Hero Scout

Blue blood.

Whatever had attacked, it had been hurt. Kenji followed it down the hall, a little trail of blue leading to the owner of this rampage. Kenji kept his sword directly in front, ready to block at any moment.

Up a stairwell, Kenji went. And another, to the third floor. To the young knight"s strategy room, a pair of guards slumped against the walls on either side of a closed door.

More blue blood, one of the guard"s swords had become bathed in it. At Kenji"s feet he stood upon it, and leaning down he removed a gauntlet and touched the shallow pool.

Ice cold.

"Stay back a.s.sa.s.sin, by the all-knowing one, I command you!" came Arthur"s voice, the young knight roaring. Light flashed beneath the door to the chamber. Kenji kicked at the door, it shuddered, yet held strong.

"Sir Arthur! Reinforcements are here!" Kenji lied, hoping the a.s.sa.s.sin would attempt to flee. It would be much easier to stab someone in the back, according to the guard"s stolen memories at least. Those same memories reminded Kenji that guards kept keys. Whipping out his own, Kenji unlocked the door. Shielding his eyes, Kenji was immediately blinded by a bright light.

Sir Arthur had a blazing white eye in his forehead, his sword aglow with a bright white flame. Around the room guards and servants were slumped against the ground amidst pools of blood, and yet there remained no a.s.sa.s.sin in sight.

"You- close the door! Don"t let it escape!" Arthur shouted, Kenji unable to comply as he fell to his knees, grasping his throat. He saw no blade, but felt blood gushing out his throat as if he had been pierced.

"HYA!" Arthur swung with practised speed, cleaving through the air. Thinking fast, Kenji grappled the air, arms clasping something invisible.

"The h.e.l.l is this?" hissed the voice of the unseen. Arthur"s next strike bit into something, blue blood splattering the wall. Another invisible blade slipping into Kenji"s eye. Darkness, he was dead again.

But if Kenji were dead, how could he think? Indeed, he could hear the roars of battle still, feel the vibrations of footsteps and smell the stench of blood.

Hesitantly, Kenji worked on instinct, and pulled away from the corpse of the guard, reforming as an old man once more and entirely unharmed. Arthur lay slumped over a little shrine, eyes forever open, hands clutching a silver candle. Turning, Kenji found the doorway open, blue blood spilling in spurts down the hall.

"[F Ranked hero] to [E Ranked hero], 10XP has been awarded" stated a computerised voice in Kenji"s head.

Kenji froze, peering left to right.

"Well done" Noir said with Arthur"s blue lips. "Seeing his guards die so valiantly awakened this boy"s innate potential. After many years of training, the boy finally increased his cla.s.s from Holy Knight to Crusader. I advise that you take his body as your own. Since his soul survived intact, we could recover Arthur"s spirit and put it to good use within worlds that need the conviction of such Heroes. You have earned your reward."

"Bring him back then, Noir," Kenji said, grasping the boys fiery-haired head, staring into those beautiful eyes like pools of gold, framed with dark cracks. "I wanted to save him, the point of me being a Hero Scout at all was to save him."

"Kenji, the point of you is the same as the others. To push budding heroes to the limit. So if you could just-"
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"I deny your system," Kenji spat, brushing fiery hair from Arthur"s eyes, "I deny you!"

"Alas, you cannot," Noir"s voice came very small, and two brilliant banners were presented in Kenji"s mind. On the left was a brilliant green banner, promising twice as much s.p.a.ce in his internal storage. Enough for two corpses at least.

On the right was a swirling purple banner. The banner promising a new school of starting spells. he could choose three from any path or element, and receive an expansion to his well of mana that would allow him to fight even in his foundation form. Kenji snarled, then whimpered and at last, he cried fat tears.

Could he continue to steal the lives of others?

Should he instead forge a path as a wizard, sorcerer, mage or warlock?

"Those powers can be bought with enough gold, Kenji. Your race specific techniques cannot."

"And what am I then? What species is this that lives through stealing what rightfully belongs to others?"

"Twisted mages of s.p.a.ce and time, Kenji. I just call them the Forgotten Ones, on account of their prison being in a place that even my siblings and I found only by accident. Out there in s.p.a.ce, a cube strangled with chains, and hidden from all of Everything."

Kenji breathed slow breaths, no guard shouts filling the air. There were none who still lived to find the corpses and Kenji"s heart became filled with righteous anger at the thought. He had known this boy only a short time. Yet he was kind, he looked after the weak and the lame. He should have lived.

And while Kenji realised the guard"s own fury at the death of his Lord affected him deeply, Kenji lifted furious green eyes all the same. And tapped the left option, his body twisting, his internal s.p.a.ce expanding.

"This will be the easiest level-up you will ever receive. From this moment on Kenji, I"m expecting more from you. Your rewards will always be proportionate to your risks, if the boy had not awakened such power in his dying moments, you would have received nothing. Understood?"

Kenji nodded.

"Was the person who attacked one of the 18?" Kenji whispered, "was he one of your "Villains"?"

"He was, but he has found a loophole. Killing heroes give him XP, but he was supposed to be incentivised to torture them, to delay them, and to encourage them to grow through confrontation. He maxed that out by killing the guards, waited until the boy was on the cusp of becoming powerful and then killed him to maximise the XP gain. It takes a calculating mind to do that, and an evil one to stretch out the rewards to their extreme. He has perverted the system, so to speak."

"So you"re telling me that it took only a single day for one of these criminals to get around your all-knowing designs?"

"Perhaps, or perhaps this is what brother wanted. I have no say, the only decision I made was to create you. So Kenji, what will you do? Knowing as you do that there is one willing to kill for power, and given the ability to quickly grow strong if left unchecked? His desire for XP will scale as he grows. Until whole cities and entire kingdoms are drowned in blood. What will you do?"

Kenji"s eyes drifted down to the dead boy. Noir stared right back.

"I"m going to kill him."

"Since he has already broken the rules, no need for you to hold back. Leave through that window, turn left and wait atop the quart yard entrance. You will have one chance only. I"m...sorry, that I cannot help you more than this. Good luck, Kenji," Noir rolling her eyes away.

Kenji began reclaiming Arthur"s body immediately, he"d need that holy sight to see the enemy. And his skill with the blade to destroy the a.s.sa.s.sin utterly. Then there would be the satisfaction, of hearing that p.r.i.c.k"s surprise when he saw the boy he had just murdered standing before him.

Contorting into Arthur"s boyish frame, Kenji smiled brightly and swept aside flame-coloured hair.