine for me.

After that I decided to go home since it was already pretty late in the day and it was already getting dark outside, I did a lot of grinding today and me and my Pokemon were able to get stronger for it, I think I should be able to level up to Level 6 now so that should hint anyone the amount of monsters me and my Pokemon fought.

Latias has already gone past Level 100 and both Blastoise and Venusaur have also reached up to level 80 in their third stage evolution, Tyranitar since he evolved at the end of our Dungeon Diving didn't to level up but he was already a strong boy own his own.

It didn't take me long to reach home and as soon as I arrived I was immediately hugged by Kunou who seemed to very happy to see me, she did scold me for being out for so long which made chuckle and apologize to her.

My sweet daughter forgave me and then I walked into the living where I found Serafall teaching Bell about politics and how to tell when people are trying to make you fall into a trap using words.

I smiled and then layed on the couch besides Serafall and layed my head on her lap, she instantly began to rub my head without even stopping from her lesson making smile while Kunou layed on top of my chest and then me and my daughter took a nap.

Sometime later I was shaked awaken by Haruhime who to my surprise is wearing an exact replica of Sakuya's maid uniform causing me to raised an eyebrow.

She noticed my questioning look and blushed a bit "err... I like the uniform plus I like the idea of being a maid, I hope you don't mind Mr Rean".

I chuckled and shook my head "nah, as long as it is something you want to do then it is fine besides when me and the girls leave someone has to take care of the masion, I know that by then you should already be a master maid since I'm guessing Sakuya is your teacher right?".

Haruhime brightly smiled and nodded "yes! master Sakuya is a great teacher and I'm learning a lot under her even Lady Ryuu is teaching about being a bar maid too".

I smiled glad that Haruhime is enjoying her time here, I then got up from the couch, I looked around and noticed that both Serafall and Kunou must have left for dinner already "that's great Haruhime, is everyone at the dinner table?".

Haruhime nodded and then we both began to walk towards where everyone was waiting on us. Haruhime then began to talked to me "Lady Serafall said to let you sleep a little longer since you've been out all day and seemed very tired, now that dinner is ready they told me to come and get you~".

I see... I should slow down a bit, it seems like everyone is starting to worry about me* I nodded to Haruhime and gave her a thankful smile "thank you Haruhime".

She smiled and nodded, as soon as I arrived at the dinner table I went around and gave my girlfriends a kiss and to Bell, Hestia, Lili, Kunou, Welf and Hephaestaus a pat on the head *... wait a minute... what the hell!*.

I immediately turned around and saw both Welf and Hephaestaus sitting besides Bell and Hestia, Hephaestaus was blushing, more than likely she wasn't expecting a headpat while Welf just grinned at me "well! thats was certainly new! your far more mellow and relaxed that I would have expected Rean Hayashi".

I chuckled while Hestia, Bell and Lili laughed at loud, they most have found the whole thing hilarious, my girlfriends all giggled founding it amusing while Kunou just tilted her head, she loves it when her daddy gives her a headpat so she was confused as to why everyone was laughing, I on the kther hand grinned at both blacksmiths "so what brings you guys here?".

Hephaestaus recovered from her embarrassment and smiled at me "well I've been meaning to catch you since I have a TON! of questions about the weapons you let me borrow to inspect!".

Hephaestaus seemed to be having a lot fun right now with how excited she seems which made me smiled, she continued speaking as I walked over to my seat while she continued to speak "but you've been busy lately Rean! luckly I found you sleeping on the couch today when I came to visit aunt Hestia so I decided to wait for you to wake up".

"I see, sorry about that Hephaestaus I've been busy going into the deeper floors of the Dungeon to get stronger plus somethings came up and that took all my attention away but I'll be taking a break from Dungeon Diving for a little bit".

Everyone cheered when they heard that I was taking a break which made me chuckle "okay, okay! I get it I know I've been busy but I'll spend more time with all of you but I do have a couple of things to talk about with everyone okay?".

Everyone nodded Hephaestaus raised an eyebrow "should we leave for a few minutes? this sounds important".

