We were standing in front of the blue, swirling <Portal>. It was a new day, and we were rested. The bed was heavenly for anyone wondering. Svilran herself overslept.

“Do you think she’s coming, Fainn? I let her know we would be out here...”

“Well... It’s her life.”

We had a late night looking for worlds to send Elma to. We found nine worlds that would work and discovered the <Observatory’s> Mission Interface. While we were doing that, Svilran was notified that Elma could only stay undecided for a day. She would not be allowed to stay in the Hero Hub if she wasn’t a Hero or trying to be one. Svilran did notice that there seemed to be other avenues that would allow her to stay, but we, as a Hub, hadn’t done enough yet to unlock that information.

Anyway, all it meant was that we needed to hear Elma’s choice. If she chose not to be a Hero, then we would have to release her back into her world and let that world’s afterlife decide what it wanted to do with her soul.

“There she is, Fainn. She’s coming our way.”

We watched as she left her dormitory and crossed the dusty land. It looked like the <Dormitory> provided her with some simple clothes. She had come out wearing a long-sleeved, black sweatshirt, brown leather pants, and a similar leather jacket. She also had a small and cute satchel. She sort of looked like an adventurer in a fantasy story, but she wasn’t as blinged out as I was... That said, she looked beautiful. I could see it already in the way she carried herself. She seemed stronger... I really hoped that wasn’t due to Svilran’s effect. I wanted it to be her own inner strength.

I found myself wanting to look into Elma’s eyes. Would there be fear in them, or would she have reclaimed herself?

“Come on, Elma,” I muttered.

I didn’t care if Elma was going to say no. I just wanted to know whether she found something—anything that would keep her from regressing.

Finally, Elma, the Witherspell, stood before us.

“I made my choice, but I want to ask something before that. May I?”

I shrugged. “Don’t see why not.”

“IF I say yes, will I be allowed to return to my original world?”

I looked at Svilran for answers, and she scrunched her face as she thought.

“Well, two things. Normally, you would not be allowed. But, if you go and accumulate something called Heroic Merit, you can use that Merit to buy your way back into that world. The other problem, however, is that you would NEED to reincarnate into the world since ‘Elma’ already died there. We need to maintain that consistency.” Svilran took a labored breath. “Of course, you can always ‘return’ in the sense that you can just go to your world’s afterlife.”

Elma, her forehead creased, looked toward her feet. She seemed to be contemplating something.

“Elma, if I may, why did you want to know?” I asked.

She looked up at me, and I was almost blown away. Her eyes—they had a fire in them. Her subsequent words didn’t betray that gaze.

“I want to save the Witherspells of my world. I want the days of Witherspells being used as fields to pluck magic from to be over.”

“Oh my,” Svilran said as she covered her mouth. “What a Hero.”

Knowing that Svilran was similarly impressed bolstered my own feelings.

“Yeah... Then that means...” I trailed off, hoping we would get the answer we wanted.

“I’ll do it,” Elma said. “I want to be a Hero.” She nodded at us many times. “So, what do I need to do?”

Svilran jumped on the spot and released tiny stars from her hand. Each bright star became a giant screen the three of us could look at.

“Elma,” I said, “all you need to do is take on one of these Missions. Right now, we have nine missions you could take. Each mission is something called an ‘Auxiliary Heroic Mission.’ Essentially, these missions don’t require you to be the world’s hero, but rather, they require you to support a fledgling hero already on their way.”

Svilran stepped in and took over the conversation cheerfully. “Our Hero Hub’s principal role is to nurture heroes who never got the chance to live up to our potential. A secondary role of ours entails supporting the ones reaching their potential. I personally want to do way more for all heroes, but this is one way we can help them with our current power. You will be sent to one of these worlds, you will accomplish your mission, you will gain Heroic Merit, and you’ll be able to unlock your potential through your experiences! A life of service paves the way to a life of strength!”

Svilran was all smiles, but Elma’s expression showed caution. It seemed she was taking her time to absorb every detail. I was a bit impressed. She had mentioned things that indicated she had a sharp mind, but actually seeing it here, unbound, was inspiring.

“Will I be able to return to this world?” she asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“Yes. After ‘Auxiliary’ missions, you will be taken back.”

Elma let out a tiny sigh—I was sure it was one of relief. “Understood.” She cast her gaze to the screens. “Then... these missions...”

“You’ll be able to read them,” I said. “The info just gets beamed into your head as your eyes go over them.”

“Yes... it’s a bit disorienting,” Elma admitted.

