Volume 1 Chapter 1: Part 4: Fates Changing

When everybody heard that, the crowd became too speechless to say anything about this. The hero skill is something everybody has dreamt about in their life. They're a one-of-a-kind skill. Once somebody has it, nobody else can have a duplicate skill of it.

The skill defines the strong from the weak. The embodiment of greatness. Legends were created, explaining the heroic deeds of heroes.

Having the ability to destroy armies, saving princesses from the villains. All of these stories show the power of a hero is limitless. Wealth and untold riches are in their future as well.

The silence only lasted a few seconds. Then, an explosion of joy and laughter came out of the crowd. Getting a new hero is a joyous occasion! Much less coming from a remote village like theirs.

Just knowing this, the amount of joy skyrocketed by ten times!

Wyatt and Lily jump at Irene, "Big sister, are you really a hero now?!" The one who asked this was Wyatt. Becoming a hero was always a dream of his. And now there was a hero right in front of him!

Lily nods to his question. The sparkling eyes of admiration from the two children gaze toward Irene. But they weren't the ones. Everybody else was looking at her with respect as well.

Just look at her. How is she not a hero?

Even her looks are heavenly. Thinking again, everybody thought Irene being a hero might be normal.

As everybody laughs, a burst of loud hysterical laughter overshadows all the other joyous ones. Everybody stopped laughing, trying to figure out where it was coming from. And the hysterical laughter came from the center of the crowd.

It's Finn who's laughing like that.

"As expected of my wife. We're a match made in heaven!"

Imagining himself with the label "Husband of the hero," Finn could already imagine the number of riches he would get just from the title.

When everybody heard that, the disgusted expression they made just became even dirtier.

They're looking at a rat right now.

How can you call yourself a match made in heaven with Irene with those skills are yours? Have you no shame! That's what the crowd thought. The disparity between novice and hero skills is way beyond heaven and earth. And it didn't matter if he got a high rank.

The disparities are too wide to catch up to.

The crowd just couldn't understand how Finn had the confidence to say something like that without flinching.

Even his looks are nothing compared to her. If the two were to stand next to each other, Irene would be a beautiful flower. And Finn would be the pile of dirt beside her.

But the guy doesn't care about the looks he's getting. Finn starts to walk closer to Irene, wanting to hug her, stealing her away from Onyx in front of everybody.

The image of his victory is still in his head. However, before he touched her, Irene dodged him with a perfect twirl. Not expecting this, Finn falls face-first into the ground.

"Don't you dare touch me! Who the hell do you think you are?!" Her blissful happiness being in Onyx's arms and getting a hero skill she had before was now thrown out the window.

Sensing the look Finn gave her and seeing how he was trying to take advantage to add on, the only thing she felt was disgust.

Pulling his face out of the ground, Finn was covered in the dirt. The crowd couldn't help but laugh at how silly he looked.

Hearing all the laughter pointed at him, Finn had never felt so humiliated in his life. Just a few minutes ago, he was at the top, getting the respect of everybody around him. And now, he was at the bottom, being dragged down by shame and embarrassment, eating dirt.

He glares at Irene, "IRENE! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!!! I AM YOUR HUSBAND!!" From all the shouting and blabbering, Finn looks nothing like an adult. More like a child that's been spoiled all his life.

"Husband? Stop saying that I'm your wife." Irene glares at him. Hearing how he considers her his wife made Irene gag on the spot.

"Let's get one thing straight! I've been kind to you because you haven't done anything noteworthy to bother me. But I have had enough now! I will make this clear!" She turns to Onyx and grabs him by the arm, bringing him closer to her.

"Onyx will be my one and only husband! Nobody else can be my husband! And I will never love anybody but him!"

When she said this, everybody went one level higher in the craziness.

The guys went crazy from jealousy of how lucky Onyx was. Wealth could be seen in Onyx's future. Even if he gets trash skills today, he still wouldn't need to do anything in his life.

While the girls screech from the sudden confession by Irene. Almost all of them have a crush on Onyx. But they could never get close to him. That's because of the girl right next to him.

If she was an angel to the villagers, she was a fallen angel to the girls. She would block them from ever getting close to Onyx.

However, nobody could ever say anything about this. The two of them are just too good next to each other. The looks match and their temperaments compliment each other.

When Irene saw that nobody was objecting to what she said, she couldn't help but smile inside.

Yes! Now nobody is going to have thoughts about Onyx! With the hero skills, no girl in their right mind would pursue Onyx unless they could match her.

The only person who objects to this is Finn.

