"Hero?", Archehon responded confused.
"Yes. A hero.", she stared at him intensely.
'Hmm.. I wasn't expecting that. Should I become a hero? My reputation is to the point where nobody knows who I am.', Archehon deeply thought to himself.
"Yes, I am."
Ariel bit her lips and lowered her eyebrows to make a really worried expression. She grabbed the sides of the fabric on her thighs. And stuttered,
"A-Archehon, are you becoming a hero for..", Ariel paused before finishing the sentence.
"For what?"
"Revenge?"
Archehon's expression was the complete opposite of Ariel's. It was as if he expected her to ask him. The previous owner of the body before dying had indeed lost his parents to the Seconds who were someone who even Lucifer struggled to deal with. Although, that had nothing to do with the current Archehon.
'Should I carry this kids revenge. I have made a goal to surpass my previous self.'
Archehon waited fifteen seconds before answering, Later on spoke,
"No. I want to become a hero to be able to protect people."
Ariel sighed in relief and cheerfully smiled, remaining gleeful. She crossed her legs and bent her knees, as well as facing towards Archehon with her arms crossing behind her back.
"That's nice.."
Archehon may have mentioned that, but that was far from what he was thinking. In truth, he wanted to carry out the revenge of the original body's owner. Don't misconceive. This wasn't Archehon's revenge, but was for the present-day owner, 'Lucifer'.
If truth be told, he did have some grudges against the Seconds but wasn't strong enough in fulfilling them. Receiving the help of the system was a completely different story. He could already tell he had gained a decent amount of strength at a fast pace, exceeding his past self in terms of speed.
"I'll get going. I won't disturb your training"
Ariel glistered as she exited the room, gently crossing her wrists while facing her arms downwards.
"Click!", the door closed.
'
A sudden agonizing pain pierced Archehon's body as he dropped to the ground and curled up his body. The unbearable aching all over the body spread.
"F-fuck!", he yelled from the torture that chose his body.
The pain continued. It went all over different parts of his body. Whilst the pain attempted to make him submit, Archehon endured the immeasurable amounts of torture. His eyes waved around, submitting to pain slowly.
"aauuahh..", he slowly closed his eyes.
He should've given up, slowly drifting into nothingness. The sleepiness crawled into his eyes, seconds away from roaming into the lovely rest. Very tempting rest. He should slowly doze off-
"No! I'm not gi-ving uup now!"
He clenched his teeth as his body tolerated the immense aches.
A few minutes passed and the torture turned into aches, steadily subsiding. The pain was bearable and Archehon sweated buckets, while getting off the floor, standing up.
'
"Haaaaaa.. couldn't you choose something more encouraging? After all this darn pain!"
'
Archehon tensed his head out of anger because of how irritating the system was to him.
"Anyways, system, show me my Status window."
'System
Host: 'Archehon' (Lucifer in previous life)
Level: 3 Title (equipped):
Stats:
Strength: 15 Speed: 18
Dexterity: 14 Intelligence: 13
Stamina: 13 Luck: 22
Mana: 2 Fatigue: 34
Skills:
?? lvl. ??>
Talent: Dell's Talent (-9x penalty)
Tasks:
Daily Tasks:
-Do daily set of exercises (50/50)
-Run 1km (1/1) '
'
"Well, I do have the proper body to train now."
Archehon stretched his arms left and right.
"Also, what level do I have to be to unlock one of the methods to increase my Stats?
'
"For that, I need to go outside."
"Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I've gone outside.", Archehon pondered.
He slipped on a black t-shirt while wearing his joggers and headed towards the entrance of the room's door.
A new area was discovered as he was trapped in his room ever since he possessed the body and system. A small kitchen with only a mini-path, a cabinet on one side, and a stove on the other. As well as a small dining table next to the kitchen with torn apart cushions to sit on. With the hall extending to the front door from the living room that contained the dining table.
"Archehon! Do you want to eat breakfast together?"
