ã€ŠHome Turfã€‹


 Prologue - The Journeys End

    Blood stained the floor as a clear shlick sound could be heard echoing from in between the two figures which the dark room housed. One of them slowly hunched forward, revealing a glistening blade covered with blood.

    ¡°You... have bested me.¡± The man¡¯s deep voice filled the room, a sense of power and authority could be felt from the weak words which escaped from his mouth.

    Falling to the side, his body made a loud clang as it and the sword he was holding hit the floor. Covered from head to toe with a deep purple metal armour, the middle of his chest piece revealed the hilt of the sword which pierced his body.

    ¡°Looks like... I¡¯m coming with you, old man.¡± This time, a younger voice rang out, but without the vigour you¡¯d expect from a youth.

    Collapsing backward, the presumably younger man struggled to lift his fatigued body. Compared to the ominous armour his opposite had, his was more ashen, with red accentuating parts of it.

    Heavy breathes came from the two, but slowly became more ragged, a struggle to keep breathing evident in both.

    ¡°I nearly ran out of juice before you, you know,¡± the younger one said, ¡°oh Lord Demon King¡±. Sarcasm dripped from his strained voice.

    ¡°Ha, if I had any energy left, I would slap that stupid grin of your face.¡± Trying to clench his hand, the Demon King felt a numb take over his aged body. ¡°The Seer of Denari... she told me that today would be the day I died you know.¡± Gasping for air, the king settled for trying to supress the pain from his punctured lungs. ¡°I was so mad that I-¡°

    ¡°Killed her, I know.¡± His grin fading from his face, the ash knight¡¯s facial features settled to a solemn peace. ¡°I heard the news after I came back to Central from training in some infested caves. She was a nice lady, like an old granny that¡¯d give you cookies.¡±

    The Demon King looked at the cause of his demise. Brown hair covered in soot and dirt with streaks of blood scattered on his face. Too young to be placed with burdens of a whole race, the dying king pitied the boy who was summoned to fight another world¡¯s war.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Looking up, the demon saw light filtering from the ceiling as it slowly crumbled from the loss of magic which held the castle together.

    Rather dumbly, the boy responded with, ¡°huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Confirming the question, a small smile crept into the boy¡¯s features. ¡°Damien, Damien Pierce.¡±

    ¡°Damien, congratulations on saving this world from my clutches. I, Demon King Naraxxus, salute your actions. Well, if I could salute.¡± Silence settled on the crumbling room as Naraxxus waited for Damien¡¯s response.

    ¡°...why aren¡¯t you angry?¡± Rage built up within Damien but his lack of stamina prevented him from doing anyyhing about it. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be Demon King Naraxxus, Lord of the Damned and the war-mongering demons! Yet... why are you just so calm and carefree about your death! It doesn¡¯t make any sense, you should hate me right-¡°

    Blood sputtered from Damien¡¯s mouth as his internal wounds raged from his outburst.

    Another silence swept the room as more pieces of the walls and ceiling broke away from each other. Minutes passed until Naraxxus finally spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired, Damien. I¡¯m tired of this game of cat and mouse. Do you know how long this war has been going on? 500 years. The demons versus the rest of the world. I have been the third king since the war started and I can see how much damage it has caused. So many people have been broken due to the losses on both sides. At this point, I don¡¯t even mind that I lost. No one can say it but I can see it in the eyes of every single sane person whose still alive. We all just want it to end. No more fighting, no more killing. When I killed the Seer of Denari, I still wanted to win the war. But, over the past few years, I¡¯ve seen how desperate people have become. Look at you! You¡¯re the embodiment of a whole race¡¯s hopes and fears. They basically kidnapped a kid from another world to fight this pathetic excuse of a war! There was never anything to gain from this. All these deaths were for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just surrender-¡°

    ¡°Because I had no choice!¡± Jaraxxus shout shook the room.

