Q: Why can there be only twelve heroes? Why not more or less?

A: I have a hypothesis, but I am not certain about this. It’s most likely because there were 12 powers so strong that others could barely challenge them. Moreover, even if the holder of one of the 12 ancient powers dies, a new one will take his/her place when the necessity arrives.

- - -

When I left the inn, the sun rose in the south, peeking in between the mountains of mist. Getting my head around a lot of thoughts, I hit the road towards the academy.

The sun rose in the land of Starlight City, and the mist danced freely without care, painting a clumsy canvas in gold and yellow. A soft, stiff wind blew, drifting the mist, though not that unpleasant. The vendors on the sidewalk had just opened their stalls and were preparing for the still sleeping customers. A few waggons strode down the path. Horses—so massive and magnificent that they could compete with any champion stallion of my old world—carried them.

A faint gust of wind blew, and my red hair swayed a little along with it. Technically, the red hair was not mine, nor was this body. It belonged to the sidekick of my favourite web novel, Forbidden Realms—Scar, or Oscar Emberheart—I should say.

I still could not believe what had transpired the previous night, but I could not deny it, either. After Yasmine left, I thought through the premise of the novel and recalled that in the beginning, Scar was a demotivated, depressed piece of shit whose only commitment was how to best waste his life.

In an accident, Scar got his mother killed and blamed everything on himself. I don't know if I could blame him for being this way. Anyone would feel extreme guilt if they caused someone else's death, much less their mother.

Even though Scar was already better than most average knights, he never bothered to advance from squire to a knight. The reason being, to advance to knighthood, one had to sell his loyalty to a lordship, and Scar was not even ready to put his own shit together, much less anyone else's. Well, in the end, he did sell his loyalty to the protagonist, Edward Eastwood, after going through yet another heartbreak.

Shaking my head, I strode down the path, heading towards the best academy in the realm, the Starlight Academy. The protagonist had not yet arrived at the academy, and to my knowledge, the story did not start from here.

I had already checked the calendar, and found it was the 17th day of the month of Juliann, the year 1521. The year and month distribution in this realm was nearly identical to that of my old world, with Juliann being the last month of the year. Although I have a faint hypothesis that one second of this realm was a little longer, nothing concrete yet.

As for the names of the months, they were named after the 12 heroes who fought against the demon invasion at the end of the second epoch. But that's another story—one—I am not entirely aware of.

The story starts in some small town, from where Edward made his way into the Starlight Academy after overcoming quite a few ordeals, and even when he arrived at the academy, he had to go through a lot to get his admission. I had not decided what to do about it, and before I even try to help the protagonist, I have to help myself.

After moving for about half an hour, I reached the territory of the academy. I did not just stride there just to work out or as a morning jog, but because I found no money in Scar's belongings to travel in a carriage. Considering the early Scar, that was quite convincing. His family had stopped sending expenses, and whatever he got from Yasmine, he wasted on drinking, mostly.

All the students had not yet returned from the break, but there were already boys and girls in different attires running around in the field, mostly training with swords or other weapons. I did not linger in the field anymore and made my way towards the large gate. Before it stood a couple of two-metre-tall guards, but it appeared they were not having a pleasant time.

"We already told you, we can't let you inside without a letter of consent," the guard on the right said to the frail figure in front of him.

They appeared to be arguing with a kid of fifteen or sixteen at best, and a female at that. Fair-skinned with a slight tan, but it looked as if it had never been taken care of. Her hair was silvery and unkempt, with a face that would develop into an exquisite person with proper bath. Her clothes were as good as any peasant, and as for belongings, she only had a simple handbag made of cloth.

"Please, will you call Professor Ranyan?" the girl asked, cocking her head. Her tone was pleading, biting her lips. "He knows me. I have come a long way. I don't know—"

"They all say the same thing," the other guard scoffed, "and Professor Ranyan is not in the academy currently."

I made my way towards the gate, trying to ignore the two guards greeting me, bowing their head slightly.

"Why are you so loud at so early hours?" I snapped at them, imitating what Scar would do.

"You know Master Oscar, many youngsters come to this time around every year, thinking they have talent and could become a mage or a knight," the one on the right said. "We usually have tens of them during the day, but this little one came before the gates even opened."

That was quite true. The academy was technically open to everyone, though you would need talent as well as capital to get an education here. Many peasants came around this time of the year hoping to get admitted to the academy and turn their lives around, despite the fact that the majority of them were not even allowed to pass the gate.

"Why are you wasting time, then?" I said, measuring my accent. The accent was still slightly off, but I reckoned I can manage it within a few days. No, it was not my acting skill, just that this body was accosted to taking like this. "Send her to take the test, and be done with it."

