Pandora Unchained - B1Chapter 75: Hero

When Sorin awoke, he found himself inside the Adventurers Guild on a bed reserved for recovering patients. The room was a semi-private one, with two other occupied beds.

"Urgh…" Sorin felt his pounding head as he lifted himself up into a sitting position. A quick inspection using his spirituality and mana confirmed his condition was perfect. The headache was due to the excess mana and vitality he'd imbibed by the river and was quickly subsiding.

Organs are fully functional, thought Sorin as he checked items off a list. Heartbeat is elevated compared to normal, but blood flow remains unchained. Blood is much thicker than previously, with mana density as much as 30% higher than before.

He then moved on to the circulation of mana in his body, which had seen a significant improvement. All twelve primary meridians remain open. All seven extraordinary meridians are still open. Mana flow has increased substantially. Meridian elasticity and width have greatly improved. Speculation: Mana transference and expulsion greatly improved—assumption to be verified.

The increase in his mana density was partly due to his breakthrough to the 9th stage of blood thickening. Another part was due to the overall enhancement he'd received by unlocking his Conception Vessel. The same change that had widened and enhanced his meridians had also dyed his mana with a silvery sheen, the same sheen that had been present on the seals locking away his Conception Vessel.

Mana fluctuations have returned to normal levels, continued Sorin. Spirituality is back to reasonable levels. Conclusion: Mana and spirituality were greatly enhanced during the breakthrough, allowing for the completion of a short-term, urgent task. This outburst is akin to displays of hysterical strength. Further verification is required.

"Hey!" A voice cut off Sorin's train of thought. Sorin opened his eyes to see a half-blind man with short red hair. "Are you going to sit around all day like a goldfish? Sorry, but we already have one of those."

Sorin's eyes flickered to the third bed in the room, where an acquaintance was lying down, "Don't bother Haster," he said to the half-blind patient. "He's suffering from severe trauma, and harassment could easily trigger him."

"I heard about what happened to him," said the half-blind adventurer. "Actually, I saw it. I was one of the people who ran. Only a handful of us survived out of a group of twenty. My name's Robert, by the way. Robert Aston."

"Sorin," replied Sorin. "Sorin Kepler. We're not on forced bed rest, are we?"

"No," said the man. "We're free to go whenever we like. But you won't get free food if you leave now. Lunch should be up in about an hour."

"I'll pass," said Sorin, sitting up from his bed. Headache aside, he felt fantastic.

Sorin's belongings had been laid out in a neat pile beside his bed. Since these were uncertain times, Sorin opted for the new clothes that Percival had evidently delivered. He finished off his ensemble by donning his leather armor, his dagger, and the waterproof poison pouches that had evidently been retrieved from the Alchemists Guild.

Speaking of Percival, the man had left a note on the clothes. I would have stayed, but the guild forbade it. I shall visit around noon every day to check on your welfare.

"How many days have I been here?" asked Sorin.

"Less than a day," said Robert. "You were a mess, and no one seemed to want to clean you up. I think a man called Mr. Primrose came by to decontaminate your body before they gave the all-clear to transfer you to a bed."

"Many thanks," said Sorin. "I wish you a speedy recovery." On his way out, he placed a hand on Haster's foot, sending a stream of spirituality to double-check that the man's body was fine. "It wasn't your fault, Haster. You did what you could." He wasn't sure if the man heard him, but he walked out the door and headed over to the guild lobby.

"There he is!" shouted Lawrence, holding up a mug of ale as Sorin walked through the door. "Cheers to our newest hero!" All the adventurers in the room echoed his shout.

"How long have you guys been here?" asked Sorin, walking up to their table.

"Since a few hours ago," said Stephan. "I figured you wouldn't be out for long, given your breakthrough. Heroes heal fast, you know."

"Physician Marcus said that the trauma to your body was extreme," Daphne cut in. "But he also said that the life force inside you was so potent that you would likely regenerate from all the damage in less than an hour."

"That much I remember," said Sorin. "Glad you could all make it. Wait, where's Gareth?"

"He's outside the walls tracking the last of the poisonous creatures in the vicinity with all the best archers and a dozen bone-forging cultivators," said Stephan. "Ah, there he is!" He raised his hand to call out his friend but paused mid-motion when he saw the person walking next to Gareth.

"What's eating you," asked Haley, pulling up a chair. "Gareth isn't so reserved when interacting with me. How could you, my younger brother, be so insensitive."

"Yeah, Stephan," said Gareth, pulling up his chair. "Don't be mean to your older sister. And I can't believe how mean you were to her growing up. The stories she tells – if it were in my family, you would have been beaten black and blue."

Stephan's eye twitched. "I was beaten black and blue. By that which, you seem to have a good impression of!"

"Well, you definitely deserved it," said Gareth, calling over a waitress and ordering a mug of ale. "What does our hero want? It's on me."

"Actually, it's on the house," said the waitress, pulling up. "Heroes drink for free here."

"In that case, I'll have a whiskey," said Sorin. "Make it a triple. Adventurers don't get a bad rep for drinking before noon here, do they?"

"Only if they're drunk, dear," said the waitress. "I'll bring that drink right up. And what about you? The usual?"

"I'll take a midnight flower this time, thank you very much," said Haley. She waited until the waitress was back with their drinks before raising her hand. A curtain of light sprang up around their table, isolating them from the rest of the pub.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, dear sister?" asked Stephan once everyone had taken a sip.

"I thought that was obvious," said Haley, tossing a silver medallion over to Sorin. "Here you go. Your very own Hero medal."

