Arc | Chapter. 9: Heroes (Patreon)

Chapter. 9: Heroes

An uncomfortable silence filled the street, the ice around me crackled as the adventurers from the guild stared me with a weird gaze. And in front, the person with the most shock in their face was none other than the Guildmaster.

I met his gaze, and didn’t reply to his question as his shock turned to a trembling from anger. I found it… annoying.

The Guildmaster trembled. “You⁠— You have any idea of how many people you just killed?!”

“Only the spiders died, nothing else died.” I shook my head. “Don’t mark me as a murderer.”

“How can you prove that?!” he bellowed, balling his fists.

“Like this.” I snapped my fingers and a gust of wind passed. “There, now the ice is melting much faster.” I lazily gestured at our surroundings, where the thick sheets of ice were now visibly dissolving. “I’m not a murderer, you can just send people to investigate if you want.”

My words seemed to bring him somewhat back to reality as he looked at our surroundings. Before finally, he met my gaze with a weird look. And after a few seconds of silence I sighed.

“Look, if talking with me will assuage your worries, then we can talk.” I shrugged. “It’s not like I am entirely blameless either.”

He immediately entered high alert, raising his brow. “What do you mean⁠—”

“We can talk,” I interrupted. “But lower the weapons first, this is unproductive.”

The Guildmaster slowly and skeptically nodded as he turned to look behind him where all the present adventurers were already getting to attack. And with a small nod, they listened. Not a second later, a familiar person pushed in between the crowd of adventurers. Her golden hair fluttered with the wind and her blue eyes met mine with nothing but disbelief.

I met her gaze for a moment, before the Guildmaster turned towards me.

“Alright, let’s talk, Arc. If your name is even that,” he said, hostility still present in his voice. “What was that skill?”

I frowned. “I am not comfortable sharing that much information about it in front of so many other people. I am willing to talk with you, but that’s about it.” I shrugged. “As far as I am concerned, I’m done here.”

The Guildmaster gritted his teeth for a few moments, before nodding. “Very well, then let us talk in the privacy of my office.”

“Sure." I nodded.

He then walked inside of the building, as adventurers gave him strange looks. The Guildmaster halted in his steps and turned to look at the surrounding people.

"Everyone go check for casualties. I'll deal with this."

""Yes sir!""

And just like that, the crowd rapidly dispersed. Leaving a single person looking at me; Ceylon. I met her gaze and gave her an apologetic smile.

"We'll talk after this."

She slowly nodded. "I want the truth."

"You'll get it." I nodded in reassurance. "I'm going with the Guildmaster now."

Ceylon gave me yet another nod as I followed into the man's office. Once more we were there but the air was completely different.

"Again, last time I repeat myself. What was that skill?"

I pondered for a moment. "It's a skill called Everlasting Glaciation, it mimics an era of ice instantly freezing everything I desire it to within a certain radius. As for its Tier…" I scratched my neck.

If I was honest, I wanted to lie, but I still had to tell some semblance of truth in order to avoid further trouble. And so, I quickly made a decision as I sighed.

"It's S Tier and my strongest skill."

"So you're saying…" he skeptically met my gaze.

"I am an S Tier individual." I looked down at the ground continuing with my lie. "I didn't want too much notoriety, so I chose to keep it to myself for as long as possible. I didn't harm anyone really."

A sigh left me as I turned to meet his astonished gaze. "However this time, like I said, I'm partly to blame for the spiders being here."

The Guildmaster blinked in shock, clearly believing my words. However I could quite clearly tell there was something that still bothered him.

"How are you partly responsible?"

"Well that is—"

And the door opened, just about a minute after the conversation started. An adventurer was panting.

"What is it?" The Guildmaster asked with a frown.

"With the help of the guards we have confirmed that there were no casualties to the ice. However…" The man paused.

"However?" The Guildmaster urged.

"They still wish to arrest the responsible party for the general unrest they caused."

Both of the people turned to look at me before the Guildmaster shook his head.

"Tell them that since the culprit is an adventurer we are handling the punishment."

The man blinked. "But she is not—"

"Just do it." The Guildmaster barked and the man hurriedly nodded before closing the door.

There was a weird silence before I spoke up. it was clear to me that the Guildmaster had no more hostility and had chosen to defend me for it.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

He shook his head. "Continue with your story."

I nodded. "Like I said, I'm partially responsible. About three days ago I found myself in a cave deep in the Dark Forest. And an Imera Spider attacked me, so I killed it."

I scratched my neck.

"I saw it's children flee but I didn't really do anything about it. I didn't think there were that many and admittedly didn't think they would evolve either or attack Ranedale. Sorry."

My apology was half assed, but now I had learned two things. To not show off in the public eye, and to clean up if I create a mess before it snowballs.

Meanwhile the Guildmaster slowly nodded.

"So you killed the Imera Spider." He let out a long sigh before laughing as if rejuvenated. "That's just great!"

I blinked. "How is it great? It caused so much chaos."

