So this was supposed to be a short summary of Leon's life... But it didn't come out very short.

You are free to skip this chapter as there is no significant lore in it. Just some worldbuilding and foreshadowing... And Leon's lore...

-Leonhard’s PoV-

My name is Leonhard. Though that name was not given to me by my parents. I was named by a leader of a bandit group. They were the ones who raised me. Some may say it was very kind of them, to pick up an abandoned child… It wasn’t. They did it purely for future profit. At first, they wanted to simply sell me. But the boss decided to turn me into his puppet. A killing machine that would never turn your back on you… Except he was awful at that.  All I did was train, eat and sleep. Nothing more. For 6 years. I hated him. And not only him, every person in the group of about 40 people. Though he forbid anyone from hurting me physically, they did it mentally. Every day was full of verbal abuse… But that doesn’t mean I was never hit. Boss’s method of training was full of beating. Sometimes I was forced to train even with my bones broken… Why am I the one suffering? I saw them sell children away many times, so why? At that time I didn’t know… But now I do. I was born “lucky”. I was born with a golden Aura. My golden hair and eyes are proof of that. Boss forced me to drink a potion that changed my eye colour when I was 6. I didn’t understand why but didn’t dare to question. For 10 years I had blue eyes…

One day I was saved. The Church of Light proclaimed me as a Hero candidate. Oracle showed them where I would be on the day of Miracles, the 30th of June. They started searching for a boy named Leonhard in the bandit’s hideout. Boss didn’t want to give me away, so he fought… and lost. I was thankful for that… Although I later found out that their motives aren’t really pure either… I still think of them as my saviours. 

After being brought to the Hero Academy I went through a full medical examination. After using Magic Sphere on me, they found that I had an S-ranked mana capacity with affinity to the Wind element. They started praising me and saying how lucky I am. But… They never taught us magic. I was trained further in the sword. It was different from my previous one. Still hard, but in another way. At the time, I didn’t know how to read, so they starter teaching that to me too. I didn’t feel any connections to my teachers. Their gazes were similar to the one boss gave me regularly. They expect results from me.

We had to practise once a week. On Friday I could see other Hero candidates and fight them too. I never lost to those who were paired with me… Except for him… Lance… He was the only person I could get along with. We were the only commoners in there, so after our first fight, Lance started coming to my room and asking for a spar, or just to talk. Eventually, we became friends. We spent a lot of time together. Sparring and talking about one another. He often tried to befriend his servant Rosalyn. But never succeded. My servant Maxwell is much more talkative, he always tries to do his task and leave as quick as possible, but he always listens to me. I guess I’m luckier than Lance is.

The ending of the first year brought a test upon us. We were supposed to become Intermediate Swordsmen. For us, it wasn’t even a test, as I and Lance were already Skilled Swordsmen. So after killing the C-ranked monster, we could have the so-wanted vacation.

Though… We still had to train with our sword instructors, but we didn’t have any classes, so we had a lot more free time. Also, we were finally allowed to leave the Academy and go to the city… and no further. We were specifically warned not to leave the city.

Those who had families often spent time with them… As for me… I didn’t have anyone… Fortunately, Lance didn’t mind my company and introduced me to his family. I already heard a lot about them, they are great people… in many ways… We started playing around in the city, as children should. His little sister… Naty. She is actually the same age as I am. Lance is 3 years older. Naty was feeling a bit uncomfortable around me at first, but we eventually became friends. 

But summer ended and the second year started. It wasn’t any different from the first one. But this time we were supposed to become Skilled Swordsmen in the end. Although I was relaxed, I never stopped training.

In the first year, nobody failed the final test. But this time… A few did. Those few were taken somewhere. At the time I didn’t care… But I found about it later…

We weren’t warned about the test in the third year. But they also said that there will be one and it is not to become a Master Swordsman. At the end of the year, I and Lance were close to that rank. 

But the test itself was… simple. For some, at least. We were supposed to be acknowledged by the Holy Sword. If you can take the sword out of the rock - you are worthy. If not - you fail.

I and Lance were both worthy. But only one person can have it, so the competition continued. There were only 16 people left. 

