《A Story in Black and White》 Arc 1 Chapter 1 ¡°Ugh, shit¡± I woke up with a splitting headache. When I opened my eyes, I immediately regretted the decision as the light from the ceiling felt like it burned my eyeballs. To defend from this unbeatable foe, I closed my eyes back and moved my head under the pillow, using it as a makeshift shield. It worked like magic. My mind felt hazy. Words barely connected themselves in coherent thoughts. What in the heck did I do last night? Nothing came to mind. Finding some willpower in myself, I extended my hand to my night table to take my phone. It was not there. Neither the phone nor the night table. ¡°Huh?¡± I groaned in confusion. My brain took a few extra seconds to process this new information and come to the conclusion that this is not good. And if it''s not good, then this is bad. The realization sent a small shock through my body and I jerked upwards, the drowsiness momentarily forgotten. I regretted my decisions for the second time today since the light, unsurprisingly, wasn¡¯t more merciful this time around. ¡°Ugh, fuck.¡± I cursed and put a hand over my eyes while trying not to look at the ceiling directly. I blinked and squinted severely while trying to understand where in the heck I am. I was sitting in a wooden one person bed with white bedding. In front of me, connected to my bed and touching the stone wall was a simple table and 2 chairs. A simple wooden door followed shortly after. I turned my head to the right and the surprise caused another shot of adrenaline to be released in my bloodstream. I felt my muscles tense up throughout my body. The heart rate spiked up and I found myself feeling breathing in more air. Thankfully no girlish squeaks or other embarrassing reactions were shown. On the opposite side of the room, in a bed just like mine, was sitting a guy with his back to the wall and facing me. He had his right leg bent to support his hand which in turn supported his head. His eyes were closed but it didn¡¯t look like he was sleeping if his irregular breaths were anything to go by. The guy looked to be in his early 20¡¯s and wearing a pair of very simplistic grey pants and a basic short-sleeved tunic with a large neck opening-- just like myself now that I took a look. ¡°Yo!¡± I said in a deep morning voice and raised my hand in a greeting gesture. The guy briefly opened his left eye (I couldn¡¯t see the other one since it was obscured by his hand) and looked at me for a few seconds. He nodded his head in acknowledgment, briefly lifted his left hand from the bed before letting it slump back down as if in greeting and growling something similar to an ¡®uh-huh¡¯. I looked at him silently for a few seconds trying to remember if I knew this guy somehow. My mind came blank. Seeing that I have nothing to say, he closed his eye, adjusted his head a little, and let his fingers dig back into his long blonde hair. Feeling that it would be somewhat awkward to start asking questions now when he clearly wasn¡¯t interested and most likely feeling just as shity as me, I didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, I looked around the room once again trying to find out where the off switch is for this damnable light. It was getting rather tiring to protect my eyes with my hand. I didn¡¯t see the switch. What I did see though, was the last object in the room, which was a small wardrobe. Besides the aforementioned objects, the room was barren with the floor, ceiling, and walls being made of polished grey stone. There was not even a window. All in all, rather spartan. Deciding to go and see if the switch was hidden near the wardrobe where I couldn¡¯t see, I moved myself to the edge of the bed and put my bare feet on the floor. Right away I felt a chill ran through my feet and up my legs. It was damn cold. Embracing the suck, I put some effort and rose up on my feet. I came to regret the decision right away. My vision started to go dark and I began to feel lightheaded as the world started spinning around. There was nothing under hand to support myself with so I sat my ass back down on the bed before I managed to faceplant on the rocky floor. ¡°Fuck¡± the curse came out involuntarily out of my mind for the second time. To my ears, my voice sounded something like a mix between waking up from the world''s worst hangover ever and incoherently as a drunk 10 minutes earlier before falling asleep. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°There is no switch. I checked.¡± the guy opposite me said in a voice very similar to mine. I smiled at that. Good to know that someone is sharing my misery. Seeing that the guy is in pretty much the same situation as me and probably has no idea what¡¯s happening, I decided not to start interrogating him and simply asked: ¡°Do you know something that I don¡¯t? Which is to say, anything at all?¡± The guy opened his eye(s) and leveled his head to look directly at me. We stood like this for a few seconds. ¡°Aliens.¡± he finally said. I raised an eyebrow at that, he, however, continued to look nonchalant at me. ¡°...Riiiight.¡± I drooled. Looks like I¡¯ve got quite the luck to end up with someone like him as a roommate. Just as I started to complain about my luck, the guy¡¯s mouth split into a full-blown grin, teeth and all. ¡°Oh, fuck off!" ¡°Couldn¡¯t resist. Seemed like a shame not to use it¡± he said while still maintaining his grin. It didn¡¯t look like it would go away any time soon. ¡°Fair enough I guess.¡± I found myself smiling too. ¡°I am Edward by the way. You?¡± ¡°Arthur.¡± he simply supplied. ¡°Sooo¡­ You feel like panicking, screaming that we will all die and running around in circles like headless chickens?¡± I proposed with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Nah, I am busy nurturing my headache. Maybe after. What about you?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s too embarrassing doing it alone, plus I¡¯ve tried it before, 3/10, will not recommend it.¡± Arthur smiled at me. I smiled back. ¡°I think we will get along just fine¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say. ¡° I once again checked everything in the room once again and not finding anything new, I settled my eyes on the door. ¡°Did you check it?¡± I asked while nudging my head towards the door. ¡°Nah, I woke up like 3 minutes ago, checked for the off switch then felt like I will splatter on the floor if I will not sit down. That''s about it.¡° So he too huh? We must¡¯ve slept for quite a long time for the reaction to be so severe. Now that I think about this, I am hungry and thirsty too, though strangely enough, no morning wood. I bent and took a look under the bed in hope of finding some sort of footwear only to get immediately disappointed. Worth the try. Smirking at my disappointed face, Arthur finally moved from his position on the bed and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s go check out what¡¯s with this place.