《Anomaly》


 1 A strange dream

    It was evening. Today was one of the rare days where everything was going smoothly in the Laboratory, and that was why Allan had the time to go home to sleep for a change, even if the project was still incomplete.


    Exhausted as he was, he still took a quick shower, put on his pajama and fell in his bed that he got to use way to rarely. It didn''t take him long to fall asleep.


    ....


    ?It''s only a little further until we reach my testing grounds."


    ?Why the heck do we need to be all the way out here, didn''t you just want to show me a new weapon?"


    ?Yes, that was the plan, but you do know that I''m not allowed to test anti-army functions within the castle?"


    ?Oh, so it''s that type of weapon?"


    ?Yes, it is. You should be very satisfied with this."


    Suddenly, a beautiful spear appeared in Allan''s hands. It was a little less than a meter long and of a bluish silver color without any obvious connection parts, making it look like it was made of only one piece of metal. While it certainly looked like that, it wasn''t the entire truth. The spear was completely covered in a dense web of golden lines and runes, which gave the weapon its real beauty, all while still maintaining that feeling as if the entire thing was made from one seamless piece of metal, giving it a rather mysterious feeling.


    ?Is that it? Well, it does look impressive as always, that is something you have a knack for. So what can it do?"


    ?It''s nothing overly complicated, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t strong. Ah, we are here, you can try it on those trees over there. Well, on that what is left of them.


    First, concentrate the mana in the spear until it gets hard to fit in more. Yes, just like that."


    Slowly, the spear that the other person was holding got surrounded by a faint golden aura.


    ?In this state, the mana depletes slowly, while strengthening the material and sharpening the edge. Like this, you should be able to use it to fight in close combat but try to refrain from using it like that. It''s still a secondary weapon."


    ?But why a spear if it is a secondary weapon? Wouldn''t it be better if it was smaller like a ring or pendant in that case."


    ?I couldn''t make it any smaller, my abilities aren''t good enough. And a spear had the optimal form to apply the enchantment and rune inlays on. So I thought making it a spear wouldn''t be bad in case the charging process takes to long and you get attacked in the process.


    But we are here right now because of the next step. Aim the spear at those trees and continue concentrating mana in the weapon. You are in for a little surprise!"


    Doing as told, the golden aura started strengthening further. Then it started traveling along the shaft to the tip where it formed a small ball. In the next moment that golden ball shot out at incredible speed while constantly growing, obliterating everything in its way for over fifty meters distance while growing to a diameter of ten meters.


    ?I like it, it can wipe out all nearby enemy''s with a sudden large-scale attack and only needs to recharge afterward. You really are an intelligent man."


    While the person said that, the spear began to shine golden again.


    ?But that is also what makes you to dangerous."


    Saying that, the person suddenly stabbed towards Allan, only to be stopped shortly before hitting him by an invisible barrier.


    ?Sh*t. I wanted to end it fast."


    ?You...!!! Core activate! Artifact cancel, code: Destroyer! Start battle mode! Counter: spear, magic!"


    Suddenly, a fist-sized ball floated up behind Allan''s left shoulder. The outer layer of this ball expanded to almost double its original size, splitting up in countless glowing fragments in the process that started rotating around the center. Layer by layer the ball continued ?disassembling'' itself until everything one could see was a slightly translucent, blue glowing, ball of light.


    ?You! What the hell are you doing?! Connect to the main unit! Start emergency sequence: code 5284. Delete all externally stored data and activated security level 7 seal. Disconnect from the main unit. Activate: Aegis, Titan, Durandal!"


    While all of this happened, the other person had already put away the spear. The golden aura had almost instantly vanished when Allan had given the first command after activating the core. While Allan was giving his commands, ten men and women wearing tight-fitting, dark green, almost black, armor appeared one by one around him, with one wearing a silver shoulder guard with a small golden crown sitting on top of it.


    When Allan completed his last command, he was already fully surrounded, but at the same time, three items appeared.


    First were seven small silver balls that were covered in blue lines. They quickly started hovering around Allan as if to protect him.


    The second was a set of crude looking, dark grey armor. But instead of collapsing, it stood in front of Allan, looking like Titan with its several centimeter thick armor plates, fitting to its name. In only a few moments, the whole backside of the armor separated into several pieces which floated out of the way, allowing Allan to simply step into the armor after which it closed again.


    The core that was previously floating behind Allan''s shoulder, automatically fitted itself into a hole on Allans back, after which it got covered by the last piece of armor that was especially thick. The seven silver spheres also fitted into the prepared slots in the armor.


    The last item was a gigantic greatsword. The blade was completely black, two meters long and 30cm at its widest. When Allan gripped the handle with both his hands, golden lines started to spread from the handle over the whole blade.


    hummmmmmmmm


    After a few moments, the sword started to give off a low humming sound.


    ?Attack the traitor! Don''t let him get away with his life! Don''t let him hit you, that sword is extremely dangerous!"


    Just like that, Allan in the middle, surrounded by ten armored figures which were each holding a long knife in their hands and the man outside of the circle, they stood there. Slowly, Allan brought the Sword to his left hip, prepared to strike.


    Suddenly, in one fast movement, he jumped backwards while turning right by half a rotation, using this force to increase the power of his strike.


    Unprepared for this attack, as the warrior was standing directly behind Allan as well as the speed which shouldn''t be possible with such heavy equipment, the warrior that the greatsword was aimed at didn''t have the time to evade and tried stopping the blade with his own while jumping backward.


    Bang!


    Propelled by his own jump and the clash with the black sword, the warrior was catapulted away for over ten meters where he crashed with his back into a tree.


    Snap


    Craaack


    Booooom


    With a loud snap, the tree with a width of almost half a meter broke right in half and Crashed to the ground. The warrior stood up from the ground, only to fall back down. Looking at the blade in his hand which was almost cut in half in shock, he didn''t realize what was happening right now.


    ?Close the circle! Don''t let him get away!"


    Before he could get out of the encirclement, the remaining nine fighters closed in on Allan, now prepared for any sudden movement.


    While all of this happened, several large magic circle started to appear around the person outside the encirclement.


    Not wasting the leftover power of his first strike, Allan kept turning around, completing one complete spin and swinging the sword in an overhead strike at the next opponent. This time his enemy managed to evade his attack, or so he thought, as one of the Aegis spheres appeared in the direction he wanted to move in and blocked his path with a barrier. Not as lucky as his comrade who only lost his weapon, this fighter got cleaved right in half by the heavy blade which didn''t stop in its path until it was stuck completely in the ground. Pulled forward by the huge momentum of his sword, Allan jumped forward with a somersault over his still stuck sword, his hands never leaving the handle, he used that movement to pull the sword out of the ground.


    Again the encirclement got closed around Allan, this time only with eight people left.


    This time the other party moved first. As if someone was commanding them, all eight warriors jumped on Allan at the same time. In an instant, the seven spheres of Aegis build a strong barrier behind Allan''s back, only letting the three enemies in front of him capable of approaching him. Quickly dropping his sword Durandal as it was mighty but to slow for this situation, Allan crouched down and jumped forward in a low tackle.


    Using the high weight of his armor, Allan rammed his shoulder into his enemies guts and throwing him on his back. In one swift motion, Allan stole his enemies knife and rammed it into his neck, ending his life.


    Pulling it out again, he threw the knife at the woman who stood right beside the one he had just killed, where it pierced through the visor into the eye behind it. Only stopping a centimeter before hitting the brain. The woman was alive but incapacitated.


    ?Activate: Gungnir!"


    A short javelin appeared in Allan''s right hand, and before the enemy could reach him, he already threw it the person that was standing at the side, chanting a spell the whole time. But alas, it was already too late. While Allan was still in his throwing stance, the spell was already completed.


    Almost like a laser beam, a horizontal pillar of fire was fired at Allan, carrying immense temperatures. Faster than the Aegis spheres, the attack reached Allan, first melting his armor, and then burning away his whole right body before he could move away.


    ....


    When he woke up, he was sweating all over his body, it seemed he just had a nightmare but he couldn''t remember what it was about. When he looked around, all he could see was white. White was the only color that seemed to exist. When he looked at his hands he was shocked for a moment because it looked like they hovered in the air, it took him a few moments to realize that he still wore his pajamas, just that they had become just as white as the background and therefore made everything they covered seemingly invisible.


    ?Weird, what''s going on? Am I still dreaming? No, more like a lucid dream since I can think clearly? That doesn''t seem to be it either... hmmm."


    Deciding that he should look around a bit more, he turned around.


    Behind him on the floor, if you could call it that, lied a person.


    It was a man that seemed to be quiet a bit older than him, somewhere between 30 and 35. He looked quite handsome if you ignored his sleeping face and had flaming red hair. He was rather muscular, especially his legs, it seemed like he ran a lot. On his left hip, he had a big scar.


    The reason that one could see so much was that he only wore boxer shorts, completely white like everything else.


    Wanting to find out more, he slowly neared the man, crouched down and called out to the man, trying to wake him up. The only answer he got was a silently grumbled gibberish.


    After trying a few more times he shook the man. Suddenly, as if he was hit by lightning the man shot up, hitting his forehead on his shin. With a groan both, he and the man fell backward clutching there shin and forehead respectively in pain.


    ?Ouch... shouldn''t you know already that this happens when someone touches me when I''m sleeping!?"


    ?Well, I''m sorry for that, but how was I supposed to know? Anyway, who are you?"


    ?Who are you? That''s my freaking question! And what the heck are you doing in my house... For f*cks sake! Where are we!"


    ?So you don''t know as well? That''s... not good if anything. My name is Allan Walker, and you?"


    The man got up from the floor again, seemingly a little calmer now.


    ?You can call me Cale, and... what the heck!? A talking head!"


    It took Allan a few minutes to calm Cale down again.


    ?So, Allan, you are saying because everything besides our bodies has become perfectly white, even our clothes, everything underneath our clothes looks invisible? That makes things easy. Could you please take off your clothes?"

 2 The group 1

    ?No! Why?"


    ?To be honest it''s freaking disturbing!


    Talking to a floating head!"


    ?Oh, ok, but still no!"


    At that moment Cale saw someone appear behind Allan:


    ?Oh, it''s another one! There behind you!"


    Turning his head around Allan looked at the person that laid on the floor a few meters behind him. It was an Asian girl and she was completely naked. She had long black hair that would reach down to her back when she stood up. But the best way to describe her would be small, she was only around 1,5 to 1,6 meters tall and if not for her long hair one could probably mistake her for a pretty boy if she wore just slightly loose clothes.


    ?Well, Allan my friend, you are the guy with a shirt!"


    Grumbling silently Allan took off his shirt and covered the naked girl, and then proceded to try and wake her up.


    ?Hello? Excuse me!"


    ?Hmmm... not now Airi, I have to work today and am still exhausted from playing with you all night yesterday!"


    *cough*


    Allan turned his head slightly embarrassed to look at Cale and tried to ignore the pictures that he just imagined.


    Carefully Allan shook her shoulder and continued to call out to her, all the while taking care that his head was out of all potential danger zones.


    ?Who? What? Where?", still half asleep the girl asked all three important W-questions.


    When she looked down suddenly started to blush heavily and said rather loud:


    ?Turn around right this instant!"


    While both men turned around Allan remembered to remind her:


    ?By the way, the part of your body that seems invisible is the part that''s covered by my shirt. You can wear that for the time being."


    When the men were allowed to turn around again, the girl already wore the shirt. Luckily she was pretty short, so the shirt reached over her butt and half the way down to her knees.


    After a few minutes, they had calmed her down and explained the situation.


    ?So, Aya, I guess you also don''t know what this freaking situation is all about?"


    ?No I don''t know, and mister Cale could you please not get so familiar with me? It''s uncomfortable."


    ?Hm? What are you talking about?"


    ?May I ask a question miss Ishikawa? Where are you from? Or more precisely, which language are we using right now?"


    ?Obviously Japanese?!"


    ?Eh?"


    ?Then please, listen to me talking and only concentrate on the sound and ignore the meaning. Which language is it? Can you tell?"


    ?What the f*king hell! I have never heard this kinda language before, what is this?"


    ?Well, it''s definitely not Japanese, that''s weird, to say the least."


    ?How the hell did you even realize that?"


    ?Well, I also didn''t realize at first, but it got me thinking when miss Ishikawa complained just now. Her name already sounded like a Japanese name, and if you consider the fact that it is impolite to call someone by their first name if you aren''t close in Japan it got me thinking."


    ?What the heck have those things to do with each other?"


    ?Well, it is considered normal. But everywhere else her complaining about this is quite weird. At that point, I realized that something didn''t fit, because I also thought that everyone was talking English."


    ?Aren''t you freaking perceptive!"


    ?Mister Cale, could you please stop cursing all the time? It''s getting a little bit annoying!"


    ?Ah, I''m sorry about that, it''s a little bit of an occupational disease."


    ?In what kinda Job do you have to curse that much?"


    ?Well, I''m training the Soccer team in my hometown, so I have to get a little bit loud sometimes or those kids just won''t listen. Oh by the way what are you doing... when you aren''t here... wherever we are right now?"


    ?I''m still in my last year of high school, by the way, what about you mister Walker?"


    ?Allan is fine. Well, I''m a scientist, leading a small team."


    ?Oh, what field are you working in?"


    ?Although you probably won''t like it, it''s modern weaponry."


    ?Ah... Well, if you don''t do it someone else will, and everyone has to earn their money..."


    ?What? What happened? Who are you people?"


    Suddenly a new voice sounded out behind them. Allan turned his head, curiously enough he couldn''t see the origin of the voice.


    ?Huh? The voice sounds female, but why can''t I see her?"


    ?It''s probably because of her clothes. Excuse me, could you please take off some of your clothing, it''s enough to take off the things that cover your head and hands."


    ?Um, yeah, of course, I can, but why?"


    ?Just look at us, the part that is covered by clothes is practically invisible."


    A few moments later a head with shoulder length blonde hair appeared midair and two hands followed soon after.


    ?My name is Julia Bauer, pleased to meet you. So who are you and where are we? I was operating on a patient just now, I have to get back!"


    ?That is the same f*cking question we want to get answered, you can call me Cale."


    ?Allan Walker. So miss Julia is a Doktor, and you said you were operating just now? can you tell me more about that? About how you came here?"


    ?You can drop the miss, just Julia is fine. Well, i... don''t know what happened myself. At one moment I stood at the operation table with my scalpel in someone else guts and then suddenly everything went white. Next, I heard you guys talking, and you know the rest."


    ?So you are saying there was no process? You didn''t get kidnapped or drugged or anything?"


    ?No, and now that I think about it, I even stood in exactly the same posture."


    ?By the way Julia, oh you can call me Aya, are you perhaps from Germany?"


    ?How did you know that?", Cale asked, slightly peeved that he had to still call her by her last name, but not some woman that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He suddenly remembered what she first said when she was still half asleep, and then it dawned upon him.


    ?Ahh, well, some manga authors like to use the german language, mostly as some kind of magic language, but also german characters. That''s why I could recognize the name."


    ?That''s interesting, may I ask. What time of the day was it when you appeared here?"


    ?Well, it was already pretty late at night."


    ?So, considering that we three where all asleep when we came here we can infer that we appeared with a difference of 30 to 60 minutes but disappeared from all over the globe and still always at night. That''s... let''s call it ?interesting" for the moment."


    ?All over the globe? What do you mean?"


    ?Well you are from Germany, I myself am from England, Ishikawa is from Japan and Cale...?"


    ?America."


    After they had explained Julia the rest and had discussed some additional theories and assumptions Allan suddenly spoke up:


    ?Ishikawa, could it be that you have some kind of complex about your height?"

 3 The group 2

    ?Eh? N-no! ...W-why are you asking?", Aya answered slightly panicky.


    ?Then why are you standing on your toes all the time?"


    ?Huh? What do you mean? I''m standing totally normal?", Aya reacted confusedly.


    ?Urgh, what the heck is going on now!?"


    ?Well, I can''t say it with certainty but didn''t Ishikawa become larger? Come and stand beside me."


    A few moments later Aya stood beside Allan who already continued:


    ?Originally Ishikawa reached only barely over my shoulder if I remember correctly, but now her head already reaches my nose."


    ?Now that you say it... I didn''t realize that myself..."


    ?Look down, she just stands on higher ground than you."


    Looking down Allan answered:


    ?Certainly."


    Crouching down to take a closer look he said:


    ?But as far as I remember there shouldn''t be any steps or slopes..."


    Allan touched around on the floor, trying to find the step. Suddenly he finds his hand under Aya''s foot. When he lifted his hand, trying to find the platform Aya was standing on they suddenly heard a loud shriek.


    ?Iiiieeek... urgh, please stop, my feet are extremely sensitive!"


    Still standing on one leg after she lifted the other one, she looked around herself, seeing that everyone looked weird at her. To be exact, at the place where her foot was originally. Looking down she saw that Allan waved his hand up and down through that place.


    ?Th-The floor! What if the rest also disa- aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"


    Reaching down, Allan threw himself on the hard floor, bellyflopping painfully. But still, he had managed to grab Aya arm barely in time, preventing her from falling any further. While he reached down with his other hand as well, or else, he wouldn''t be able to hold her for long. He cursed inwardly at himself for not working out like he had planned so many times before, or he would be able to pull the small and light Aya up without any problems.


    ?Stop! Be careful, we don''t know if there aren''t any other holes!", Julias voice sounded out, stopping Cale, who wanted to rush over, right in his tracks.


    A moment later Cale started to move again, this time slow and carefully as to not fall into a hole as well, as there would be no one to save him.


    When Cale finally reached the two, he helped Allan to pull Aya up. Just as they wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, they almost dropped the still panicking Aya again, as she kept ?falling through the floor".


    After trying out some things they decided to resolve the problem by letting Cale carry Aya in his arms. Making Aya blush and panic because of completely different reasons as they both were still wearing only a single piece of fabric.


    After around ten minutes of walking around in the same area, to show her that there indeed was a floor, Aya had finally calmed down enough to stand again on her own. And this time everything went well, without her ?falling through".


    They sat down in a circle to discuss what happened earlier. But when they even after a long time didn''t get to any plausible conclusion Allan spoke up:


    ?So, no one has any ideas anymore?"


    ?Hmmmmmm..."


    ?Julia? Have you found something?"


    ?Maybe, but I''m going crazy if this actually works!"


    Saying this she stood up and closed her eyes as if to be able to concentrate better. A moment later she took a step forward, or more like, upwards, and continued to do so as if she was walking up a flight of stair, only to jump down after four steps again. She opened her eyes.


    ?How the f*ck did you do that right now?!"


    ?I was about to explain when you interrupted me. The answer is imagination, it seems that things are just as we imagine them. Remember what happened with Aya before? Because of some reason, she imagined the floor to be higher than everyone else. So, when Allan ?proved" that there actually wasn''t a floor where she stood before, she started to doubt herself. Then, panicking, she probably imagined the floor to disappear, and you know the rest."


    ?And only when she calmed down and we convinced her that there actually is a ?floor" she was able to stand on her own again.", Allan completed the story.


    ?So you basically just imagined that there were stairs and then walked up? That''s how this place works?"


    ?Of course that''s how it works! We are in a mindspace after all! That''s the problem with uneducated people like you! Well, since you figured that much out on your own you aren''t totally stupid after all!"


    Four heads whipped around to find the owner of the new voice.


    ?So you know what''s going on here?", Allan asked the handsome youth.


    ?As I said, this is a mindspace. I won''t explain much more since it''s too much of a hassle. But if you want to know who or why they did this, even I don''t know that. However, they will show themselves eventually, or else this whole thing wouldn''t have much use. In actuality I''m more interested in how they did this, I should have been protected more than good enough!"


    ?May I ask who you are?", Julia asked.


    ?But of course, my name is Loras van Fordan, first prince of Fordan forest on the great continent of Farenhas.", Loras answered while putting a strand of his smooth blonde hair behind his ear.


    ?Pfff... Hahahahahahahahahahahihihihihihi!", Aya burst out, laughing.


    ?Oh my god! And i -hic- Ahh sh*t! And I actually believed you -hic- at first! Why the -hic- heck are you cosplaying as some elven prince in this kinda -hic- situation? You even nailed the ears!"


    ?Cosplay? What''s that? And no I don''t have any earrings if it''s that what you mean."


    ?Hahahihi, Roleplaying! Acting! Choose what -hic- whatever you want!"


    ?Acting? I don''t have any reason to lie! Why are you suddenly accusing me of being a swindler?"


    ?Ok, kid, like seriously, who the f*ck are you and what do you know about this sh*t!"


    ?Everyone Silence! Calm down and let''s talk about this like civilized people! And you Cale! I tried to ignore it, but stop it with those expletives all the time! It was already annoying before but right now it''s everything but helpful!"


    When Julia suddenly got loud everyone became silent in an instant, and you could only hear Cale answer meekly in a weak voice.


    ?Yes. I will try."


    When everyone finally calmed down again, it took them almost an hour to talk everything trough.


    ?So you three are saying that you are from a world where there are only humans no magic at all? I totally can''t imagine that!"


    ?No no no, I''m even more shocked that Julia actually knows magic! I thought you were just like the rest of us!", Aya countered.


    ?I would like to forbid the usage of terms like magic and miracle! Those are just a branch of science that we still can''t completely explain, nothing else!", Allan interjected.


    ?I know what you mean but just see it like this that that branch is called magic, also, that''s totally beside the point! Well, I''m sorry that I didn''t mention it beforehand, but since I''m a doctor I thought it obvious that I know magic. Also, I never heard of something like this mindspace before."


    ?But still, that we are supposed to be from three different f*-?


    ?Expletives!"


    ?*cough* Three different worlds is stillf-*cough* pretty astonishing!"


    ?To be precise, considering the discrepancy''s in our arrival time that I mentioned beforehand, we are probably all from different... worlds? dimensions? possibilities? If we were to discuss historical events we would probably find differences sooner or later. However, that''s not important right now. A new guest just arrived."

 4 The group 3

    Hearing what Allan said everyone turned their head in the direction he pointed out.


    ?Worked!", the newcomer said in a low voice that could have been mistaken as a cats purr.


    ?A Pantherian? No, wait, her skin is to light, and that voice! Even her eyes are green!"


    ?Hm? What are you talking about, Loras?", Aya asked curiously.


    ?Ah, right you aren''t familiar with other races then humans, if I''m right she should be a pantherian, a tribe of beastman."


    In front of them stood a small girl, around the same size as Aya. Her skin was fair and light while her hair was midnight-black and reached only down to her chin until it changed into black fur that covered her neck, a part of her shoulders and front, as well as her whole back down to her tailbone where one could see a long, elegant cattail moving through the air. Her head was adorned by a pair of beautiful cat ears that moved attentively left and right as if to not miss the smallest sound, while her bright green, almost glowing, eyes looked at the rest of them with a sharpness that didn''t quite fit the rest of her cute face, only to be further strengthened by her cat-like pupils.


    ?I can see that she is a beast person, I''m not blind!"


    ?Ah, right, I still can''t wrap my head around how your people managed to come up with races that don''t exist in your world while still getting the names mostly right."


    ?Hey, it''s not nice to talk in front of her like this! My name is Julia, what is yours?"


    ?Shade."


    ?Urgh, we won''t get anywhere like this, you are a Nightwalker, right?"


    ?Nn.", Shade nodded her head.


    ?Well, I never thought I''d ever get to see a nightwalker. Nightwalker are an extremely rare mutation that can happen in the pantherian tribe. Normally pantherians are rather large and muscular, with rather dark skin and much less fur than her. Also, they have mostly yellow, rarely blue eyes. Pantherians are said to be some of the best naturally gifted assassins combining great stealth and a high amount of explosive strength. A nightwalker is different in many points, they are much smaller and less muscular, their eyes are green without exception and their beastly blood is much stronger. That is shown in their eyes, giving them great night vision, their fur, and their bestial instincts. On the other hand, it''s said that it makes talking very hard for them, as we can obviously hear. Considering their abilities there are also differences as well. For one they have an extreme affinity with the darkness element in terms of magic. On the other side, their explosive strength is much lower but they are even faster, more agile as well as stealthier. Also, it is said, when a nightwalker is born in a pantherian family the child gets taken away immediately to start their training as assassins while the family gets a reward that''s enough that the next two generations could live of of it without having to ever lift a finger. I don''t know anything about the abilities of a fully trained nightwalker, only rumors, the only thing that is known is that they almost exclusively use bow and arrow, very rarely do they use blades and even then it''s said that they are using arrowheads. Some of the still most believable rumors would be, that they can hide from a person on an open field, just by staying out if their field of vision, or that they are so fast with their bows that even if they stood right in front of you, you would have an arrow stuck in each eye before you could even think of drawing your sword! In short, they are, without exception, extremely dangerous individuals!"


    During the entire duration if Loras explanation Shade would only nod in affirmation every now and then or utter a satisfied and proud:


    ?Nn."


    When they tried looking at Shade, they realized that she was long gone from where she was before. Instead, they heard a low purring sound from Aya''s direction, when they looked to her they saw a picture that didn''t quite fit with the earlier description, as they could see Aya petting and stroking Shade''s head that laid in her lap who was the source of the purring. Both had a rather satisfied expression on their faces.


    Truly, the legendary stealth of a nightwalker!


    ?Hoh, he says you are dangerous.", Aya said to Shade, still not stopping to pet her.


    ?How come you know so much about them?"


    ?*cough* *cough* Well, I am the first prince of a kingdom after all. So I need to know such things as I could get involved with them at any time. No matter if I am on the giving or receiving end of their service, as they are the best assassins you can buy for money."


    ?Oh, right, you said that something ?worked'' when you first came here, what did you mean, Shade?", Aya continued.


    ?Ritual."


    ?A ritual? Ritual of what kind?", asked Aya further.


    ?When Nightwalker turns 15, offering service to goddess with ritual. Almost never works, but for me, did."


    ?Eh, you are three years younger than me?", Aya asked her in astonishment and with a tinge of sadness.


    ?Three years older?", Shade asked back, with the same astonished face that Aya had, unknowingly rubbing salt into her wounds.

 5 The group 4

    ?So first ?magic'' and other worlds and now even gods, huh? This is either one insane coincidence, or we have to consider that there is someone or something that''s calling itself a god. Still, even then, it may be some insanely powerful being but I will never believe that it is either omniscient or omnipotent. With this much stuff going on it seems like I will have to reconsider many things and concepts in my research in the future.", Allan said.


    ?What do you guys think, how many more people will get thrown in here by that assh-?


    *cough*


    ?-that god before she is satisfied?"


    ?Who knows, depends on what she needs us for.", Julia answered.


    ?Do you know what this situation actually reminds me of? Hero summoning!"


    ?You mean like in those stories? I''ve read some of them as well some time ago. Haha! That sounds so freaking ridiculous that it could actually be true!"


    ?Let me think... In that case, they come usually either alone or in groups of three, five or seven. But lately, there are also many stories with huge groups of over twenty people... but in that case, they always just take away a whole classroom including the teacher...", Aya contemplated.


    ?In short, we don''t know.", Allan closed the case.


    ?But in terms of timing it shouldn''t be long if there are more to come, it''s always been around 30 minutes if my sense of time isn''t failing me completely."


    Not knowing what to talk about they fell into an awkward silence, waiting for something to happen.


    And as predicted, after only a few minutes a figure appeared. The figure that was most likely a man, was a giant of nearly two and a half meters, but at the same time very lanky with very long limbs, making him look almost like slenderman. His skin was light gray and he seemed to have not a single strand of hair on his whole body, not even eyebrows or eyelashes. His eyes were constantly in a half-closed state making him look sleepy and a glowing blue crystal sat in the middle of his forehead. And, only if one looked a little bit closer would one realize that something was missing, he had no ears.


    -Hello.-, an ethereal voice said politely.


    Confused, they looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice.


    -Yes, I''m communicating with you, there is no one else besides us seven in this space right now.-


    ?Oh, telepa-?


    -I''m of the magus race, we can only communicate through telepathy, it is an innate skill of my race.-


    ?-thy that''s a really rare skill, is what I wanted to say.", Loras explained only to get interrupted.


    ?So, wha-", Julia got interrupted as well.


    -Just call me Magus, we don''t have names that could be conveyed in words.-


    ?Are you per-", Cale got an annoyed look on his face when also got interrupted.


    -Yes, my race is naturally gifted in magic.-


    ?Say, Magus, are yo-", Cale began his sentence.


    -Indeed, I can read your thoughts. But I can only read those you want to convey to me. I can''t read anything you don''t want to.-


    ?How ca-", Cales face kept getting worse and worse.


    -You can''t be sure that I''m not lying, but I can teach you a method to prevent your mind from getting forcefully read.-


    ?Can you f*cking stop interrupting me any single f*cking time already!", Cale finally exploded.


    -I''m sorry, I''m not used to communicating with talkers, it was my mistake. Since I can''t hear I should have checked your lips movement. I will try not to make this mistake in the future.-


    ?Haahh, Nevermind, I also overreacted. Sorry."


    ?Magus, do you..."


    -I do...-, magus looked towards Allan and stopped answering halfway.


    ?...have any idea who brought us here and why?", Allan continued as if nothing happened.


    -I don''t know.-


    Thinking for a moment, Allan closed his eyes as if he were concentrating on something. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again.


    ?Did you get that?"


    -Yes, thank you. But I can''t add anything to that, I think now we can only wait and see.-


    ?Hey, that''s actually pretty convenient, you know that!"


    ?Heh? what did you do?", Aya asked confusedly.


    ?I tried to convey all our earlier discussions and conclusions to Magus, it seems to have worked quite well."


    Hearing that, Shade also closed her eyes for a moment.


    -I''m sorry, now is not the right time to teach you Shade. It might take quite some time for you to learn telepathy as a nightwalker''s affinity to darkness magic is quite strong, as telepathy is magic without an element, you would have to first learn how to clear your mana of the darkness element. That isn''t something easy as you would have to relearn almost everything from the beginning.-, Magus answered as politely as ever.


