Power Built In Sorrow (Male Reader Insert)

Chapter 32

"This is for them." You sigh, sitting down on the dungeon floor. Your face is bloodied and bruised, but your eyes hold determination. You're hungry, exhausted, but you must go on.

- You have been chasing Mercer for days now. He situated himself deep into the dungeon, mutating anything he sees. Your first goal was to kill him. Now you just hold off any of his monstrosities from reaching the upper floors -

"I shouldn't have done this! I should've never went to Orario! Trouble follows me anywhere, and I'll lose a family once again. If... If I could've just killed Ares in that tent, no one would be suffering right now!" You shout, clutching your head in distress and pain. You lower your head, tears dripping down as your sobs echoes through the dungeon floor.

- You're stressed. Before, you were bound by nothing. You kill freely, whoever blocks your way, your enemies had nothing to target rather than you. Now they have Ryuu, Hestia, Bell, and Lili, and so many others. You're afraid, afraid that while you hold off Mercer here, Rakia is destroying Orario at the top -

"I never thought I'd run out of power. I can't even cast Deerstalker and check up on anyone. I can't summon anyone of my Killers. I have to fight my own. These creatures surpass anything the adventurers of Orario handled." You mumble, keeping yourself company and your sanity intact.

- Your thoughts were interrupted by loud rumblings. Grabbing your scythe, you look to the side. A juggernaut stomps its way to you. Trying to get ahead of it, you quickly dashed. You slashed with your scythe, but you are too exhausted to dish a powerful hit. It raises its left rocky hand and blocks the scythe. With the right hand, it hits you on the side. The force made you crash and hit the dungeon wall -

"I'm sorry, everyone." You mumble, using your last power to teleport out of there. You landed in the green grass of the 18th floor, passing out because of mind down.

<2 Days Earlier>

- Bell admires the minotaur horn in his hands, amazed by its red glow while Hestia is updating his status. He still couldn't believe he went up a level and managed to kill a minotaur -

"Level 2, huh? I really beat a minotaur!" Bell mumbles, still astounded by his past feat.

"It's over, Bell." Hestia says, getting off his back. She was proud of Bell, but she was more worried when you didn't return last night.

"Did I just go up a rank now? Nothing feels different..." Bell says, opening and closing his hand, trying to see any difference from before. Hestia sees the disappointed look and tries to cheer him up.

"Th-This power! It's overwhelming!" Hestia acts, trying her best to liven up Bell's mood, "Is that what you were expecting?" She asks.

"Yeah. A little." Bell says, now livelier than before. He lays his head down on the bed again.

"Well, you'll feel it soon enough." Hestia reassures, putting the paper on Bell's back so she can show his newly upgraded status to him, "Anyway, I've got good news. Want to hear it?" She asks, moving her hand in a circular motion at the paper so the writings would transfer.

"What is it?" Bell asks weakly. He was still a bit tired even though he already recovered from his fight with the minotaur.

"It's a skill." Hestia answers, making Bell's eyes flutter open in surprise, "Your second-um, never mind... You know." Hestia says. Abruptly stopping midway as she almost told Bell about his first skill, "One of those skills you wanted has finally appeared." She continues. Bell sits up, and Hestia passes him the paper.

- Bell reads the paper. Since he leveled up, all his stats went back to level 10. The firebolt magic is still there, and the first skill, as usual, is blurred out. Below it is the word Argonaut -