Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

The Hero Association was just as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside. While the outer décor was meant to imbue a healthy respect for heroes among mortals and ordinary cultivators, the inside was clearly built to foster a luxurious and welcoming atmosphere for the heroes of Pandora.

Gilded square pillars lined an ornate inner dome at the center of the lobby that depicted the wretched hero who begged Hope for help on behalf of humanity. The floor of the lobby was made of stained marble tiles, and at the center, just beneath the decorated dome, lay thirteen golden symbols. The symbols for each of the twelve provincial capitals formed a circle around a large symbol, that of the mountain and the lightning bolt that symbolized Olympia.

Sorin knew from the few texts he'd sifted through that each of these cities had previously been under the protection of one of the Twelve Olympians prior to the Cataclysmic Emergence. There was one exception: the symbol of Mattapan, a dark bident that had once served as the symbol of the god of the underworld, Hades.

The centermost symbol was naturally the most impressive among the thirteen. But just as the twelve divine symbols had lost their influence and only qualified as symbols of the twelve cities and their provinces, the mountain and lightning bolt only qualified as a placeholder for the most prominent symbol in the room: a large clump of white wish-fire, a stand-in for Hope, the Guardian of Humanity.

Embellishments aside, the Hero Association was a bustling place that collected heroes from across the Parnassus Province and even welcomed foreign heroes from neighboring provinces.

According to Stephan's description, the Hero Association was known for its training facilities and its armory. But it was now clear to Sorin that the association was far more than that.

There were over a dozen desks lining the outer walls. Each desk bore the symbols of their respective organizations. Sorin recognized the Adventurers Guild, the Mages Guild, the Alchemists Guild, and the Medical Association. There was even a desk for the Leatherworkers Guild, the Blacksmiths Guild, and even the lesser-known Cartographers Guild.

Stephan naturally took the lead in explaining everything they saw. "Virtually every major organization on Pandora is represented here. This is both to provide convenience to heroes and also serves as an outlet for the most valuable items and services each association has to offer.

"The best skills, spells, techniques, and items can be found here. Items capable of defending a clan can be purchased by any hero who is wealthy enough and has attained enough contributions. It is also possible to directly obtain the inheritance of the major clans if one has sufficient contributions."

"And how does one obtain contributions?" asked Gareth.

Stephan chuckled. "Anything meaningful enough to be inscribed on the wall is a contribution. Each heroic deed performed by a hero will infuse their name with a heroic light that can't be bought or sold by any means.

"That's why heroes often disdain to take on inferior missions. Contributions are much more important than gold if one wishes to stand out amongst their peers."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," came a voice from behind them. "In addition to taking on advanced missions, each of you should also focus on distinguishing yourselves along your paths. Only then can you join the ranks of the truly strong."

"Exactly," said Stephan, nodding his head. "Actually, that sounds exactly like something my sister Haley would—gah!" He turned around and paled. "What… what are you doing here? You said you accepted a job elsewhere!"

"I did," said Haley, stepping out from behind a pillar. She was wearing her usual black leather attire, complete with multiple throwing daggers sheathed on her torso and her legs. As usual, her demeanor was that of a predator, one that would stop at nothing to claim her prey. "The moment you five safely arrived, that job was completed. Now, I'm free to move on to my true calling: Training you, Stephan." She then picked the one-star Hero Medal off her chest and slipped it into her pocket before retrieving a second, nearly identical hero medal. This one had two stars on it.

"This is impossible," said Stephan hoarsely. "What kind of life-threatening encounters could you have possibly encountered in the past four months!"

"You'd be surprised by how much trouble your group attracts," Haley said drily. "Do you have any idea how many three-star demons I had to put down or distract so they wouldn't devour you lot? Then again, that was kind of the point of using you five as bait. They would have been much harder to fight on their home turf."

"It's wonderful to see you again, Haley!" greeted Lawrence with open arms. "Come, why don't you give this younger brother a hug."

"Sure," said Haley, nodding. "I'll hug you till your head falls off. That is unless you stop using your heroic ability in my presence and quit trying to get past the stealth enchantments on my armor."

"That…" Lawrence coughed uncomfortably. "I was just testing you. I would never invade a lady's privacy. You have my word on it."

Haley rolled her eyes. "You haven't gotten much better at lying, Lawrence. Maybe you could work on that? Anyway, I'm sure you lot have many questions, so you should all follow me. And Stephan? One more step towards the exit, and I'll bundle you up and sling you over my shoulder in the most embarrassing way possible."