    ?Heroes!", a beautiful female voice rang out, giving off a holy feeling as they could hear it through their ears and minds at the same time.


    ?Aya, I really respect you right now!", Cale spoke up.


    ?Like, seriously!?", hearing that Aya couldn''t help but facepalm.

 6 Heroes 1

    ?Heroes! I goddess of love and life, protection and loyalty, Amaris, beseech thee! Protect those who came to me, searching for aid, and in return, I shall give you all a new possibility. You who have no attachments to your worlds and talents you can''t even imagine yourself, I shall free you from the restraints of your old worlds, and give you powers, so that you may better protect my people from their enemies!


    Cale, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Leader], so that you may act in my name and lead the others so that you all may be stronger together!


    I give you my blessing!


    Loras van Fordan, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Hope], so that you may act in my name and, if the need may arise, become able to carry the hopes and legacies of your fallen comrades!


    I give you my blessing!


    Ishikawa Aya, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Protector], so that you may act in my name and may become stronger the more there is for you to protect!


    I give you my blessing!


    Julia Bauer, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Anti-thesis], so that you may act in my name and give healing and strength to your own, but also death and weakness to your enemies!


    I give you my blessing!


    Magus, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Elementalist], so that you may act in my name and bend the four elements to your will!


    I give you my blessing!


    Shade, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Might], so that you may act in my name and overcome your weakness by unleashing the power of many in a single mighty blow.


    I give you my blessing!


    Allan Walker, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Craftsman], so that you may act in my name and create worthy weapons and armors for your companions, capable of protecting them and bringing out their full power!


    I give you my blessing!


    Now my Heroes, go on to protect my people in my great name, Arimas!"


    ?Holy sh*t! Literally! In my case it''s true what that goddess said, I don''t have much attachment for my old world and it sounds interesting to become a hero, but what about the rest of you?"


    As an answer, Cale just received a row of shrugs and shaking heads.


    ?You did say that you were training a small soccer team, but I didn''t expect you to become the leader. But since it is like this, please tone down on the curses, that won''t be good for our reputation. But I do have to say, these ?powers'' she gave us are quite curious, it feels as if I would have been supposed to be able to always use them but only now I start to remember slowly how... Either way, I''m rather content with my position, I may be good at making weapons but never really liked using them, call me a coward if you want but that''s how it is."


    ?To be totally honest, i don''t know how I should feel about this whole [Anti-thesis] ability, on one hand I feel like I could be able to achieve the total opposite effect with my healing spells, which goes a little bit against my codex, on the other hand I think I could also achieve healing effects with magic that would normally be used with malicious intent. It feels rather disturbing, but at the same time I feel like I could reach a completely new realm right now and save patients I wouldn''t have been able to before."


    ?What should I say, at least you have something that you can use. I didn''t get anything that I could use as long as no one of you dies. That''s what I would call disturbing!"


    ?Nn. Satisfied!"


    -Indeed, I too am very satisfied.-


    ?I will give it my best to protect you, although I don''t really know how right now, I feel like I could manage somehow! Anyway how long do you think we have to wait until we get sent wherever we are supposed to?"


    Throwing a short glance at everyone Allan answered wryly: ?I just hope that goddess gives us some clothes beforehand, and if those people have some kind of nudist culture I would rather decline."


    As if on cue, white ?invisible'' patches started to appear on everyone''s bodies while the original ones just changed their forms until they all seemed more or less fully clothed.


    ?Do you think... she actually forgot?", Aya asked in a hushed tone, as if careful that the goddess wouldn''t hear.


    ?Never. Goddess is goddess."


    ?Shit... but now that I think about it, that sounded as if she was just filling in freaking blank spaces, in a pre-prepared speech."


    ?You shouldn''t curse at the goddess, we are in her mind space, she can hear everything we say in here if she wanted.", Loras warned.


    -It''s starting, I can feel some kind of spell getting activated.-


    Suddenly, everything went first white and then black. For a moment, nothing happened.


    *Thump*


    ?Aaahhh, that damn goddess, she totally did that on purpose!"


    When Allan opened his eyes he realized that he had been lying on the ground in the same posture as he was before he entered the mind space. Looking in the direction of the noise he saw Cale holding his red face while kneeling on the ground. It seemed that he appeared a good distance above the ground and landed face first.


    Looking down his body and then at everyone else he saw that they were all wearing elegant white robes, fitting the image of a hero.


    While Aya was already standing up, Julia had gone over to Cale and crouched down. Mumbling something incomprehensible she touched Cale''s face, instantly he stopped wailing.


    ?Thanks, that was magic, right?"


    Julia nodded and stood up, pulling Cale up as well.


    After this short intermission, a loud voice sounded out:


    ?The godsend heroes arrived!"

 7 Heroes 2

    They stood in the middle of the main ship of a huge church, there where normally rows and rows of benches would stand for those who want to pray or take part in the service.


    Drawn on the floor was something that could only be described as a magic circle and every now and then there laid different sized gray-colored crystals in between the lines.


    Around the magic circle on the ground, as well as some balcony''s on the first and even second floor stood endless rows of priests in silent prayer.


    Seeing that Cale gulped loud, thinking about the fact that he had just cursed at their goddess.


    There were probably only seven people in the whole church right now who weren''t praying. Shade, who was actually an offer to this goddess, was also praying, making it the other six heroes and the person who announced their arrival.


    He was a middle-aged man in a long white robe, that made him look like had some high position in the church, which was only supported by the fact that he seemed to be leading this ritual.


    Slowly, one after another, the priest started to lift their heads, all looking at the heroes.


    It was then that the old priest spoke up again:


    ?I am cardinal Eberhardt, I am truly glad that I am allowed to meet with you, the chosen heroes of our great god, lady Amaris. Please, tell me, who of you is your representative?"


    Before anyone could react Julia spoke up while pointing at Cale:


    ?That would be him, Cale."


    Grabbing his ear, Julia spoke to him in a mix of whisper and hissing:


    ?No profanities, I warn you!"


    Getting pushed in the back, he stumbled a step forward before he caught himself again and took two more steps until he stood right in front of the seven.


    Nervous, not knowing what to do with them Cale kept his hands behind his back, giving him in combination with the white robe the goddess provided, even if unintentional, a very proud and slightly majestic appearance.


    ?My name is Cale, sir, I am the one who was appointed by the goddess as the leader."


    ?No need to be so formal, sir Cale. Please follow me, I''m sure that you have many questions about the kingdom of Loreley as well as the reason which made us summon you."


    With a friendly smile on his face, the cardinal left the altar and the pedestal which it stood upon. His slow but strong steps resounded loudly throughout the gigantic church. Without having to say anything the priest parted in front of him, staying at a respectful distance, the only sound they produced throughout the ceremony being the faint shuffling of their feet.


    Without caring at all about the fact that the hem of his robe destroyed the elaborately drawn magic circle, the Cardinal strode right through it and kept going towards the gigantic closed main gate. He gave off such a holy aura that even the heroes took a respectful step to the side and then followed after him without another word.


    Working like a smooth and quiet clockwork, six priests, three on each of the huge double doors, pushed the gates outward, opening them.


    Thanks to the fact that the church stood alone on a hill in the midst of the city, as well as the crystal blue sky, the seven heroes got to see a magnificent view of what was probably the capital of Loreley.


    To the left, on the only other hill in the city, as well as the only place that stood even higher than the church, stood a gigantic castle surrounded by two walls. A small one at the foot of the hill, and a second, higher, one at the top. In between those two walls one could see a literal ocean of beautiful flowers, only interrupted by the occasional gravel path, where one could see some people wandering around, some alone but mostly in pairs of man and woman.


    A beautiful yet highly practical design, as there was not a single object that would obstruct the vision of the guards on the upper or lower wall, while the meandering gravel paths never got closer than 15 meters to either wall, making every potential trespasser very obvious.


    If one looked a little bit to the right, one would see numerous small and large mansions. The noble district were the nobles resided that either lived there or visited the capital. There were only two main streets, one on either side of the castle, drawing a long line throughout the whole city, while also being the only street adorned with stores in the noble district.


    While not being in the noble district, the hill with the grand church stood right outside of it, at the place where the first and second wall stood the furthest away from each other. This was to prevent eventual invaders from using either the walls or the hill to their own advantage when capturing the next target.


    The capital had a whole four walls, besides the two castle walls. With each wall, the houses would get smaller and build in a more chaotic manner. And if one looked outside the fourth wall one would see that even there were already new houses getting build, but even then, one would never see a house, no matter how small, that wasn''t built of bricks.


    That, as well as the continuously expanding walls,were enough to show the progress and prosperity of this kingdom.


    ?How do you like the view of our capital city, Lorain?"


    ?It is certainly very beautiful. And, even though it is not the same as our modern society, this city seems have progressed very far and looks very clean. Considering that I just hope you also have decent plumbing."


    ?Hahahaha, no need to be concerned, though only around every second household beyond the second wall, and only a rare few beyond the third wall have it, we are constantly improving on that front. And we are very proud of the fact that Lorain is one of the most sanitary cities on the whole continent. And you are?"


    ?Allan Walker, though I won''t be fighting on the front line I will do my best by providing weapons and armor worthy of the other heroes. And although this city is already on a very good way, I may be able to provide some support in that aspect as well."

 8 Heroes 3 8

    ?You are saying that you come from a place were they made a greater technological progress than our kingdom?"


    ?Yes, that''s exactly it. But i guess we haven''t progressed further in the big picture necessarily. From what i heard that should be Julias world."


    ?Well, i''m just wildly guessing right now, but i imagine that you should face a certain problem with the development of technology."


    ?What do you mean?", Aya asked curiously.


    ?If my guess is correct, the problem is the existence of magic."


    ?Why is magic a problem?"


    ?Then let me ask you a question. What sounds more interesting to you?


    Studying magic, or finding a way to improve the cities plumbing system?"


    ?Urgh, i get it."


    ?Hahaha, thats exactly the problem we are facing with the development of our city. Almost all the capable and intelligent people prefer the study of magic, but sadly that isn''t anything that the common people can benefit from. Even the most simple spells or magic artifacts require you to possess a certain capability in terms of magic to make use of them. And that is definitely not something common. But may i ask, why does it sound as if you aren''t familiar with the problem?"


    ?Ah, the reason is simple, and also the same why i said that my world isn''t necessarily further developed. We didn''t have that exact problem, in fact, there was no one who could use magic, so there no need to study it."


    ?That kind of world must be a wonderful place for commoners to live!"


    ?Maybe, but it isn''t like we didn''t have our fair share of problems to deal with. And it seems you too, or else we wouldn''t be here right now."


    ?On that note, what is going to happen with us now?", Cale asked, stopping the discussion about the problems of society and plumbing at that point.


    ?We will take the carriages over there. You will be brought to the King of this country. Even though the church performed the summoning, it is the kingdom you shall safe, so it is also the king who will take command directly as long as the heroes are concerned."


    After he guided them to the carriages, the cardinal as well as Cale Aya and Shade embarked on the first, leaving the second for Allan, Loras, Julia and Magus.


    While they were moving towards the castle Julia suddenly asked:


    ?What do you think about this kingdom?"


    ?It seems like a very good place to live for the common people, but i can''t say much more until we find out what the problem is."


    ?Certainly, they do seem very developed. I don''t have much of an opinion as there are almost no elves that are incapable of using magic, but as i have seen other human cities before i can understand their problems to a certain extend. To be honest, i never expected to get to see a human city that is almost as clean as an elven one. But for now we won''t know if the rest of it is just as clean. In a physical and political sense."


    -I can''t say much in this matter, our culture is very different from Humans and elves. You humans had a word for it, i think you called it communism.-


    ?That doesn''t seem unrealistic, considering your way of communication. But one thing is definitely clear, we were summoned to fight, the question is: who or what?"


    ?I do have to say that i''m quiet happy about the sanitary conditions here. As a doctor i have pretty high standard''s. And Loras is right, we have to consider the political situation as well, but i almost forgot, that you were a prince i mean. But it''s good that we have you, i doubt the rest of us is any good in these kinda situations... Especially Cale..."


    ?I''m still wondering why he of all became the leader, i don''t understand how that goddess came to the conclusion that that would be a good idea.", Loras said with a frown on his face.


    ?Didn''t you see him back at the church? I think if he stops cursing all the time he actually has that type of personality. That of a leader, i mean. Well, we still will have to support him. I''m actually getting a little worried right now."


    Not listening to their conversation anymore, Allan looked out of the window of the carriage. At the moment they had reached the main road in the second district. He saw many people going around, in and out of shops.


    Looking at their clothes Allan saw that they seemed to be of rather good quality, nothing like the machineproduced products of his old world but still of fairly high quality. The thing that calmed him down especially was that he couldn''t see any outrageous types of fashion, actually everyone seemed to be clothed pretty moderately, showing almost no skin.


    The only exception to that were the occasional beast people that seemed to make up around 10% of the population. Still, even in those cases they mostly only left the parts of their body''s uncovered that were covered in fur instead. The most daring he could find was a woman that was wearing a dress that left her back uncovered, but even that hardly surprised him as she had rather large wings that would make it very difficult to wear anything else.


    After a while Allan realized that there was a certain regularity, a black leather collar with a round metall plaque which had different symbols engraved on them. All of those who where wearing these seemed to be in some kind of servant position.


    ?Say, do you have an idea what those collars mean? I have a bad feeling."


    After looking out of the window for a while Loras finally answered:


    ?Aren''t they slaves? I heard you humans liked to do that."

 9 Heroes 4 9

    Thinking for a moment Allan asked:


    ?Magus, can you also connect the thoughts of two people?"kdkddk


    -I never tried, but i think it should be possible if no party defends against it. Also, i will hear all that you convey to each other.-


    ?Thats ok, could you please connect me with the cardinal in that case?"


    -Of course.-


    ?Oh, can you make it so that everyone can hear it?", Julia asked.


    -I will try.-


    ?Thank you. You want to ask him about the slaves, right?"


    ?Yes, although we can''t be sure if they are."


    -Oh, you have someone who can use telepathy? And rather good at that!-


    -Yes, Magus, the big guy with a crystal in his forehead.-


    -Mister Walker, i guess? I see, i hurried to much and didn''t give you a chance to introduce yourselves. Why are you contacting me like this?-


    -I have question, i noticed those people with collars and wanted to ask.-


    -Ah, you mean the slaves.-


    -So they really are slaves. I won''t judge but i''m just not used to that as slavery was abolished a long time ago where i come from.-


    -Yes, i heard that even hear are country''s like that. But i can assure you that they are treated very well in these parts, as we have even many laws to protect them.-


    -They are protected by the law? May i ask how the conditions are?-


    -Slaves aren''t really treated much different than normal people in most cases. Compared to other places the conditions are very good here.


    As a slave they naturally have an owner, which you can identify with the help of the collars the slaves wear. The owners have to take care of them properly, they are given living quarters food to eat and clothes to wear. Also, even if not much they even get paid for their work. The working conditions are also very good, there are maximum amounts of working hours a day and one free day every week, if my memory doesn''t fail me. There are mainly only two downsides. First, of course, a slave can''t choose which job he is given, but most of the time the owner let them do what they did before they became slaves. There should also be some exceptions, an owner can''t, for example, force his slave to risk his life or into sexual intercourse.-


    -And the second downside?-


    -Family, a slave has to ask for their owners permission if they want to have children. If they are allowed to, the owner has certain responsibilities in that aspect as well, making it so that those children most of the time end up working for the same family as their parents when they grow up. Either as a free person or as a slave, but they aren''t slaves since birth.-


    -And what happens if they aren''t allowed to have children but it still happens?-


    -Yes, that happens from time to time as well. In those cases the owner is allowed to give that child to an orphanage. But i heard that such cases are actually handle different in most cases, they give the children instead to other owners that specialize in raising them as servants. These children then get the choice when they grow up, either paying them back with their own hard work, or what happens most of the time, they become slaves and pay for their education in that way. Those slaves then get sold as high class goods to other wealthy families.-


    -Those conditions actually seem quiet good!-


    -Of course, they are still fellow humans and beastman after all. In actuality, i heard that in recent times more and more of those third and fourth children of poorer family''s become slaves by their own choice, as many slaves are said to have better living conditions than them. Almost one out of ten slaves in the capital are like that.-


    -Thanks for the kind explanation. But i think we should talk about the rest face to face, and not like this.-


    -Certainly, that does sound much more comfortable. Until then.-


    ?Well, it seems my uneasiness was unfounded, even if they are slaves they get treated quiet well."


    ?That is true, and i don''t think they have any reason to lie to us in that regard.", replied Julia.


    -One human owning another, for me that is something hard to understand... Isn''t it enough to just ask them for help?-


    ?Nothing against you my friend, but i think we know now who not to entrust with our finances!", Allan replied only half jokingly.


    After this they fell into silence again. When Allan got back to looking outside, he realized that they had already passed the first wall. While the size of the mansions on both sides of the road hadn''t changed much, they now where all surrounded by a huge garden and two to three meter high walls.


    At this point it didn''t take them long until they reached the outer castle wall.


    While they were on the way, everyone respectfully evaded their carriages. That was why, they were stopped for the first time in their travel. When Allan looked to the front he saw a guard approach the carriage in the front. The guard was wearing a heavy looking armor, being literally covered in steel from head to toe, a big towershield that seemed to be made of solid steel on the left arm and a sword and a club tucked away on his hip, while a short spear hung over his back.


    When the guard saw the cardinal sticking his head out of the window, he bowed in way that looked a little bit weird, as he had to keep his balance with all the weight he was carrying around. But still, the guard moved naturally as if he didn''t feel the weight at all.


    A moment later, the cardinal gave some document to the guard for him to check, which he did very carefully.


    ?Wow, they are pretty thorough in their security measures. They don''t even let a cardinal just enter without the proper documents, even though it seems like the guard recognized him. And this is just the outer wall."


    When they were let through the gate, they kept going until they reached the top of the hill and the inner castle wall.


    When Allan saw the guards of the inner wall he got surprised, as the guards seemed to be equipped only to look good. Surely, they were even more thorough in checking the documents and the cardinals identity.


    But if one looked at the guards of the outer wall, they wore knight armor that made them look like a moving wall of steel.


    Compared to that the guards of the inner wall wore armor made of a dark green, almost black, material that reflected the sunlight in a dangerous luster. That material was then crafted in several thin, overlapping plates which tightly fitted the body of the wearer, shifting with every movement. In fact, while those armors looked quiet impressive, they looked so thin and tight that one could almost tell every movement of the wearers muscles, not to mention the gender, and Allan wondered if they didn''t feel naked. The only thing comparable to a shield that they had was slightly larger piece of the same metal as their armor that barely covered the back of the hand and then reached up to over the elbow. Even their weapons seemed more decorative than anything, one looked like slightly longer kitchen knifes and the other were rapiers. They hung on the guards hips blank without any protective cover for the blade, as if to show of their beautiful silvery color and the intricate designs that were carved into the blade.


    Only when Allan saw the patterns that were carved into the blade, and realized their similarities with the magiccircle back in the church, did he realize the mistake he had made in his earlier evaluation and became able to see the precision these armors and weapons were made with.


    He still needed to get used to the existence of magic.

 10 Meeting with the king 1 10

    Only when they were let through the gate did Allan realize that his mistake was bigger than he initially thought it was. Thinking back to the time he looked at the castle from the Church, he realized that, even though the castle was indeed huge, the area around it was just way to large. But back then, he didn''t saw a single human being, not even on the inner castle wall.


    When he compared that with what he saw right now, it wasn''t comparable in any which way. What he saw was more fit to be called a fortress than a castle. Outer wall guards were patrolling everywhere in their heavy steel armor and tower shields and even the occasional inner wall guard with their dark green armor were running around.


    On the left side of the castle were the barracks and training fields were soldiers and guards were stationed, and three groups were training right now, one with short swords, one with spears and the last one with rapiers.


    On the other side of the castle stood two silent towers, both were perfectly round and stood seven storeys high, side by side.


    A bit further away Allan saw a wide but flat complex, thick smoke rising from the chimneys and one could hear the constant sound of metal hitting metal, most definitely a smithy.


    When the carriages stopped they stood already right in front of the castles maingates. Following the cardinal, who once again had to show the documents to an elegantly clothed servant, they finally entered the castle.


    In front of them wasa beautifully decorated courtyard, surrounded by an arcade and with several pathways leading here and there.


    Following along the arcade they walked halfway around the courtyard, until they stood in front of a pair of gates, on the opposite site from where they entered the castle. Just like the others, this gate was guarded as well, unlike the other the guards were wearing armor that had obviously decorative purposes as they were shining in silver and golden colors with long red cloaks. The armors were beautiful but clearly unfit for battle. The halberds that the guards held upright in their right hands, planted firmly on the ground, had just the right length, as if only intended for this purpose, to cross them in front of the gate. Perfectly suited to block of unwanted guests.


    The next difference was that those guards opened the gates as soon as they saw the cardinal, without asking for any documents at all.


    When they entered what couldonly be the throne room Allan was almost surprised by how cliche it looked. A grand long hall, around three storeys high. Ceiling high pillars on either side and three grandiose chandeliers hanging down. To make the picture perfect, a red carpet starting at the gate and leading through the whole room, three steps up, and ending in front of a beautiful and grand throne, one slightly smaller on its right side and three that only looked like beautiful chairs on the left. He didn''t know what he expected, but as he just came to accept magic it seemed like he put his expectations a little bit to high.


    The cardinal led them through the hall and kept going until he reached the rear end, and walked toward the corner on the right side of the hall. There, in front of a door, which seemed just like the other doors one could see through the pillar every now and then, stood an inconspicuous pair of man, guarding it.


    Ignoring them, the cardinal opened the door and led them in the room.In this room stood a huge table, and on top of it was a map spread wide. Behind that table stood another desk, in front of which sat a man in his forties. He was going through some sort of document and constantly mumbling something, reading the text carefully. With a stressed look on his face he ruffled his hair.


    *cough* *cough*


    The man looked up with a shocked expression on his face.


    ?In gods name, Eberhardt, how many times do i need to tell you to knock on the door before coming in!", the man said angrily.


    He stood up from his chair and hastily grabbed the crown that laid on the corner of his desk, putting it on his head.


    ?I greet you, you are the heroes i presume? I am King Joseph Loreley."


    Indeed, this person seemed to be this country''s king.


    ?May i ask for your names?"


    Feeling Julias hand on his back, Cale took a step to the front.


    ?Of course, my name is Cale, i''m the representative of us seven."


    ?Loras van Fordan, it''s a pleasure."


    ?Julia Bauer."


    -As my name is physically unspeakable, just call me Magus.-


    ?Ishikawa Aya. Oh, Ishikawa is my last name! And she is called Shade!"


    ?Nn."


    ?Allan Walker, it''s an honor your majesty."


    ?So you are the heroes lady Arimas has send us. I don''t know how much you know about our situation, so i will explain it to you."


    ?By the way, if i may interrupt, i realized that no one seemed to know about our arrival, or is there a different reason for this?", Loras asked.


    ?Yes, only very few people know at this moment of your summoning. And we will try to keep it as a secret as long as possible."


    ?Why is that?"


    ?Currently you are still weak, and as soon as the enemy finds out about your existence they will try to get rid of you, preventing you from growing stronger properly. This should be the obvious step, as we are doing exactly the same right now."


    ?You are saying that there are other heroes?"


    ?You catch up fast, exactly that is the case. The enemy has summoned a group of heroes first, and the chances that you will clash with them at some point sooner or later are high. But at the moment you are still weaker, on the bright side, they only summoned five heroes, so we have an advantage."

 11 Meeting with the king 2 11

    ?The Loreley kingdom lies on the great land, to better understand, you can imagine it''s general form as roughly that that an hourglass would have. The Eastern lands, the Western lands, and the bottleneck that connects both. And that is where we are right now.


    There are only three countries that were said to lie directly in the bottleneck. Loreley kingdom, the Walhart empire which borders on our north and the Necropolis, which covers the complete eastern half of the bottleneck, reaching from the northern sea to the western sea, while also being the shared eastern border of our Loreley and the Walhart empire.


    As the country that controlled all trade between the eastern and western lands, it was once one of the richest and greatest country''s on the great land. But, around 200 years ago, it fell to the curses of an evil necromancer, and nowadays nothing that dies there, stays dead for long, returning as undead. And even if you destroy those, they come back at some point."


    ?So, our enemy''s are undead? But didn''t you say they had summoned heroes?", Cale asked.


    ?No, that isn''t the case. You will have to fight the undead at some point to get stronger yourself, but we don''t want you to break the curse. The Curse is actually something beneficial to our kingdom. As the undead stay around the area were they died and very rarely leave they don''t cause too much trouble and are pretty good practice-targets for our soldiers. Also, we already investigated and the curse seems to recede by one meter on average in fifty years.


    The area of conflict is a river, That river starts almost in the middle of the eastern continent and joins together with several others until it reaches the eastern end of the Necropolis while constantly changing names. But from that point onwards that river is called the ?Gateway to the East'' while traveling in a straight line westward through the Necropolis. Originally the Gateway was flowing in a different way, that was until one of the kings of old started to artificially change its flow in an insane project that took three generations of kings to complete, creating one of their most important trading and shipping routes. And it still stands till today, just that it is now the only route that can be considered save while cutting straight through instead of around it as well. After leaving the Necropolis the Gateway flows into a great lake, that lake isn''t all that important, but the island in its middle certainly is, because that island is the only place were ships can properly anchor, as the other shores are to shallow.


    At this point you may be able to imagine the problem already, that island, that is mostly called Gate island, is under the rule of the Loreley kingdom, while being half the reason for this kingdoms prosperity. After all, Gate island is the focuspoint of almost half of all the trade between the Eastern and the Western lands.


    Actually the blessing that river is for our kingdom doesn''t end there, as it keeps flowing, after changing names to Rivelon, in western direction until it takes a sharp turn up to the north, providing us with an natural barrier on more than half our border with the Walhart empire.


    But, and this is the core of the matter, two years ago the emperor of the Walhart empire changed. And half a year ago, the new emperor proclaimed that he would take back what is ?rightfully his'', namely Gate island.


    That claim isn''t actually wrong, as Gate island was originally part of it until they lost it to their eastern neighbors over 300 years ago, and back then the Loreley kingdom was actually part ofthe empire.


    You have to know that the Loreley kingdom is only 150 years young and split of from the empire because of the very poor treatment of their commoners and the rather inhumane treatment of their slaves.


    Back then my ancestors were rather desperate, and that was when they took a gamble. They cleared out Gate island of all undead, destroying them and carrying them out of the cursed zone one by one until none were left. Even today, it still stands under the influence of the curse, but we keep watch with extreme care, and had only one minor outbreak of undead in all those years.


    Sadly, ever since we refused to hand over the island, we prevented already more than ten outbreaks, being almost too late already twice. And the Empire keeps putting pressure on the western part of the border, the part that isn''t protected by the Rivelon."


    ?So they made their position very clear, they want war.", Loras summarized the situation.


    ?Yes, that is definitely the case."


    ?I hope you don''t mind me asking, but what exactly is our job as heroes, sure you train us and we fight, but were and when?", Cale asked.


    ?Well, heroes have mostly three types of missions. The first and most common type is going to be the quick-dispatches, you get dispatched as an quickly moving elite-force, providing support on normal border fights, by filling the gap until reinforcements arrive, in those cases mostly only one or two of you would go.


    The second type are full on strikes against important strategic positions, as well as the exact opposite, defending against the full on strike of the empire. These missions are going to be the ones were the most of you will get dispatched at the same time, making it also the missions were you will clash with the other parties heroes the most regularly.


    The last type, lets just call them ?special missions'', pretty much all those top secret missions that can come up in a war.Mostly high danger missions on enemy territory like interfering with their support lines, assasinations, stealing stuff... and sometimes things like escort missions."


    ?So, that is the reason that there are so many soldiers running around outside, the preparations for war are already in full swing. In that regard, there are actually a few questions i would like to ask.", threw Allan in at that point.

 12 Meeting with the king 3 12

    ?Questions? Of what type?", the king asked.


    ?Mainly on the soldiers and their training.", Allan answered.


    ?Of course, i will answer too my best abilities."


    ?Well, i was curious from my perspective as a weapon designer, i can certainly understand the swords and spears, but why are the soldiers getting trained with rapiers of all things?"


    ?Isn''t it obvious? They are rather easy to learn to a usable levels of skill and are faster and lighter than spears."


    ?But aren''t they completly useless against anyone wearing plate-armor? That''s actually my next question, how come the soldiers can run around the whole time with these heavy armors as if they weighed nothing? Are they using some kind of body strengthening magic? I''m sorry, i don''t know much in that regard as there was no magic in my old world."


    ?Hmmm... Ah, i see, if there wasn''t any kind of magic than there wasn''t any magic metals as well i would guess. In that case it makes sense that you wouldn''t understand. Certainly a rapier made of steel would simply slip off of an armor made of the same metal or even get bend, but if you make the tip of a higher level metal, than than it can penetrate the armor if you hit it at the right angle. And as the tip of a rapier is rater small, even if rather costly it is still doable to provide every soldier with one. As a kingdom with a rather small army and comparatively huge wealth, that is one of our ways to turn that wealth into power.


    As to your second question, i understand it even less, if every of our soldiers where capable of using body strengthening magic then there wouldn''t be anyone who would even dare to challenge us."


    ?But how can they wear such heavy armor all the time? If i remember correctly in my own world that kind of armor would weigh at least 20kg."


    ?20kg? How is such a light armor supposed to protect you from anything? Even our soldiers with the lowest level need an armor of at least 50kg or they wouldn''t even be able to fight properly, now wouldn''t they?"


