Reverse Hero

Two Years Later

My new life started as I would expect mine to be after being forced to crawl the dungeon day and night.

I would be forced to join new expeditions daily, and I got to meet new people nearly every day. Of course, they would put me in the most dangerous situations, or if need be, try and leave me behind if too many monsters ganged up on the group.

But every single time I managed to come back, whether that was due to luck or my own experience, even I'm not sure.

The only visitor I was allowed to have at all, was Hestia. She was my goddess, and because of that, she needed to update my status. However, the rate at which I was growing slowed.

It was likely because I had just gotten a first-hand humbling, but even despite my growth slowing down, I was still much faster compared to other people.

This went on for nearly two years until the day had finally come.

"Bell, you did it!" Hestia cheered. Despite knowing that I was dangerous, she still seemed to not treat me any differently, on the outside anyway, "You reached level 9!"

Reaching level 9 at the age of 16 was by far the most unexpected thing possible. If I were to keep the same mindset I had before though, I could have probably gotten to level 9 in maybe less than a year.

"Yea, but I'm a little late on that, don't you think?"

While it was true I leveled up super fast, it was just as true that I was one of the last ones to finally reach this level. Ottar reached it first, around one year ago. And Ais had reached it second, 6 months ago.

Being third isn't too bad of an issue, but still, it irked me that I didn't get here faster.

"Well, I'm just saying we should be grateful regardless. After all, everyone agreed to start the expedition again once we reach 3, level 9's."

That idea had been Hermes, he had likely predicted that I would be third. How? I have no clue.

"..."

I didn't bother with a response. 

I knew that I was going to be doing this until the day I died. The only reason why I still gave it my all, even after two years was because I wanted to kill the Dragon.

Did I have a motive too? No. I just needed something to keep me going. In order for my life to not feel wasteful, I needed something that could make me survive the impossible, and killing the dragon was it.

"Well...I'm gonna report to Ais about it. So be good and wait here!"

There was no point in the last part of her statement. Even if I wanted to, the magic still bound me, and I would be surrounded right away even if I did.

She quickly left the prison cell, and I sat back up as I put my shirt back on.

'Level 9, huh?'

I hadn't gotten any more skills during that time. All I got was experience and knowledge of fighting monsters. Plus more strength and whatnot with my level-ups.

After 5 minutes, Hestia came back in with a face I hadn't seen in 2 years.

"Long time no see Bell."

The voice was cool and collected, but deep inside those words you could hear the emotion

"I never thought I'd see your face until the day of the expedition. So, what is it you need from me, Hero?"

The person was none other than Ais. She had gotten a little taller, but overall she still looked the exact same as two years ago.