Chapters

Origin Story, Part 1

Origin Story, Part 2

Save the Girl Save the World, Part 1

Save the Girl Save the World, Part 2

Gods and Monsters and Those Who Train Them, Part 1

Gods and Monsters and Those Who Train Them, Part 2

The Will of Self-Sacrifice, Part 1

The Will of Self-Sacrifice, Part 2

Starting Line, Part 1

Starting Line, Part 2

Powers and Bonds, Part 1

Powers and Bonds, Part 2

Solo Mission, Part 1

Solo Mission, Part 2

Goodwill Hunting, Part 1

Goodwill Hunting, Part 2

Facing Despair, Part 1

Facing Despair, Part 2

Lesson Number Eleven, part 1

Lesson Number Eleven, Part 2

Into the Fire, Part 1

Into the Fire, Part 2

The Brave and the Bold, Part 1

The Brave and the Bold, Part 2

Mr. Moonday, Part 1

Mr. Moonday, Part 2

Suiting Up, Part 1

Suiting Up, Part 2

A Starry Night Infiltration, Part 1

A Starry Night Infiltration, Part 2

Midnight Madness, Part 1

Midnight Madness, Part 2

Going Delta, Part 1

Going Delta, Part 2

The Bow of Heracles, Part 1

The Bow of Heracles, Part 2

A Visit to the Healing Gardens, Part 1

A Visit to the Healing Gardens, Part 2

Broken Prophecies, Part 1

Broken Prophecies, Part 2

Boars and Walls, Part 1

Boars and Walls, Part 2

Blunt Force Trauma, Part 1

Blunt Force Trauma, Part 2

Lesson Number Ten, Part 1

Lesson Number Ten, Part 2

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Part 1

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Part 2

Lost Girls and bad Dreams, Part 1

Lost Girls and Bad Dreams, Part 2

Rooftop Running Man, Part 1

Rooftop Running Man, Part 2

No Rest for the Wicked or the Heroic, Part 1

No Rest for the Wicked or the Heroic, Part 2

The First Labor, Part 1

The First Labor, Part 2

Love and Thunder, Part 1

Love and Thunder, Part 2

Hero, Part 1

Hero, Part 2

Rebirth: Epilogue

Brave New World, Part 1

Brave New World, Part 2

A Meeting of the World’s Finest

Meet the Crew, Part 1

Meet the Crew, Part 2

The Chime of Liberty, Part 1

The Chime of Liberty, Part 2

Predator, Part 1

Predator, Part 2

Riddles in the Dark, Part 1

Riddles in the Dark, Part 2

A Trial of Water

Oh River, You Heartbreaker, Part 1

Oh River, You Heartbreaker, Part 2

Against Gods and Monsters, Part 1

Against Gods and Monsters, Part 2

Chasing Liberty, Part 1

Chasing Liberty, Part 2

Every Adventure Needs a Sidequest, Part 1

Every Adventure Needs a Sidequest, Part 2

The Second Labor, Part 1

The Second Labor, Part 2

The Light of Memory, Part 1

The Light of Memory, Part 2

Mass Healer, Part 1

Mass Healer, Part 2

The Endless Maze, part 1

The Endless Maze, Part 2

Chimera, Part 1

Chimera, Part 2

Fire and Ice, Part 1

Fire and Ice, Part 2

Sacrificial Play, Part 1

Sacrificial Play, Part 2

Death and Rebirth, Part 1

Death and Rebirth, Part 2

Master and Apprentice, Part 1

Master and Apprentice, Part 2

Overcoming Tribulation, Part 1

Overcoming Tribulation, Part 2

The Unbroken, Part 1

The Unbroken, Part 2

Reunions, Part 1

Reunions, Part 2

The Way Forward, Part 1

The Way Forward, Part 2

Mist and Bone, Part 1

Mist and Bone, Part 2

There Be Dragons Here, Part 1

There Be Dragons Here, Part 2

Inside the Belly of the Beast, Part 1

Inside the Belly of the Beast, Part 2

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

The Golden Fleece, Part 1

The Golden Fleece, Part 2

The Girl That Time Forgot, Part 1

The Girl That Time Forgot, Part 2

The Origins of Tragedy, Part 1

The Origins of Tragedy, Part 2

Pandora's Box Unwrapped, Part 1

Pandora's Box Unwrapped, Part 2

Standoff

Rocket Man

Finding Hope, Part 1

Finding Hope, Part 2

Hopeful Thinking, Part 1

Hopeful Thinking, Part 2

The Fast and the Ferocious, Part 1

The Fast and the Ferocious, Part 2

The Last Heracleidae, Part 1

The Last Heracleidae, Part 2

The Third labor, part 1

The Third labor, part 2

The Hand of Mercy, Part 1

The Hand of Mercy, Part 2

Blessing of the Sea, Part 1

Blessing of the Sea, Part 2

Rising, Part 1

Rising, Part 2

Vigilante No More, Part 1

Vigilante No More, Part 2

Prison Break, Part 1

Prison Break, Part 2

The Return of Crow-Man, Part 1

The Return of Crow-Man, Part 2

