Isla's words surprised Arato; not because of saving the world but who he was saving the world from. 'A Demon Lord?', he thinks to himself in surprise. He wondered how he would get to such a level and how much he would go through to get there.
The man glances at Arato and walks up to him, 'Get up.' the man says as Arato slowly stands up with difficulty. 'You're not going to beat anyone as you're as weak as that. Your training will start tomorrow. Am I clear?'
'Yes sir!'; Arato shouts instinctively.
The man chuckles lightly at Arato's response and starts walking away. 'Keep up that energy and you'll be strong in no time at all.'; and with that, he leaves the chamber.
Isla looks at Arato with a smile on her face and whispers to the ear of a knight standing behind her. It seemed as if the knight was reluctant to listen to her request because of the back-and-forth discussion. Isla eventually seemed to win the argument as the knight sighed loudly and walked slowly towards Arato.
The knight stops right before the circle and removes his helmet revealing a handsome face with red hair and sky-blue eyes. The man looks at Arato with a hint of annoyance on his face as he finally speaks; 'Follow me.'; the man turns and starts walking towards the exit as Arato struggles to keep up.
They leave the chamber and start walking up a flight of stairs into a long hallway with different portraits and ornate vases. They leave the hallway into a corridor and continue walking for some time till the man stops abruptly in front of a door.
'This is your room. An assistant will be assigned to you. He will take care of your daily needs so that your only focus will be on training.'
'Yes, sir.'; Arato replies immediately.
The man leaves as Arato opens the door with great difficulty, revealing a large, well-furnished room with a four-poster bed at the end. There were three other doors; one leading to a bathroom, one leading to the balcony and one leading to another room. The person staying in the other room seemed to have moved in already. Arato wondered who he could be.
'Welcome, master'; a soft voice from behind him said.
Arato immediately turned around to see a beautiful girl with white hair, red eyes and busty features wearing a maid uniform and a cap on her head.
'You're my assistant?'; Arato asks in surprise.
'Yes, I am.'; she replies with a smile.
Arato was a little spooked by her sudden appearance so he asked; 'How did you get in?'
The girl chuckles lightly at Arato's sudden question. 'I walked into the room through the open door.'
Arato knew that was a lie because he closed the door as he entered the room. The strange thing about the girl was that even as she was standing in front of him, it felt as if no one was there.
Arato decides to introduce himself as he stretches his hand out for a handshake;' My name's Arato Kirigaya, what's yours?'
The girl looks at him in surprise as she takes his hand; 'Fei.'
Arato smiled a little as he lets go of her hand.
'That's a nice name.'
'Thanks.'
'So, what now?'; he asks.
'Well, a lot of things. You're meant to start your training tomorrow; you're also going to get some clothes of your choice, get a tour around the castle, ....'
Fei continues to make a list of things he needed to do as he listened patiently. After she finished what she was saying, she remembered he hadn't eaten so she left to get his meal.
Arato goes to the bed and lies down as the heaviness he had been feeling was relieved to a degree. He then started to think about what had happened so far and the hardship he would probably have to go through in future.
An idea popped into Arato's head to think of a status window; just like in some of the novels he read often. All of a sudden, a red screen appeared in front of him to his surprise.
[Name-Arato Kirigaya. Age-17
Race-Human(Male)
Class-Divine Paladin
Title-Hero
Job-Hero
Level-1
Outer Force-■■; Blessing of the Goddess-S; Luck-A; Prodigy-C; Divinity-F; Strength-F; Durability-F; Stamina-F; Speed-F; Dexterity-F.]
Arato stared at his stats in surprise. The weak stats were no surprise to him, but the strong stats were. The [Blessing of the Goddess] was probably the result of Iris' promise of assistance but he wondered what it was about. Suddenly, another orange screen appeared in front of him.
[Blessing of the Goddess
The Goddess gives you a blessing that only those of the [Hero] class are privileged to have. This skill greatly enhances the luck of the person when their life is threatened. Enhances the growth of the person exponentially. It also enables the person to converse with any highly intelligent race. The degree of enhancement depends on the rank of the skill.]
Arato then looked at other skills.
[Prodigy
A skill that enables someone to learn and master anything at a fast rate. The speed of mastery depends on the rank of the skill.]
[Divinity
A major characteristic of the angels. It's a surprise a human can possess such pure divinity.]
Arato then looked at the ominous skill,[Outer Force], but nothing happened.
'I guessed as much.'; Arato says as he sighs in disappointment.
Fei arrived soon after with his meal and set it on the table for him to eat. After eating, she took him on a tour around the castle.
Arato struggled to keep up with Fei's pace.
'Hey, could you slow down.... please?'
Fei looked behind to see Arato wheezing and sweating while resting against a pillar.
'Oh, sorry about that.'; she replied with an awkward smile as she went to assist him.
'I look very pathetic right now, don't I?'; Arato says
while chuckling.
'It's not your fault.'; she says while helping him up.
Arato notices people staring at them while hurriedly walking past. 'I guess others feel the same way.'; he continues.
'Yeah, it's not you they're staring at.'; Fei admits.
'You?'; Arato asks.
'Yes.'; she replies.
Arato didn't say anything about that matter anymore. It wasn't in his place to ask after all.
'Let's continue, I'm alright now.'; Arato says while Fei supports him.
They continue the tour while taking some breaks in between. Once they finished, they headed back to the room.
Arato flops on his bed as Fei goes to the other room. He then stares at the beautifully engraved ceiling and opens his status window.
'I'm really weak.'; he thinks to himself. He then raises his hand in front of him as he clenches his fist. 'I must get stronger to save this world, no matter what it takes. No matter how hard it gets, I'll never give up.'; he says out loud to no one in particular.
The knight that led Arato sat on top of the balcony listening to Arato's words. Fei appears behind him and whispers in his ear; 'What are you doing here Eric?'
Eric glances at her as he answers; 'Isla's orders.'
Fei sits beside him and looks at him.
'So what do you think?'
Eric sighs and looks at the moon. 'I didn't like him at first but, his heart and will seem to be in the right place. So I'll support him as much as I can.'
He then looks at Fei and sees her smiling in an annoying way. 'What?'; he asks in an annoyed tone.
'Nothing.'; she says while still smiling at him.
'Well, I'm going to report back to Isla.'; he says while standing up. 'See you later Fei.'; he then jumps down the balcony.
Fei looks at the beautiful moonlit sky and sighs as she starts humming happily.
The next day, Arato is standing on the training grounds while facing the large man.
'I guess I haven't introduced myself. I am Reinheart Fierra, head of the royal knights. You can address me as you wish.'
'Yes sir.'; Arato replies.
Reinheart grunts lightly at Arato's answer. 'We don't have much time so your training starts now.'