¡± I resisted the desire to roll my eyes and stood up after him. Footwear be damned. Thankfully this time around I didn¡¯t find it hard to hold myself on my own two feet. I moved after Arthur as he approached the door. I was almost convinced that the door would be closed but then he put his hand on the doorknob and the door opened without any resistance. There wasn¡¯t even the expected sound of unoiled hinges. As Arthur stepped forward, I did likewise. The corridor that we found ourselves in gave me the impression that I was back in my student dormitory except that it was a medieval dormitory with doors out of wood, all identical to one another, walls out of the same grey polished rock and illuminated just as damn brightly as the room behind us. Lengths wise it was also similar. You¡¯d think that with so many rooms this corridor will be somewhat busy and noisy, but nope, besides us, there was not even a soul in sight and it was deadly quiet. Pretty damn creepy if you ask me. Arthur frowned and moved to the room next to us and knocked on it 3 times. No answer. He then tried opening the door--except it didn¡¯t budge. Seeing that, I moved to the door across our and tried to directly open it-- it was closed. I turned around to see Arthur looking at me. He opened his mouth to say something only to close it back up when some sounds were heard at the start of the corridor. I jerked my heart in that direction. Steps. Soft, unhurried, one pair. I was able to hear them only thanks to how damn quiet this place is. Run? Hide? The situation doesn''t seem threatening though. Better safe than sorry? Do you even have any idea where to run? Confront? Can you even fight? I turned to Arthur. He looked completely relaxed. I raised an eyebrow at that. The guy¡¯s pretty damn chill. Before my brain managed to settle on either the fight or run instinct, it froze for a second because I saw an honest to goodness, full-blown maid. Seeing us, the maid smiled and started walking in our direction. Her steps just as unhurried and soft as before, thou maybe with an extra spring in it. She was a woman in her early 30''s with light brownish hair. The maid outfit looked rather¡­ simplistic. Actually, that¡¯s probably not the correct way of describing it. It simply didn¡¯t have any extra ¡®extra¡¯. As is in, no puffed up bottom part, no frillies, and sure as heck it wasn''t of the sexy variety. It was simply a working uniform. The woman approached while we stood and watched her. She made a small bow in front of us. ¡°Good morning Heroes. The breakfast is ready. Allow me to escort you to the dining hall.¡± The maid looked at us, waiting for a response. Heroes, huh? I definitely like the sound of that. ¡°Sure.¡± Arthur answered. ¡°Great!¡± The maid beamed a smile at him. ¡°Please follow me then.¡± She turned around and started walking before we even managed to say something. We soon followed after her. ¡°Hey, can you tell us-¡± ¡°All of your questions will be answered very soon. Please have some patience.¡± the maid, without even turning around, cut Arthur off before he managed to finish his sentence. There was even some edge in her voice. Judging from the frown on Artur¡¯s face, he wasn''t pleased with those words. He didn¡¯t voice his displeasure though and we silently followed her to the dining room. Arc 1 Chapter 2 The big wooden double door swung open and the maid led us into a spacious room filled with lots of large tables and benches arranged in straight rows throughout the room. All things considered, it looked like your typical high school canteen except with a medieval touch to it. Here, with practiced expertise, six other staff members were filling up one central table with food. There were a variety of dishes, from pastries to fruits, to whole roasted birds and even one whole pig carried on a small cart. The only thing that looked out of place was that only one table was filled up with food in this dining room clearly built in mind to easily serve over 100 people at a time. Oh, and if this is what they call breakfast, I am kind of scared to stay for dinner. ¡°Please take a seat and feel free to start your meal. Other Heroes will join you shortly.¡± said our maid and escorted us directly towards the table stuffed with food. Besides giving a small bow, the staff ignored us and continued filling up the table with food. Without any further prodding from the maid, I sat down and looked around the table. Settling on some slices from a deeply roasted chunk of meat of unknown to me origins, I took a generous serving for myself and dug in. Not exactly sure if it is the hunger speaking in me, but damn this is for sure the best slice of meat I''ve ever tasted. Texture-wise, it didn¡¯t even feel like meat, more like fat since it melted in my mouth. I haven¡¯t eaten before stuff like Kobe beef, but from the description alone, I¡¯d say it¡¯s something similar. I looked around the table, there were no sources for the meat or something like mustard. Shame. While I was already shoving the 5¡¯th slice of meat in my mouth, Arthur just sat down on the opposite bench, facing me, and started carefully picking on the dishes in front of him. He was acting rather reserved but after tasting the food, his speed steadily increased, and very soon he was wolfing down food as if there is no tomorrow, just like me. ¡°Try those before I finish them.¡± Arthur shoved a plate with 3 pastries on it to me. ¡°Thanks¡± Since there were around 10 pieces at the beginning, I took the entire plate from him. He gave me a stinky eye but otherwise didn¡¯t comment. The pastry was triangular and with a very fluffy, croissant-like texture. One bite into the pastry revealed that it had a sweet, milky white cream. Holy cow... Man, why in the heck is this so good! I mean, on the outside, this just looks like a simple pastry with some sweet cream as filling, but damn, the taste is anything but ordinary. I think that the ¡°Holy cow¡± was literally milked to create this filling because I have no other idea of why they are so delicious. ¡°This is for sure the best meal that I had in quite a while." Arthur said while looking at the plate with pastries that was near me, probably already regretting that he decided to share. ¡°More like ever.¡± Seeing him looking at the remaining 2 pastries on the plate I smirked and gave him an understanding look. I took one for myself and offered the last one to him. He snatched it right away with a curt ¡°Thanks¡±. Before I managed to take a bite, the big double door to the dining room opened up and both mine and Arthur''s head snapped towards that direction. The one who opened the door was a maid. Just like the one that led us here, she had the same classical, french like maid outfit with black hair tied in a ponytail. She also had glasses. More importantly though, behind her was a girl of 19-20 years of age with light brown and rather unkempt hair that reached her shoulders. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Shortly after the maid and girl entered the dining area, the doors opened once again to reveal another duo, this time a maid and a guy. The guy didn''t have any discernible features about him except maybe his rather long black hair and bangs that covered half of his forehead. Judging from his neglected facial hair, I had a suspicion that both were allowed to grow because the guy found it a hassle to take care of it rather than anything else-- a sentiment that I found myself often sharing. He looked younger than me, maybe around 18. Both newcomers, just like me and Arthur, were wearing a white, large sleeveless shirt and a pair of gray trousers-- with sandals on their legs. Where in the heck did they get those? The sight made me more acutely feel the cold stone on my bare feet. More importantly, though, there seems not to only be a lack of diversity in clothing, but in size too since the shirts and pants that the newcomer duo was wearing were clearly way too big for them. This especially was the case for the girl which was unsurprisingly the most petite out of the 3 of us. The shirt was comically big for her since it reached her mid-thigh and the neck opening looked more like a decollete, though it wasn¡¯t revealing enough to show anything of interest. The two maids lead the newcomers to our table and said their most likely already prepared lanes of: ¡°Please take a seat and enjoy your meal, your questions will be answered shortly afterward¡±. After that, the 2 maids together with the other staff retreated to an adjacent room. Kitchen? Most likely. ¡°Hi, don¡¯t feel shy you two, take a seat.¡± Arthur took charge and indicated at the place on the bench near him. ¡°We also came not long ago and just started to dig into the food.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± the girl said and took her seat some distance away from Arthur. The guy on the other hand just sat down near me without a word. ¡°I am Arthur by the way.¡± With his hand extended towards the girl and a smile on his face, Arthur introduced himself. ¡°Alice¡± She simply supplied without taking his hand. Not allowing the situation to get awkward, he used his already extended hand and pointed at me. ¡°This is Edward,¡± he introduced me without any note of annoyance or displeasure in his voice. Pretty smooth. ¡°Just Ed is fine.¡± I waved my hand and nodded my head at her. She reciprocated. ¡°And you¡­¡± Arthur trailed off while looking at the new guy. ¡°Mm? M-my name?¡± Jerking his head up, the guy looked at Arthur than at me with nervous eyes. His upper body twitched and his shoulders slumped even more than they already were. His body language was pretty much screaming ¡®PANIC¡¯ at this point. ¡°You, uh, can call me N- NightKnight.¡± He then nodded his head 2 times ¡°Yes, NightKnight, call me that.¡± The affirmation to himself seemed to give him some self-confidence since he straightened up somewhat and even his voice didn¡¯t crack as much. ¡°Sometimes I go for KnightOfNight when the original is not available though I will not mind if you just call me Knight for short.¡± he concluded with another nod of his head. ¡°Riight,¡± Arthur seemed taken aback and at a loss for words though he recovered fast and extended a hand to him ¡°well, nice to meet you¡­ Nait¡± ¡°Eh, Night also sounds good I guess. Nice to meet you too Arthur¡± Nait vigorously shook Arthur¡¯s hand with a bright smile on his face. His personality morphing right before my eyes. ¡°So, you are THAT Arthur, right? The Pendragon one?¡± Nait asked with a knowing expression on his face. The Pendragon in question smiled awkwardly, clearly not expecting this kind of development. ¡°No, not really, I am a simple Arthur, not the Pendragon kind.¡± Nait took his denial in stride. ¡°There is no need to hide it.¡± he waved his hand dismissively and smirked at him knowingly once again. ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t awaken your powers just yet, you surely will on our epic quest to slay the Demon Lord.¡± ¡°Sure¡± said Arthur with the same awkward smile plastered on his face while turning his head and looking at me for help. I couldn¡¯t think of anything to say at the moment since in my head I was celebrating that I am not the only one that thinks that we got Isekai''ed. So in turn I looked at Alice, hoping that she had anything to say-- nope, she was completely ignoring our conversation and was more focused on shoving as much food in her mouth as she can. Stop. My eyes glittered as I saw something valuable near Alice. Apparently, the stuff put another plate of pastries on the table while I wasn¡¯t looking. Without any more delay, I grabbed the whole plate and brought it near me. Seeing what I have done, Arthur immediately secured his share. I smiled at him and he smiled back. Alice looked at our exchange in silence and asked: ¡°Are they good?¡± ¡°No, not really.¡± Arthur replied while already shoving some in his mouth. Apparently, he didn¡¯t sound convincing enough since she snatched one pastry from my plate. One bite into it and her expression transformed into a blissful one. She wolfed down the remaining part and looked at me with eyes that promised repercussions if I didn¡¯t share. Cute. That¡¯s what I thought while I let her have some more Arc 1 Chapter 3 The meal after that was rather awkward. We¡¯ve exhausted the low-level discussion topics and, as if by some unsaid agreement, no one wanted to start one of the more heavy ones. We continued sitting and eating ever since and let the obviously awkward silence engulf us rather than break it. Which was rather surprising to me. People usually abhor this and fill it in just for the sake of getting rid of it. Usually, with the lamest shit if my past is anything to go by. Not this time around thou since, by now, I know better than that. Not being the most sociable one around, I¡¯ve learned the hard way that it''s better to pretend that you are not bothered by the silence and let others fill it in if they wish to rather do it yourself. Surprisingly enough, this served me very well during the years. Granted, the better solution, in this case, would¡¯ve been to improve my social skills, but oh well, problems for the tomorrow me. Nait seemed to be the most affected of us. His earlier enthusiasm started to wane after we moved from the Isekai topics to more mundane ones and, he somehow returned back to his original form. His shoulders and back slouched down, body tensed up and he was eating quite rigidly. He seemed to want and say something the whole time, but in the end, he didn¡¯t. Alice seemed genuinely more interested in stuffing herself up with as much food as she can so she did just that. Arthur, on the other hand, had a frown on his face and, even after taking a bite from a fried sausage, his features barely softened up. Did he remember something? Did the weirdness of our situation finally kicked in? And then there is me. I am surprisingly taking all of this pretty well. I mean, if you exclude my fair share of daydreaming about ending up in a situation like this where I will be going on leveling up sprees, killing monsters, saving princesses and other such stuff, you¡¯d imagine that there will be a little bit more panic involved or something, but nope. I don''t have any inside me. Not to mention that I did not leave that much behind. Around 5 minutes later, the door opened once more and a man dressed up in priestly garbs walked in, flanked by honest to goodness knights in full plate mail. The knights looked rather intimidating and the fact that they held their hands on the handle of their swords didn¡¯t help at all. The old man, in contrast, had a pleasant smile around him and emitted an aura of calmness. The contrast between the 2 was rather starking and this only made the situation even more foreboding. Maybe sensing the discomfort or maybe because he felt that the message was delivered, the old man made a signal with his hand and his 2 knights left his side and went to guard the door. Their hands left their swords. He then approached us with steady steps and a grandfatherly smile. ¡°Good morning Heroes. Allow me to introduce myself, I am episcop Lamson.