"Shouldn't this be done in a confidential setting?" asked Stephan, eyeing his strictly non-hero companions.

Haley shook her head. "There's two of you on the team now. That changes things. As for everyone else in the pub, they won't be able to hear crap unless they're a bone-forging hero or stronger."

"What exactly is a hero?" asked Sorin. "Does it have to do with the Conception Vessel we've slowly been unlocking?"

"Sharp," said Haley. "Only physicians notice the specifics. But yes, it's the Conception Vessel."

Daphne raised her hand. "Conception Vessel?"

"You explain it," said Haley to Sorin.

"Everyone has twelve primary meridians and eight extraordinary meridians," Sorin explained. "The twelve primary meridians are common knowledge. The eight extraordinary meridians are hidden knowledge. In essence, they're the reason for various disparities in talent.

"Two of these extraordinary meridians are even more special – the Conception Vessel and the Governing Vessel. They aren't like the other extraordinary meridians, which only link together other meridians and change their circulation patterns – they actually have their own acupoints. Also, they aren't just blocked by crystalized mana and debris. They're physically blocked by seals. In the Conception Vessel's case, those seals are silver, and these seals can wear away as cultivators exert themselves."

"What about the Governing Vessel?" asked Daphne, showing her usual thirst for knowledge.

"There's no point in talking about it because it's completely sealed off," said Sorin. To my knowledge, it's forbidden by the ancient gods and locked up by divine energy. Unless the York Clan knows something that I don't?"

"That's correct," said Haley. "To our knowledge, humans can only unlock the hero meridian. It's normally done by exceeding one's limits. Since it's easiest to exceed one's limits in the heat of battle against extremely powerful enemies or by risking one's life, it's also called the 'Hero Meridian.' Someone who unlocks this meridian will transform and will gain something called a Heroic ability."

"Mine is called Toxic Metabolism," Sorin muttered. "It's honestly the only reason I'm still here."

"One second," cut in Lawrence. "Why exactly is this this knowledge secret?"

"Isn't that obvious?" said Gareth. "Stephan got his hero medal after the minotaur almost ripped him in half. Sorin got his by nearly poisoning himself to death. I'm pretty sure the only reason we're learning about all this is because it won't take us long to put two and two together since there are two heroes on our team."

"That… makes a lot of sense," said Lawrence. "Please continue, Assessor York."

"I mean, that's all there is to it, really," said Haley. "The other extraordinary meridian knowledge Sorin spoke of is forbidden knowledge for power reasons. As for the hero medal, I trust Stephan will go over its alert functions and the perks. In bigger cities, you can find Hero Halls where you can take on certain difficult missions."

"Are you a hero?" asked Lawrence.

"How else would I have the clearance to talk about this?" chuckled Haley. "By the way, you're all officially sworn to secrecy. Sign this contract or die." She said these words with a complete lack of humor as she handed out four silver scrolls to each member of their team.

After viewing the associated rules, Sorin signed the contract and instantly felt a silver shackle settle around his soul. It's not that Stephan didn't want to talk about it, but that he couldn't talk about it, Sorin realized. He'd only used the most indirect ways to make his point.

"I get telling us and all, but aren't you worried about us getting ourselves killed?" asked Lawrence.

"Idiot," said Gareth. "She's obviously telling us so that we know exactly what we're getting into."

"That's right," said Haley. "Heroes tend to take on tougher missions. Their cultivation tends to rise a lot faster than that of others. If you don't all take risks and become heroes, Sorin and Stephan are going to leave you behind."

"Makes sense now," said Lawrence. "Given that I was destined to be awesome, it'd be silly if my companions weren't as well."

"If by awesome, you mean an awesome peep, then maybe?" said Daphne. "By the way, the vice guild master came to see me yesterday. He did not enjoy your voyeurism during an emergency."

"I was scouting," said Lawrence. "Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?"

"So you told us how a hero is made," said Sorin. "But what does it mean to be a hero? I find I'm much stronger than before."

"Three things," said Haley, holding up her fingers. "The first is an enhancement. Heroes are superior compared to other cultivators depending on the enhancement. For example, Stephan here. He got a strength enhancement. He's easily three times stronger than another non-hero cultivator at the same level."

"In my case, it was my mana circulation and output that were enhanced," said Sorin.

"Really?" asked Daphne. "How was it enhanced?"

"I don't know for sure," said Sorin. "But three times seems about the right number."

Palpable jealousy could be seen on her face. "Looks like we're going to have to modify those spells you learned. Otherwise, you'll blow your spell matrices."

Sorin frowned. "I never thought of it that way. I guess there's no way around it. Is that all, Assessor York?"

"The second thing about heroes is that they get to ignore realm suppression partially," said Haley. "Of course, it's limited to a single realm."

"Realm suppression?" asked Gareth, intrigued. "You mean the gap between stars?"

"There's an overall tenfold difference between blood thickening and bone forging cultivators," answered Haley. "But that's only in terms of absolute strength. Any abilities or strength or weapons of a lower tier used against superior creatures will see a great reduction in effectiveness. The hero enhancement allows one to close the absolute gap in strength. More importantly, it reduces the realm suppression effect by two-thirds."

"No wonder my poisons are so ineffective against two-star demons," said Sorin.

"It's the same for my spells," muttered Daphne. "They should really tell us about these things up front."

"They don't tell you because the gap is large enough to make people despair," said Haley with mixed emotions. "At least with Hope, anything is possible."

"What about the third factor," said Sorin. "You said something about heroic abilities."

Haley nodded. "Most heroes get heroic abilities. Mine is called Blink."