    ?50kg?! And the armor alone at that? That means those guards on the outer wall of the castle are constantly carrying 50kg armor plus weapons and that giant tower shield? How is that even humanly possible?!"


    ?Oy, what are you taking our elite guard for? They are all high level warriors and there armors are made of at least 150kg half-black-steel!"


    While the voices the voices of Allan and king Joseph started getting excited, Aya got suddenly struck by a pang of inspiration.


    ?Ehm, may i ask a question, your majesty?", Aya asked timidly.


    ?Kuhum, of course.", the king coughed, trying to use this chance to glance over the rather unsightly situation that almost happened.


    ?Your majesty was constantly mentioning the level of you soldiers, may iask what you mean?"


    ?Of course, to become a fully fledged soldier one has to at least reach level 50. The guards on the outer wall are all elites that are at least level 150, while the ones on the inner wall is our palace guard which consists only of our most talented fighters of level 200 and up. And only the strongest and most loyal of them can becomepart of the royal guard, the weakest of which is currently already over 250. Even if only three have broken through the 500 barrier, but still!"


    Six confused and one understanding faces, namely Aya who also spoke up again, looked at the king.


    ?I think i understand now what the problem is, it seems there is a little bit of a misunderstanding. Your majesty, if i''m right than the concept of levels exists in some of our homeworlds,just not in reality. Levels are something that only exists in fictional story''s where we come from, if at all. And if i''m right there certainly has to be a way to find out what our levels are, right?"


    ?No levels!? How can that be!? Or is it that you just can''t see them?"


    ?Your majesty doesn''t know, and therewasn''t a chance to tell you, but three of the heroes seem come from worlds without any magic.", Eberhardt threw in at that moment.


    ?Urgh, i don''t know whats more shocking!? I never thought that i would have to explain sich things to anyone after becoming king besides my own kids, and especially not to the heroes! But... i guess it is a heroes nature to surprise you in the most unexpected ways.


    Ok, let me beginn, to find out your level is rather easy, at first you may have to concentrate but it will become natural soon. You just need to concentrate on wanting to know how strong you are.", Joseph explained.


    Sure enough Allan found out, there weren''t any fancy pop-up''s or green hovering screen''s that would block his vision. It was more like he knew on instinct, as if it was something he always knew.


    ???


    Name:Allan Walker


    Race:Human


    Age:23


    Gender:Male


    Talents:Scientist, Hunter


    Titels: [Hero] [Craftsman] [Amira''s blessing]


    Level:19{20,9}


    Stats:


    Body:


    Endurance:20 + 2 + 0


    Strength:15 + 1,5 + 0


    Agility:18 + 1,8 + 0


    Mind:


    Wisdom:23 + 2,3 + 0


    Intelligence:25 + 2,5 + 0


    Dexterity:32 + 3,2 + 0


    Skills:


    N/A


    ???


    Realizing what the things meant that goddess had said, Allan started to concentrate on the three titels.


    [Hero: 10% stat increase]


    The first couldn''t be any more straight forward and was already reflected in his stats.


    [Craftsman: Release of restrictions on production and creation related skills]


    He couldn''t quiet understand the part about the skills, but he realized that this must be what he had fellt since the beginning, the mysterious feeling that it would be much easier to create many of the weapons he had designed and even improve them in ways he didn''t even know existed until recently.


    [Amira''s blessing: it becomes easier to get new titles]


    He didn''t understand the last one at all, but it didn''t sound like anything bad, so he waited until someone explained.

 13 Meeting with the king 4 13

    ?Well then, let me explain the rest. Your majesty has already talked for quiet some time.", cardinal Eberhardt said.


    ?Do you think this little bit of talking has exhausted me already? You do know how these meetings normally go, you attend them regularly yourself afterall."


    ?I do know that my king, but you should also know that it would be quiet embarrassing for me if it ever came out that i let you explain everything while i am just as qualified. Even though we are good friends you shouldn''t forget your position."


    ?Ah... I see, thats certainly the case, please continue.", king Joseph said, going back to his desk covered in documents and sitting down. He looked a little bit like a little child that got scolded, despite looking the same age as the other.


    ?Well then, the first few things should be obvious as these are informations one can find out in different ways easily. So i will explain starting from the top. First would be the talents.


    Most people, no matter the race as long as they are able to think, have at least one talent. There are very few who have a second talent and there are only a few legends about those with three or more. Actually talents, as well as titels, are god given blessings that make it possible for us to reach a higher level.


    On one hand, the talents show us what profession is most suitable for us, magician, warrior, smith, carpenter, et cetera. There are many different professions and sometimes even those appear that either don''t exist in the place you are born or actually never existed before and are completely new. As an example there was once someone with the talent to become a dragonrider, until that person appeared it was always thought that dragons were one of the few untamable monster races.


    Sadly, or actually obviously, ones talent doesn''t always coincidence with ones interests but that not something you can do anything about.


    But, the actual function of talents is to help us grow, the skills related to the area of our talents receive a growth bonus. On the other hand skills outside of that area receive a certain restriction in their growth. That is because the gods can''t just give out power unconditionally, as much as they give, they have to take as well. That is also why it is so rare that one possesses two talents, because they would receive the full growth bonus on two different areas and still the same restrictions ob the others, only very few are considered worthy of this."


    ?Hmmm... Is it possible that ones talents change?", Aya asked.


    ?Yes, but very rarely. If it happens, than it is almost always after ones personality goes through a considerable change. One example would be a man whose wife got murdered, after he managed to catch the murderer, he started to torture him on a daily basis in his basement. In the process the husband became devoid of all emotion and his talent changed to torturer. Asi said, that happens only in rather extrem cases.


    Actually, may i ask what your talents are? That way we can get a better picture of your future capabilities."


    ?I actually got two talents, [Leader] and [Magic-swordsman].", Cale answered promptly.


    ?Ohh, as expected of the person chosen by lady Arimas, to lead the heroes, those are both rare and great talents!", Eberhardt exclaimed.


    ?I''ve got two as well, [Spearman] and [Magician].", Loras said.


    ?Not [Magic-spearman]? Thats rather unusuall."


    ?[Shadow hunter]."


    ?Ah, i forgot this. There are cases like these. Normally a talent would only be granted the [magic] nomifier, but if an specific element is used that means that you are highly specialized in this element. These talents are usually much better than the normal [magic] version, at least two times better.", the cardinal explained.


    ?Mine is [Healer]."


    ?Im a [Protector]!", Aya said happily.


    ?I have never heard of that, i guess it''s something like a defensive warrior?"


    ?Isn''t it probably related the [protector] title the goddess gave me? It says that my defense increases the more i have to protect!"


    -Mine seems to be called [Profound mage].-


    ?[Magician] isn''t a rare talent, but i have never heard of a [Profound mage]... At least we know to train you in magic. I heard that some heroes can have rather unexplainable talents, good that it wasn''t all to bad until now. And you, sir Walker?"


    Allan made a little troubled expression, but hid it before anyone could see and said:


    ?Scientist, someone who studies the laws if nature and puts them to use. And in this world that probably incorporates magic as well. Using my [craftsman] title that lifts the restriction on all crafting related skills i should be able to create some interesting stuff."


    ?All crafting related skills? There has never been such a case before! That is something far greater than you probably realize!", king Joseph suddenly exclaimed.


    ?Mh? Why?", Allan asked in confusion.


    ?It''s actually something simple, there are many different crafts. For one, there is blacksmithing, alchemy, and enchanting, but in addition there are many different minor crafts. But there is a certainproblem when trying to combine these. As a person normally has only one talent, and only great prodigy''s two let''s not talk of two crafting related talents, there would be a need for two people to work together two combine two crafts.


    There isn''t any problem if a blacksmith with a low skill level works together with an enchanter for example, that is actually rather common. But the problem starts when you reach higher levels of the crafts, as they start incorporating magic. That is were the problem starts. There are certain differences between an armor made with magic-smithing techniques and an armor that was enchanted afterwards. A magic-blacksmith can bring out the innate magic capabilities of a metall, making it stronger and creating effects like warding of intense heat, or giving of intense heat. That certainly are effects an enchanter can replicate as well, but while an enchantment has a fixed cost and effect, the innate capabilities of a metal can, more often than not, be strengthened by infusing mana into the metal, while it is still always active without using any mana at all.


    But there is a problem if an enchanter were to try and enchant an magicaly smithed sword for example, as the mana isn''t the same as that of the blacksmith, the metall would try to ?use'' it. If the enchanter try''s now to forcefully change the flow of the mana, the metal would get hurt, and the enchantment not applied properly, making the metal instable and easy to brake, while also weakening the innate ability of the metal and the enchantment, in the end you have something that is worse than the original and and doesn''t even work reliably as the two magical effects interfere with each other.


    In the end what i mean is simple, the magical crafting and enchanting would have to be done by the same person, but it is almost impossible to do because of the skill restrictions. There are only very few cases in history where two crafts got successfully combined on a high level of skill, those where either done by those with both talents, or by twins with the suitable talents and extremly similar mana, which is even rarer.


    And you can learn and combine all crafts that exist! Do you understand now what i mean?"


    ?So you are saying that its pretty much up to me to find ways to optimally combine the different crafts? Sounds like a hell lot of work. Well, in the end thats what i''m best at."


    ?You won''t have to do everything yourself, over the course of the years, quiet a few intelligent people made already their own assumptions and theories, it is after all one of the fields with the most potential, it''s just that there was never someone to try them out until now.


    The biggest problem now is going to be to find you talented teachers in each field. That might end up looking rather suspicious..."


    ?Those things can still wait for a while, im still in the middle of explaining important things here.", Eberhardt interupted at that point.


    ?Next up should be... Right, titles!"

 14 Meeting with the king 5 14

    ?If we consider talents as the presentsthat the gods give in the hope that we reach new heights, than title are rewards we get for exceptional achievements.


    As they are special rewards, they come in form of a permanent boost of strength and are the primary source of power that would surpass our actual level.


    There are three known types of rewards that titles can give. The first one, and most common, would be in form of a certain amount of stat points. They range from titles like [bravery] which gives 3 points in will power, i''m going to explain willpower and defense together with the other stats, up to titles like [indomitable] which is said to give 70 points in endurance. But while you can earn [bravery] by protecting a lady from some thugs, who would beat you up in the worst case, [indomitable] can only be achieved by shielding the lady with your own body from a monster thats out to kill for a long time without falling even if you have a hole in your stomach.


    The second type of reward is similar, as they still give stat points as rewards, but they are different in the way they do it. They it in form of a percentage boost of 1-60% in one or more stats. It is known that the [hero] title is by far the best of these, with a balanced 10% boost in all stats. there are others that give equally high boosts, but most come with other disadvantages, one of the most well known would be the [musclebrain] title which only very few can earn. It may give a 20% boost to all three physical stats, but reduces the mental stats by 50% each.


    Ah, but you don''t need to worry, even if you should get one, most titles with detrimental effects are possible to get rid of if you put in enough work. Also, you wont just suddenly get weaker or stronger, after you receive a title your stats will increase or decrease by one point in a timeframe of 30 minutes to 2 hours until the full effect is applied.


    The last type is the most rarest one, and they come without exception from unique titles that can only that would need you to do things that go down in history. The first king of Loreley, who was also the leader of the rebellion was said to have received this kind of title, they can have many different effects, ranging from totaly unique skills to even forcefully changing ones talents. But at the same time, they often can have restrictions, be hereditary, or be passed on with a position."


    ?It is as Eberhardt said, In my youth i had actually the talent of [bard]. Singing, dancing, playing music and writing stories and love letters. Only when my father became old and i inherited the position of king as well as the [rightfull king of Loreley] title did my talent change to [king], well im quiet satisfied with that, or else might just have had to marry a woman i don''t like for political reason."


    ?Kuhum... Too much information!"


    ?Ah, sorry, i just got a little sentimental."


    ?Yes, that as well, but that title is supposed to be a state secret!"


    ?Ohhh, come on! It''s not like nobody knows that the existence of a royal family with generations of capable kings and queens would be impossible without such a title! Also, have a bit more trust in our heroes! Also, less complaining more explaining! You were the one that wanted do this!"


    ?Sigh, were was i? Right, one last thing about titles, while it is also because they live quiet lives without much adventure, most commoners earn a maximum of 5 titles in all their lives. The reason is simple, it is impossible to get most titles by actively trying to. If you think about it it is actually rather easy to understand. Lets take as example the [bravery] title, as long as you bravely jump in to save someone while risking getting a beating, you can get the title regardless of losing or even winning against the odds, you get it because you were brave. But as soon as you jump in in hope of getting the title, it isn''t bravery anymore but a calculated move, thats why you won''t be getting the title. Also, most titles are considered to be a kind of status symbol."


    ?Ha! My son Jakob once told me that there seems to be joke among the city guards about this. ?If the gods just stopped giving out the [bravery] title, half of the doctors in the capital would lose their jobs!''"


    ?Pfft.", Aya, who had difficulties since a while ago, barely couldn''t suppress her laughter anymore, at the antics of this king and cardinal.


    ?Yes, it is as Joseph says, few people are immune to the the temptation of trying to get this title like that, even i tried once, and i can tell you it was everything but a pleasant experience. Well, sometime later i earned the title , not like a certain someone who got himself beaten over twenty times and doesn''t have the title till this day."


    ?Urgh, don''t tell them that story, leave me at least a little dignity as the king!"


    ?If you want me to treat you like a king than start behaving like one and don''t interrupt my explanation to make stupid jokes! Well, anyway, i got sidetracked, but you should have gotten the point, right?"

 15 Meeting with the king 6 15

    ?Well then, lets go on. The next thing i have to explain are your level and stats.


    It may be different for different races but it should be overall still the same. You start at level 1 at birth and in the process of growing up it increases to level 10 to 20, but 9 out of 10 people can''t increase their level to over 15 that way.


    There are three other ways to increase your level, or to be exact three mainly used ways to get your hands on the energy you need to absorb for that. The first, and most common way, are titles, every time you receive a title you also get a certain amount of energy. Most commoners level up that way outside their natural growth. But in the end that is definitely not a very efficient way.


    The other two ways are basically the same. Every time something gets ?killed'', even if it''s an undead as long as it has a soul, they set free a part of their energy, that then can be absorbed by the one who killed it to increase their level.


    The other possibility is to save the energy in a crystal, it works with almost all crystals, no matter if its a normal quartz, saphire, or a magic crystal but the best ones are those made by alchemists. It actually works with almost all materials, but crystals are the most effective in both amount and storage time.


    What this means is basically that you can save the energy and give it someone else to absorb, many people earn their money that way, by selling the energy."


    ?But, couldn''t you in that case just pay a necromancer to continually summon undead for others to kill?", Aya asked.


    ?Even though the necropolis was said to be build upon their many talented necromancer, it is generally not seen in a good light as one shouldn''t trouble the dead. Also, it doesn''t work that way. You asked because we are sending you to the necropolis for training, right?"


    ?Yes."


    ?The reason is that most undead that necromancer summon only have fake souls. To create an undead with a real soul, very complicated rituals are needed. And the few that appear naturally are souls that have possessed their own dead bodies and only keep existing because of their abnormally high willpower. A case like the necropolis, were in a certain are souls can''t disappear because of some reason are everything but the norm, it''s actually the first time something like happened in history and still not understood."


    ?Huh? The way you re describing it, it doesn''t sound like undead with real souls aren''t necessarily bad, doesn''t it?", Julia exclaimed, only then making the others realize this point.


    ?Yes, but you don''t have to worry, the undead in the necropolis are all mad, they attack indiscriminately everything thats alive and sometimes even other undead.


    But the undead of the necropolis aren''t natural undead. Even though most undead are based on a strong hatred or feelings of revenge, it isn''t unheard of that people become undead to convey their last wishes or hoping to get to see their loved ones one last time. But those mostly exist only for a few days and move on when their purpose is fulfilled. Sadly most of those are misunderstood and taken down by hunters just like normal undead.


    Let''s stop at this point. The next thing im going to explain are the stats. As you may have realized there are six obvious stats, three for the body, and three for the mind, plus two, one for each, that i will explain at the end.


    The relationship between level and stat is rather simple. With each level you receive one stat point in all six categories, as well as one free stat point that you can choose yourself were to put. Most people put their free points in only a single stat and only rarely in two, and if then they put them still all in the same category, body or mind.


    Lets beginn with the stats that focus on the body, and the easiest to understand stat. The [strength] stat. The [strength] stat is the most straight forward as it simply increases the maximum strength you can use.


    The second is [endurance]. The higher your [endurance] the longer you can run, fight or do everything else. But at the same time it also increases your resistance against poisons and deseases, makes you heal injuries faster and able to continue on despite injuries. Even though its not true, it''s to an degree that some people think that those with enough [endurance] can even regenerate limbs.


    The last stat in the body category is [agility], the only stat that is thought to have a slight effect on the mind as well. It mainly increases your movement speed and explosive strength, but also has effects on your bodies flexibility and reflexes, as well as a few other minor effects.


    The second category of stats are the mind stats. These are are a little harder to explain, so let me use the example of a chess game."


    ?Oh? You have chess here as well? I didn''t expect that!", Allan exclaimed.


    ?Oh, right, i forgot, but it is good that you know the game, that makes things for me easier. The rest of you know it as well, i hope?"


    The other six all nodded, and look at each other afterwards, not able to hide their astonishment. They didn''t expect that chess existed in eight different worlds.


    ?Well, it''s not too surprising in the end. Even in my world existed two differently types of chess that had independent origins and only small differences in their rules. We can probably assume that there are differences here as well but the basics should be the same.", Allan explained.


    ?In that case let me explain. The easiest mind stat to understand would be [wisdom], it reflects your ability to remember and concentrait. Making it easier to keep your focus for the whole game, as well as recalling your turns afterward even if you don''t actively try to.


    The second stat is [intelligence], it is a stat that simply increases your thinking speed. In a game of chess, those with high [intelligence] stats are much faster at making their moves, because they need much less time to think through the different possibilities. They are also faster in those straight forward calculations, were they just have to add two extremly high numbers together.


    The last stat of the six is the [dexterity] stat. This stat increases the complexity of ones thinking. The ones with high [dexterity] are the type of chess player that make their moves as complicated as possible and try to trick you, making it hard to understand their actual intentions. People who put their free stats into [dexterity] tend to have the reputation of schemers and scammers. [dexterity] is also the stat that has the most influence on ones body, as it makes it easier to make complex or fine movements. That''s also the reason why most people in the artistic fields make use of this stat.


    Well, that it about the six main stats. Now let me explain the two ?special'' stats."

 16 Meeting with the king 7 16

    ?The two special stats, or how they also get called, defense stats are [physical defense] and the before mentioned [willpower].


    These two stats are calculated with the three stats of their respective category as a base and you can''t put stat points into them directly. Also it is known that not all stats have the same effect on the defense stats. As an example, a single stat in [endurance] increases [physical defense] more than a point in [strength] while a point in [agility] is even less effective. But the differences aren''t that large.


    What [physical defense] basically does, is increasing the hardness of ones body. If you have enough [physical defense], even the best steelblade wouldn''t be able to cut your flesh anymore, for example.


    [Willpower] on the other hand, is by far the least understood stat of all. That is because it tends to fluctuate strongly. While an increase in mind stats certainly also increases [willpower] and some titles do the same, this stat is only perfectly reflected if one were totaly emotionless. The reason is that your emotions have a strong influence on your willpower. Intense feelings of love and hate for example, can amplify your [willpower] by several times, while feelings like sadness and resignation can have the opposite effect. But the effect is not only reflected in ones [willpower] but can also result in fluctuations of ones mental stats. Some say it can even have effects on the body stats, but i think that it is just the result of a lack of motivation. Opinions on this are split.


    You may have realized it at this point already but [willpower] has two effects, one is the ability to withstand mental attacks, but the other is directly related to the undead we talked about earlier. The higher ones [willpower] the easier it is for a soul to maintain itself without a body. That is also the reason why high leveled individuals become undead more often and for a longer time. Some of the great masters that are said to have reached over level 1000, supposedly even leave behind their legacy''s in their tombs, were they protect them even after their death until they find a worthy heir."


    ?Pfft. That sounds like something directly out of a xianxia story.", Aya mumbled amusedly.


    ?Hmm? I didn''t quiet get what you said?", The cardinal asked.


    ?Nothing, please continue, the last thing should be skills, right?"


    ?Yes, the last thing that i need to explain are skills. Skills are... this is a little bit hard to explain... Skills exist for almost all actions, as long as one can and wants to improve on this action. For example the [swordmanship] skill exists, but i have never heard of anyone having a ?walking'' or ?sleeping'' skill.


    You can get a skill if you actively try to improve on a certain action. When you get a [skill] they are usually around level 3. But depending on your natural talent and you god given talent, they can start at level 1 or even level 5.


    To improve the level of a skill you just have to train and improve your techniques. What the level stands for is rather simple, the higher the skill level the more of your stats are applied to that skill.


    Every level of your skill stands for 10% of your total stats. Making it so that someone who [mastered] the [swordmanship] skill, meaning he reached level 10, could suppress someone who has nine times the stats if that person only has level 1 [swordmanship]. Well, that works only with that specific skill, in the end he would still lose in the end, as the one with [swordmanship] on level 1 could just use any other type of skill or even just use brute force, since the defense stats aren''t influenced by that."


    ?So that means that level 10 is the highest level a skill can reach? What happens then? What if one has a swordstyle that counters that of the other? And are there skill that have prerequisites? Such as magic techniques?", Aya asked excitedly.


    ?It is as you think. In the end skill level and stats aren''t everything. If you reach level 10 with a skill you may be called a master but that doesn''t mean you are unbeatable. It just means that you are able to use the sword very well. As you thought, if someone has lower stats and skill level than the other, that person can still win if he counters the other. In addition, level 10 isn''t the highest level a skill can reach, there is actually no known upper limit. But, they say that level 10 is the highest level that can be taught to you. Any higher you have to find your own way that suits you.


    Regarding your last question, you are right again. There are some skill''s with prerequisites, different types of magic are one of them, an other example would be [sworddancing], which needs a certain level with [swordmanship] and [dancing] to be able to learn it. If you do learn [sworddancing] without the other skills, you will still get them at latest when you get [sworddancing]. Magic is a little different in that regard, as it is impossible to use and train in practice without the [magic power] skill.


    Oh, and then there are so called ''fusion skill''s''. These are extremly rare as they are the proof that one is able to perfectly use and combine skills over a large area. The most famous skill''s of this type are for example [weapon mastery] which one can get if they have an understanding on many different types of weapons, to a point were they would be able to properly use a weapon even if they have never even heard of it before. Or the [weaponization] skill which even includes objects that aren''t meant to be weapons. A magic skill of that type would be the [elemental magic] that makes use and freely combines fire, water, earth and wind magic.


    -So that would be a skill i should try to learn, as my title as [elementalist] gives me a high affinity with all four elements.-


    ?Ohhh! That truly is remarkable! With that information as a basis, i may have an idea what your talent means. Even though we can''t be sure if [profound mage] is truly related to this, but maybe it is related to an even stronger version of [elemental magic] just like [weaponization]. Well we will find out eventually.


    Oh, and if i think about it, maybe sir walker might just be able to create a never before seen fusion skill in relation to the different crafts!"

 17 Mysterious figures 17

    Suddenly, with out any warning a figure appear in the later half of a cave, somewhere on the great land. It happened without any warning, there were neither sound effects nor strange lights.


    That figure was around 180cm large and the whole body was covered in a long, loose robe of dark blue and black color, and even the head head was completely covered by large hood of the same color. Even the face was covered by an metal mask with a smooth surface of a silvery-grey. The only part this mask didn''t cover were two deep blue, lively eyes, that seemed to contain the wisdom of centuries. And if one looked further down, one would see that even the hands were covered in two metal gloves. As the one on the left hand was of a brightly shining silver and the right one as black as if someone had just cut out a peace of the space itself. If not for the two mounds in the chest area, that were large enough that no robe in the world would be able to hide them, it would have been totally impossible to tell even the gender of this figure, as the mask made even her voice unidentifiable.


    ?Oi, are you sleeping again? Wake up you lazy peace of sh*t!"


    The mysterious woman turned towards the cave entrance, the only source of light in this cave. Outside one could see a boundless crystal blue sky, with the occasional white, fluffy cloud or large dragon hovering and flying around. One could hear a faint roar in the distance.


    Right in the middle of that picture sat a second figure. In the entrance of the cave sat a middle aged man, facing to the outside. His whole body was covered by a large sheet, with only his head sticking out that had fallen on his chest. He was asleep.


    The woman got closer from behind and called out again.


    ?Hey, breakfast''s ready!"


    No reaction.


    ?Wake up already, as*hole!"


    Nothing.


    Nudging him with her foot in the side she kept calling out for a few minutes.


    Getting an idea she took away the blanket, showing of his rather average build that was covered in a shabby looking leather armor.


    ?Hmmm...."


    She finally got the first reaction.


    Another minute of nudging and nagging later, without any reaction, the robed woman seemed to get angry.


    She took half a step back, carefully measuring the distance between him and her. Taking another half step back with her right foot that was covered in plated leather-boots, she took aim.


    ?Ha!"


    With a loud cry that seemed to contain all her discontents, she swung her right leg forward, kicking the man against the side of his head, hard.


    ?Thump! Thump!"


    ?Arrrghh! I should have known this!"


    ?Hmmmmmmmm...."


    The first two sound were those of her foot hitting his head and his body hitting the floor. Then her crying out in pain as she was holding her foot. Then a reaction from him, this time a little longer.


    ?For F*ck''s sake, i tried being nice, so you can''t blame me, old man!"


    Furious enough that one could imagine her almost see her emitting a black aura if one just so wanted, she stepped behind the man lying on the floor, hooked her foot under his body, and kicked him outside the cave, were his body sailed almost a hundred meters wide through the air before it started to move down again, down the side of the mountain at which''s top the cave was.


    Now in a seemingly better mood, she sat down were the man sat before, and waited.


    *Boooooom*


    After a few seconds she finally heard the sound of a body hitting ground. If one looked closely, one could see a smile reaching her eyes.


    A few minutes later.


    ?Hey, Mary, this is really not the right way to wake up your seniors from their afternoon naps!"


    ?It isn''t a god damn afternoon nap of you fall asleep on one day and wake up several weeks later! Thats almost hibernating! Get your f*cking fact''s straight, old geezer!"


    ?You know, you can stop insulting me. Im over my masochistic phase, it got boring around half a year ago."


    ?Im not insulting you because of that! I will insult you how and whenever i want, freaking old man! And how should i even f*cking now that you aren''t in you f*cking masochistic phase anymore? I wasn''t even here for almost a whole f*cking year you f*cktard! ...Sigh."


    ?Calmed down now?"


    ?Yes, thank you."


    ?So, how was that guy? Did you seal him?"


    ?He was the worst combination of all! [Agility] and [endurance] at over 900 already, the other stats at around 650. At the same time a stealthy, paranoid, little coward of an assassin that thought i was after his head! He kept running away! And he actually managed to get away five times! Do you still remember Royfield?"


    ?That thief with a cloning technique where the clones seemed almost like real people?"


    ?Yes, that guy. That guy was his inheritor, just that this guy also used normal clones at the same time while using some special technique to disguise himself as one of them. I actually fell for this damn trick of his the first three times until i figured it out. Well, in the end i still got him, taught him all the necessary lessons and sealed him in the end."


    ?But still, it took you almost a year to get the job done? That''s quite rare for you."


    ?No no no, everyone else would have taken much longer, that guy was pretty careful and good at hiding. Doesn''t matter anymore, the job is done. Search if there are any new ones."


    The man sat down and closed his eyes.


    ?Oi, doze of again and i will look for a higher cliff next time!"


    ?Yeah yeah... Hmmmmmmm... Beside the ones that are already being taken care of there are no new ones at the moment. But we got some new talented ones, seven to be exact."


    ?Urgh, i just hope there aren''t any skill stealers in that bunch, those guy are way to troublesome and dangerous even for me to handle. But reincarnators or time travelers would be nice, are always easy to deal with, since they know the rules. Hmmmm... maybe an anomaly? It would be good if finally one were to join the seal guard, they are always pretty strong!"


    ?Even if you ask me i don''t know what they are. You should know that already! And if one were an anomaly they wouldn''t be registered by my ability in the first place!"


    ?I know, i know that already! Say, where are they right now, maybe that gives us a hint?"


    ?Hmmm... Six are all bunched together, one is around a hundred meter away from them. They are in the castle of Loraine. The capital of Loreley kingdom."


    ?Oh, so that means they are heroes! That''s good, those are always easier to handle."


    ?How do you know they are heroes?"


    ?They are all together! Also, Loreley and Walhardt are close to starting a war and there were rumors that the guys from the Empire already summoned his own heroes."


    ?Wow, the people from Loreley really got lucky, seven heroes at once and all of them have enough talent that they have to be sealed eventually!"


    ?You know what! I think i will watch them for a while if no new job suddenly pops up. Who knows, it might get interesting!"


    ?Do that, that way you at least won''t bother me during my naps!"


    ?By then, old man!"


    ?Goodbye."


    A moment later the robed woman disappeared without a sound or sign, as if she was never there to begin with.

 18 Training 1 18

    When their meeting with King Joseph came to an end, they were brought to their new accommodations were they should stay from now on when they were in the capital.


    When Allan stepped into his room he thought that they must have put much thought into this. The rooms were by far not as luxurious as some hotel rooms in his old world, but he never expected that from the start. The rooms were just large enough that two people could live comfortably in them, while, as the leader, Cale''s room was two times as large, enough for the seven of them to meet up.


    The furniture was of high quality and even the mattress on their large beds were much better than Allan expected.


