Soul of Searing Steel
Chapter 60: The Flame of Legacy in the Ashes

Hero's Class.

Even though Joshua had heard about it before, he could not help but frown.

[Chaos Guardian]. As the name suggested, it should be under the same category of the Class as the [Holy Light's Guard] from the Sacred Land in the distant south and the [Balance Adjudicator] from the West Mountain's Imperial Palace. Although it's rare, it was not rare to the point that people could only hope to meet one but not asked to see one. As for the Sacred Warriors that serve the gods, they were deemed to be half of the Class. However, they were not deemed to be that extreme.

The only thing that really mattered would be this Hero Class.

Just like how humans were rated and the items were good and bad, Class also had weak ones and powerful ones.

People like the farmers and civil soldiers were known as the ordinary [Civilian Class]. Meanwhile, warriors that received training before, thieves that excelled in picking locks and wanderers that wandered across distant lands were known as [Official Classes]. Mages, priests, and others that wield magic were different. Because they required gifts given by the gods in order to use magic, they were rare. So they were born as [Elite Class].

Each Class could undergo improvement in tier and change their Class. Civilian soldiers could turn into warriors or mercenaries. If they were very confident that they had gifts given by the gods, they could choose to become a mage. People are free to choose in Continental War. They could just pick whichever that suited their interest. Meanwhile, the five Classes Civilian, Official, Elite, Excellent, and Extraordinary would be the improvement process that a normal Class would need to go through.

However, some special Class like mages could only be he obtained through having gifts from gods and having the Legacy ability. For instance, [The Chosen] and the [Hero Class] could only be obtained in such a way.

For a person who was naturally born with the ability to control fire, it would not matter at all which Class would the person chose. That person would be different from the others. That person could even enhance his own ability and transcend into a much powerful being. That would be [The Chosen]. Meanwhile, [Hero Class] was different from it. [Hero Class] need not have gifts. It only needs some sort of Legacy Item or Keepsake that carries power.

Every Hero Class would need one Legacy item or Keepsake and sufficient gifts in order to embrace the Class. A [Warrior] needed to have a Demon Slayer sword. An [Earthshaker] needed an earth totem. So obviously, Joshua would need [The Sealed Guardian's Azurite] to become the Chaos Guardian.

Opening up his right palm, Joshua looked at the green gemstone and sighed.

In his previous life, he had at least done ten complicated quests that were linked. He even had to take out a bunch of high-level monsters to gather all the required materials before he could acquire the chance to become a [Rune Swordsman]. By then, only he could understand the supremacy of being one.

As for the current situation, a perfect chance of acquiring a Hero Class was presented nicely right in front of him.

"System, identify."

Joshua seldom used the function of the system, not even when he was facing a powerful Gold-tier enemy. Well, it was not because he tends to reject doing things that he could not master, it was only because his experience was so rich that he already knew most of the solutions to all his problems he faced. Furthermore, he was never gotten used to using the system function even in his previous life when he was formerly the legendary warrior. As such, the warrior had forgotten about the feature of the system that he could use.

However, now that he just encountered something he had never seen or even heard before, he had no choice but to use that function.

[… Identifying the item… The origin knowledge succeeded in identification. Special item knowledge identification failed. Historical knowledge identification succeeded. You've acquired a message about the Class.]

[Identification Report: Origin Item—The Sealed Guardian's Azurite]

[Origin: As the sages said, even if a person has sunk deep into the abyss of eternal chaos, the initial spark would still exist. Perhaps it could not burn, but it could potentially carry the order of the power.]

[Special Item: As a flame that has yet to ignite, the Azurite contains…]

[History: Thousands of years ago, the sages had found an Azurite buried deep in the abyss. It was then given to the third sage, granting him the capability to calm the tide of chaos, sealing the entrance to the abyss. Ever since the Fallen War, the Azurite had vanished from the world of men. However, the Legacy of the Chaos Guardian continued on silently.]

[The Azurite contains a great order of power, but the power within it cannot be derived by conventional techniques.]

[Class Message: Blood of Chaos, the source of flame ignited.]

Joshua turned his head around and looked at Ying without saying a word—Ever since the Divine Armament entered the graveyard, she had been at a loss. Thinking back, the warrior could not help to think that what he was doing was not considerate enough. After all, there were too many remains of many Divine Armaments. It would be too much for Ying that only got out from the sealed chamber for over a month to stomach seeing so many wreckages and remains of her own kind. It was indeed a big impact on her.

Turning his head around, Joshua looked at the surroundings. There was basically nothing in the white sky. The endless sky looked purely white. Meanwhile, the ground was purely black, a total contrast to the color of the sky.

"A free Hero Class. Nothing seems wrong with it. So why wouldn't I accept it then… Regardless of whether it's evil or justice, or maintaining some sort of order, or guarding against chaos, I'm fine with it."