    ¡°It was either to continue fighting to the bitter end or see my people be enslaved and treated like trash. All races are greedy and terrible. For every good person in the world, a thousand bad ones would come to break them. If I surrendered, I would have to live through knowing I was the one who led my people to a situation which could take centuries to recover from. Fighting till the bitter end was just my coward¡¯s way out. I¡¯d rather die then see what¡¯s next. I¡¯ve been a horrible person, and I¡¯d rather not live through seeing consequences of my actions.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Damien couldn¡¯t respond.

    <hr>

    Damien¡¯s POV

    The castle continued collapse as bigger chunks of the room¡¯s ceiling crashed on the ground around us. It was only a matter of time before one of them hit and killed me. My wounds festered from the dark magic which Jaraxxus used while the his slowly burned from the touch of my blade lodged in his chest cavity. There was no escaping death this time.

    I closed my eyes, using my last few moments to wade in my few cherished memories. It¡¯s been 3 years since I last saw my family. Being summoned when I was 12, I¡¯ve been fighting ever since. I missed my mother¡¯s food, no matter how many times she failed making the simplest of things. I missed my father¡¯s passionate rants about cold cases he¡¯s always wanted to report on. I missed my older sister¡¯s scolding of the two for the things she had to put up with.

    Tear drops glided across my face, passing by the smile which unknowingly formed. I¡¯m going to die, yet... I¡¯m okay with it. 3 years I¡¯ve fought for the people of this world and while the first was filled with mishaps and mistakes, I tried my best the whole time. There were times when I just wanted to give up to be honest, times when I felt I couldn¡¯t go on anymore. No one wanted to believe that a 12 year old boy could save the world but they tried to, and that¡¯s all Damien needed. Now look at me! 3 years later and I killed the Demon King!

    If I had any regrets, it would only be dying before I could come back to my friends. Dying before we could celebrate finally finishing this damned quest. Well, I guess this was to be expected. The mission to kill the Demon King wasn¡¯t one you¡¯d be guaranteed to come out alive. Heck, it¡¯s the job to kill one of the most powerful beings in the world, what did he think. Fredrick, Layla, Terrence, Bolvar, and Vivian. I¡¯ll miss them when I die. Is there even an afterlife? Will they miss me? So many I¡¯d like to say good bye to before I hit the bucket. I love you, Vivian!

    ¡°Dammit, why did this have to end like this...¡± Murmuring to myself, I heard a response from Jaraxxus as the floor started to shake with more intensity.

    ¡°Heh, such is life Hero. Fate has its ways to screw things up.¡± He responded as so just before the floor around us started to glow with blue light. ¡°What the-¡°

    Damien looked towards Jaraxxus just as his body dispersed like ash. Before he could react, he felt himself pulled towards the ground as if gravity strengthened by ten-fold. He could hear his bones creak and the pain from his wounds get stronger as the blue light around him intensified. Strange glyphs made of pure light floated upwards around him, flopping along the air like fish out of water. Though he strained to keep his eyes open under the stress of the gravity and the blinding light, he did notice everything around warping. It looked like magic, the old stones of the building swirling and interlacing with each other. Then again, this blue light, flying glyphs, and reality-warping effects could only be magic. But- what kind of magic?

    Questions darted in my head until a my mind started throb. And it hurt. God, it felt like someone had drilled into my skull and poured lava into the hole. My body continued to struggle for some sort of control. How strong is this gravity magic?! I¡¯m supposed to be able to tackle dragon head on and win a landslide- what the hell?

    Prying my eyes open one more time, I saw the light completely smother the room until finally...

    I couldn¡¯t feel anything.

    <hr>

    ¡°Breaking news; a boy, aged 12, that had went missing 3 years ago has been found severely injured on a road near the Treford Shopping Centre at 6:30 am. Witnesses driving to work said that they saw a flash of light where the boy was found before he appeared.

