Tris had just barely stumbled into the stairwell in time; the Irregur monster had had had only inches away from chomping down on her.

  The sight of the dragon’s giant maws attempting to squeeze through the small entryway, failing to do so before giving up, gave her some relief, though that just made her aware of her badly sprained ankle even more.

  ‘I must have sprained it back when Dae saved me from that monster’s attack. We should have packed some potions with us…’

  The thought of her friend still trapped on this floor filled her with dread; the half-elf had done her best to distract the monster despite her own fears.

  It was pretty impressive to see her dart around the monster; she even managed to get it to buckle its knees at one point. It gave her hope that the two of them could get away.

  But when the half-elf got hit by the dragon’s tail, she became painfully aware that despite being that skilled, Dae’s still just a Level 1 Adventurer like her, and a rookie one at that.

  There was no way she could be a match for an Infant Dragon, let alone an Irregur variant of it. And with how the dragon had sent her crashing into that tree, the chance of Dae surviving is—

  “No! I can’t think like that!!”

  She can’t think such despairing thoughts, not when the half-elf’s survival depends on her. Unless she brings back help, Dae will be doomed to die.

  ‘It would be like Leos all over again…’

  Tris spped her cheeks and forced herself back on her feet. ‘I have to get help, anyone will do! Dae’s life depends on it…!’

  With a grim determination, she slowly limbed up the stone stairs, unaware of the battle that was unfolding behind her.

  “RRAAAHHHHH!!”

  “GRROOAAARR!!”

  With a battle cry, I charged at the dragon with all my might, just as the monster lunged at me with just as much vigour.

  Its massive cw swiped down at me which I quickly dodged out of the way of. It was then followed by a swing of its rge tail that I quickly ducked under.

  Seeing an opening, I dashed in and struck into its revealed gut; according to the monster encyclopaedia Misha had loaned me, the only pce on an Infant Dragon that’s not covered in hard scales was its underside.

  Even if this monster is an Irregur, it should have the same biology as the regur. If I were to defeat it, I have to kill it with one solid blow to its magic stone, which should be in the chest area under its neck.

  Sure enough, I could feel my hand hitting flesh instead of iron hard scales, but it had only pushed onto the incredibly tough flesh, not piercing into it.

  Not only that, but the attack did also not seem to affect the monster one bit as it simply looked down and swiped down its cws on me; I managed to evade it by leaping back before quickly taking a distance from it.

  It doesn’t look like my fists alone could do any real damage to it, even if I hit at its weak spots. I need to think of a way to pierce through that tough flesh somehow.

  “If only I had a bde…”

  Jirou had suggested that I at least keep a knife on hand for retrieving magic stones, though I had never needed one as I simply pierced through most monsters’ flesh thanks to my magic.

  Never thought I could come to regret that decision this badly…

  “…magic…”

  Come to think of it, Hecate had mentioned that my magic was simir to another used by another known Adventurer, the Sword Princess if I recall correctly.

  According to her, my magic could change its form depending on what I willed it to be, it was like I had both the greatest shield and the greatest spear.

  To my will… then, if I willed it…

  I looked down at my lightning coated hand, formed a knife hand with it and concentrated, sharpened my will and let it become a bde, a bde that could cut through those tough scales.

  As if on command, I could see the lightning around my hand morphed and sharpened against the sides of my palm; it even extended from my fingers for a bit.

  “Did… Did I do it right…?”

  “GRRAAHHHH!!”

  The dragon released its fiery breath at me which I quickly leaped out of the way before dashing up to it; when I got close, I struck at its exposed gut with a chop.

  As if noticing my attack, the dragon twisted its body around and let my attack hit the hard scales on its shoulder instead.

  “GRAAGGHH!?”

  However, unlike my previous attacks, it had managed to ssh through its scales and even drew blood, even if it was just a few drops.

  It worked! It could cut through! Though it was too shallow to properly cut into its flesh proper.

  But I could see a way for me to win against it, for me to kill it and survive.

