I Need A Hero

When I woke up I was interviewed by some people who seemed to be in charge of security at the academy, but since I didn't know who would order a hit on me, they just asked me some questions before leaving. 

After being checked on by a healer, I was allowed to leave, and head to my class. While it had only been a day, and a student had died, but in this world death was fairly common.

What's more, this was an academy to raise heroes, so they wanted to prepare us for the harsh reality. I had been brought some change of clothes from my luggage, and headed to my classroom.

My instructor was someone named Brent Bollinger, a well known hero who had actively fought on the frontlines, and a man known to be an incredible teacher who took pride in nurturing his students. This was the teacher you would always get in the game, and I knew he would be a great teacher to have.

However when I walked into the classroom I was confused about who was standing in the middle of the room talking to all the students.

Everyone turned to look at me as I walked in, and I made eye contact with the teacher.

'A substitute?'

I saw the teacher smiling at me creepily, and I got a bad feeling.

'Instinct is activating?'

"Hello, Duke Crowley, have you fully recovered?"

"Yes. Sorry for waking up late to class."

I decided to keep my expression flat, as I forgot that most people in my class thought I was an expressionless murderer.

The teacher looked confused, then she looked at the other students, before smiling back at me again.

'Why does Instinct keep activating?!'

"Take a seat, Crowley. Since you weren't here earlier, I'll introduce myself."

I had made my way to my seat at the front, directly in front of her, and she walked right up to my desk.

"My name is Luna Richter."

My expression crumpled. I wasn't able to maintain my stoic expression. The teacher smiled again, and again my instincts were telling me this was bad.

"People call me the Berserker, but you'll be calling me teacher for this year."

'Fuck.'

****

"Put your hands up! If you let them down it only takes a single strike to the chin to knock you out."

I was currently getting my ass beat by Ms. Richter. The class I was in, was Class A, the class filled with only the best prospects. Originally there was an odd amount of students, and the hero would be the one to spar with the teacher, going through extremely useful tutoring.

However I wasn't the hero, and this was not the nurturing teacher who was really great at teaching, instead she was a crazy muscle head who though bruises were the best lessons.

So here I was, getting a lot of 'lessons'.

I didn't even really want to be a brawler... 

She also didn't offer any meaningful instruction. It was always something vague. Describing movements with sounds like 'whoosh' or 'shrik'.

It was completely useless, the only reason I could even hold up was because of my two buffs.

On that note, I had read through the notifications I got after I passed out, and discovered I had a new balance of 1000 FP. The reason?

[You have killed the protagonist! Awarded 1000 FP for drastically changing fate.]

I was happy with the FP, but I hated that I killed the protagonist.

'It's not even like it was really my fault! The alternative was ME dying.'

I was sitting, catching my breath and drinking some water, when I pulled up my Buff system. With 1000 FP, I could create my own buff or debuff, up to the rank of C. I was creating all sorts of combinations of skills that seemed interesting, seeing if I had enough FP to create them, when I suddenly discovered an alternative way to get stronger buffs.

'Debuffs with positives in hand with negatives.'

I was able to create a perfect debuff for my current situation.

[Debuffs]

Trial and Error (C-Rank) Learn better from your failures. Easier to learn skills through repeated overwhelming failure. However, if you succeed you gain nothing. {∞}

The best part was that I actually still had 600 FP left, and could make at least one more debuff as good as this one.

The downside though... If I was good at something, I would never improve. I would constantly have to seek out defeat, but with the way this chick was teaching me, I felt I would face a lot of defeat.

Besides, I could always modify the debuff at a later date.

Other than that, I created one final debuff before getting up and resuming my training with the teacher.

[Debuffs]

Trial and Error (C-Rank) Learn better from your failures. Easier to learn skills through repeated overwhelming failure. However, if you succeed you gain nothing. {∞}

Perfectionist (B-Rank) If something is not done properly, without mistakes, you consider it a failure. A indominable will to do things perfectly drives you. {∞}

Now Perfectionist might look really bad, however when paired with Trial and Error it meant that I would almost always fail, in my mind. It was basically a need to do things perfectly, that I couldn't turn off.

With that taken care of, I headed back to Ms. Richter, and we began to train again.

However this time I felt the effect of my debuffs, especially my Perfectionist.

I felt disgusted with myself as I swung a sword, and even though it was my first time handling a sword I was angry at myself that I wasn't doing it right.

'The trajectory is off.'

'The swing is slow.'

'I can't do this? A simple swing?!'

I felt myself becoming more and more upset. I was slowly starting to get harder and harder on myself, until I finally got a swing that showed improvement.

Ms. Richter was watching me swing my sword as if I was a lunatic, repeating the same simple downward slash. However my expression showed how serious I was.

She had originally told me to swing my sword 100 times, and went to go tutor other students, but when she came back she saw me still swinging.

"Are you still not done with the 100 swings?"