    The only downside to their rooms would be the absence of windows, but even that wasn''t a big problem, the air was fresh thanks to some kind of magic device, and much more important, the rooms were in extremely safe locations. As they were on the first floor they would have a long time to prepare before enemies would be able to reach them and because they were not located at the outside wall, even a bombardment from the outside couldn''t reach them immediately.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When they woke up on the next day, they were greeted each by a servant , shocking some of them greatly. After the servants informed them that the day was set aside for them to rest since their training would start on the next, they were given clothes that fit them so perfectly that they wondered if they were measured in their sleep.


    Only when they asked if they could take a walk were they given an identification card that would proof their identities as important guests to the guards.


    The day ended with them having a luxurious meal, and they all fell in their beds early, everyone with different feelings about their situation.


    Only afterwards did they realize that they should have cherished that day a little more.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The next month could only be described as exhausting.


    Every morning, shortly after sunrise, were they greeted by the servants that stood already in their rooms to beginn their new routines.


    At first they would have a light breakfast. And directly after that they would absorb energy to increase their levels, and since they still weren''t used to the process, they couldn''t absorb much at one time.


    Then the activity''s of the day would start.


    For the first four hours of the day they were taught different subjects. They were taught what everyone ought to have, but which is much harder to learn in a short time than one would think. Right, it was nothing else but this monster of human society called ?common sense''. That difficulties one faced when trying to tame this monster were even for the teachers almost to much. This got very obvious as even their teacher caught himself answering some of the heroes questions just with:


    ?It''s common sense."


    Only to realize once again that it was this what he was supposed to teach.


    After that thy were again given energy to absorb if they had properly ?digested'' the previous portion, and then continued with the next lessons.


    Those were the basic lessons on magic. Here they were put in two different groups. One group with those who still needed to learn the [magic power] skill, focused on achieving that goal. The second group obviously those who had already reached that goal, and were now taught according to their [talent]''s and affinity with the different elements.


    After around two weeks almost all of them were already part of the second group, and only Aya, at first the most excited and motivated one of them, needed almost two times as long. Clearly, her [talent] was that of an purely physical fighter. The only thing that saved her from a mental breakdown was that, compared to a normal person she was still very talented and abnormally fast, to learn the skill took even considered talented if one took three times as long as her. In fact, she was talented, just not for a hero.


    When they got their lunch, and a new ?meal'' of energy, they finally got their first break for the day, which was basically just long enough for them to make their way to their last lessons of the day, and clearly the most important ones as well.


    Their personal training. For most of them those were a mix if physical fighting and more specialized magic training. But in Allans case that part was clearly much different, as he got interchangeably trained by the best blacksmiths, alchemists and enchanters that the crown had available.


    To make the training more effective, give Allan the best working environment possible as well as a certain level of secrecy, the King build a laboratory cum workshop according to Allans specifications on a free space between the Alchemy and Magic towers and the blacksmith. The location a little bit hidden, as it was on the right side behind the castle, almost opposite of the trainingsfield and barracks, a place were only few people would find themselves.


    Actually, already after the first two weeks they should have been able to take that schedule without much problem, considering that they still got roughly eight hours of sleep daily. If one looked at the fact, that with increasing stats one would be able to keep going for a longer time without the need for sleep, at the end of the month they were only tired when night came because their brains thought that it was supposed to be like that.


    Julia and Allan were the only ones that got used to the decreased need for sleep rather fast, as one was used to regular nightshifts in a hospital and the other to long nights in the laboratory without even getting home oftentimes. So the both of them just continued like in their previous worlds, just being thankful that they didn''t get tired while doing so.


    When Allan looked at his stats at the end of the month he got very satisfied with himself.

 19 Training 2 19

    ???


    Name:Allan Walker


    Race:Human


    Age:23


    Gender:Male


    Talents:Scientist, Hunter


    Titles: [Hero], [Craftsman], [Amira''s blessing], [Hardworking]


    Level: 31 {34,8}


    Stats:


    Body:


    Endurance:32 + 8,2 + 0


    Strength:27 + 2,7 + 0


    Agility:30 + 3 + 0


    Mind:


    Wisdom:45 + 4,5 + 0


    Intelligence:37 + 3,7 + 0


    Dexterity:46 + 4,6 + 0


    Skills:


    [daydreaming: lv. max], [focus: lv. max], [self-hypnosis: lv. max], [magic power: lv. 7], [telekinesis: lv. 3], [blacksmithing: lv. 4], [alchemy: lv. 7], [enchanting: lv. 6]


    ???


    The first thing that was new was the [hardworking] title he got after working with minimal sleep for a week after the laboratory was completed. It gave him 5 points of [endurance].


    As blacksmithing was the only thing he had actively use his body for he put all his free stat points in his mind stats, to be exact he decided to raise [wisdom] and [dexterity] to equal values. This decision was based on the fact that [wisdom] would increase his learning speed and increase his focus during work, while [dexterity] would bring his work on a higher level. In turn [intelligence] got ignored by him, as it would only increase said works speed, which would not be as important. He put quality before quantity.


    The last change were of course the skills. The first three [skill]''s he got were abilities that he learned from his old world. But when he asked why they were ?level max'' he found out that there were actually two types of [skill]''s. Some called them as ?major'' and ?minor'' or ?lesser'' [skill]''s but the official terms were ?unlimited'' and ?limited'' [skill]''s.


    The differences were simple. The ?unlimited'' ones were those that pursued a ?concept'', basically those without an absolute ?best''. The ?limited'' ones on the other hand weren''t even seen as [skill]''s by most people, and reached the ?max.'' state when one reached level 10.


    Those were the [skill]''s that had a limit to them. For example, if one could speak a language fluently like their own mother language, it would become level max. and wouldn''t rise any higher, if one were to learn every single word of the language and it''s use perfectly, it could instead increase the [poetry] [skill] for example.


    The reason the ?limited'' [skill]''s were mostly not seen as skill was that, if one started thinking of them as a totally natural ability instead of something special, they would disappear from the list of [skill]''s. In that vein, a ?sleeping'' or ?walking'' [skill] in fact did exist.


    The three ?level max'' [skill]''s Allan possessed were the reason for his success in his old world. In that world the training of the mind was much more advanced than in this world. These three [skill]''s were a type of meditation technique that allowed him to control his mind.


    The most important one was definitely [self-hypnosis] as it allowed him to give himself suggestions like ?working is the most fun'' which would work for some time and allow him to work with extrem focus and concentrationeven on the most boring task.


    The second one was called [daydreaming] and was literally exactly that. When one slept, dreaming was actually the process of ?sorting out'' ones memories, relieving mental fatigue. The ability to ?daydream'' allowed him to do exactly that, but while conscious, increasing the effectiveness. That way, while ignoring bodily fatigue, he could relieve in roughly 90 minutes what would normally take 8 hours, increasing the speed by over five times.


    When he got the last [skill] he learned even more new things. It seemed like there was another thing the cardinal forgot to mention.


    There were three different types of [stats]. The first were the so called [basic stats] which consisted of only those one got from their levels.


    The second type were the [special stats]. These were the ones one got from their [title]''s and [stat] increasing [skill]''s.


    The third type were [equipment stats] which one could receive from some rare types of magic weapon or armor.


    His [focus] ability was actually more powerful than Allan thought initially, until now whenever he used it his [mind stat]''s were boosted by 10% of his [basic stat]''s while tiring out his mind around three times faster than normal. It didn''t seem like much, but considering the cost to effect ratio it was actually a pretty strong [skill].


    The other five [skill]''s he got were those learned from his actual training. The most important of those was certainly [magic power] which he trained until level 7.


    Even though Loras had know one or two things about magic it seemed like he had never actually trained it. Making him the forth ?non-mage''.


    When they learned more about magic Allan found out that the [magic power] [skill] was actually similar to his meditation techniques. Different than he first thought from all those stories one didn''t have to control ones own mana to form spells but to enforce ones will upon the mana in nature. And the higher the [skill]''s level got the more mana one could control and the more control one had, obviously that was also based on ones mental stats.


    When Allan learned all this he got especially happy, as it would make his studies about magic easier, and he even showed talent in controlling mana only second to Magus. That was why he could increase his [magic power] [skill] to level 7, one level lower than Magus and one level higher than Julia and Shade. Sadly he was by far not as talented at forming spells, making him able to only bring the most basic and simplest [telekinesis] to level 3.


    The three crafting [skill]''s were what he got out of his personal training. As [alchemy] was almost the same as chemistry, and [enchanting] was similar to programming, he could learn them to a high level in short time, only his blacksmithing lacked a little as it was something totally new to him.


    Just as Allan was contemplating his current standing he suddenly heard a voice:


    ?Huh? Since when has there been a building here?"


    With those words a girl of around 18 years of age entered the laboratory. Her hair reached slightly over her shoulders and was blond and wavy. She wasn''t the prettiest girl out there, but her lean body, sharp facial features and lively ice blue eyes had their own charisma. She seemed wild like wolf and curios like a cat, but if one looked closer one could see the slyness of a fox that was concealed in her eyes. All controlled by the intelligence of a human mind.

 20 Training 3 20

    It was already very late and the sun had already switched places with the moon.


    ?This place must be new..."


    After opening the door she started looking around the room. The front half of the big room, right behind the door consisted of a kind of ?testing space''. On the left side stood several tables and shelves, littered with all kind of strange objects. The few prototypes and experiments Allan had created in that last month. Some of these were new ideas fir weapons and ?useful'' tools, while others were his first try at recreating weapons from his old world.


    On the right side of the room was mainly free space, but some larger projects of his stood around, between some if the larger sized equipments, mainly for testing purposes. On that side was also the door that lead to the storage were he would store all the stuff in the future he wouldn''t need anymore, abandoned or completed projects or those he just couldn''t complete with his currents skills.


    On the backside of the room was Allans workshop. It consisted of several smaller parts with workstations for the different crafts, and one main part in the middle were he could combine them.


    That was were she saw Allan. He sat on a chair, feet on the front edge. His elbows on his knees and his palms on the opposite shoulder, his chin rested were his arms crossed in front of his chest. His typical thinking posture.


    ?Leave! I''m working. So stop distracting me!"


    Ignoring him she stepped further into the room, being drawn to the tables on her left.


    ?Aren''t you just sitting there doing nothing?"


    ?You know this thing were you have to use your brain? It''s called thinking! So leave and stop distracting me!"


    Picking up one of the many objects that had grabbed her attention the girl asked:


    ?What''s this?"


    ?That''s called a gun, but it''s just a prototype that doesn''t work properly. I wouldn''t play around with it if i were you, there is around 20% chance that it will explode right in your face."


    ?What is it supposed to do? Besides exploding i mean?"


    ?Shooting out small balls. Sounds stupid, right? So put it down again and leave now!"


    Putting down the prototype gun, that Allan had build, she looked around for a moment and entered the still empty storage on the left side of the room.


    ?Oh, please don''t tell them i''m here! Thanks!"


    Just like most of the things Allan had build until now, the gun didn''t work. The gun was pretty rudimentary, actually only consisting of a barrel with a grip and a small enchantment to cause the necessary explosion. But as it was already hard to create a perfect barrel for a high level blacksmith, it was almost impossible for Allan who only learned for a short time. The barrel was neither smooth nor remotely as straight as ist would have to be. Like most of his current projects, it was more of a prove of concept, the only type of artifact his pride let him build until his abilities caught up with his ideas. Only then would he start creating things intended to be used.


    Allan was sure he had seen her somewhere before but couldn''t really recall where. While he still wondered what she meant, the door to his laboratory opened again. Two well clothed slaves, with the royal seal on their collars entered. At that time Allan remembered where he had seen her before.


    ?Sir, have you possibly seen the young lady? Has she come in here perhaps?"


    ?Yes, i have seen her. And yes she came in here. And im going to tell you the same i told her: Stop distracting me and leave! Im trying to think here!"


    ?Thank you for your help, sir. We will leave now.", the two slaves answered.


    Some time after the slaves had left the girl came out of the storage.


    ?Well then, what is this country''s princess doing in this remote corner of the castle, running away from her own servants?", Allan asked her, still sitting in his thinking posture.


    When he saw the royal crest on the slave collars he knew that they were servants of the royal family. Even though they were slaves, no one would dare to treat them like one as they were working exclusively for the royal family and absolutely loyal.


    When he realized that he also remembered where he had seen the girl before. She was actually the only daughter and eldest child of the king, princess Alice Loreley. They got briefly introduced to each other, two days after the heroes started their training.


    ?Oh? You recognized me? It''s simple, they want me to learn the... one, two, three... seven, eight... eleventh type of dancing, and i don''t."


    ?Is that so? But isn''t that what a princess is supposed to do? Doing princess stuff? Well, doesn''t matter much, now leave! And by the way, shouldn''t a princess at least remember the faces of her country''s heroes?"


    She frowned.


    ?Even a princess is a human. I have my own interests and dancing is definitely not one of them. And how can you even treat me so rude if you know who i am?"


    ?Weren''t you the first to be rude? I don''t care if you are yourself, your father or Amaris herself, the one thing i hate the most is being distracted while working!"


    ?You know, i like your attitude!"


    Now it was Allan''s turn to frown.


    ?What the heck do you mean with that now?"


    ?Everyone else would start licking my boots by now. Normally i would have been offered a tour of this place by now. It''s actually a little annoying, you are the first to tread me like a normal person. Oh, thanks for the help by the way, you even lied for my sake, but why did you actually go that far for me?"


    ?Treating her like a normal person?", Allan thought. He was just treating her like an annoyance.


    ?Let''s just say i was curious about you. Also, i never lied to them."


    ?You didn''t? How did you get them to leave in that case? Well, still thanks."


    ?In that case, leave now. I still have work to do!"


    ?Say, what are you thinking about?"


    Allan, who hated nothing more than being distracted by people when he was working, got slowly really annoyed by her questions, but even if he said all those things before, she was still this country''s princess. As long as he didn''t know more about her personality he couldn''t treat her lightly. So even though he didn''t like it he tried to put up with it.


    ?I''m trying to build a computer."

 21 Training 4 21

    ?A what?", the princess asked confusedly.


    ?You won''t know what a computer is, but that''s actually also not quite the right way to call ist. If completed it will be the ultimate multipurpose artifact that can do everything as long as the user knows how to do it."


    ?Isn''t that a little to ambitious? Aren''t such ?multipurpose'' artifacts normally already to large to be used properly as they include to many functions? Also, i heard they have a terrible output. They don''t make good weapons at all."


    ?I know that too. It isn''t supposed to become a weapon, and even though the prototype may become rather huge i just have to work on the downsizing afterwards until it can be carried around. If things go as i hope, the most fitting way to call it would be a ?core'' for all my future projects and artifacts."


    ?What do you need something like that for? And building such a thing into every single artifact seems a little costly, doesn''t it?"


    ?If things go well it may actually become a great revolution for all artificers. Let me ask you a question, do you know the two big problems when combining two different crafts? Probably not... Hmmmm, let me think of a good example... Variables and programming languages aren''t something you would understand... Right, this is a good one!


    Let''s compare alchemy. Lets say we have a magic-sword and have a magician enchant it further. What we are doing is putting two alchemists in one room to create a certain item. In the optimal case, the alchemists would work together and use one set of ingredients, mana in this case, to create a product, the magical effect, that is better than having only one alchemists do it. Can you follow?"


    ?Yes, so what are the problems you mentioned?"


    ?There are two problems. If we continue with the example it would be something like this. First, they can''t talk to each other and can''t even the each other."


    ?Eh, isn''t that already a big enough problem? And there is still a second one?"


    ?Yes, the second is that they use absolutely different methods. They have different mindsets how things should be done, no matter if it''s the order, technique or recipe. If you give them only one set of ingredients to work with..."


    ?The outcome would be horrible. If even remotely usable."


    ?Exactly, and could you please stop interrupting me when i''m already explaining? Thanks. This is what normally happens. Now you may or may not know, but there are rare cases where either one person could learn two compatible crafts to useful levels or twins with similar enough magic signature appeared. In these cases they were able to successfully combine two crafts.


    Keeping the example going, what happens now is that the alchemists can at least see each other and communicate. But the other problem still exists. They have different techniques and believes and still won''t be able to properly work together. You need to know, this types are all rather stubborn folks, and won''t stop arguing, thats just how it is. So, here is my question, how would you solve that problem?"


    ?Since there are only two of them, i would put one of them in charge from the beginning."


    ?Good idea, and also what is done in those cases. The magic technique that is used first to create the artifact, meaning its ?alchemist'', is put in charge, while the second magic technique, or ?alchemist'', gets a supportive role. That way we have one alchemist and one apprentice helping him, there won''t be any problems and the work gets faster and better.


    But this is not the best outcome, you could say you use two alchemists but one is waisting all his potential and can only be called ?half'' an alchemist. Making 2 alchemists to 1,5 alchemists.


    But, i don''t know if you have the same saying here but were i come from there is a saying: ?Bad partners are only slightly stronger than a single person. But good partners can be stronger than three.''


    Thats also applicable to our situation. The potential of one alchemist is wasted, and just because their techniques are different it doesn''t mean that one is worse than the other, they have both their strong suits and weak points, their pros and cons. And that is were the ?core'' comes in. Can you guess what the ?core'' is meant to do?"


    ?Hmmmm... no idea."


    ?A little tip, consider the ?core'' as a third person."


    After she thought about it for a moment, her eyes suddenly lid up and she got an astonished expression.


    ?So that ?core'' will act as a superior for them?"


    ?I prefer the term ?manager'', that us exactly what the core is supposed to do. Whenever the two stubborn alchemists can''t agree on the best option, the ?core'' will come to play, listening to all the pros and cons of both alchemists ideas and figure out which one is better suited in the given situation."


    ?That... if things really work the way you are planning, than that could really be a revolution! Because even if the two alchemists can''t see, or talk with each other, if they can both see and talk with the manager they would still be able to work together to a certain extend!"


    ?You are quietclever, you caught up on the most important point. Thats right, even though we would go back to the ?bad partner'' situation, it is still far better than two people working against each other.


    It means with the usage of a ?core'' even two normal artificers would be able to combine their techniques to create a stronger artifact than they could alone.


    But you haven''t considered the best part. What would the ?manager'' be doing when the alchemists don''t need him, when they don''t have a dispute for a moment because they are working quietly?"


    ?He wouldn''t need to manage them... In that case..."


    Then it dawned upon her.


    ?He could ?manage'' another pair of alchemists!"


    ?Thats right, depending on the quality of the ?cores'' i can create, one ?core'' could manage one, two or even ten artifacts, making it so that you only need one core per person.


    Now that i think about it, it could even be used as a kind of ?user registration'' for the artifacts. Even if the enemy somehow can steal your weapon in the fight, he couldn''t use it as it wouldn''t work without the core. Of course you have to make sure that you never lose your core as it would make all your artifacts useless, making it a weak-point as well. But if only us heroes know about it and use them, the enemy would never find out about it."


    ?You. are. a. genius! I have to leave now, i caused my servants enough trouble already. But i am going to come back again later, this sounds way more interesting than dancing! Until next time!"


    ?Please, you don''t have to come again, this is not a place for a princess."


    ?Ohh, but i insist!"


    ?I know, i insist as well!"


    ?Until later!"


    With that she left, and Allan''s first real meeting with princess Alice ended. At this time he still didn''t know what would happen because she found his laboratory that day. But maybe it didn''t really matter as well, and things would still have ended the same, just with a slightly different process.


    But that didn''t change a thing and he didn''t know anything at that point.

 22 Free time 1 22

    Right now it had been three days since the princess had first come to Allans laboratory. Since then the princess had come every single day for an hour at least, once even in the middle of the night.


    When Allan commented on the daytime, or rather nighttime, of her visit, and certain misunderstandings that could happen because of this, he realized once again that he still didn''t adapt completly to this new society. Only after some time did he realize that it was probably rather normal for nobles to work at night as well. Most of them had surpassed level 50 and could stay awake for at least 48 hours at a time. So there really wasn''t anyone who would see such a nighttime visit as weird.


    In those few days, Allan got already used to her visits and started to act accordingly. While he tried to be not too rude to her, he still would try to send her away two to three time an hour. Sadly, at least for Allan, this princess was rather stubborn and would just ignore his complaints and continue asking questions. To circumvent that he started to ?think aloud'', he kept explaining every step and thought about his experiments. Well, he didn''t explain everything, mostly the general ideas and even then not all, just enough to keep her curiosity in check without giving her enough information that someone else would be able to make use of it, not without the actual artifact for comparison. At his current point that might not be too important but there would be information he wouldn''t disclose to anyone, even the princess, in the future.


    Allan actually realized a little problem with that method, but he couldn''t do anything about it at the same time. If he didn''t explain she would keep asking, but if he explained, she would start making her own suggestions sometimes. The problem with those weren''t that they were useless, but sometimes rather helpful and constructive. That slowly started to deprive him of good arguments to send the princess away. He only accepted this fact when he realized that that didn''t change much in fact, what with her stubborn behavior.


    Right now, Allan was just packing up for the day as it was already night. Even though he would have liked to continue working, even with the princess still present, he had to end for today. There was a simple reason fir this, they had started holding regular meetings with the seven of them, sharing their experiences, training development and similar things. At least Allan and Julia could make the others accept to hold those meetings at night, the others just couldn''t get used to not needing sleep.


    ?Oh, you are stopping here for today?"


    ?Yes, i still have other things to do. Until tomorrow then."


    With a smirk on her face she answered:


    ?Nope, not quiet. You are leaving for one of your little meetings, right? I think i should come with you."


    ?You have to? Why that? There doesn''t happen many things that would be interesting for you. Or is there another reason?", Allan didn''t wonder for a moment that the princess knew of their meetings, he wouldn''t even have wondered if she could organize an account on every single word they had said there.


    ?Well, i certainly am a little curious, but father wants me to get aquatinted with all the heroes, and also use this opportunity to tell you guys some things."


    ?Is that so, then come. Not like i can or want to prevent you doing so."


    After Allan had put away all his tools and looked over everything a second time to keep the lab organized and safe, he finally left.


    When he got there, the princess already stood at the door, waiting for him to open it for her. Leaving first she walked in the front, her demeanor making it look like everything else would be unnatural as Allan followed behind her.


    As he normally only saw her in the light of the laboratory, which had many effects, but definitely not that of beautifying people, he got to see her in a whole new light right now, literally.


    Looking at her from behind in the light of the moon, she almost seemed to shine. With her long, blonde and wavy hair flowing from her head like waterfalls, her pure white and flowing dress and her slender limbs and delicate hands, she almost seemed like an elegant and beautiful fairy of legends under the moonlight. But only almost, as her every movement carried traces of wild instincts and adventurous spirit that were impossible to suppress. It somehow gave her an unnatural feeling, something just seemed off about the whole picture.


    Only when Allan saw the surprised expressions of the servants around them did he realize that they were taking the shortcut through the servant quarters Allan usually used. This was not a place the princess should be usually be at. And considering the the expressions of the servants she wouldn''t be here usually. This made Allan wonder why she would take this way instead of the longer but more ?official'' way through the front entrance.


    When they got to their rooms, the princess waited in front of the door to Cale''s room, waiting fir him to open the door. Seeing that Allan got the weird thought if she maybe had never touched a door in her life, or maybe didn''t even know how to open them herself...


    Pushing those weird thoughts aside, he opened the door and entered, this time the princess behind him.


    ?Ah, you finally come as well! I''m happy that you take your... whatever you are doing, so serious, as it is directly related to our safety in the future, but it would still be nice if you could come on time. We are already meeting this late!", Loras started to complain as soon as Allan entered.


    Pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, Allan said:


    ?We got a guest this time."


    ?Eh? Who?", you could almost see this question written all over their faces. When they could see the princess clearly, Allan could almost hear the gears turning in their heads, until...


    *Klick*


    ...they clicked into place, when they realized who she was. Looking at their faces Allan could see a mix of astonishment and bewilderment. One at her being there at all, the other at the casual way Allan was treating her.

 2 A strange dream

    It was evening. Today was one of the rare days where everything was going smoothly in the Laboratory, and that was why Allan had the time to go home to sleep for a change, even if the project was still incomplete.


    Exhausted as he was, he still took a quick shower, put on his pajama and fell in his bed that he got to use way to rarely. It didn''t take him long to fall asleep.


    ....


    ?It''s only a little further until we reach my testing grounds."


    ?Why the heck do we need to be all the way out here, didn''t you just want to show me a new weapon?"


    ?Yes, that was the plan, but you do know that I''m not allowed to test anti-army functions within the castle?"


    ?Oh, so it''s that type of weapon?"


    ?Yes, it is. You should be very satisfied with this."


    Suddenly, a beautiful spear appeared in Allan''s hands. It was a little less than a meter long and of a bluish silver color without any obvious connection parts, making it look like it was made of only one piece of metal. While it certainly looked like that, it wasn''t the entire truth. The spear was completely covered in a dense web of golden lines and runes, which gave the weapon its real beauty, all while still maintaining that feeling as if the entire thing was made from one seamless piece of metal, giving it a rather mysterious feeling.


    ?Is that it? Well, it does look impressive as always, that is something you have a knack for. So what can it do?"


    ?It''s nothing overly complicated, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t strong. Ah, we are here, you can try it on those trees over there. Well, on that what is left of them.


    First, concentrate the mana in the spear until it gets hard to fit in more. Yes, just like that."


    Slowly, the spear that the other person was holding got surrounded by a faint golden aura.


    ?In this state, the mana depletes slowly, while strengthening the material and sharpening the edge. Like this, you should be able to use it to fight in close combat but try to refrain from using it like that. It''s still a secondary weapon."


    ?But why a spear if it is a secondary weapon? Wouldn''t it be better if it was smaller like a ring or pendant in that case."


    ?I couldn''t make it any smaller, my abilities aren''t good enough. And a spear had the optimal form to apply the enchantment and rune inlays on. So I thought making it a spear wouldn''t be bad in case the charging process takes to long and you get attacked in the process.


    But we are here right now because of the next step. Aim the spear at those trees and continue concentrating mana in the weapon. You are in for a little surprise!"


    Doing as told, the golden aura started strengthening further. Then it started traveling along the shaft to the tip where it formed a small ball. In the next moment that golden ball shot out at incredible speed while constantly growing, obliterating everything in its way for over fifty meters distance while growing to a diameter of ten meters.


    ?I like it, it can wipe out all nearby enemy''s with a sudden large-scale attack and only needs to recharge afterward. You really are an intelligent man."


    While the person said that, the spear began to shine golden again.


    ?But that is also what makes you to dangerous."


    Saying that, the person suddenly stabbed towards Allan, only to be stopped shortly before hitting him by an invisible barrier.


    ?Sh*t. I wanted to end it fast."


    ?You...!!! Core activate! Artifact cancel, code: Destroyer! Start battle mode! Counter: spear, magic!"


    Suddenly, a fist-sized ball floated up behind Allan''s left shoulder. The outer layer of this ball expanded to almost double its original size, splitting up in countless glowing fragments in the process that started rotating around the center. Layer by layer the ball continued ?disassembling'' itself until everything one could see was a slightly translucent, blue glowing, ball of light.


    ?You! What the hell are you doing?! Connect to the main unit! Start emergency sequence: code 5284. Delete all externally stored data and activated security level 7 seal. Disconnect from the main unit. Activate: Aegis, Titan, Durandal!"


    While all of this happened, the other person had already put away the spear. The golden aura had almost instantly vanished when Allan had given the first command after activating the core. While Allan was giving his commands, ten men and women wearing tight-fitting, dark green, almost black, armor appeared one by one around him, with one wearing a silver shoulder guard with a small golden crown sitting on top of it.


    When Allan completed his last command, he was already fully surrounded, but at the same time, three items appeared.


    First were seven small silver balls that were covered in blue lines. They quickly started hovering around Allan as if to protect him.


    The second was a set of crude looking, dark grey armor. But instead of collapsing, it stood in front of Allan, looking like Titan with its several centimeter thick armor plates, fitting to its name. In only a few moments, the whole backside of the armor separated into several pieces which floated out of the way, allowing Allan to simply step into the armor after which it closed again.


    The core that was previously floating behind Allan''s shoulder, automatically fitted itself into a hole on Allans back, after which it got covered by the last piece of armor that was especially thick. The seven silver spheres also fitted into the prepared slots in the armor.


    The last item was a gigantic greatsword. The blade was completely black, two meters long and 30cm at its widest. When Allan gripped the handle with both his hands, golden lines started to spread from the handle over the whole blade.


    hummmmmmmmm


    After a few moments, the sword started to give off a low humming sound.


    ?Attack the traitor! Don''t let him get away with his life! Don''t let him hit you, that sword is extremely dangerous!"


    Just like that, Allan in the middle, surrounded by ten armored figures which were each holding a long knife in their hands and the man outside of the circle, they stood there. Slowly, Allan brought the Sword to his left hip, prepared to strike.


    Suddenly, in one fast movement, he jumped backwards while turning right by half a rotation, using this force to increase the power of his strike.


    Unprepared for this attack, as the warrior was standing directly behind Allan as well as the speed which shouldn''t be possible with such heavy equipment, the warrior that the greatsword was aimed at didn''t have the time to evade and tried stopping the blade with his own while jumping backward.


    Bang!


    Propelled by his own jump and the clash with the black sword, the warrior was catapulted away for over ten meters where he crashed with his back into a tree.


    Snap


    Craaack


    Booooom


    With a loud snap, the tree with a width of almost half a meter broke right in half and Crashed to the ground. The warrior stood up from the ground, only to fall back down. Looking at the blade in his hand which was almost cut in half in shock, he didn''t realize what was happening right now.


    ?Close the circle! Don''t let him get away!"


    Before he could get out of the encirclement, the remaining nine fighters closed in on Allan, now prepared for any sudden movement.


    While all of this happened, several large magic circle started to appear around the person outside the encirclement.