I shook my head "no its fine, Hestia trust you so I'll trust you too, plus I think you should hear about this but keep calm and above else you have to keep this to yourselves okay?".

Both Hephaestaus and Welf nodded, I knew he I can trust the both of them since they're very loyal and cool people and besides even if they try to tell anyone which I don't think they willl, no one will believe them.

And so I began to tell them of my trip to the bottom of the Dungeon and the Primordial Goddess I found down there using her body as a core of energy for the Dungeon and the fact that she now lives in my soul.

Meanwhile under the Guild and in Ouranos's chamber sat on his throne Ouranos himself, however tonight he had a small content smile on his face, which was noticed by Fels "lord Ouranos?".

The old god turned his gaze towards Fels "yes my old friend".

Fels stared into Ouranos's eyes "you seem to be in a very good mood, did something good happen?".

Ouranos nodded "yes, Rean has saved the Xenos and has given them a new home... he also wiped out the Ikelos Familia and Ikelos himself so they will never hurt another Xeno ever again".

Fels looked down to the floor and sighed in relief "I'm glad... those Adventurers were real monsters. they tortured the Xenos and sold them in the blackmarket as if they were trinkets".

Ouranos nodded and stoop up from his throne "that's correct, Ikelos is also dead, Rean took him to the Dungeon and killed him there, he's now gone from this plane of existence forever".

Fels nodded "he deserved it.. he kept getting away with all the evil his Familia did by denying any knowledge of their actions".

Ouranos hummed "well he won't be a problem again, Rean also reached the bottom of the Dungeon and met with Gaea".

This new shocked Fels to the core "... Rean Hayashi reached the bottom of the Dungeon? how!? when!? I know that he's powerful but this!? not even the Hera or Zeus Familia got anywhere close!".

Ouranos chuckle in amusement to his only Familia member "he walked there... he traversed the Dungeon with only four of his Pokemon and reached the bottom within a day in all honesty it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in all my life, he defeated every floor Boss with ease and I even got to see his Pokemon evolve and become even stronger".

Fels just stood there as Ouranos spoke about Rean with a hint of pride and respect in his voice while the old God continued to speak "he then met Gaea and set her soul free in a why that it wouldn't affect the Dungeon in any way, in a single day he did what I had dreamt of doing for so many centuries".

Fels gaped "he set Gaea free! that should be impossible, the Dungeon should have collapsed and Orario would have been destroyed... just what did he do?".

Ouranos shook his head "I don't know my old friend, all I know is that he somehow got Gaea soul off the Dungeon's core leaving her body to remain as a support".

Fels sighed "this is crazy... just what is Rean Hayashi? I know that you told me that he's an outerworlder, that he isn't human but to be able to do something not even Gods could hope to accomplish? I don't even know how to react to all the craziness he brings about..".

Ouranos smiled at Fels "Rean Hayashi is a being beyond our understanding Fels, something is hiding his true nature but the day he saved the Xenos I saw him turned into a big Purple Dragon with two horns pointing forward and a pair of massive ethereal feathered wings... it was single handlely the most amazing thing I've ever seen".

"A Dragon? Rean Hayashi is a Dragon? like the One Eyed Black Dragon? lord Ouranos! that can't be possible!".

Ouranos nodded "but it is, he is a Dragon, one beyond the One Eyed Black Dragon in both power and authority, watching Rean in his Dragon form is like staring at a sea of stars and life itself... it's hard to explain but he seems to have a conceptual control over those domain or at least he's reaching a point in his life where he'll gain those domains".

Fels sighed "he's becoming a god? well... that hasn't happened in a very long time not since the age of old but a Dragon?".

"A Dragon God... how peculiar, that title seems to match Rean perfectly.. I hope I get to witness his ascension into Godhood, I think that it would be a once in a life time event".

Fels watched as Ouranos left his throne chamber to walk around Orario something that used to be impossible for him since he had to stay here to block the entrance of the Dungeon but without Gaea at its core the Dungeon's monsters not longer have the power to reach the surface.