  With a renewed resolve, I lunged back into another exchange with that Irregur. Next time, I would cut into flesh!

  “Hah…Hah…”

  Despite wandering the ninth and eighth floor for at least several minutes, she couldn’t find anyone around. All she could see was familiar empty stone corridors with no Adventurer in sight.

  “Did that party of Adventurers warn them to escape the Dungeon?”

  It wasn’t that uncommon for Adventurers to warn other Adventurers of any major incident that happen within the Dungeon; especially when it was an Irregur Infant Dragon.

  The chances of Dae surviving had dropped even more. But even so, Tris wasn’t going to just give up here.

  “No, there has to be someone here! It has to be!!”

  If this floor didn’t have any Adventurers, then maybe the next floor up would have some. It would mostly be rookie Adventurers, but she didn’t have time to be choosy.

  ‘At least there doesn’t seemed to be any monsters–’

  *CRACK*

  Just as she thought that the ever-ominous cracking echoed next to her; she gnced to her side and saw the upper body of a Killer Ant crawling out through the crack in the stone wall before lunging and pushing her to the ground.

  “Hrgk!”

  Without a second though, Tris pulled out her spare knife and plunged it into the monster’s chest in an attempt to kill it in one strike. Just as she did so, several more cracks appeared all across the walls and ceiling, as a pack of them emerged out of them and into the corridor.

  Tris could feel her heart sink as she saw the monsters staring at her with their bnk, cold eyes; it sank even more when she saw several more of them coming around from around the corner.

  While she could normally easily take care of them on her own, she was currently without her mace and with a sprained ankle; not an ideal condition to be in when dealing with monsters notorious for swarming Adventurers with superior numbers.

  Despite those odds, she still gritted her teeth and ready her knife for a fight.

  ‘I refuse for it to end like this…! Not after Dae risked her life to get me to safety…!’

  She braced for a gruelling battle as the monsters all lunged towards her with their sharp fingers ready to strike down at her—

  *SWISH*

  ““GWUAAHH!!””

  A spear was swung, and the insect monsters was cleaved right in their torsos; its lifeless bodies colpsed onto the ground as it slowly turned into ash around her.

  “E-Eh…?”

  “Are you alright?”

  It took Tris a moment to make sense of what had just happened and who had saved her from the monsters.

  Blonde scruffy hair and blue eyes, a spear that looked extremely long in comparison to his small stature and yet he held it with an experienced hand that was in stark contrast to his deceptively youthful appearance.

  The pallum hero, the captain of the famous Loki Familia, Finn ‘Braver’ Deimne had saved her life and was offering his hand to her.

  “…miss…?”

  “Ah, y-yes! I’m f-fine!”

  Tris could only stutter out the words before letting him pull her onto her feet, an easy affair for the First-Css Adventurer despite their height difference.

  “You should really be careful on this floor, miss. Those Killer Ants are well-known to be newbie killers. It’s not something that can be taken lightly.”

  “Yes, o-of course! Thank you for the advice!”

  She couldn’t believe the luck she was having for the past couple of months; meeting and interacting with not just one, but two First-Css Adventurers?

  And true to the rumours, Braver did have the look that could seduce any young woman, and the gentlemanly attitude did add to the appeal. It was no wonder Lisa was a fan of his for so long–

  ‘Wait! Now’s not the time to be enthralled!’

  “Well, I must be off now–”

  “P-Please, wait a moment!”

  Tris managed to grab onto Finn’s arm before he could head off, “You have to save my friend! There’s an Irregur Infant Dragon down on the tenth floor with her!”

  “An Irregur!? That must be the emergency the Guild had told me about…” The pallum seemed to ponder on the situation before asking, “What happened down there?”

  “W-We were just about to head back to the surface, when it just appeared chasing after another party! She had distracted it long enough for me to escape, but now she’s trapped down there with it! Please, you have to save her!”

  “Calm down, miss…”

  “A-Ah! I-I’m Tris.”