¡± He said with a small bow at the waist. ¡°I am sure that all of you are scared and confused so, let me give you a short version of what is going on." He made sure that he has our attention and then started. "The demons become brazen once again and amass an army in preparation for another war. By now, there are multiple reports of burned villages and raids done by the demons. To help humanity, with the guidance of our Goddess, we summoned you 4 to help us in our struggle.¡± He then proceeded to make eye contact with each of us, one by one, probably to convey the graveness of the situation. To my dismay, when his gaze passed by me, he didn¡¯t have any particular reaction, but when he looked at Arthur, he held his gaze for a whopping 3 seconds and even smiled at him. I almost feel jealous. This aside though, the scenario so far is, well¡­ not the most original one. What with the demons being the bad guys that are constantly bullying the poor humans, which, after getting enough of it, decided to summon the heroes to save the day. It¡¯s interesting though that we, from his words, were summoned preemptively and not when humanity was at the brink of extinction. This kind destroys the tension if you ask me, but, on the other hand, I guess it¡¯s easier for us since there will be time to adapt and grind some levels. Not to mention that I am not really keen on being thrown right into the middle of the action from the get-go. After all, a game is a game, and life is life, it¡¯s not like I am looking forward to the days when I will be cleaning the blood and gore from my armor on a daily basis.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Stop, shouldn¡¯t I go with the mage route? Yea, being a mage is for sure better. Throwing a Fireball into their face sounds waaay better than going and personally spilling someone''s guts out. And it is also so much more¡­ cleaner. After finishing his theatrical (or at least that¡¯s how it looked like in my opinion) mini analysis of each of us, he changed his tone to a deeper one, as if to make a point, and finally stated his request. ¡°Please, don¡¯t let the demons be our doom.¡± After finishing his lane, the episcop made a very serious face for the sake of transmitting the seriousness of the situation. He actually managed to play his part rather well because the atmosphere became somewhat sterner. Thanks to the suddenly descendent silence, I even heard Alice audibly gulp. As for me though¡­ I probably would''ve been affected too if not for the fact that I''ve read a few too many novels and watched a few too many animes. ¡°I knew it!¡± shouted the person with whom I share the bench, Nait, with a big shit-eating grin on his face while looking at him. ¡°So we are summoned heroes after all!¡± he continued. Looking at him and his extremely dopey expression, I had a feeling that if for some reason all light will go out, you''ll be able to see his eyes shining in the dark. He was that happy. And stop, more importantly, why did you use an MMORPG username if you knew this is an Isekai scenario? But anyways, not gonna lie, I too am rather happy right now knowing that this is indeed in a fantasy world. I mean, this is a wet dream for a whole lot of anime fans around the world, me obviously included. ¡°Well, it was rather obvious if you ask me¡± I said while looking at Nait. ¡°True, but not meeting the goddess and waking up in a strange room instead of the summoning circle kind of threw me off¡± he responded to me and brought his hand to nudge his nonexistent glasses. Habits die hard. Oh, and he seemed to already undergo metamorphosis and be back into his ¡®social butterfly¡¯ form. Suddenly I became aware that everyone in the room was looking at us. Fuck. That''s because we are the only ones that didn¡¯t respect the ¡®grave silence¡¯ and got excited instead. ¡°Sorry to disturb, please go ahead.¡± Nait unabashedly tried to ¡®smooth¡¯ out the situation. The fact everyone¡¯s eyes were still glued to him didn¡¯t seem to disturb him whatsoever. ¡°There is no need to apologize. It¡¯s very pleasing for my old soul to know that you are so eager to help the human race. May I know your name, young Hero?¡± ¡°You can call NightKnight or KnightOfNight. For friends, just Knight is enough.¡± Nait said and made a deep bow with his right hand on the chest and the left one spread wide. ¡°Ah, though my companions here seem to prefer calling me Night, so that¡¯s fine as well.¡± The episcop gave a scrutinizing gaze to the performance thou seemed to take it very well and even smiled satisfied at him. ¡°Wonderful! The goddess truly blessed us! With Sir Night on our side, demons truly will have no chance.¡± He then turned his head at me ¡°And who you may be?¡± Based on the small glitter of expectations in the old man¡¯s eyes, I almost felt bad replying: ¡°Edward. Just Edward.¡± If the episcop was disappointed by my response, he didn¡¯t show. ¡°Sir Knight, Edward, I will be gladly waiting for the bards to sing about your journey to fight demons and save humanity.¡± ¡°Of course, this is my fate after all. I knew this since I was a mere child.¡± Nait said with confidence and reassurance in his voice. He seemed to be larping at full throttle by now. ¡°I am very pleased to hear this and, I can assure you that our church will help you and the other heroes on this endeavor in any form that we can. Now, can you please come closer so that I can check something?¡± Before I could ask what he was checking with test of his, as if the question was written on my face, the episcop already started explaining it on his own. ¡°From our old records about the heroes of the past, we know that the mana density in your world is minuscule at best or totally nonexistent at worst. The problem is that our world is bursting with it and, the process of acclimatization can cause problems but it¡¯s nothing serious as far as we know. Still though, if there are problems, it¡¯s better to deal with them earlier so that it will not cause complications in the future. That¡¯s what I am trying to do right now¡± Huh, that makes sense. None of the novels that I¡¯ve read of the games that I¡¯ve played address the problem of acclimatization and just roll as if that''s not a thing. From a more realistic point of view, it shouldn''t be that easy, right? Or worse thou¡­ What if a scenario similar to the one during the colonization of the new world happens? While I am not an expert in history, I¡¯ve heard that the diseases brought by the Europeans to the new world claimed the lives of more than 50% of the native population. And these were diseases brought from one continent from another. What about diseases brought from one world to another? What about the complete lack of immunity to the new world''s diseases? I felt someone tugging on my arm. After turning my head I saw that it was Nait. He wasn¡¯t looking at me though, his gaze was focused on the episcop, which was looking questionably at me. Just like the 3 others. Right. I moved towards the episcop for him to check me out. Arc 1 Chapter 4 ¡°I am pleased to tell you that I haven¡¯t spotted any problems so far but, but please do inform me with haste if you feel like something is not in order with your bodies.