When the long-awaited summer came, we were allowed into the city again. I was happy to have more free time and spend it with Naty and Lance. But… Naty started acting a bit weird around me. She was unusually shy at times and started hitting me often. I didn’t think much of it and just thought it was cute. But Lance… From that summer he often started having a mischievous smile every time I and Naty spent time together.

Time went by. The fourth-year test was to become a Master. But the fifth test… It was to clear a den of bandits… to actually kill people…With no help… I was a bit hesitant at first. But then I saw their actions… They kidnapped children from their parents… At that moment I snapped. I killed every single person in the hideout… But that was a mistake.

After everyone was done with the task. All ten people were brought into one room. They announced that this test was failed by most of us. They said that the true Hero should not kill carelessly and judge people on his own accord.

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That meant I failed… Only two people were left. The Prince, who killed only the head of the hideout and Lance, who killed no one.

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But I don’t regret my decision. I don’t care that much about becoming the Hero. And I think Lance would be a better one…

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When I met with Lance… I could see that he was disappointed in me… Nevertheless, he didn’t turn his back on me. He said that he could understand why I did that. And that I should not slack off as he would definitely take me as his comrade after he becomes a Hero.

I was truly glad to hear that.

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After I was kicked out of Hero’s Academy I figured out where they took other Candidates. They were brought by the kingdom to become killing machines. Most become soldiers, but more talented ones are taken to become assassins. I was among them. At first, I wanted to decline… But they didn’t give me that choice.

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For half a year I was taught Stealth Techniques, poisons and other things.  But one day, the potion that I drank to change my eye colour wore off. And my golden eyes started showing. My new teacher was shocked and told that to higher-ups. The King himself was informed and sent to me a person to guide me on Aura. 

On the same day, I was taught, I managed to use it.

Soon I was told that due to my Aura, they want to speed up the process of me becoming a proper assassin, so they gave me my first mission.

It was very simple, to kill a criminal. I would never comply if they had asked me to kill an innocent person, so I was glad they didn’t. 

When I first saw the man, I noticed that he… He didn’t look evil.

I was raised by bandits. I can tell just by looking at a person if he’s evil or not. This talent of mine never failed me even now. 

So started observing…

He has a family. Regular one. Wife and a son. Sure he drinks sometimes, but I can see that he loves his family. I never saw him do anything even remotely suspicious. I did some quick investigation on him and managed to find out something… He is indeed a criminal. But his crime… He once helped a friend forge his documents… That should not be punished by death.

I went back and told everything to my superior. I was ready to even fight the whole kingdom if they didn’t say it was a mistake… 

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It wasn’t a mistake… 

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They said that I did well and will be given my Hero Candidature back.

I didn’t understand at first so I asked to explain.

They said that the hideout I wiped out might have been the most malicious of them all and that everyone there was deserving of death. So they gave me a new test, that I completed.

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But what if I did try and kill that man?

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Would they stop me?

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They didn’t give me an answer.

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I was glad that I could see Lance again. 

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When we met. He was really surprised that I returned… And immediately asked for a fight. I couldn’t say no.

After that, he told me that he didn’t have a proper spar for half a year. 

It seems that they still don’t let the prince fight us, commoners. Lance was very angry every time we talked about it. But we still continued our training. And I also trained my Aura. Lance would often ask me to use it in a fight, but I always said no, because I can’t control it well enough yet, so I can hurt or even kill him unintentionally.

As the time for the last test came. They announced what it would be.

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A serious fight.

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I sounded stupid at first but then they introduced us to the Archbishop. He said that as long as we don’t behead our opponent, he will be able to heal him with a seven circled spell that used Divinity. He said that he cand even regrow an arm.

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It seems that they want us to fight to the death.

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Without delay, they said that I and Lance should go to the arena. I complied, but Lance… He gave them an ultimatum. He said that he either fights with the Prince first or didn’t fight at all.

They tried talking with him so that he reconsiders, even tried to ask me so that I convince him… In the end, Prince himself said that it should not matter and went to the arena.

Lance was happy to hear that and soon the fight began.