    After being admitted at a nearby hospital, police officers who arrived to help identify the boy. Investigations as to ascertain who the boy, found to be around the age of 15, was proven to be unsuccessful until searches on missing persons case files occurred. After finding a file of a child with a similar appearance, they cross-referenced the blood of the parents with the boy to find a match. After 3 years, Damien Pierce ¨C now aged 15 ¨C has been found.¡±

    <hr>

    Damien¡¯s POV

    Groaning, I felt my consciousness thin and thicken as a continuous beeping slowly got louder. My head ached and ached and I could barely raise a finger. Delirious as I was, I tried to open my eyes. What I saw was not the Demon King¡¯s throne room, but a hospital room.

    Hospital room...

    Quickly sitting up I was forced to lay back down when a sharp pain ripped through my spine. My injuries haven¡¯t really healed, have they? The surprise of seeing a hospital room let alone a modern one really helped me shake of the fatigue. Looking around, I realised that I was in an isolated room. There were no other extra beds, no curtains to section the room off, just my bed, dresser to my right, and some medical equipment. The whole room had this odd smell, probably from the various medicines and chemicals used by doctors and nurses.

    Pushing my body so that I could sit up, I took a look the white plastic dresser by bed to find various cards that all had the same message of ¡®Get Well Soon¡¯ on them.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that so many people were glad that I¡¯m back,¡± I whispered to myself, a small smile on my face appearing with a few heartfelt tears. ¡°I¡¯m glad to back.¡±

    ¡°Well I hope you are.¡± The door to the room opened to reveal a familiar face. A woman, who seemed to be around 20, walked in. She took gentle strides toward just before stopping a few steps from my bed.

    ¡°N-Natalie?¡± I looked at my older sister like a ghost had just phased into the room. She still had the messy brown hair from three years ago, still wearing glasses because she could barely see a few metres away from, but she was taller, and seemed more mature. I didn¡¯t even notice I was crying until a tear fell on my arm. ¡®Why am I crying so much?¡¯

    ¡°Welcome back Damien, you stupid little brother.¡± She said, before hugging with the tightest grip known to man.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    Quickly letting go, she apologised with multiple sorrys before calming down.

    ¡°Welcome back.¡±

 Chapter 1 - Break Of Dawn

    Waking up to the sound of my mother shouting for me to come and eat breakfast. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining-

    Wait, that¡¯s not right. Autumn just started and it¡¯s Wales; it couldn¡¯t possibly be sunny outside. But, against my expectations, it was sunny outside. I guess it¡¯s supposed to be really good day.

    Stomping could be heard getting closer and closer to my bedroom door as it swung open to reveal my mother. My mad mother, at that.

    ¡°What are you doing not in your school uniform?! You should be ready by now! Damien- this will be your first day at your new school! First impressions are everything-¡°

    And she went on for another 5 minutes, forgetting that fact that she was also stopping me from getting ready for school. Though, I didn¡¯t mind her little rant. Times like this make me remember that I¡¯m not fighting for my life and no one else¡¯s.

    After my mother left my room, I got up from my bed and went through any person¡¯s ¡®Getting Ready¡¯ routine. Following that came the first breakfast to open my first school year since my summoning. I¡¯ve kept quiet about my fantasy world adventure, but the habits I¡¯ve gained from the treacherous journey have been leaking ever so slightly. I¡¯ve kept all the strength, all the speed that I gained from the other world. My instincts were sharpened and I had a fighting style ingrained into my head. Its kind of hard to forget all that considering all the memories and experiences that came with them. When my sister or my parents try to surprise me, I usually pull some sort of crazy stunt on them. At these times my instincts just kick in and I just get jittery thinking something tried to ambush me.

    Seeing my parents gathered at the table reminds me of their reactions when I first saw them again. It was a lot of crying, a lot of screaming and asking me where I went. My dad even went overboard and started spouting threats and off-the-cuff deeds that he¡¯d do to find the people who took me right in front of the doctors and nurses that came to give me my medicine. Then again, they just laughed it off and saw it as parental love albeit my dad was really intense.