For the first time in many centuries Ouranos was going to enjoy a walk and watched the stars with a small and soft smile in his face and it's all thanks to Rean, at they very least Fels is very thankful for this alone.

I just finished explaining to everyone what I had seen during my Dungeon Diving while we ate dinner, needless to say that the Orario natives were shocked was an understatement and I can understand why.

It's every Adventurer's goal to reach the bottom of the Dungeon and I accomplished this in a day, of course they were going to be speechless about that, especially Hestia and Hephaestaus who were completely stunned by the fact that Gaea was in the bottom of the Dungeon.

According to them Gaea was a Primordial Goddess that hasn't been seen or heard of in so many centuries that she was thought to have vanished from existence, this of course happened in Tenkai way before any God had ever come down into the human world.

Never would anyone ever imagine that she was on Genkai and at the bottom of the Dungeon much less the core of the Dungeon but after explaining what she was doing and her purpose of creating the Dungeon as a sort of Hero training grounds everyone grew sad and fell bad for her.

Bell, Lili and Welf being Adventurers knew full well that many Adventurers treat going into the Dungeon as a job or a way to get fame, money and Power.

Only Bell seemed to go to the Dungeon to become a Hero which explains why the Dungeon was very kind with him with the dropped Loot and sent him challenges like she did with Rean.

Everyone else just treats going to the Dungeon as a chore and Hestia and Hephaestaus were sad because of this, they could only imagine how much Gaea must have suffered being hated and treated as a chore rather than what she had created the Dungeon for to begin with.

The fact that many shady Familia used her floors as a place to easily commit their crimes and get away with it must have broken Gaea's heart even more, Hestia was visibly worried so I wasn't surprised when she asked me if Gaea was okay.

So I told them of the fact that she was now within my soul like a Excalibur and that she was sleeping since she had left almost all of her power in her body to support the Dungeon.

Hestia was glad that she was now free and with someone like me, she knew and even stated that I would take care of her like no one would ever do.

After that everyone decided to keep all of his a secret and to just let things continue on as they have been, no reason to let anyone know what's at the bottom of the Dungeon.

Bell did asked me to give him a map of the Dungeon floors and a copy of the Monster Book for the Hestia Familia library to which I agreed with right away and immediately had it done.

This way the Hestia Familia would get exclusive information for the Dungeon and it would be safe here in the Hearth Mansion thanks to the wards plus I added far more details in these ones compared to the ones I gave to Eina, Bell was very happy and said that he will be studying all of it in order to prepare for their upcoming expedition wich had me raising an eyebrow in curiosity "an expedition?".

Bell nodded and Lili explained "Well Lili is now an all S Level 2 and Master Bell is an triple S Level 3 Adventurers so Lili and Master Bell decided to go down the Dungeon to the Eighteenth floor and then proceed to the lower floors from there for a while".

Bell then continued on with explanation "were walking the whole way down in order to collect all kinds of Loot and Magic Crystals for the Familia, we can't keep letting you and the girls do all the work! from now on we'll be training and heading into the Dungeon everyday like normal Adventures".

I nodded "I see, so you guys feel ready for it huh?".

Both nodded at me with a sparkled of determination in their eyes "alright then I better finish that new Dagger for you soon Bell, the Pixie Knife is now far beneath your level and no longer in par with the Hestia knife!".

Bell smiled "I also need new armor but it turns out that Welf is the one who made the one I bought before! so in exchange for him to become the Hestia Familia's exclusive Blacksmith he's going to form a party with us and go to the Dungeon".

That's good, sooner or later me and the girls are going to leave so they need a far more reliable Blacksmith and Welf is the best for that "hmm if that's the case, Welf I'll be teaching you some stuff but you'll have to join Bell and Lili in their morning training deal?".

Welf turn his head towards Hephaestaus who smiled and nodded at him, he then grinned and turned towards me "deal! I must admit having a chance to learn your own brand of Blacksmithing sounds very exciting!".

"Hahaha it's not a big deal, I'll pass down some skills to you that you'll need in order to be able to do what I can but after that all it takes its practice and experience, you already have the experience compared to me who had to start from scratch".