I crept inside before they ask me anything else. A couple of tall buildings greeted my sight at once. I need to mention that I came from a world far advance in technology and have seen many magnificent buildings and monuments. Despite that, this was something else. It was like the grand set of some historical or fantasy movies or shows.

The twin-buildings were made of white marble, luminescent in the rising sun. One could not help but feel a little overwhelmed looking at these magnificent pieces of art. You literally have to look up to see the whole thing. Though this world did not have the technological means of my old world, instead it triumphed through magical means.

The Starlight Academy had two departments, one majestic building for each of them: the Knight and Mage department. Scar was a full-fledged pupil of the knight department in his first year, though counting the upcoming new year, it would be his third year in the first-year division.

A grand fountain stood between the two grand buildings, and surrounding the fountain were a few stone sculptures armed with breastplates and all sorts of weapons, from sword, spear, and hammer to staff and wand. Among them were the twelve heroes of the past and a few other personas who were added later.

Entire palace like buildings were plastered in white, glossy with the morning light, while the lush garden brimmed with greenery and colourful flowers, full of life. Old oak like trees spread in rows from the sides, as their leaves swaying, wobbling, and falling along with the wind. A dozen figures meditated in peace under the shelter of the trees.

Finding my dorm was not difficult, thanks to the vivid description I read in the book. My quarter was on the ground floor of the four-storeyed. from all the way to the inn, I did not stop once in my stride, but my legs faltered instantly as I got inside, looking at the poor state of the quarter.

The entire floor was covered in a layer of dust, giving the vibe it was never taken care in ages. Fortunately, there was no powerful stench, but seeing the state of the room, I had to urge to start cleaning immediately. I thought better of it and sat before a wooden desk.

Sanitation was all good, but I have a better problem at hand. I won't have a peace of mind if I do not organise my thoughts first.

Now why would the author want me here? Since I got the call and all, it was evident the author had his hand on my current problem. As for the identity of the author, that was a problem for later. He asked me to assist him in concluding the tale? A wave of sudden anger surged through me, thinking about that. Could not he just tell me everything thoroughly about this transmigration and stuff?

Honestly, what did he expect of me? If it was combat, Scar was far better at it than me. Neither did I ever hold a sword nor tried spell casting. Those things were just a distant memory in my old world. Wait, spell casting. That was something Scar never tried, since anything related to studying goes over his head. Perhaps that is the reason?

I shook my head instantly. Yes, I do have an excellent memory, but there was much more to sorcery than just memorisation. But I have Scar's talent and potential, so the department of Magi is a viable option. Then there was the knowledge I possess. From the book and also from my old world.

My knowledge would be a great help, but I have to utilise it precisely. I need to organise them together. My eyes drifted off towards the messy desk and found a few notebooks. Sadly, there was no pen. I shook my head and thought of something immediately.

Considering for a bit, I opened the status window again. Originally, something like this was not in the book, and I had to look at it twice to understand everything. The information came to me the same way I could understand the language and many other things in this world.

Blue and white light expanded before my eyes, turning into a transparent window representing my attributes.

_____________

Name: Oscar Emberheart

Bloodline: Unawakened.

Rank: Knight Squire.

Attributes:

-Strength: D+ (Progress: 92/100)

-Agility: C (Progress: 87/500)

-Perception: C (Progress: 11/500)

-Spirit: B- (Progress: 112/2000)

Ability:

-Purgatory (Unawakened)

Title:

Destiny points: 10000

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All the information I needed to know about these sorts of things poured into my head, and I could fundamentally comprehend it. But thinking about how my involvement affects me and the world, I could not help but agree with the system.

Even though this system only applies to me, the others get similar privileges but without the stat window. They get Destiny points according to their work, but they are allocated unconsciously to the attribute they want to cultivate. A knight would improve physically, and a spirit Magus would improve mentally.

The advantage I got was that I could allocate exactly where I wanted the numbers. This might not sound very efficient, but it really is. This privilege was something of quite significance. Moreover, I could stack the points and wait until my body became saturated from all the training and ingredients that could raise my stats.

Other than the destiny points, physical and mental training could raise one's stats, though it needs an accumulation of many days of rigorous training. There was also the shortcut way of consuming some rare ingredients or potions that could raise the stat to some degree.

The creator gave me 10,000 destiny points as a beginner bonus, which was quite a lot, considering that the tale had just begun. Destiny points are extremely important in this book, or world I should say. They can be used for the four attributes, abilities, or your bloodline. Other than the skills that you had to work for, destiny points could help cultivate other attributes.

