Chapter 5: Reflections

It has been a week since Bell had proclaimed to his grandfather, his newfound resolve in this 2nd life of his. Though he still had questions that were left unanswered, Zeus advised him to not worry too much about them. Considering that if even most gods in Tenkai were unaware of the multiverse, it will take a substantial amount of time to discover any more new knowledge regarding it.

Bell felt that there might be more behind his reincarnation, but he decided to heed his grandfather's words. Instead of fretting over the multiverse, he immediately focused his attention on a pressing problem that nagged at him alongside his absurd circumstances, that being, the canon of the story.

Bell forgot some of the finer key details over the course of his first 3 years of life in the world of Danmachi, but he was confident that he can still remember the major events which affected the story.

Though he was armed with this knowledge, 2 major factors caused him to doubt if he could succeed at pointing the story in the right direction.

First, would be the fact that he died before Danmachi was finished. At the time of his death, only 17 volumes of the light novel were released, so he did not have perfect information as to how the story fully panned out, only to a certain extent.

Second, and the more major concerning factor in Bell's eyes, is the fact he wasn't the original Bell. He had long come to accept his place in this world, but there were characteristics that the original Bell had that allowed him to go so far in such a short time. Notably. his innocent soul.

Not only did it provide him a naive sense of courage that enamored the people around him, but it also lead to his growth in strength by allowing him to act in the face of danger, and helping in the creation of his cheat skill "Liaris Freese" out of his puppy love adoration for Ais Wallenstein.

Bell ran numerous experiments after his reincarnation to determine if he was given any cheats alongside his new life. But after yelling different iterations of the word "system" to a wall, meditating to find a hidden power within himself, and shouting different catchphrases of popular superpowers, he had reluctantly accepted that he had no such cheat.

(oh how wrong he was)

He did not wallow in his self-pity for long, however. Though he was still afraid of having such a tall wall to surmount, the newfound courage he found with the help of grandpa allowed him to continue looking for a way to do so.

Bell began training in secret to learn how to fight. But he was utterly incompetent in the ways of fighting and body training. For a few days, he had simply just run to increase his stamina and endurance and tried lifting a few heavy rocks to train strength.

But after being caught by his grandfather one day while training, Zeus lambasted Bell with a rain of laughter after witnessing his pathetic attempt at training.

"Oh, gods HAHAHAHA. I can't believe you were seriously going to train like this- pfft- HAHAHAHAH"

Bell, a victim of his grandfather's constant teasing, couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

"G-give me a break grandpa. I never did anything like this before"

"HAHAHahaha... Kid, if you were that dead set on training. You could've just asked me for help you know?"

"...eh?-"

Deja vu struck Bell once again.

"Since you said you read about our world from a book, I expected you to know about this, but I guess not. Though I may be an old man, I once commanded respect in Tenkai for my power and lead the most powerful familia in Orario, I'm plenty familiar with body training and martial arts."

Bell was silent. Though he knew gods existed with powerful bodies in Genkai like Artemis, he never expected Zeus to be the same given the little he knew about him from the story.

Seeing the expression of his grandson, Zeus imparted his advice to assist him.

"Don't trust everything you read from that book of yours in your old world Bell. It may be accurate at describing certain events, but it fails to paint the full picture of the world brimming with life beyond the few characters you know."

"Use it only as a reference point. Explore and experience this world yourself, not through the lens of a book."

Zeus then patted Bell's head and showed him his iconic wide grin. Though Bell was an adult in his past life, he did very little in the way of growing and maturing. So in Zeus' eyes, Bell was the same as a child in terms of maturity, past life or not.

"...I understand grandpa"

Bell was still learning to get used to familial love, so he was rather bashful whenever he received it. Seeing that Bell had taken his advice seriously, Zeus was satisfied.

"Good. Now get yourself cleaned up. I'll start advising your training tomorrow. Once you understand your training regimen, we'll perform a light spar every time I come back home to get you acquainted with combat."