    Not wasting the leftover power of his first strike, Allan kept turning around, completing one complete spin and swinging the sword in an overhead strike at the next opponent. This time his enemy managed to evade his attack, or so he thought, as one of the Aegis spheres appeared in the direction he wanted to move in and blocked his path with a barrier. Not as lucky as his comrade who only lost his weapon, this fighter got cleaved right in half by the heavy blade which didn''t stop in its path until it was stuck completely in the ground. Pulled forward by the huge momentum of his sword, Allan jumped forward with a somersault over his still stuck sword, his hands never leaving the handle, he used that movement to pull the sword out of the ground.


    Again the encirclement got closed around Allan, this time only with eight people left.


    This time the other party moved first. As if someone was commanding them, all eight warriors jumped on Allan at the same time. In an instant, the seven spheres of Aegis build a strong barrier behind Allan''s back, only letting the three enemies in front of him capable of approaching him. Quickly dropping his sword Durandal as it was mighty but to slow for this situation, Allan crouched down and jumped forward in a low tackle.


    Using the high weight of his armor, Allan rammed his shoulder into his enemies guts and throwing him on his back. In one swift motion, Allan stole his enemies knife and rammed it into his neck, ending his life.


    Pulling it out again, he threw the knife at the woman who stood right beside the one he had just killed, where it pierced through the visor into the eye behind it. Only stopping a centimeter before hitting the brain. The woman was alive but incapacitated.


    ?Activate: Gungnir!"


    A short javelin appeared in Allan''s right hand, and before the enemy could reach him, he already threw it the person that was standing at the side, chanting a spell the whole time. But alas, it was already too late. While Allan was still in his throwing stance, the spell was already completed.


    Almost like a laser beam, a horizontal pillar of fire was fired at Allan, carrying immense temperatures. Faster than the Aegis spheres, the attack reached Allan, first melting his armor, and then burning away his whole right body before he could move away.


    ....


    When he woke up, he was sweating all over his body, it seemed he just had a nightmare but he couldn''t remember what it was about. When he looked around, all he could see was white. White was the only color that seemed to exist. When he looked at his hands he was shocked for a moment because it looked like they hovered in the air, it took him a few moments to realize that he still wore his pajamas, just that they had become just as white as the background and therefore made everything they covered seemingly invisible.


    ?Weird, what''s going on? Am I still dreaming? No, more like a lucid dream since I can think clearly? That doesn''t seem to be it either... hmmm."


    Deciding that he should look around a bit more, he turned around.


    Behind him on the floor, if you could call it that, lied a person.


    It was a man that seemed to be quiet a bit older than him, somewhere between 30 and 35. He looked quite handsome if you ignored his sleeping face and had flaming red hair. He was rather muscular, especially his legs, it seemed like he ran a lot. On his left hip, he had a big scar.


    The reason that one could see so much was that he only wore boxer shorts, completely white like everything else.


    Wanting to find out more, he slowly neared the man, crouched down and called out to the man, trying to wake him up. The only answer he got was a silently grumbled gibberish.


    After trying a few more times he shook the man. Suddenly, as if he was hit by lightning the man shot up, hitting his forehead on his shin. With a groan both, he and the man fell backward clutching there shin and forehead respectively in pain.


    ?Ouch... shouldn''t you know already that this happens when someone touches me when I''m sleeping!?"


    ?Well, I''m sorry for that, but how was I supposed to know? Anyway, who are you?"


    ?Who are you? That''s my freaking question! And what the heck are you doing in my house... For f*cks sake! Where are we!"


    ?So you don''t know as well? That''s... not good if anything. My name is Allan Walker, and you?"


    The man got up from the floor again, seemingly a little calmer now.


    ?You can call me Cale, and... what the heck!? A talking head!"


    It took Allan a few minutes to calm Cale down again.


    ?So, Allan, you are saying because everything besides our bodies has become perfectly white, even our clothes, everything underneath our clothes looks invisible? That makes things easy. Could you please take off your clothes?"

 3 The group 1

    ?No! Why?"


    ?To be honest it''s freaking disturbing!


    Talking to a floating head!"


    ?Oh, ok, but still no!"


    At that moment Cale saw someone appear behind Allan:


    ?Oh, it''s another one! There behind you!"


    Turning his head around Allan looked at the person that laid on the floor a few meters behind him. It was an Asian girl and she was completely naked. She had long black hair that would reach down to her back when she stood up. But the best way to describe her would be small, she was only around 1,5 to 1,6 meters tall and if not for her long hair one could probably mistake her for a pretty boy if she wore just slightly loose clothes.


    ?Well, Allan my friend, you are the guy with a shirt!"


    Grumbling silently Allan took off his shirt and covered the naked girl, and then proceded to try and wake her up.


    ?Hello? Excuse me!"


    ?Hmmm... not now Airi, I have to work today and am still exhausted from playing with you all night yesterday!"


    *cough*


    Allan turned his head slightly embarrassed to look at Cale and tried to ignore the pictures that he just imagined.


    Carefully Allan shook her shoulder and continued to call out to her, all the while taking care that his head was out of all potential danger zones.


    ?Who? What? Where?", still half asleep the girl asked all three important W-questions.


    When she looked down suddenly started to blush heavily and said rather loud:


    ?Turn around right this instant!"


    While both men turned around Allan remembered to remind her:


    ?By the way, the part of your body that seems invisible is the part that''s covered by my shirt. You can wear that for the time being."


    When the men were allowed to turn around again, the girl already wore the shirt. Luckily she was pretty short, so the shirt reached over her butt and half the way down to her knees.


    After a few minutes, they had calmed her down and explained the situation.


    ?So, Aya, I guess you also don''t know what this freaking situation is all about?"


    ?No I don''t know, and mister Cale could you please not get so familiar with me? It''s uncomfortable."


    ?Hm? What are you talking about?"


    ?May I ask a question miss Ishikawa? Where are you from? Or more precisely, which language are we using right now?"


    ?Obviously Japanese?!"


    ?Eh?"


    ?Then please, listen to me talking and only concentrate on the sound and ignore the meaning. Which language is it? Can you tell?"


    ?What the f*king hell! I have never heard this kinda language before, what is this?"


    ?Well, it''s definitely not Japanese, that''s weird, to say the least."


    ?How the hell did you even realize that?"


    ?Well, I also didn''t realize at first, but it got me thinking when miss Ishikawa complained just now. Her name already sounded like a Japanese name, and if you consider the fact that it is impolite to call someone by their first name if you aren''t close in Japan it got me thinking."


    ?What the heck have those things to do with each other?"


    ?Well, it is considered normal. But everywhere else her complaining about this is quite weird. At that point, I realized that something didn''t fit, because I also thought that everyone was talking English."


    ?Aren''t you freaking perceptive!"


    ?Mister Cale, could you please stop cursing all the time? It''s getting a little bit annoying!"


    ?Ah, I''m sorry about that, it''s a little bit of an occupational disease."


    ?In what kinda Job do you have to curse that much?"


    ?Well, I''m training the Soccer team in my hometown, so I have to get a little bit loud sometimes or those kids just won''t listen. Oh by the way what are you doing... when you aren''t here... wherever we are right now?"


    ?I''m still in my last year of high school, by the way, what about you mister Walker?"


    ?Allan is fine. Well, I''m a scientist, leading a small team."


    ?Oh, what field are you working in?"


    ?Although you probably won''t like it, it''s modern weaponry."


    ?Ah... Well, if you don''t do it someone else will, and everyone has to earn their money..."


    ?What? What happened? Who are you people?"


    Suddenly a new voice sounded out behind them. Allan turned his head, curiously enough he couldn''t see the origin of the voice.


    ?Huh? The voice sounds female, but why can''t I see her?"


    ?It''s probably because of her clothes. Excuse me, could you please take off some of your clothing, it''s enough to take off the things that cover your head and hands."


    ?Um, yeah, of course, I can, but why?"


    ?Just look at us, the part that is covered by clothes is practically invisible."


    A few moments later a head with shoulder length blonde hair appeared midair and two hands followed soon after.


    ?My name is Julia Bauer, pleased to meet you. So who are you and where are we? I was operating on a patient just now, I have to get back!"


    ?That is the same f*cking question we want to get answered, you can call me Cale."


    ?Allan Walker. So miss Julia is a Doktor, and you said you were operating just now? can you tell me more about that? About how you came here?"


    ?You can drop the miss, just Julia is fine. Well, i... don''t know what happened myself. At one moment I stood at the operation table with my scalpel in someone else guts and then suddenly everything went white. Next, I heard you guys talking, and you know the rest."


    ?So you are saying there was no process? You didn''t get kidnapped or drugged or anything?"


    ?No, and now that I think about it, I even stood in exactly the same posture."


    ?By the way Julia, oh you can call me Aya, are you perhaps from Germany?"


    ?How did you know that?", Cale asked, slightly peeved that he had to still call her by her last name, but not some woman that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He suddenly remembered what she first said when she was still half asleep, and then it dawned upon him.


    ?Ahh, well, some manga authors like to use the german language, mostly as some kind of magic language, but also german characters. That''s why I could recognize the name."


    ?That''s interesting, may I ask. What time of the day was it when you appeared here?"


    ?Well, it was already pretty late at night."


    ?So, considering that we three where all asleep when we came here we can infer that we appeared with a difference of 30 to 60 minutes but disappeared from all over the globe and still always at night. That''s... let''s call it ?interesting" for the moment."


    ?All over the globe? What do you mean?"


    ?Well you are from Germany, I myself am from England, Ishikawa is from Japan and Cale...?"


    ?America."


    After they had explained Julia the rest and had discussed some additional theories and assumptions Allan suddenly spoke up:


    ?Ishikawa, could it be that you have some kind of complex about your height?"

 4 The group 2

    ?Eh? N-no! ...W-why are you asking?", Aya answered slightly panicky.


    ?Then why are you standing on your toes all the time?"


    ?Huh? What do you mean? I''m standing totally normal?", Aya reacted confusedly.


    ?Urgh, what the heck is going on now!?"


    ?Well, I can''t say it with certainty but didn''t Ishikawa become larger? Come and stand beside me."


    A few moments later Aya stood beside Allan who already continued:


    ?Originally Ishikawa reached only barely over my shoulder if I remember correctly, but now her head already reaches my nose."


    ?Now that you say it... I didn''t realize that myself..."


    ?Look down, she just stands on higher ground than you."


    Looking down Allan answered:


    ?Certainly."


    Crouching down to take a closer look he said:


    ?But as far as I remember there shouldn''t be any steps or slopes..."


    Allan touched around on the floor, trying to find the step. Suddenly he finds his hand under Aya''s foot. When he lifted his hand, trying to find the platform Aya was standing on they suddenly heard a loud shriek.


    ?Iiiieeek... urgh, please stop, my feet are extremely sensitive!"


    Still standing on one leg after she lifted the other one, she looked around herself, seeing that everyone looked weird at her. To be exact, at the place where her foot was originally. Looking down she saw that Allan waved his hand up and down through that place.


    ?Th-The floor! What if the rest also disa- aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"


    Reaching down, Allan threw himself on the hard floor, bellyflopping painfully. But still, he had managed to grab Aya arm barely in time, preventing her from falling any further. While he reached down with his other hand as well, or else, he wouldn''t be able to hold her for long. He cursed inwardly at himself for not working out like he had planned so many times before, or he would be able to pull the small and light Aya up without any problems.


    ?Stop! Be careful, we don''t know if there aren''t any other holes!", Julias voice sounded out, stopping Cale, who wanted to rush over, right in his tracks.


    A moment later Cale started to move again, this time slow and carefully as to not fall into a hole as well, as there would be no one to save him.


    When Cale finally reached the two, he helped Allan to pull Aya up. Just as they wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, they almost dropped the still panicking Aya again, as she kept ?falling through the floor".


    After trying out some things they decided to resolve the problem by letting Cale carry Aya in his arms. Making Aya blush and panic because of completely different reasons as they both were still wearing only a single piece of fabric.


    After around ten minutes of walking around in the same area, to show her that there indeed was a floor, Aya had finally calmed down enough to stand again on her own. And this time everything went well, without her ?falling through".


    They sat down in a circle to discuss what happened earlier. But when they even after a long time didn''t get to any plausible conclusion Allan spoke up:


    ?So, no one has any ideas anymore?"


    ?Hmmmmmm..."


    ?Julia? Have you found something?"


    ?Maybe, but I''m going crazy if this actually works!"


    Saying this she stood up and closed her eyes as if to be able to concentrate better. A moment later she took a step forward, or more like, upwards, and continued to do so as if she was walking up a flight of stair, only to jump down after four steps again. She opened her eyes.


    ?How the f*ck did you do that right now?!"


    ?I was about to explain when you interrupted me. The answer is imagination, it seems that things are just as we imagine them. Remember what happened with Aya before? Because of some reason, she imagined the floor to be higher than everyone else. So, when Allan ?proved" that there actually wasn''t a floor where she stood before, she started to doubt herself. Then, panicking, she probably imagined the floor to disappear, and you know the rest."


    ?And only when she calmed down and we convinced her that there actually is a ?floor" she was able to stand on her own again.", Allan completed the story.


    ?So you basically just imagined that there were stairs and then walked up? That''s how this place works?"


    ?Of course that''s how it works! We are in a mindspace after all! That''s the problem with uneducated people like you! Well, since you figured that much out on your own you aren''t totally stupid after all!"


    Four heads whipped around to find the owner of the new voice.


    ?So you know what''s going on here?", Allan asked the handsome youth.


    ?As I said, this is a mindspace. I won''t explain much more since it''s too much of a hassle. But if you want to know who or why they did this, even I don''t know that. However, they will show themselves eventually, or else this whole thing wouldn''t have much use. In actuality I''m more interested in how they did this, I should have been protected more than good enough!"


    ?May I ask who you are?", Julia asked.


    ?But of course, my name is Loras van Fordan, first prince of Fordan forest on the great continent of Farenhas.", Loras answered while putting a strand of his smooth blonde hair behind his ear.


    ?Pfff... Hahahahahahahahahahahihihihihihi!", Aya burst out, laughing.


    ?Oh my god! And i -hic- Ahh sh*t! And I actually believed you -hic- at first! Why the -hic- heck are you cosplaying as some elven prince in this kinda -hic- situation? You even nailed the ears!"


    ?Cosplay? What''s that? And no I don''t have any earrings if it''s that what you mean."


    ?Hahahihi, Roleplaying! Acting! Choose what -hic- whatever you want!"


    ?Acting? I don''t have any reason to lie! Why are you suddenly accusing me of being a swindler?"


    ?Ok, kid, like seriously, who the f*ck are you and what do you know about this sh*t!"


    ?Everyone Silence! Calm down and let''s talk about this like civilized people! And you Cale! I tried to ignore it, but stop it with those expletives all the time! It was already annoying before but right now it''s everything but helpful!"


    When Julia suddenly got loud everyone became silent in an instant, and you could only hear Cale answer meekly in a weak voice.


    ?Yes. I will try."


    When everyone finally calmed down again, it took them almost an hour to talk everything trough.


    ?So you three are saying that you are from a world where there are only humans no magic at all? I totally can''t imagine that!"


    ?No no no, I''m even more shocked that Julia actually knows magic! I thought you were just like the rest of us!", Aya countered.


    ?I would like to forbid the usage of terms like magic and miracle! Those are just a branch of science that we still can''t completely explain, nothing else!", Allan interjected.


    ?I know what you mean but just see it like this that that branch is called magic, also, that''s totally beside the point! Well, I''m sorry that I didn''t mention it beforehand, but since I''m a doctor I thought it obvious that I know magic. Also, I never heard of something like this mindspace before."


    ?But still, that we are supposed to be from three different f*-?


    ?Expletives!"


    ?*cough* Three different worlds is still f-*cough* pretty astonishing!"


    ?To be precise, considering the discrepancy''s in our arrival time that I mentioned beforehand, we are probably all from different... worlds? dimensions? possibilities? If we were to discuss historical events we would probably find differences sooner or later. However, that''s not important right now. A new guest just arrived."

 5 The group 3

    Hearing what Allan said everyone turned their head in the direction he pointed out.


    ?Worked!", the newcomer said in a low voice that could have been mistaken as a cats purr.


    ?A Pantherian? No, wait, her skin is to light, and that voice! Even her eyes are green!"


    ?Hm? What are you talking about, Loras?", Aya asked curiously.


    ?Ah, right you aren''t familiar with other races then humans, if I''m right she should be a pantherian, a tribe of beastman."


    In front of them stood a small girl, around the same size as Aya. Her skin was fair and light while her hair was midnight-black and reached only down to her chin until it changed into black fur that covered her neck, a part of her shoulders and front, as well as her whole back down to her tailbone where one could see a long, elegant cattail moving through the air. Her head was adorned by a pair of beautiful cat ears that moved attentively left and right as if to not miss the smallest sound, while her bright green, almost glowing, eyes looked at the rest of them with a sharpness that didn''t quite fit the rest of her cute face, only to be further strengthened by her cat-like pupils.


    ?I can see that she is a beast person, I''m not blind!"


    ?Ah, right, I still can''t wrap my head around how your people managed to come up with races that don''t exist in your world while still getting the names mostly right."


    ?Hey, it''s not nice to talk in front of her like this! My name is Julia, what is yours?"


    ?Shade."


    ?Urgh, we won''t get anywhere like this, you are a Nightwalker, right?"


    ?Nn.", Shade nodded her head.


    ?Well, I never thought I''d ever get to see a nightwalker. Nightwalker are an extremely rare mutation that can happen in the pantherian tribe. Normally pantherians are rather large and muscular, with rather dark skin and much less fur than her. Also, they have mostly yellow, rarely blue eyes. Pantherians are said to be some of the best naturally gifted assassins combining great stealth and a high amount of explosive strength. A nightwalker is different in many points, they are much smaller and less muscular, their eyes are green without exception and their beastly blood is much stronger. That is shown in their eyes, giving them great night vision, their fur, and their bestial instincts. On the other hand, it''s said that it makes talking very hard for them, as we can obviously hear. Considering their abilities there are also differences as well. For one they have an extreme affinity with the darkness element in terms of magic. On the other side, their explosive strength is much lower but they are even faster, more agile as well as stealthier. Also, it is said, when a nightwalker is born in a pantherian family the child gets taken away immediately to start their training as assassins while the family gets a reward that''s enough that the next two generations could live of of it without having to ever lift a finger. I don''t know anything about the abilities of a fully trained nightwalker, only rumors, the only thing that is known is that they almost exclusively use bow and arrow, very rarely do they use blades and even then it''s said that they are using arrowheads. Some of the still most believable rumors would be, that they can hide from a person on an open field, just by staying out if their field of vision, or that they are so fast with their bows that even if they stood right in front of you, you would have an arrow stuck in each eye before you could even think of drawing your sword! In short, they are, without exception, extremely dangerous individuals!"


    During the entire duration if Loras explanation Shade would only nod in affirmation every now and then or utter a satisfied and proud:


    ?Nn."


    When they tried looking at Shade, they realized that she was long gone from where she was before. Instead, they heard a low purring sound from Aya''s direction, when they looked to her they saw a picture that didn''t quite fit with the earlier description, as they could see Aya petting and stroking Shade''s head that laid in her lap who was the source of the purring. Both had a rather satisfied expression on their faces.


    Truly, the legendary stealth of a nightwalker!


    ?Hoh, he says you are dangerous.", Aya said to Shade, still not stopping to pet her.


    ?How come you know so much about them?"


    ?*cough* *cough* Well, I am the first prince of a kingdom after all. So I need to know such things as I could get involved with them at any time. No matter if I am on the giving or receiving end of their service, as they are the best assassins you can buy for money."


    ?Oh, right, you said that something ?worked'' when you first came here, what did you mean, Shade?", Aya continued.


    ?Ritual."


    ?A ritual? Ritual of what kind?", asked Aya further.


    ?When Nightwalker turns 15, offering service to goddess with ritual. Almost never works, but for me, did."


    ?Eh, you are three years younger than me?", Aya asked her in astonishment and with a tinge of sadness.


    ?Three years older?", Shade asked back, with the same astonished face that Aya had, unknowingly rubbing salt into her wounds.

 6 The group 4

    ?So first ?magic'' and other worlds and now even gods, huh? This is either one insane coincidence, or we have to consider that there is someone or something that''s calling itself a god. Still, even then, it may be some insanely powerful being but I will never believe that it is either omniscient or omnipotent. With this much stuff going on it seems like I will have to reconsider many things and concepts in my research in the future.", Allan said.


    ?What do you guys think, how many more people will get thrown in here by that assh-?


    *cough*


    ?-that god before she is satisfied?"


    ?Who knows, depends on what she needs us for.", Julia answered.


    ?Do you know what this situation actually reminds me of? Hero summoning!"


    ?You mean like in those stories? I''ve read some of them as well some time ago. Haha! That sounds so freaking ridiculous that it could actually be true!"


    ?Let me think... In that case, they come usually either alone or in groups of three, five or seven. But lately, there are also many stories with huge groups of over twenty people... but in that case, they always just take away a whole classroom including the teacher...", Aya contemplated.


    ?In short, we don''t know.", Allan closed the case.


    ?But in terms of timing it shouldn''t be long if there are more to come, it''s always been around 30 minutes if my sense of time isn''t failing me completely."


    Not knowing what to talk about they fell into an awkward silence, waiting for something to happen.


    And as predicted, after only a few minutes a figure appeared. The figure that was most likely a man, was a giant of nearly two and a half meters, but at the same time very lanky with very long limbs, making him look almost like slenderman. His skin was light gray and he seemed to have not a single strand of hair on his whole body, not even eyebrows or eyelashes. His eyes were constantly in a half-closed state making him look sleepy and a glowing blue crystal sat in the middle of his forehead. And, only if one looked a little bit closer would one realize that something was missing, he had no ears.


    -Hello.-, an ethereal voice said politely.


    Confused, they looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice.


    -Yes, I''m communicating with you, there is no one else besides us seven in this space right now.-


    ?Oh, telepa-?


    -I''m of the magus race, we can only communicate through telepathy, it is an innate skill of my race.-


    ?-thy that''s a really rare skill, is what I wanted to say.", Loras explained only to get interrupted.


    ?So, wha-", Julia got interrupted as well.


    -Just call me Magus, we don''t have names that could be conveyed in words.-


    ?Are you per-", Cale got an annoyed look on his face when also got interrupted.


    -Yes, my race is naturally gifted in magic.-


    ?Say, Magus, are yo-", Cale began his sentence.


    -Indeed, I can read your thoughts. But I can only read those you want to convey to me. I can''t read anything you don''t want to.-


    ?How ca-", Cales face kept getting worse and worse.


    -You can''t be sure that I''m not lying, but I can teach you a method to prevent your mind from getting forcefully read.-


    ?Can you f*cking stop interrupting me any single f*cking time already!", Cale finally exploded.


    -I''m sorry, I''m not used to communicating with talkers, it was my mistake. Since I can''t hear I should have checked your lips movement. I will try not to make this mistake in the future.-


    ?Haahh, Nevermind, I also overreacted. Sorry."


    ?Magus, do you..."


    -I do...-, magus looked towards Allan and stopped answering halfway.


    ?...have any idea who brought us here and why?", Allan continued as if nothing happened.


    -I don''t know.-


    Thinking for a moment, Allan closed his eyes as if he were concentrating on something. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again.


    ?Did you get that?"


    -Yes, thank you. But I can''t add anything to that, I think now we can only wait and see.-


    ?Hey, that''s actually pretty convenient, you know that!"


    ?Heh? what did you do?", Aya asked confusedly.


    ?I tried to convey all our earlier discussions and conclusions to Magus, it seems to have worked quite well."


    Hearing that, Shade also closed her eyes for a moment.


    -I''m sorry, now is not the right time to teach you Shade. It might take quite some time for you to learn telepathy as a nightwalker''s affinity to darkness magic is quite strong, as telepathy is magic without an element, you would have to first learn how to clear your mana of the darkness element. That isn''t something easy as you would have to relearn almost everything from the beginning.-, Magus answered as politely as ever.


    ?Heroes!", a beautiful female voice rang out, giving off a holy feeling as they could hear it through their ears and minds at the same time.


    ?Aya, I really respect you right now!", Cale spoke up.


    ?Like, seriously!?", hearing that Aya couldn''t help but facepalm.

 7 Heroes 1

    ?Heroes! I goddess of love and life, protection and loyalty, Amaris, beseech thee! Protect those who came to me, searching for aid, and in return, I shall give you all a new possibility. You who have no attachments to your worlds and talents you can''t even imagine yourself, I shall free you from the restraints of your old worlds, and give you powers, so that you may better protect my people from their enemies!


    Cale, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Leader], so that you may act in my name and lead the others so that you all may be stronger together!


    I give you my blessing!


    Loras van Fordan, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Hope], so that you may act in my name and, if the need may arise, become able to carry the hopes and legacies of your fallen comrades!


    I give you my blessing!


    Ishikawa Aya, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Protector], so that you may act in my name and may become stronger the more there is for you to protect!


    I give you my blessing!


    Julia Bauer, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Anti-thesis], so that you may act in my name and give healing and strength to your own, but also death and weakness to your enemies!


    I give you my blessing!


    Magus, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Elementalist], so that you may act in my name and bend the four elements to your will!


    I give you my blessing!


    Shade, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Might], so that you may act in my name and overcome your weakness by unleashing the power of many in a single mighty blow.


    I give you my blessing!


    Allan Walker, I bestow upon you the title of [Hero] as well as the title of [Craftsman], so that you may act in my name and create worthy weapons and armors for your companions, capable of protecting them and bringing out their full power!


    I give you my blessing!


    Now my Heroes, go on to protect my people in my great name, Arimas!"


    ?Holy sh*t! Literally! In my case it''s true what that goddess said, I don''t have much attachment for my old world and it sounds interesting to become a hero, but what about the rest of you?"


    As an answer, Cale just received a row of shrugs and shaking heads.


    ?You did say that you were training a small soccer team, but I didn''t expect you to become the leader. But since it is like this, please tone down on the curses, that won''t be good for our reputation. But I do have to say, these ?powers'' she gave us are quite curious, it feels as if I would have been supposed to be able to always use them but only now I start to remember slowly how... Either way, I''m rather content with my position, I may be good at making weapons but never really liked using them, call me a coward if you want but that''s how it is."


    ?To be totally honest, i don''t know how I should feel about this whole [Anti-thesis] ability, on one hand I feel like I could be able to achieve the total opposite effect with my healing spells, which goes a little bit against my codex, on the other hand I think I could also achieve healing effects with magic that would normally be used with malicious intent. It feels rather disturbing, but at the same time I feel like I could reach a completely new realm right now and save patients I wouldn''t have been able to before."


    ?What should I say, at least you have something that you can use. I didn''t get anything that I could use as long as no one of you dies. That''s what I would call disturbing!"


    ?Nn. Satisfied!"


    -Indeed, I too am very satisfied.-


    ?I will give it my best to protect you, although I don''t really know how right now, I feel like I could manage somehow! Anyway how long do you think we have to wait until we get sent wherever we are supposed to?"


    Throwing a short glance at everyone Allan answered wryly: ?I just hope that goddess gives us some clothes beforehand, and if those people have some kind of nudist culture I would rather decline."


    As if on cue, white ?invisible'' patches started to appear on everyone''s bodies while the original ones just changed their forms until they all seemed more or less fully clothed.


    ?Do you think... she actually forgot?", Aya asked in a hushed tone, as if careful that the goddess wouldn''t hear.


    ?Never. Goddess is goddess."


    ?Shit... but now that I think about it, that sounded as if she was just filling in freaking blank spaces, in a pre-prepared speech."


    ?You shouldn''t curse at the goddess, we are in her mind space, she can hear everything we say in here if she wanted.", Loras warned.


    -It''s starting, I can feel some kind of spell getting activated.-


    Suddenly, everything went first white and then black. For a moment, nothing happened.


    *Thump*


    ?Aaahhh, that damn goddess, she totally did that on purpose!"


    When Allan opened his eyes he realized that he had been lying on the ground in the same posture as he was before he entered the mind space. Looking in the direction of the noise he saw Cale holding his red face while kneeling on the ground. It seemed that he appeared a good distance above the ground and landed face first.


    Looking down his body and then at everyone else he saw that they were all wearing elegant white robes, fitting the image of a hero.


    While Aya was already standing up, Julia had gone over to Cale and crouched down. Mumbling something incomprehensible she touched Cale''s face, instantly he stopped wailing.


    ?Thanks, that was magic, right?"


    Julia nodded and stood up, pulling Cale up as well.


    After this short intermission, a loud voice sounded out:


    ?The godsend heroes arrived!"

 8 Heroes 2

    They stood in the middle of the main ship of a huge church, there where normally rows and rows of benches would stand for those who want to pray or take part in the service.


    Drawn on the floor was something that could only be described as a magic circle and every now and then there laid different sized gray-colored crystals in between the lines.


    Around the magic circle on the ground, as well as some balcony''s on the first and even second floor stood endless rows of priests in silent prayer.


    Seeing that Cale gulped loud, thinking about the fact that he had just cursed at their goddess.


    There were probably only seven people in the whole church right now who weren''t praying. Shade, who was actually an offer to this goddess, was also praying, making it the other six heroes and the person who announced their arrival.


    He was a middle-aged man in a long white robe, that made him look like had some high position in the church, which was only supported by the fact that he seemed to be leading this ritual.


    Slowly, one after another, the priest started to lift their heads, all looking at the heroes.


    It was then that the old priest spoke up again:


    ?I am cardinal Eberhardt, I am truly glad that I am allowed to meet with you, the chosen heroes of our great god, lady Amaris. Please, tell me, who of you is your representative?"


    Before anyone could react Julia spoke up while pointing at Cale:


    ?That would be him, Cale."


    Grabbing his ear, Julia spoke to him in a mix of whisper and hissing:


    ?No profanities, I warn you!"


    Getting pushed in the back, he stumbled a step forward before he caught himself again and took two more steps until he stood right in front of the seven.


