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"What the hell!? Did someone just choose the Hero difficulty!?"

"God bless that poor soul!"

"Holy shit!?"

The people inside the lobby of the Spirit Association all started to freak out. While the players were confused about why the Hero difficulty was getting so much attention, one of the braver players went to an NPC and asked, "Hey, what's the big deal about someone choosing Hero difficulty for a promotion quest?"

"Wait, you don't know? A hero is someone who has the same level of power as deities; a few have even been slain by them. While two difficulties are above here, those are mostly meant for deities, not people like us."

"Wow! So someone choosing the hero difficulty is like someone challenging humanity's limit?"

"No, it's them challenging the limit the world imposed on them."

"The world's limit?"

"Yes, if they succeed, then a generous reward awaits them. If they fail, a horrible consequence will befall them."

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Alex looked around him to make sure he was safe. Then he looked at the system messages and the quest he was given.

[ You've chosen Hero difficulty ]

[ Time dilation has been set to 1:8 for user Lucifer ]

[ The Devils and Gods watch you with interest ] [ A gaze from the outside has locked onto you. ] [ All outside gazes have been blocked ]

[ Prove your worth!

Rank: Promotion ( Hero )

You've chosen a path filled with misery and hardships. Prove that you have the qualifications to stand on this path. Clear conditions: Defeat heroes of the past. 30% is needed to complete.

Percentage of completion: 0% ]

Alex took a closer look at his surroundings and noticed that he was inside an empty plain. While unnoticeable at first, he could see weapons from swords to spears stabbed into the ground. The sky was a color that seemed to swallow light around it, yet thousands of stars would still shine through it. The stars were of different sizes and colors. However, the most eye-catching were the 3 large stars that seemed to be perfectly in the middle. These stars were of pure innocent white, a consuming tainted crimson, and an encompassing myriad of colors. Alex looked at the grave closest to him, a black spear with red markings was stabbed into the ground. Alex walked up to the spear and a system notification appeared in front of him.

[ A forgotten Hero Completion Rewards: 0.001% Would you like to challenge? ]

Alex accepted the challenge, and a young man appeared in front of the grave holding the spear that was stabbed in the ground. The young man didn't have any noticeable facial features, and the only thing you were able to notice was his fiery red hair. The young man took a defensive stance and waited for Alex to strike. He didn't have to wait long as Alex activated his flaw ability, making the world go black and white. He didn't use any other skill and instead competed in weapon mastery. Alex lost the first exchange as the spirit redirected his strike effortlessly. Alex dodged his counter strike and this pattern repeated itself for a couple of minutes. With every exchange, Alex was becoming more proficient in using a sword. Eventually, after 30 minutes, Alex did a feint and when the spirit went to block, he stabbed his sword through the spirit's chest. The spirit then disappeared, and its grave also crumbled. His quest showed that he was now 0.001% complete with it. He repeated this process for 8 days straight. At the moment, his completion percentage was at 3%, and he had cleared out most of the graves in the outer area. Alex had scouted the location and discovered the graves were separated into three areas: outer, inner, and core area. The outer area was filled with 3,000 forgotten hero graves, while the inner section had 30 graves, and the core area had 3. The graves inside the inner area had a minimum of a 2% increase and can be upwards to a 4% increase. Alex went to the nearest one to him, a wooden staff was sticking out from the ground. Alex walked to the staff and looked at its message.

[ An Elven Hero Completion rewards: 4% ]

Alex looked at the system message with apprehension; however, he still challenged the grave. An elderly man with long ears and light green hair. While his facial features still looked blank, Alex was able to notice the general structure of the elf's face. He looked more feminine than masculine, however he was beautiful even by elven standards. The elven hero looked at Alex and said with a curious voice, "Oho? I must say you have a remarkable talent for magic. I would even say it's the best I've ever seen! Unfortunately, you can't even use it properly. What a waste."

The elven old man then cast a fire spell. The spell was a beautiful blue flame; however, the flame died out a second after he had released the spell toward Alex. The elven old man looked in confusion, however, he immediately noticed the mana in the air. He smiled and said, "You stopped the mana in the air. I must say that's impressive."

Alex didn't let the mage have time to create distance; instead, he casted Accelerate on himself and blitzed the mage. Of course, the elven mage wasn't helpless in close combat; he dodged the attack gracefully and counterattacked with his staff. The staff hit Alex in his chest and even cracked a few bones. They kept going back and forth for a while; however, Alex never got a hit connect on the elven mage. Alex immediately started to notice the mana starting to return. Alex then chanted his strongest spell at the moment, Sword of Light. The spell had two variations: a sword you could wield or a sword that drops from the sky and causes mass destruction. Alex chose the second variation and watched the sword made of pure light fall. Alex looked at the incoming attack from the elven mage. That same beautiful blue fire, and also saw the wide grin on the mage's face. Alex flashed a grin of his own and activated the skill Parry, nullifying the damage from the attack and launching him out of the spell's range. The mage yelled with rage and reluctance after realizing his plan.

"No! You damn brat! I refuse to go back there! I refuse, I tell you! Dammit, don't ignore me, brat! BRAT!"

The elven mage tried to leave the spell area by chanting the spell teleport, however, the sword of light was a second faster. The elven mage died in a single attack, and his grave began to crumble. In its place were three shining gold coins. Alex knelt down to pick up the coins and smiled happily as he put them into his storage ring. Alex looked at his mana and noticed that the spell had taken most of it. He looked at the system notification while he waited for his mana to regenerate.

[ Killed an Elven Hero! 4% completion rate increase. No exp was rewarded due to the special nature of the area. Exp had been converted to currency. ]

Alex smiled at the system notification and looked around him with eyes full of greed. This graveyard has become his personal bank!

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A/N

Hey everyone I just wanted to say I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have a good rest of you're night or day!

If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!