¡± Episcop Lamson informed us. ¡°Now that we got this out of the way, is there something that you will want to know?¡± ¡°Can we get out of here?¡± Arthur shot out the question right after the episcop finished his sentence. ¡°Goddess Ilumina summoned you here with a goal in mind. If you will uphold her will and do what she desires, I don¡¯t see why she wouldn¡¯t grant you this small favor. After all, if her previous champion is any example, she will gladly fulfill your wish. ¡° the episcop answered in a calm and steady tone. Judging by the expression on Nait¡¯s face, he, like me, wasn''t really surprised with this answer, after all, this is a pretty standard vanilla route as far as these stories go. However, Arthur didn¡¯t seem pleased one bit with the answer that he got. Alice on the other hand seemed rather indifferent with the answer. There was neither our with Nait¡¯s acceptance and joy nor was there Arthur¡¯s indignation. She wasn¡¯t displaying any fear, resignation nor anxiety which is pretty weird in my opinion. ¡°And what if I don¡¯t want to cooperate and help someone that presumably just forcibly kidnaped me, transported me to a different world, and made me do her bidding without even asking my opinion about this. What if I don''t do that just in spite? Not to mention, why didn¡¯t she directly inform us about our supposed ¡®mission¡¯? if we are so ''important''?¡± the displeasure and venom practically oozing in Arthur''s speech. Despite the harsh words, episcop Lamson didn¡¯t even flinch from hearing his Goddess getting bad-mouthed. He even continued to smile in the same amicable, grandfatherly way. ¡°All of you were summoned here with a goal. The mere fact that you are here means that you were deemed worthy by Her. To question your motives will be to question Her intention which this mere servant does not dare to do.¡± After finishing his response in a calm and succinct tone he even bowed his head a little at the end. Thie episcop¡¯s answer took some wind out of Arthur¡¯s sails as his expression softened a touch. He still didn¡¯t want to back down though. ¡°Well, in this case, if you don''t question my motives, I would really like to get out of this place. ¡° Arthur seemed bent on not following the standard path here. To the episcops credit, if he was annoyed with Arthur''s antics, he didn¡¯t show it, instead, he continued to smile kindly as if Arthur was nothing more than his unruly grandchild showing a temper. ¡°If this is truly your intention, then I would''ve respected your wish if the circumstances were different. Unfortunately, not anyone shares our view and the heretics that are encroaching on our land got a message about your presence.¡± the Episcop¡¯s face soured at that. He then shook his head slightly and sighed. ¡°You need to understand that the world out there is unfortunately not safe, the Empire¡¯s agents are lurking in the shadows and waiting for the opportunity to strike. As much I¡¯d like to let you go and follow your destiny, I can not-- nor will I be allowed to be fair, to let you go free under such grave circumstances. I may be old but I am still sound of reason. You don¡¯t need to worry, you are safe in here and will not be lacking in anything while under our care. We will even actively help you gather your strengths, and when the situation outside will get better we will happily allow you to leave at any moment.¡± Arthur didn''t seem to buy it one bit. ¡°And when this better situation will arrive?¡± he asked with skepticism in his voice. ¡°Sooner than you might think actually. The king prepared a feast in your name to welcome you. And lo and behold the Empire decided to pay a diplomatic visit exactly on the same day. What a coincidence." The episcop managed to look both indignant and amused at the same time. "However, on the upside, your presence might just help us convince the Empire in lowering its aggressive stance which in turn will put your lives under less danger."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°And what is the problem of these heretics? Didn''t you just said that we will be protected?¡± From hearing this question, the old visibly saged, as if strength left his body. He sighed and with a disheartening voice said. "Your safety is under no threat so you don''t need to worry about it. The problem here is that the Tyrant has been using religion as a tool to satiate his hunger for conquest. I will not be surprised if he will be brazen enough to ignore fool-proof of your identity and make you into some kind of impostors." He shook his head. "To think that he dares to call us unbelievers and heretics while he sows so much sorrow and destruction that the demons might not even need to come if he will be allowed free reign. But alas, trials and tribulations. He will get his just punishment at Goddess Illumina''s hands in the afterlife.¡± So, let¡¯s see, the humans are about to get pounded by the demons while those in power are bickering between themselves, clinging to the mere scraps of power that they have and playing at the ¡°I am holier than thou game¡¯. Sounds about right. The small and weak good guys are bullied by the bigger neighbor and when he gets the news that the Heroes arrived, he tries to get rid of us before we become a problem. Sounds like some classic Isekai plot right there. If you add in some kind of permanent underestimating of the main character and constant exposure to ¡®villains¡¯ with linear power progression that always end up getting face slapped, you''ll I get yourself a story. If that''s not enough let them run away to their bigger brother, master or whatever to cry foul about the new upstarts in town and cry foul about how they got ''bullied'' and you''ll have ''plot'' for hundreds of chapters ahead. I do say that, but now that I think about it, the dregs will most likely beat our asses too since, not counting the few scuffles in high school, I don''t have any fighting experience. I didn¡¯t get any kind of special powers either. No talk to goddesses, no obvious cheats, no system-- all in all, it doesn''t look good so far. Not the best reincarnation scenario as of yet. 6 out 10 for now. Not recommending. We''ll see if there will be any elves or catgirls. Opinion may change. ¡°So then what¡¯s your plan? What should we do?