***

The Hero Association, like the Mages Guild, also provided free coffee to its members. The logos on the reusable cups they were given made it clear that this was a collaboration between the Hero Association, the Mages Guild, and the Alchemists Guild. The drink was effective, and even Sorin, who'd long since grown immune to normal caffeine, found himself invigorated by the moderately poisonous beverage.

They sat patiently with drinks in hand as Haley read through a list of the missions they'd completed and took out large pouches of cores that had been submitted to the guild for a bounty assessment. These cores were all two-star cores and radiated auras of mixed Violence and madness depending on the demons that obtained them from.

"The bounty rewards are straightforward, and one-star cores aren't worth gambling with at your level," explained Haley. "You, therefore, have two options: The first is to offer the two-star cores you obtained to Lord Hope and try to obtain something useful. Unfortunately, this isn't like the Wish Fire Festival, and you're not guaranteed to get anything useful.

"The second option is naturally to submit these cores to the Hero Association. They'll give you the best deal available anywhere, even better than the Adventurers Guild, and will also take the one-star cores off your hands for a fair price."

Stephan was still in no mood to speak, so Sorin took the lead. "What's your suggestion on how we deal with this loot, Haley?"

"I suggest you cash it all in," answered Haley. "For heroes, standard gear doesn't cut it. Your needs are diverse, and it's important to be intentional about where you invest your resources. Moreover, the extra value you obtain from the Hero Association for every core means that you're not losing out compared to offering them to Hope. Instead of gambling and cashing in unwanted rewards, you're better off saving time and directly purchasing what you need."

Their group held a small discussion and agreed to do as she said. "We'll trade them all in and see what we can purchase with them," said Sorin. "We'll also have to ask your advice on how to accrue contributions in Delphi, as well as any suggestions for our advancement."

"You're a lot more sensible than my brother, Sorin," said Haley. "Follow my instructions, and I do not doubt that you'll become two-star heroes in no time."

"Wait, if she's a two-star hero, doesn't that mean that she could break through to Flesh-Sanctification any time she wants?" cut in Lawrence. "And doesn't that mean she'll still be one step ahead of—oof!"

"Give Stephan a little hope, at least," said Gareth.

"Oh, I'm sure he's realized it by now," said Haley with a twinkle in her eye. "The only way he's escaping me is by becoming a demigod.

"Moving on to loot, you all did quite well for yourselves. If we total up the hundreds of two-star demons you put down along the way and the colossal number of one-star demons you slew in passing, sell the cores, and claim the bounties, everything adds up to roughly 590,000 gold pieces.

"Then there's the mission rewards. Your bonus for your performance in Chelsea. Your handling of that abomination that had been piecing itself together at the bottom of Lake Tallow. Then there's the griffon nests you cleared a few hundred miles away from Delphi.

"All said, your total rewards add up to 740,000 gold or 148,000 gold apiece."

Even Sorin was impressed by how much gold they'd raked in over the past four months. "That's almost enough for us to open up a shop. A small one. In the middle of nowhere, if we're talking about Delphi."

"Cafes are a good investment these days," said Haley. "Though I suggest focusing on your path. You're fortunate to have reached your levels at just the right time. As such, you'll save a lot of time compared to those who reached your levels a few years earlier."

She pointed to Sorin. "You are an apothecary, currently. And according to the stele, you're also a physician. Still, I'd be wary about talking that last part up without going through the Medical Association. There have been too many malpractice incidents for them to make exceptions, even for heroes.

"In addition to your profession, you're a melee fighter who also incorporates simple spellcasting into his repertoire. From what I've seen, you're also capable of great physical strength and regeneration. All of these aspects seem to make up an integral part of your path. That means you'll need to exert more effort than your companions in order to advance."

"Moving on, Daphne is a theory-heavy mage and a pretty good author. Stephan is a fighter and a tank. Gareth is an archer, a leader, a hunter, and an investigator. Lawrence is a different kind of investigator and as roguish as they come.

"These are all very different directions, but fortunately, the Hero Association caters to all of them. If there is no mission available that corresponds to your path, you can simply bring it up, and they'll find a way to make use of your abilities.

"Even without missions, noteworthy and recordable performances that adhere to your path will add to your name and add to your heroic light, enabling you to make additional high-level purchases.

"None of you are mediocre, and only by distinguishing yourselves from your peers will you continue to accumulate heroic light until, finally, that light awakens the silver runes in your bones. Only then will you experience a second Heroic Awakening and qualify to become a two-star hero like me."

