Isabelle Cranel POV
This was not ideal. Andrew had refused to sleep with me due to a small argument I'd had with Hestia over who was to rest beside him. I could see how it troubled him, yet my desire to have him all to myself was interfering with his happiness.
Such a desire still held strong, yet perhaps a compromise was in order with my newest love rival. We both looked slightly annoyed as we stared at each other, yet Hestia was the first to break the silence with a small sigh.
"I'm not going to let you take him without a fight Belle." Her expression was determined and I lightly grit my teeth. Had she not fallen for him this would have been a far easier engagement. She wasn't worried about me taking him, she was worried about me taking him from her.
Again, this was not ideal.
"You already know how I feel, so you can expect the exact same . . . but having us openly fight like this isn't making him happy. It's just pushing him away." I silently stared up to the roof, and then back down to Hestia.
Hestia was a multiple thousand year old virgin goddess, I was certain that if I did not have her direct interference I could easily win Andrew's heart. She would be absent in so many other facets of his life after all, such as training, and entering the Dungeon.
I just needed to be present in everything.
Isabelle Cranel would always be there. Hestia simply could not be.
"Well then what are you suggesting?" Hestia was perceptive, of that I knew, far more so than the average Divinity. So I had to be careful.
"Let's work together in a sense, I'm certain more foes will appear, so let's make certain this battle shall only be fought by the members of the Hestia familia. Rival's we may be, we aren't fully enemies. We shouldn't openly fight like this, especially not in front of him."
Hestia was weak. I could easily handle her, but I wasn't too sure about other more experienced adventurers. Especially that blond girl who greeted us a while ago.
She was powerful, I could sense the wind hanging with a deadly sharpness in the air around her. I would need Hestia to get stronger, and Hestia would need me to push away future threats.
"Well, alright . . . but don't think this means I'm going easy on you!"
I gave her a cunning smile and dealt a critical blow as I bid her goodnight.
"Goodnight Auntie, sleep well . . . an old timer like you will need it."
She made a sound that was a cross between a scream and cry.
"W-why you! Ugh!" Then she paused and let out a small sigh. "Goodnight to you too Belle."
Hestia was a good person, better than I. Yet that did not mean I was going to just let her defeat me.
Andrew deserved someone who could fill the spaces between the light he emitted. Darkness would creep in between the cracks unless someone already served the role of his Shadow.
Would it be wrong for this loyal Fool to do so?
Andrew Ariti POV
My eyes parted in the darkness, the light of the Sun preparing the crack over the horizon as I awakened. I should pay a visit to my Sun before I set out on my sacred quest to get my awesome weapon! I hoped into the church and spotted the sleeping rabbit, who I luckily didn't seem to immediately wake up with my presence.
I instead snuck into Hestia's room and slowly waited for her to awake . . . until I got impatient and softly shook her.
"Hey Auntie, my awesome blacksmithing friend Welf should be done with my sword now, so I'm going to pay him a visit!" I was practically whispering, and she shook the sleep from her expression as she registered what left my mouth.
Her eyebrow twitched, a smile on her face as she pulled me into a hug with a faint sigh. Her cheeks slightly reddenning with her next words.
"Please, just call me Hestia. It makes me feel closer to you."
"Of course Hestia!" If she didn't want to be called Auntie, then who was I to judge? With that I prepared to make my great escape, yet it would seem I'm not as stealthy as I thought, because Belle seemed ready to go near the door.
Even if she did look quite tired, that was normal for her, but not for Hestia. Now that I think about it Hestia looked slightly more exhausted than normal, could it be that me not sleeping with her interfered with her sleep?
Hestia too made her presence known behind me, and I was now stuck between two attractive women who were my dear companions! What was I to do?
"We . . . We had a conversation last night." My heart slightly sped up, at Belle's words, the suspense was killing me already! Did they have a fight after what happened?
Oh no!
Hestia hugged me from the back, and I could see Belle's eyes tighten.
"We're going to all sleep together now, Belle is your sister isn't she? So it's alright." I knew Hestia would come around, and I knew Belle would too! They were my treasured companions, not only too myself, but to each other!
"That's great news! I'm glad everythings been resolved!" I was so happy I could cry!
"With Hestia as your Auntie, right?" Her tone was chipper, and she softly held a hand to her cheek as she approached and grabbed my wrist.
"Well Hestia didn't really want to be called that, so right now she's Hestia!" Hestia seemed oddly excited at that, but either way Belle pulled me away with surprising strength!
"We have a sword to acquire, don't we?"
OH YEAH! I was so excited I had forgotten already!
"Yep! Gotta go get my Best Friend Sword!" I bid Hestia goodbye as I ran out the door with the local rabbit in tow. Then I let go causing her to nearly stumble but she caught herself.
"Belle, try and keep up! Gotta start early with the training today!" I heard a yelp, but we'd gone to Welf's workshop together before so she knew where it was. Though much to my surprise she was keeping up with relative ease.