    Nervous, not knowing what to do with them Cale kept his hands behind his back, giving him in combination with the white robe the goddess provided, even if unintentional, a very proud and slightly majestic appearance.


    ?My name is Cale, sir, I am the one who was appointed by the goddess as the leader."


    ?No need to be so formal, sir Cale. Please follow me, I''m sure that you have many questions about the kingdom of Loreley as well as the reason which made us summon you."


    With a friendly smile on his face, the cardinal left the altar and the pedestal which it stood upon. His slow but strong steps resounded loudly throughout the gigantic church. Without having to say anything the priest parted in front of him, staying at a respectful distance, the only sound they produced throughout the ceremony being the faint shuffling of their feet.


    Without caring at all about the fact that the hem of his robe destroyed the elaborately drawn magic circle, the Cardinal strode right through it and kept going towards the gigantic closed main gate. He gave off such a holy aura that even the heroes took a respectful step to the side and then followed after him without another word.


    Working like a smooth and quiet clockwork, six priests, three on each of the huge double doors, pushed the gates outward, opening them.


    Thanks to the fact that the church stood alone on a hill in the midst of the city, as well as the crystal blue sky, the seven heroes got to see a magnificent view of what was probably the capital of Loreley.


    To the left, on the only other hill in the city, as well as the only place that stood even higher than the church, stood a gigantic castle surrounded by two walls. A small one at the foot of the hill, and a second, higher, one at the top. In between those two walls one could see a literal ocean of beautiful flowers, only interrupted by the occasional gravel path, where one could see some people wandering around, some alone but mostly in pairs of man and woman.


    A beautiful yet highly practical design, as there was not a single object that would obstruct the vision of the guards on the upper or lower wall, while the meandering gravel paths never got closer than 15 meters to either wall, making every potential trespasser very obvious.


    If one looked a little bit to the right, one would see numerous small and large mansions. The noble district were the nobles resided that either lived there or visited the capital. There were only two main streets, one on either side of the castle, drawing a long line throughout the whole city, while also being the only street adorned with stores in the noble district.


    While not being in the noble district, the hill with the grand church stood right outside of it, at the place where the first and second wall stood the furthest away from each other. This was to prevent eventual invaders from using either the walls or the hill to their own advantage when capturing the next target.


    The capital had a whole four walls, besides the two castle walls. With each wall, the houses would get smaller and build in a more chaotic manner. And if one looked outside the fourth wall one would see that even there were already new houses getting build, but even then, one would never see a house, no matter how small, that wasn''t built of bricks.


    That, as well as the continuously expanding walls, were enough to show the progress and prosperity of this kingdom.


    ?How do you like the view of our capital city, Lorain?"


    ?It is certainly very beautiful. And, even though it is not the same as our modern society, this city seems have progressed very far and looks very clean. Considering that I just hope you also have decent plumbing."


    ?Hahahaha, no need to be concerned, though only around every second household beyond the second wall, and only a rare few beyond the third wall have it, we are constantly improving on that front. And we are very proud of the fact that Lorain is one of the most sanitary cities on the whole continent. And you are?"


    ?Allan Walker, though I won''t be fighting on the front line I will do my best by providing weapons and armor worthy of the other heroes. And although this city is already on a very good way, I may be able to provide some support in that aspect as well."

 9 Heroes 3 8

    ?You are saying that you come from a place were they made a greater technological progress than our kingdom?"


    ?Yes, that''s exactly it. But i guess we haven''t progressed further in the big picture necessarily. From what i heard that should be Julias world."


    ?Well, i''m just wildly guessing right now, but i imagine that you should face a certain problem with the development of technology."


    ?What do you mean?", Aya asked curiously.


    ?If my guess is correct, the problem is the existence of magic."


    ?Why is magic a problem?"


    ?Then let me ask you a question. What sounds more interesting to you?


    Studying magic, or finding a way to improve the cities plumbing system?"


    ?Urgh, i get it."


    ?Hahaha, thats exactly the problem we are facing with the development of our city. Almost all the capable and intelligent people prefer the study of magic, but sadly that isn''t anything that the common people can benefit from. Even the most simple spells or magic artifacts require you to possess a certain capability in terms of magic to make use of them. And that is definitely not something common. But may i ask, why does it sound as if you aren''t familiar with the problem?"


    ?Ah, the reason is simple, and also the same why i said that my world isn''t necessarily further developed. We didn''t have that exact problem, in fact, there was no one who could use magic, so there no need to study it."


    ?That kind of world must be a wonderful place for commoners to live!"


    ?Maybe, but it isn''t like we didn''t have our fair share of problems to deal with. And it seems you too, or else we wouldn''t be here right now."


    ?On that note, what is going to happen with us now?", Cale asked, stopping the discussion about the problems of society and plumbing at that point.


    ?We will take the carriages over there. You will be brought to the King of this country. Even though the church performed the summoning, it is the kingdom you shall safe, so it is also the king who will take command directly as long as the heroes are concerned."


    After he guided them to the carriages, the cardinal as well as Cale Aya and Shade embarked on the first, leaving the second for Allan, Loras, Julia and Magus.


    While they were moving towards the castle Julia suddenly asked:


    ?What do you think about this kingdom?"


    ?It seems like a very good place to live for the common people, but i can''t say much more until we find out what the problem is."


    ?Certainly, they do seem very developed. I don''t have much of an opinion as there are almost no elves that are incapable of using magic, but as i have seen other human cities before i can understand their problems to a certain extend. To be honest, i never expected to get to see a human city that is almost as clean as an elven one. But for now we won''t know if the rest of it is just as clean. In a physical and political sense."


    -I can''t say much in this matter, our culture is very different from Humans and elves. You humans had a word for it, i think you called it communism.-


    ?That doesn''t seem unrealistic, considering your way of communication. But one thing is definitely clear, we were summoned to fight, the question is: who or what?"


    ?I do have to say that i''m quiet happy about the sanitary conditions here. As a doctor i have pretty high standard''s. And Loras is right, we have to consider the political situation as well, but i almost forgot, that you were a prince i mean. But it''s good that we have you, i doubt the rest of us is any good in these kinda situations... Especially Cale..."


    ?I''m still wondering why he of all became the leader, i don''t understand how that goddess came to the conclusion that that would be a good idea.", Loras said with a frown on his face.


    ?Didn''t you see him back at the church? I think if he stops cursing all the time he actually has that type of personality. That of a leader, i mean. Well, we still will have to support him. I''m actually getting a little worried right now."


    Not listening to their conversation anymore, Allan looked out of the window of the carriage. At the moment they had reached the main road in the second district. He saw many people going around, in and out of shops.


    Looking at their clothes Allan saw that they seemed to be of rather good quality, nothing like the machineproduced products of his old world but still of fairly high quality. The thing that calmed him down especially was that he couldn''t see any outrageous types of fashion, actually everyone seemed to be clothed pretty moderately, showing almost no skin.


    The only exception to that were the occasional beast people that seemed to make up around 10% of the population. Still, even in those cases they mostly only left the parts of their body''s uncovered that were covered in fur instead. The most daring he could find was a woman that was wearing a dress that left her back uncovered, but even that hardly surprised him as she had rather large wings that would make it very difficult to wear anything else.


    After a while Allan realized that there was a certain regularity, a black leather collar with a round metall plaque which had different symbols engraved on them. All of those who where wearing these seemed to be in some kind of servant position.


    ?Say, do you have an idea what those collars mean? I have a bad feeling."


    After looking out of the window for a while Loras finally answered:


    ?Aren''t they slaves? I heard you humans liked to do that."

 10 Heroes 4 9

    Thinking for a moment Allan asked:


    ?Magus, can you also connect the thoughts of two people?"kdkddk


    -I never tried, but i think it should be possible if no party defends against it. Also, i will hear all that you convey to each other.-


    ?Thats ok, could you please connect me with the cardinal in that case?"


    -Of course.-


    ?Oh, can you make it so that everyone can hear it?", Julia asked.


    -I will try.-


    ?Thank you. You want to ask him about the slaves, right?"


    ?Yes, although we can''t be sure if they are."


    -Oh, you have someone who can use telepathy? And rather good at that!-


    -Yes, Magus, the big guy with a crystal in his forehead.-


    -Mister Walker, i guess? I see, i hurried to much and didn''t give you a chance to introduce yourselves. Why are you contacting me like this?-


    -I have question, i noticed those people with collars and wanted to ask.-


    -Ah, you mean the slaves.-


    -So they really are slaves. I won''t judge but i''m just not used to that as slavery was abolished a long time ago where i come from.-


    -Yes, i heard that even hear are country''s like that. But i can assure you that they are treated very well in these parts, as we have even many laws to protect them.-


    -They are protected by the law? May i ask how the conditions are?-


    -Slaves aren''t really treated much different than normal people in most cases. Compared to other places the conditions are very good here.


    As a slave they naturally have an owner, which you can identify with the help of the collars the slaves wear. The owners have to take care of them properly, they are given living quarters food to eat and clothes to wear. Also, even if not much they even get paid for their work. The working conditions are also very good, there are maximum amounts of working hours a day and one free day every week, if my memory doesn''t fail me. There are mainly only two downsides. First, of course, a slave can''t choose which job he is given, but most of the time the owner let them do what they did before they became slaves. There should also be some exceptions, an owner can''t, for example, force his slave to risk his life or into sexual intercourse.-


    -And the second downside?-


    -Family, a slave has to ask for their owners permission if they want to have children. If they are allowed to, the owner has certain responsibilities in that aspect as well, making it so that those children most of the time end up working for the same family as their parents when they grow up. Either as a free person or as a slave, but they aren''t slaves since birth.-


    -And what happens if they aren''t allowed to have children but it still happens?-


    -Yes, that happens from time to time as well. In those cases the owner is allowed to give that child to an orphanage. But i heard that such cases are actually handle different in most cases, they give the children instead to other owners that specialize in raising them as servants. These children then get the choice when they grow up, either paying them back with their own hard work, or what happens most of the time, they become slaves and pay for their education in that way. Those slaves then get sold as high class goods to other wealthy families.-


    -Those conditions actually seem quiet good!-


    -Of course, they are still fellow humans and beastman after all. In actuality, i heard that in recent times more and more of those third and fourth children of poorer family''s become slaves by their own choice, as many slaves are said to have better living conditions than them. Almost one out of ten slaves in the capital are like that.-


    -Thanks for the kind explanation. But i think we should talk about the rest face to face, and not like this.-


    -Certainly, that does sound much more comfortable. Until then.-


    ?Well, it seems my uneasiness was unfounded, even if they are slaves they get treated quiet well."


    ?That is true, and i don''t think they have any reason to lie to us in that regard.", replied Julia.


    -One human owning another, for me that is something hard to understand... Isn''t it enough to just ask them for help?-


    ?Nothing against you my friend, but i think we know now who not to entrust with our finances!", Allan replied only half jokingly.


    After this they fell into silence again. When Allan got back to looking outside, he realized that they had already passed the first wall. While the size of the mansions on both sides of the road hadn''t changed much, they now where all surrounded by a huge garden and two to three meter high walls.


    At this point it didn''t take them long until they reached the outer castle wall.


    While they were on the way, everyone respectfully evaded their carriages. That was why, they were stopped for the first time in their travel. When Allan looked to the front he saw a guard approach the carriage in the front. The guard was wearing a heavy looking armor, being literally covered in steel from head to toe, a big towershield that seemed to be made of solid steel on the left arm and a sword and a club tucked away on his hip, while a short spear hung over his back.


    When the guard saw the cardinal sticking his head out of the window, he bowed in way that looked a little bit weird, as he had to keep his balance with all the weight he was carrying around. But still, the guard moved naturally as if he didn''t feel the weight at all.


    A moment later, the cardinal gave some document to the guard for him to check, which he did very carefully.


    ?Wow, they are pretty thorough in their security measures. They don''t even let a cardinal just enter without the proper documents, even though it seems like the guard recognized him. And this is just the outer wall."


    When they were let through the gate, they kept going until they reached the top of the hill and the inner castle wall.


    When Allan saw the guards of the inner wall he got surprised, as the guards seemed to be equipped only to look good. Surely, they were even more thorough in checking the documents and the cardinals identity.


    But if one looked at the guards of the outer wall, they wore knight armor that made them look like a moving wall of steel.


    Compared to that the guards of the inner wall wore armor made of a dark green, almost black, material that reflected the sunlight in a dangerous luster. That material was then crafted in several thin, overlapping plates which tightly fitted the body of the wearer, shifting with every movement. In fact, while those armors looked quiet impressive, they looked so thin and tight that one could almost tell every movement of the wearers muscles, not to mention the gender, and Allan wondered if they didn''t feel naked. The only thing comparable to a shield that they had was slightly larger piece of the same metal as their armor that barely covered the back of the hand and then reached up to over the elbow. Even their weapons seemed more decorative than anything, one looked like slightly longer kitchen knifes and the other were rapiers. They hung on the guards hips blank without any protective cover for the blade, as if to show of their beautiful silvery color and the intricate designs that were carved into the blade.


    Only when Allan saw the patterns that were carved into the blade, and realized their similarities with the magiccircle back in the church, did he realize the mistake he had made in his earlier evaluation and became able to see the precision these armors and weapons were made with.


    He still needed to get used to the existence of magic.

 11 Meeting with the king 1 10

    Only when they were let through the gate did Allan realize that his mistake was bigger than he initially thought it was. Thinking back to the time he looked at the castle from the Church, he realized that, even though the castle was indeed huge, the area around it was just way to large. But back then, he didn''t saw a single human being, not even on the inner castle wall.


    When he compared that with what he saw right now, it wasn''t comparable in any which way. What he saw was more fit to be called a fortress than a castle. Outer wall guards were patrolling everywhere in their heavy steel armor and tower shields and even the occasional inner wall guard with their dark green armor were running around.


    On the left side of the castle were the barracks and training fields were soldiers and guards were stationed, and three groups were training right now, one with short swords, one with spears and the last one with rapiers.


    On the other side of the castle stood two silent towers, both were perfectly round and stood seven storeys high, side by side.


    A bit further away Allan saw a wide but flat complex, thick smoke rising from the chimneys and one could hear the constant sound of metal hitting metal, most definitely a smithy.


    When the carriages stopped they stood already right in front of the castles maingates. Following the cardinal, who once again had to show the documents to an elegantly clothed servant, they finally entered the castle.


    In front of them was a beautifully decorated courtyard, surrounded by an arcade and with several pathways leading here and there.


    Following along the arcade they walked halfway around the courtyard, until they stood in front of a pair of gates, on the opposite site from where they entered the castle. Just like the others, this gate was guarded as well, unlike the other the guards were wearing armor that had obviously decorative purposes as they were shining in silver and golden colors with long red cloaks. The armors were beautiful but clearly unfit for battle. The halberds that the guards held upright in their right hands, planted firmly on the ground, had just the right length, as if only intended for this purpose, to cross them in front of the gate. Perfectly suited to block of unwanted guests.


    The next difference was that those guards opened the gates as soon as they saw the cardinal, without asking for any documents at all.


    When they entered what could only be the throne room Allan was almost surprised by how cliche it looked. A grand long hall, around three storeys high. Ceiling high pillars on either side and three grandiose chandeliers hanging down. To make the picture perfect, a red carpet starting at the gate and leading through the whole room, three steps up, and ending in front of a beautiful and grand throne, one slightly smaller on its right side and three that only looked like beautiful chairs on the left. He didn''t know what he expected, but as he just came to accept magic it seemed like he put his expectations a little bit to high.


    The cardinal led them through the hall and kept going until he reached the rear end, and walked toward the corner on the right side of the hall. There, in front of a door, which seemed just like the other doors one could see through the pillar every now and then, stood an inconspicuous pair of man, guarding it.


    Ignoring them, the cardinal opened the door and led them in the room. In this room stood a huge table, and on top of it was a map spread wide. Behind that table stood another desk, in front of which sat a man in his forties. He was going through some sort of document and constantly mumbling something, reading the text carefully. With a stressed look on his face he ruffled his hair.


    *cough* *cough*


    The man looked up with a shocked expression on his face.


    ?In gods name, Eberhardt, how many times do i need to tell you to knock on the door before coming in!", the man said angrily.


    He stood up from his chair and hastily grabbed the crown that laid on the corner of his desk, putting it on his head.


    ?I greet you, you are the heroes i presume? I am King Joseph Loreley."


    Indeed, this person seemed to be this country''s king.


    ?May i ask for your names?"


    Feeling Julias hand on his back, Cale took a step to the front.


    ?Of course, my name is Cale, i''m the representative of us seven."


    ?Loras van Fordan, it''s a pleasure."


    ?Julia Bauer."


    -As my name is physically unspeakable, just call me Magus.-


    ?Ishikawa Aya. Oh, Ishikawa is my last name! And she is called Shade!"


    ?Nn."


    ?Allan Walker, it''s an honor your majesty."


    ?So you are the heroes lady Arimas has send us. I don''t know how much you know about our situation, so i will explain it to you."


    ?By the way, if i may interrupt, i realized that no one seemed to know about our arrival, or is there a different reason for this?", Loras asked.


    ?Yes, only very few people know at this moment of your summoning. And we will try to keep it as a secret as long as possible."


    ?Why is that?"


    ?Currently you are still weak, and as soon as the enemy finds out about your existence they will try to get rid of you, preventing you from growing stronger properly. This should be the obvious step, as we are doing exactly the same right now."


    ?You are saying that there are other heroes?"


    ?You catch up fast, exactly that is the case. The enemy has summoned a group of heroes first, and the chances that you will clash with them at some point sooner or later are high. But at the moment you are still weaker, on the bright side, they only summoned five heroes, so we have an advantage."

 12 Meeting with the king 2 11

    ?The Loreley kingdom lies on the great land, to better understand, you can imagine it''s general form as roughly that that an hourglass would have. The Eastern lands, the Western lands, and the bottleneck that connects both. And that is where we are right now.


    There are only three countries that were said to lie directly in the bottleneck. Loreley kingdom, the Walhart empire which borders on our north and the Necropolis, which covers the complete eastern half of the bottleneck, reaching from the northern sea to the western sea, while also being the shared eastern border of our Loreley and the Walhart empire.


    As the country that controlled all trade between the eastern and western lands, it was once one of the richest and greatest country''s on the great land. But, around 200 years ago, it fell to the curses of an evil necromancer, and nowadays nothing that dies there, stays dead for long, returning as undead. And even if you destroy those, they come back at some point."


    ?So, our enemy''s are undead? But didn''t you say they had summoned heroes?", Cale asked.


    ?No, that isn''t the case. You will have to fight the undead at some point to get stronger yourself, but we don''t want you to break the curse. The Curse is actually something beneficial to our kingdom. As the undead stay around the area were they died and very rarely leave they don''t cause too much trouble and are pretty good practice-targets for our soldiers. Also, we already investigated and the curse seems to recede by one meter on average in fifty years.


    The area of conflict is a river, That river starts almost in the middle of the eastern continent and joins together with several others until it reaches the eastern end of the Necropolis while constantly changing names. But from that point onwards that river is called the ?Gateway to the East'' while traveling in a straight line westward through the Necropolis. Originally the Gateway was flowing in a different way, that was until one of the kings of old started to artificially change its flow in an insane project that took three generations of kings to complete, creating one of their most important trading and shipping routes. And it still stands till today, just that it is now the only route that can be considered save while cutting straight through instead of around it as well. After leaving the Necropolis the Gateway flows into a great lake, that lake isn''t all that important, but the island in its middle certainly is, because that island is the only place were ships can properly anchor, as the other shores are to shallow.


    At this point you may be able to imagine the problem already, that island, that is mostly called Gate island, is under the rule of the Loreley kingdom, while being half the reason for this kingdoms prosperity. After all, Gate island is the focuspoint of almost half of all the trade between the Eastern and the Western lands.


    Actually the blessing that river is for our kingdom doesn''t end there, as it keeps flowing, after changing names to Rivelon, in western direction until it takes a sharp turn up to the north, providing us with an natural barrier on more than half our border with the Walhart empire.


    But, and this is the core of the matter, two years ago the emperor of the Walhart empire changed. And half a year ago, the new emperor proclaimed that he would take back what is ?rightfully his'', namely Gate island.


    That claim isn''t actually wrong, as Gate island was originally part of it until they lost it to their eastern neighbors over 300 years ago, and back then the Loreley kingdom was actually part of the empire.


    You have to know that the Loreley kingdom is only 150 years young and split of from the empire because of the very poor treatment of their commoners and the rather inhumane treatment of their slaves.


    Back then my ancestors were rather desperate, and that was when they took a gamble. They cleared out Gate island of all undead, destroying them and carrying them out of the cursed zone one by one until none were left. Even today, it still stands under the influence of the curse, but we keep watch with extreme care, and had only one minor outbreak of undead in all those years.


    Sadly, ever since we refused to hand over the island, we prevented already more than ten outbreaks, being almost too late already twice. And the Empire keeps putting pressure on the western part of the border, the part that isn''t protected by the Rivelon."


    ?So they made their position very clear, they want war.", Loras summarized the situation.


    ?Yes, that is definitely the case."


    ?I hope you don''t mind me asking, but what exactly is our job as heroes, sure you train us and we fight, but were and when?", Cale asked.


    ?Well, heroes have mostly three types of missions. The first and most common type is going to be the quick-dispatches, you get dispatched as an quickly moving elite-force, providing support on normal border fights, by filling the gap until reinforcements arrive, in those cases mostly only one or two of you would go.


    The second type are full on strikes against important strategic positions, as well as the exact opposite, defending against the full on strike of the empire. These missions are going to be the ones were the most of you will get dispatched at the same time, making it also the missions were you will clash with the other parties heroes the most regularly.


    The last type, lets just call them ?special missions'', pretty much all those top secret missions that can come up in a war. Mostly high danger missions on enemy territory like interfering with their support lines, assasinations, stealing stuff... and sometimes things like escort missions."


    ?So, that is the reason that there are so many soldiers running around outside, the preparations for war are already in full swing. In that regard, there are actually a few questions i would like to ask.", threw Allan in at that point.

 13 Meeting with the king 3 12

    ?Questions? Of what type?", the king asked.


    ?Mainly on the soldiers and their training.", Allan answered.


    ?Of course, i will answer too my best abilities."


    ?Well, i was curious from my perspective as a weapon designer, i can certainly understand the swords and spears, but why are the soldiers getting trained with rapiers of all things?"


    ?Isn''t it obvious? They are rather easy to learn to a usable levels of skill and are faster and lighter than spears."


    ?But aren''t they completly useless against anyone wearing plate-armor? That''s actually my next question, how come the soldiers can run around the whole time with these heavy armors as if they weighed nothing? Are they using some kind of body strengthening magic? I''m sorry, i don''t know much in that regard as there was no magic in my old world."


    ?Hmmm... Ah, i see, if there wasn''t any kind of magic than there wasn''t any magic metals as well i would guess. In that case it makes sense that you wouldn''t understand. Certainly a rapier made of steel would simply slip off of an armor made of the same metal or even get bend, but if you make the tip of a higher level metal, than than it can penetrate the armor if you hit it at the right angle. And as the tip of a rapier is rater small, even if rather costly it is still doable to provide every soldier with one. As a kingdom with a rather small army and comparatively huge wealth, that is one of our ways to turn that wealth into power.


    As to your second question, i understand it even less, if every of our soldiers where capable of using body strengthening magic then there wouldn''t be anyone who would even dare to challenge us."


    ?But how can they wear such heavy armor all the time? If i remember correctly in my own world that kind of armor would weigh at least 20kg."


    ?20kg? How is such a light armor supposed to protect you from anything? Even our soldiers with the lowest level need an armor of at least 50kg or they wouldn''t even be able to fight properly, now wouldn''t they?"


    ?50kg?! And the armor alone at that? That means those guards on the outer wall of the castle are constantly carrying 50kg armor plus weapons and that giant tower shield? How is that even humanly possible?!"


    ?Oy, what are you taking our elite guard for? They are all high level warriors and there armors are made of at least 150kg half-black-steel!"


    While the voices the voices of Allan and king Joseph started getting excited, Aya got suddenly struck by a pang of inspiration.


    ?Ehm, may i ask a question, your majesty?", Aya asked timidly.


    ?Kuhum, of course.", the king coughed, trying to use this chance to glance over the rather unsightly situation that almost happened.


    ?Your majesty was constantly mentioning the level of you soldiers, may i ask what you mean?"


    ?Of course, to become a fully fledged soldier one has to at least reach level 50. The guards on the outer wall are all elites that are at least level 150, while the ones on the inner wall is our palace guard which consists only of our most talented fighters of level 200 and up. And only the strongest and most loyal of them can become part of the royal guard, the weakest of which is currently already over 250. Even if only three have broken through the 500 barrier, but still!"


    Six confused and one understanding faces, namely Aya who also spoke up again, looked at the king.


    ?I think i understand now what the problem is, it seems there is a little bit of a misunderstanding. Your majesty, if i''m right than the concept of levels exists in some of our homeworlds,just not in reality. Levels are something that only exists in fictional story''s where we come from, if at all. And if i''m right there certainly has to be a way to find out what our levels are, right?"


    ?No levels!? How can that be!? Or is it that you just can''t see them?"


    ?Your majesty doesn''t know, and there wasn''t a chance to tell you, but three of the heroes seem come from worlds without any magic.", Eberhardt threw in at that moment.


    ?Urgh, i don''t know whats more shocking!? I never thought that i would have to explain sich things to anyone after becoming king besides my own kids, and especially not to the heroes! But... i guess it is a heroes nature to surprise you in the most unexpected ways.


    Ok, let me beginn, to find out your level is rather easy, at first you may have to concentrate but it will become natural soon. You just need to concentrate on wanting to know how strong you are.", Joseph explained.


    Sure enough Allan found out, there weren''t any fancy pop-up''s or green hovering screen''s that would block his vision. It was more like he knew on instinct, as if it was something he always knew.


    ???


    Name: Allan Walker


    Race: Human


    Age: 23


    Gender: Male


    Talents: Scientist, Hunter


    Titels: [Hero] [Craftsman] [Amira''s blessing]


    Stats:


    Body:


    Endurance: 20 + 2 + 0


    Strength: 15 + 1,5 + 0


    Agility: 18 + 1,8 + 0


    Mind:


    Wisdom: 23 + 2,3 + 0


    Intelligence: 25 + 2,5 + 0


    Dexterity: 32 + 3,2 + 0


    Skills:


    N/A


    ???


    Realizing what the things meant that goddess had said, Allan started to concentrate on the three titels.


    [Hero: 10% stat increase]


    The first couldn''t be any more straight forward and was already reflected in his stats.


    [Craftsman: Release of restrictions on production and creation related skills]


    He couldn''t quiet understand the part about the skills, but he realized that this must be what he had fellt since the beginning, the mysterious feeling that it would be much easier to create many of the weapons he had designed and even improve them in ways he didn''t even know existed until recently.


    [Amira''s blessing: it becomes easier to get new titles]


    He didn''t understand the last one at all, but it didn''t sound like anything bad, so he waited until someone explained.

 14 Meeting with the king 4 13

    ?Well then, let me explain the rest. Your majesty has already talked for quiet some time.", cardinal Eberhardt said.


    ?Do you think this little bit of talking has exhausted me already? You do know how these meetings normally go, you attend them regularly yourself afterall."


    ?I do know that my king, but you should also know that it would be quiet embarrassing for me if it ever came out that i let you explain everything while i am just as qualified. Even though we are good friends you shouldn''t forget your position."


    ?Ah... I see, thats certainly the case, please continue.", king Joseph said, going back to his desk covered in documents and sitting down. He looked a little bit like a little child that got scolded, despite looking the same age as the other.


    ?Well then, the first few things should be obvious as these are informations one can find out in different ways easily. So i will explain starting from the top. First would be the talents.


    Most people, no matter the race as long as they are able to think, have at least one talent. There are very few who have a second talent and there are only a few legends about those with three or more. Actually talents, as well as titels, are god given blessings that make it possible for us to reach a higher level.


    On one hand, the talents show us what profession is most suitable for us, magician, warrior, smith, carpenter, et cetera. There are many different professions and sometimes even those appear that either don''t exist in the place you are born or actually never existed before and are completely new. As an example there was once someone with the talent to become a dragonrider, until that person appeared it was always thought that dragons were one of the few untamable monster races.


    Sadly, or actually obviously, ones talent doesn''t always coincidence with ones interests but that not something you can do anything about.


    But, the actual function of talents is to help us grow, the skills related to the area of our talents receive a growth bonus. On the other hand skills outside of that area receive a certain restriction in their growth. That is because the gods can''t just give out power unconditionally, as much as they give, they have to take as well. That is also why it is so rare that one possesses two talents, because they would receive the full growth bonus on two different areas and still the same restrictions ob the others, only very few are considered worthy of this."


    ?Hmmm... Is it possible that ones talents change?", Aya asked.


    ?Yes, but very rarely. If it happens, than it is almost always after ones personality goes through a considerable change. One example would be a man whose wife got murdered, after he managed to catch the murderer, he started to torture him on a daily basis in his basement. In the process the husband became devoid of all emotion and his talent changed to torturer. As i said, that happens only in rather extrem cases.


    Actually, may i ask what your talents are? That way we can get a better picture of your future capabilities."


    ?I actually got two talents, [Leader] and [Magic-swordsman].", Cale answered promptly.


    ?Ohh, as expected of the person chosen by lady Arimas, to lead the heroes, those are both rare and great talents!", Eberhardt exclaimed.


    ?I''ve got two as well, [Spearman] and [Magician].", Loras said.


    ?Not [Magic-spearman]? Thats rather unusuall."


    ?[Shadow hunter]."


    ?Ah, i forgot this. There are cases like these. Normally a talent would only be granted the [magic] nomifier, but if an specific element is used that means that you are highly specialized in this element. These talents are usually much better than the normal [magic] version, at least two times better.", the cardinal explained.