Welf smiled while Hephaestaus raised and eyebrow "you started from scratch? you mean to tell me that you didn't have any experience when you started forging? the sword and spear you gave to me were in par or even better than anything one of my high level blacksmiths can produce".

"Ah! well I have the ability to pick and learn things at an accelerated pace so things like that I master them fast enough, even so It was thanks to my time dilation wards that I mastered blacksmithing this fast".

Hephaestaus titled her head "time dilation wards?".

I smiled at her and nodded "how about I show you my forge and you can see for yourself?".

Hephaestaus smiled and nodded, Welf then raised a hand "can I got to?".

I chuckled and shook my head "put that hand down dude! this isn't a school and sure let go!".

Welf grinned and nodded, then we three left so I can show them my forge, Kunou decided to go play with the new Pokemon to get to know them better so she got up and followed us part of the way while Yuki followed her.

Yasaka smiled "fufufu Rean seems so excited".

Serafall giggled "well when Rean learns something he gives it his all and he gets excited when he talks about it, he put a lot of effort into mastering his Blacksmithing skill".

YunYun smiled "he was like that when he was an Adventurer in my world, everyday he got up early to go pick out a Quest, it was the reason he became the most trusted Adventurer in Axel Town".

Wiz the looked up with a find smile on her face "he was like that whenever he helped me with my shop, it was because of him and his dedication that it was able to became a huge success".

Sakuya was serving Hestia another cup of tea "he was like that whenever he prepares for anything, especially when he makes the Poke Plushies".

Asia clapped "and he's like that with the Pokemon! that's why they love him so much, I think the Pokemon are so nice and kind because that's how Rean is!".

Ryuu looked over to the girls "that's true and he's certainly dedicated to us too, he always makes sure we're happy and having fun it's something I have gotten used to and I don't think I can ever live without it anymore".

Hestia giggled " Rean is a great guy and a kind person, I'm very thankful to have met him, otherwise I don't think me and Bell would have been able to live this comfortably... everyday is an adventure with him around !".

Everyone smiled and then continued to gossip and talk about their day as they enjoy their tea, Haruhime who had heard everything just smiled while she continued to be the best maid that she can be.

I lead both Welf and Hephaestaus into my forge as soon as we entered, I pressed my finger on a Rune close to the entrance and then a few white magic lamplamps n to glow illuminating the room with a soft white light.

Both Hephaestaus and Welf gape at the size of my workshop, I had expanded to a big size and fill it with all kinds of tools and things I had made with my Crafting skill or bought from my in-game shop.

I even have a Power Hammer that works on magic and the forge itself is massive and self sustainable with settings so I can choose how high the temperature I need it for forging.

Hephaestaus looked around in awe and interest "amazing! there's things I have never seen before but I can automatically know what they're used for! you could practically make anything you want in here".

I nodded "yup plus the time dilation wards in here make it so days here are only hours outside, this way I don't have to work underpressure and I can take my time making things".

Welf whistled "wow! you have all the cool toys how about you show us how everything works?".

I chuckled and then walked over to my table and grab my apron "well since your my apprentice now I might as well teach you while we work, we're going to make Bell a new Dagger and a set of Armor!".

Welf grinned and nodded in excitement, while Hephaestaus hummed "mind if I watch? I must admit that I'm very curious about how everything you have in here works".

"Sure! luckly I have everything I need to make the Armor and Dagger so we don't need to worry about materials now come on! let's get started, you guys will be leaving soon to your expedition so we need to get everything ready today!".

Both Hephaestaus and Welf nodded and after buying leather aprons and a head wrap for welf we got to work.

Inside my workshop we spent at least three days forging Bell a new Dagger and a set of Armor, during the process I gave Welf all the skills he needed for him to be able to create magical weapons and artifacts which he was very thankful for.

During our time working together he told me about his family's ability to create magical swords which to me seemed like the weapons you get in old school Fire Emblem games since you can only used them a few times before they break.

Apparently his ancestors had cause a lot of horrible things and had become greedy and arrogant with their gift that was granted to them by spirit, it got so bad that they had burned an elf forest and as a result the Crozzo family was punished to never be able to use their gift again.

