After getting ready, Agares and Nadia left the house. They walked along the village's dirt path that led directly to the village center.
There, Agares saw many villagers going about their day—trading, tending to fields, and more.
"That's the clinic," said Nadia, pointing ahead.
Agares nodded. Priestess Ara's clinic was merely a small house with a flower and herb garden in the backyard. A line of villagers waited to be treated by her, most of them elderly.
Agares joined the line like everyone else. He didn't dare cut in, even though his visit was by the Priestess's request.
After waiting for about an hour, it was finally his turn. He told Nadia to head back, saying he could handle things on his own. Agares didn't want Nadia or her family to get involved in his complicated affairs.
A knock on the door was followed by it opening. Priestess Ara turned and smiled. She rose from her seat and walked toward Agares.
"So, you're finally awake," said Ara.
"Did you heal me?" asked Agares. Priestess Ara fell silent and didn't respond.
Instead, she told the assistant in the room to leave, saying she needed to speak privately with Agares. The assistant obeyed, exiting and closing the door behind them.
"What do you want to talk about?" asked Agares, curious.
"I have something for you. It might be more useful to you."
Priestess Ara opened a drawer, pulled out a pair of black gloves, and handed them to Agares. He was startled, eyes widening.
"So, you already knew about—"
"I examined your body. Of course I saw it. Now, put them on!"
Agares nodded. He took the gloves and slipped them onto both hands. The saber pattern on his right hand was now completely concealed. No one would be able to tell who he truly was.
"I didn't expect you to be a knight with the saber job," said Ara.
"What's wrong with the saber job? They're all just scared," replied Agares.
"That's understandable, considering that out of the seven hero jobs, the saber is the strongest," Ara added.
"I don't know what happened to saber knights that made them so hunted, but you're safe here," she assured him.
Agares took a deep breath, relieved by her words. He sat down and quietly watched the beautiful woman who appeared to be around his age.
"So, what is your goal? The entire Empire and the Four Kingdoms will never accept you," said Priestess Ara.
"I need to train my abilities. I have to go to Stormgarde and find any information from the ruins of that city," replied Agares.
"Stormgarde? You're far from there," Ara said.
"Then I can't rush it. I have to grow stronger... because there's someone I must kill!" declared Agares.
His eyes sharpened at the memory of Helderic cruelly stabbing his stomach with a magic sword. That grudge could only be settled with the old man's death.
"Do you have money?" Ara asked. Agares shook his head.
"I can give you money to buy weapons and saber gear. But you must do something for me," she said.
"What is it?"
Ara turned toward a map of the continent and walked to it. She took a pin and marked a red-shaded area stretching from the north to the south of the continent. The map labeled the area as the Red Line.
"There are two kinds of herbs I need: Red Silk Worm and Autumn Night Flower. I only need ten of each," Ara explained.
Agares stood and observed the map. There were three regions: the green area as the Grand Empire, the red as the Red Line, and the black as Athanor.
"Why is this called the Red Line?" asked Agares, pointing to the vast region stretching from the Empire's north to south borders.
"That area is inhabited by monsters who escaped from the Demon Lands of Athanor. They settled there and frequently engage in battles with humans near the borders," Ara answered.
"You can grow stronger by killing monsters," she said.
"Really?" Agares asked, and Ara nodded.
"Yes. You'll need armor and a sword. Take this," she said, tapping her magic pouch and pulling out a small black bag containing ten gold coins.
Agares accepted and opened the bag. Inside were indeed ten gold coins. Priestess Ara told him that he could use them to buy the gear he needed for the mission.
Not only that, but Agares could also buy Saber skill tokens—though finding one wouldn't be easy, and he would have to work hard for it.
"Alright. I understand," said Agares.
"I'm trusting this mission to you because I believe only you can help me. With those herbs, I can save many lives in this village," said Priestess Ara, patting his shoulder.
Agares thanked her again. She had saved his life and now was funding his survival. Agares was a man who knew how to repay kindness. He would complete this mission even if it risked his life.
With nothing more to discuss, Agares said his farewells. He left Priestess Ara's clinic, carrying the pouch of gold coins.
'There's still so much I don't know about myself. I'd better find out more before I act,' thought Agares.
Agares returned to Nadia's home and met her parents. He asked if he could stay the night, as he had no one else.
Fortunately, Nadia's family was kind and hospitable. They allowed him to stay, and he would rest in the same room he'd used earlier.
"Thank you. I'll repay your kindness," said Agares.
He returned to his room and locked the door. He wasn't about to slack off—his progress had stalled, even regressed, compared to his peers. He needed to catch up.
