Beginning of Cultivation
Chapter 179: The Duties of a Hero

Chapter 179: The Duties of a Hero

Alice pushed open the hospital room door and walked in casually. Her gaze fell upon Nora, who was resting on the hospital bed, and she assessed his condition.

Seeing his rosy complexion, which showed no signs of serious injury, she chuckled and said:

"Ha ha, congratulations on officially becoming a hero."

From the beginning, Alice had never been too concerned about Nora’s injuries. She had observed the entire battle, and the President hadn’t landed any truly dangerous blows on him.

Hearing her words, Nora smiled and replied:

"Thank you. If it weren’t for your assistance, the process wouldn’t have gone so smoothly."

Alice waved off his gratitude with a laugh.

"Ha, no need to thank me. There’s no formality between us."

She glanced around the room in search of a chair. Spotting one in the corner, she pulled it over and placed it beside the bed.

Nora, now sitting up to converse properly, reassured her:

"My health isn’t in any serious condition."

He was worried that she might be overly concerned, but her response was only laughter.

"Haha, do you think I don’t know your condition? When it comes to combat experience, you’re far behind me. In terms of strength, you’re lacking as well. There was nothing in your sparring match that could escape my eyes."

Her words did not mean that Nora’s actions in the fight were unimpressive, but rather that her perception allowed her to follow every movement in the battle without difficulty.

Nora scratched his head in slight embarrassment, realizing that he had momentarily forgotten just how strong Alice was. However, he quickly shook off the awkwardness and asked,

"What exactly does a hero do?"

Alice rubbed her chin in thought for a moment before replying:

"I’m not entirely sure. Our work isn’t strictly defined. As long as we can help others, it falls within the scope of a hero’s duty."

"By that logic, the range of tasks must be enormous." Nora remarked with a sigh.

He hadn’t expected the responsibilities of a hero to be so broad. He had always held a clear image of what a hero should be in his mind, but he wasn’t sure how the Hero Association defined the term.

Now, it seemed that their ideals weren’t too different after all—they both revolved around aiding the people of the world.

Alice nodded at first but then shook her head.

"It’s true that the number of tasks is vast, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything."

"What do you mean by that?"

Hearing this, Nora couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

A thought crossed his mind—if a hero only worked occasionally, wouldn’t that make them a part-time hero?

Seeing his confusion, Alice decided to clarify,

"This actually ties back to the main reason why the Hero Association was founded. You must have heard about it before, right?"

At her words, Nora sifted through his memories, searching for any relevant information.

Then, as if he had just unraveled a mystery, his eyes lit up with understanding.

"So that’s how it is. The Hero Association was established two years ago, around the time humanity first faced the demon world. Although humanity achieved a complete victory back then, world leaders quickly recognized the looming threat of the demon world. As a result, they convened and ultimately decided to create the Hero Association, following the suggestion of the President."

Why was Magnus involved in a decision made by the world’s leaders? The answer was simple—he had once been a high-ranking official of Nation X, one of the world’s major powers.

Moreover, he was the first human to awaken the immensely powerful Lightning Element. Naturally, he was more than qualified to become the President of the Hero Association.

Alice nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you’re not wrong. So, you must understand by now what the true purpose of the Hero Association is."

If he still didn’t get it at this point, he’d truly be a fool. Nora nodded firmly.

"It’s to combat the demon world, isn’t it?"

"Exactly. That is our primary mission."

Hearing her confirmation, Nora nodded once more. However, something still felt incomplete. A lingering doubt surfaced in his mind, and he asked,

"Then what about the secondary missions of a hero?"

Since there was a primary mission, there had to be secondary ones as well. And for some reason, he found himself more intrigued by these secondary duties than the main objective.

Alice scratched her chin, contemplating how best to explain them.

Seeing Alice’s expression, Nora could already tell one thing—this so-called "secondary missions" category likely included a vast array of tasks, which was why she needed time to organize her thoughts.

After a brief pause, she finally spoke.

"The secondary duties of heroes can generally be divided into three main types: assisting civilians, monitoring villains, and keeping an eye on independent heroes.

Assisting civilians covers a wide range of tasks, such as helping people find lost pets, escorting someone to the hospital, or even capturing petty criminals.

Villains, on the other hand, are individuals who have awakened abilities but refuse to become heroes. Instead, they abuse their power for selfish or malicious purposes. While they are indeed detestable, they also represent potential combat strength in the fight against the demon world. Because of this, we need to assess their personalities carefully—some may deserve execution, while others might be redeemable.

As for independent heroes, they are quite similar to us but act with complete freedom. Their intentions are often good, but their recklessness can lead to unintended consequences, which is why we need to monitor them as well."

Nora wasn’t particularly surprised by the mention of villains or independent heroes. He had occasionally heard these terms on television.

What did catch him off guard, however, was the idea of heroes taking on mundane civilian tasks. These sounded too ordinary—things that regular people could handle without needing to waste valuable hero resources.

"Helping civilians with small tasks seems a bit wasteful, don’t you think? Normal people can do those things too," Nora remarked honestly. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to help others, but it was simply the truth.

The number of heroes in the world was extremely limited. If they all spent their time on trivial errands, there would be no manpower left for more critical matters.

Alice understood his point and patiently explained,

"You’re not wrong. But for the past two years, the demon world has shown no signs of activity, which is why we’ve been handling these minor tasks. Once the demon world returns, we will no longer bother with such trivial matters."

After all, the Hero Association wasn’t created to sit idly. Governments had allocated enormous budgets to fund them—standing around doing nothing simply wasn’t an option.