    My parents are like any other person¡¯s. They¡¯re nice, simple, and they have a few quirks which make them who they are. If it wasn¡¯t for them and how they raised, I may have taken the summoning far differently and for that, I love them. Well, I also love them for things apart from that but, you get the point right?

    Taking my seat, I get myself a few pieces of bacon, a sunny-side egg, two pieces of toast with beans on top, and two sausages. I¡¯ll skip over eating them because I can tell this is already boring people. I did have a very short conversation with my dad as we ate.

    ¡°Will you be alright?¡±

    The question came out of nowhere yet it was very expected. I haven¡¯t gone to school in 4 years now and while I had home schooling since I¡¯ve come back, I haven¡¯t had any contact with people my age in this world for a while. They weren¡¯t worried about if I couldn¡¯t handled the schoolwork. In fact, I reassured them and the school that I was going to that I was caught up with all the assessments, test, and exams I did. I don¡¯t know why but I just feel so smart yet so dumb at the same time. I can understand all the topics yet I don¡¯t understand how I understand them. My theory is that magic somehow makes you smarter. The school even said that with my level of work, I could just skip Year 11 and go straight to college if I just did all the exams and coursework before the start of the year. However, I decided myself to see how school is and get friends my age. From these thoughts I gave my dad my response with confidence.

    ¡°Yeah¡±

    He gave me a smile, reached over, then ruffled my hair. Looks like my confidence got to him.

    Clearing my plate, I headed upstairs to pick up my bag and head out. Before I left, I tried one last thing. Holding my hand up in the air, I called out the name of a low-tier spell.

    ¡°Spark.¡±

    I wait for a few seconds until letting arm fall to my side. Looks like I still can¡¯t use magic. Like I said before, I still have all strength speed to be a superhero yet my magic; it¡¯s gone. Three years of training down the drain. Then again, I had the Blessing of the Hero to help me learn magic. The power I had would take others decades to attain.

    With my bag in hand, I headed outside.

    <hr>

    The school bell rang as I sat in the head teacher¡¯s office. My bag was cradled in my arms, the big boss of the school inspecting me from top to bottom. It was rather uncomfortable.

    ¡°Mr Pierce... I know we accepted you to join us this year but I do believe that problems caused by the events that led up to your situation may cause issues. Are you sure you¡¯ll be fine?¡±

    ¡°Yes, miss.¡±

    ¡°The injuries you sustained from what I was told were very extensive. Will that not cause problems? It has only been a year.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m... fine, miss.¡± Though I¡¯m unsure how. ¡°My injuries have fully healed.¡±

    Mrs Bertridge eyed me once more before shuffling through a small stack of paper on her desk. After finding what seemed to be the right one, she stood up and walked over to my side, handing it to me.

    ¡°This is your timetable for the year. You can also find the options you¡¯ve picked to be on their as well. Product Design, History, and... ICT, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yeah...¡±

    Less focused on the conversation and more on the paper held in my hands, I looked over the table printed over. It seems that I have Biology in room 67.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to your lesson.¡±

    Walking out of Mrs Bertridge¡¯s office, we walked along the polished floor. Unlike other high schools, this school ¨C St. Luke¡¯s RC High School ¨C didn¡¯t have that lockers. So, instead of metal cupboards lining the walls, multiple colourful displays took up the free space. There were ones for notices and announcements, sports awards, and awards for good behaviour among others. St. Luke¡¯s was a pretty standard school.

    As we neared my class, the odd student or two that we walked past noticed me next to the head teacher. It wasn¡¯t really surprise though since it was the start of the year so they walked past with little to no reaction. Along the way, I can only assume we were in the Science Department with the displays on the walls leaning more towards famous scientific people and the periodic table. Chatter could be heard from open doors, more excitement in the air than learning. Peering into one as we passed by, the class were filled with students just talking to each other, probably happy to see friends that they haven¡¯t seen for 6 weeks. The teacher didn¡¯t mind the mild chaos and just walked around the class greeting a few students.