She let her words sink in for a few minutes before tossing them each an envelope. "As new one-star heroes, each of you has been evaluated by the Temple of Hope and has been assigned one or more secret missions. They are missions that, if completed, will earn you significant contributions and allow you to make rapid progress on your path.

"Each of you is to read the letter, then burn it. No one else is to read what's in those letters. Do not speak of its contents before the mission is complete, or the mission will be forfeited. You may enlist the help of others to complete the mission, but you will need to remain the primary contributor. Most importantly, those helping you can't know the contents of the mission.

"I'll step out for three minutes. By then, I expect each letter to have been burned on the wish-fire brazier at the center of the table."

She then left the room as promised, and each of them, curious about what secret mission had been assigned to them, ripped open their letters.

Secret Missions issued to Sorin Abberjay Kepler, God Seed of Asclepius, and Inheritor of Violence (?).

Medical Knowledge Contribution: Produce new medical knowledge or modernize ancient medical knowledge and make it available to the public. Contributions earned will be proportionate to the worth and usefulness of the medical knowledge to humanity.

Embrace your inner corruption. Accept the inheritance of Violence.

Discover the root of the Kepler Clan's hidden problems in Delphi and permanently resolve them.

Sorin frowned as he looked these three missions over. He was quite agreeable to the first mission and had been thinking of doing so once he made sufficient headway in his apothecary practice. As for the second mission, there was no way in Pandora that he'd ever agree to become an inheritor of Violence. Also, wasn't Hope pushing this front a little too strongly?

Yet it was the third mission that truly took him by surprise. What hidden political problems? Why wasn't he aware of them? What's more, why would he even want to help the clan that abandoned him?

His mission in Delphi was to discover clues and leads about his parents' death, and to get familiar with the Kepler Clan's political situation. Discovering these hidden ailments would likely be important in determining his future course of action, but he had no intention of resolving any latent problems unless they were directly pertinent to his information-gathering mission.

"Time's up," said Stephan, tossing his letter into the fire. White flames swallowed up the creamy parchment paper, leaving not even ashes behind the confidential document.

"The Temple of Hope sure doesn't like making things easy," said Lawrence. "To clarify, are we allowed to share our missions after we complete them? Because I'd definitely want to boast about pulling this off."

"She explicitly stated that we could," said Daphne, throwing her letter in. "I think I like my missions. I'll thoroughly enjoy seeing them through."

"My mission is an intriguing one, " said Gareth, tossing his letter into the fire. "It also aligns very well with my original intentions in Delphi." Sorin couldn't help but notice the archer looking his way. Though Gareth did a good job of hiding it, his gaze was slightly hostile; the Violence in Sorin's blood acted up in response."

"And that's time," said Haley, storming back into the room before Sorin could comment on his own missions. "Hopefully, this gives you all a better idea about how to proceed going forward. I'd also like to remind you all that there's a special mission for heroes coming up in less than four months: the Shrine's Descent.

"The Descent is a once-a-decade event that will greatly aid you in unearthing your hidden potential. Only one-star heroes who do not exceed the first forging can participate. Do well, and you'll find yourself advancing at a rate you never thought possible."

"Do you know how the event will be structured this year?" asked Stephan, finally mustering up the courage to speak to his sister.

"As always, the event will be random, and we won't know the details until the seal to the under-city is breached," answered Haley. "So, until then, train your skills. Learn new spells. Upgrade your equipment. And no matter what you do, don't break through. There's something in the cultivation world called the Principle of Conserved Accumulation. Any time you spend cultivating and refining yourself won't be lost, even if you hold back from breaking through. It will only make your future cultivation path smoother."

She then proceeded to give them individual tips and suggestions on how they could earn money and complete missions while in the city. Sorin would naturally be returning to the Kepler Clan. She suggested Lawrence and Gareth accept information and tracking missions and that Daphne inquire with the Mages Guild about getting a mentor in spell research. As for Stephan, he would remain with Haley and participate as a combatant in the Delphi Arena.

"So, I guess that's it," said Stephan as they walked out of the Hero Association. "It's finally time for us to go our separate ways. Do you want me to tag along when you go greet your clan's elders, Sorin?"

Sorin shook his head. "No. It's something I need to face by myself. It was my decision to come to Delphi, and it was my parents who were wronged."

"It wouldn't hurt to have a little support from the York Clan," pressed Stephan.

"I'm afraid it's exactly the opposite," said Sorin. "Arriving with a member of the York Clan would be considered a calculated political action on my part and shove me neck deep into clan politics before I can even get my bearings. For now, it's best if I go alone. Once I get a better idea of what's going on, I'll naturally request help if the need arises."