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Lance won. And the fight didn’t last even 5 minutes.

Although saying that the Prince was weak would be wrong. I fought with Lance many times so I can tell he gave it his all.

After the fight priests healed Lance for an hour so that he can return to his peak condition.

And we went to the arena.

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When I was taught Aura, I was also introduced to Killing Intent. Though I still can’t manifest my own, I can feel it coming from attacks aimed at me. I could feel it even when we were having a spar with Lance. And now… It is not the same as then… He is serious.

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The fight went on for thirty minutes. When we are sparring, it usually ends in a tie. So I was thinking of purposely losing so that Lance would become a Hero. But… I knew that if I’ll do that, Lance will not forgive me.

So I decided to give it my all.

I used my Aura for the first time in a fight.

I broke his sword and… Cut his arm off.

I immediately regretted my actions and threw my sword away. I started yelling, while Lance didn’t say a word. He just… smiled.

“You won!”

He said.

“I always knew you would become a Hero!”

I was speechless.

While I was standing there dumbfounded, priests took his arm from the ground and the Archbishop cast a spell that healed it.

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Soon the ceremony was held. I was announced as a true Hero and given a Holy Sword.

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I became a Hero.

I never wanted to be one, but the responsibility of killing the Demon King now lies on my shoulders.

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If I were to ever ask why it was me who became one… I would be told a “Divination from God”. It went somewhat like this:

“The Demon King does not die from old age. Neither will he die at the hands of anyone other than the true Hero. The true Hero is a candidate who holds the most power, the most wisdom and the most kindness out of them all. Once the Hero is chosen, he is to set on a journey. The point of it is to become stronger and find those who would help him in defeating evil. They will be similar to him in age and hold the same ideals. After becoming ready to face the foes of Mine. The Hero will make this world a brighter place.”

So only by following this “divination” can Demon King be killed. 

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I had something to say to the Oracle after the banquet. He is the one who is most concerned about me and my journey after all. I told him that I had already chosen the first member of my party. Lance. The Oracle understood my decision and told his subordinates to find him.

But that wasn’t necessary as I knew where he was and told him that I will tell him myself. The Oracle nodded and proceeded to inform me about a piece of great news. He received an oracle about the Saintess.

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Although it is not in the divination, everyone believes that the Saintess should be a part of Hero’s party. The reason is simple. The Saintess appears only after the Hero properly received his Holy Sword. It was like this with every Hero before me, and I didn’t really care, as long as that person wouldn’t be bad.

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The next day I went to Lance’s parents' house. I knew he would be there.

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But there was someone else there too. 

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The Oracle.

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For some reason, Mary, Lance’s mother, was crying. 

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I soon figured why the Oracle was here.

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Naty became the Saintess.

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Honestly, I was happy. But I couldn’t even smile while seeing Mary trying to persuade her children to not go on that journey.  

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It seems that Oracle told Lance about my decision…

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When I made my presence known, Mary started yelling at me at first, then started begging me to leave her children out of it. 

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Everyone in the room had a confused expression. Parents are usually happy to hear that their children were chosen to be Hero’s comrades… But she wasn’t…

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When Mary was begging me, as if out of nowhere, Natan appeared and knocked Mary out.

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He asked Lance and Naty if they themselves wanted to be a part of it. 

Both strongly nodded.

I was glad to see that.

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Natan then said that he will persuade Mary. And that we should now leave.

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Naty soon went through a ceremony where she got her divinity and properly became the Saintess. 

In the meantime, the Oracle gave us a list of promising young people who could possibly become our teammates. It was a very useful thing to have, as just looking around without any clues would take too much time. 

After that, the King introduced us to our guide, Timothy. He said that he is an ideal choice for that role. He can survive in both the city and the wild. Timothy is also said to be very strong and just 22 years old, so may be one of my comrades. I was told that even if he won’t become a part of the party, he still can be useful on our journey.

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At that time I couldn’t understand why the King wanted him on our party so badly. I could tell from the begging that Timothy wasn’t a good person. He didn’t look like those bandits I killed, but… He wasn’t pure enough to be a part of Hero’s party…

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The real reason why the King did that was out of political reasons.