    ?Mine is [Healer]."


    ?Im a [Protector]!", Aya said happily.


    ?I have never heard of that, i guess it''s something like a defensive warrior?"


    ?Isn''t it probably related the [protector] title the goddess gave me? It says that my defense increases the more i have to protect!"


    -Mine seems to be called [Profound mage].-


    ?[Magician] isn''t a rare talent, but i have never heard of a [Profound mage]... At least we know to train you in magic. I heard that some heroes can have rather unexplainable talents, good that it wasn''t all to bad until now. And you, sir Walker?"


    Allan made a little troubled expression, but hid it before anyone could see and said:


    ?Scientist, someone who studies the laws if nature and puts them to use. And in this world that probably incorporates magic as well. Using my [craftsman] title that lifts the restriction on all crafting related skills i should be able to create some interesting stuff."


    ?All crafting related skills? There has never been such a case before! That is something far greater than you probably realize!", king Joseph suddenly exclaimed.


    ?Mh? Why?", Allan asked in confusion.


    ?It''s actually something simple, there are many different crafts. For one, there is blacksmithing, alchemy, and enchanting, but in addition there are many different minor crafts. But there is a certainproblem when trying to combine these. As a person normally has only one talent, and only great prodigy''s two let''s not talk of two crafting related talents, there would be a need for two people to work together two combine two crafts.


    There isn''t any problem if a blacksmith with a low skill level works together with an enchanter for example, that is actually rather common. But the problem starts when you reach higher levels of the crafts, as they start incorporating magic. That is were the problem starts. There are certain differences between an armor made with magic-smithing techniques and an armor that was enchanted afterwards. A magic-blacksmith can bring out the innate magic capabilities of a metall, making it stronger and creating effects like warding of intense heat, or giving of intense heat. That certainly are effects an enchanter can replicate as well, but while an enchantment has a fixed cost and effect, the innate capabilities of a metal can, more often than not, be strengthened by infusing mana into the metal, while it is still always active without using any mana at all.


    But there is a problem if an enchanter were to try and enchant an magicaly smithed sword for example, as the mana isn''t the same as that of the blacksmith, the metall would try to ?use'' it. If the enchanter try''s now to forcefully change the flow of the mana, the metal would get hurt, and the enchantment not applied properly, making the metal instable and easy to brake, while also weakening the innate ability of the metal and the enchantment, in the end you have something that is worse than the original and and doesn''t even work reliably as the two magical effects interfere with each other.


    In the end what i mean is simple, the magical crafting and enchanting would have to be done by the same person, but it is almost impossible to do because of the skill restrictions. There are only very few cases in history where two crafts got successfully combined on a high level of skill, those where either done by those with both talents, or by twins with the suitable talents and extremly similar mana, which is even rarer.


    And you can learn and combine all crafts that exist! Do you understand now what i mean?"


    ?So you are saying that its pretty much up to me to find ways to optimally combine the different crafts? Sounds like a hell lot of work. Well, in the end thats what i''m best at."


    ?You won''t have to do everything yourself, over the course of the years, quiet a few intelligent people made already their own assumptions and theories, it is after all one of the fields with the most potential, it''s just that there was never someone to try them out until now.


    The biggest problem now is going to be to find you talented teachers in each field. That might end up looking rather suspicious..."


    ?Those things can still wait for a while, im still in the middle of explaining important things here.", Eberhardt interupted at that point.


    ?Next up should be... Right, titles!"

 15 Meeting with the king 5 14

    ?If we consider talents as the presents that the gods give in the hope that we reach new heights, than title are rewards we get for exceptional achievements.


    As they are special rewards, they come in form of a permanent boost of strength and are the primary source of power that would surpass our actual level.


    There are three known types of rewards that titles can give. The first one, and most common, would be in form of a certain amount of stat points. They range from titles like [bravery] which gives 3 points in will power, i''m going to explain willpower and defense together with the other stats, up to titles like [indomitable] which is said to give 70 points in endurance. But while you can earn [bravery] by protecting a lady from some thugs, who would beat you up in the worst case, [indomitable] can only be achieved by shielding the lady with your own body from a monster thats out to kill for a long time without falling even if you have a hole in your stomach.


    The second type of reward is similar, as they still give stat points as rewards, but they are different in the way they do it. They it in form of a percentage boost of 1-60% in one or more stats. It is known that the [hero] title is by far the best of these, with a balanced 10% boost in all stats. there are others that give equally high boosts, but most come with other disadvantages, one of the most well known would be the [musclebrain] title which only very few can earn. It may give a 20% boost to all three physical stats, but reduces the mental stats by 50% each.


    Ah, but you don''t need to worry, even if you should get one, most titles with detrimental effects are possible to get rid of if you put in enough work. Also, you wont just suddenly get weaker or stronger, after you receive a title your stats will increase or decrease by one point in a timeframe of 30 minutes to 2 hours until the full effect is applied.


    The last type is the most rarest one, and they come without exception from unique titles that can only that would need you to do things that go down in history. The first king of Loreley, who was also the leader of the rebellion was said to have received this kind of title, they can have many different effects, ranging from totaly unique skills to even forcefully changing ones talents. But at the same time, they often can have restrictions, be hereditary, or be passed on with a position."


    ?It is as Eberhardt said, In my youth i had actually the talent of [bard]. Singing, dancing, playing music and writing stories and love letters. Only when my father became old and i inherited the position of king as well as the [rightfull king of Loreley] title did my talent change to [king], well im quiet satisfied with that, or else might just have had to marry a woman i don''t like for political reason."


    ?Kuhum... Too much information!"


    ?Ah, sorry, i just got a little sentimental."


    ?Yes, that as well, but that title is supposed to be a state secret!"


    ?Ohhh, come on! It''s not like nobody knows that the existence of a royal family with generations of capable kings and queens would be impossible without such a title! Also, have a bit more trust in our heroes! Also, less complaining more explaining! You were the one that wanted do this!"


    ?Sigh, were was i? Right, one last thing about titles, while it is also because they live quiet lives without much adventure, most commoners earn a maximum of 5 titles in all their lives. The reason is simple, it is impossible to get most titles by actively trying to. If you think about it it is actually rather easy to understand. Lets take as example the [bravery] title, as long as you bravely jump in to save someone while risking getting a beating, you can get the title regardless of losing or even winning against the odds, you get it because you were brave. But as soon as you jump in in hope of getting the title, it isn''t bravery anymore but a calculated move, thats why you won''t be getting the title. Also, most titles are considered to be a kind of status symbol."


    ?Ha! My son Jakob once told me that there seems to be joke among the city guards about this. ?If the gods just stopped giving out the [bravery] title, half of the doctors in the capital would lose their jobs!''"


    ?Pfft.", Aya, who had difficulties since a while ago, barely couldn''t suppress her laughter anymore, at the antics of this king and cardinal.


    ?Yes, it is as Joseph says, few people are immune to the the temptation of trying to get this title like that, even i tried once, and i can tell you it was everything but a pleasant experience. Well, sometime later i earned the title , not like a certain someone who got himself beaten over twenty times and doesn''t have the title till this day."


    ?Urgh, don''t tell them that story, leave me at least a little dignity as the king!"


    ?If you want me to treat you like a king than start behaving like one and don''t interrupt my explanation to make stupid jokes! Well, anyway, i got sidetracked, but you should have gotten the point, right?"

 16 Meeting with the king 6 15

    ?Well then, lets go on. The next thing i have to explain are your level and stats.


    It may be different for different races but it should be overall still the same. You start at level 1 at birth and in the process of growing up it increases to level 10 to 20, but 9 out of 10 people can''t increase their level to over 15 that way.


    There are three other ways to increase your level, or to be exact three mainly used ways to get your hands on the energy you need to absorb for that. The first, and most common way, are titles, every time you receive a title you also get a certain amount of energy. Most commoners level up that way outside their natural growth. But in the end that is definitely not a very efficient way.


    The other two ways are basically the same. Every time something gets ?killed'', even if it''s an undead as long as it has a soul, they set free a part of their energy, that then can be absorbed by the one who killed it to increase their level.


    The other possibility is to save the energy in a crystal, it works with almost all crystals, no matter if its a normal quartz, saphire, or a magic crystal but the best ones are those made by alchemists. It actually works with almost all materials, but crystals are the most effective in both amount and storage time.


    What this means is basically that you can save the energy and give it someone else to absorb, many people earn their money that way, by selling the energy."


    ?But, couldn''t you in that case just pay a necromancer to continually summon undead for others to kill?", Aya asked.


    ?Even though the necropolis was said to be build upon their many talented necromancer, it is generally not seen in a good light as one shouldn''t trouble the dead. Also, it doesn''t work that way. You asked because we are sending you to the necropolis for training, right?"


    ?Yes."


    ?The reason is that most undead that necromancer summon only have fake souls. To create an undead with a real soul, very complicated rituals are needed. And the few that appear naturally are souls that have possessed their own dead bodies and only keep existing because of their abnormally high willpower. A case like the necropolis, were in a certain are souls can''t disappear because of some reason are everything but the norm, it''s actually the first time something like happened in history and still not understood."


    ?Huh? The way you re describing it, it doesn''t sound like undead with real souls aren''t necessarily bad, doesn''t it?", Julia exclaimed, only then making the others realize this point.


    ?Yes, but you don''t have to worry, the undead in the necropolis are all mad, they attack indiscriminately everything thats alive and sometimes even other undead.


    But the undead of the necropolis aren''t natural undead. Even though most undead are based on a strong hatred or feelings of revenge, it isn''t unheard of that people become undead to convey their last wishes or hoping to get to see their loved ones one last time. But those mostly exist only for a few days and move on when their purpose is fulfilled. Sadly most of those are misunderstood and taken down by hunters just like normal undead.


    Let''s stop at this point. The next thing im going to explain are the stats. As you may have realized there are six obvious stats, three for the body, and three for the mind, plus two, one for each, that i will explain at the end.


    The relationship between level and stat is rather simple. With each level you receive one stat point in all six categories, as well as one free stat point that you can choose yourself were to put. Most people put their free points in only a single stat and only rarely in two, and if then they put them still all in the same category, body or mind.


    Lets beginn with the stats that focus on the body, and the easiest to understand stat. The [strength] stat. The [strength] stat is the most straight forward as it simply increases the maximum strength you can use.


    The second is [endurance]. The higher your [endurance] the longer you can run, fight or do everything else. But at the same time it also increases your resistance against poisons and deseases, makes you heal injuries faster and able to continue on despite injuries. Even though its not true, it''s to an degree that some people think that those with enough [endurance] can even regenerate limbs.


    The last stat in the body category is [agility], the only stat that is thought to have a slight effect on the mind as well. It mainly increases your movement speed and explosive strength, but also has effects on your bodies flexibility and reflexes, as well as a few other minor effects.


    The second category of stats are the mind stats. These are are a little harder to explain, so let me use the example of a chess game."


    ?Oh? You have chess here as well? I didn''t expect that!", Allan exclaimed.


    ?Oh, right, i forgot, but it is good that you know the game, that makes things for me easier. The rest of you know it as well, i hope?"


    The other six all nodded, and look at each other afterwards, not able to hide their astonishment. They didn''t expect that chess existed in eight different worlds.


    ?Well, it''s not too surprising in the end. Even in my world existed two differently types of chess that had independent origins and only small differences in their rules. We can probably assume that there are differences here as well but the basics should be the same.", Allan explained.


    ?In that case let me explain. The easiest mind stat to understand would be [wisdom], it reflects your ability to remember and concentrait. Making it easier to keep your focus for the whole game, as well as recalling your turns afterward even if you don''t actively try to.


    The second stat is [intelligence], it is a stat that simply increases your thinking speed. In a game of chess, those with high [intelligence] stats are much faster at making their moves, because they need much less time to think through the different possibilities. They are also faster in those straight forward calculations, were they just have to add two extremly high numbers together.


    The last stat of the six is the [dexterity] stat. This stat increases the complexity of ones thinking. The ones with high [dexterity] are the type of chess player that make their moves as complicated as possible and try to trick you, making it hard to understand their actual intentions. People who put their free stats into [dexterity] tend to have the reputation of schemers and scammers. [dexterity] is also the stat that has the most influence on ones body, as it makes it easier to make complex or fine movements. That''s also the reason why most people in the artistic fields make use of this stat.


    Well, that it about the six main stats. Now let me explain the two ?special'' stats."

 17 Meeting with the king 7 16

    ?The two special stats, or how they also get called, defense stats are [physical defense] and the before mentioned [willpower].


    These two stats are calculated with the three stats of their respective category as a base and you can''t put stat points into them directly. Also it is known that not all stats have the same effect on the defense stats. As an example, a single stat in [endurance] increases [physical defense] more than a point in [strength] while a point in [agility] is even less effective. But the differences aren''t that large.


    What [physical defense] basically does, is increasing the hardness of ones body. If you have enough [physical defense], even the best steelblade wouldn''t be able to cut your flesh anymore, for example.


    [Willpower] on the other hand, is by far the least understood stat of all. That is because it tends to fluctuate strongly. While an increase in mind stats certainly also increases [willpower] and some titles do the same, this stat is only perfectly reflected if one were totaly emotionless. The reason is that your emotions have a strong influence on your willpower. Intense feelings of love and hate for example, can amplify your [willpower] by several times, while feelings like sadness and resignation can have the opposite effect. But the effect is not only reflected in ones [willpower] but can also result in fluctuations of ones mental stats. Some say it can even have effects on the body stats, but i think that it is just the result of a lack of motivation. Opinions on this are split.


    You may have realized it at this point already but [willpower] has two effects, one is the ability to withstand mental attacks, but the other is directly related to the undead we talked about earlier. The higher ones [willpower] the easier it is for a soul to maintain itself without a body. That is also the reason why high leveled individuals become undead more often and for a longer time. Some of the great masters that are said to have reached over level 1000, supposedly even leave behind their legacy''s in their tombs, were they protect them even after their death until they find a worthy heir."


    ?Pfft. That sounds like something directly out of a xianxia story.", Aya mumbled amusedly.


    ?Hmm? I didn''t quiet get what you said?", The cardinal asked.


    ?Nothing, please continue, the last thing should be skills, right?"


    ?Yes, the last thing that i need to explain are skills. Skills are... this is a little bit hard to explain... Skills exist for almost all actions, as long as one can and wants to improve on this action. For example the [swordmanship] skill exists, but i have never heard of anyone having a ?walking'' or ?sleeping'' skill.


    You can get a skill if you actively try to improve on a certain action. When you get a [skill] they are usually around level 3. But depending on your natural talent and you god given talent, they can start at level 1 or even level 5.


    To improve the level of a skill you just have to train and improve your techniques. What the level stands for is rather simple, the higher the skill level the more of your stats are applied to that skill.


    Every level of your skill stands for 10% of your total stats. Making it so that someone who [mastered] the [swordmanship] skill, meaning he reached level 10, could suppress someone who has nine times the stats if that person only has level 1 [swordmanship]. Well, that works only with that specific skill, in the end he would still lose in the end, as the one with [swordmanship] on level 1 could just use any other type of skill or even just use brute force, since the defense stats aren''t influenced by that."


    ?So that means that level 10 is the highest level a skill can reach? What happens then? What if one has a swordstyle that counters that of the other? And are there skill that have prerequisites? Such as magic techniques?", Aya asked excitedly.


    ?It is as you think. In the end skill level and stats aren''t everything. If you reach level 10 with a skill you may be called a master but that doesn''t mean you are unbeatable. It just means that you are able to use the sword very well. As you thought, if someone has lower stats and skill level than the other, that person can still win if he counters the other. In addition, level 10 isn''t the highest level a skill can reach, there is actually no known upper limit. But, they say that level 10 is the highest level that can be taught to you. Any higher you have to find your own way that suits you.


    Regarding your last question, you are right again. There are some skill''s with prerequisites, different types of magic are one of them, an other example would be [sworddancing], which needs a certain level with [swordmanship] and [dancing] to be able to learn it. If you do learn [sworddancing] without the other skills, you will still get them at latest when you get [sworddancing]. Magic is a little different in that regard, as it is impossible to use and train in practice without the [magic power] skill.


    Oh, and then there are so called ''fusion skill''s''. These are extremly rare as they are the proof that one is able to perfectly use and combine skills over a large area. The most famous skill''s of this type are for example [weapon mastery] which one can get if they have an understanding on many different types of weapons, to a point were they would be able to properly use a weapon even if they have never even heard of it before. Or the [weaponization] skill which even includes objects that aren''t meant to be weapons. A magic skill of that type would be the [elemental magic] that makes use and freely combines fire, water, earth and wind magic.


    -So that would be a skill i should try to learn, as my title as [elementalist] gives me a high affinity with all four elements.-


    ?Ohhh! That truly is remarkable! With that information as a basis, i may have an idea what your talent means. Even though we can''t be sure if [profound mage] is truly related to this, but maybe it is related to an even stronger version of [elemental magic] just like [weaponization]. Well we will find out eventually.


    Oh, and if i think about it, maybe sir walker might just be able to create a never before seen fusion skill in relation to the different crafts!"

 18 Mysterious figures 17

    Suddenly, with out any warning a figure appear in the later half of a cave, somewhere on the great land. It happened without any warning, there were neither sound effects nor strange lights.


    That figure was around 180cm large and the whole body was covered in a long, loose robe of dark blue and black color, and even the head head was completely covered by large hood of the same color. Even the face was covered by an metal mask with a smooth surface of a silvery-grey. The only part this mask didn''t cover were two deep blue, lively eyes, that seemed to contain the wisdom of centuries. And if one looked further down, one would see that even the hands were covered in two metal gloves. As the one on the left hand was of a brightly shining silver and the right one as black as if someone had just cut out a peace of the space itself. If not for the two mounds in the chest area, that were large enough that no robe in the world would be able to hide them, it would have been totally impossible to tell even the gender of this figure, as the mask made even her voice unidentifiable.


    ?Oi, are you sleeping again? Wake up you lazy peace of sh*t!"


    The mysterious woman turned towards the cave entrance, the only source of light in this cave. Outside one could see a boundless crystal blue sky, with the occasional white, fluffy cloud or large dragon hovering and flying around. One could hear a faint roar in the distance.


    Right in the middle of that picture sat a second figure. In the entrance of the cave sat a middle aged man, facing to the outside. His whole body was covered by a large sheet, with only his head sticking out that had fallen on his chest. He was asleep.


    The woman got closer from behind and called out again.


    ?Hey, breakfast''s ready!"


    No reaction.


    ?Wake up already, as*hole!"


    Nothing.


    Nudging him with her foot in the side she kept calling out for a few minutes.


    Getting an idea she took away the blanket, showing of his rather average build that was covered in a shabby looking leather armor.


    ?Hmmm...."


    She finally got the first reaction.


    Another minute of nudging and nagging later, without any reaction, the robed woman seemed to get angry.


    She took half a step back, carefully measuring the distance between him and her. Taking another half step back with her right foot that was covered in plated leather-boots, she took aim.


    ?Ha!"


    With a loud cry that seemed to contain all her discontents, she swung her right leg forward, kicking the man against the side of his head, hard.


    ?Thump! Thump!"


    ?Arrrghh! I should have known this!"


    ?Hmmmmmmmm...."


    The first two sound were those of her foot hitting his head and his body hitting the floor. Then her crying out in pain as she was holding her foot. Then a reaction from him, this time a little longer.


    ?For F*ck''s sake, i tried being nice, so you can''t blame me, old man!"


    Furious enough that one could imagine her almost see her emitting a black aura if one just so wanted, she stepped behind the man lying on the floor, hooked her foot under his body, and kicked him outside the cave, were his body sailed almost a hundred meters wide through the air before it started to move down again, down the side of the mountain at which''s top the cave was.


    Now in a seemingly better mood, she sat down were the man sat before, and waited.


    *Boooooom*


    After a few seconds she finally heard the sound of a body hitting ground. If one looked closely, one could see a smile reaching her eyes.


    A few minutes later.


    ?Hey, Mary, this is really not the right way to wake up your seniors from their afternoon naps!"


    ?It isn''t a god damn afternoon nap of you fall asleep on one day and wake up several weeks later! Thats almost hibernating! Get your f*cking fact''s straight, old geezer!"


    ?You know, you can stop insulting me. Im over my masochistic phase, it got boring around half a year ago."


    ?Im not insulting you because of that! I will insult you how and whenever i want, freaking old man! And how should i even f*cking now that you aren''t in you f*cking masochistic phase anymore? I wasn''t even here for almost a whole f*cking year you f*cktard! ...Sigh."


    ?Calmed down now?"


    ?Yes, thank you."


    ?So, how was that guy? Did you seal him?"


    ?He was the worst combination of all! [Agility] and [endurance] at over 900 already, the other stats at around 650. At the same time a stealthy, paranoid, little coward of an assassin that thought i was after his head! He kept running away! And he actually managed to get away five times! Do you still remember Royfield?"


    ?That thief with a cloning technique where the clones seemed almost like real people?"


    ?Yes, that guy. That guy was his inheritor, just that this guy also used normal clones at the same time while using some special technique to disguise himself as one of them. I actually fell for this damn trick of his the first three times until i figured it out. Well, in the end i still got him, taught him all the necessary lessons and sealed him in the end."


    ?But still, it took you almost a year to get the job done? That''s quite rare for you."


    ?No no no, everyone else would have taken much longer, that guy was pretty careful and good at hiding. Doesn''t matter anymore, the job is done. Search if there are any new ones."


    The man sat down and closed his eyes.


    ?Oi, doze of again and i will look for a higher cliff next time!"


    ?Yeah yeah... Hmmmmmmm... Beside the ones that are already being taken care of there are no new ones at the moment. But we got some new talented ones, seven to be exact."


    ?Urgh, i just hope there aren''t any skill stealers in that bunch, those guy are way to troublesome and dangerous even for me to handle. But reincarnators or time travelers would be nice, are always easy to deal with, since they know the rules. Hmmmm... maybe an anomaly? It would be good if finally one were to join the seal guard, they are always pretty strong!"


    ?Even if you ask me i don''t know what they are. You should know that already! And if one were an anomaly they wouldn''t be registered by my ability in the first place!"


    ?I know, i know that already! Say, where are they right now, maybe that gives us a hint?"


    ?Hmmm... Six are all bunched together, one is around a hundred meter away from them. They are in the castle of Loraine. The capital of Loreley kingdom."


    ?Oh, so that means they are heroes! That''s good, those are always easier to handle."


    ?How do you know they are heroes?"


    ?They are all together! Also, Loreley and Walhardt are close to starting a war and there were rumors that the guys from the Empire already summoned his own heroes."


    ?Wow, the people from Loreley really got lucky, seven heroes at once and all of them have enough talent that they have to be sealed eventually!"


    ?You know what! I think i will watch them for a while if no new job suddenly pops up. Who knows, it might get interesting!"


    ?Do that, that way you at least won''t bother me during my naps!"


    ?By then, old man!"


    ?Goodbye."


    A moment later the robed woman disappeared without a sound or sign, as if she was never there to begin with.

 19 Training 1 18

    When their meeting with King Joseph came to an end, they were brought to their new accommodations were they should stay from now on when they were in the capital.


    When Allan stepped into his room he thought that they must have put much thought into this. The rooms were by far not as luxurious as some hotel rooms in his old world, but he never expected that from the start. The rooms were just large enough that two people could live comfortably in them, while, as the leader, Cale''s room was two times as large, enough for the seven of them to meet up.


    The furniture was of high quality and even the mattress on their large beds were much better than Allan expected.


    The only downside to their rooms would be the absence of windows, but even that wasn''t a big problem, the air was fresh thanks to some kind of magic device, and much more important, the rooms were in extremely safe locations. As they were on the first floor they would have a long time to prepare before enemies would be able to reach them and because they were not located at the outside wall, even a bombardment from the outside couldn''t reach them immediately.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When they woke up on the next day, they were greeted each by a servant , shocking some of them greatly. After the servants informed them that the day was set aside for them to rest since their training would start on the next, they were given clothes that fit them so perfectly that they wondered if they were measured in their sleep.


    Only when they asked if they could take a walk were they given an identification card that would proof their identities as important guests to the guards.


    The day ended with them having a luxurious meal, and they all fell in their beds early, everyone with different feelings about their situation.


    Only afterwards did they realize that they should have cherished that day a little more.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The next month could only be described as exhausting.


    Every morning, shortly after sunrise, were they greeted by the servants that stood already in their rooms to beginn their new routines.


    At first they would have a light breakfast. And directly after that they would absorb energy to increase their levels, and since they still weren''t used to the process, they couldn''t absorb much at one time.


    Then the activity''s of the day would start.


    For the first four hours of the day they were taught different subjects. They were taught what everyone ought to have, but which is much harder to learn in a short time than one would think. Right, it was nothing else but this monster of human society called ?common sense''. That difficulties one faced when trying to tame this monster were even for the teachers almost to much. This got very obvious as even their teacher caught himself answering some of the heroes questions just with:


    ?It''s common sense."


    Only to realize once again that it was this what he was supposed to teach.


    After that thy were again given energy to absorb if they had properly ?digested'' the previous portion, and then continued with the next lessons.


    Those were the basic lessons on magic. Here they were put in two different groups. One group with those who still needed to learn the [magic power] skill, focused on achieving that goal. The second group obviously those who had already reached that goal, and were now taught according to their [talent]''s and affinity with the different elements.


    After around two weeks almost all of them were already part of the second group, and only Aya, at first the most excited and motivated one of them, needed almost two times as long. Clearly, her [talent] was that of an purely physical fighter. The only thing that saved her from a mental breakdown was that, compared to a normal person she was still very talented and abnormally fast, to learn the skill took even considered talented if one took three times as long as her. In fact, she was talented, just not for a hero.


    When they got their lunch, and a new ?meal'' of energy, they finally got their first break for the day, which was basically just long enough for them to make their way to their last lessons of the day, and clearly the most important ones as well.


    Their personal training. For most of them those were a mix if physical fighting and more specialized magic training. But in Allans case that part was clearly much different, as he got interchangeably trained by the best blacksmiths, alchemists and enchanters that the crown had available.


    To make the training more effective, give Allan the best working environment possible as well as a certain level of secrecy, the King build a laboratory cum workshop according to Allans specifications on a free space between the Alchemy and Magic towers and the blacksmith. The location a little bit hidden, as it was on the right side behind the castle, almost opposite of the trainingsfield and barracks, a place were only few people would find themselves.


    Actually, already after the first two weeks they should have been able to take that schedule without much problem, considering that they still got roughly eight hours of sleep daily. If one looked at the fact, that with increasing stats one would be able to keep going for a longer time without the need for sleep, at the end of the month they were only tired when night came because their brains thought that it was supposed to be like that.


    Julia and Allan were the only ones that got used to the decreased need for sleep rather fast, as one was used to regular nightshifts in a hospital and the other to long nights in the laboratory without even getting home oftentimes. So the both of them just continued like in their previous worlds, just being thankful that they didn''t get tired while doing so.


    When Allan looked at his stats at the end of the month he got very satisfied with himself.

 20 Training 2 19

    ???


    Name: Allan Walker


    Race: Human


    Age: 23


    Gender: Male


    Talents: Scientist, Hunter


    Titles: [Hero], [Craftsman], [Amira''s blessing], [Hardworking]


    Stats:


    Body:


    Endurance: 32 + 8,2 + 0


    Strength: 27 + 2,7 + 0


    Agility: 30 + 3 + 0


    Mind:


    Wisdom: 45 + 4,5 + 0


    Intelligence: 37 + 3,7 + 0


    Dexterity: 46 + 4,6 + 0


    Skills:


    [daydreaming: lv. max], [focus: lv. max], [self-hypnosis: lv. max], [magic power: lv. 7], [telekinesis: lv. 3], [blacksmithing: lv. 4], [alchemy: lv. 7], [enchanting: lv. 6]


    ???


    The first thing that was new was the [hardworking] title he got after working with minimal sleep for a week after the laboratory was completed. It gave him 5 points of [endurance].


    As blacksmithing was the only thing he had actively use his body for he put all his free stat points in his mind stats, to be exact he decided to raise [wisdom] and [dexterity] to equal values. This decision was based on the fact that [wisdom] would increase his learning speed and increase his focus during work, while [dexterity] would bring his work on a higher level. In turn [intelligence] got ignored by him, as it would only increase said works speed, which would not be as important. He put quality before quantity.


    The last change were of course the skills. The first three [skill]''s he got were abilities that he learned from his old world. But when he asked why they were ?level max'' he found out that there were actually two types of [skill]''s. Some called them as ?major'' and ?minor'' or ?lesser'' [skill]''s but the official terms were ?unlimited'' and ?limited'' [skill]''s.


    The differences were simple. The ?unlimited'' ones were those that pursued a ?concept'', basically those without an absolute ?best''. The ?limited'' ones on the other hand weren''t even seen as [skill]''s by most people, and reached the ?max.'' state when one reached level 10.


    Those were the [skill]''s that had a limit to them. For example, if one could speak a language fluently like their own mother language, it would become level max. and wouldn''t rise any higher, if one were to learn every single word of the language and it''s use perfectly, it could instead increase the [poetry] [skill] for example.


    The reason the ?limited'' [skill]''s were mostly not seen as skill was that, if one started thinking of them as a totally natural ability instead of something special, they would disappear from the list of [skill]''s. In that vein, a ?sleeping'' or ?walking'' [skill] in fact did exist.


    The three ?level max'' [skill]''s Allan possessed were the reason for his success in his old world. In that world the training of the mind was much more advanced than in this world. These three [skill]''s were a type of meditation technique that allowed him to control his mind.


    The most important one was definitely [self-hypnosis] as it allowed him to give himself suggestions like ?working is the most fun'' which would work for some time and allow him to work with extrem focus and concentration even on the most boring task.


