Chapter 6: Hero

One day Sera decides to seek clues about Luke's condition. For that, she makes an order as she closes her eyes"Help me understand how to help Luke." Suddenly, an image of a palace comes to Sera's mind. In that palace, she sees a red hooded figure sitting on a throne. The image gets closer to the figure's face, until suddenly two red orbs light up and Sera hears a voice say "Insolence."

After hearing the voice, Sera opens her eyes and finds herself in the palace she saw before. Then the red hooded figure says threateningly "Kneel." Sera is unable to resist the command and begins to kneel and lower her head.

The suffocating aura that the figure exudes makes Sera feel like she could die at any second, so she doesn't dare to make a single noise.

Then the figure says "Mortal Serah. You have committed a crime of bearing witness of my being without my permission. What is your explanation? Speak."

After hearing the order "Speak" Sera couldn't help but to try and explain her reason. She said "I was only trying to find an answer to my friend's condition. I didn't think that I would come in contact with someone." At this moment, Sera thought that this is how it must feel when she makes an order using her power against people. She couldn't help but wonder "Is his power similar to mine?"

The figure then says "I know of your friend's blight as he is one of the mortals who carry my royal crest. This doesn't mean you have permission to spy on a king. Also, your power is merely mirroring part of my power. Comparing the two is like comparing a fire and the sun."

Sera realizes that the figure can read minds, so she becomes increasingly alarmed.

Then the figure says "For your crimes I will place a mark on you. This mark will be proof that you are now a criminal." Sera suddenly feels a burning feeling on the back of her neck, but she doesn't dare to make a single sound in the fear of angering the figure.

The figure then says "Now that the mark has been placed, I will let you go as I am a merciful king. But before I let you go I will give you a warning. If there is ever a second time you bear witness to me without my express permission, you will receive a mark of slave. And if you commit a similar crime a third time, then I will make sure that there won't be a chance for a fourth one. Do I make myself clear mortal?"

Sera says while trembling both because of fear and pain "I understand." After hearing those words, the figure says one last thing "Good" and then Sera finds herself in her room again. She is sweating like crazy as she is in shock both because of the pain from the mark and the general fear she felt during that interaction.

After she gathers her thoughts, she uses her power to see what the back of her neck looks like, and she sees a strange mark about the size of an eye. She couldn't make any sense of the markings, but that didn't matter to her, so she decided to hide the mark with her power.

For some reason, the mark didn't disappear no matter what type of command she made, so in the end she was forced to wear clothing that would hide it. She was considering making up a story that she got herself a tattoo, but she decided to not go that route for now as she didn't know how the others would react. But still, deep inside Sera knew that someone will find out, so she decided to say it's a tattoo when that time comes.

Meanwhile in the director's office, the man himself had a feeling. He muttered to himself "It would appear that my friend has gotten in the way of my experiment. Perhaps I was too lenient on that child for her to get caught up on it. No matter. It is only a small bump on the schedule."

Then May says to the director "I received a call that requires your attention, director." The director asks "What is it about?" To which May says "We have gotten a report that someone has gotten the power "Hero"."

The director is stunned by this and says "How can that be? In order for someone to gain the superpower "Hero" there first needs to be someone with the superpower of "Demon king". Unless…"

May looks at the director as he ponders. Then the director gives up a smile and says "Dan, Dan, Dan… You sneaky little rat. You managed to hide something interesting from me for so long. Even beyond your grave, you still manage to hinder the progress of my experiment."

Then the director looks at May and says "Get the person with the power of a hero to this office as soon as possible." May says "Understood" after which she uses her power to arrange the hero's welcome.

The director rises from his chair, looks behind the window and says "The time when we can start phase 3 is nearing. Yet one step closer to our goal. Right Milla?"

Later that day, the person who had the power of a hero came to the director's office. The person in question was a seven year old black girl. The director smiled as he felt he was lucky, and said to the hero "Greetings oh great hero. How was your trip here?" The hero says in a meek voice "F-fine." The director says "Good good good. Now then, Joanne Smith, was it?" Joanne says "Yes. That is my name."

The director then says "Good good. We are getting somewhere. Now how do you feel about being a celebrity?" Joanne says in confusion "Me? A celebrity? No no no. I don't think I'm up for it."

The director grabs Joanne by the shoulders as he kneels down and says "You don't have to worry about whether you are good or not. You have the power of a hero in you, so people will flock to you no matter what you do. You don't have to think about how your actions are perceived. Just work your way as an adventurer and you will gain the admiration of others. We just need to make a contract between you and me. What do you say?"

Joanne says, in a bit more confident voice "I think… I should ask my parents about it first." The director then rises up as he says "I see. May, have you done the thing yet?" Then May answered in the director's head "Yes director. Mister and Miss Smith have been contacted and are currently reading the contract." The director says "Excellent. Inform me when they have agreed to it."

