On a bright sunny morning, a blonde youth was sound asleep on the bed.

...

I slowly opened my eyes.

"Sam! You're finally awake! How are you feeling? Are you still tired? Are you hungry? Mommy made some of your favorite mushroom stew..."

Turning my head, I could see my mother sitting on a chair beside my bed looking at me worriedly.

"Mom...I'm fine. What happened to Daniel and Mister Davis?"

"They're doing fine. You shouldn't worry about them."

"I see...can I rest a bit more?"

"Of course. Tell me if you're hungry." Mother left the room shortly after.

{Ding!}

{Synchronization with The Ultimate Heroic System complete}

My eyes opened widely upon hearing the voice of a female.

'What is this sound I'm hearing?'

{System greets host}

{Would host like a guide as to how the system works?}

"Ahhh! Who are you?" I yelled loudly.

{System is a part of host. System will not hurt host}

"Is everything alright sweety?" Mother yelled from downstairs.

"Yeah... It's nothing."

After a brief moment of silence.

Once I calmed down enough for me to process the strange situation I was in, I spoke in a quieter tone. "What are you?"

{System is a system. System's goal is to make you into the strongest hero}

"This...and why would I want to be a hero?"

{God Argos has determined you to be the most heroic being in the current world}

'So Argos truly exists huh...I thought those church guys only made him up.'

{That is right. God Argos exists in a realm far above this one}

'You can hear my thoughts?!'

{Naturally, system is a part of host. System can understand host}

'This...fine. I'll accept the fact that you are a part of me now, but how will you make me into the strongest hero. And why do I need to be a hero?' I asked.

{A disaster will soon befall this world. With the functions of system, host will be able to grow strong enough to save the world}

'A disaster?'

{Does host wish for a system guide?}

This system seemed to not want to tell me about the disaster. 'Yes. Whatever that is.'

{Ding!}

{Transferring knowledge}

A sudden stabbing pain was felt behind my head. After a couple seconds, it stopped.

It was short, but also peculiar. In the span of a few seconds, my knowledge about the system went from an idiotic level, to an educated level. Random information flew into my head and before I knew it, I had a general idea on how the system works.

I instinctively said. 'Status.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Sam

Race: Human

Class: Hero(Mythical)

System: The Ultimate Heroic System(Godly)

Merit Points: 1000

Life Force: 100/100(10 years)

Strength: 30

Agility: 30

Mana: 0/0

Physique: Knight Student(Beginner) - Lvl.3

Magic: Mana Sense - Lvl.1

Spells: NONE

Techniques: Imperial Swordsmanship(Common-Lvl.5)

Active Skills: Heroic Strike(Legendary), Transcendence(Legendary)

Passive Skills: Motivated(Rare), Righteous(Epic)

Sealed Skills: Limit-Breaking(Godly)

Blessing: Destined Hero(Mythical)

~~~~~~~~~~

'I can check the status of techniques, skills, and blessings too right?'

{Indeed}

'Check all of them.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Imperial Swordsmanship(Common-Lvl.3):

The most common form of swordsmanship in the Kingdom of Art.

~~~~~~~~~~

Heroic Strike(Legendary):

The signature move of a hero that all heroes possess.

Launches an energy blade formed from sword-intent at a target enemy. Homing function. The greater the emotions of the user, the greater the power is amplified.

~~~~~~~~~~

Transcendence(Legendary):

The forgotten ability of ancient martial artists that allowed them to transcend the mortal limits.

Damage Multiplier: x10. Submissive Aura: Surrounds the user with a suppressive aura that makes nearby enemies tremble with fear. Restrictions: This state of mind requires the user's physique to be at the level of a Holy Knight or else usage will be limited. Every second of activation burns a single point of Life Force. User will fall unconscious when Life Force reaches 1 point.

~~~~~~~~~~

Motivated(Rare):

Motivation fills your every action!

Learning rate and acquisition of anything is boosted by 20%.

~~~~~~~~~~

Righteous(Epic):

A rare trait that few pure-hearted individuals have.

Fighting against anything related to evil/dark attributes grants a 100% increase in damage.

~~~~~~~~~~

Limit-Breaking(Godly):

A strong will gives rise to a strong determination.

All stats are tripled, Immediately raises physical and magic level to the next stage. Requirements: Will only activate in near death situations against extremely strong enemies.

~~~~~~~~~~

Destined Hero(Mythical):

Your destiny has been set in stone as Argos's apostle.

The gods will observe you with great interest. Affinity with all magical elements reaches the peak. Physical and magic cultivation increases faster.

~~~~~~~~~~

After taking the time to scrutinize each and every single thing, I was a bit astonished.

'Doesn't the status of a hero seem too overpowered? Also, how did my physique realm reach Lvl.3 already?'

{Every increment of 10 in strength results in an increase of physical cultivation. It is only natural for new heroes to be this strong, or else they would die prematurely}

'I see...'

{It is recommended to fill your hunger and train after resting}

'Alright, but how would I cultivate magic?'

{Host would need to attend the Magic Knight Academy at the capital of the Kingdom of Art}

'But I'm technically a countryside bumpkin while the Magic Knight Academy is a place for most aristocrats, not many commoners. As a system, shouldn't you be able to teach me magic?'

{Host is underestimating the authority of heroes. Seek help from the church}

It ignored my question again. Thinking back, if it weren't for the sudden burst of strength I received from the system, I don't think Daniel, Mister Davis, and I would have survived. If being a hero meant I would become stronger, that didn't sound too bad of an idea. With more strength, I would be able to protect Daniel more efficiently and life or death situations would be easily resolved with simple force. Although I didn't really understand the hero part, if it was a path to strength, why not?