  “Don’t you worry, Miss Tris.” He nodded, “I’ll definitely save her.”

  “A-Ah… thank you! Thank you so much! I’ll lead you to-grgk!”

  She stumbled forward and nearly fell over if she hadn’t leaned against the walls for support; the pain from her ankle now is even worse than before.

  ‘Damn it, not now!’

  “Your feet, is it–?”

  “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  She couldn’t let such an injury stop her now; not when the hope for Dae’s survival was only a floor away!

  “…here.”

  “H-Huh!?”

  The Braver dug out a healing potion and handed it to her, “You had sprained your foot, didn’t you? Time is of the essence, so at least heal it first.”

  “…T-Thank you…”

  Tris quickly drank the potion, taking care not to waste any of it. Within moments, she could feel the pain from her sprained ankle fade away.

  With now two working feet, she guided Finn as they travelled down the floors as fast as they could, which was pretty fast considering the First-Css Adventurer with them.

  ‘Dae… please be alive…’

  With that small sliver of hope in her heart, they entered the infamous foggy floor and found a most unexpected scene to be awaiting them.

  “…Your friend… what Level is she?”

  “A-A Level 1, like me.”

  “Truly?”

  “Yes! I did not lie!”

  “Then… this is truly amazing.”

  The half-elf, coated in her lightning enchantment spell, was weaving around the massive Irregur monster at high speeds while avoiding its attempts to kill her; she also seemed to be leaving behind ssh marks on its scales.

  This was less like a struggle for survival, and more of a battle for domination and victory; and the half-elf seemed to be gaining ground.

  “How is she…?”

  Tris was left in shock and awe. Dae had not been able to even harm the dragon before, and yet now she was actually hurting it.

  No, more than that, it’s the fact that she was even fighting the dragon head-to-head at all.

  The half-elf had been sent flying by it before, so she should have been gravely injured; the blood dripping from her mouth was apparent of that. And yet, she was still charging at it despite it.

  ‘Dae… why are you…’

  “That magic of hers… an enchantment spell?” Finn noted, “It looked like she compressed it into a bde and used it to cut into that Irregur’s scales.”

  “Then, Dae might be able to beat that thing!?”

  “No, it’s not enough.” The pallum added, “Those small cuts, while adding up, are not enough to take bring that monster down. She cks a decisive strike to truly defeat it.”

  “No way…”

  ‘Dae… what are you going to do…’

  A cw wheezed under me before I swung at the dragon, sshing into the scales on its arm; the marks I’ve been leaving were getting deeper with each strike.

  I had somewhat gotten the hang of its movements, and I’ve found the right amount of magic to channel in order to cut through the scales.

  A few strikes managed to graze me, but thankfully they weren’t too deep and only my clothes were torn by them. It was a shame my jacket didn’t survive it; Tris was going to kill me for that.

  Even so, it wasn’t enough. No matter how many times I strike at it, the dragon didn’t seem to slow down at all. If anything, it just made it angrier and angrier.

  Not only that, but I could also feel my stamina and Mind draining by the second. At this rate, my exhaustion was going to catch up to me and I’ll be a sitting duck for it.

  “I knew it, I have to take it down with one strike.”

  To do that, I would definitely need to strike at its magic stone, though the dragon definitely knew it was my target with how it had moved previously.

  It was not going to be easy, and I need a way get it to open up its chest for me to strike, to expose itself

  …Wait, there was a way to do so!

  When it released its fiery breath at me, its chest was completely exposed. That was how I had struck at it before.

  It looks like the dragon would only unleash its breath when I was a certain distance away from it. If so…

  With a pn firmly in mind, I avoided its tail and took my distance from it and prepared myself for one st final strike.

  This time, I’ll forgo any form of defence and go fully on the offensive. All my magic would be focused into my hand, and become a bde that would finally pierce through that tough flesh.

  I need to become like a spear, and pierce right into its magic stone.