May then answers "With all due respect director, they seem quite hesitant." The director says to May "No worries. I have foreseen that they will eventually take up on my offer. After all…" The director makes sure Joanne doesn't hear what he says next "Humans are greedy creatures after all."

May then responds "I see. As expected of you, director. I'll inform you once they have signed the contract." Then the director says to Joanne "While your parents are reading the contract, why don't we go for a tour of the building." Joanne says excitedly "Re- Really?" The director smiles and says "Let's go."

The two looked around the HQ as Joanne's parents were reading the contract. During the tour, most people were shocked that the director is personally taking a child to a tour. The director had to calm his people down multiple times as they were stunned to see this. Surprisingly, this tour seemed to raise the morale of the people working there.

During the tour, Joanne seemed to warm up to the director and asked questions more freely. The director just smiled and answered all the questions the girl had.

As the tour was closing its end, the director got a call from May that the parents had agreed to the terms of contract. The director asked May to "Bring them to my office and we'll meet there shortly." May agreed to this and closed the call. Then the director said to Joanne "Let's go see your parents in my office." Joanne was excited to see her parents again and tell them all about the HQ.

Once in the office, Joanne ran to her parents, shouting "Mommy, daddy!" She hugged them tight and started telling them all kinds of things about the building they were at. The director gave a slight chuckle as he watched the family interact with each other. Then Mister Smith greeted the director and said "Hi. My name is Roland Smith and I'm Joanne's father. Thank you for giving her this opportunity, director."

The director smiled and said "Oh please. You three may call me Hans. And I should be the one thanking you for raising such an energetic child." Roland says "Then, Hans, the protection you offer Joanne… is it truly necessary?"

The director says "It is. In order for me to help her cultivate her power properly and without any danger, I need to put a mark on her that will ensure her condition." Then Joanne's mother says "Will there be any sort of side effects?" To which the director says "As far as we know, there aren't. But rest assured, having that mark on her is completely reversible, so if there ever is a situation that has negative effects, I can take the mark off of her without any major issues."

Joanne's parents look at each other in reassurance and say to Joanne "Be sure to do what Hans says and don't be too reckless." Joanne smiles and says "Ok."

Then Roland says to Joanne to go to the director to get the mark and she does as he says. The director puts the mark on Joanne without any issue and says "Here. All done."

After a small pause, the director says "I think today has been eventful enough. Why don't we start the process tomorrow so we all can be more energetic." Roland says "Thanks for your consideration." The director smiles and says "May, if you will." May then teleports the Smiths back to their home and the director goes back to his chair to ponder.

When May is back, she asks the director "Is it really alright to let them live without any guards? What if the Scales make contact with the Smiths?" The director answers "I have contacted one of my operatives in the Scales that they would inform me if they made any moves. If that is to happen, we let the Scales do what they do and see how it goes. In the end, it doesn't matter what they do, I have already marked our little hero, so if they do anything too troublesome, I'll have the chance to bring an end to it whenever I'd like."

May lowers her head a little to show respect and says "As expected of the director." The director then asks May "Do you know why I consider us lucky that Joanne is who she is?" May answers with "I think it has something to do with her being a minority."

The director smiles and says "That is correct. If a minority becomes someone powerful, it is bound to cause tremors in people's minds. I mean, the Americans had their black president once, but did everyone agree that it was alright? Of course not. There were people who thought the world was going to end because of it. So what will happen if we have someone who is legitimately powerful, is a woman and is black?"

May says "It will cause some people to make a statement." The director says "Exactly. Misogynistic people and bigots in general will make a fuss about the face of humanity being a black girl for years to come. The people will become divided and cause a flamewar. The amount of N-words that will be said will be priceless."

May then asks "So how does this affect the experiment?" The director says "Yes. The experiment. The division of people will make it clear who are the people that have moral high ground. Once that has been established, we will get a clear picture on who Ruincorp should support. And when we support the right people, the divide will grow even stronger. We are nowhere near phase 3, but we are certainly getting closer."

May then says "Wasn't phase 3 about the divide of people between rich and poor turning into powerful and weak?" The director says "Yes. So far, people with resources to support the upcoming adventurers have the advantage on the way the system operates. The rich can pay a guild or the government to keep certain gates preserved for those who they sponsor, often being their children and whatnot. Then there is equipment and items that can be only bought with money that the poor don't have access to, such as weapons, armor and EXP-boosters. When phase 3 begins, even the poor can afford these privileges if they are powerful enough. Tell me May, what is the one thing that Ruincorp can effectively restrict from rich people?"

May thinks for a moment and then says "The EXP-boosters." The director asks "And why is that?" May responds with "Because so far, Ruincorp has monopoly over the known EXP-boosters."

The director says "Correct. However, this isn't something that we can solely rely on. Eventually, adventurers will figure out how to make EXP-booster with their own methods, and when that happens, we will lose the monopoly. The idea is to find the opportune moment to have an income tax on EXP-boosters, however, this method isn't currently available, as we just moved out of relying on sponsors as well. The EXP-boosters won't be our sole strategy, but they are the most solid ones."