¡± Alice finally chimed into the conversation. ¡°Good that you asked. There will be a banquet tonight partially made to welcome you but also as a way for our king to acknowledge you as true Heroes and saviors in front of the ambassadors from other kingdoms. Ideally, your presence will help humanity unite once again in the face of the common enemy. The Empire is not likely to be swayed but if other kingdoms do, then an alliance between all of us will help deter the Empire and hopefully allow us to focus on the true enemy. Worst case scenario the news will still spread fast through the continent and even if the Empire will try to label you as imposters, the population might not necessarily get swayed, especially so considering the fact that many are followers of the old ways and only ¡®converted¡¯ to this¡­¡± the old man¡¯s face soured as if he tasted something disgusting. ¡° heresy only under the threat of death. Granted there are some ignorant fools that just eat the lies spewed by those in power like the wicked Emperor and his corrupted priest but thankfully they are in the minority. The emperor knows this and if he will openly act against you, he might end up with a rebellion on his hands, especially if we will help with the spread of some kindling and sparks. Forest fires start from just a small source after all.¡± "There is nothing to worry about Sir Lamson. Worst-case scenario, even if that tyrant will act against us, I will personally make sure to go after his head after accumulating enough power.¡± Nait scrutinized his brows in thought ¡°Now that I think about it, this sounds to be the plot of this scenario. Help defend against the Evil Empire that¡¯s causing problems in times of strife, slay the evil tyrant and probably save a princess or two, unite humanity under our banner and be just in time for the start of the second book which will be about the war against the demons." he nodded his head in confirmation. I shot a surprised glance at Nait. That¡­ sounds surprisingly like a full-fledged and very likely plot. I am impressed. Episcop Lamson and the other 2 not as much thou if their expressions are anything to go by. "Your words do warm my old heart but I really hope it will not reach this point. A lot of human blood will be spilled in the incoming years and I really don''t wish to contribute to making that pool bigger unless it''s absolutely necessary." the episcop said in a tired voice. "Now, what else do you want to know?" he asked. Arc 1 Chapter 5 The old Episcop answered a few more questions and then left, saying that we will meet again on the way to tonight''s banquet. A short version of it will be like this: Yes, there is magic. No, he cannot teach it to us right now. We will have classes later. Yes, there are different races. Yes, there were previous heroes before though we are the only four right now. At the moment we are inside a mountain, hence the lack of windows and stone walls. This is where the church''s knights live but thanks to the border tension, all the knights from this barrack were deployed on the front line, that¡¯s why the place is empty a the moment. Apparently, after summoning, we were naked and unconscious for an entire day so that''s the reason why we woke up in rooms. The shirt and pants duo is standard clothing given to the knights of the church. That¡¯s why all four of us are wearing them. After finishing our breakfast the maids cleaned up the table and left. ¡°So, what now?¡± I asked. We all stood around the same, except the now empty table. ¡°For me, the most important thing right now is trying to access the ''system'' and see if we have any unique powers to us. After that will be training to level up that ability. Cracking up the formula to do magic will be a close second. Oh, and speaking of magic, please do share if you find something interesting." Nait gave a more or less expected result. ¡°I am more concerned with the fact that we are like prisoners here. There is only one entrance to this¡­ barrack and it is closed!¡± Arthur''s mood didn¡¯t improve at all since the talk with the Episcop. ¡°The Episcop seemed like a typical priest to me.¡± Nait didn¡¯t agree with Arthur¡¯s evaluation. ¡°A nice fella. Even if we are closed in here for now, eventually we will be allowed out any way to go in the dungeon and kill monsters for leveling up. Worst case scenario we just need to be strong enough to simply get out forcibly.¡± He shrugged. ¡°But in this case, we better make some allies like the royal family or maybe some influential nobles in the country to have some support for when we are underleveled.¡± Arthur looked incredulously at Nait. He appeared to have enough of this anime bullshit and seemed ready to snap at any second, but thankfully didn¡¯t. He looked at me. ¡°Please, tell me at least more level headed.¡± Damn, and what should I say now? ¡°Well, I am not sure. I know what Nait is talking about and there is a good basis for that theory. I think it will be smart to act based on this theory until proven wrong.¡± Hopefully, it will never be proven wrong. Arthur didn¡¯t like my answer either since he turned to Alice. ¡°What do you think?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t really know nor do I particularly care. It seems like a good idea to me to play along until we¡¯ll have more information. Aggression from our part right now will only worsen our standing with the episcop and most likely not have any benefit. The guys that came with the old man seemed scary, if this is where they live, there are at the very least 300 on them minimum. I don¡¯t like my chances even against one. We better play by their rules for now.¡± she said with a neutral expression on her face and stood up. ¡°I am going back to bed.¡± with the words said, she left us just like this. That''s¡­ A way more level headed response and relaxed attitude than I expected gotta say. ¡°Tsk¡± while I am surprised by the chill attitude of others, Arthur seems to be getting more and more annoyed by it. He looked at Alice¡¯s back with slightly pursed lips and frowning brows. Without an extra word, he also rose up and left. I looked at Nait. ¡°I am going to check out this place a bit then.¡± ¡°Sure. I am going to try and find out how to access the system.