She asked, feeling something was off.

I took a moment between swings, panting heavily.

"I haven't gotten my swing right... I... Am barely capable of doing even one good one."

"Hm? I just need you to do 100 swings. They don't have to be goo-"

"NO!"

I shouted, with a hint of hysteria in my voice.

Caught off guard by my own outburst, I stopped swinging.

"I-I'm sorry Ms. Richter... I think I need a break."

With a nod from Ms. Richter, I left the field and looked up at the clear sky as I walked.

'The effects are... Extreme... I am genuinely upset. The debuffs are working so far, but I don't feel like I'm improving... Well, it's hasn't even been half an hour so I can't expect incredible progress. I wish I had the points to create a buff that helped me clear my mind.'

'I should head back.'

I quietly shook my head and began walking back to the training field.

I walked with closed eyes, focusing my mind to the utmost, and spoke my own sort of mantra.

I needed to only focus on swinging my sword. I exist for nothing other than to swing that sword perfectly, 100 times. The pursuit of perfection is what will lead to my growth, so I would relentlessly pursue it.

I soon found myself standing before the spot where I was before. Ms. Richter stood slightly to the side, looking at me with curiosity.

"Are you ready now?"

I nodded.

"I want to do things right from the very basics. I don't want to betray my hard work by cutting corners while laying the foundation."

Ms. Richter simply nodded, and walked away to instruct other students.

I raised my sword, imagined the path my sword needed to follow, and swung down slowly.

I continued like this until the end of the class. It continued for another two hours, but I was able to find some results at least by the end of the class.

[Swordsmanship (F-Grade 30%) has been acquired.]

My form felt cleaner, and I wasn't as tired while swinging. I was originally swinging with my whole weight, but now it was efficient. I felt good, as I was able to finish my 100 perfect swings, and I felt my mood stabilize.

All my anger was wiped away, and I felt rejuvenated. My other buffs were taking affect, and I was recovering my energy quickly. I was about to leave the class, and make my way to my dorm to shower real quick during lunch break, when Ms. Richter stopped me.

"Crowley, come here."

I walked over with an empty expression.

"Yes, Ms. Richter?"

She made a weird face at being called Miss, but I didn't plan to change the way I addressed her. If she felt I was being disrespectful she might just beat me up over it.

"I'll ask simply, do you have some sort of mental illness? Because whatever that was earlier was worrying. We don't want someone who can be so... Volatile, on the battlefield."

"Ah. No. That is nothing to worry about.. I just am a perfectionist. I don't want anything other than the best from myself."

Ms. Richter showed a look of surprise, but shook it off quickly.

"I see. Well, make sure you're not too hard on yourself, because it is your failures that you learn the most from not your successes."

I smiled brightly, to which it seemed to have even impacted Ms. Richter.

"I couldn't agree more to that statement. If you'll excuse me, I wanted to shower before our next class."

"Huh? Uh.. Yeah get going."

I left then, noting that I seemed to be appealing to Ms. Richter's eye, I made my way to the dorms before showering and then heading to the cafeteria. There were several free options, but I chose to pay for a meal instead. 

My meal was an expensive steak lunch with other high protein meats, and vegetables. I chose to stay away from heavy carbs, since I might need to move more today, and planned to eat a high carb pasta dinner.

My meal was exquisite, one of the best ones I had since finding myself in this world, and I could feel myself becoming a bit of a food lover. In my past life I didn't have the money to live lavishly like this, so I was enjoying it for now.

Thankfully I was one of the only people in the restaurant, the others seemingly belonging to higher grades, so I got my food relatively quickly.

I made my way to a lecture hall, soon finding a seat at the front again, and waited for Ms. Richter to start the class.

This class was going to be one about studying different monsters, and the best ways to deal with them.

I paid attention, just in case there was information that wasn't shared in the game, but for today at least it only covered information I had memorized already.

I wasn't worried about my grades for most classes, only the combat classes was I worried, since I had no training.

The rest of the classes were simple, and nothing really happened. I knew the other students had simply avoided me all day, and I didn't plan to do anything to change it. I didn't really want to be involved closely with everyone. Instead I spent a lot of time thinking about what to do about the lack of the hero.

The nice thing about EO, was that you could beat the game with one of the Origin characters, which were the possible characters in the hero's party. Instead of making your own character, you would follow their stories. 

So I had options, but I was worried because I would need to choose who to nurture.

'Wait a second.'

I stopped my train of thought.

'Couldn't I just nurture them all?'

When I realized this, I began to make more calculations in my head, as to what I would need to do immediately. The next big event that would happen would be the chance for Adam Rider to either become a villain or a hero, depending on the result. 

It would happen because of bullies. People who would look down on him because of his poor family. He was a noble, but that was simply in status. Most commoners actually lived better than him.

He had the unfortunate position of being a noble, who was looked down upon by other nobles for being poor, while commoners disliked him because he was a noble.

