Ray opens his eyes with a confused look.
'What the hell, where am I'
All he sees wherever he looks is darkness, endless vast darkness.
'I could've sworn I was in the middle of the forest'
Ray walks around for days without ever feeling hungry or tired.
He keeps this up for what felt like a week but how would he know how much time has passed he can't see anything until in the distance he sees one small light.
Without a moment of hesitation, he runs as fast as he can towards the light, finally noticing he has both of his arms.
'Oh shit, how long has that been there'
Ray shrugs his shoulders.
'I guess it doesn't matter now'
Ray continues towards the light, the closer he gets to it the larger it seems, it originally seemed quite small yet now that he is standing right in front of it instead of darkness, light illuminates everything around him and in the center of this light sticking out of the ground as though someone stabbed it into the ground is Ray's sword, or I suppose technically his great-grandfather's sword.
'This just keeps getting weirder'
But before he could react at all, a man appears and grabs the sword.
'What the hell'
Ray coils back.
"Who are you."
The man looks at him as if just as surprised to see Ray as Ray was to see him.
"You're finally here."
This statement scared Ray, but he now finally had a chance to observe the man, the man is not tall not short, so I suppose average height. Draped in nothing put a cloth to cover his, you know, as well as a helmet with wings on either side and two golden shoes both with wings on either side.
"My name is Hermes, I gave you your powers."
Ray stares at the man as if not understanding what he means. But what concerns him the most is the man's claim to have given Ray his powers.
"What do you mean, you gave me my powers."
The man gives Ray a confused look.
"Well all powers are gifted by gods, I just happened to be the one that gifted you yours, in fact, you sure took your time accepting them."
Ray becomes pale.
"You mean to tell me it's my fault my powers took so long to awaken?"
The man laughs.
"Well to be exact all powers have requirements to be awakened, would you like to know what yours was."
Ray nods his head.
"Your requirement to awaken your powers was to die."
Ray once again becomes quite pale.
"So my requirement to receive a practically immortal body was to die."
Hermes grins.
"You're starting to get it."
Ray nods once more.
"What about my other ability, what was the requirement for my speed enhancement?"
Hermes looks at him.
"Now, that one is my fault."
Ray laughs.
"So I suppose it wasn't my fault at all."
Hermes laughs with him.
"That one is a special ability that technically didn't have a requirement, and yet it didn't work. To be honest, I myself can't explain why you didn't receive that one for so long; my guess is that it just awakened with your other ability."
Ray nods.
"I suppose that makes sense, but to be honest with you, I don't remember dying."
Hermes looks at him with a powerful gaze.
"If you hadn't died, you wouldn't be here right now."
That statement caught Ray's attention.
"Where is here?"
The man sits down next to the sword.
"This is my domain in the spirit realm, Somewhere halfway between the realm you humans reside in and the one we gods inhabit."
Ray, still confused, looks back at the man.
"What does me dying have to do with being here?"
Hermes gaze drifts around the vast open space and then back to Ray.
"Because normal humans can not interact with things outside the human realm."
Ray looks down at himself.
'That would make me quite special, wouldn't it'
As if reading his mind, Hermes says.
"You are a special person; your powers if cultivated currently could make you a force to be reckoned with."
Ray looks at Hermes once more with a confused expression.
"What's so special about a simple movement speed enhancement and regenerative abilities?"
Hermes chuckles.
"You don't get it, your power doesn't just enhance your physical movement speed, the "faster" you get the faster you will move, that much is true but that power also increases the speed in which you can react to things or in simple terms your reaction time, not to mention it also increases how fast your other ability works as well."
Ray stops and stands still for a moment, deep in thought.
'This means that the buff I get from defeating foes is much more significant than I originally thought.'
His gaze meets Hermes once more.
"So does that mean there will come a point that I'm so "fast" that I am actually immortal?"
Hermes sighs.
"That depends on what you consider immortal, you will never not age that much is certain, but there will come a time when no one is able to strike you and even the ones that can won't be able to do any damage that you can't instantly recover from."
Without this insight about his abilities, he likely would have continued moving at the same pace he always has, but now he knows what he needs to do.
"So I don't suppose most humans know that their abilities were granted to them on purpose by a deity?"
Hermes nods.
"You are likely not the only one that knows this, but I can't say that it is common knowledge either, I also can't say that you are the only human to have interacted with a god before, actually I can assure you that you're not."
'I guess that makes sense, there had to have been somewhat for the upper echelons of society to ensure that they stay in power.'
Ray looks back at Hermes.
"I have one more question: can I leave this place myself, and why am I here in the first place."
Hermes smiles.
"I thought i world bring you here to keep you out of trouble, no matter how strong your regenerative capabilities are that gryffin world have killed you, and as for whether you can leave the answer world be yes, you can leave simply by pulling that sword out of the ground, although I also should mention that as long as that sword is on you, you can be summoned here, you can even do it yourself, but always remember that while you are here your physical body remains in the human realm wherever you were."
Ray nods.
"Sounds easy enough, I suppose I should probably be leaving now."
Hermes nods as if in agreeance.
"Goodbye for now, although I should warn you that the hunting phase of your exam is surely over by now."
Ray nods at Hermes for the last time, before walking up to the sword and pulling it out of the ground.
His vision once again turned black.
He opens his eyes to what seems like an infirmary.
Confused by the different scenery, he jumps up.
"Woah there, easy."
Ray looks towards the sounds still trying to wake up where he sees a man he recognizes.
"Professor Gravesborne."
He looks at Ray with a concerned look.
"You were asleep for 4 days."
Ray becomes pale, his expression worsening by the moment.
"I missed the rest of the exam?"
He nods his head.
"Yes, you missed the rest of the hunting phase as well as the tournament phase."
Ray shakes his head.
"I suppose I can always try again next year."
The man smiles at Ray.
"I appreciate your optimism, but that won't be necessary. Your scores in the written exam as well as during the hunting exam were enough for you to pass the exam, it was a unanimous vote by the examiners, not to mention you survived long enough in a fight against a 2-star monstrosity long enough for us to arrive and deal with the gryffin without any casualties, you have my thanks."
Ray nods.
"So what do I do now."
The man stands up.
"Well, if you're feeling up to it, I can take you to scheduling to sign up for the rest of your classes. As a hero course student, there are a few mandatory classes, but other than that what you take is up to you."
Ray smiles.
"Give me a few minutes to gather my thoughts, but then I will be ready to go."
The man nods.