Chapter 987 987 Miguel’s Resolve
Miguel was surprised with himself. When he had jumped down from the top of the robots' stronghold after giving a warning to the others he planned to keep running and save himself.
Yet, once he landed, he found himself waiting for them.
It had perplexed him that he found it difficult to simply leave them and look after only himself. At first, he tried to convince himself that it was just self-preservation, that being with the group would increase his chances of survival. But he knew that was just a fa?ade.
Then when the decision was made to stay and fight, he volunteered to lead the attack.
He had wanted to flee in the first place. Battling such an overpowered enemy seemed foolish to him.
However, the assurance he had received from Marcus made him want to step up. For the first time he had people he wanted to fight for and that he believed would fight with him.
The pain of his first death when the friend he tried to help left him to bleed to death in an alley, and how the first adventuring party he had joined betrayed him left him with scars that made it difficult for him to trust.
He had attempted to act haughty and confident since he had been reborn with amazing powers thanks to his Blessing of the Hero, but the illusion that he was an invincible protagonist was shattered after his loss to Marcus during Borealia's Tournament.
Then when Marcus had approached him as another from Earth, Miguel thought he might have finally met someone that could understand him. Except, he ran away upon learning that Marcus was a ghost and possessing someone else's body.
Frankly, Miguel had been terrified. He saw how easily Marcus had taken over another's body and feared that he would be next. That Marcus had only approached him in order to steal his body.
The first chance he got, he fled and never looked back. Throwing away even the hope that he might meet someone he could trust.
It was not long after that the guild started to show him favoritism. Somehow, they had found out about his blessing and title.
At first, he had thought about leaving the guild, but the jobs they sent his way and the preferential treatment he received kept him from going. He would have had no clue what to do had he cut ties with the guild anyway.
Eventually Valerius personally contacted Miguel and started building him up to be the new face of the Northern Quadrant of the Adventurers Guild.
It had been grueling at times, and Miguel still did not really trust Valerius, but he knew that the man needed him for his political games within the guild.
He continued to gain greater power under Valerius' management and around seven months ago he had earned the title of hero, instead of just his previous title of fledgling hero.
Certainly, he had helped a great deal of people because of the jobs he had done for the guild, but he still felt like he was undeserving of the title of hero. Not once had he gone out of his way to protect or save people, it was always at the direction of the adventurers guild.
Nevertheless, right now, in this moment, he wanted to be the hero this world had given him a chance to be.
Among his unique skills he had one granted to him by his hero title that he had never sued nor thought he would ever get to use. It required him to have allies he trusted and allies that trusted in him.
He had tried hard, stubbornly hard not to open himself up to anyone, afraid he would get hurt again. But Marcus and Mrazivy had continuously chipped away at the wall he had put up. Now he felt like he could trust them.
'If I am proven a fool once again, then so be it. I am tired of being this way.' Miguel thought as he approached the gates of the iron castle Marcus had made.
The soft golden glow that had erupted from him when he announced that he would lead the charge against their enemy was still encompassing him. Not a single person had spoken out against him once he had released the power of a hero. Everyone simply followed his lead confidently. Assured of their victory so long as he helmed the attack.
With the wave of his hand Marcus opened up the gate and the stronghold in front of them came into view.
No longer did it look like an impenetrable bastion, now its walls were barely standing and looked a stiff breeze away from toppling over.
Miguel did not falter though; he unsheathed his sword and held it above his head.
A powerful golden light erupted around him that dwarfed the slight glow he had been emitting.
"Symbol of Valor."
With the activation of his heroic unique skill, the golden light around him spread out to his allies and buffed them as well.
Each of them received a thirty-three percent boost to their strongest stat, a twenty percent boost to every other stat, and a constant aura that lessened damage and healed them.
It was a unique skill of the highest class and nearly rivaled even some Supreme Skills. A power befitting a hero.
However, it would not last but five minutes and after its effect wore off everyone that benefited from the unique skill would find themselves drained of their stamina. Once the skill was used, it was all or nothing. There would be no second chances once its power ran out.
Still, Miguel pushed all of his worries into the back of his mind and charged towards the wall just as it finally buckled.
On the other side he could see the colossal robot that he knew he had no chance of defeating on his own. All he could do was press the attack and trust in the allies he had chosen.
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