Timothy was sent here by the Kingdom of Lead. They want one of their people to be a part of the Hero’s party. Our King agreed to give them a way to do that. Why? The situation between the kingdoms is tense. We were almost at war. The King didn’t want that, so when they proposed a peace treaty for a favour, he couldn’t say no.

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When all preparations were done, they sent us on a journey to find other members and get our own titles. Only then would we go to the Demon Lands.

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Soon after our journey started I understood why Hero Academy didn’t allow candidates to leave the city… We were attacked very often by demons. 

Timothy was very useful on our journey. He was very well versed in Stealth, poison and traps. He made sure we wouldn’t be ambushed in the night or poisoned with gas while we sleep. 

At that time I started to think about actually including him as a member… But I needed to understand his personality and test him a bit. 

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Our first destination was the City of Ganesh. Also known as the City of Magic. We were looking for Agness Windborn. She was currently at Magic University. At the age of only 21, she became a Master Battlemage. When we found her and explained everything, she blatantly disagreed to even try. I couldn’t understand why, as I knew she wasn’t a bad person. Moreover, she was the kind of person who wouldn’t stand it when the weak were being harassed. Timothy was very good at collecting information, so he found out that she was dealing with criminals in the city by herself secretly… And she killed only those in charge… Though her actions weren’t exactly smart or noble… But her intentions were pure. She wanted to help people. That was enough for me to understand that she is worthy… Because of that I became even more confused as to why she didn’t want to party with us… I found that reason in the future… She was once kidnapped and… defiled. So she couldn’t even speak with men for some time. Right now she is better, but being on a journey with 3 men she didn’t even know was out of the question.

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To get her into the party, I came up with a plan. As she doesn’t let us even talk to her… In the night I put on a mask and started doing the same thing she did. After a few days of extermination of the pests, she approached me.

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“Why are you doing this?”

“...Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before asking any question?”

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She surprisingly took off her mask.

“You know who I am and I know who you are. If you think this will make me join your party then you are wrong.”

I too took off my mask

“If you knew the reason, why ask?”

“I want to hear you say it. I want to hear the oh-so noble Hero admit that he is no different from any other man! That he would manipulate and deceive just to get women to do what he wants!”

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Agness… Who hurt you?

“... I’m not like that…”

“Then tell me! Why are you doing this!?”

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Do you need to have a reason to help others?

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Didn’t you start doing it for no reason?

“...Tell me, Agness. Why are you doing this?”

“Trying to evade the question now!? I’m doing this because I want to live in a city where there are no bandits, no killers and no kidnappers! I want to feel safe at night!”

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How ironic…

“Is it hard?”

“What? Why do you care? It is hard, my family would never allow me to do something like this. And doing it by myself is hard…”

“It is isn’t it…”

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“Do you think you will be able to change topics?! You can’t even understand how I feel! So just say it!”

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Can’t understand?

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I don’t like her attitude, but I keep my calm because I can tell this is a hard topic for her to talk about.

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But I am a person before I am a Hero. I have feelings too.

“Agness.”

“What!?”

“Who do you think you are talking to?”

“What now? Will you force me to become a member of your harem just because of your title? You already have a lover and yet trying to take in another in front of her! All men are swine!”

“What?”

Does she think like that because I tried talking to her when Naty was with me at the time?

We aren’t even lovers… Though we both have feelings for each other… But I can’t confess… Not yet… I have a duty.

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But after I slay the Demon King, I will…

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This is not the place to think about it.

“Did you think I was stupid? That I wouldn’t notice your real intentions? I wonder how that girl would feel if she knew your true self!”

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I wanted her to understand that we aren’t that different. That the Hero tries to make the whole world a more peaceful place to live in… And that I need more people I can rely on… 

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But this isn’t working. 

If she will be like this… She will ruin our party from within.

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There are too many people on the list anyway. Some are ought to decline.

“I will leave. Sorry for bothering you.”

“After understanding you can’t win, you flee? Is that the true self of the true Hero?”

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I’m getting pissed off.

“...You… You try to anger me time and time again. I was being considerate even though you were yelling at me the entire time. You want your answer!? I did this to try and talk to you! You!..”

