Arpious of the Planes

I look up at the notifications in front of me with my jaw-dropping. It was unheard of to get a skill from an outside resource… but it just happened. It was only in legends where people were able to obtain skills from special stones that were nicknamed…

"Aether. We have created a partial Aether Stone. A stone created by higher beings and normally associated with Angels. This was just a prototype but this skill should be useful for now.

Now I must inform you of the information we have received from the previous heroes scouting. Luke, you may speak," The king says while turning his head to the Light Hero.

The Light Hero cleared his throat before speaking…

"Thank you, my king. As you know, the new monster that has appeared on the [Mountain of Twilight] is an enigma to us. Before we didn't have much information but now we do.

First of all, there have been signs of a Nether Stone appearing in the same spot as the enigma. It is impossible to tell whether it has already been absorbed by a monster or if it is being kept somewhere.

Also, my king, please forgive me for withholding this information but I felt it was important for everybody to be present… They have created a kingdom," The Light Hero says, his expression completely serious.

The throne room burst into an uproar. The many nobles that were present had started to converse and some started to panic greatly. But all it took to make the throne room settle down was just one burst of the king's aura.

It was suffocating… no… it was deadly. It felt like a noose had been wrapped around my neck and at any moment I would be lifted…

The throne room fell silent as the nobles sat back down on their chairs.

"Alright, that is important news. Luke, how big is the kingdom?"

"It is about half the size of ours. But please don't underestimate them, it is filled with all intelligent species. Fire Harpies, Amazonians, Beastmen and women, Dryads, and finally… Elves,"

The throne room didn't burst into uproar but if it did, it would've been much larger than before. There were only small whispers echoing through the room.

Elves shouldn't exist on this plane. Throughout the entire history of this plane, there has been no spotting of elves, only spirit elves. Spirit elves can't evolve into elves since they are the weakest tier of monsters. Their level of intelligence is below a goblin, their strength is terrible, their speed is alright, their rate of reproduction is extremely slow.

"That's troublesome. If they came from another plane then we might have to offer an alliance since the elven plane is just a few tiers below the angelic plane. We don't want to piss off the elven metropolis," The king says, rubbing his chin.

"My king, I believe they aren't from another plane," I say, lifting my head

"Explain," The king says, his voice echoing through the room.

"To confirm my suspicion, I would like to ask the Light Hero one question,"

"You may," he responds.

"Do you know what species the ruler of the kingdom is?"

"Ah, I see your line of thought. It is indeed not an elf. There are 4 dangerous beings within that kingdom. Maybe even 5 but I could tell that the 4 were at the top. They were most likely the rulers of the kingdom… Their race, well, I don't know. I wasn't able to get close to them and use [Inspect]. But I could sense that it was leagues above any elf, it also had cursed energy which elves are forbidden from using,"

"How do you know it's not a dark elf?" The king asks.

"Because it also had blessed energy. A dark elf can't hold blessed energy and an elf can't hold cursed energy. If they do end up using it, they'll die immediately… unless they have an item that helps them adapt to it,"

"That is truly frightening. A vessel that can withstand and even retain cursed and blessed energy… Wait, are they able to do that because of the Nether Stone?" The king asks.

"No, it is a separate being. The Nether Stone that I sensed only had cursed energy while that being had both blessed and cursed,"

"Troublesome… now Tayber, please continue what you were saying,"

"Thank you, my king… There is no way the elves could've come from this plane because they are too prideful. Why would they ever work under a species that they think is inferior? Only specially trained elves would've had the willpower to suppress their arrogance, but those are especially rare,"

"I see. That does make sense… Then we should be able to go to war with them. Underestimating them will be our downfall since their intelligent monsters. Their stats will be much higher than ours, but we should have more skills allowing us to crowd control better," The king says.

The king leans back on his throne and looks up at the ceiling. Nobody dared to interrupt his deep thinking.

"Alright, send 3/4 of our entire army and split them among the previous hero party for them to lead. It seems this matter is way out of the new heroes' hands, so I would like them to assist the last hero party. Try to learn something from it but also assist and try to adapt to their fighting style. Who knows, you might come back even stronger than your seniors… Now everyone is dismissed," The king says.

"ALL THE HAIL THE KING!" Everybody in the room shouts before taking their leave, including me.

I took a sigh of relief as I was now away from the immense pressure that the king and previous hero party exuded.

"I'm still weak. I need to get stronger," I say before running out of the castle.

…

『Status』

[Name: Ted]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Calm]

[Level: 82]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 80]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Contortion] [Concentration] [Tangible Bloodlust] [Earth Shattering Strike] [Grand Spear Enhancement] [Spear Coating: Fire] [Destroying Spear Swing] [Fire Enhanced Spear Swing] [Enhanced Spear Stab] [Fire Enhanced Spear Stab] [Fire Control]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Grand Spearman] [Hero]

…

『Status』

[Name: Finn]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Calm]

[Level: 93]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 80]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Contortion] [Concentration] [Tangible Bloodlust] [Earth Shattering Strike] [Grand Sword Enhancement] [Grand Shield Enhancement] [Shield Coating: Earth] [Earth Control] [Tanks Immovable Body] [Berserk]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Grand Tank] [Hero]

…

『Status』

[Name: Ester]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Calm]

[Level: 86]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 80]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Contortion] [Concentration] [Tangible Bloodlust] [Wind Walker] [Silent Steps] [Pickpocket] [Presence Eraser] [Grand Dagger Enhancement] [Dagger Coating: Wind] [Wind Control]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Grand Assassin] [Hero]

…

『Status』

[Name: Eloise]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Calm]

[Level: 69]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 80]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Concentration] [Grand Healing Magic] [Healing Aura] [Calming Aura] [Ally Haste] [Ally Empower] [Ally Greater Mana Flow]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Grand Healer] [Hero]

…

『Status』

[Name: Tayber]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Calm]

[Level: 102]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 100]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Contortion] [Concentration] [Tangible Bloodlust] [Earth Shattering Strike] [Grand Sword Enhancement] [Sword Coating: Light] [Destroying Sword Swing] [Light Enhanced Sword Swing] [Enhanced Sword Stab] [Light Enhanced SwordStab] [Light Magic] [Inspect]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Blessed by the Overlord Spirit of Light] [Hero]

…

"Wow, so these are your statuses," I say after inspecting everybody at the lunch table.

"What do you mean 'so these are your statuses' we've literally drawn them out on paper before," Ted says.

"Well, it's pretty cool to see it in the system format," I respond.

I was back at Eloise and Finn's house. I had just finished discussing what had been said in the throne room and I could tell the party was nervous. Everybody was forcing themselves to smile, to try and cover up and bury their fear.

"Okay, we have to get stronger so let's spar some more. It will also help us take our minds off the current situation," I recommend.

"You're right. We can't be pussys now, we've already become heroes. It's something we've wanted to be since we were children. Even if we die, we'll know that we have protected and saved thousands of lives including our family," Finn says.

"You're right… I still have a lot to learn, so seeing how the previous heroes fight will be beneficial," Ester says.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"I'll make sure to back you up when you need it,"

"Thanks, guys, we need to work together if we want to do any damage so let's practice our teamwork for now. The king should tell us when we are leaving for war so let's train as hard as possible," I say.

Everybody pumps their fists into the air. Our morale had risen and we went off to train. We trained harder than we had ever done before.