¡± We both stood up and went our own way. I went to explore the building though not before heading into my room and taking a pair of sandals which I was informed were in the wardrobe this whole time... From walking through the entire place for around half an hour, this place reminded me of a 2 pronged fork with the metal bits being corridors and the base of the fork being the entrance-- the sole entrance to this place. On the leftmost and rightmost sides were living quarters while in the middle were service rooms, like the canteen. Besides it, there was a gym and training area on which Nait was running laps around for some reason, a bathing area followed with a natural-looking hot spring and lastly, there was a modern-looking bathroom except it was of the magical variety. The second floor on the other hand was all filled with rooms. The polished grey stone theme and lack of windows persisted throughout this entire place. The barrack was 25 rooms long but since the rooms were small, it wasn¡¯t that long. If the math serves me well, there should be 150 rooms in total, for a total of 300 persons-- like Alice said... and it is being used by only 4 persons right now. Talk about excess. All in all, a massive place that somehow didn¡¯t give in under the weight of the mountain, though I suspect that magic is the answer to that question. Stop, more importantly, if there are freaking 150 rooms, why in the heck did I get a roommate? Couldn¡¯t they give me an entire room as Nait and Alice got? --- I entered the gym and looked at Nait that was shirtless and sweaty doing push-ups. If we were to take the stereotypical image of an otaku as a glass wearing, basement-dwelling, ugly looking, fatass having, mage achieving, waste of oxygen, then Nait was the opposite of that. Young, lean with defined musculature and, if my views on this are to be trusted, rather handsome too. If he will not open his mouth and if not for his, ugh¡­ personality disorder? You will not even be able to tell that he is a hardcore otaku. ¡°How is it going?¡± I asked. Nait finished his set and looked up at me. The exhaustion clear on his face. ¡°I¡­ ha¡­ was trying to see- ha, if I will get a notification for ¡®+1 strength¡¯ from doing physical exercises.¡± he then sat down on his ass and continued to breathe laboriously. ¡°I take that there is no success in this regard?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Nait even shook his head for emphasis. ¡°And it¡¯s safe to assume that you tried all of the more obvious stuff like saying ¡®status¡¯, ¡®inventory¡¯ and what not?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Nait gave me an accusing glare. I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°There is no system then. Why do you even care so much?¡± ¡°What?¡± Nait half yelled and looked indignant at me. ¡°How could you say this? A reincarnation story without the LitRpg element¡¯s is like a cake without it¡¯s cherry on top.¡± ¡°Dunno." I shrugged. "Seems fine to me.¡± Genuine bewilderment was on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. He opened his mouth the second- only to close it once more. ¡°I don¡¯t know you anymore.¡± he finally managed to say and turned his back to me. ¡°Oh, come on! It¡¯s not that bad! Don¡¯t exaggerate.¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± Nait ignored me and started doing another set of push-ups. I rolled up my eyes at him and went to a weapon rack that was near the wall of the gym. There was a variety of weapons in there though nothing exotic. I took a heavier than it¡¯s looks may imply, wooden sword because everyone knows that Heroes use swords. Preferably of the Big Ass variety but since there are only normal one-handed ones in here, I made do.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Upon taking the sword in my hand and squeezing the handle with my right hand, I felt something. It¡¯s¡­ strange. There was a sense of familiarity that shouldn¡¯t be there. Familiarity similar to me putting my index fingers on the F and J keys and feeling bumps under them. The same familiarity when I take my digital drawing pen in my hand-- it just felt right. A familiarity that obviously shouldn¡¯t be there since this is the first time of me taking a sword in my hands- toys not included. I involuntarily frowned at this. I spread my legs to take a stance, put my other hand on the handle, and slashed forward only to feel shudders run through my body from how wrong it felt. It was the writing with my left hand instead of the right one kind of wrong. It was just¡­ just no. Simply bad. I knew for sure that it was wrong because I have the perspective of writing with my right hand and the left one. I tried it again. This time I spread my legs a little further, up to my shoulders and trying to use my shoulders and by extension my back-- not only the arms, I slashed downward with all my might. Pushing hard with my right foot on the stone floor, I stepped into the slash that was bearing my weight behind it and in the end caught myself with the left leg. The sword sliced through the air with a satisfying *Fhush*. A euphoric grin spread on my face. ¡°Hey, Nait!¡± He ignored me. ¡°Man!¡± there were no blue boxes to inform me of it nor were there any bricks of information hitting my brain, but I was pretty sure that ¡°I found my cheat power!¡± Hearing this, Nait¡¯s head snapped right away in my direction. ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°Have you tried the weapons?¡± ¡°No? I¡¯ve been doing exercises until now.¡± ¡°Well then come and try using one!¡± I didn¡¯t need to repeat myself twice since Nait almost ran to the weapons rack. He picked up a sword-- because of course he will-- and turned to me. ¡°So what''s next? What did you do exactly?¡± He asked with the excitement of a little kid. I frowned. He clearly didn¡¯t get the same feeling as I did. In the meantime, Nait made a casual swing with the sword. Even without my cheat power pretty much screaming at me about how horrible that swing was, I could tell that it was a bad swing. Or should I say, a swing of someone who holds a sword for the first time in his life? ¡°Come on, Ed, spill it out!¡± Nait seemed really impatient and eager. ¡°Just take another weapon.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Just take one.¡± Nait took a mace and turned to me with a raised eyebrow and inquisitive glance. I shook my head in negative. He then picked a heavy double handed Warhammer looking thing. He turned to look at me with a big smile on his face. Apparently, he liked the weapon. ¡°No¡± is all I said and the smile was wiped from his face. He then took a spear and staggered a bit. He turned around but was still looking at the spear. After a few seconds, he raised his head and looked at me in confusion. I smiled at him. ¡°Try using it.¡± I said and he did just that. I clumsy first thrust, followed by a better second one and an even better third one. Nait stopped, looked at me, and then smiled. I smiled back. He then chuckled and I chuckled back. Not long after we were both laughing our asses off. ---- ¡°I don¡¯t think that I will be satisfied with a simple bath anymore after this experience.¡± I said to Nait who was soaking beside me in the hot spring. ¡°Yea, I now understand why the Japanese enjoy their hot springs so much¡± he took a wet towel, put it on his eyes, and leaned back. ¡°Haa, I don¡¯t think you can beat this. Especially after a hard workout.¡± ¡°Well, for maximum immersion we need Alice to be on the other side of the wall, and then it will picture-perfect cliche, don¡¯t you think?¡± Not disappointing, his reaction, despite me already expecting to see something similar, was rather exaggerated. At the mention of girls, he jerked his head up which caused the towel to fall in the water. Seeing his reaction, I struggled to keep the smile off my face. On the other hand, seeing me cracking up at his expense, Nait frowned, took the wet towel from the water, and threw it at me. ¡°Jerk¡± he muttered at the end. ¡°Ha-ha, sorry man, but your reactions are way too ridiculous sometimes. Didn''t think you''d react like a typical anime character at the mention of girls.