Hearing what Zeus had said, Bell was ecstatic. He was going to have his very own training arc! So he quickly got up to wash.

Though before he left, he turned around to as his grandfather a question.

"Grandpa, do you have equipment for training?"

Bell had lived with Zeus for the past 3 years, but he has never noticed any sort of object resembling training equipment.

"Hm? Oh, that. Body training doesn't necessarily require equipment, I'm sure you will do just fine. As for equipment in sparring... it's best to dive straight into full contact no?"

Zeus replied with a menacing grin that sent a chill down Bell's spine.

"Grandpa...you know I'm only 3 years old right?..."

"Mind rules over body Bell, and if you have the mind to contemplate ethics and the meaning of existence for 2 years, you sure as hell can mentally prepare to take a beating HAHAHAHAH"

Seeing his grandfather walk past him with a hearty laugh, Bell couldn't help but fear that he may have been too excited for his training arc...

...

..

.

The sun rises above the hills which surrounded a quaint farming village deep in the mountains. With the coming of daybreak, roosters all across the village began welcoming in the day with their characteristic crowing.

Numerous people in the village began to groggily wake up. Men who tended to the fields. Women who took care of the homes. and all the people in between. The village slowly but surely began sprawling with activity.

In a house situated near the fields where many village folks worked, there lay a boy with silver hair. Hearing the crowing of the roosters, though he wished to sleep in a bit more, began moving to wake himself up. Acting with diligence only found in habits developed and maintained for a long time.

Bell Cranel, at the tender age of 7 years, began moving to start his daily cycle, one that was not performed in futility but for the purpose of reaching a goal he had set for himself.

He tidied his bed, and just as he was about to change his pajamas for his daily clothes, he took a look at his body.

Though Bell's body was still young and developing, the lean but firm muscles found across his body showcased the effort he had placed into developing it. Radiating an aura of health and strength.

'So this is the result of 4 years of training eh?...heh, after the hell that grandpa put me through, I would've complained if I didn't look anywhere close to this'

Bell had been under the tutelage of his grandfather Zeus for 4 years now. He advised him on how to effectively train his body and sparred with him every day to have the instincts of battle beaten-...instilled within him.

'ugh, my shoulder's still sore from that grapple he put me under yesterday...'

Though Bell wanted to train how to use a weapon, Zeus advised him to first learn martial arts with him so that he may learn how to better move and utilize his body.

Zeus taught Bell the ways of a martial art called "Pankration". The fighting style awakened some dormant memories of his of a certain martial arts manga he used to read, though he didn't really ponder on it much once Zeus began to put him through the metaphorical wringer.

Being a martial art that focused on boxing and wrestling techniques, mixed in with some auxiliary techniques like kicking and joint locks, Bell experienced a menagerie of new sensations in the form of pain in places he had never once felt pain in.

'It's hard to believe that goofball of a grandpa could so easily turn into a sadistic warrior...'

Bell had been thoroughly taught to never underestimate his grandpa again.

Another thing to note while he had been training, while Zeus was around to advise him, he would talk to him about the canon of the story. Discussing the histories that were portrayed, the stories of each character, and of course, the antics of the original Bell Cranel.

Bell had decided to do this for 2 reasons.

First was that he wasn't a master planner. He had struggled to keep his reincarnation a secret, so he didn't trust himself to be able to handle the complicated net of politics some parts of the story posed. Bell hoped that by listening to Zeus' insights on these matters, he may be able to improve his skills in strategizing and logic.

The second was simply to have someone who knew who he truly was. Someone who understood all facets of Bell, with no secrets kept he had to keep hidden from them.

Bell considered a future where he kept such a vital part of his identity a secret for every single person he met. To say it was unappealing to him would be an understatement.

Others may consider it naive, but he wished to have at least a few people in his life that knew him for who he truly was. A reincarnator in a new world. And fully accept him in spite of it.

These conversations he had with Zeus tended to be rather productive. Increasing his skills in planning and strategizing, and growing the grandfather-grandson pair even closer than before.