The progress showed how many destiny points I needed to advance in each of the four attributes. Strength only needed 8 points to reach C grade, while the others needed a little more. The higher the grade, the more points will be needed to advance. And so on. From, E+ to D- only took 10 points, D+ to C- 100 points, C+ to B- 1000 points, and so on.

It went down to ten multiples for one grade to the next grade, while for the progress in the same grade, it was quite less.

The status window showed I was better than most average Knight. Well, that was considering I could fight like Scar, but I very much doubt that. And if there were some other factor works, I am dead meat. All the attributes are hollow if one cannot use it well.

With 10,000 points, I could get better attributes than most knights and be in the league of elite knights—those who are just a few steps away from Grand Knight. None of that mattered, since my skill level was close to zero. Scar might be a prodigy in swordsmanship, but I am not. I had never actually wielded a sword before today. I need to use these points carefully. What I lack is control, skills, precision, but the destiny points could not buy that.

I frowned and winced for a couple of minutes before finally being able to assuage the urge to invest all the points on the four attributes. In the current situation, it might make me an overpowered student, but in the long run, it was a terrible decision. Seriously, I would have done it if this body was someone other than Scar’s with less potential.

There are better options for Scar.

More importantly, the attributes were more than what I could bring out even now, and there was still a lot of room for growth through physical training. Considering how Scar wasted his body on alcohol, I could actually raise strength and the other physical attribute at least one level higher in a few days of training.

There were only two options for me to choose from: The Emberheart Bloodline, or the Ability Purgatory; both are equally overpowered abilities with extreme demands. I am not sure if 10,000 destiny points will be able to awaken one of them. Let's give it a try.

[Purgatory: (Awakening: 1751/10000)]

[Emberheart Bloodline: (Awakening: 5548/10000)]

Quite some progress there. That means I will need 8249 or 4452 destiny points respectively to awaken Purgatory or the bloodline. Both were tempting options, and are related in certain ways. I thought for a couple of minutes more and decided to awaken Purgatory. Without a doubt, this will be my biggest hope in this brutal world. Moreover, Purgatory can catalyse the awakening of the bloodline.

Another thing was that the book did not mention where these powers came from, but did mention that no two people could not hold the same power at the same time. Though the chance of anyone else getting hold of this ability was slim, I did not want to take chances.

[Please confirm your decision to invest 8249 destiny points in the awakening of Purgatory]

As I confirmed, a few notifications came by.

[You have invested 8249 destiny points in the awakening of the Ability: Purgatory.]

[It will take time to awaken the ability, as the host's state of mind and physical body are not in sync. Please wait . . .]

Well, I guess I can wait. I gazed at the room I was in. The room was quite large and had two more rooms adjacent to it, each with a personal washroom. All were made of fine stones and plastered in white. The ground used to be crystal clear, but layers of dust and dirt now covered it. Stray clothes, papers, and notebooks rested all over the place.

To call it not in a fair state would be a serious understatement. Scar never had his stuff well-placed. The usual kinds of stuff were tossed all around the room. There was a fireplace that was devoid of fire and only housed burnt charcoal in it. He probably used the heater more often than fireplace.

Then my eyes fixed on the sword decorated just above the fireplace. Is it that sword? I wondered and found myself drawn to it. I pulled down the sheathed sword and found the fire symbol in it—the insignia of the House Emberheart.

Goosebumps crept up my arms as I unsheathed the sword slowly. Another similar flame sign greeted my sight just below the hilt. There was no mistake now. This really is that sword.

Abruptly, my stomach growled, and I remembered that this body, or the old body of mine, had eaten nothing last night. Considering Scar would never cook anything himself. I left the sword where it was before and scoured the room for money. Even though I was in the best academy of the realm, I could not get anything without money. Even the daily food and other expenses were carried by the students.

I searched all over the place where Scar might have left some money. From hiding places to the general location, I mostly found glass bottles that once held wine or other alcoholic drinks. As for money, I did find some. 43 dynes and 70 tills in total.

I thought it should be enough to buy me food for a couple of weeks, or a month, if I used it sparingly. The names of the currency in this world were dyne and tills. 100 tills made 1 dyne, and a couple of dynes were enough to feed a lower-class house for an entire month.

After some consideration, I did not go to check out the bedroom adjacent to it. I made a mental note to clean it up after I figured out a few things. Taking a couple of dynes and tills with me, I left the dorm room and made my way towards the cafeteria, searching for the location through my brain.

First, I need to savour some food to think about my next steps.

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