The Hero System - Chapter 22

“Your Hig Your majesty! The human is nowhere to be found.” The chief guard respectively said to Daniel while kneeling on one knee.

“Double the effort! You need to find him!” Daniel said sternly.

“Yes!” The guard saluted and left.

‘Dammit, could it be Lia?! I don’t care about a puny human, but’ Daniel thought as he looked at the corner of the room.

“It’s alright.” The darkness started to twist and a figure slowly emerged from it. The figure wore a black cloak covering his body and face. The figure’s voice was high-pitched but didn’t sound feminine. It sounded more like screeching cries.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The majestic aura Daniel had disappeared and he said respectively to the figure.

“No need. He won’t run. Hehehehe”

When Daniel heard the figure laugh, he felt his body drench in sweat. All the hair on his body also stood up and he felt like a scared kitten.

“Guardian Spirit?” Jonah furrowed his brows.

“Yes. Our ancestor met a spirit while he was traveling. With the spirit suggestion, our ancestor built our Elrin Kingdom. Ever since then, the kingdom slowly formed.”

Jonah nodded. He knew about the Elrin kingdom. It was the nearest kingdom to Zoras city. Luckily, it had an agreement to not attack humans and the humans won’t attack them. That happened after the portal appeared next to the capital of the kingdom.

“Then, where can we find the spirit?”

“Under the castle.” Lia smiled.

“Under? Then why do you need me?” Jonah didn’t think it would be so close. He thought that Lia needed him to go somewhere and that’s why she agreed to have him help.

“That’s We can’t meet the spirit as we wish. After thousands of years, only a portion of its soul remained. That’s why there’s a certain trial.”

“Trial?”

“Yes. One person can meet this spirit for only once and receive its blessings or ask for something if he passes. This trial can only be done once a year and many people compete for this chance. Of course, royal family members can receive its blessings whenever they wanted. However, they can only do so once. This is not a rule that we made, but the spirit.”

“Then you want me to do this trial?” Jonah was stunned. He didn’t think it would be something like this.

“Yes Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous. No one has ever been physically harmed. You don’t need to be strong to succeed. There were strong and talented people who failed, but weak fragile people who succeeded.” Lia said.

“What’s this trial about?”

“That’s not a fixed thing. The spirit decides that. But mostly, people with a stronger will succeed.” Lia shook her head.

“Okay. But how does passing the trial helps your father?” Jonah couldn’t help but ask.

“The spirit has a certain material. It’s called Life Dew. It’s like water but with strong healing abilities. If you pass, you can ask for that. Many people saved their family members and friends with this.”

“Okay.” Jonah didn’t hesitate the slightest. Even though he’s giving his reward for passing the trial, he wouldn’t be able to do the trial if not for Lia in the first place. Plus, he has already decided to help them.

When Lia saw Jonah’s determination, she was relieved. She feared that Jonah would think he’s being cheated or something because that’s how normal ‘humans’ think. Lia has seen many humans before and she can describe them in one word, greedy. However, Jonah didn’t even ask for a reward. With this, her opinion of him skyrocketed.

“Oh, why wouldn’t Daniel get the help of the spirit?”

“All of the royal family members have already been blessed once, so we can’t go through the trial. He said that we can’t trust anyone else to do this. He said he’ll try to choose a candidate from one of his ‘friends’, but I doubt his words.”

“Then you trust me?”

“I do,” Lia said straightforwardly. Jonah laughed and scratched his head, embarrassed.

“I won’t disappoint you!” Jonah nodded seriously.

Jonah closely inspected the pathway Lia was leading him. They entered a secret passage from the throne room. Luckily, they haven’t been detected.

They soon reached an iron door. However, there was an old man guarding the door.

“Your Highness” The old man bowed.

“Uncle. Please let us in.”

“But” The old man hesitated as he glanced at the youth beside princess Lia.

“It’s okay. We’ve chosen him.” Lia said.

“Okay.” The old man nodded, he didn’t doubt that Lia would lie.

After going through the door, they were greeted with stairs. They kept descending for thirty minutes before reaching a room. The room only had two doors, the stairs’ and another wooden door.

When Jonah saw the door, he felt some resonance stir inside him. The door had some weird engravings and looked quite ancient. Jonah can smell a fresh aroma coming from the door. Just by looking at it, Jonah felt comfort.

“Let’s go.” Lia walked over and placed her hands on the door. Then, with a gentle push, the door opened.

Jonah walked out of the door and couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment. Beyond the door was a wide cave. However, it was so huge that someone can build a city inside.

If Jonah couldn’t see the cave’s ceiling, he’d have thought he was in a forest. Trees and plants filled the surrounding. Jonah didn’t know how they lived here, but they were doing more than just fine.

After several minutes of walking, they finally left the forest. What greeted them was a huge pyramid!

There were bricks stairs on the pyramid that led to what seemed like a Greek shrine of some sort. Even though the sun couldn’t reach this place, it was still aglow. Jonah didn’t know how, but he felt that it was daytime rather than night.

“The spirit can’t show itself. You can only sit there. She’ll then communicate with you and the trial will begin.” Lia said as she pointed toward the top of the stairs.

Jonah nodded and stepped on the stairs.

“Hehehehe” An eerie laugh filled the cave. When Lia and Jonah heard it, they felt goosebumps all over their body.

“Who’s there?!” Jonah shouted as he turned around. For some reason, he felt unease when he heard this laugh. He felt like he met his mortal enemy.

“You’re really here.” Jonah heard the voice say right beside his right ear. Jonah knew the person was right behind him but he couldn’t move. He felt that he was like a small mice waiting for the snake to devour him.

[Ding! New skill acquired. Fear Resistance: Certain immunity toward fear and its skills.]

Only when the system notification did Jonah felt that his body can move again. He turned around and waved his hand trying to hit the voice owner.

However, his hand hit empty air. There was only a cloaked figure standing on the top of the stairs. Jonah couldn’t see the person face, but his whole body trembled because of ‘its’ aura. Even though he got the Fear Resistance skill, it barely allowed him to move.

“Hehehe Hahaha! He’s really here! My master was right! Hahaha!” The figure manically laughed.

“Who are you?!” Jonah shouted and his voice was louder than intended trying to surpass his fear.

Only then did Lia snap out of her shock. Everything happened so quickly that she was dazed. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the figure, but her hands were also trembling.

“Me? Me? Me? Hehehehe” The figure began to laugh louder. Then, it reached its pale looking hand and took off his hood.

Bonus chapter because we’ve reached 300 power stones haha. Enjoy! Oh and vote!