The Hero System - Chapter 21

“System, how long have I been here? Weeks? Months? Years? I don’t know anymore.” Jonah said as he gazed at the ceiling. He was lying on the bed in his cell.

[It has been 18 hours since the user was held captive.]

“It felt much longer”

Jonah was super bored. At first, he cultivated and trained his Spear Arts but there was still no news from the castle. He kept training until he was exhausted and fell on the bed.

You can’t really say that Jonah was a lazy guy. He was quite hardworking. However, you can’t expect someone to sit idly for hours without getting bored.

At least, Jonah hasn’t reached that stage yet. He was still used to the cozy life of an average teen.

Jonah also decided to use his Upgrade Points. He didn’t know what was going to happen so he decided to upgrade his body just in case. He woke up 2 hours ago and had nothing to do.

He also instructed the system to abort upgrading in case of danger. However, Jonah learned that he’d lose his points if he did that. Jonah felt that it was strange. But then he remembered this was not a game.

Jonah speculated some explanations of how the system can upgrade his body. First, the system might use the spiritual energy from the surrounding. Going by logic, no one can do that. If someone tried to forcefully absorb energy urgently, he’d probably die or something bad happens. In the first place, Jonah didn’t know if that was possible.

However, the system was different. The person who sent him this system might have figured out a way to utilize the energy in the surrounding with no side-effects. This was probably what made the system so heaven-defying.

Another way would be something related to the system itself. Maybe it had sufficient energy to supply his body. After all, it was a spiritual artifact from the future.

Luckily, he wasn’t interrupted when he upgraded. Jonah checked his Status Menu again.

[Name: Jonah Regon]

[Age: 16]

[Level: 4]

[Cultivation: Energy Condensing (Second Stage)]

[Spirit Points: 20/20]

[Experience points: 03/80]

[Upgrade Points: 0]

[Vitality: 35]

[Stamina: 36]

[Strength: 38]

[Agility: 40]

[Resistance: 32]

[Intelligence: 33]

[Charm: 20]

[Spirit: 58]

Jonah though the system had mistaken his stats at first. However, he learned that this was quite normal. Cultivators would get stronger and stronger each time they break through a bottleneck. And as his cultivation rises, his body will become stronger.

Jonah realized that this had something to do with his spiritual energy. Every time he breaks through, his energy would increase in quantity and become more dense and profound. Thus, it would further strengthen his body when cultivates.

When he asked the system to compare his stats with other cultivators at his stage, it told him that he was below average.

However, Jonah’s stats were more rounded. Other cultivation techniques would focus on one attribute, but the Void Technique was more profound.

“I wonder how many pushups I can do” With the boredom he was in, Jonah decided to try.

“Brother, what do you think you’re doing?!” Lia stared with wide-eyes at her brother who was sitting on the throne.

“I’m avenging our father. What else?” Daniel said with a slight smile.

“By unreasonably sentencing every suspect by death? We don’t even know who did it!” Lia couldn’t believe her brother wants to execute every person who was at the castle the time of the assassination.

“Besides, do you expect the assassin to stay in the castle?!”

“We can’t let any accomplices run. The assassin couldn’t have entered the castle without an inside help.”

Lia opened her mouth to say something but she didn’t know what to say. Her brother seems calm but his actions were strange!

“Is this about that human?” Daniel had a strange light flash through his eyes.

“W-what? No! This about reason! You can’t just do that! Besides, my father is still alive! You’re not the king to decided things.”

“Lia. The kingdom needs a king all the time. If you dare say that again, I won’t show kindness.” Daniel frowned.

“1000!” Jonah said as he jumped up. He did 1000 pushups in an hour!

‘Damn, there is no longer a need to go to the gym.’ Jonah said as he stretched his body. He was still quite energized even though he just finished an impossible task for a normal human.

‘Oh, there’s one!’ Jonah though as he walked to a mirror in the room. He took off his shirt and looked at his body. Even though it was far from a perfect body, it was quite good looking. Three weeks ago, Jonah was just a thin youth that barely had muscles to walk. Now

Jonah couldn’t help but pose. He flexed his arms and his muscles divided his body perfectly.

Cling.

‘Hmm?’ Jonah turned around as he heard a metallic sound.

“Brother Jonah, you need to run” Lia walked into the topless Jonah.

Jonah was still posing in front of the mirror with Lia staring at him. The two stared at each other for a while. Then, Lia started to walk back like she was on backward playback.

She closed the iron door. Then, she knocked.

