Questions

"We need to get a lot stronger." Zeke said plainly. "If we have any hope of defeating the demon king we need to power up as much as we can."

"Well, you are a hero now." Scarlet replied. "Surely that matters."

"I am a hero; however, I am only level sixteen." Zeke explained. "I am going to need to get much, much, stronger to stand a chance against that monster."

"Sixteen and you killed all those skeletons?" Scarlet was amazed. "With their skills they give even level thirty adventurers pause."

"Oh, right you are a mage, right?" Zeke asked.

"Yes, you know that I am." Scarlet replied. "I am a level forty-three fire mage."

"Can you explain magic to me?" Zeke asked. "I have never had it before, and it would be good to have a teacher."

"You seemed to be using it just fine." Scarlet said. "The spell you used was called Arc Lightning. It is a level four magic spell that only highly skilled lightning mages can use. Are you telling me you cast it without even knowing any of that?"

"Exactly." Zeke said. "Sparks started flying when I became filled with anger and hate, so I focused it into a beam that killed the skeletons. I used it solely on emotion and had no idea what I was doing."

"That is very intriguing." Scarlet replied. "The hero class must be different from the mage class. For a mage to have serenity of mind is most important in casting a spell. If you let a stray thought break your concentration it could have devastating effects. Either a failed cast or a backlash injuring the caster. To think a class that uses raw emotion for magic."

"So, you don't think you can teach me magic?" Zeke said.

"I don't." Scarlet said. "The way you cast magic is too different from mine. We will need to head to the main adventurer's guild in the capital to research the first hero."

"The first hero?" Zeke asked. "Is the hero class rare?"

"There has only been one other in recorded history." Scarlet said. "They defeated the first demon king, though how they did was lost to time. A few of their journals survived and are stored at the main guild office."

"How do you know all this?" Zeke asked.

"Oh, that's actually a funny story." Scarlet said. "One day I was bored in the library and discovered a book entitled: Five Things you didn't know about the Guild! I read it and that's where I learned that interesting bit of trivia."

"What are the other four things?" Zeke asked.

"A girl doesn't reveal her secrets!" Scarlet teased. "I honestly don't remember, the only reason I remembered that one was because you saying you were a hero jogged my memory."

"What is this place, by the way?" Zeke continued his questions.

"No idea." Scarlet said. "A new path opened a week ago and it led here. Devin and I were going to investigate it but sadly he is gone forever now." She did her best to fight back the tears. "I suppose we can use this time to explore it and level up. We both need to be at least level fifty before we leave across the sea and head to the capital. Who knows what we will find here?"

"So, what have you learned so far?" Zeke asked.

"First this building is odd." Scarlet. "The ambient temperature inside the building is different from the outside, there is no reason for this. I could understand if the building were a bit warmer, but it is in fact colder. I do not know why this is. It could be a different material that the rest of the chamber or some other enhancement magic set up to just this room."

"Oh, that reminds me, did you do that to the ceiling?" Zeke asked.

"No, it was like that when the chamber opened." Scarlet replied. "Whatever made this place set up the lights and they set up this room to be colder. Other than that this room is just empty, there is nothing to it. Just a blank room."

"That is so odd." Zeke said as he decided to walk in the room to experience the temperature anomaly himself. As he entered the room the floor began to light up displaying an elaborate ornate pattern. The light traveled from the four corners of the room and slowly converged into the center where the pattern was that of a circle.

"I take it this didn't happen earlier?" Zeke asked nervously.

"No, this has never happened." Scarlet replied. "Maybe it is reacting to the fact that you are the hero?"

"You mean this place has something to do with the hero class?" Zeke asked.

"I have no idea; it is just a working theory at the moment." Scarlet said as she watched the lights converge.

The center circle slowly filled with light from the outside until the entirety of the circle was a pure white light. As it filled the light began to rise from the floor creating a pillar of pure light in the center of the room. Pieces of stone began to fly from the corners of the room and from the outside. Zeke and Scarlet could hear splashes from the water as pieces surfaced. All the pieces went into the pillar of light, but the light was so bright they could not tell what was happening. Piece after Piece went in until finally nothing else seemed to fly towards it. As this happened the entire room began to shake, and the light started to fade. As it faded it revealed the body of a young woman standing in the middle of the room. Her body was nude, but looked different, she had etchings all over herself that matched the ones of the floor, and her flesh was a slightly off color, closer to sandstone than skin. She had short green hair and green eyes as well. She looked directly at Zeke and spoke in a robotic feminine voice. "Welcome hero."