The First Meeting

"Join my party! Together we will defeat the demon lord."

Those were the first words that a hero candidate, Alan Welker said to me as he stretched his hand towards me. 

That was the moment when my long stagnation came to an end.

***

The calamities. Such was the name of beings who brought humanity's existence in danger. Legendary dragons, vicious powerful monsters, magical catastrophes given sentience, and the most terrifying of them all—the Demon Lord.

Only special humans given the Blessing of the Goddess could oppose the calamities. And the chosen ones that bore those blessings were called hero candidates. They were given special powers by the Blessing, and often trained their entire lives so that they could carry the responsibility for the entire human race on their shoulders.

And once they accomplished their duty—once they slayed a calamity—they became Heroes, forever immortalized in the annals of history.

It had been a hundred years since the last appearance of the Demon Lord. And now once again, this world needed a Hero who could save the world.

And that was the task that I, hero candidate Zephyrus Meyer, had once failed at. After all, I had lost my Blessing.

***

The young man who stood in front of me, hero candidate Alan, was a special case. The Church had determined that he bore a Blessing from an early age. Despite that, he showed no special powers and developed just like any other normal kids. Nonetheless, he was proclaimed a hero candidate; for the Church could never make a mistake in judgement—and neither could the Goddess. That's why he was called the Powerless.

Before his invitation, we had never spoken even once. I had heard rumors about him, but I never really paid them any attention . Not before losing my Blessing, nor after. For me, he was someone whose existence I'd barely acknowledged. Perhaps, this moment was the first time I'd ever really noticed his existence.

He had short brown hair and fairly childish features. He had to be about the same age as me, but If I didn't know better, I would assume he was somewhat younger. A confident smile shone on his face, and his eyes were lit with energy.

Despite his childish features, he carried a certain gravitas in his expression. A resolve that someone prepared to save the world carried. I could tell that immediately.

He was just like me from the past. But also, nothing like me at the same time.

And once I realized that, I already knew my answer. 

Truth be told, I didn't care about saving the world. I've had enough of that to last multiple lifetimes. When I lost my blessing 

And yet, I found myself wanting to take the hand in front of me.

***

The earliest memories I could remember were those of me running around the village.

It was a small, rural place. One you could find pretty much anywhere.

The memories were faint. They were like a mirage that was on the verge of disappearing. And yet they remained firmly in my head. The verdant greenery, pleasant touch of the sun warming my skin, and the carefree feeling of safety—all of those were still engraved in my mind.

I couldn't even remember my parents' faces at that point. Despite that, I still remembered my childhood fondly. As a happy, safe place of sorts.

It all came to an end the day I received my Blessing.

***

In the Auderan Royal Academy, Zephyrus Meyer had once been the strongest hero candidate. 

No, it was quite possible that he had been the strongest hero candidate alive. Stronger than upperclassmen, stronger than war veterans who had years of experience at the front—stronger than those were one step away from becoming a Hero.

But it was only natural. He was born with the Blessing. That was a rare case that had happened only a few times in all of human history. His Blessing was like an extension of his limbs. For him, it was akin to moving a finger or breathing. In the past, he probably couldn't even imagine a life without it.

And that's probably why he had grown so much weaker since losing it.

That was Zephyrus Meyer, the boy who stood before me.

It was said that the Hero's Blessing was the purest form of adoration that the Goddess showed human race. It was a weapon most powerful, yes, but most importantly it signified purity of soul and resolve to bear the burden of a Hero.

And there was only one way for a human to lose the Goddess's Blessing. It was to lose their resolve to be a hero. Or at least that's what people said.

Which is why it was considered the greatest dishonor a hero candidate could commit. It was equivalent to giving up your sacred duty before humanity. An act of turning your back on the existential threat that could put the existence of our race at stake.

In other words, it was the same as betraying human race.

In reality, we didn't understand Goddess's Blessing well enough to conclude that with certainty. Despite that, it was the Church's consensus, and not many doubted that conclusion. After all, the priests understood more about blessings than anybody else. Even if that understanding was extremely limited.

With that said, Zephyrus Meyer was, of course, an outcast. Ever since he had lost his status as a hero candidate nobody had wanted to approach him. They didn't say it to his face, but behind closed doors, people spread rumors about him.

But I was slightly different. My interest in him only increased after he had lost his blessing. 

He was someone who had worked his entire life to become a Hero. And yet, he ended up being branded as a traitor and treated as an outcast. There is no way that it was a just conclusion. That's why I wanted to change it. From the bottom of my heart, I hoped he wanted the same.

If that happened to be the case... then just maybe our stars could align.

That was the hope that sparked my invitation.