The mysterious abilities

"Od?", Archehon responded as if he had heard a made-up word.

"You don't even know what it is? Kid, have you been living under a rock your whole life?", Jerry blabbered at the kid.

Archehon again shrugged.

"Haaa.. So, 'Od' is a mysterious power that has existed for over two centuries now."

The old man narrated a story,

"Over two hundred years ago, the heroes and villains were battling each other. It was one of the biggest wars of all time. It was called the 'Eight year hell massacre'."

"Eight year hell massacre?", Archehon asked a question.

"Kid, you really know nothing, do you?"

"In that war, it was an all out battle between the heroes and villains. Many innocent lives were lost during the fight and it lasted for eight years."

"After those gruesome times, Aecona was in shatters. The economy had plummeted and it was a horrible era to live in. That was until.."

"..Od existed."

"Twenty years after the war, when people started to give up. A light appeared. People started to gain abilities far better than what was available to them."

"These abilities were mysterious powers that everyone had. You didn't have to be blessed with amazing talent in mana."

The old man stopped narrating and showed a handful of coins in his hand,

"My ability is 'Negotiation'. I can negotiate my way in a situation and anyone is more likely to listen to me which is why I have this building."

"The higher the level of the ability, the better. Another example of an ability is the #63 ranked hero, 'Shadow Sneak'. His ability is 'Shadow Manipulation' which is an A rank ability."

"Mine is only C rank but I managed to level it up so that it's on par with an B rank ability."

"You see kid. That is what 'Od' is. It is the general name for the abilities everyone has and the higher the rank the more potential there is."

Jerry finished explaining everything and started sweating from how much he had to talk.

"This 'Od', is basically abilities everyone has and determines how strong somebody is?", Archehon said.

"Correct."

"What about swordsmanship and magic?"

"Those still exist, but many people now focus on improving their Od. Magic abilities exist too and spearmanship is something people use as well but people who use Od generally tend to do better.."

"..because it's impossible to reach the peak of their Od while training in martial arts or magic."

"Hm? Is something the matter?", the old man asked as he saw Archehon with a dead expression.

"It's nothing. See you later.", he walked towards the exit.

"Huh? Alright, see ya later kid."

Archehon stayed the same as he walked into the slums area far from the store.

"Woohoo!", he screamed in joy.

"Did you hear that system? I can reach the peak of Spearmanship and awaken Od!"

'<Outcome may not be possible>'

"What? Why?!?"

'<Host has less than 40% chance of awakening Od>'

"Really? But I still have spearmanship."

'<Host may reach the peak of Spearmanship but..'< p>

"But what?"

'.. will only reach that level at estimated: 92 years old>'

Archehon separated himself from reality and entered his thoughts. He subsequently questioned,

"Then how can I decrease the penalty on my talent?"

He already knew this had to do something to do with his talent as it was the only obstacle he faced so far.

'<Steps host should take to decrease the penalty:< p>

(1) Level up

(2) Unlock [Story quests] at Level 5

(3) Do [Story quests] to decrease penalty

Note: This process will take at least -3 years- to completely remove the penalty. >'

"That's not bad. But what about Od?"

'<Searching for answers..>'

'<Od can be obtained in the [Shop] which unlocks at Level 10. Though, this doesn't change chances of host awakening Od>'

'<Recommended that host: Levels up by mastering basic proficiency of Spearmanship>'

"Okay."

When the inquiry ended, Archehon had already arrived back in the same neighborhood their house was in. He left the road to step through the front door of his house.

Ariel could be seen preparing food. The gracious smell that could drag anyone towards it, the magnificent dishes played on the tiny table. It looked like the food from five-star restaurants. It glowed from how spectacular it was, compared to all the other furniture in the room.

Archehon knew at that moment that the money he gave his sister was worth it. To enjoy the dazzling food containing: the rich fried rice, hamburger and Paella. All of which were made by her.

"Did you make all of this?"

"Yes, I did.", Ariel answered.

"Where did you learn to make all of these different foods?"

"I work at different restaurants and I observe the way they make food and learnt from that."

Archehon was flabbergasted and didn't ask anymore questions as he indulged himself in the gorgeous delicacies.

'Yes, I understand now. I was so focused on training that I forgot about this world's best thing.'

Archehon was actually quite the glutton in his previous life. He was really picky with his food and had the chefs of his faction terrified of him. Luckily, this was a godsend for him. He possessed the body of a boy whose sister was a genius in culinary cooking.

He teared up as he enjoyed the food made by Ariel and she chuckled like an angel.

"Ariel..", he whimpered.

".. You're an angel!"

The tears soaked through the ground and flooded the room as he grabbed his sister's legs while hugging them. He didn't care about his pride at that point. That's how much of a glutton he was.

"No, it's just as you've said. This is the least I can do to make sure we both are helping each other.", she patted the crying boys head lovingly.

"So.. enjoy the rest of the food.", she radiated down at Archehon.

Archehon straight away, started munching on the food while wiping his tears away using his arms.

After eating, he travelled back to his room to train.