Though Zeus would take every opportunity to tease him whenever he mentioned the harem protagonist's antics the original bell got up too.

'It's not like I'm as dense as the original Bell. I definitely won't fall into the same antics he got himself into...maybe'

Bell wasn't even sure if he was capable of enamoring that many girls in the first place. He didn't have that charm OG Bell had. Though when questioned by Zeus if he was against having one...he remained silent.

"You're silence speaks volumes my dear grandson HAHAHAHA! Perversion really does run in the blood HAHAHAHAHA!-"

Bell promptly shook his head to get rid of the image of a smug laughing old man.

In addition to all of the previously mentioned stuff. Bell received one last thing. Explanations for unknown areas of info that were never given by any canon material in his old world.

Though there were tons of information that Zeus gave to round out Bell's repository of knowledge. There were 3 main tidbits that he was greatly interested in.

The first was in regard to his mother, Meteria. She remained the same as the brief descriptions that were made about her, but what piqued Bell's interest was her unknown magic. Meteria for a long time had no discernable skills or abilities, with some believing that her sister Alfia stole all of her talents.

But Zeus mentioned how Meteria activated magic he was unaware she had shortly after she had passed away. Zeus didn't know if Meteria kept it a secret, or if it was magically born at that moment, but he was able to discern that it was a targettable buff-type magic that required immense feelings of love as a trigger for activation.

The second was about the elusive identity of Bell's father. Bell readied himself for a grand reveal but was heavily let down when Zeus revealed he was a level 3 in his familia who had mostly been a supporter for most of his adventuring career...in addition to being a massive pervert.

'No wonder Aunt Alfia had despised him so much. Her sister whom she loved above all else, fell in love with what is essentially a bottom-of-the-barrel suitor in terms of skill in the eyes of the Hera familia. In addition to being a massive pervert who might taint her innocent and kind sister'

'If I wasn't his son I might have naturally detested the guy...'

Though Bell was extremely disappointed, Zeus did mention how he began progressing relatively quickly leading to the raid against the one-eyed black dragon.

'Perhaps he acquired a similar skill to "Liaris Freese" after falling in love with Meteria?'

'An interesting possibility, but not that it matters much now.'

The last and most important revelation Zeus provided to Bell was in regard to his supposed "death'. Zeus was taken aback when Bell mentioned that the story said he passed away, but mentioned that the general consensus was that it was in all likelihood a fake-out death.

Zeus seemed to agree with the conjecture made. When Bell asked what could've possibly led to such an outcome, Zeus only replied with 2 reasons. "Evilus". The elusive organization of evil familias that wish to spread discord, particularly within Orario. and "Bell" his beloved grandson.

Zeus stated that had he needed to fake his own death, it would be done with those 2 parties in mind. To hide away from possibly being caught by Evilus, and to motivate Bell to start his own adventure.

Though now that he has taken over for OG Bell, Zeus now only had to worry about the fact he would almost be caught by Evilus in the future.

Bell was worried that his grandfather needed to go into hiding in the future, but Zeus waived away his concerns with a joke.

"If the me you read about was able to pull that off without a hitch, I'm definitely going to be able to, now that I have a headstart to prepare HAHAHAHA"

Zeus gave out a hearty laugh but soon stopped at the realization of another potential reason why he might've faked his death.

"Hera...If Hera was somehow able to track me down to this village..."

Zeus' expression darkened as a sense of genuine fear began to wrap over him. Seeing his proud grandfather turn pale so quickly about a yandere goddess chasing after him, he couldn't help but chuckle at his plight.

Bell knew it was pointless to worry about his grandfather, but he decided to add his future circumstances to the pile of reasons which motivated him to grow stronger.

'I have only just begun to enjoy being in a real family. I'll be damned if I let some psycho gods and goddesses take that away from me'

Bell, who was finished reminiscing on the events of the past few years, took one last look over his clothes for the day. Satisfied that nothing is awry, he set off from his room to begin yet another day of his new life.