May then says "And by causing a divide between the righteous and malevolent, we can determine who to support. And the key to this strategy is… racism?" The director says "Correct."

Then May says "Weren't you a Nazi?" The director says "Unimportant. Now we only need the kid with the "Demon king" power to be a purebred white boy and then we can really get the show rolling."

May comments "I'm not sure if I follow." The director smirks, pours some wine into his glass, takes a sip and then says "I'm not entirely sure if I follow either."

May asks "Wait, aren't you the man in charge?" The director says "Am I now?" and sips some wine.

May asks "Seriously, are you?" After the director finishes taking another sip, he says "That's enough questions for today. Now make arrangements that will make July protective of our upcoming hero."

May is a bit stunned and says "As- As you wish father." May then leaves for a brief moment, and the director mutters to himself "What maddening thing love is."

File #50012

Subject name: Juliet "May" Hildenburg

Birthdate: 16.5.2017

Country of origin: UK

Current residence: Germany

Height: 167 cm

Appearance: Red hair, Amber eyes

Superpowers: (Redacted), Telekinesis (Super rare), Teleport (Super rare), Telepathy (Rare) Calm (Common), (Redacted)

(Redacted): (Redacted)

(Redacted): (Redacted)

Telekinesis: Allows the user to "grab" objects with their mind. The weight that the user can carry is proportional to the proficiency of the power. Same goes to the distance between the user and the grabbed object.

Significantly more difficult to stop the momentum of an object. Also more difficult to hold a constantly moving object. For example, a living being.

Has been compared to "The force" of a certain franchise.

Teleport: Allows the user to instantly move to another location with only the effort of mind. The distance that the user can travel is proportional to the proficiency of the power.

User requires a certain skill in order to move other objects besides the user. This means that the first time using this power makes the user leave their clothes on the spot of where they teleported from. In terms of skill allocations, this is the most picked up skill.

Telepathy: Allows the user to communicate to a person by saying words to other people's minds. The distance and amount of people the user can communicate with by using the power is proportional to the user's proficiency on the power.

Has been observed to be difficult with people who haven't heard words in their entire life or who don't know the language. With the skill "Understanding" the user can telepathically tell people what they want without words and help them understand. In some cases, this skill can help animals understand what the user wants.

Calm: Allows the user to be calm no matter what the situation. Power can be broken if the proficiency of the power isn't high enough to withstand the fluctuation of emotions.

(Redacted): (Redacted)

(Redacted): (Redacted)

(Redacted): (Redacted)

About: Juliet, or May as the director calls her, is the secretary of the director of the organization. She was born and raised in the UK, but her mother was from Norway and her father is unknown.

Juliet often acts calm and collected, but it is said that she is only that way due to her constant use of her power and that there is a fiery girl beneath it. She is diligent with her duties and often helps the director with his paperwork.

Juliet has never been heard to criticize the director or even went. This has brought major speculation on what she does in her free time. However, even her having free time is a mystery, since she seems to be near the director almost at all hours. The director has been sent multiple letters that he works Juliet too hard, to which he has often replied with "I'll look into it." or similar talk. This is one of the few things that has brought animosity directly towards the director from the people working at the company.

One of the few things that are known about Juliet is that she likes cute things and sweets. She will most likely deny these comments, but few sightings have been reported where she acted like a little girl when watching something cute in a hidden place or eating something sweet. The sweets part is the more confirmed part of what she likes.

According to the director, Juliet herself will not be able to view this file with her ID. It is unknown why this is and how Juliet has taken this action, but this is something that has been decreed by the director.

(Redacted)

File #2111891

Subject name: Joanne Smith

Birthdate: 17.6.2032

Country of origin: USA

Current residence: USA

Height: 120 cm

Appearance: Black hair, Brown eyes

Superpowers: Hero (Mythical), Teleport (Super rare), Cleaning (Common), Cooking (Common)

Hero: It is said that those with the power of a hero will be able to best any opponent they wish for. The coming of the hero is said to bring an end to the great evil that has come to this world.

The exact details of what this power can do is currently under research.

Teleport: Allows the user to instantly move to another location with only the effort of mind. The distance that the user can travel is proportional to the proficiency of the power.

User requires a certain skill in order to move other objects besides the user. This means that the first time using this power makes the user leave their clothes on the spot of where they teleported from. In terms of skill allocations, this is the most picked up skill.

Cleaning: Users have more natural talent in terms of keeping things clean than your average person. Having this power doesn't necessarily mean that the person themselves likes things clean.

Using this power removes more common filth from the object and it can further remove more hard to clean stains when proficiency is high enough.

Cooking: By using this power, the user can cook generally good meals. The user will have a keen eye on good ingredients and can even detect poisons from consumable objects.

About: Joanne is a young bright girl who has just gained her superpowers. Her power of hero will be of great benefit for all of humanity.