    The second one was called [daydreaming] and was literally exactly that. When one slept, dreaming was actually the process of ?sorting out'' ones memories, relieving mental fatigue. The ability to ?daydream'' allowed him to do exactly that, but while conscious, increasing the effectiveness. That way, while ignoring bodily fatigue, he could relieve in roughly 90 minutes what would normally take 8 hours, increasing the speed by over five times.


    When he got the last [skill] he learned even more new things. It seemed like there was another thing the cardinal forgot to mention.


    There were three different types of [stats]. The first were the so called [basic stats] which consisted of only those one got from their levels.


    The second type were the [special stats]. These were the ones one got from their [title]''s and [stat] increasing [skill]''s.


    The third type were [equipment stats] which one could receive from some rare types of magic weapon or armor.


    His [focus] ability was actually more powerful than Allan thought initially, until now whenever he used it his [mind stat]''s were boosted by 10% of his [basic stat]''s while tiring out his mind around three times faster than normal. It didn''t seem like much, but considering the cost to effect ratio it was actually a pretty strong [skill].


    The other five [skill]''s he got were those learned from his actual training. The most important of those was certainly [magic power] which he trained until level 7.


    Even though Loras had know one or two things about magic it seemed like he had never actually trained it. Making him the forth ?non-mage''.


    When they learned more about magic Allan found out that the [magic power] [skill] was actually similar to his meditation techniques. Different than he first thought from all those stories one didn''t have to control ones own mana to form spells but to enforce ones will upon the mana in nature. And the higher the [skill]''s level got the more mana one could control and the more control one had, obviously that was also based on ones mental stats.


    When Allan learned all this he got especially happy, as it would make his studies about magic easier, and he even showed talent in controlling mana only second to Magus. That was why he could increase his [magic power] [skill] to level 7, one level lower than Magus and one level higher than Julia and Shade. Sadly he was by far not as talented at forming spells, making him able to only bring the most basic and simplest [telekinesis] to level 3.


    The three crafting [skill]''s were what he got out of his personal training. As [alchemy] was almost the same as chemistry, and [enchanting] was similar to programming, he could learn them to a high level in short time, only his blacksmithing lacked a little as it was something totally new to him.


    Just as Allan was contemplating his current standing he suddenly heard a voice:


    ?Huh? Since when has there been a building here?"


    With those words a girl of around 18 years of age entered the laboratory. Her hair reached slightly over her shoulders and was blond and wavy. She wasn''t the prettiest girl out there, but her lean body, sharp facial features and lively ice blue eyes had their own charisma. She seemed wild like wolf and curios like a cat, but if one looked closer one could see the slyness of a fox that was concealed in her eyes. All controlled by the intelligence of a human mind.

 21 Training 3 20

    It was already very late and the sun had already switched places with the moon.


    ?This place must be new..."


    After opening the door she started looking around the room. The front half of the big room, right behind the door consisted of a kind of ?testing space''. On the left side stood several tables and shelves, littered with all kind of strange objects. The few prototypes and experiments Allan had created in that last month. Some of these were new ideas fir weapons and ?useful'' tools, while others were his first try at recreating weapons from his old world.


    On the right side of the room was mainly free space, but some larger projects of his stood around, between some if the larger sized equipments, mainly for testing purposes. On that side was also the door that lead to the storage were he would store all the stuff in the future he wouldn''t need anymore, abandoned or completed projects or those he just couldn''t complete with his currents skills.


    On the backside of the room was Allans workshop. It consisted of several smaller parts with workstations for the different crafts, and one main part in the middle were he could combine them.


    That was were she saw Allan. He sat on a chair, feet on the front edge. His elbows on his knees and his palms on the opposite shoulder, his chin rested were his arms crossed in front of his chest. His typical thinking posture.


    ?Leave! I''m working. So stop distracting me!"


    Ignoring him she stepped further into the room, being drawn to the tables on her left.


    ?Aren''t you just sitting there doing nothing?"


    ?You know this thing were you have to use your brain? It''s called thinking! So leave and stop distracting me!"


    Picking up one of the many objects that had grabbed her attention the girl asked:


    ?What''s this?"


    ?That''s called a gun, but it''s just a prototype that doesn''t work properly. I wouldn''t play around with it if i were you, there is around 20% chance that it will explode right in your face."


    ?What is it supposed to do? Besides exploding i mean?"


    ?Shooting out small balls. Sounds stupid, right? So put it down again and leave now!"


    Putting down the prototype gun, that Allan had build, she looked around for a moment and entered the still empty storage on the left side of the room.


    ?Oh, please don''t tell them i''m here! Thanks!"


    Just like most of the things Allan had build until now, the gun didn''t work. The gun was pretty rudimentary, actually only consisting of a barrel with a grip and a small enchantment to cause the necessary explosion. But as it was already hard to create a perfect barrel for a high level blacksmith, it was almost impossible for Allan who only learned for a short time. The barrel was neither smooth nor remotely as straight as ist would have to be. Like most of his current projects, it was more of a prove of concept, the only type of artifact his pride let him build until his abilities caught up with his ideas. Only then would he start creating things intended to be used.


    Allan was sure he had seen her somewhere before but couldn''t really recall where. While he still wondered what she meant, the door to his laboratory opened again. Two well clothed slaves, with the royal seal on their collars entered. At that time Allan remembered where he had seen her before.


    ?Sir, have you possibly seen the young lady? Has she come in here perhaps?"


    ?Yes, i have seen her. And yes she came in here. And im going to tell you the same i told her: Stop distracting me and leave! Im trying to think here!"


    ?Thank you for your help, sir. We will leave now.", the two slaves answered.


    Some time after the slaves had left the girl came out of the storage.


    ?Well then, what is this country''s princess doing in this remote corner of the castle, running away from her own servants?", Allan asked her, still sitting in his thinking posture.


    When he saw the royal crest on the slave collars he knew that they were servants of the royal family. Even though they were slaves, no one would dare to treat them like one as they were working exclusively for the royal family and absolutely loyal.


    When he realized that he also remembered where he had seen the girl before. She was actually the only daughter and eldest child of the king, princess Alice Loreley. They got briefly introduced to each other, two days after the heroes started their training.


    ?Oh? You recognized me? It''s simple, they want me to learn the... one, two, three... seven, eight... eleventh type of dancing, and i don''t."


    ?Is that so? But isn''t that what a princess is supposed to do? Doing princess stuff? Well, doesn''t matter much, now leave! And by the way, shouldn''t a princess at least remember the faces of her country''s heroes?"


    She frowned.


    ?Even a princess is a human. I have my own interests and dancing is definitely not one of them. And how can you even treat me so rude if you know who i am?"


    ?Weren''t you the first to be rude? I don''t care if you are yourself, your father or Amaris herself, the one thing i hate the most is being distracted while working!"


    ?You know, i like your attitude!"


    Now it was Allan''s turn to frown.


    ?What the heck do you mean with that now?"


    ?Everyone else would start licking my boots by now. Normally i would have been offered a tour of this place by now. It''s actually a little annoying, you are the first to tread me like a normal person. Oh, thanks for the help by the way, you even lied for my sake, but why did you actually go that far for me?"


    ?Treating her like a normal person?", Allan thought. He was just treating her like an annoyance.


    ?Let''s just say i was curious about you. Also, i never lied to them."


    ?You didn''t? How did you get them to leave in that case? Well, still thanks."


    ?In that case, leave now. I still have work to do!"


    ?Say, what are you thinking about?"


    Allan, who hated nothing more than being distracted by people when he was working, got slowly really annoyed by her questions, but even if he said all those things before, she was still this country''s princess. As long as he didn''t know more about her personality he couldn''t treat her lightly. So even though he didn''t like it he tried to put up with it.


    ?I''m trying to build a computer."

 22 Training 4 21

    ?A what?", the princess asked confusedly.


    ?You won''t know what a computer is, but that''s actually also not quite the right way to call ist. If completed it will be the ultimate multipurpose artifact that can do everything as long as the user knows how to do it."


    ?Isn''t that a little to ambitious? Aren''t such ?multipurpose'' artifacts normally already to large to be used properly as they include to many functions? Also, i heard they have a terrible output. They don''t make good weapons at all."


    ?I know that too. It isn''t supposed to become a weapon, and even though the prototype may become rather huge i just have to work on the downsizing afterwards until it can be carried around. If things go as i hope, the most fitting way to call it would be a ?core'' for all my future projects and artifacts."


    ?What do you need something like that for? And building such a thing into every single artifact seems a little costly, doesn''t it?"


    ?If things go well it may actually become a great revolution for all artificers. Let me ask you a question, do you know the two big problems when combining two different crafts? Probably not... Hmmmm, let me think of a good example... Variables and programming languages aren''t something you would understand... Right, this is a good one!


    Let''s compare alchemy. Lets say we have a magic-sword and have a magician enchant it further. What we are doing is putting two alchemists in one room to create a certain item. In the optimal case, the alchemists would work together and use one set of ingredients, mana in this case, to create a product, the magical effect, that is better than having only one alchemists do it. Can you follow?"


    ?Yes, so what are the problems you mentioned?"


    ?There are two problems. If we continue with the example it would be something like this. First, they can''t talk to each other and can''t even the each other."


    ?Eh, isn''t that already a big enough problem? And there is still a second one?"


    ?Yes, the second is that they use absolutely different methods. They have different mindsets how things should be done, no matter if it''s the order, technique or recipe. If you give them only one set of ingredients to work with..."


    ?The outcome would be horrible. If even remotely usable."


    ?Exactly, and could you please stop interrupting me when i''m already explaining? Thanks. This is what normally happens. Now you may or may not know, but there are rare cases where either one person could learn two compatible crafts to useful levels or twins with similar enough magic signature appeared. In these cases they were able to successfully combine two crafts.


    Keeping the example going, what happens now is that the alchemists can at least see each other and communicate. But the other problem still exists. They have different techniques and believes and still won''t be able to properly work together. You need to know, this types are all rather stubborn folks, and won''t stop arguing, thats just how it is. So, here is my question, how would you solve that problem?"


    ?Since there are only two of them, i would put one of them in charge from the beginning."


    ?Good idea, and also what is done in those cases. The magic technique that is used first to create the artifact, meaning its ?alchemist'', is put in charge, while the second magic technique, or ?alchemist'', gets a supportive role. That way we have one alchemist and one apprentice helping him, there won''t be any problems and the work gets faster and better.


    But this is not the best outcome, you could say you use two alchemists but one is waisting all his potential and can only be called ?half'' an alchemist. Making 2 alchemists to 1,5 alchemists.


    But, i don''t know if you have the same saying here but were i come from there is a saying: ?Bad partners are only slightly stronger than a single person. But good partners can be stronger than three.''


    Thats also applicable to our situation. The potential of one alchemist is wasted, and just because their techniques are different it doesn''t mean that one is worse than the other, they have both their strong suits and weak points, their pros and cons. And that is were the ?core'' comes in. Can you guess what the ?core'' is meant to do?"


    ?Hmmmm... no idea."


    ?A little tip, consider the ?core'' as a third person."


    After she thought about it for a moment, her eyes suddenly lid up and she got an astonished expression.


    ?So that ?core'' will act as a superior for them?"


    ?I prefer the term ?manager'', that us exactly what the core is supposed to do. Whenever the two stubborn alchemists can''t agree on the best option, the ?core'' will come to play, listening to all the pros and cons of both alchemists ideas and figure out which one is better suited in the given situation."


    ?That... if things really work the way you are planning, than that could really be a revolution! Because even if the two alchemists can''t see, or talk with each other, if they can both see and talk with the manager they would still be able to work together to a certain extend!"


    ?You are quiet clever, you caught up on the most important point. Thats right, even though we would go back to the ?bad partner'' situation, it is still far better than two people working against each other.


    It means with the usage of a ?core'' even two normal artificers would be able to combine their techniques to create a stronger artifact than they could alone.


    But you haven''t considered the best part. What would the ?manager'' be doing when the alchemists don''t need him, when they don''t have a dispute for a moment because they are working quietly?"


    ?He wouldn''t need to manage them... In that case..."


    Then it dawned upon her.


    ?He could ?manage'' another pair of alchemists!"


    ?Thats right, depending on the quality of the ?cores'' i can create, one ?core'' could manage one, two or even ten artifacts, making it so that you only need one core per person.


    Now that i think about it, it could even be used as a kind of ?user registration'' for the artifacts. Even if the enemy somehow can steal your weapon in the fight, he couldn''t use it as it wouldn''t work without the core. Of course you have to make sure that you never lose your core as it would make all your artifacts useless, making it a weak-point as well. But if only us heroes know about it and use them, the enemy would never find out about it."


    ?You. are. a. genius! I have to leave now, i caused my servants enough trouble already. But i am going to come back again later, this sounds way more interesting than dancing! Until next time!"


    ?Please, you don''t have to come again, this is not a place for a princess."


    ?Ohh, but i insist!"


    ?I know, i insist as well!"


    ?Until later!"


    With that she left, and Allan''s first real meeting with princess Alice ended. At this time he still didn''t know what would happen because she found his laboratory that day. But maybe it didn''t really matter as well, and things would still have ended the same, just with a slightly different process.


    But that didn''t change a thing and he didn''t know anything at that point.

 23 Free time 1 22

    Right now it had been three days since the princess had first come to Allans laboratory. Since then the princess had come every single day for an hour at least, once even in the middle of the night.


    When Allan commented on the daytime, or rather nighttime, of her visit, and certain misunderstandings that could happen because of this, he realized once again that he still didn''t adapt completly to this new society. Only after some time did he realize that it was probably rather normal for nobles to work at night as well. Most of them had surpassed level 50 and could stay awake for at least 48 hours at a time. So there really wasn''t anyone who would see such a nighttime visit as weird.


    In those few days, Allan got already used to her visits and started to act accordingly. While he tried to be not too rude to her, he still would try to send her away two to three time an hour. Sadly, at least for Allan, this princess was rather stubborn and would just ignore his complaints and continue asking questions. To circumvent that he started to ?think aloud'', he kept explaining every step and thought about his experiments. Well, he didn''t explain everything, mostly the general ideas and even then not all, just enough to keep her curiosity in check without giving her enough information that someone else would be able to make use of it, not without the actual artifact for comparison. At his current point that might not be too important but there would be information he wouldn''t disclose to anyone, even the princess, in the future.


    Allan actually realized a little problem with that method, but he couldn''t do anything about it at the same time. If he didn''t explain she would keep asking, but if he explained, she would start making her own suggestions sometimes. The problem with those weren''t that they were useless, but sometimes rather helpful and constructive. That slowly started to deprive him of good arguments to send the princess away. He only accepted this fact when he realized that that didn''t change much in fact, what with her stubborn behavior.


    Right now, Allan was just packing up for the day as it was already night. Even though he would have liked to continue working, even with the princess still present, he had to end for today. There was a simple reason fir this, they had started holding regular meetings with the seven of them, sharing their experiences, training development and similar things. At least Allan and Julia could make the others accept to hold those meetings at night, the others just couldn''t get used to not needing sleep.


    ?Oh, you are stopping here for today?"


    ?Yes, i still have other things to do. Until tomorrow then."


    With a smirk on her face she answered:


    ?Nope, not quiet. You are leaving for one of your little meetings, right? I think i should come with you."


    ?You have to? Why that? There doesn''t happen many things that would be interesting for you. Or is there another reason?", Allan didn''t wonder for a moment that the princess knew of their meetings, he wouldn''t even have wondered if she could organize an account on every single word they had said there.


    ?Well, i certainly am a little curious, but father wants me to get aquatinted with all the heroes, and also use this opportunity to tell you guys some things."


    ?Is that so, then come. Not like i can or want to prevent you doing so."


    After Allan had put away all his tools and looked over everything a second time to keep the lab organized and safe, he finally left.


    When he got there, the princess already stood at the door, waiting for him to open it for her. Leaving first she walked in the front, her demeanor making it look like everything else would be unnatural as Allan followed behind her.


    As he normally only saw her in the light of the laboratory, which had many effects, but definitely not that of beautifying people, he got to see her in a whole new light right now, literally.


    Looking at her from behind in the light of the moon, she almost seemed to shine. With her long, blonde and wavy hair flowing from her head like waterfalls, her pure white and flowing dress and her slender limbs and delicate hands, she almost seemed like an elegant and beautiful fairy of legends under the moonlight. But only almost, as her every movement carried traces of wild instincts and adventurous spirit that were impossible to suppress. It somehow gave her an unnatural feeling, something just seemed off about the whole picture.


    Only when Allan saw the surprised expressions of the servants around them did he realize that they were taking the shortcut through the servant quarters Allan usually used. This was not a place the princess should be usually be at. And considering the the expressions of the servants she wouldn''t be here usually. This made Allan wonder why she would take this way instead of the longer but more ?official'' way through the front entrance.


    When they got to their rooms, the princess waited in front of the door to Cale''s room, waiting fir him to open the door. Seeing that Allan got the weird thought if she maybe had never touched a door in her life, or maybe didn''t even know how to open them herself...


    Pushing those weird thoughts aside, he opened the door and entered, this time the princess behind him.


    ?Ah, you finally come as well! I''m happy that you take your... whatever you are doing, so serious, as it is directly related to our safety in the future, but it would still be nice if you could come on time. We are already meeting this late!", Loras started to complain as soon as Allan entered.


    Pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, Allan said:


    ?We got a guest this time."


    ?Eh? Who?", you could almost see this question written all over their faces. When they could see the princess clearly, Allan could almost hear the gears turning in their heads, until...


    *Klick*


    ...they clicked into place, when they realized who she was. Looking at their faces Allan could see a mix of astonishment and bewilderment. One at her being there at all, the other at the casual way Allan was treating her.

 24 Free time 2 23

    In one part of Cales room, which was much larger than the ones of the other six heroes, stood a group of three large couches around a low table. On the table stood an assortment of snacks and cookies, as well as some fruits.


    The other six people already sat together, waiting for Allan. On the first couch sat Aya, like always Shades head laid in Aya''s lap who was playing with Shades ears and petting her head.


    On the second couch, the one in the middle, sat Loras, Cale and Julia in that order. While Cale sat there to better lead the discussion and Loras to support him, Julia had made it her job already long ago to give Cale a good smack if his cursing took overhand.


    Magus sat in the last couch, the same where Allan and princess Alice where sitting down at that moment.


    ?If i look at your faces you already realized who i am. But please relax, just treat me like one of you, you can just call me Alice."


    ?In that case i''m very happy that you are here, but is there a specific reason for that, Alice?", Cale got comfortable with the princess almost instantly.


    ?Well, i was personally a little curious and wanted to get to know you better. Also, my father asked me to have a message delivered to you so i thought it would be a good opportunity."


    Although Alice didn''t lie, probably, Allan still realized that what she said right now and on the way here weren''t exactly the same. The way she expressed herself earlier, her actions seemed to be driven much more by her fathers intentions. Allan didn''t know if she just felt like she could be more honest with him or if there was any other reason, but he still decided not to call her out on that.


    ?Good, what is that message about?", Cale asked straight away.


    ?I will tell you later. I don''t want to distract you from your meeting."


    ?Ok, i don''t think we have anything to hide, so lets just beginn.


    The first thing on our list, like f* ck-OUCH!... like always, would be our training accomplishments. Anyone who made some special improvement or found out something important?"


    Since a month, and several of these meetings, ago Cale''s abilities as a leader had become much better. He had already gotten accustomed to leading these meetings. All in all, his abilities as a leader were probably what made the biggest progress since their arrival. Still, he had one flaw, even though it hab become less, he just couldn''t stop cursing completely. Every time that happened Julia would hit him, and even without her he would flinch reflexively.


    He looked first at Shade, who shook her head in response. Well, as much as one could shake their head in the lap of another person.


    Next, he looked at Aya.


    ?I think i figured out how my [protector] title works, it''s just an assumption, but i think my [physical defense] and even my equipment get stronger, but the equipment only very little. The title is activated when im thinking of protecting someone or something, but the important thing is, the increase of defense is dependent on my [willpower]."


    ?A title that converts [willpower] into [physical defense]? That sounds very interesting! I have never heard of something like that!", Alice exclaimed.


    ?We can''t say that clearly yet."


    ?He? Why are you saying that?"


    ?Several reasons. First, if it is really ?converted'' as you said, that means she gains [physical defense] but loses [willpower] in return. That would make her very vulnerable to mental attacks. And second, [willpower] can also be considered as ?defense''."


    ?So if it is ?conversion'' it could also be able to convert [physical defense] into [willpower], or it''s ?just'' her [physical defense] increasing together with her [willpower], is what you want to say."


    ?Yes, more or less."


    The other six looked once again astonished at the casual way Allan was conversing with the princess. As if something like that happened already many times before. Considering that they came together and that Allan seemed to know that she would take part in the meeting, they wondered what their relation with each other was.


    ?With that as a basis it should be easy to make further tests in this regard. Anyone else?"


    ?Just the usual."


    ?No."


    -Not much, i might gain the [elemental magic] skill soon though.-


    ?I made some new discoveries about the [anti thesis] title, to be precise i got better at determining the effect that would occur when using it. But not much else, no."


    ?Good, let''s continue with the next item on our list.", Cale continued.


    Just like this, they continued to discuss all the little discoveries they made since the last meeting. It didn''t really matter if it was in relation with skills, levels or stats, or even more important, the ?common sense'' of this world. With every meeting they discovered several ?goes'' and ?no-goes'' and tried to adjust to this world as soon and perfect as possible.


    It didn''t take long for the princess to get accepted into the group, as she was very friendly and was a big help at answering some of the questions.


    After several hours they finally concluded their meeting when the princess spike up again.


    ?I wanted to announce two things. First, the next three days are going to be rest days. I''m sure the last month was exhausting for all of you. That is why, considering the improvements all of you made, my father wants all of you to enjoy some rest outside the castle walls. At this point you should be able to go out without acting to weird or creating misunderstandings. But don''t worry, even though you wont see them, you will always get protected by some of the royal guards that specialize in stealth. Even though it is supposed to be resting time, it is said that heroes tend to get themselves into quiet troublesome situations out of the smallest of incidents. So be careful!


    But while the guards will protect you in the worst case, they won''t do anything as long as your lives aren''t in danger. So act as if they don''t exist. Also, attendance is mandatory."


    Somehow Allan felt like the princess directed the last comment at him. He did consider continuing with his research as he was just about to complete the basic framework for the ?core''.


    ?The second announcement is, that afterwards there will be an additional training in basic etiquette of the Loreley kingdoms nobles. Some time in the future you will have to attend to banquet where you get introduced to the most trustworthy nobles, especially those who you will be working with the most in the future.


    On a side note. I was told to ask you to try sleeping less. My father knows that it is said to be hard to adjust when your level rises quickly, but some of your trainers were complaining that you were way to lazy. They don''t know that you are heroes, so we can''t ask them to be lenient.


    I wish all of you a good night!"

 25 Freetime 3 24

    Right now they stood in front of the outer wall of the castle. The seven of them all wore rough clothing of far lower quality than until now, had big backpacks on their backs and each wore a travelers cloak.


    Aside from that, they were all lightly armed, with Allan being the only one without any weapons.


    All in all, they looked like an average group travelers, or so he assumed. Well, not quite, looking at everyone like this Allan realized that every single one of them was rather good looking, way above average in that regard.


    Realizing this fact Allan wondered once again if this was also a criterion to be chosen as a hero. It wasn''t the first time he pondered on this question in that last month if he wasn''t able to do something else at that moment. He even asked the princess once about this with her answer being:


    ?Maybe, i never heard of any hero that didn''t have good looks at least."


    But that didn''t mean anything in the end as most heroes tales were exaggerated to some extent. Additionally, the number of successful hero summonings were rather low. On average there would only be four successful summonings within one hundred years on the whole continent.


    Hero summonings just didn''t happen often enough, and every country would keep all informations heroes for themselves. That was why the most that was known about them were their achievements in form of folk tales. It was impossible to start a research on heroes, and especially on something ridiculous as the question if good look were a requirement to become a hero.


    ?You all look perfect! Like this no one should suspect you. Remember, you are a group of travellers, on your way to the western border. You arrived yesterday at the first wall but the gates were already closed for the night and you entered first thing this morning and you are searching for a suitable inn to stay at, while resting in the capital for a few days. That should do for a background.


    We gave you some money, and it is by far enough to stay a few days in a good inn. You can use whatever is left however you want, but please try at least not to get scammed, some merchants can be rather vicious after all... Did i forget anything?"


    They, who were supposed to be heroes were given a sermon by the princess right now, like a mother would for her children. They felt pretty weird considering that she was younger than most of them, and by a few years at that.


    ?Well, even if i forgot anything you should be able to figure out the rest by yourself. Oh, naturally you aren''t allowed to say that you are summoned heroes, most wouldn''t believe it in the first place, but it would be troublesome if rumors spread, it is still to early."


    At this point, Aya could barely prevent herself from answering with an annoyed:


    ?Yes, Mom!"


    Even as a hero, she shouldn''t make fun of the princess.


    ?Until later then, have a good time in the city."


    It was early morning, shortly after the city gates opened, and no one was on the streets right now. At least in the noble district. Even though most nobles were at least level 50, and thous didn''t need as much sleep, they used the nighttime strictly for office work and would leave the house to start socializing only when the sun stood rather high in the sky.


    This way many commoners thought that nobles were all lazy, but it was still better than the rumors about nobles being vampires and sucking blood at night. Or that nobles go around at night to kidnap children. Who had ever said that being a noble was a thankful job?


    Only when they left the confines of the first wall and entered the merchant district could they see the first few peoples on the streets, preparing to start businesses for the day.


    After they had looked around for some time, they finally found a suitable inn and entered. It wasn''t the best inn that one could find, but that wasn''t what they were looking for in the first place. As long as the beds were good and they got food in the morning and evening it would be fine. After all, they were here not to stay in their rooms but to have fun in the city.


    The young woman at the reception counter greeted them and asked:


    ?A good day, how may i help you?"


    Taking a step to the front Cale answered:


    ?We would like some rooms for the next two nights. Are there any free ones?"


    ?I''m very sorry sir, right now there aren''t any free rooms. But some rooms become free today, and should be ready in the afternoon. Until then we could offer you a room were you can leave your baggage, if you pay for the rooms right now it''s free."


    ?Hmm, that sounds good. How are prices? And what about food?"


    ?Sir is quite lucky, there are five rooms that get free today, one single person room, three with two beds and one with three. The basic price is 15 silver and a further 5 silver for every extra bed. You can either eat outside, or you get a simple dinner and Lunch here for 1 silver each."


    The money that was used here were mainly copper, silver and gold coins. A hundred copper for one silver, and a hundred silver for one gold. Then there where also the half silver and half gold, which were basically coins that got cut in half, effectively halving their value and giving them a very distinct form. But these were only used by commoners, single stores and some small scale merchants. Everything of higher value, especially high level artifacts were traded almost exclusively with magic metals. And those only came in weight units but not as coins.


    Every one in their group had a gold coin hidden somewhere on their bodies and a pouch with one half gold thirty silver and twenty copper on their belt. When compared with the papermoney and many different kinds of coins of the modern world, this was rather unpractical.


    ?I think we should take the three rooms in that case, do we have to decide on the food right now?"


    ?No sir, we need to know about your dinner before noon the same day and lunch in the evening on the day before. That makes...", the woman started pushing around some pebbles on a calculation table and answered a moment later.


    ?One gold and thirty silver, sir."


    Giving her one gold and a half gold he told her:


    ?Dinner today and lunch tomorrow as well please, ignore the rest."


    ?Ignore the rest'' was nothing else but this worlds way of giving someone a tipp. Basically saying that it didn''t matter what happened with the rest of the money.


    Opening a small room behind the counter with a key, she said:


    ?Please, your baggage."


    After everyone had put their bags down, which were mostly for camouflage purposes in the end, they all gathered together again. The Lady locked the little room again and have the Key to Cale.


    ?Well then, what now?"

 26 Freetime 4 25

    ?Well then, what now? In my opinion we should try to find something that we can all do together. But... looking at you i don''t think that will happen, at least for today. So how does this sound? We split up for today and do our own stuff, but try looking for something we could all do together. Ok?"


    ?Ooh! I like that! Shade, let''s go together, i was interested in the fashion of this place since a while ago, it''s not good to only wear whatever is given to us!"


    ?Nn!"


    ?I wanted to take a look at some artifacts to get some inspiration and maybe a bookstore or two. Also, how about we go with at least two people around if possible, tha..."


    -That sounds like a good idea in my opinion. Ah, i''m sorry for interrupting you. I, for my part, am still not quite used to this type of society, and my way of communication is probably a little bit to eye catching. In that case i would accompany Allan as i also have an interest in books. They are a rather fascinating invention.-


    ?Oh? Your people didn''t have books?", Julia asked interested.


    -No, we don''t.-


    Allan had found out about this already since a while ago. The Magus race could be said to be close to a ?hive mind'', so they simply had no need for books. As the two of them were similar in their desire to further their knowledge, they held conversations on a regular basis. Often about magic, but just as often about history and other themes as well. Conveniently they didn''t have to meet for that purpose every time, but made full use of Magus abilities. In that way these ?discussions'' were actually much more like an ?exchange of thoughts'' in a quite literal sense, being much more effective than a normal discussion.


    Incidentally, Magus was actually the most suspicious looking of them all. As his race didn''t exist on the ?great land'' he had to cover his head constantly, to prevent people from noticing his missing ears and the crystal, as well as gloves because of his grayish skin color. Who wouldn''t think of a 250cm person with cape and hood that they are suspicious?


    ?That means we three are together then?", Cale said while looking at Loras and Julia.


    ?Sounds good for me. And i did pay for dinner, but feel free to eat out, we are supposed to have fun after all!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Before they had gone each on their own ways, they had asked the lady at the reception where they should go to find their respective goals.