Heroes of the Crucible

Healers on a Battlefield Equals Victory

A New Mystery Unfolds, Part 1

A New Mystery Unfolds, Part 2

Assessment Day

Fortune Favors the Bold

New York's Newest Alpha, Part 1

New York's Newest Alpha, Part 2

Heart to Hearth, Part 1

Heart to Hearth, Part 2

New Threads Fit for Demigods, Part 1

New Threads Fit for Demigods, Part 2

Blood and Fyre, Part 1

Blood and Fyre, Part 2

The Trick to Catching Vampires, Part 1

The Trick to Catching Vampires, Part 2

Shadow and Flame, Part 1

Shadow and Flame, Part 2

Marked for Death

Herculean’s First Endorsement

Training Day, Part 1

Training Day, Part 2

Tech Support

Practice Makes Perfect, Part 1

Practice Makes Perfect, Part 2

Love and Training, Part 1

Love and Training, Part 2

A Chariot Fit for Adventure, Part 1

A Chariot Fit for Adventure, Part 2

A Knife in the Dark

Taken, part 1

Taken, Part 2

No Malarkey, Part 1

No Malarkey, Part 2

Death Valley, part 1

Death Valley, part 2

Super Massive Black Hole, Part 1

Super Massive Black Hole, Part 2

Styx, Part 1

Styx, Part 2

Temple of Doom, Part 1

Temple of Doom, Part 2

Monster Envy, Part 1

Monster Envy, Part 2

The Gates of the Damned, Part 1

The Gates of the Damned, Part 2

The Resistance, Part 1

The Resistance, Part 2

Dead Men Walking, Part 1

Dead Men Walking, Part 2

Labyrinthian, Part 1

Labyrinthian, Part 2

Hungry Ghoul, Part 1

Hungry Ghoul, Part 2

Zoom out

Zoom in

Read with Bonus

Gods and Monsters and Those Who Train Them, Part 2

Sam had no right to judge her, he knew. He’d done the same thing after all. But as he watched her run away, he imagined hope left with her because there were no more living heroes for him to heal.

[What did you expect? She’s a side character who doesn’t have the guts to face this level of adversity.], said the message box that appeared before Sam.

“Don’t call her a side character,” Sam snapped.

That phrase stung him too as he’d always imagined he was also just a side character.

[Ha-ha-ha… So, another side character thinks he can be a hero now?]

Sam’s eyes narrowed at the message box. “Hold on… are you Triple-A?”

[That would be like saying I’m Apple.]

Somehow, Sam could feel whoever was on the other side of that message was rolling its eyes at him.

“So you’re more like Steve Jobs,” Sam guessed. His eyes widened. “You’re Triple-A’s creator…”

[Call me master, kid. It’s only proper.]

So, there was a person managing the system, Sam realized.

“I’d rather not,” Sam said. “I don’t even know you…”

No response came. Seconds later and there was still nothing.

Sam sighed. “Master…”

[Yes?]

Sam rolled his eyes at the message box.

“Why did you create Triple-A?” he asked out of curiosity.

[It’s what I do… I’ve trained them all, Achilles, Jason, Hercules, Lagertha, Liu Bei, Musashi, Washington, Lincoln, all the all-time greats. They learned Heroics 101 from me.]

Sam frowned. He’d never heard of such an amazing hero trainer before. Not even in the old myths.

[I’m not lying, kid. Just look at Thunder. She’s proof of concept.]

At the mention of Thunder, Sam peeked over the car to check on the battle.

Dr. Hearthstone was wrestling with the Terror’s arms, giving Thunder a clear path to zap the horror with the thunderbolt in her right hand. She slammed it partially into the horror’s chest, causing it to screech in pain.

“Yeah… she’s definitely a powerhouse,” Sam admitted, his brow furrowing. “That thunderbolt, though… I didn’t think it was solid.”

[Too bad she passed the system onto you. She could have climbed much higher as an Argonaut, but that girl’s always been practical. She traded power for the chance to live.]

Sam’s face fell. He didn’t mean to take the system away from Thunder.

[Don’t sweat it, kid. Thunder made her choice. Honestly, I’m not so sure about you, but she seems to think you’re a worthy successor… Try to prove her right.]

The master’s words stung, but Sam knew he was right. “Look, I know I’m not the hero of the story…”

[Self-deprecation, that’s definitely a hero’s quality.]

Sam could almost see this master laughing at him.

[So, you want to be the hero?]