“Our <Observatory> is able to give us a little info about the worlds in need of help,” Svilran continued. “We got just enough to ensure your body is compatible with said world. It took hours and hours of searching, but we found nine. These are worlds where your skin color and ears wouldn’t be strange.”

“Do these worlds also have Witherspells?” Elma asked.

“Our <Observatory> can’t provide us with detailed racial demographics. We can only get racial information when there’s a prospective hero we have our eye on.”

“I see...” She scanned the screens, and slowly, her expression darkened and darkened. “Hero needs someone to craft a magical item,” she said. That was one of the missions. “Hero in need of a magic caster for a tournament of magic. Hero needs help with taming a monster. Hero needs help with slaying a monster.” 

She was just listing them off—from the sounds of it, she was highlighting the ones she didn’t think she could do.

“I can’t do these. I may have some mana, but I can’t use magic, and I’m too weak... Hero is the target of an assassination plot ... Hero is in need of a dungeon-exploration party... These two I feel I could do something about.”

I looked at Svilran. “Hey, can’t we bless her with powers or something?”

She shook her head. “We don’t have the facilities to do that, unfortunately.”

“And we won’t have the facilities until we get back some Building Points...”

“It’s okay,” Elma said. “I am interested in thwarting the assassination attempt, but I know that is a little out of my league at the moment. That dungeon-exploration,” she tapped the screen and investigated the listing further. “They’re treasure-hunting...” She raised her arm and disconnected her hand from the rest of her arm. “I think I could offer some utility to them.”

“Do be careful, though,” Svilran said. “We know your appearance is compatible, but we don’t know how accepting of your ability they would be. Consider wearing robes that obscure your arms.” Svilran, with a flourish of the hands, produced a cute cloak. “The world has magic, so you can say your hand is a magical effect.”

“Thank you for your guidance, Madam Goddess. This one, though—I want to do this one. Will I be able to take on the assassination-thwarting mission afterward?”

“The flow of time in each world is slightly different when we aren’t observing them,” Svilran said. “What I mean to say is that the mission might still be available when you return.”

“Understood. Then, I’ll try to complete the dungeon treasure hunt quickly,” Elma said, still determined.

Svilran squealed with excitement. “That’s great! We’re rooting for you! The destination is set. Walk through that <Portal>, and you’ll be in the vicinity of the mission site! You will have access to the Mission Interface we do.”

“Will we be able to stay in contact?”

Svilran shook her head. “Unfortunately, we lack the means. You will be on your own and cannot return until you succeed or fail.”

“Understood. And if I succeed, you two will be able to improve this world?”

“Yup!”

Elma looked at me and smiled. “Then I won’t fail. This place needs to be a place for the weary braves to rest. It needs to be the best it can be.”

I noticed Elma’s clenched fists were trembling, and I smiled inwardly. I was kind of swept away by how impressive she was, but she was probably nervous too...

“Hey,” I said, “you can do this. I believe in you.” I glanced at Svilran. “We both do. You’ve got the heart—“

“And you’re so smart, too! Make sure you grow as much as you can! And oh, take some treasure too! Take as much as you can! You might be able to bring some back with you.”

Elma giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Understood. I’ll do my best... Oh, last thing. What happens if I die over there?”

I immediately looked at Svilran. I had completely overlooked that fact. Svilran—given how profusely she was sweating—must have forgotten too.

She stammered. “Umm, I—hmm...” Finally, she lit up and raised a finger. “Most times, you’ll just return here, but you’ll lose the body you’ve nurtured, and we’ll have to reconstruct you according to the body we have saved.”

“Holy moly. That’s a whole lot at once,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “Can we update the saved body or whatever?”

“Not until we have the appropriate facility.”

“And did you say, ‘in most cases?’ When does it not work?”

Svilran frowned with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know yet, Fainn,” she whimpered. “It’s just a possibility.”

“Please calm down you to two.” We both looked to the now calm and strong Elma. “It’s fine because I won’t die. I won’t waste this miracle you’ve afforded me.”

“Elmaaa,” Svilran cried. She rushed up to Elma and hugged her tightly. “You’re the best first Hero anyone could have asked for! I believe in you!”

“Still,” I said, “exercise caution.”

She smirked. “I won’t let you down.”

Svilran came and stood beside me while Elma turned toward the portal.

She glanced over her shoulder. “By the way, Fainn.” She opened her small satchel, pulled out something wrapped in a cloth, and then unwrapped the cloth to show a watermelon rind. She smiled from ear to ear. “Make sure to have some watermelons for me when I get back. I want to nibble on them some more.”

“Heh, well, look at that.” I showed her a thumbs-up. “We’ve got all the watermelon you could ever want.”