Welf was the only Crozzo to be born with the gift after so many years and that made him very valuable to his family which he didn't want to have anything to do with.

I can understand that since I myself didn't want anything to do with the Hayashi and their old and stupid traditions, then he told me how he hated to use his gift since he felt that weapons that break after a few uses were unreliable, to him a weapon should be a partner that you can always rely on.

That was something Excalibur and I agreed with but I did tell him that even if his weapons break, if they could save a life then they were reliable enough something that Hephaestaus agreed with me.

Welf didn't said anything but that was fine, as long as he thought about it and considered it then it was fine, it wasn't my place to convince him to use his gift, that was something that had to come from him.

Hephaestaus was very curious about the way I forge since I use a lot of modern machinery that I modified to be able to work with magic, so I taught her how to use everything.

She learned rather quickly how to use everything which made sense, her Domain over Forging must have made it easier for her to pick up everything fast as long as it has to do with forging and blacksmithing.

I made me chuckle how excited Hephaestaus seemed about how I forge, she confessed that she had no idea how I had created the spear and sword I have given her and that it was driving her crazy with curiousity which is why she was so excited now.

So when we got to the part where I was going to enchant the Dagger and new Armor we had made both Welf and Hephaestaus were acting like children in a candy store.

I started with teaching Welf how to manifest a enchanting magic circle, luckly for him he had a high magic stat because he uses a magic spell all the time so he was able to manifest the magic circle and keep it going for a long while.

I still had to give him a couple of Orange Gels a few times so he could continue practicing, this way he can get better at manifesting the magic circle and raise his magic stat even more, killing to birds with one stone.

Hephaestaus was intently watching me teach Welf how to enchant in my style and when we got to the part where I actually enchanted the Dagger she was utterly amazed at how efficient and fast the method worked "this is crazy! the way you enchant is almost as if your magic automatically does what you have in mind... your magic is like it's based on imagination and will alone".

I nodded "that's right, I think what it is that I want my magic to do and then just will my magic to do it, the better the image and knowledge I have the better the effects and the more I do it the faster and more efficient my mana moves as well".

Welf and Hephaestaus nodded in understanding since it was a very simple concept but what I didn't tell them was that the System and the fact that I'm not human makes this method of using magic possible.

Regular human aren't build to use magic like this, they don't have the reserves for it and their style of magic requires chanting and a focus for them to be able to cast magic, Adventurers are another thing entirely though.

The Falna acts as a pseudo System and their reserves of Mana are quite big so they are capable of learning my type of magic which was proven by the fact that Lefiya, Ais, Lili, Bell, and the twins were able to learn magic from me and the girls.

Soon after explaining that I showed them how I enchant by working on the Dagger, first I gave it the usual enchantments.

The self repairing and Indestructible enchantments are some of my best enchantments I have then I gave it the Mana Breath enchantment that I got from YunYun skill so Bell doesn't have to worry to much when he uses magic and then for good measure I gave it the recall enchantment which allows Bell to call this Dagger back to him no matter where it is, that way even if he drops it or gets stolen all he has to do is call it to him.

By this point the level of my Blacksmithing Skill allows me to grant a weapon created by me five full enchantments apposed to just whatever the weapons can handle so for the fifth enchantment I decided to give it a very powerful Pokemon Move as a gift to Bell since this is the only weapon I'll create for him.

I don't think I'll be able to forge a better one by the time me and the girls would return home so I wanted to make something special and so I gave this Dagger the Pokemon move Sacred Fire.

Ho-oh's signature move is one of the most powerful Fire Type attacks, its so strong that the flames are actually colored blue and purple, sort of like when I use any Fire Type technique.

After that I named this Dagger the Seika, both Welf and Hephaestaus stared at the Dagger with awed and shocked expression on their faces, for welf this was the first time he has ever seen one of my weapons but Hephaestaus had seen my old sword and Spear.

The difference in quality between those is quite big, the Spear and Sword were Beginner rank weapons while the Seika is a Legendary rank weapon, so there's just not comparing the two.