"Okay, time to train in my spearmanship."

"Let's read through the manual tonight."

Archehon grabbed the manual off the floor and flipped through it. The act lasted the entire night due to the amount of useless information in the book. It was normal for that to happen as there were many myths and superstitions people used to believe when writing manuals. Some consisting of, 'You should wrap your arm around your leg to improve your mana flow' and other ridiculous rumors.

When the process was finished, Archehon slept peacefully.

* * *

The sun welcome Archehon again like any other day. It was sunrise and Archehon started using all the useful knowledge he absorbed from the book.

"System."

The familiar blue screen appeared in front of him.

'<Yes host>'

"Considering all the other things you've managed to do.. can you take the useful information and compile it into a task?", he asked.

'<Yes, it is possible. Should I do what the host has requested?>'

"Yes."

'<Compliling information..>'

'<40%.. 78.. 97..>'

'<Complete >'

'Spearmanship (basic) Proficiency: 0%

Forward thrust: (0/1000)

Backward thrust: (0/1000)

Cutting wave: (0/1000) '

"Perfect. Having experience in both short and long range weapons will put me at an advantage. This is the reason why I chose the spear.", he grinned like a devil.

"Now, it's time to practice. Let's do fifty of each while following the proper stance."

Archehon lifted up the spear and fell into stance. He aimed his spear front while stretching his arms, keeping them slightly bent. Legs were in a running stance and he had followed the manual.

"hoo.."

"Thrust.."

The spear thrusted forwards then almost immediately flipped to face the backside of Archehon.

"Whoosh.."

Then sliced through the air one-eighty degrees back to the front stance.

'Spearmanship (basic) Proficiency: 0.1%

Forward thrust: (1/1000)

Backward thrust: (1/1000)

Cutting wave: (1/1000) '

"Nice."

"Now.. Let's repeat!", Archehon grinned, ready to master the basics.

* * *

Four hours of constant training had passed.

'Spearmanship (basic) Proficiency: 70.6%

Forward thrust: (706/1000)

Backward thrust: (706/1000)

Cutting wave: (706/1000) '

"Phew..", Archehon fell on his back, exhausted from the training.

"I never got as much as I hoped for but there's nothing I can do about that."

Archehon walked back to kitchen where Ariel was at it again, preparing food.

"You're here. I've finished making the food. Just sit there."

"M-my food machine..", he mumbled like a child.

"I will protect you with my everything!"

He sucked all the food into his throat like a vacuum.

Thirty minutes passed and many empty plates could be seen on top of each other. The boy was truly a glutton.

"Burp.."

"Haaa.. that was amazing."

Archehon lay down with a balloon tummy resting his hands on top of his stomach.

"Did you like it?", Ariel glistered like a dandelion.

He nodded in return and returned to his room after helping his sister with cleaning up, after all, that was the least he thought he could do.

In his room, he picked up the ruby necklace by the silver chain and observed it.

"System, what's so good about this."

'<The host will need to remove the spell see>'

"How do I do that?"

'<Spell can be removed when host reaches Level 4&5 and unlocks ability to: [Defeat Opponents] & [Story Tasks]>'

'<Recommended that the host masters spearmanship to level up>'

"Hmm.. I have one more question. What kind of spell is being used?"

"I know a little about magic and I know that spells are branched from magic. There are many different professions branched from swords and magic."

'<The 15 spell being used on it is called 'Divine power' and something the host can unlock when at Level>'

"Divine power?"

'<In the ancient times, very powerful beings used Divine power and waged fights against each other, strong enough to wipe out kilometers of land in process>'

"Isn't that like gods??"

'<Almost >'

"Alright. Time to go back to training."

Legs, arms and joints all aligned back into the position Archehon was used to.

Another 2 hours passed and,

'Spearmanship (basic) Proficiency: 100%

Forward thrust: (1000/1000)

Backward thrust: (1000/1000)

Cutting wave: (1000/1000) '

'<Spearmanship basics Mastered>'

"Thud."

He almost fainted.

"Nice."

'<Experience 4 gained.. Level>'

'<Level 5..>'

'<Unlocked: [Story quests]&[Defeat Opponents]>'

"I'll check them later.", Archehon made the screen disappear.

He walked to the door and ate a variety of foods again and while he ate Ariel asked,

"Archehon, which hero academy are you going to?"

"Hewo awadamy (Hero academy)?"

"Yeah, they've been established for a while now. Many well known heroes established their own academies in hopes of raising new heroes.", she explained.

"Are you going to Aequalitas academy?"

"Uh- yeah.", he responded.

"That's good. I heard that unlike many other academies that only let in the rich and powerful. This one also allows some people regardless of status in."

"Gulp.", he drank all the water.

"I'll go now.", he waved as he walked back.

"Okay."

'Hero academy, huh?', he thought.

'It will be useful for information since that is something I couldn't get in my past life as Lucifer.'

"Click."

'I do need to build up a faction like in my past life.'

'As in my past life, part of the reason why I was so powerful was because of..'

"yawn.."

Archehon showed a venomous sneer.

"My underlings."