    Mrs Bertridge stopped right in front of a class a closed door but you could hear the talking from the room, just muffled. Opening the door, Mrs Bertridge stepped into the classroom and I soon followed.

    When I walked in, the talking briefly stopped as the people in the class looked at me. Whispers slowly rose from the silence, probably people either continuing their conversations or people talking about what they thought about. My arm started to tremble for some reason but shortly stopped.

    ¡°This is Damien Pierce. He will be joining you for your last school year here. Make him feel welcomed.¡±

    With the short introduction, Mrs Bertridge headed back to her office and left me under the scrutiny 29 teenagers. This sucks.

    Smiling awkwardly, I waved to the class and said a quick ¡®hello¡¯ before asking the teacher where I could sit. Miss Rhodes, she told me her name was, gave swift scan of the room before pointing to one of the back tables with an open seat. Whilst handing me a blank notebook to do work in, she sent me off. Each table was set up around a small locker of sorts with plug sockets and gas faucets on top. Two people could sit at a table, with three to each locker. You could call the a work area.

    Walking to my seat, I saw the people in my area of the class talking very quietly amongst themselves. I swept an eye over the class, seeing other groups doing the same thing.

    Man, I want friends.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    <hr>

    Exiting the class, I felt a weight on my back as I turned to see a mess of dirty blonde hair clinging to him.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty strong! He didn¡¯t even budge when I jumped on you!¡±

    Feeling a bit annoyed, I shrugged the body off before asking the boy who he was.

    ¡°Woah woah, sorry man, I didn¡¯t mean to come off as rude or anything. I¡¯m just... curious, yeah. Anyways, I¡¯m Sion Himley.¡±

    He seems pretty nice.

    ¡°I¡¯m Damien Pierce, though you¡¯ve probably already know my name from the head teacher.¡±

    ¡°Sure did. You talked to anyone else?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve mostly kept to myself. Talking to others isn¡¯t really my forte.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll help you out! Everyone knows me in this school. Watch,¡±

    Sion turned to his right just to see a pair of girls pass by. ¡°Camille! Jenny! Come here!¡±

    The girls just looked at him funnily before continuing to class. People who saw the exchange laughed quietly at him.

    ¡°W-well maybe not them but-¡°

    ¡°It¡¯s okay man, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can show me where my next class is though.¡±

    Handing him my timetable, Sion seemed to perk up at the thought of helping me. Sliding his finger across the paper, he quickly found my next class and perked up for some reason. Before he could say anything, however, the school bell rung to signify a warning to the students.

    Panicking, Sion pulled out his phone from his pocket and paled at what it displayed.

    ¡°Oh god, we¡¯re going to be late! We have the same lesson but the room¡¯s on the other side of the building. Come on- let¡¯s go!¡±

    Grabbing my hand, he pulled me to our next class.

    <hr>

    ¡°Phew, glad that¡¯s over with.¡±

    Sprinting through the corridor with other people rushing to their classes wasn¡¯t easy. I can control my strength and I can probably run for days on end but when your body is as hard as steel, maybe even diamond, you¡¯re not going to be the one hurting when you hit people running by. We didn¡¯t even make it in time so the teacher, Mr Mulligan, took it upon himself to rant on and on about how ¡®its the first day of school and you¡¯re already late to lesson¡¯ and ¡®this is the most important year of your lives¡¯ which it obviously isn¡¯t. Teachers can be very melodramatic.

    ¡°Glad that Maths is over, or glad that the lesson with Mr Mulligan is over?¡±

    ¡°Mr Mulligan is just so harsh. I¡¯ve had him for over 4 years and I still don¡¯t get why he hates me!¡±

    We walked out of the school building into the gated yard. Large part of it was just a field which led to a forest path and the smaller part was basically an area of concrete. It was simple, but the large space meant people could do most things that they wanted.

    Sion continued his idle chatter with me as we stayed close to the entrance. I can only guess that he¡¯s waiting for his other friends.