¡± ¡°Oh fuck of. Don¡¯t make it sound as if you are some kind of natural with the girls. I am pretty sure that you will be stuttering and flinching like a nervous wreck if a girl was now in front of you. And besides, we were summoned to another world, our situation is as anime-like as you can get.¡± ¡°You are exaggerating my dear awkward friend.¡± I patted Nait on the back. ¡°Oh yea, then tell me please mister guru, did you ever kiss a girl?¡± ¡°O-of course I did.¡± Nait smelt blood in the water and went on aggressive.¡°Stop, no way, you never kissed a girl before. You are what 20? And never ever kissed?¡± ¡°Oh shut it, and who in the fuck are you trying to shame here when you are no better than me?¡± I shot back. ¡°Well, it¡¯s you who started this you asshole! And besides, I at least am not trying to lie like someone in here.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t lie! I really kissed a girl before.¡± after some time and silent contemplation I added. ¡°Pecked. In middle school, I went on my first date with a girl and in the end, I pecked her on the lips. Maybe she thought I was awkward or something, I don''t know, but she never spoke with me after that.¡± Man, saying this aloud felt way more depressive for some reason. Hearing my story, a spark of sympathy appeared in Nait''s eyes. He probably recognized a part of himself in my story. ¡°2D girls forever?¡± Nait asked. My downcast feelings were swept away and the gloomy expression was replaced with a smile from hearing Nait¡¯s words. ¡°Fishermans do indeed see each other from afar, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Peace brother.¡± Nait said and he offered me a hand for a handshake which I of course accepted. We stood in silence for a while. ¡°Sooo¡­ what do you think about this Hero Summoning stuff?¡± I broke the silence ¡°Hm? Well, truth to say, it seems a little underwhelming and¡­ un-sparkly, I guess? Not sure how to describe it. I thought it would be a little more... cool? Epic? Like in these fantasy novels and anime, you know? Not to mention that there doesn¡¯t even seem to be a game system. I already started to think of a perfect necromancer build but then it turns out my cheat ability is spear related so that¡¯s the end of that dream.¡± ¡°Yep, I know what you are talking about. I also thought if I would ever be in this kind of situation I would be super happy but so far nothing really interesting or out of the ordinary happened, everything seems to go by the script. Not to mention that reading a cliche is one thing but living in one is way worse.¡± Nait gave me a knowing smile. ¡±I feel you, man. Not to mention that it¡¯s not even the good kind of cliche. I¡¯ve spent like an hour or so trying to activate the ¡®system¡¯ in some kind of way or another, tried using all the easy ways. Then I tried all the cheesy stuff for magic like yelling ¡®Fireball¡¯ or trying to ¡®feel¡¯ the mana and ¡®imagining¡¯ the spell. Then-¡± Nait just sighed and shook his head. The mere act of talking about it seemed to sadden him. ¡°So, found anything interesting in the end?¡± ¡°Yep..¡± he curtly said, and I raised a questioning brow at him, urging him to share his findings ¡°A lot of nothing and a shit ton of embarrassment. Do you want some? I don''t mind sharing.¡± I rolled my eyes at him and he smiled cheekily back. ¡°I on the other hand, while exploring this complex, found something else though.¡± I put a serious expression on my face and looked at Nait. ¡°Did you check the wardrobe in your room?¡± ¡°Well yea, there was just a pair of sandals and that was it. You had something else in yours?¡± Nait slightly leaned forward towards me, definitely curious about what I have to say. ¡°Yep. I don¡¯t know about yours, but mine had a false bottom. When I opened it, I found a parchment. From what I understood, it was basically a simple exercise to help in feeling and¡­¡± I made a short pause to look for the appropriate word ¡°¡®pushing¡¯ mana.¡± Silence. ¡°So? Come on man, don¡¯t just stop like that!¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, sorry. Ok, so basically you need to put hands like this.¡± I put one hand above the other, palms facing each other, and with a major gap between them. ¡°This position is supposed to help you feel the mana that you release from your palms. Oh, and you need to chant a mantra like the monks from the mountains. Got it?¡± ¡°Seems simple enough.¡± Nait nodded his head in acknowledgment. ¡°It is. I already managed to feel the mana but still have problems with pushing it.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Come on, try it yourself¡± Nait didn¡¯t need to be told more since he eagerly started to copy me. ¡°Ok good, now you need to chant the mantra to help. Start looking for your inner energy and start chanting ¡®HAAAAA¡¯. It''s supposed to help in feeling the mana or something.¡± "HAAA-" Nait started doing just that. ¡°Uhuh, good, now just try to push it with your hands¡± Nait did a pushing gesture with both of his hands. ¡°Yep, good, now let¡¯s go through the full exercise. Repeat after me.¡± I put my hands in the initial position and started chanting ¡®HAAA¡±. Nait copied me and chanted his own ¡®Haaa¡¯ ¡°Good, now the pushing gesture. Ready?¡± Nait just nodded at my question, obviously deep in concentration, trying to feel the mana. With one fast motion, I pushed my hands outwards and shouted ¡°-DOUKEN¡±. Promptly following my directions, he copied my gestures and shouted: ¡°HAAA-DOUK--!!!¡± Nait froze up. Silence. ¡°Pffft, A-ha-ha-ha-ha¡± Not managing to restrain myself anymore, I started to laugh my ass out while hammer fisting the rock beside me... Realizing what he just did, Nait started to become redder and redder by the seconds right in front of my eyes. ¡°YOU FUCK!!!¡± Nait punched me in the shoulder with a lot of force In retaliation, I threw the wet towel right into his face while still laughing my ass out. --- ¡°So¡­¡± I said as we started to get out of the hot spring ¡°do you feel stronger or more¡­ magical?¡± Nait let out a chuckle. ¡°I feel as magical as ever¡± I looked at him strangely. ¡°By that you mean not at all?¡± ¡°Yep. And I don¡¯t think that 2 hours in this supposedly magical hot spring, as was claimed by the maids, is supposed to do some miracles.¡± ¡°Well yea, but I don¡¯t feel anything magical or unnatural at all. I am not asking to become a magician right away, just some crumbs will do fine you know ¡®cause so far it seems like a typical hot spring.¡± Nait just shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s a good hot spring,¡± he said simply while wiping his hair. Just as we were dressing up, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked. The door to the changing room opened up to reveal a maid that slightly bowed to us. ¡°Heroes, the preparation for the King¡¯s banquet needs to begin. Please follow me.¡± Perfect timing.