"How could you continue to choose this farmer's boy! He's nothing more than a pile of waste. And I won the bet, so you are mine!" Finn was about to dash towards the two of them, ready to grab Irene. However, a sword flies in front of his face! He stops in his tracks.

"You will not be doing anything to do them again." The person who said this is the knight. The only expression he has about Finn is nothingness and distastefulness towards him.

His goals in coming here were to protect the priests from people that tried to use force. The other was to stop people from abusing their skills.

"What are you going to do about it?" The moment Finn says this, the knight picks up his sword and points it at the guy's face, "Then I'll cut you down."

Finn was pushing the knight's buttons. "If it weren't for the fact you have not used your skill against anybody, you would be dead."

When everybody heard him say that. They could feel the intensity in his words. The knight's serious, and Finn's about to be on death row.

Finn felt all hairs on his body stand up with the killing intent from the knight. He could only grunt as he backed away. But then he glares at Onyx, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! IF YOU WEREN'T ALIVE, THEN I WOULD HAVE IRENE ALL TO MYSELF!!!"

Irene scoffs," Even if Onyx wasn't here, you wouldn't even have a chance with me." Finn was somebody Irene wouldn't choose in a million years. Even if he was the last male, she wouldn't do it.

"I would rather die than go out with you!" Her last sentence hit the nail right into the coffin.

Finn grits his teeth and says to Onyx, "I'm gonna wait here and watch you get trash skills! Irene, then you'll realize you made the wrong choice."

Lily and Wyatt wanted to say something about what Finn said. Before they can, the head priest turns to Onyx, "Onyx, it's your turn next. Let's go." He was also curious about what kinds of skills Onyx would get.

Onyx nods his head as he walks into the church. As he walked in, he could hear people shouting.

"Big brother, you got this!"

"Big brother is the best!"

"Onyx, I know you are going to get the best skills. It's fine if you don't. I can just support you my entire life."

He could hear the three of them shout out, cheering him on. Well, the last comment almost made Onyx trip on air.

And the three weren't alone as the girls in the crowd were cheering him on. The girls hoped their idol would get something great.

As Onyx walks into the church, his worry starts to dissipate. But he felt something else.

Pressure.

After Irene got the hero skill, he felt a sudden enormous pressure.

It just made him want to prove himself even more. How would he be able to stand beside Irene if he ever gets horrible skills? Having her support his whole life will turn him into a couch potato.

"Onyx, you are so popular. It seems your fans hope you will get some good ones." Hearing how the crowd cheered Onyx on, the head priest realizes Onyx's fame.

"Heh. I just need to get something that won't disappoint my fans." Onyx makes a strained expression as he says this.

Changing the subject, Onyx praises, "Gramps, you guys really clean this place up so well."

Usually, the church would be covered by dusk in some areas.

However, today the whole area's spotless, completely devoided of any dust speck.

"Of course. The grand priest came over today. How could we let our church be this dirty? Also, act more respectfully when you meet him as well." The grand priest is one level higher than him.

When the two arrived, a man was standing there, waiting for them. Unlike the high priest, dressed in black ceremonial robes, the grand priest's robes are black and white, with different jewels around the collar.

"What took you guys so long?" There was so much irritation in his voice and face. Taking a look at Onyx, "Is this the last kid?"

"No, grand priest. There are so many more kids that need to be checked." The high priest shakes his head at how impatient the grand priest acted.

"Tsk Tsk! Would you hurry up then! I have other important things to do." The grand priest shows Onyx the orb, "Quickly put your hand onto the orb and let's get this over with!" With the birth of the new hero, he will need to report it back to the Holy Land immediately.

Is this really how a grand priest would act? Even if Irene is a hero, there should still be proper etiquette when doing things like this.

The high priest shakes his head and turns to Onyx, "Onyx, you just need to put your hand onto the orb and let your mind go at peace. Don't overthink it, and don't worry about anything."

"Ok." Placing his hand onto the orb, Onyx prays, Please let me get something good. As of right now, he is hoping that he doesn't get something that will make Lily and Wyatt depressed.

"...." A few minutes have passed after Onyx has placed his hand on it. Did I get something weird? Why is nobody speaking?

When Onyx opened his eyes, he could see the two priests making weird expressions.

What's wrong with them? Onyx looks down on the orb, and he finally realizes why the two of them were flabbergasted. The skills he got are;

The hero of darkness - EX Rank

The hero of the sword - EX Rank

Perception - EX

What in the world? Never did he expect that he would get a hero skill! Much less 2!

Turning his head to the priests again, Onyx hears the head priest shrieking, "Oh my god! Our village gave birth to another hero!"