    ¡°So what brings you to Treford? I don¡¯t know your situation but joining a school in Year 11 seems pretty weird. That might just be me, though.¡±

    ¡°Fresh start for my family, I guess. The town I used to live in had a few problems."

    ¡°Can¡¯t do anything about that.¡±

    Sion gave a glance to the doorway before saying, ¡°wait here.¡±

    As Sion started to wade through the students walking out, a sharp sensation went down my spine.

    Eyes widening, I turned to the source of the single only to find myself facing the forest at the back of the yard. Looks like my other blessings are still in effect. I haven¡¯t sensed this amount of danger to me since before my return. The whole thing stinks of... something. Time to find out what.

    Quickly making my way to the gate of the fence, I ignored the few stares of the people who saw me going to the far end of the field. As I got closer the feeling of danger got stronger and stronger until I couldn¡¯t see straight anymore. Even the Demon King didn¡¯t affect me this much. There¡¯s got to be foul play going on here.

    Glancing from side to side, I made sure no one was looking at me before I jumped over the fence. As I land, the pressure around me suddenly intensified and I was forced to the ground. This really sucked; dirt did not taste good at all.

    What felt like magic swirled in the air in front of me. I could feel its twists and turns as its strands weaved in and out of the leaves that flew with the wind. Yet, how could there be magic here? For 1 year I have tried and tried to feel magic in this world but, despite that fact, nothing comes to me. If I¡¯d known there was mana in these woods I would have come straight away.

    A pang in my consciousness allowed me to notice a presence right in front of me. Pulling my face out of the forest floor, I saw a robed figure standing over me. What stood out the most from him was not the fact that he would definitely be a suspicious person loitering around school grounds, but the ethereal quality to his atmosphere.

    ¡®Like he was some sort of spirit or deity-¡®

    ¡°A god, actually.¡±

    ¡®For goodness sake, you can read my mind as well. Since I can¡¯t open my mouth right now due to your pressure... um, hi.¡¯

    ¡°Hello there, Damien.¡±

    ¡®Of course he also knows my name.¡¯

    ¡°Oh I know everything about you Damien; including your escapades to another world.¡±

    ¡®Wonderful. So, what do I owe this pleasure?¡¯

    ¡°Problems, Damien. Big ones.¡±

    With a swish of his robes, his right sleeve appeared to shoot out a ball of pure mana that hit the ground causing the earth to rupture.

    ¡°As you may have already guessed, that was a ball of pure mana. ¡®Mana Orb¡¯ as the beings of the other world, Piora, have coined it.¡±

    ¡®So what¡¯s bad about that?¡¯

    ¡°I should not be able to do that.¡±

    ¡®But aren¡¯t you a god?¡¯

    ¡°The God and no, I stripped all magic from this world after I made it.¡±

    ¡®Why?¡¯

    ¡°My world has no need for it.¡±

    ¡®I would¡¯ve thought you needed mana to perform the miracles you can do.¡¯

    ¡°Ah, but you just said it yourself. They¡¯re miracles, not magic.¡±

    His aura flared with power, done in a way to show to his pride.

    ¡®Okay then... if there shouldn¡¯t be any mana on Earth, how come there is and why only now?¡¯

    ¡®Because of you Damien, and your return.¡±

    God seemed to have flicked the switch as whatever was pushing me down just vanished. Regaining control over my body, I pushed myself of the ground and dusted my clothes off. I can properly speak to God now. In front of me stood the robed figure of God, in all his glory.

    ¡°Now that I don¡¯t need to read your mind, I can now focus on telling you what you need to know. Everything needs to time to mature Damien, like you and the magic that brought you back. The sacrifice made to ensure the portal to our world was opened had enough mana absorbed that an excess amount fled into our world, infecting the verdant life of this forest.¡±

    This just didn¡¯t add up.

