I gritted my teeth and tried to calm myself down. All hope of finding my father was shattered in an instant. Four heroes awoken if only there had been three, then there was a chance my father would still be...

"You four, stand in front," Algor instructed, crossing his arms. As all four of us walked toward him, his eyes moved from side to side, seemingly assessing us by the second.

A sigh escaped his lips, "It seems like none of you had basic combat training yet," He began to stroke his beard with his hands before speaking, "What are your names?"

I spoke first, "The name's Finch, Finch Ashbourne."

Algor's eyes widened a little as I finished my sentence, "Ashbourne..., are you perhaps the son of Zich Ashborne?" he asked. I nodded my head to confirm, "I expect great things from you, Finch."

"Expectations aren't really my thing," I shrugged.

"So be it," Algor replied, "Who's next?"

The beautiful woman with silver hair raised her hand with hesitation before speaking, "I-I'm Clair Hallowsbane. N-Nice to meet you fellow H-heroes..."

"Nice to meet you too. My name is Nathaniel Evergreen," It was the hunter whom I didn't get to get a glimpse of a while ago. Models were a thing of the past, but this guy would easily fit into that criteria. He had messy brown hair and prominent cheekbones that made him look more masculine than average. His physique was average, just like mine.

And finally, it was the woman who was previously beside me's time to speak, "Fellow heroes," she looked at us one by one before continuing, "Call me Ish, Ish Faesworth." She pointed to herself confidently. Now that I got a better look at her, she had a sharp nose and eyes that shone with the color of prismarine. Her skin was fair and lacked blemishes. The only thing that stood out from her was her green-colored hair.

"What are ya staring at?" She snapped at me.

"Oh...uh...I was just admiring your hair...?" I stammered.

She stood silent for a second, "I inherited my green hair from my mother, so thanks...I guess," she finished.

"Now that I know all of your names and you've introduced yourselves to each other, more or less, may I know what God you heroes prayed to and what archetype were you blessed with?" Algor asked curiously, "Once I know your archetype, I can arrange the proper weaponry and training for each of you." he continued.

"I'll go first," Ish spoke, "I prayed to the God of Hunting, and my blessed archetype is the Vitalist."

〘Name: Ish Faesworth〙

〘Class: Heroic Druid〙

〘Archetype: Vitalist〙

〘Title: None〙

〘Primary Skill: Nature's Pact〙

〘In the eyes of the God of Hunting, all life is equal, be it insect or vegetation. To take a life means to give life to another, and to give life means to take another.〙

My eyes widened for a second as arcane texts suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. Do all heroes see this? I looked at the other three and noticed that they were staring blankly at the air. It seems like they can also see what I see. Interesting.

"I-I-I prayed to the God of a Thousand Faces, and my b-blessed a-archetype is s-stormheart. I don't think I'm fit to be a hero of this archetype..." She said with a frown.

〘Name: Clair Hallowsbane〙

〘Class: Heroic Rogue〙

〘Archetype: Stormheart〙

〘Title: None〙

〘Primary Skill: Storm's Reprisal〙

〘To cause a maelstrom of mayhem while striking as hard as a tempest. To be as elusive as fog and as hard to catch as lightning is what it means to be blessed by the storm.〙

I stepped forward and opened my mouth, but another line of arcane texts appeared before me before I could speak.

〘The Goddess of Blood advises lying about your archetype.〙〘The Goddess of Blood advises you to use the archetype called "Demonblade"〙

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"I prayed to the Goddess of Blood, and my blessed Archetype is Demonblade," I declared. My eyes wandered toward the other heroes. I lied about my archetype. What kind of text would they see?

〘Name: Finch Ashbourne〙

〘Class: Heroic Patron〙

〘Archetype: Demonblade〙

〘Title: None〙

〘Primary Skill: Demonic Pact〙

〘Lies as sharp as a demon's tongue. Blood thicker than ichor, and body harder than steel. Those who walk the path of demons walk a thorny path.〙

Is this what they see as well? Was this the work of my patron goddess?