—2 days later—

Sam had told everyone about him being a hero and his desire to attend the Magic Knight Academy. After having confirmed it himself, the wise village chief had sent a letter directly to the main branch of the Holy Church at the capital and they should show up in a couple months. The villagers weren't too interested as they did not know much about heroes beside the fact that they had a high status. His mother expressed her worry about Sam's future but other than that, everything returned to how it was before.

I was currently sparring with Sam in his backyard.

Of course, I lost. These past couple days, I haven't won a single time against him. I assured myself that it wasn't my lack of skill but Sam being too strong. Ever since that incident, he seemed to have become quite strong and if I wasn't mistaken, he was growing much faster than before.

"Take it easy on me Sam, how am I supposed to win against a monster as talented as like you." I said while taking a breather on the floor.

He showed a wide grin.

"Let's grab some grub." He said nonchalantly.

My grumbling stomach agreed. "True, I'm starving."

We headed inside my house and mother had already prepared food, almost as if she had a sixth sense that told her we were hungry. On the table was some type of meat stew along with some bread.

Even though the stew was steaming hot, Sam dug in like a wolf that went weeks without proper food.

I was about to start devouring it as well but I became a bit curious. I knew it was an invasion of privacy and also a bit stalkerish, but I wanted to know the distance of strength between us.

'System appraise Sam.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Sam

Race: Half-Human/Half-Angel

Class: Hero(Mythical)

System: The Ultimate Heroic System(Godly)

Merit Points: 1000

Life Force: 100/100(10 years)

Strength: 30

Agility: 30

Mana: 0/0

Physique: Knight Student(Beginner) - Lvl.3

Magic: Mana Sense - Lvl.1

Spells: NONE

Techniques: Imperial Swordsmanship(Common-Lvl.5)

Active Skills: Heroic Strike(Legendary), Transcendence(Legendary)

Passive Skills: Motivated(Rare), Righteous(Epic)

Sealed Skills: Limit-Breaking(Godly)

Blessing: Destined Hero(Mythical)

~~~~~~~~~~

I skipped the beginning parts and looked straight at his physique. 'What the heck? He went all the way up to the Beginner Knight Student realm already?'

Moving my eyes down, I saw all the new skills he got. He even had a blessing! If only I got a blessing instead of a curse.

Wait a minute...

I activated my True Dragon Eyes a couple more times to view the descriptions. Other than the Mythical blessing and Godly skill, I could see the description of everything else.

'Huh, are my eyes playing tricks on me?'

All of these skills combined would at least amplify his damage output by tenfold.

'What the f*ck was this wolf in sheep's clothing doing here in the tutorial village? I get that you're a hero, but how are you so overpowered? Shouldn't you be depressingly weak in the beginning and then encounter a hidden master who trains you into a powerhouse like in those shounen manga?'

I opened my own status window to compare.

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Daniel

Race: Human

Class: NONE

System: Crouching Dragon System(Legendary)

Merit Points: 6724

Life Force: 100/100(10 years)

Strength: 13

Agility: 12

Mana: 60/60

Physique: Conditioned Physique - Lvl.1

Magic: Mage Apprentice(Beginner) - Lvl.3

Spells: NONE

Techniques: Magic Circulation(Common-Lvl.6), Imperial Swordsmanship(Common-Lvl.4)

Active Skills: True Dragon Eyes(Supreme)

Passive Skills: Comprehension of the Argon Language(Common), Dragon's Pride(Epic), Heart of a Dragon(Epic)

Curse: Unnoticed Potential(Legendary)

~~~~~~~~~~

After the previous encounter with the goblins, my Imperial Swordsmanship had leveled up. But when compared to Sam who had gone up two levels? It was nothing! I also didn't recall Sam doing anything noteworthy besides finishing off the goblin chief... Ah, that's right; he was knocked out by a blow dart to the butt...

As I internally laughed at the future hero for taking a blow dart squarely on his left butt cheek, my vision moved up and I saw something that almost made me spill the bowl of soup in my hands.

'What the hell. He's a half angel as well? Why didn't he tell me? Or does he himself not know? I should probably keep quiet about his identity as a partial angel because I can sense some type of foreshadowing from it. Mhm, must have something to do with him becoming a hero as well. I best not mess with the hero's backstory until the finale.' Somehow, I seemed to have thought of this as a book that was centered around Sam. It was like I was certain that Sam was a main character of a certain web novel somewhere.

Now onto the most shocking matter.

'System? Why does he have a system as well? And why is his system of a higher grade than mine?'

The entirety of Sam's status window could be summarized by one word. Overpowered.

[Sam is a hero now, so he has also synchronized with his own system made by Argos]

'If Argos made that system, then who made you?'

[Host's system is a special existence. System has no creator]

'...'

[Host should not worry. This system is superior to all other systems]

So there were other people with systems as well? I must be wary.

This system was superior? 'How so? Or is narcissism getting to you?'

[Unlike other systems designed by gods, this one has the authority to do everything. Normal systems like that of the heroes cannot be compared to this system's functions]

'What do you mean by that?'

[As the main system responsible for reincarnated individuals, this system is the only one with shop, mission, and upgrade functions]

I was confused, I did not understand a single thing the system had said except for the part about it being strong, strong, and apparently strong. Along with the talk about other systems, I was also worried about something else.

'So if others have an appraisal skill like me, can't they appraise me too?'

[Host should not worry, The only ones capable of appraising others without permission are creatures at the pinnacle of creation itself. It only encompasses a small amount of creatures. True Dragons are one such example.]

I was still quite confused but I understood what the system was saying. Generally, only the strongest beings in the world could inspect other's statuses freely. Luckily for me, I was still a complete weakling and paired with the curse, I would not go attention seeking anytime soon. After all, who would willingly waste their time on appraising my status? It looked like I had no need to worry just yet.