No. I shouldn’t raise my voice. The Hero should be calm at all times. I can’t let some provocations get to me.

“Ha! You said it yourself! You aren’t doing this to help people! But to get to me!”

…You…

Even though you are older than me…

“...Say… How many people you saved, Agness?”

“What? M-Many!”

“How do you know that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You get rid of the bad guys and…?”

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You can’t even finish the sentence?

“...Are you a child?.. Come with me.”

I lead her to a place I often visit.

Be it now or before I became a Hero.

“Why are we at an orphanage?”

I pointed at the window nearby.

“Do you see the kids sleeping there?”

“Yes? What of it?”

“I was the one who brought them there.”

“...S-So what? I won’t change my opinion about you because of that.”

“I don’t really care and that is not my point.  When I asked how long they’ve been in captivity… They said it was about 2 months.”

“W-What? But I…”

“They also said that they heard screams on some days. After those screams, someone new would come and take them to a new place.”

“...”

“I never wanted to be a Hero. But I became one anyway. Only I can kill the Demon King. It doesn’t concern anyone if I want it or not... But I can’t do it alone. I need those who are willing to sacrifice themselves to help others… And it doesn’t seem that you are like that. All I ask of you is not to let any more kids suffer. Goodbye.”

I said everything I wanted to tell.

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On the next day, we were ready to depart, when Agness came in…

She apologized for her behaviour and asked if we still got a spot for her.

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I noticed black bags under her eyes… She probably thought a lot about this…

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I said that she is welcome, but… She should mind her tone in the future.

After that, she apologized to Naty. Though Naty didn’t understand why she was doing that.

Both of them became friends rather quickly…

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When we had a casual talk, I told Agness that I too had Wind affinity and S-ranked one at that. She was surprised and asked if I ever learned magic. I told her that I didn’t.

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From that moment on I started slowly but surely diving into the world of mana and spells.

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And at the end of my life, I regretted not giving it my all…

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I, Timothy, Lance, Naty and Agness went to many cities, saved a lot of people… became stronger. But nobody else on the list became our comrade. Some didn’t fit my criteria and some just said no. One and a half years was spent to find every person on it.

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Though we did find a new member.

Marissa.

She is a dark elf. Or as they call themselves moon elves. Moon elves are usually very talented in magic. But Marissa wasn’t all that talented in it… But she became a Grandmaster with a bow. She is only nineteen, so this is very amazing… Though I am one too… Anyway, the reason she is not talented considering her lineage and mana amount is… peculiar… She has the so-called Unstable affinity. So no one in her village could help her with learning it. Due to some circumstances, her parents died when she was just a child. After that, she was kicked out of the village, as the dark elves are known for their strictness. Marissa was picked up by a couple of white or regular elves.  They took her to their village where she lived for fifteen years. As every elf lives in a Great Forest that encircles the Yggdrasil the Mother Tree, Marissa could return to that village any time she wanted. But she didn’t want to have anything in common with them, so she even changed religion.

Religion is the main reason why dark, white and high elves live separately. Regular elves worship the same god as the Church of Light, dark elves worship the God of The Blue Moon and high elves worship Yggdrasil itself.

We met Marissa by chance. When we were near the Great Forest, Timothy noticed a strangely large amount of demons in it. The Great Forest is far away from Demon Lands, so it was obvious they were here for a reason. Without delay, we rushed in to check. 

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After having a whole adventure there we met a high ranking demon for the first time.

It was one of the Four Heavenly Lords, Hel. Fortunately, she is the weakest of them all. Her role is infiltration and assassination, so she isn’t all that strong in a fair fight. Besides, we weren’t alone there. The elves were helping us. We obviously won and Marissa decided to join us. 

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But…

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Something strange happened to Timothy. 