Sam didn’t respond immediately because he was still resolving his feelings in his mind. He’d always wanted to be a hero. It’s why he tried the first time despite how risky it was to use his power. But he’d run away from the job once already. What would stop him from doing it again?

[I need to hear you say it, kid. Resolve is the key. We’d be wasting our time without it.]

“I…” Sam’s eyes stayed glued to Thunder as she continued to do battle with the Terror despite new wounds appearing on her body. “I want to be a hero too…”

It felt to Sam like a great weight had finally fallen off his chest after he’d said those words. No, his renewed desire to be a hero probably didn’t invalidate his past failures, but it was feeling like he could breathe again after drowning for so long.

[Good… So stop using your power on side characters and figure out how you can become strong enough to be relevant in this battle.]

“How do I do that?”

[I’ve given you enough hints. Now show me what you can do with them.]

To become strong in the short time available before Thunder and Dr. Hearthstone used up all their power was impossible — these were Sam’s

initial thoughts. Then he remembered that he’d done the impossible only a short while ago when he’d saved Thunder from certain death.

Sam pulled up the radial menu and selected [STATUS] for the second time that night.

[NAME: Samuel Shepard] [HERO NAME: None]

[LEVEL: 2] [RANK: Zeta (ζ)]

[ROLE: SUPPORT]

[TITLE: Loser who has yet to prove his true worth]

[HEALTH POINTS (HP): 330]

[STAMINA POINTS (SP): 165]

[FATIGUE: 30%]

“My fatigue’s decreasing automatically,” he remarked.

Right below this were Sam’s attributes which he’d noticed had all increased by one after he’d leveled up.

[STRENGTH: 11] [DEXTERITY: 11] [CONSTITUTION: 33]

[INTELLIGENCE: 11] [WISDOM: 11] [WILLPOWER: 9]

[POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE: 3 + 2 (bonus points for successfully healing 2 extra heroes) + 4 (bonus points provided by trainer)]

Finally, the last section of the [STATUS] menu showed no new significant changes.

[ACTIVE]

[Healing Hand (ζ)]

[PASSIVE]

[Regeneration (ζ)]

Sam had nine points to allocate. His first thought was to invest it all into Constitution once again to make him even harder to kill. He figured he could help Thunder by becoming the horror’s punching bag, distracting it long enough for her to finish it.

“But that wouldn’t make me the hero,” he realized.

As he was currently looking down, Sam’s gaze fell on the object lying on the ground beside him. It was War Maiden’s hammer.

It had a simple design. A foot and a half long handle wrapped in black leather attached to a thick, cylindrical-shaped chunk of enchanted steel. Runes, not of Greek origins, were etched along the edges of the two sides of the hammer’s head.

He’d heard of it before, an artifact that scholars claimed weighed as heavy as the burden carried by the one who lifts it. In exchange for this quirk, however, it theoretically had the power to overturn one’s current burden.

Sam reached down and tried to pick up the hammer. It rose maybe half an inch off the ground before he had to let it go.

He frowned. “Maybe this is why War Maiden gave up… because the burden of an alpha-level horror might be too heavy…”

A thought crossed his mind, and he turned back to his status.

[STRENGTH: 11]

Nine points would bring his total strength up to twenty.

“Become strong enough to be relevant,” Sam repeated the master’s words. “What if…”

It was a gamble, but it really seemed like the master was nudging him toward this route.

“Yeah, Sam, listen to the sarcastic floating message box,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m losing my mind…”

Sam placed all his points on [STRENGTH], raising it up to [20]. A second later, a new notification appeared.

[CONGRATULATIONS! Your potential has grown and you now meet the qualifications to unlock a new power that was previously hidden inside you. [Herculean (ζ)] received.]

“Huh, that gamble actually paid off,” Sam noted.

He tapped on the [?] and opened the new power’s status window.

[[POWER: Herculean] [LEVEL: Zeta (ζ)] Named after the hero known for his incredible strength, calling forth this power exponentially increases the user’s strength during times of great need.]

[EFFECT: Depending on the direness of the situation, the ability can momentarily double, triple, or even quadruple a hero’s strength. The strength gained is proportional to the current Strength attribute + crisis level + opponent’s power level. The use of this ability will quickly drain the hero’s life-force. It will switch off the moment HP is at a critical level or the hero cancels its activation.]

[WARNING! Herculean will cause the hero’s fatigue to grow at a fast pace.]

[WARNING! Herculean sacrifices defense for power. Damage received is increased while this power is active.]

A new message box appeared before Sam. [You’ve got the luck of the devil, kid! That’s a strong double-edged sword you’ve earned.]

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Sam asked.

[Who knows…? Now, pick up that hammer and we’ll see if you’ve got what it takes to be an Argonaut!]

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter