“Jason, let me in!” Jason woke up to the banging on his door, and Mia calling out his name. He groggily opened up the door and watched Mia, who was wrapped in a bathrobe, run into his room and slam his door shut. She then proceeded to block the door with a nightstand, a lamp, several books, anything that was light and not nailed down, all while Jason tried to process the situation.
“What are you doing? It’s like 3 am!” he groaned, looking at the frantic woman.
“Ok, so. I tried to get some sleep, right? I took a shower, but when I got out, some naked man was laying in my bed! I tried to chase him out, but more of them were waiting for me, saying something about ‘fulfilling my duty as a hero’ and ‘wanting heirs from a hero’! Can you believe it?!” she whined. Jason rubbed his eyes and blinked slowly.
“Uh huh” he finally managed to groan.
“That’s it?! That’s all you have to say?!”
“Woman, it’s 3 am. My brain doesn’t function during any other time of the day. What makes you think I’ll function now?” he replied, dropping back onto the bed.
“Aren’t you worried?! What if a bunch of women come into your room right now and demand you give them a child from a hero?”
“Oh please. There ain’t anyone with enough brain damage to come f*ck with me. So I think I’ll be fine for n-,” he started to say, but a knock on his door made him pause.
“Oh hero~! Are you awake?” a female sing song voice called out to him. Jason’ eyes widened in panic and his face paled.
“Oh f*ck! Mia! They found someone with enough brain damage!” Jason panicked and tripped over his own feet, causing a loud thud.
“Is everything alright, hero?” the woman asked.
“Yeah, uh, no one’s here right now!” Jason yelled back. Mia looked at him with a deadpan expression.
“What? If they’re brain damaged enough to come f*ck with me, they are brain damaged enough to fall for this,” Jason whispered.
“Alright then, I shall return when you are back,” the woman replied, walking away.
Mia stared in shock at the door and then back at Jason.
“Told you. You can take the bed, I’ll take that rug in the bathroom,” Jason said, picking up the thin rug.
“What?! How will you sleep on that?!”
“I fell asleep on a hard tile floor when I was brushing my teeth for school. I can basically sleep anywhere. Good night,” he said, laying down.
“Wait, I can’t let you sle-,” she started, but Jason had already fallen asleep, and her protest had landed on deaf ears.
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“Good morning Hero!” a maid called out from the barricaded door, startling Mia. “The king asked me to get you for a meeting.
“Uh… be right there!” Mia exclaimed, crawling out of bed and tripping on something soft. “Ow. Oh, hey Jason.”
“Mrnin,” he grumbled out, slowly dragging himself up.
“Are you ok? You look pretty tired.”
“The pains of sleep at old age,” Jason grumbled and collapsed onto the bed.
“Old age? You’re like 17!”
“20 actually, but point taken.”
“Heroes?” the maid called out with confusion in her voice.
“Coming! I need to stop by my room to pick up the rest of my clothes, but you better not go back to sleep!” Mia yelled, running out of the room.
“Sure sure, whatever,” he replied, making his way to the door. A maid greeted him before looking between him and Mia in confusion.
“I did not know two of the heroes were so close,” she said.
I wish. She just came over because she knew I’d repel other people.
“Lead the way.”
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“Good morning hero. Please join the rest of us while we discuss future plans,” the king smiled as he waved Jason over to the table. Large amounts of food were all over the table, ranging from pots full of soup, to mashed potatoes and salads. Jason quickly grabbed what he could reach and sat next to Arlo and Aiden. Tina was on the other side of the table, and Mia was just stumbling into the door.
“Sorry about being late. I got lost in the hallway,” she mumbled an apology and sat down next to Tina. The king laughed it off and smiled.
“It’s quite alright, everyone gets lost in this castle at least once. Now, let us discuss some plans. As I have been made aware by Sir Aiden, your world doesn’t have magic. Is that correct for all of you?”
All of them nodded.
“Well, to prepare for this occasion, I have called one of our greatest magic instructors, who you will start working with soon. Additionally, I will have instructors depending on the class you all have.”