When we were ambushed by Hel and her subordinate Black Shadow. He was the one who managed to notice them and save our lives… Even though he didn’t take part in the fight itself… Even after the fight, he kept mumbling things like: ”I can’t be him…”, ”It was the same as she…” and most often I heard “What was his name…”. We tried to help him in many ways. But he always said that it’s okay… It wasn’t… His condition worsened his strength and he couldn’t properly play his role in the party. For some reason, Naty kept nagging at him, and eventually, he said that he can’t say why he acts like that… Marissa was the one who “helped him recover”. Due to her… blood… She is very strict. And when she started forcing Timothy to do his job right… It worked. I still don’t understand why or how. But when Marissa yells at Timothy, he does it without any mistake or delay… No matter his condition.

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Marissa’s element is Teleportation. And she can use up to four circled spells. I am still bad at magic so I just gave her my thumbs up and that’s all. But Agness and Naty… They had their mouths agape. Soon they started asking how can she safely create new spells and for an Unstable affinity at that. Marissa explained that moon elves can “feel” mana essence in the air and in all things that hold mana too. So she could see the places where it’s safe to create a circle. Although it’s not as easy as it sounds, she is only at the fourth circle. 

Still, Agness started nearly worshipping Marissa’s ability and begging her to help her create a new spell. Marissa said that most useful spells were already discovered and learned by her. There are just too many useless ones or those with an unknown effect. Agness became a bit sad and I was a bit curious.

I asked about the “feel” part. She explained that it’s similar to echolocation in a way, but with mana. Then I asked if she can “feel” objects around her. She said that she actually can, but only about 2 meters ahead of her. Marissa proved that by guessing how many fingers I held up behind my back even with closed eyes. It’s a very useful ability if trained. But she ruined my expectations when said that it’s very hard to train and even elders can “feel” only about ten meters in radius…

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After we finished our list, we decided that the party had enough members. So we created a formation. 

I and Lance are in the front.

Agness is behind us.

Naty and Marissa are in the middle.

And Timothy in the back.

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We were already very strong. Everyone was at least a Grandmaster. I and Marissa may already be on a Titled rank, but to actually check it, we need to find an opponent stronger than the S class… The only one from our team who wasn’t progressing for quite some time was Lance… He hit a bottleneck… And a common one for a Swordsman… He couldn’t awaken his Aura.  I didn’t know how to help him, as I was born with my Aura already awakened… Timothy and Marissa were the ones who helped him. Both of them awakened their Aura long ago. They explained everything about Aura to Lance and ways to awaken it. But Lance just couldn’t do it.

One day Lance came to me and said that he wants to leave the party for the time being to find his old Master. He assured me that he would awaken Aura really quickly with her help. But I declined that offer. I said that he is not leaving anywhere… without us. We had nothing better to do anyway, so we went to find her together.

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Finding her was one hell of an adventure.

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After we did, She and Lance had a touching reunion. Lance’s Master said that she has a way for him to awaken Aura, but that method is not certain and very hard, she herself didn’t manage to awaken Aura after all. 

The Aura he would awaken with this method is the green coloured one. This Aura is similar to mine, golden. You don’t awaken it with strong emotion, but you need to “become one with nature”. As she explained it, you would need to blur your consciousness to the point where you can’t feel yourself, but only the world around you. 

The method itself was rather simple. It was to master a certain sword move. When I first saw it, I could tell that the move alone could bear most of the high-class Sword Styles. It was the perfect combination of offence and defence. I even decided to learn it myself… but even now I couldn’t master it… Maybe because I’m not suited for the green aura? However Lance… He did it in a month… After awakening Aura and training it a bit, he became almost as strong as me.

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After some consultation in form of a fight with different Titled people… We all officially got our titles. I and Naty were obviously the Hero and the Saintess. Lance’s was the Immovable Armour, due to his new fighting style where he just covers himself in Aura armour and fights like that. Timothy’s was the Gray Daggers, as his aura was grey and his weapon was a pair of daggers. Marissa’s was the Teleport Arrow because she recently learned how to teleport arrows straight into her opponent’s head. Agness’s was the Slowest Wind and even though it doesn’t sound good, she was given it for her fighting style. She rarely moves during a fight, but the Wind element is known for its mobility.

Like that we started our march towards the Demon King. 