Breathing in still and dry air, Joshua fixed his eyes on the tombstone. He suddenly laughed and said softly, "Regardless of killing orcs or daemons, as long as I can battle much stronger enemies… that would be enough."

Since that was the path you chose to walk upon, it does not seem to be a bad choice either.

So Joshua spoke.

"I take my vow here—I, Joshua Radcliffe, shall see through all makers of evil for eternity in desolation."

Joshua grabbed tightly on the Azurite in his right palm.

"Class, Chaos Guardian."

A sigh of the wind came from the windless world.

There was no color at all, only radiance shining from Joshua's right hand. The light had no temperature and did no damage. It was gentle and mild as if it wasn't even there. However, the light was indeed shining across this small world.

With the warrior as the center point, the radiance began to spread out in a dome shape. In an instant, the light had filled the entire area of the graveyard, reaching to the edge of the Temporal Space. The power of Chaos and Order were clashing against each other by the edge of the Temporal Space. However, no impact or ripple of energy was formed from the clashing.

The air began to move about.

Along the movement of the air, some greenish white light began to reveal themselves across all gray tombstones in the surroundings. After that, the light flew along the wind and over to the right palm of the warrior. The light was gathering in the palm of the warrior.

Joshua could see the memories of everyone—a man with black-haired and red eyes, or a woman. They were born on this land. They grew and learned how to battle. They learned how to fulfill their duty and protect their own people. After that, they were battling against Aragami and Dark Tide. In the end, they died unwillingly.

The Evil God's secrets could not be told to the public. However, someone had to protect the seal. They who chose to take up that responsibility would be undoubtedly deemed as heroes.

The light circle was beginning to spin, expanding to its limit. The colorless radiance continued to expand and shrink all of a sudden. The entire space was dimmed. The radiance had fused the greenish-white light into the Azurite. After that, the lights then spread around Joshua's entire body.

The power was gushing in relentlessly. Meanwhile, the red words right before his eyes continued to refresh. In the end, his view was only covered with red words that were closely packed together.

[You've succeeded in acquiring Hero Class—Chaos Guardian]

[You're Class Level +5]

[Warning! You've not met the requirement to unlock!]

[Class Gift: Order of Emmanuel, Camp Detection, (Locking On), (Locking On)]

[Class Special: Unkindled Flame, (Locking On), (Locking On)]

[Class Skill Tree: Purify, Order, Guard (Fused into Supreme)]

[You need to complete a Class quest to unlock the reward and the Class Gifts and Special.]

[Quest: A Festive Purification]

[Use the blood soaked in Chaos to prime the Initial Flame. The Azurite demands sacrifice.]

[Quest Target: Kill a target in the Chaotic Camp that is at least a Silver Tier. 0/1]

Without even looking at what the quest unlock was about, Joshua closed his eyes as he was sensing the power surging through his entire body without saying a word.

The sudden appearance of the power surge from the Azurite had fused into his bloodstream. The fusion was so perfect as if the two things were initially one. It had fused completely with his body with the purpose of becoming a part of the warrior's power.

"So this is the resonance that I felt earlier on? The ancestors of Radcliffe had been calling it the power of Order for generations. So from the holder of the Azurite to the Azurite itself, and to the next generation that will use his legacy bloodline… I see, if I die, this power will return back to the Azurite and will be passed on to my sons."

Just like the flame of Legacy, even if wood was burned to ashes, there would still be some residue of kindling materials left for the next generation to pick up.

Joshua opened his eyes wide. His red eyes were as bright as the moonlight. Now, all radiance had disappeared. The entire space instantly became calm once again. The Azurite that he held tightly in his palm had stopped flashing. He stayed silent without saying a word.

Upon turning his head towards the graveyard, his eyes gazed at the surroundings for more than ten seconds. Then the warrior turned his head back without showing any expression on his face. After that, he did not say a word as well. He only walked towards the door behind him with large paces, leaving the vicinity. Meanwhile, his Divine Armament was following closely behind him. Upon crossing into the dimensional door, Ying looked back on those tombstones across the black land. Then, she vanished into the blue light that came from the door.

Facing so many respected dead people, what should a warrior do?

There was no need to hold a memorial ceremony for them because continuing their legacies would be the best way to honor them. There was no need to mourn for them as they had already fulfilled their destiny.

*****

The black land, the white sky, the gray tombstones.

The blue door vanished. Meanwhile, the moving air that the Azurite swirled had stopped and stayed still. The graveyard in the dimensional door had recovered to its quiet state.

Fire, brought light and heat.

The beginning of human civilization was sparked by fire.

In the age where darkness covered the entire continent, humans waved torches in their hands to illuminate the darkness.

The fathers would pass it to their sons and their sons would pass it to their grandsons. The fire would only pass on from generations to generations across the civilization. Meanwhile, those kindled flames would be reignited once again.

The new generation of humans had the obligation to continue on the tradition of shining throughout the world.