He looked expectantly at the summoned people in an awkward silence. Jason picked up on this first and raised his hand.
“Support mage,” he said, capturing the king's attention. The king smiled.
“Swordsman.”
“Tank.”
“Archer.”
“Also mage,” Mia squeaked out.
“Very well. All of you shall learn under the best magic instructor, and the rest of you will get extra tutors for your combat style. But that can wait until tomorrow. For now, you should register at the adventurers guild and do a few quests to raise your rank,” the king explained.
“Rank?” Aiden questioned, looking confused.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“Yes! In this world people become an adventurer and raise their rank as they complete missions. The more dangerous missions also pay quite well,” the man next to the king said, fixing his glasses. Jason guessed that that was the king's advisor.
“I see. Though that might take a while. How much time do we have before the next time the monsters come around?” Arlo demanded to know.
“Roughly a month. So it should be plenty of time for you all to level up and get used to your abilities. My advisor shall show you to the adventurers guild in the capital, as well as provide the funds for you to get any items you need.”
“Alright! Everyone, let’s party up and start the grind!” Aiden exclaimed, and Jason saw a notification appear in his status screen.
[Aiden has invited you to Heroes of the World! party.
Accept?
Y/N]
Heroes of the world? What a lame name.
He accepted and new options popped up in his status. He closed it and the advisor led them out of the castle and onto the streets.
The advisor led them out of the castle and onto the streets, which were alive with activity. The hero party had to navigate through throngs of people, street performers, vendors selling wares, and food stalls that filled the air with tempting aromas.
Despite the chaos, the advisor deftly led the group through the bustling streets until they finally arrived at their destination: a large building with a sign depicting a sword inside of a skull, mounted onto a shield. Jason couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine at the ominous decor.
They walked inside of the building and were hit with the smell of beer, fresh food and the sounds of a party going on. Jason saw a large group of adventurers drinking together, talking about the mission they just completed.
“I am here under the order discussed tomorrow,” the advisor said quietly. The person at the counter looked at him questioningly for a moment before realization hit her.
Guess that was some sort of code.
“Of course. Let me get that for you,” she said, pulling out a box. When the advisor opened it, it revealed 5 small copper collared badges with a “III” on it.
"By taking on jobs from the quest board, you'll gain experience and raise your rank in the guild," the girl at the counter explained. "As you climb the ranks, you'll have access to more lucrative and challenging quests that will test your skills as adventurers. But be warned, these higher paying jobs can also be more dangerous. You must be prepared to face the risks."
“Of course. So do these update automatically or…?” Aiden asked.
“Yes. Once you complete a task, points will be located to your account. These points will improve your rank once you reach certain thresholds,” she confirmed, pointing to a sign on the wall that had the numbers of thresholds.
“Alright then. What kind of mission would you recommend?” Jason questioned, rolling the badge around in his hand.
“For beginners I would recommend hunting down the Beatles in the forest not far from here. It will provide you with some monster cores as well as exp.”
“What are monster cores?” Mia questioned.
“Those can be used to infuse energy into weapons and power them up. Though low quality cores won’t achieve much, so they’re mostly used in accessories or potions,” the woman explained.
“Well then, let’s go hunt some beetles!” Aiden exclaimed.
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“Wow. They are a lot bigger than I thought,” Aiden said, looking at the approaching monster.
“Tina, can you shoot it down?” Arlo asked, pointing his shield at the closest one. Tina aimed her crossbow and a glowing arrow began to form. With a soft click of the trigger, the arrow whistled past Arlo and crashed into the beetle’s eye, killing it.
“Nice!” Aiden exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up. Instead of replying, she covered her face with the crossbow and turned away.
“Hey, Mia and I are gonna test something over there. We’ll be right back,” Jason yelled, walking away from the group with Mia following him.
“Ight, don’t get hurt,” Aiden replied, approaching one of the beetles.
“Ok, let’s see if I can synthesize a steel nail into the beatles brain,” Jason said, approaching the beatle. Mia took a step back just in case and watched nervously.
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Arlo slammed his shield into a beetle and flipped it over. Aiden followed up by slamming his sword into the monster. His sword crushed the beetle’s shell and the bug blood splattered all over the place.