He shook his head. "You don't understand. Ranedale has always been plagued by spider attacks. I've been here for years. And about five years ago, a weird figure arrived in this town."

"A weird figure?" I asked with increasing confusion. "I don't see how this relates to the spider."

The Guildmaster chuckled. "Let me finish. This figure in particular was a hero. Or well that's what he claimed he was. After no one believed him, he cursed that this town would be plagued with calamity."

"And? Was he actually a hero?"

"That I don't know. But a day later, an Immature Imera Spider besieged the town. It was close to fully maturing, but thankfully it hadn't reached the threshold of A Tier just yet. We repelled it, but since then its children have been tormenting us periodically. Most that know the tale believe it has to do with this hero."

I blinked. "Oh, huh. But aren't heroes supposed to be like, good guys?"

The Guildmaster shook his head. "There are as many tales of heroes committing good deeds as there are of bad ones. In the end, it's hard to acknowledge them as the 'good guys'."

I raised my brow, using this opportunity to get more information. "Don't they have a holy duty assigned by The System or something?"

The Guildmaster took a pause of shock, meeting my gaze. "You seem to know more than a normal person about heroes. Are you by chance one of them?"

My expression turned deadpan. "No."

And he started to laugh. "Sorry bad joke. It is as you said, heroes did have a job assigned by the System."

"What do you mean by, did?" I skeptically raised my brow, my heart skipping a few beats.

"Do they not tell the story anymore? Though I suppose you wouldn't be asking if you knew, it's not like most people connect the dots either." He coughed. "Long ago, it was said that at the very edges of the world a castle resided. One housing the god we know as the System."

I paused. Like a fucking server room? But before I could say anything the man continued.

"It is said that the Dragon God grew tired and decided to launch an attack with it's kin. And hence heroes were born to protect and maintain the supremacy of the System." And he let out a breath. "Of course, this is just a version of the story, some say the demons attacked it, others say abominations of the darkness attacked. But one thing is for certain, as of today no dragons remain."

I thought for a moment. "Why would they attack the System though?"

"Because the System provided us with the tools and abilities to grow stronger." He shrugged explaining as if it were obvious. "It provided lesser beings a way to catch up to those that are born gifted. A human is born in the F Tier, but if you compare them to an Elf, a race born in the C Tier then you realize the disparity. Yet thanks to the System there are humans as strong as the strongest of elves."

I nodded. "That makes sense."

"Anyway." He waved his hand from side to side. "Even if my lecture was enlightening this is something you should mostly know. Instead, I just want to thank you for liberating Ranedale from the spiders."

I blinked. "You're welcome." I took a moment to breathe, finally relaxing. "And thanks for the information."

Perhaps the nonsensical duty that the System gave me was related to the attacks on it. Maybe, it had been damaged…

I didn't know just yet, but now I felt like I had a lead. Though something else remained in my mind.

Heroes didn't seem to be as good as I initially thought they were. It seemed that I had to be more careful with my identity from now on. However I still had to—

And a chuckle entered my ears. It was from none other than the Guildmaster.

"There is nothing to thank me for, but if you want something to thank me for then it has to be this," he said bringing up what seemed to be a collar with dangling tags. "You said you didn't want notoriety, but you also wanted to become an adventurer so this is for you."

I received the tags from the Guildmaster as I looked down, reading the inscriptions.

Name: Arc. Registered in Ranedale Branch. Tier: C

"You are officially a C Tier adventurer." He grinned. "Of course, if officials find out your Tier is higher they will naturally readjust your tag and rank to your respective Tier. So be careful with that," the Guildmaster warned.

I felt nothing but surprise as he smiled at me.

"Consider it a secret between us, and also a token of apology for how I lashed out."

I opened my mouth before closing it again, I certainly didn't expect that.

After a moment. I finally spoke up.

"Thank you."

"Of course." He nodded. "Do not lose it, it might look like average metal but it's magically inscribed and is your official identification as an adventurer. Getting a new one will be hard for you."

With those words he stood up and walked towards the door.

I nodded. "I'll take care of it."

"Alright. I'll go deal with the town guards and the mess you created. Consider it part of my apology."

I nodded this time more slowly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." And with those words he left as I finally relaxed.

Now I just had to wait until he came back, right?

But not a second later the door opened. It was the Guildmaster.

"Oh right, your companion wants to talk with you. I'll get going now."

With those words Ceylon entered the room and the door closed once more. She met my gaze, shifting in her spot for a moment before letting out a breath and resolving herself

“You’ll tell me the truth, right Arc?"

A myriad of thoughts flashed through my mind, specially considering the information I had just learned about heroes. But in the end, I didn't want to betray Ceylon's trust.

Though admittedly there was a chance I would regret this in the future. It was a decision following my feelings rather than one of logic, but I was already resolved.

"Arc?" Ceylon asked with concern.

And I lightly nodded. "I'll tell you the truth now Ceylon."

I took a small breath before lightly smiling at her.

“I am a Hero summoned here by the System,” I continued. “The Heroine of Ice.”