The Heroes Odyssey

"Let me show you, Roy Hiroto, what it truly means to be a hero." Jin smiled gracefully as he bumped fist with Roy.

"Let me make one thing clear, just because I agreed to become a hero doesn't mean I still believe in them. After all I only consider you a true hero because you've made it clear your intentions are for the greater good." Roy said stating his mind.

"Sure sure, However a time will come when you'll realize that even the greatest of all heroes can't save everyone. I don't smile because everything is alright when I'm around, but to show everyone that even through the dark days. I will still be there for them." Jin said, speaking from the experiences he had accumulated so far.

"So how exactly are you going to show me what a true hero is? Train me or something?" Roy inquired.

"Not exactly, before I can even show you the ropes there's still so much you have to learn. But first, you'll have to regain your strength and energy for what comes next." Jin answered, walking away from the battlefield instantly before the police could arrive and hold him responsible for this.

Roy however was left with other choice but to follow, and together they both went into a fastfood restaurant.

"Three plates of chicken wings and bottled water please!" Jin ordered.

"Three plates of chicken wings?" Roy asked out of confusion, why would they need three plates of chicken wings when there's only two of them?

"Yeah? Two for you and one for me, you need to regain your energy as quickly as possible and protein helps with rebuilding muscles and all that. It's not as if we have a healer type Soul-User at our disposal." Jin answered in an attempt to clear his confusion.

"A healer type Soul-User?"

"Yes, the concepts associated with Soul-Core is very vast and wide. For example, there's two types of Soul-Users depending on the grade of your Soul-Core. There's the Combat-Oriented Soul-Users, just like you and I and the Healing type Soul-Users."

Jin explained as the waiter on duty brought their respective foods to the table.

"What's all this talk about the grade of the Soul-Core? Does it have anything to do with a Soul-User abilities?" Biting off a portion of his wings hurriedly, Roy closed his eyes in order to savour the taste. After all it's been far too long since he had good food to eat growing up in an orphanage.

"The grade of a Soul-Core is just a measuring factor in determining a Soul-User's affinity. You see, there are five affinities in existence. The Natural affinity, the Celestial affinity, the Beast affinity, The Arcane affinity and the Supernatural affinity. Along with this affinity comes three different grades" Before he could explain further, Jin noticed that Roy was already down to his second plate.

"How hungry is this kid? I get he grew up in an orphanage and all but I've never seen someone ravage wings that ferociously. Now I actually feel bad for the chicken." He said in his thoughts.

Raising three of his fingers, he proceeded with his explanations. "There are three grades, Grade 1, 2 and 3. Grade 1 is the lowest of them all. At Grade 1, one can only expect the Soul-User's energy to be crude and unrefined, therefore they fall under the Arcane affinity."

"However, Grade 2 and 3 are a completely different story, the Soul-Energy registered under this grades is immense therefore it is suitable for the other affinities and for combat-oriented Soul users. The only thing that sets these two grade apart is that the Soul-Energy registered under Grade 3 is more potent and powerful. Therefore only royals can be found here, nobles are under Grade 2."

"Wow, I never knew the Soul-Core runs that deep. Then commoners fall under Grade 1? That means I fall under it too?" Roy said, having already finished his plate of wings while Jin had barely gone halfway.

"No, in the 2000 years history of mankind since the emergence of Soul-Core, there's been no history of a commoner awakening a Soul-Core. Even if they did, it's assumed they'd fall under Grade 1 because the amount of Soul-Energy is only suitable for healing. However, your ability to manipulate electricity makes you fall under the Natural affinity. Electricity is an extremely rare ability to utilize because it requires a high level of Soul-Energy, you Roy Hiroto, fall under the second grade." Raising the glass cup and taking a sip of water, Jin heaved a sigh, trying to understand how this was so.

"No commoners? Have been able to awaken the Soul-Core? Then why me?" It was frightening to know that he was an exception, because this very situation was already a huge problem. The royals and nobles despise commoners a lot, which explained why Magna refused to help him back then. What would happen if they found out that a commoner awakened a Grade 2 Soul-Core?

"I don't know, but that's what I intend to find out." Jin replied.

"I did never have a Soul-Core to begin with, maybe it's because of I've been granted a second chance by that mysterious voice in the abyss. Yeah, that'd definitely explain it." He mumbled within his thoughts, recalling the mysterious voice that reached out to him in purgatory.

"Alright, we'll leave the lectures for later, right now I have to get you ready." Jin said aloud as he got to his feet.

"Ready for what?"

"Huh? For the entrance exams of course." Jin replied, inserting his hand into his pocket as he began leaving.

"E-entrance exams!? To what?" Roy yelled, rising instantly to his feet.

"There's a lot you'll have to go through before you can call yourself a hero kid, and the first step is passing the entrance exams into the Heroes Odyssey Academy. Get ready kid, I'm about to turn you from zero to hero." He said, crafting a huge smirk on his face.