Just having Irene alone is enough for him to be over the moon. But this time, with Onyx becoming one too, his joy goes beyond the heavens.

"Umm, gramps? Where does the EX rank stand in the ranking? Is it good?"

The head priest quickly explains, "Onyx, EX rank is the highest rank any skill can go up to."

When Onyx heard that, he felt like he was getting pranked, "Are you sure EX rank is the highest-ranking? You're not playing with me, right?"

"Yes. I'm not lying to you." The head priest nods his head. He was never more sure in his life now.

When Onyx hears that, he clenches his fist extremely tight.

"Yes!!!" He raises his fists as he shouts out in excitement. He didn't care much about the skills. Losing Irene to Finn was out the window now! That's why Onyx was happy.

As the two were excited about what had happened, they didn't notice the look the grand priest had on his face,

This cannot be!

...

After getting his skills checked, Onyx and the high priest walked out of the church. Onyx told the priest before that he didn't need to walk him out like that. However, the priest thought otherwise. With the hero skills, it changes the power dynamic.

Instead of always treating Onyx like a grandson, he treated him as a superior being. The hero skills have that much influence.

As the two walked out of the church, he could hear people shouting!

Onyx's instincts kick in. He understood something had happened.

"Move out of the way."Quickly pushing people away, Onyx realizes what's the problem.

Wyatt was crying while pointing at Finn. But that wasn't the main problem. Irene was holding Lily in her arms, and the child was bleeding! Onyx continues to push away people getting to Irene,

"What happened?!" Onyx didn't do anything else as he carried Lily. There was blood coming out of her mouth. Bruises covered her arms and knees.

Irene turns to Onyx with tears in her eyes, "That bastard hit Lily because she only defended you from what he said." As she says this, she glares daggers at Finn.

..

A few minutes prior, after Onyx went into the church,

"Pretty boy is going to get trash skills. I can't wait for him to come out!" Finn continues to talk badly behind Onyx. But the people didn't care about what he said.

The only person that took offense to that was Lily. It prompted Lily to defend her big brother. She walked up to Finn before Irene could realize it.

"Don't talk about my brother like that!" As she says this, she punches Finn's leg.

"How dare you!" Out of anger, Finn slaps her face with all his might!

The knight was now standing in between Irene and Finn's group. Finn scoffs, "So what? She was the one who started it. If she can't take the pain, she shouldn't be talking down to the great me." When the people heard that, they couldn't believe how petty he was.

However, Finn continued to act smug even with the people giving him dirty looks. It didn't matter if Lily was a little girl. She has the same blood as Onyx. His hate for him transferred over to his kin.

The head priest went closer to Lily, "Let me heal her." A light blue magical circle appears on his hand, "Water aurora." The water wraps around Lily's body, and the bruises and cuts on her body disappear, cleansed by the water.

The magic the high priest cast was the high-rank water magic water aurora. He's one of the only people in the village who has a high ranking skill. As Lily was being healed, Onyx looked over to Finn.

From the expression on his face, everybody couldn't help but shiver in fear.

"Big brother... Lily....is fine." With the effects of the healing magic, Lily woke up. And she woke up to see that Onyx was ready to beat Finn up. Feeling the pain from what happened before, she's scared that her big brother will get hurt when he fights him.

"..." Onyx didn't know what to say to that. But he pats her head and smiles, "Don't worry. Your big brother is going to take revenge for you. Trust me."

"Take revenge? You're nothing more than just a loser. How could you defeat the great me!" With the strength he gained from the ax mastery skill, he knows nobody would be able to beat him in strength.

Onyx ignores him as he continues to walk closer to him. The knight stops him, "Don't try to throw your life away, child. It was my fault that your sister got injured. I will be the one to deal with him."

Finn has gone too far. If he knew how to use his skills, he would have killed the girl.' The knight found himself lucky that the girl didn't die. It was a mistake on his part not to react fast enough to block Lily from Finn.

Never did he expect Finn would attack a child too.

The knight understands the anger Onyx has. However, he felt the difference in class was too great. His ax mastery just gave Finn a tremendous advantage.

But Onyx continues to move towards Finn, ignoring the knight. From Onyx's expression, the crowd could tell it was about to go down. However, they doubt Onyx would be able to do anything to him.

Finn scoffs, "What? Wanna-"

Before Finn could say more about it, Onyx punches him right into the chest! Nobody could react to it because the force and impact were tremendous!

Finn flew several feet away from where he stood and slammed right into a tree, breaking it in half!

"..."