Danmachi: Obligations To The Past

In the clearing, the repetitive sound of wooden swords could be heard exchanging blows. There would be an exchange of a few then the kind of echo that could only be the result of wood hitting soft flesh. Though it was training, there was no sign of letting up or taking it easy on him this day. The old man was truly a tyrant.

Fwap! "Aaaaaah!" Screamed Bell. He just took the practice sword to the wrist and was brought to his knees in pain. Zeus calmly walked over and bent down to get eye level with his grandson.

"I told you that the world is cruel. Why should I take it easy on you when those outside this village will not either. You must learn and nothing is a better teacher than pain."

Though he was speaking to Bell, he was not truly listening. Instead he was arguing with Nia trying to figure out why he was such a slouch with a sword when he requested a sword skill with his wish.

*while you have a high aptitude with blades, more specifically one sided blades, it doesn't mean you learn something from nothing.*

Bell was taking Nia and his grandfathers punishment rather hard. 'Why is everyone so cold to me?' He thought to himself. He was not oblivious to why his grandfather was trying to teach. Especially when it was so forward Loy stated to his face, but he couldn't figure out why his sword skill was so useless. "Nia, how can I get the sword aptitude to show or improve?" He asked.

*You are already improving. Has the user not noticed that when struck, that spot is not struck again in the same manner. Your sword skill is more akin to adaptation. Once learned you adapt and add to previous knowledge of the blade making you better.*

True to her words, all over his body were bruises from getting whacked, but he couldn't remember a time where one of those spots were hit again in the same manner. Now, that didn't mean he avoided getting hit there if a new way to get past his defenses was utilized. He had already been knocked off his feet in 5 different ways resulting in repeated pain in the same locations.

"Bell, what are you still kneeling for. You asked for this. Get up. We still have much more daylight to practice," said Zeus.

So the rest of the day was spent getting knocked around by someone far more experienced than him.

This type of training continued for several weeks and throughout Bell was getting better. He started to learn the basic foundation for kendo. However, he was also learning that while Zeus said he wasn't taking it easy the first few days, it was a lie. He wasn't really trying to push Bell into a corner all at once. He slowly raised the difficulty on him. Call it whatever you want, but Bell knew it was because Zeus was soft on him. Zeus was trying his best to train and not hurt him too much. Bell was truly blessed. If only he could actually get Falna so he could get excellia quickly.

Without a Falna, earning excellia was still possible according to Nia, but it was much more difficult and time consuming. And the process of gaining higher attributes through said excellia was impossible without the blessing. It was like an untapped oil reserve that would sit there till it was ready to be pumped to the surface. He only improved relative to what was normal to a human without any divine support.

Bell was currently contemplating the future while lying in bed. All of what he learned has been packed into his brain and it's starting to show on his body. The running is making his endurance increase as well as his speed. The push ups and sit ups whether from actual doing them or getting of the ground from Zeus' spars is making him stronger and reactions quicker. However, all was still within normal human standards.

'Nia, can you pull up my status,' he though internally that it had been a long time since he viewed them. They must have shown some increase.

*

Name: Bell Cranel

Race: Human

Age: 7

Familia: None

Level: 0

Strength: I 45

Endurance: I 48

Dexterity: I 69

Agility: I 44

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*

Bell saw his improvements and was proud. Especially since his dexterity sky rocketed since the last check. It must be because of the relentless beating and the help of my sword ability that it improved so much so quickly. He was thinking what kind of limits it had. If he could then maybe he could be unrivaled and have that harem his grandpa was always raving about. That remains to be seen. Maybe that is the freedom he wanted or maybe freedom to never settle. He hadn't thought about it much since he's so weak right now. He's also starting to wonder if he even has a sharingan. 'I might have been cheated by that man,' he thought.

*User does in fact have an eye skill. They are extremely rare in this world. Possibly even unique to just you. The requirements to unlock have yet to be met thus the User has not noticed any change.*

He sudden interruption from his thoughts made him jump a little. "I swear Nia, you always do this. It's helpful, but a voice in my head out of nowhere will always be jarring. And would you please stop calling me User. It's Bell. Call me Bell. We have this talk every time," he said almost out of breath after the long rant.

*User Bell, I acknowledge new title. Is there anything else you'd like to know User Bell?*

"You are doing this on purpose now. Haaah," he sighed, "just wake me up in the morning same time. Grandpa apparently has a test for me to complete."

*Yes User Bell, I will awake you as per usual. Good night.*

"Good night Nia," he grumbled. Even though he said goodnight, he did not immediately fall asleep. Instead he contemplated what to do in Orario once he arrived. Should he join Hestia like the original Bell? Should he instead attempt another path? Though these thoughts were on his mind, he had plenty of time to sort it all out. He was only 7 now and if the original timeline is not changed too much with his arrival then the trip would not begin till he was 14. Hopefully, his training would make him appear a little older than the original Bell. He didn't want to be called a rabbit. It would be a nightmare.

With that thought, our hero fell asleep drooling on his pillow. His night was filled with nightmares about him wearing bunny ears and being made fun of by strangers he had never met.