“These guys are pretty weak. Too bad they leave such a mess,” Aiden said, furiously trying to wipe the blood of the beatle off of his shirt. Suddenly yells could be heard from up ahead.
“What the heck is that noise?” Arlo asked, turning to where Mia and Jason were grinding. Without warning, Mia ran out of the bushes and towards the castle. When Aiden tried to push the bush to the side, Jason burst out of the bush, screaming his head off.
“HE’S ARMORED AND HORNY! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!”
Behind him a small beetle followed him. However, unlike the ones they killed before, this one had a shiny steel shell. And what’s worse, a large metal horn poked out of the front of his head.
It looked around at the corpses before it and turned to the other three heroes. With fury in its eyes, it lunged towards the heroes with its horn pointed at them.
“Arlo, take its blow so that I can… huh?” Aiden turned towards his team, but they were already running away.
“Not today, Satan! Not today!” Arlo yelled, running for his life, with Tina by his side.
“What the hell guys! Wait for me!”
That beetle later got chased away by the knights and disappeared. However legends have it that this beetle lived on and took over a part of the forest, becoming known as the demon of steel.
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“Phew. That makes 30. Dibs on not cleaning it up!” Arlo yelled, taking a step back from the pile. The five of them ended up coming back the next day with some basic armor from the king, just in case something else unexpected happened.
“Don’t look at me. I killed most of these guys!” Aiden argued.
“I helped to, so not it,” Tina muttered, crossing her arms.
“Well, I can-.”
“I’ll do it. Give me a bag or something,” Jason interrupted Mia and walked to the pile.
“Really? I mean, we can probably leave it to the knights if we ask kindly,” Aiden questioned, but Jason shook his head.
“Nah, those guys probably get paid minimum wage. Last thing they need is to clean up after us. Plus it isn’t even that much,” he argued.
“If you’re sure. Here. Is there a monster shop that can take these parts?” Aiden asked the advisor as he threw a small bag at Jason.
“There is, but I doubt these would sell for much. They really aren’t that useful,” the advisor informed them, raising a piece to his face. “They could be used in armor plating but it becomes useless after level 1.”
With that, the advisor crushed the piece in his hand.
“You guys go on, save me a plate or something. I’ll be with you in a bit.”
“Alright. See you later then, we’re gonna see if we can sell these cores and get some potions going.,” Aiden replied, walking off. Soon the others joined him, and Jason was left to stand alone next to the pile of monster parts. He began to throw them in the bag when an idea came to mind. He grabbed his necklace with the right hand, and a couple of pieces in his left.
“Hm, what if I just use this? Synthesize!”
The pieces he was holding onto disappeared, and the necklace began to change into a pitch black color, with the small blue gem in the middle glowing brightly.
[Hero Necklace has gained a new effect]
[Hero Necklace
Special Effect: Protection of the Gods, Mana Recovery Up (Lvl.1), Defense Up (Lvl.1)
“Sweet! Free defense!” Jason grinned. He proceeded to spam synthesis as much as his mana allowed him, and threw the rest into the bag.
[Hero Necklace effect has been upgraded]
[Hero Necklace
Special Effect: Protection of the Gods, Mana Recovery Up (Lvl.1), Defense Up (Lvl.2)
“Wait, it can stack? I mean, it took a lot more to get to level 2, but does this act like an extra levelup?”
When they all compared their stats before, they realized that all of them started with the same stats. But as they leveled up to 3, they all ended up getting the same growth but on different stats. Tina and Aiden got attack and agility, Arlo got more defense and attack, while he and Mia got magic power and mana.
“I guess armor and enchants is how people fill the gap between their attack and defense. So I guess I technically have the same defense as Arlo without his shield or passive. I wonder if I can get to another level with the rest of these parts?”
Jason continued to use synthesis on the parts as he went back into the capital, until he emptied the bag completely at the front gates, however he didn’t get another level.
“Guess I’ll need better materials. Wonder what will happen if I synthesize a monster core with my necklace?” he wondered as he walked inside.