Level Up!

Hestia wore a smile on his face after hearing about Bell's desire to level up.

Leveling up is an important event for most adventurers as it signified them taking a step forward in getting stronger.

Meliodas closed his eyes, and the aura around Bell's body suddenly undergoes a massive change.

'So this is an indicator to tell who is who.'

Hestia thought as she sensed the shift of presence in Bell's body.

Meliodas returned to his soul form and returned Bell to his body.

Bell opened his eyelids and showed his ruby-colored eyes while wearing a confused expression on his face.

He was confused because Meliodas gave him control of the body without warning.

'It looks like Melidoas can just switch control of my body between himself and me, even without having to do that focus method thing that he talked about.'

Bell thought.

He could feel that his body had become lighter and stronger.

'I feel like I could beat a minotaur now.'

Bell chuckled at his thoughts.

(The reason I returned your body to you is because I am curious about what would happen to the skill and magic you got now that I am no longer in control of your body? Do they get erased or will they stay? Or will they only work when I take over?)

Meliodas' voice rang inside Bell's head.

Bell widened his eyes in realization, truthfully, he was also curious about this as well.

Bell swallowed a mouthful of saliva down his throat in nervousness, he knew that he received that skill and magic all because of Meliodas, at the back of his mind, he was worried that he would be unable to use them.

Bell shared his concerns with Hestia, which made her frown a bit.

"Okay Bell, lie down."

Hestia pointed her fingers to the couch.

Bell nodded and laid down on the couch, Hestia stabbed her finger with a needle once again and a drop of ichor fell.

Holographic lights of letters and numbers started to dance around above Bell's back as Hestia upgraded Bell's falna for a level up.

'The uproar it will cause will be massive.'

Hestia thought as she imagined the event when Bell's historic leveling up speed would come to light.

There was no doubt that a commotion would occur if Bell's level-up information came out in public.

'This will probably be a record that will never be broken.'

The previous record, Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess took her a year to level up from level 1 to 2.

Back then, this was enough to cause widespread shock throughout Orario, no, throughout the world.

'Many people will probably accuse him of cheating and even other Gods might try and take him away.'

Hestia thought as her mood turned gloomy.

Technically he did cheat but it was still a fact that there would be gods out there that would covet Bell because of his record-breaking level up.

Hestia's mind spun as she thought about the scenarios they will experience in the future.

Hestia braced herself for the worst.

'Lying and hiding Bell's information is not an option.'

Sending false information to the guild can have serious repercussions.

She had no choice but to request for them to not post his level up on the announcement board so that Bell doesn't get targeted.

Meliodas thought the same as Hestia, lying about Bell's level to the guild would be a bad idea but announcing it to the world would be just as bad.

Meliodas racked his head and closed his eyes to come up with a plan.

Right now, they were too weak to handle any incoming threats that will stand in their way.

A single level 2 in a poor familia can't do much.

But there is another thing that they have to worry about, the super jump of Bell's status from rank I to S.

Explaining the reason for that to the guild is going to be a challenge itself, they got too caught up in wanting to become stronger without considering their situation in the future.

Now they caught themselves between a rock and a hard place.

(Oh well, let's just see how things go)

The lights on Bell's back got pushed into Bell's body as Hestia wiped the sweat off her forehead and lifted a piece of paper that displayed Bell's new status.

The decision of choosing his development ability was put off for later, they have more important business to discuss.

Hestia handed Bell his status sheet and when Bell and Meliodas looked at it, they were relieved and smiled.

Bell's Status looked like this

======================================

Name : Bell Cranel

Race : Human

Level : 2

Strength - 999 S --> 0 I

Endurance - 999 S --> 0 I

Dexterity - 999 S --> 0 I

Agility - 999 S --> 0 I

Magic - 999 S --> 0 I

<Skills>

[Demon Mark] locked

<Magic>

[Hell Blaze]

[------------]

[------------]

[------------]

[------------]

[------------]

=======================================

(Looks like the skill and magic didn't disappear but the [Demon Mark] skill... for some reason there is a lock symbol on it, does this mean that you can't use it or something?)

Meliodas said as he put his fingers on his chin.

"I am more than satisfied with this."

Bell, however, did not get too greedy, just being able to level up in just several weeks was more than enough for him.

('Didn't get [Full Counter], too bad.')

Meliodas thought as if it was a shame.