‘She’s just going to pretend that didn’t happen?!’ Jonah’s mouth twitched but he was more than happy to ignore this embarrassing memory.

“Come in,” Jonah said after he put on his shirt.

“Brother Jonah, you need to run from the castle immediately!” Lia walked in like before and said. However, her cheeks were reddish.

“What’s going on?” Jonah played along with a serious expression.

“My brother he decided to execute every suspect!” Lia’s expression went grim. Even Jonah forgot of what happened earlier.

“He why would he do that?”

“He says to eliminate any possibility to let a guilty person go but I don’t buy it. There’s something wrong with him!”

Jonah now confirmed his suspicion. Daniel was up to something and it wasn’t a good thing. Now that he was in immediate danger, what should he do?

“Where’s Kiwi?” Jonah couldn’t help but be worried.

“My brother locked him up in his chamber saying it was dangerous.”

“Then What are you going to do?”

“I’ll figure something out! You need to leave now, hurry!” Lia urged him.

Jonah was in a difficult choice. He didn’t have anything to do with this struggle so he can just walk away and it’d be over. However, can he do that?

“I can’t do that. I can’t just leave like I didn’t know anything.” Jonah shook his head.

“Brother I know you want to help, but there’s nothing you can do!” Lia said trying to convince him.

“I can help with your plan. You have one, right?” Jonah had a feeling that Lia wouldn’t just stand idly.

“I” Lia seemed quite hesitate.

“I’m also doing this for Kiwi.”

When Lia heard this, she turned silent. She resolved her heart and then nodded.

“Uncle Mo”

“As you wish, milady.” Uncle Mo nodded.

Jonah could feel his heart beating with nervousness as he sat on the chair. He looked around and sniffed the feminine scent. The room had a rosy aroma that perfectly fit the image of a young noble lady. The bed sheets were light-purple colored which enhanced the femininity of the room. The room was quite neat and had a small library. This was Jonah’s first time entering a girl’s room.

After he decided to help Lia, he got a new quest! However…

[Side-Quest: Save the king and uncover the truth. Due: Before the king’s death. Reward: Access denied. Difficulty: Hard.]

Jonah didn’t know if he should be happy or not. This was the first side quest he got that had a Hard difficulty. It appears he gotten himself into a mess, but he can’t back down.

Plus, he was also excited about the reward. This was the first time the system hadn’t told him the reward and he wondered why. Maybe that would depend on how he does in this quest?

Jonah also noticed that he didn’t get a penalty this time. Probably because he was the one who offered to help others, so it’d be unreasonable if he was punished for failing.

The system only gave penalties if Jonah was the one who didn’t want to help, not that he can’t.

Just like the spider, he had a big chance of killing it. That’s why, if he failed, that would be because of his own negligence.

The room’s door opened.

“How did it go?” Jonah whispered.

“The guards are now chasing ‘you’.” Lia nodded. She walked over and grabbed a chair and sat in front of Jonah.

Their plan was quite simple, fake Jonah’s escape while he stays in the castle. Uncle Mo was the one playing the decoy and he wouldn’t be captured by these mere guards.

“Okay. So what’s our plan?”

“It’s quite simple. We need to treat my father. Everything would be alright afterward.”

“Treat your father? It’s that easy?” Jonah was surprised, he thought the king was heavily injured.

“Easy? It’s rather impossible by normal means.” Lia shook her head in sadness.

“My father was cursed. He was heavily injured but that wouldn’t have caused to fall unconscious. However, he was attacked with a Spirit Curse!” Lia said with a trembling voice. Even though she feigned calm on the outside, her feelings were a total mess. Her father is on his deathbed and her brother changed. She couldn’t rely on anyone and she had to do something.

“It’s okay. We’ll save him.” Jonah tried to comfort her. He read about spirit curses on the Life Network. They would directly damage the soul, the foundation of beings. And for spirit cultivators, that would be quite dangerous.

“Un. I have a way. However, I need your help…” Lia wept her slightly teary eyes.

“That’s why I stayed, right?” Jonah smiled.

“Yeah Thank you.” Lia smiled and thanked sincerely. In this time of distress, the person who stood by her side was someone she just met. It was quite strange, but she trusted this youth.

“Okay, so what do I need to do?”

“The only way to help my father is to get the help of our kingdom’s Guardian Spirit!”

A slightly longer chapter haha! I had a biology exam today and I slept only three hours last night. I just got back from my exam and started writing. Thus, if you find any mistakes, please forgive me! And if you want to help, leave a comment pointing them out.

Oh, and vote. 🙂 I might do my best to give you a bonus chapter.