[System Summoning!]
[System Activated]
[Welcome, Agares]
[Name: Agares]
[Job: Saber]
[Title: -]
[Stage: 0-5]
[Affinity: Darkness]
[HP: 310/500]
[Mana: 600/600]
"What? My affinity changed to darkness?" said Agares, shocked.
He tried to recall the earlier incident. He remembered the system panel appeared when he was wounded and sank into the riverbed. Maybe that's when his affinity shifted from light to darkness.
[You haven't allocated your attribute points. Do you want to assign them manually or use the default based on your job?]
"I'll assign them manually," said Agares.
[Command accepted]
[Opening Attribute Status Menu]
[STR: 0]
[DEF: 0]
[AGI: 0]
[INT: 0]
[DEX: 0]
[VIT: 0]
[Attribute Points: 50 pts]
Another menu appeared displaying his attributes. These stats felt familiar. Agares recalled seeing them when he looked at the hero job token before.
To understand them better, he held his finger over one of the attributes. A short description panel appeared in response.
Agares quickly understood the function of the six attributes. He could now assign them based on his own needs.
"I'm going to the Red Line, a monster-infested region. I'll need to allocate points into attack, defense, and endurance," he decided.
[DING! Congratulations, you've set your attribute points]
[STR: 14] [+14]
[DEF: 10] [+10]
[AGI: 7] [+7]
[INT: 0]
[DEX: 7] [+7]
[VIT: 12] [+12]
[Attribute Points: 0 pts]
A glow appeared on Agares's body as soon as the attributes were set, but the light quickly faded after just two seconds.
[Congratulations, Agares! You've configured your attributes. Would you like to allocate skill points?]
"Do it!" said Agares, growing more excited.
[Command accepted]
[Opening Skill Menu]
[Talent: Glory of Athanor]
[Main Skills:]
[First Skill: Shadow Cleave]
[Lv: 1] [0/100]
[Desc: Saber swings his dark sword sideways, creating a purple shadow slash that cuts through enemies.]
[Debuff: Weakened 5s || Reduce 7 HP/sec for 5s || Reduce ATK by 20% for 10s]
[Cooldown: 7s]
[Second Skill: Abyssal Ward]
[Lv: 1] [0/100]
[Desc: Saber stabs his sword into the ground, summoning a bat-winged god of death projection to shield him in darkness.]
[Debuff: Damage Reduction 40% for 8s || ATK Reflection 20%]
[Cooldown: 15s]
[Third Skill: Eclipse Execution]
[Lv: 1] [0/100]
[Desc: Saber cloaks himself in dark purple armor, flies into the sky, and summons a full moon projection to launch a devastating crescent slash.]
[Debuff: Dark Mark in 10s || Doom in 15s || Chain Effect Activated]
[Cooldown: 45s]
[Fourth Skill: Nihil Severance] [LOCKED!]
[Skill Points: 50]
The panel showed three unlocked skills that Agares could use. He had 50 skill points to spend. It seemed attribute and skill points increased by 10 each time he advanced a stage—not a realm.
Even so, he couldn't access the fourth skill, *Nihil Severance*. It was still locked, and he didn't know how to unlock it. But he was grateful for the three skills he had.
"I should distribute the points evenly."
[Skill Point Allocation Successful!]
[First Skill: Shadow Cleave] [Lv. 1] [20/100]
[Second Skill: Abyssal Ward] [Lv. 1] [20/100]
[Third Skill: Eclipse Execution] [Lv. 1] [10/100]
[DING! Skill points set successfully]
[System tour complete. Are you interested in activating the interactive system?]
"Interactive system?" asked Agares.
Suddenly, a winged, purple-horned fairy appeared from the panel—about the size of a human palm. It was the interactive system's manifestation.
[Hello, my name is System. Would you like to give me a different name?]
"A different name? How about Nyx?" asked Agares.
[Of course. My name is now Nyx]
"Tell me, Nyx. Why did my affinity change?" asked Agares.
[Because your dominant affinity is darkness, not light]
"But didn't Helderic detect my affinity as light?"
[Elemental Orbs cannot detect dark elements. In the end, your dominant element took over due to the hatred and vengeance you harbor]
"Is the dark element good for me?" asked Agares.
[According to the history of the Grand Empire, the dark element is the worst for a person. But at the same time, it's also the strongest]
Agares fell silent. He had learned a lot today, but at least he had made great progress by configuring his attributes and skills.
"Alright. I'll try to live with this element," he said, accepting his fate.
[I'm going offline. If you need me, just call my name]
[System Off]