Belonging to neither worlds, he felt incredibly alone, and during that moment of weakness demon worshippers would make him feel like he belonged somewhere.

This wasn't acceptable for me, because he was one of the best supports in the game. He had the best buffs possible, and when paired with me who could make buffs last forever, he was a must have teammate.

I made my way out of the classroom, while watching Adam Rider, and watching who was going behind him.

'Mm... Three students who were nobodies. If I didn't know them, they weren't important to the story at all. I'll watch for now, since I also know that Adam wouldn't accept my help one sidedly.'

I followed them, and waited for a moment to step in.

****

"Get up you little loser! You're a priest who can't heal, all you can do is apply these buffs for the shortest times ever. No wonder you can't make any money! Your mother was probably so proud when you were accepted into the academy, but little does she know you're going to be expelled sooner or later!"

"Hahah! Tell him Terrance!"

Another kick came from Terrance.

I was standing ten feet away, hiding slightly behind some trees, and listening to the contents of their conversation. Adam just silently took the beatings and berating. Not uttering any word of resistance.

'Well. It is true that he can't heal and his buffs last for almost no time at all, but that's just for now. He will later train his buff usage, and they will naturally last longer. Also.. Who cares about healing when he has multiple buffs that make you take no damage? Short sighted idiots.'

However I was having trouble figuring out how I was going to help. He doesn't accept your goodwill if he feels you're offering him charity.

While I was thinking of what to do, I could simply hear the sound of Adam getting beat up, when I got tired of it all.

'Fuck it.'

I stepped out from behind the trees, making my presence very clearly known.

"Who?"

"Hey that's Theodore Crowley! The lunatic!"

"What do you want Crowley?!"

The boy named Terrance said.

However I didn't respond immediately, instead I glance at Terrance before turning my attention back to Adam.

"Isn't this a little pathetic? You're a noble, yet here you are getting beat down without even trying to defend yourself."

Adam's eyes went wide, seemingly confused as he thought I was here to help him.

"Aye! I'm fucking talking to yo-"

I immediately struck Terrance with a strike from a wooden training sword I was carrying with myself, since I planned to practice until I collapsed tonight, but I used it for this instead.

He crumpled to the ground, since I had hit him perfectly on the jaw, but I had a discontent look on my face.

"It wasn't right... The path of my swing was wrong... Let me try again."

I then began to viciously beat Terrance, who was unconscious on the ground.

The other two lackeys watched in horror as I began to splash blood on my face.

Taking a deep breath, I finally stopped.

"Huuuuu... Finally I got one good swing in."

I then opened my bright purple eyes, and stared at the two losers.

"You should take him to the healer, or he will truly die. When they ask who it was, who do you think they'll believe? Me, a hero and a noble, or you two nobodies?"

With shivers, the two boys ran forward and grabbed their bloodied friend. They hurried off, and it was just Adam left with me.

I turned to him, blood still splattered on my face, but he was too scared to look me in the eyes.

"Aren't you tired of being looked down on? You're a pussy. Also you owe me now, so I'll have you become my punching bag for the entire year. If you refuse, I'm going to upload the video of you getting your ass beat to the internet, then send it to your mom."

He looked at me now, in horror.

"W-Why are you doing this to me? I thought you were here to help me..."

"Bitch, were you waiting for someone to save you? How pathetic. Leaving your fate to others. Anyways, I told you what the conditions were. Get up and follow me to the training field. Also, cast every buff you know on me."

I didn't wait for his response, as I turned around and began to walk. Along the way I got a call from Ms. Richter who asked for an explanation of why she heard I brutally beat another student of my class, and I simply told her he deserved it. Seemingly humored by my response, she didn't ask anymore questions, instead saying that training tomorrow would be harder in response.

I said okay, and hung up.

Adam was behind me, and he seemed to have listened in on my conversation.

"How can you speak so rudely to Ms. Richter? Aren't you afraid she will beat you up?"

"Hm? No. She's too interested in me now, that she finds what I do funny, so as long as I show her something interesting she will overlook other things. You're bad with people."

Adam's head hung, and he spoke while looking at his feet.

"I know... People don't like me because I'm poor, and then others don't like me because I'm a noble..."

I stopped in place, and he ran into my back.

"Are you stupid? People don't like you because you're lame. You don't stand up for yourself, you don't say anything interesting, and you accept all the blame everyone throws at you. You are a victim, because you act like one."

My words seemed to cut deep, as he became silent, but still he stood up and followed me.

"Tsk."

I sucked in my teeth at this annoying guy. He could have just walked off just now, and refused to follow me. Of course he isn't going to learn to stand up for himself so easily.

We eventually made it to the training field, and I told him to grab a weapon. Along the way I had received three different buffs from the timid young man, and made them permanent.

With this, I felt confident I could at least match Adam in this spar.