(Hey Bell, mind if I take over for a bit)

"Oh sure, go ahead."

Bell complied as he closed his eyes and let Meliodas take over.

The aura around Bell took a drastic shift, Hestia gulped down her saliva and knew that Meliodas wanted to talk to her and vice versa.

She readied herself for a greeting.

"Your Meliodas, right? Nice to meet you, forgive me for not believing you earlier, and thanks for being good friends with Bell"

Hestia said nervously while flashing a big smile.

"Oh? You can tell who is who?"

Meliodas was a bit surprised that Hestia could tell who was in control, he had no idea how she did it and was very curious.

Hestia saw his expression and giggled.

"The presence around you is very different, that is how I can tell, I've been with Bell for a while, you can't fool me, Mr. Demon Prince."

Hestia said.

"So that's how... then how about this?"

Meliodas said as he closed his eyes, the presence around him changed once again.

Hestia was a bit surprised.

"Bell?"

Melidoas flashed a teasing smile.

"Nope, still me."

Hestia's eyes widened into a full circle.

"What? You can fool even the senses of a god... wait, I guess that is expected of you Meliodas."

Hestia shook her head which made Meliodas let out a light-hearted chuckle.

"I know we already know each other by looking at each other's memories but this is the first time we formally met, my name is Meliodas."

Meliodas said as he put his hand up for a handshake.

Hestia smiled and put her hand up as well, it was a bit awkward because she was greeting Melidoas while being Bell's body but she didn't show her awkwardness.

"Meliodas, once again, nice to finally meet you, my name is Hestia, the goddess of Bell's familia."

After the greeting, the friendly atmosphere around them suddenly shifted, Meliodas wore a serious look on his face as he stared into Hestia's eyes.

"Do you know of any method or ways to bring me back home?"

Meliodas asked, this was a question he was very eager to ask, he thought that since Hestia was a goddess of this world, she would have some clue or way to get him back home.

Unfortunately, he was met with disappointment when Hestia shook her head.

"No, unfortunately, I don't know anything, I'm sorry, I didn't even know other worlds existed until now."

'Well, there goes my only lead.'

Meliodas felt a bit disappointed.

"But I think Ouranos might know"

"Ouranos?"

Meliodas asked and closed his eyes to search from Bell's memories in hopes of finding information about Ouranos but to no avail.

"Ouranos is like the god of the guild, the main political power here in Orario, he might know something, though I can't guarantee it."

Hestia said when she saw Meliodas' expression.

"Okay, that is our next lead then"

"But getting into contact with him is gonna be difficult though."

"Why is that?" Meliodas asked

"He always sits on his throne to constantly use his arcanum, because his arcanum keeps the dungeon in check so the monsters remain inside, to keep the people safe from it, if he leaves his throne, the dungeon might release monsters onto the surface, endangering everyone."

Hestia said with a serious expression on her face.

"Plus I never met him before, so I don't know how he will react when he finds out about your existence," Hestia added.

"Well, we will just have to work our way up then and see how things go."

Meliodas said with a carefree smile.

"By the way, we need to come up with some sort of excuse to explain Bell's status boost."

He put the matter of going home behind for now and prioritized Bell and his familia's safety.

"What do you suggest?"

Hestia asked, hoping that Meliodas can come up with a good excuse to justify Bell's status boost without telling the truth.

"We'll come up with something but for now, I want to train Bell to get used to his new status."

(I'm so excited, I can't wait!)

Bell, in his soul form, said with stars in his eyes, his excitement and anticipation were through the roof at the idea of getting trained by Meliodas and testing out his new strength.

"We got a lot of work to do."

Meliodas said as he let out a wry smile.

Meliodas returned control of Bell's body to Bell.

In his soul form, Meliodas closed his eyes and thought about his future course of action.

When Bell regained control of his body, Hestia immediately hugged him with a worried look on her face, with the fear of losing him and the danger that they'll encounter.

The future was unpredictable and no plans are perfect.

All they can do is prepare and do their best.

It was night time and both Bell and Hestia slept on the same bed.

Bell protested about wanting to sleep by himself and suggested that he sleeps on the couch but Hestia was too persistent and Bell eventually gave in.

"Good night Bell... Meliodas."

Hestia said as she yawned and closed her eyes.

"Good night you guys."

Bell said and similarly closed his eyes.

(Good night)