It wasn’t a very long trip, as we were strong enough to force our way through most of the demon army. The biggest annoyance was the Black Shadow. He tried assassinating us a lot. Timothy didn’t let that happen though. He finally took care of whatever trauma he had and fought him properly… I didn’t say it out loud, but I noticed one thing about Black Shadow and Hel… Only Black Shadow attacked us. Hel never confronted us, be it an ambush or a frontal attack…

After we finally were at the entrance of the Demon King’s castle, we met our first enemy, Hel.

She wasn’t a very hard opponent to beat, but for some reason, Black Shadow wasn’t with her… and she was clearly not fighting with her full strength. After we won, I knew something was off… And I wasn’t the only one who noticed that… Timothy saw through her schemes and successfully beheaded her. She probably wanted to play dead and wait for us to drop our guard… Fortunately, Timothy is here. We went forward and fought with one Heavenly King after another. When we came to the Demon King Himself we were already a bit tired, but couldn’t fall back. So the fight started.

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I won. Timothy, Agness and Lance were knocked out, but they will survive.

At the last moments of his life, Demon King recognized my strength but told me that it’s not enough. He said that his God, Evil God. Will finally break from his seal and bring apocalypse to humanity. I didn’t understand, so I wanted more details from him… He was already dead…

At that moment I heard Naty scream.

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I turned around… saw Black Shadow standing over Lance’s body… and a dagger in his neck…

I immediately leapt at Black Shadow to kill him. He blocked. I didn’t have much strength.

When I looked at him I was enraged… But not as much as he… Through the holes in his mask, I could see his brown eyes… And that gaze… I’ll never forget it… It was even more ferocious than that of the Demon King. And his Killing Intent didn’t fall short too.

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But fortunately, he wasn’t as strong as Demon King was. And I wasn’t alone too. After I killed him I noticed that he was clearly a human, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

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Naty was already trying to heal Lance… To no avail… He was already dead… She could heal wounds, but not bring someone back from the dead.

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Lance’s death was a big hit on Naty’s mental health. I tried to help her as much as I could, but… I couldn’t stay with her… A new threat was evident. And as a Hero, I had a duty to protect everyone. Timothy already had a clue where to look for information on that Evil God. Ruins. It seems that in those places we could find out about who he is. We went on a new journey without Naty. At the time I thought that she would join us at a later date… Just how wrong I was…

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We travelled across the world for ten years. The hardest part was finding said ruins. They were very well hidden and not all of them had information on that Evil God. But we did find a lot of new information.

That Evil God already once descended. He was the calamity that started the new count of years. 5 of the mightiest people of that time managed to seal him away, but demons weakened that seal over time. Now he could soon break open his cage and bring death upon every living being. Though demons think that he would let them reign supreme… That wasn’t the case. 

After 8 years of search, we found a way to stop him… It was to find the same 5 artefacts that sealed him the first time.  We spread the word about the Evil God and the way to beat him… But almost no one believed us. After defeating the Demon King, we weren't even congratulated. Everyone seemed to ignore our existence. Only common folk remembered us. They had a gossip that the Hero was living happily with the Saintess somewhere reclusive… That is not true. My relationship with Naty didn’t progress anywhere… In ten years of travelling together, I and Agness grew closer. I knew about her feelings, but just like with Naty at the time… I have a duty to uphold… But that isn’t the case for Timothy and Marissa. They even married amid our journey. 

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The date of the descent was close. And we didn’t have all five of the artefacts. The last one was lost. It was supposed to be a sword made from the bones of long-ago extinct dragons. But no matter how hard we searched, we couldn’t find it.

The hope was not yet lost. We knew the exact date and place where that God would appear. So we were preparing an ambush. 

As the place where he would appear was in Ruins, we couldn’t bring many people even if we tried. And I think we were the strongest anyway. 

I decided to visit Naty before going on a life and death battle… When I found her, she was in the church working as a priest… I also found out that it was built on Lance’s grave… Seeing her lamenting over his corpse, I decided to just leave.

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On the day of the battle, we gave our all. That God laughed the entire time, but I knew we were damaging him, so we had a chance… But we didn’t succeed. I saw Timothy, Marissa… and Agness die in front of me. Evil God said that we had the same strength that the ones who sealed him had… But there were 5 of them… And even they didn’t manage to kill him.