This Dagger was even more powerful that the weapon I made to Lefiya, Ais and the twins which are Master rank weapons so I'm not surprised that Hephaestaus and Welf were left speechless.

I in the other hand smiled at my work, I honestly feel rather proud of it and I can't wait for Bell to give it a try, I turned towards Welf and grinned at him "alright now it's your turn Welf, show me how you make your type of Armor and then I'll teach you how to enchant it okay?"

Welf snapped out of his shock and grinned back "sheesh! I don't think I can match that Dagger of yours but I'll do my best work yet!".

I nodded at Welf who walk to the forge and began to heat up a few pieces of metal that he picked from the dropped Loot I got from my Dungeon Diving.

Hephaestaus then walked up to me and poked my shoulder which made me turn my head towards her "can I see the Dagger Rean?".

"sure" I then handed the Seika to her who gingerly took it and began to inspect it.

She spent a few minutes inspecting the Dagger in silence and I can see a bunch of emotions play on her face "Rean... this is a divine grade weapon, it's actually on par with something I would make if I had access to my full divinity, just... how is this possible?".

I smiled at Hephaestaus since she seems rather perplexed "well, I'm not a normal person Hephaestaus you can say that I'm an unique existence and that allows me to do things no other person could ever hope to accomplish even with everything I teach Welf and all the skills I gave him I don't think he'll be able to make something of this level in his life time".

Welf laughed "I'm very well damn going to try though!".

That made me chuckle while Hephaestaus smiled "I see... this is quite shocking but this is you we are talking about, with everything you've done lately a lot of us are starting to believe that the words impossible doesn't mean anything to you".

I smiled and shrugged "well its not like I go out of my way to do all of that you know? everything I've done is the result of the actions of others, I'm perfectly fine with just spending my time doing whatever I want and with my family".

Hephaestaus nodded "yeah, that's exactly what Ouranos said too, as long as everyone leaves you alone you will not do anything to anyone so must of us that are friends with Hestia just decided to keep things friendly".

"Ouranos huh? I still wonder how it is that he knows about me, I've never met him much less give him a reason to help me, not that I'm not grateful mind you but it does makes me wonder".

And it's true, Astraea had said that Ouranos probably has been able to see what goes inside the Dungeon so he probably knows about my relationship with the Dungeon aka Gaea.

Hephaestaus hummed "well Ouranos can see inside the Dungeon whenever he wants so he probably seen how powerful you are and doesn't want to provoke you against the Guild but it could also be that you've been able to fix some of the biggest problems Orario has had for many years".

"huh? I know Soma's Familia were a bunch of crooks and murderers but Freya and Her Familia were the most powerful and the ones that pretty much warned off anyone from coming after Orario no?".

Hephaestaus shook her head "not really, she might have had one the biggest Familia and the most power Adventurer in Ottar but she's not really the only one, my own Familia has plenty of Level 6 and Level 5 Adventurers, Ganesha does as well and Loki too so we can defend Orario just fine but it that mentality that they were untouchable that made the Freya Familia into such arrogant idiots".

Welf then spoke after having pull out the red hot metal and check it over before put it back in "the Adventurers in the Freya Familia weren't respected, they were feared and that made them too cocky plus most of them were assholes to everyone else, in their eyes no one was worthy of breathing the same air as lady Freya, trust me no one is going to miss them and many are actually glad they're gone, the same with the Soma Familia who were just the worst".

Hephaestaus nodded "plus no one could actually bring justice to them whenever they did something against the law, at most all Ouranos could do is fine Freya which she could always easily pay by having all of her Familia go down into the Dungeon for a couple of days to grind Magic Crystals".

"I see... well then it's fine, it's not like I really cared whether anyone like my actions or not, all I did was to make sure those two Familias wouldn't hurt my friends again".

Hephaestaus and Welf smiled at me and then we all worked on Bell's new armor, I learned quite a bit about forging light armor from Welf which I know will come in handy someday, I must admit that tonight I had a lot of time and with making everything ready so Bell and his party were ready for their expedition to the lower floors.