  As I had surmised, it reared its head back for another fiery breath and left its gut fully exposed. I have to strike now.

  I lunged forward towards it, leaving enough of the enchantment spell around my legs to boost my speed as I made it for its sole weak point.

  The monster seemed to have realized my aim and quickly unleashed a torrent of fmes downwards at me. Time seemed to slow down as I saw the fmes coming down on me, but I carried on my charge regardless.

  Each second felt stretched to an hour with the fmes already reaching my head; I could feel the heat from it and I heard the snap of my hair tie breaking from the heat.

  Even so, I kept up my charge. Ignore the fmes, ignore the heat…

  And pierce through!!

  “RRAAHHH!!”

  With one final lunge, I got past the breath and struck the exposed gut; this time, my hand pierced right through into its tough flesh.

  The momentum of my lunge in addition to the strength I put behind my strike had my arm piercing into the dragon up to my shoulders, and I could feel the cracks of the magic stone at the end of my fingertips.

  “GRRAaahhh…”

  With one final roar, the dragon turned to ash and fall down on me; its massive, cracked magic stone being the sole evidence that a monster of its caliber did exist.

  “Hah…” A long sigh escaped my mouth as I colpsed onto my knees and the familiar sense of a Mind Down started to kick in.

  I’ve survived… and I’ve defeated the Irregur Infant Dragon…

  The feeling brought about by the victory wasn’t something I could put into any form of words, but if I were to possibly put it into one word, it would be relief.

  Relieved that I had survived the encounter.

  Relieved that the damn thing was now dead.

  And… relieved that I had proved that damn Ottarl wrong.

  “DAE!!”

  The st thing I saw before my exhaustion finally caught up with me and my vision began to blur, was Tris riding on the back of a blond pallum running up to me.

  After that, everything went dark and my consciousness faded away.

  “DAE!!”

  Finn ran up to the fallen Adventurer as her friend kneeled next to her. “Dae! Speak to me! Dae!”

  “Calm down, miss. It’s only a Mind Down.” Finn assured her.

  The blonde pallum then looked the half-elf over; the blood on her lips meant a possible internal bleeding, her clothes were ripped to shreds but not to the point of obscenity.

  Her only weapon, the metal gauntlets were completely broken beyond repair, with some shards from the broken metal ptes digging into her hand and piercing flesh.

  ‘She must have not noticed it…’

  Adrenaline was known to dull the pain, though it could be a double-edged sword. Who knows how bad her injuries she had sustained since her friend left?

  “Still, we need to get her some medical help.” He told her as he lifted her into his arms, “What’s your Familia?”

  “Ah, it’s the Hecate Familia.”

  “Hecate Familia…”

  Finn was well acquainted with that infamous Familia; scrupulous rumors aside, they had pyed a huge part during the Great Feud seven years ago.

  The Bloody Bde and their te captain had even defeated one of Evilus’s executives.

  ‘So, this girl is part of that Familia, huh…?’

  Her fight had definitely drawn awe from him, something that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

  More than her magic, it was the way she stuck to the monster and evaded its every attack speaks volume of not just her skills, but her resolve as well.

  Every evasion she made, just one small error in judgement would mean absolute death for her. The courage to toe on that fine line as she had against what should be an impossible foe for her lit a fire within him.

  It was like seeing a heroic tale unfolding before him.

  ‘Dae of the Hecate Familia, huh?’

  Finn would definitely remember her name, a name that no doubt would go down in Orario’s history.

  The first thing I noticed when my consciousness returned was the retive grogginess of my mind and of something being wrapped tightly around my torso and hands; bandages no doubt.

  Next was the softness of a bed’s mattress against my back, and the warm feeling of a bnket over my body.

  “Mmph…”

  I lifted my heavy eyelids and let my blurry vision slowly focus on the ever-familiar ceiling of my room; bright morning sunlight shining in from the window.

  This is… my room…?

  Did Tris and whoever she was with brought me out of the Dungeon?

  “Ah! Dae!”

