Chapter Three: Determined Despair

It took Michael several minutes to calm down, panic fluttering through his brain, the only sound being the comforting voice of the tree. “Michael listen to me please.” The tree requested when the panic died down. He wasn’t angry, and he wasn’t sad, he was just… upset, and worried. “Michael, having a hell core does not make you an evil person, it’s a matter of how you use it. Now, we must continue, I don’t have much time to explain everything.”

“This… this might hurt you a little bit. I can’t change your quest, and my predecessor chose this quest, not me. It was made out of spite, in anger of the hero that took its life. Your quest, your goal to train and move towards throughout your entire life, is to eliminate the other heroes”

“W-wha? Kill the other heroes? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I have to kill all my friends?!” Michael was angry now, his voice raising in volume as he spoke. “That is not necessarily true, Michael. This quest has a rather unique completion. You do not have to necessarily kill them, but harvest their soul ash when they die.”

“What in the hell is soul ash?” Michael spat, a small tear threatening to leak from his eye, but he wiped it away, unable to let himself cry. “After a person dies, a remnant of their soul is left over, called soul ash, which you can harvest. Very few people can see soul ash, but if it relates to a quest, you are able to see it. Each one of your fellow hero’s soul ash that you harvest makes you stronger, in ways I cannot say. What I can say although, is that you do not have to kill them. You just have to be where they died.”

“That doesn’t help anything! My friends still have to die! I don’t want any of them to die!” He continued to complain, anger growing with each word. “Everyone dies, Michael, even me. You must accept it to move forwards. And besides, you have no need to worry about them, you need to worry about yourself. You cannot tell anyone your secret, cannot let anyone even have a suspicion of it. Your friends will turn you in and you’ll be executed within a day!”

“Why do you care about me? You’re the one giving me all this! I don’t want it! I don’t want your power!” Michael yelled, his eyes fixated on the tiny sapling speaking to him through his mind. “I am a forgotten element, even by the demons who use my magic. You are the first champion I’ve had in several centuries, and you will probably be the last. You have the last hellfire core. You are my champion, my scion, and I will give you power and strength to survive, in due time. You are not evil, but you will die because you are believed to be. Now stop talking, I have more information to give.”

“Your class is Infiltrator, not that it matters much. You can change the appearance of your clothing, and create new clothing at will to efficiently blend into the crowd and ensure you’re not found. Your status is disguised as another class, so you will not be easily detected. You get in, make your move, and get out. Good luck, Infiltrator.”

The sapling shuddered, its branches, which contained a dark red fire, began to glow brighter as a blinding light enveloped Michael, a red mist entering his chest and solidifying, forming a magic core, which planted itself on his heart, pumping mana through his veins. He grunted as he suddenly became aware, feeling the mana pulse within him, a small sensation sweeping through his body as he suddenly felt something… different. He could sense the mana around him the air intoxicatingly filled with it.

“Congratulations, Infiltrator, on the formation of your Hellfire core. Sentient demons will sense your class and pay you no attention. I have one more thing to help you in this dire time. I’m going to give you a fake class, quest, and core.”

“Fake? How does that work? Can’t they see my core? Doesn’t using Hellflame give me away?” Michael asked, his curious brain full of adrenaline, slowly processing his situation. “Hellfire cores allow the user to use regular fire magic, so you will say you have a fire core. Your class is Spy, and your quest is stop the Cult of… What’s a good evil name? Na-Narr-Narraximus! Perfect! Your quest is to stop the Cult of Narraximus, who plot to destroy the country of Aldemar!”

“A-Alright then, I guess it’s settled.” Michael said, still confused and scared. As he thought about it though, he began to feel… determined. He knew he was going to have to lie, and he was going to be paranoid and overly cautious, but if he worked hard he believed that he could do it. He could survive this crazy world, without killing anyone!

Oh, how wrong he was

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Michael emerged in the same spot, on the floor. He raised himself up, slowly getting to his feet, along with all the other heroes. The old man was lounging on a bench, smoke bubbling from his mouth as he smoked a long pipe, taking it out of his mouth as the last few heroes awoke. Exhaling the smoke, the man helped them to their feet, before tapping his staff on the ground.

“Before we start, does anyone have a special core? There are several high tier magic cores that are given to heroes, and my curiosity escapes my patience!” The old man sounded rather… elated, and Michael’s eyes furrowed in thought. Do they know of my Hellfire Core? Are they trying to bait me out immediately? The room was silent, nobody daring to make a move, a cold breeze fluttering through the window, while birds chirped in the sunlight. Michael’s eyes darted left and right, looking for signs of danger, but he could see nothing. It was just… silent.

Ken was the first to move, his hand slowly raising. “Sir, I was given a Solar Core, and I’ve been told that it’s quite rare.” He spoke loudly, his voice confident and firm. The old man smiled with glee, moving towards Ken. “My boy, you have acquired a higher tier magic! This places you as one of the elites, and we will assign extra training and resources for your continued growth. Well Done!” He finished congratulating him, and turned again towards the rest of the group. “Any others?”

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In total, there were three different higher tier users. There was Ken, a solar core, Sarah, a lightning core, and Carl (Of course it’s Carl), the Void core user. Together, they made the elites of the hero group, the ones who were to “give hope to the rest of Aldemar.”

“Now heroes, please follow me to the throne room, where we will discuss our next issue. We will soon discuss the assignment of trainers and tutors for each one of you, as well as the start of weapons and strategy training. Eventually, every one of you will lead at least a squadron of soldiers, so you must be prepared at the time.” The old man moved as he spoke, opening the doors for the large throne room.

“Your era starts now, it’s just a matter of what you do with it.”