In the last moment of my life, I cursed him and said that the Goddes that he once mentioned wouldn’t let him destroy everything. He just laughed and said that I don’t know what I’m talking about. 

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Like that, I died.

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Now I feel like I’m endlessly falling into the abyss. 

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The only thing I can do is reminisce about my own life.

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It felt like a very long dream… But then I hear someone else falling nearby… and a voice.

A god-like voice.

It said.

"And it's truly interesting if it will go as planned."

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And I woke up.

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I didn’t understand what had just happened.

When I looked around I momentarily knew where I was.

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The old hideout where I grew up.

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Was I given another chance?

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I can’t fail this time too.

I will win.

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At that moment I created a plan.

I need to become stronger.

And the way I will do it…

Magic.

If I will properly learn magic this time around… That God will not stop me.

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I could use third circled spells at the time I died. 

Agness said that if I spent more time learning magic, I would be at least as strong as she was.

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That means I would be a lot stronger.

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…And…

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I will not let Lance die this time.

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So that Naty too will help in the last fight.

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Yeah, and I’ll try and find the last Sealing Artefact too.

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What day it is by the way?

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30th of June!

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Tomorrow is the day I will be taken!

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Wait…

That means that the oracle was already received…

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I have nothing that the Hero Academy can teach me.

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I need to go to Magic University.

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I decided to take some money and put the whole hideout on fire.

I didn’t care if those bandits died. They deserve it.

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After that, I left for the City of Ganesh.

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When I came I forged my documents and paid for my enrollment.

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In the time when I waited for the Entrance Exam, I improved my plan.

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When the exam started I was the centre of attention… Which is not good.

I changed my legal name from Leonhard to just Leon, but the Church and the oracle still can find me if I gather too much attention. So I need to keep my profile low…

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I heard a familiar name being told… Naty… It’s a shame I don’t remember her exact birthday… And she too had S-ranked Light affinity… But it can’t be her… She should be with her parents in the capital right now… Lance too…

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No time for nostalgia, I have things to do.

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I recently saw Agness for the first time in this life. And I recalled our first meeting.

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It doesn’t seem like she started doing that yet… Wait… It means I’m not too late! I can save her!

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From that moment on I started raiding various bandit groups in the city…

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Some time passed and I made just a bit of progress… Because I spend a lot of my time being a vigilante, I don’t have much time to raid ruins… I need a lot of time to train and attend University… So I can’t progress as quickly as I wanted to…

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Hm… 

Why don’t I try training while in the ruins? 

Yeah! And I know the way to train my perception with Killing Intent in there!

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It happened. Agness was kidnapped. I searched everywhere as fast as possible… And found her. 

I wasn’t late. 

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After killing the perpetrator I turned to her and asked if she’s ok.

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The look that she gave me… I saw it before… It was the same look from the time she fell in love with me…

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It can’t be, right?

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My God… It can…

Fortunately, I have a mask on. So my identity is a secret for now.

It would cause all sorts of questions if she knew that 10-year-old boy beat a Master Swordsman.

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I’m sorry Agness but it’s not time for us to meet yet.

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After that day Agness tried a lot of tricks to find me… But for now, I didn’t get caught. 

I started my training in the ruins. I didn’t use my Aura and often did it with my eyes closed.

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A lot of times when I train… I feel that somebody is watching… But that can’t be true…

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A bit more than a month ago the exams at the end of the year were held. And I understood something… My enrollment into the University might’ve been a mistake. They don’t teach me anything useful as of yet. I fear that it’ll take too much time for them to do so.

I need a proper teacher…

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Like Agness…

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That’s why I’m on my way to Agness’s house to try and talk to her.

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But I will pretend I know nothing about the Masked Swordsman.

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Wait… What!?

No way…

Is that… Naty?

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Why is she here?

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Shouldn’t she be in the capital?

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But it’s definitely her!

I will never get it wrong!

Her face… Her yellow hair…

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It brings back memories...

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I need to ask why she’s here.

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But who the hell is sitting beside her?