    ¡°Sacrifice... you mean the Demon King?! And why would it infect this forest if its so far away from where I appeared?¡±

    ¡°Damien, you did not reappear near the City Centre, you were reappeared in this forest, while I placed you in the City Centre. And yes, the Demon King was the sacrifice.¡±

    ¡°Hmm... well why didn¡¯t you let me absorb the excess mana from the Demon King? I could have stopped the infection your so wary about.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a benevolent God, Damien. If you had absorbed that mana, Jaraxxus¡¯ magic would have continued to eat you inside out and eventually kill you. It only devours mana-filled body and with the portal expelling the mana from your body, it stopped affecting you.¡±

    I froze.

    ¡®T-thank you.¡¯

    ¡°No need. Now, what I need from you is to protect as many people as you can.¡±

    That¡¯s concerning.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    With bated breath, I waited for the answer.

    ¡°Monsters are coming.¡±

    My mind couldn¡¯t process his answer.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°The two worlds, Piora and ours¡¯, have two very different yet very similar constitutions. While one cannot have mana, the other must have all the mana.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    At my question, God gave a pause before lifting his head to reveal a man made of light.

    ¡°It means that it will take the mana back, no matter what it has to do. And do you know what that means.¡±

    Something inside me just clicked.

    ¡°It¡¯ll send things to take it back... to absorb it then return.¡±

    God¡¯s face seemed to shine bright as he turned back towards the forest.

    ¡°Correct. Now follow me.¡±

    Dead leaves on the ground sprung to life as God marched to the centre of the forest, like life itself oozed from his very being. It probably did. Not knowing what to do, the smell of something interesting enticed me. Looks like I still want to fight.

    We trekked through the beauty of the forest, the area becoming denser and denser with plants and trees as we got closer to our destination. What was rather eerie was the lack of birds¡¯ singing in the canopy. Dead silence was our music along the darkened path.

    I was about to ask God how close we were to what he wanted me to see when he abruptly stopped in front of large pit. Seeing as he didn¡¯t move any further, I walked to his side and peered into the hole. What I found was not quite what I expected.

    ¡°A hydra...¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Nine necks were haphazardly laid on top of the creatures body, their heads detached and the stumps only charcoal. Even its famed regeneration couldn¡¯t save it from the wrath of God. The pit itself look like it was ravaged by the behemoth¡¯s struggle, an epitome to the overwhelming power of the man who created the world. I¡¯m a little bit scared now.

    ¡°The first of many and the messenger of Piora¡¯s intent.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you all powerful? Why not just use your miracles to stop this from happening ever again?¡±

    Shuffling could be heard to my left, as God turned to face me.

    ¡°For Piora¡¯s creator is just as powerful as I.¡±

    That was both expected and unexpected.

    ¡°Are you... like clones?¡±

    ¡°Similar, but no. Imagine us like twins; same genes but different personalities. My brother was a lot more of a control freak than I.¡±

    So this is a battle between two omnipotent beings? Neat.

    ¡°Why do you need me then?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be here for everyone all the time. I¡¯m a lot of what humans say I am but I can¡¯t be anywhere at anytime. I¡¯m just one person, so to speak.¡±

    ¡°What about angels, don¡¯t you have those?¡±

    A resounding slap could be heard as God had face palmed at my answer. Did I say something stupid? And how did he make that sound when he¡¯s made of light?

    ¡°Those silly thoughts of yours,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°They are the souls of people, most of whom haven¡¯t even gone to war. I do have an army of soldiers from across the ages but do you think they can face against these types of enemies? Creatures that they thought were legends only founds in books?¡±

    ¡°Good point ¨C forget what I said.¡±

    There was a pause in our conversation in preparation to the proposition he offered to me.

    ¡°Be my sword, Damien. Be the sword of this world like you were for the other.¡±

 Chapter 2 - Friends And A Touch Of Magic

    ¡°How the hell am I supposed to do that? I may still have superhuman strength and speed but without mana, I can¡¯t use the spells I need to face up against something like that.¡±

    I pointed towards the hydra, one of the many creatures of legends which had ghastly abilities like a poisonous spit and regeneration.