Is this the power of the 'Determined Rabbit' her eyes were wide as she moved, the wind blowing hard into us as I smiled at her. Her stamina had already improved by leaps and bounds! Her agility was already insane, but this was new!
Could it be from her Confidant ranking up? I think her rank nine was something related to her getting stronger when near me . . . cool!
"Good job Belle! You're doing great!" It was barely morning, and she was already active and ready to go.
I couldn't be more proud!
We were going to beat the rush to everything in the future! We kept moving through the city, and I tried to get the rabbit off my trail with some freestyle parkour until we ended up in the forestry area where Welf's workshop resided.
Much to my glee Belle was still on my trail, but she was seeming to get slightly winded. Looks like she could still use some training . . .
"Alright, looks like we're here." Belle let out a small breath as I went up and knocked on Welf's door.
"IN A MINUTE!" I heard him yell from in the building, and so I took a seat on a log and patted the seat next to me. Belle flopped down next to me, and she threw an arm around my waist and let out a hot breath near my ear.
"Looks like you really needed to sit down." I gave her a soft smile, and she gave me a massive one in return. The exhaustion vanished from her eyes instantly.
"All I needed was to sit near you." I blushed lightly at that, Belle was really cute! She knew how to make the people around her feel happy, just like how she managed to solve her dispute with Hestia!
Now that I think about it, is Belle my best friend? Eh, I never really did those back home and I don't really plan on starting now. I value all my friends to the MAX! Even if my subconscious did have a ranking, why would I make a conscious one?
My friends aren't numbers. They're my friends!
Suddenly the door creaked open, and a slightly perturbed Welf slowly peeked outside, as though ready to immediately slam the door closed. However upon seeing our pair his eyes narrowed slightly at Belle.
I knew they didn't get along great the first time they met, but I was sure they'd both come around in due time. However after a moment of staring his eyes widened and he broke out into a smile.
"Didn't know you two were so close," he threw us a knowing grin before waving us inside.
Welf was such a cool guy, he said that oddly as though to reveal he was already aware of such a thing! Blacksmiths are always wise!
"Thanks Welf, we'd love to see what you've cooked up." We followed him into the messy workshop, and Belle seemed happy at his comment for some reason.
Could it be Belle liked being seen as being close to me? That was the mark of a true friend!
Never feel embarrassed about being close those you care about!
"Well you two came just in time. This is one of my best works in quite a while." He slowly unsheathed the best friend sword nearly causing me to drool.
It was sharpened beautifully, and I walked mindlessly towards it almost like a zombie. My hands slightly shaking with anticipation.
"C-can I hold him?" He has reincarnated and returned to me, it's not even been a week and I already missed you best buddy.
He handed the blade to me, and I instantly flushed red with passion.
It was perfect. He'd followed my instructions perfectly and as of such he'd made a blade perfectly balanced for me.
Though I did notice something quite strange.
"Did you make this based on the style I used during our fight? That's awesome!" This blade would be perfect for Azure Dragon Style!
"I'm surprised you noticed so quickly, but yep. I'm glad you like it, it took a hell of a lot of effort." He look a small pause and waved his hand lightly, "I call it Heir."
I didn't get it. Belle let out a small chuckle though causing Welf to blush.
"Because . . . It's the opposite of a Bastard."
WELF IS A GENIUS.
"WELF YOU ARE A GENIUS." He gets me so well!
After that comment I was practically absorbed by the blade, and I could already feel myself shifting into a more combat focused stance on instinct.
I considered sparing with Belle right then and there. This blade was more catered to the heavy movements and flow of Azure Dragon Style, which was a little ironic as Azure Dragon Style was supposed to be defeated by the White Tiger Style.
That was the style I was trying to teach Belle! Though maybe that would help ingrain the style deeper into her movements!
This was actually perfect!
"Thank you so much Welf!" The two of them seemed to be chatting lightly, though I interrupted them with a heartfelt bow.
"Belle, we need to spar! Welf, do you want to join us?"
His eyes widened at the sudden idea, even Belle looked a bit surprised.
"You want to include me in your training . . . ?"
"Yeah of course! You're our friend." My smile was casual, but for a moment I saw a light shine in his eyes. He peeled his gaze over towards Belle with some hesitation, but her response only made him give a light smile.
"You seem like a nice guy, and we seem to be getting along quite well today. So why not?"
Rank 3: Honing the Hammer - Increases Excilia gain of the Tower Arcana.
He let out a small snort and awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"Damn, where were you guys 4 years ago?" His tone was slightly coy, but I barely registered it.
Because I know this one!
"I was fighting in this really weird tournament with a bunch of crazy people, it was a lot of fun though!" That was a crazy experience! All those people were crazy! For a lot of reasons . . .
"Alright then everyone, let the training: COMMENCE!"
Now that I had a real sword, I had to be extra careful when training.
Use a training sword? Nah, Belle needed to get used to real weapons and I needed to adapt to this sword better . . .
Oh who am I kidding, I just want to use my new Best Friend . . . Or should I say Heir?
Whatever, I didn't want to cut off anyone's limbs by accident, so I had to be careful!