  Sounds of stomping feet echoed before I felt a pair of arms wrapped around me in a tight squeeze; the ever familiar blue hair bun of Tris entered my vision.

  “Tris—!?”

  “Don’t you do that again!” She cried out, “If you died as well, I… I…”

  I could feel her trembling despite how tight she was squeezing me. Had I known that my actions would scare her this much, I wouldn’t have even considered it.

  “…I’m sorry, Tris. I won’t do that again.”

  “You better not!!”

  “Yeah, I will not.”

  She helped me sit up before I asked, “How long was I out?”

  “A full day, a Mind Down according to Jeanne.” She expined, before seemingly remembering, “Ah, right! I have to inform Jeanne and the others!!”

  She then dashed out of the room in a hurry, leaving me alone to check out my current situation.

  Both my hands were bandaged up, though there wasn't any pain or numbness. I must have messed them up without realising it; thought in hindsight it was inevitable, with how reckless I had been in my fight against that Irregur.

  That made me remember my fight with that monster, and my victory over it. The moment it let out its final roar before turning into ash resurfaced in my mind.

  Back then, all I felt was relief. Now?

  “Hehehe…!”

  I was ecstatic!

  I had done what was thought to be impossible, defeating a monster someone of my Level shouldn’t be able to!

  A hero is someone who does the impossible, right? With this, I had taken my first step to realising—

  “What had you ughing like an idiot?”

  I flinched at the voice as I turned to see Jirou looking in from outside the door with a smirk on his face while my cheeks began to burn from embarrassment.

  “Jirou! I, err… didn’t see you there…”

  He let out a chuckle as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him, “How’s the dragon syer feeling?”

  “Groggy, and a bit thirsty.”

  “That’s a given, considering the Mind Down and you being unconscious for a day.” He walked up to the bed and sat down next to me, “It was honestly a miracle that all you got were a few bruises and broken fingers after what you did. Boy, Drake was pissed when he saw Finn carrying your unconscious body.”

  “‘When she wakes up, I’m going to rip her a new one.’, he said.”

  “Heheh…”

  Yeah, I could totally hear him saying that. I was definitely going to be in for a lecture from him. Not looking forward to that—

  “Wait, did you say Finn? As in, the Braver?”

  “Yup, the pallum hero himself. It was quite the shocker, too. Lisa was so envious of your situation despite worrying so much about you.”

  Why was such a well-known First-Css Adventurer carrying me back home!? Wait, was he that blonde pallum Tris was with before I passed out?

  “…You found your answer?”

  His sudden question has me turn to him in confusion, “To prove that Leos’s sacrifice wasn’t worthless, I mean. Those eyes of yours meant you have found it, right?”

  “…yeah, I do.” I nodded.

  “So, what is it?”

  “I… will fulfill Leos’s dream for him. I’ll become the hero he inspired to be.”

  “…So that's your answer, huh?” He let out a small sigh as he told me, “But are you sure you want to walk that path? The path of a hero isn’t going to be easy, you know. It would be difficult and wrought with hardships.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  A hero was that which inspires others, one that achieves great feats; those were things that wouldn’t be easy to accomplish.

  Yet, even if that is so…

  “Even so, I will still walk it.”

  “…Is that right…?” Jirou chuckled, “Well, if that’s what you had decided, I won’t say anymore. Just try not to overdo it next time. A hero would just be a reckless idiot if they are dead.”

  “I understand.”

  “Now, with that said, a word of advice.”

  “Hm?”

  Jirou got up and walked up to the door, leaning against the wall next to it and said, “You might want to get used to this.”

  Within the next moment, the door smmed opened, and Drake stomped in with a fury that was somehow more terrifying than the Irregur.

  “DAAEEEE!!!”

  “HIII!?”

  He ended up lecturing me on the importance of running away and not becoming a martyr for the next several minutes.

  There once lived a young boy, who inspired to be a hero.

  His dream came about when his parents first read to him the stories of heroes of old, of great warriors that battled the monsters and inspired others to follow in their footsteps.