〘The Goddess of Blood confirms your questions〙

〘The Goddess of Blood shows you your real status〙

〘Name: Finch Ashbourne〙

〘Class: Heroic Patron〙

〘Archetype: Slavekeeper〙

〘Title: None〙

〘Primary Skill: Enslave〙

〘Bodies are nothing but cages that keep the soul trapped. Souls are slaves that move the fleshly bodies of sentient beings. If you had the power to free a soul of a being, which cage would you imprison it next?〙

I don't know why I got this as my archetype. It doesn't seem befitting of a 'hero.' I shrugged and looked towards Nathaniel. He was about to reveal his archetype and patron god.

"The God I chose is the Goddess of Redemption and the archetype I have been blessed with is the Oath of Shadows," Nathaniel spoke, scratching his chin.

〘Name: Nathaniel Evergreen〙

〘Class: Heroic Paladin〙

〘Archetype: Oath of Shadows〙

〘Title: None〙

〘Primary Skill: Gray Justice〙

〘Laws, norms, and rules have a purpose and place, yet your place is outside it. Everything is gray, there is no absolute good or evil, and even those with the best intentions can commit the greatest of sins.〙

I wonder what those texts mean under their status? Was it flavor text, or is it some type of riddle we need to unveil? If the Goddess of Blood could freely alter what the others can see from my status, does that mean the other Gods can do the same? Did the other heroes lie like me, or did they speak truly? Suspicion rose within me.

Algor stood still for a few moments and scratched the back of his head, "I honestly have no idea what kind of archetypes those are. This wasn't the case for the previous heroes who had well-known archetypes, for example," He pointed at me, "Finch's father was a Paladin whose archetype was Oath of Light. It's a well-known archetype known for its incredibly high defense and offense capabilities while having the power to mend wounds."

"Looks like I have no choice, but to take four of you to the proving grounds this early," Algor smiled at us before turning his back, "Ish, Finch, Clair, and Nathaniel, follow me, and for the rest of you another instructor will come here and teach you the basics." He ended as he walked forward.

We followed him for a few minutes until he stopped in front of a car. I tilted my head to get a better glimpse of the car. It had been so long since I've last seen one that was actually working.

"IS THAT AN ACTUAL CAR THAT'S FUNCTIONAL?!" Shouted Ish beside me as she pointed at it.

"I-It seems like it..." replied Clair.

Nathaniel and I simply nodded in agreement.

"What? You guys haven't seen a car before?" Algor asked quizically. It hasn't even been a decade since the appearance of the Hooded One.

"Well, it has been six years since I last saw a working car," I answered.

"Yeah! Yeah! Me too!" Ish added.

"Well, this is no ordinary car. This thing has been modified to run on crystalys for fuel instead of oil. Only a few of them have been manufactured so far. That's probably why you rarely see cars on the streets." Algor added before opening the car door, "Get in. We have a lot to talk about."

Ish excitedly went in first, "Wow, how is this possible...?" she wondered.

I followed her and asked the same thing inside my mind. The car's appearance looked like it could only fit 5 people at best, but when I took a step inside it, I guaranteed it could fit at least 10 people inside.

Nathaniel and Clair followed suit, and they, too, wondered what was happening.

"Sir Algor," Nathaniel spoke, "Why is the interior of this car much more spacious than what it seems on the outside?"

"It's because of that spatial distortion gem up there," He pointed at the car's roof. My eyes followed where his finger was pointed, and I saw a yellow gem shaped like a hexagon embedded on the roof.

"You kids don't know how much of the world has really changed after the Hooded One's appearance. Gems like those up there," He pointed at the yellow gem once more. "They rarely drop from the corpses of demons, and they have a variety of shapes and colors which have different uses as well," Algor continued.

"Different uses?" Nathaniel asked.

"Yes, just like this one," He lifted the book he was holding. It began to slowly turn transparent as if its existence was fading from this world until it totally disappeared.

"What did you just do?" Nathaniel questioned, his eyes darting everywhere to see if he was being tricked.

"I simply turned it back to its original form," Algor answered, slowly lifting his shirt and revealing a belt with a red gem shaped like a cross embedded in its buckle and several others that glowed different colors.

"You mean each of those gems on your belt holds a different weapon?" Nathaniel spoke in amazement.

"No, not all of them. It depends on the shape. I'll teach you, kids, when we get to the proving grounds," He signaled the driver to start, and the car began to move.

This was the beginning of our journey.