"Nah-"
'
"As you wish, her highness"
Archehon didn't hesitate while keeping a bright, innocent face on. He already knew what would happen if he had denied the task.
(AN: Referring to chapter 2)
"Sizzle..", the pan fried the toast because
of how the family couldn't afford a toaster.
Ariel passed from the kitchen to the small table carrying the odd toast and water. Truly a weird combination but it's not like they had any other choice.
She placed the food down and apologized to Archehon,
"I'm sorry I can't give you more than this."
She looked down regretfully and felt disappointed in herself.
While she relayed the information to Archehon, his heart started freezing. The chilliness resulted in his eyes starting to twitch. The feeling felt unpleasant. And words escaped his mouth, ignoring his brain's orders,
"Don't apologize. I'm the one who's sorry.."
Ariel widened her eyebrows and tried to smile but returned to being gloomy. She was the one who looked after Archehon for four whole years after all. The girl was a hard worker with a brilliant ethic, but even this has strain on someone who's still stuck in their youth. She matured far beyond the normal rate. While girls her age were out being social, she was out working part time jobs which were meant to be illegal. No choices were available to her.
"But, it's not like you could get up and do anything.", she tried to defend him.
"I think I should help you, no, I think we both need to help each other."
What Archehon responded with had more meaning than just that. Ariel was too busy trying to take care of Archehon but failed to worry about herself. Her overly selfless ways, followed in her life being stressful.
"Will you allow me to also share an equal responsibility?", Archehon asked in a serious tone.
Ariel hesitated at first but became decisive after witnessing his appearance,
"Yes."
'I should definitely respect what Archehon wants.', she finally concluded.
Both were eating the peculiar toast and drank the regular water.
'System, what is the reward after eating with Ariel, oh!- and do I get something for helping the relationship between Ariel and this body?'
'
'Really?', Archehon imagined an amazing artifact.
'
'Yes, yes!', he excitedly waited.
'
"Spiiiittt!", he spit out his water after hearing the absurd response.
"Archehon, are you okay?", Ariel worryingly asked him.
"Y-yes"
She held up tissues for him to grab.
"Here are some tissues."
"Th-thanks..", he cried in the inside.
'W-what about the other mini-reward?'
''
'No I'm fine- Actually, that might be useful.'
'I'll take it.'
'
"Draag", the chair was pulled back by his hands.
"I'll get going."
"Okay.", Ariel brightly radiated at him.
* * *
The sun waved its rays of light towards the earth as trees vibe, the wind breezes and the scent of fresh air tickles Archehon's nose.
The taste of the free air, contrasting the suffocating room, was as refreshing and peaceful as a green field in the countryside.
Archehon walked as he enjoyed the outside and had flashbacks of his past which he missed being able to freely slaughter as a villian. Times have changed now. He was a citizen who was like an ant in terms of strength when compared to the hero organisation.
"Where should I look for starter weapons? Should I switch from daggers to another weapon? If so, what should I pick?", Archehon contemplated for a while.
"Oh! It seems I walked into the wrong area."
He realised after arriving In a slums area with overcrowded one room houses next to each other, with shops.
"Hey! I told you all that I'm not going to make you guys anything!"
A voice came into the range of Archehon's ears right before leaving. He walked towards the noise as it got louder and louder.
A shop appeared in front of his eyes. When he approached the tiny cramped place he saw a gang of people and an old man, who looked like he was in his fifties. A bald man out of the gang containing five people, shouted at the man,
"It's been a month past the deadline for paying us back old man!", the bald guy screeched at man.
"You brats! I haven't borrowed anything. Go get lost!", the old man shouted back.
The short old man who had grey hair and a beard, an angry expression looked up with confidence screaming back at them.
"Never mind. I shouldn't get involved in this-"
Archehon's face grew from being totally uninterested to the complete opposite, after he saw something when observing the old man.
"Wait, don't tell me.", he said shockingly.
A black bull symbol was shown on his biceps after the wind blew the shirt of the old man.
"That's..!"
"The Raging Blacksmiths?!?"