  The boy wanted to be like those heroes, to fight the monsters and save the princess; it was a simple childish dream that should had faded away with age.

  And yet, that dream forever remained strong in that boy’s heart. No matter what other people said, he knew that it was what he wanted to be.

  As such, when he came of age, he left his hometown behind and came to Orario, the City of Heroes.

  Many Familias he had gone to, and many had turned him away; ‘You are too young.’, ‘We don’t need someone like you.’, ‘Dreams aren’t worth risking your life over.’, were among the many things they had said to him.

  But he would not give up; even if he had to live on the streets for a while, he would find a Familia to join to achieve his dream.

  Then, the goddess Hecate approached him, and she offered to let him join her Familia, which he gleefully accepted.

  The first several days as an Adventurer of the Hecate Familia were hard on the young vilge boy.

  With no experience fighting anything and a reckless passion, he always ended up getting saved by his seniors all the time, and getting lectured by them as well.

  Even so, he persevered through it all, and in the end, graduated to a proper rookie Adventurer. He matured to a proper fighter that could hold his own against most monsters in the Dungeon; his seniors also began to trust him more, with the captain eventually allowing him to join the frontlines during their expeditions.

  For a time, he thought his dream was possible, that he would eventually become the hero he had wished to be for so long.

  Then, he was hit harshly by reality.

  A newbie joined the Familia, one that had possibly more talents and potential than he ever could achieve.

  She had gained a magic spell upon receiving her blessing and was talented in combat; both were what the boy had desperately wished for, but had failed to receive them.

  It was then he knew the difference between those chosen by the Falna, and those who weren’t.

  At first, he felt awe for the rising star, which eventually turned to envy as she began to overtake him.

  ‘Why did she get so lucky!? Even though I had worked so hard!! Why!?’

  It stirred up many feelings in his heart, awakening many simir thoughts that he had tried to ignore for so long; eventually, one had crossed his mind.

  ‘Maybe I can’t become a hero…’

  Just that single thought had nearly driven him to despair, that he might never achieve his dream no matter how hard he worked; that it was just not to be.

  It would have consumed him if his patron goddess had him considered a different outlook.

  “What are you trying to inspire in others as a hero?”

  He had no idea what the answer to that question was, or why the goddess had even asked him that.

  Even so, he still continued to strive forward, either out of sheer stubbornness of not wanting to give up his dreams, or the desperation of not wanting to let all his hard work go to waste.

  All those disgusting feelings of envy, he pushed it to the deep recess of his heart; a hero should not be swayed by such feelings of envy, was his belief.

  Then one day, the newbie nearly got herself killed in the Dungeon.

  She was careless and nearly got swarmed by strong monsters before barely managing to escape certain death.

  That changed the boy’s perspective on her and made him realize that despite all the blessings she had received, she was still a mortal.

  ‘A mortal, like him.’

  With that revetion, he changed the way he saw her, and his envious feelings towards her faded away. He still envied her talent, but now he also wished to help her with her goals as well.

  ‘What I wish to inspire on others… is for them to reach for the stars always, no matter how other people may think.’

  Unfortunately, that boy would never see his dream come true. He would die in the Dungeon in a heroic sacrifice yet would forever be remembered as a fool that inspired to be a hero.

  And yet, his final heroic deed would inspire someone to pick up his dream; and he would be remembered as the one that helped birth a new legend in Orario.

  Thus ends the tale of a boy that inspires to be a hero.

  …To be continued…

  Yup!! Finally finished this chapter!! And holy shit it was a tough one to write out. Never thought it would be so hard to make a fight against a dragon cool.

  But yeah, this marks the end of the first arc of this story, and then birth of a new legend.

  Now, I read an anon review that said that I killed off Leos too soon without giving much development to him, which makes his death feel cheap and contrived.

  So, in response to that, I’ve written the small segment at the end there to explore his character a little more. Hope that it was good enough.

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!