    ¡°I can help with that.¡±

    Spreading his arms out wide, the world stilled for but a moment until a torrent of energy crashed into my body. The sudden impact caused me to be thrown back to the ground, streams of violent light fighting their way into every pore of my skin. Hellish as the experience was, I was overcome by a familiar feeling through the pain the I was being put through. This was...

    ¡°Mana. I didn¡¯t even need to read your mind to know what you were thinking.¡±

    As quickly as it started, the whole ordeal ended when God snapped his fingers. I was refreshed; the feeling of mana flowing through my body again left me in a slight state of euphoria. I felt whole again, as if a body part that I lost had come back to me. Nevertheless, I did have few questions.

    ¡°I have a huge mana pool. How could their possibly be this much mana in a world where, just 1 year ago, there wasn¡¯t a single whiff of it?¡±

    ¡°Think of mana like bacteria. It thrives on life. Being introduced in such a dense forest allowed it to multiply and divide so quickly that this forest has become rich in it. If you don¡¯t believe, try to sense the mana in the air. Now that you have a supply, you¡¯ll be able once again use it to sense the different signatures of life, like you have before.¡±

    Following his instructions, I willed the mana out of my finger tips, controlling each thread like an extra limb. To my surprise, once they touched the trees, I felt the pleasant sensation of life brimming from the bark ¨C a sign that there was an abundance of pure mana in the area.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got your power¡¯s back, and you¡¯ve got the thing you need to use them. Will you accept my proposition?¡±

    God stuck his hand out of his sleeve and hung it between us.

    I was nervous. What would happen if I took his hand? Will it be the same as fighting the Demon King?

    ¡°Spark.¡±

    A small flame appeared over the palm of my right hand, its warmth like an old friend. I stared into the light, entranced by its dance. The same spell that I had failed to use this morning was now burning in front of me, as if what happened before was dream.

    I missed this feeling. The glow of magic as it entered the world.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Taking his hand, God¡¯s imploded into a ball of light. The orb bobbed up and down in the air before throwing itself into my chest.

    Air escaped my lungs. Whatever that light was, I¡¯m betting on it being God¡¯s compensation for being his sword.

    ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    Out of nowhere, God¡¯s voice rang out.

    ¡°Are you in my head?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, looks like the connection worked.¡±

    ¡°Is this like bluetooth?¡±

    ¡°I guess you could say.¡±

    Having God in my head doesn¡¯t really seem very appealing.

    ¡°Hey, I can still read your thoughts. Actually, more like hear them. Also, this connection isn¡¯t so bad; it¡¯ll allow me to tell you when a monster is nearby. By the way, I might also send you to other countries if the situation some where gets really bad.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in my mind.¡±

    This might be more than I bargained for.

    ¡°More? I think it shouldn¡¯t matter since I can just teleport you there.¡±

    ¡°...Right, I didn¡¯t think about that.¡±

    ¡°Just saying, this is the first of the blessings I gave to you for accepting this job. You¡¯ll have to discover the others.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s... just dumb.¡±

    ¡°Hey! It would be so cool if in the middle of a losing fight you suddenly activate one of the blessings and win because of it, right.¡±

    ¡°No it wouldn¡¯t. If I knew about the blessing then I wouldn¡¯t be losing.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, looks like you just can¡¯t appreciate the artistry of such a power-up. Anyways, I can disconnect this line, so to speak, at anytime. You can alert me at anytime to connect it by just thinking of... I know! God is number one!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    A clicking sound echoed in my head as God stopped talking. I¡¯m glad that was-

    ¡°By the way, I stopped time to talk to you. It¡¯ll restart once you jump back over the fence.¡±

    Click.

    That surprised the hell out of me. Stopping time, huh... He must be the real deal.

    Realising why the forest was so quiet, it was like a weight was lifted of my shoulders. I guess the silence made this whole trip more ominous then it was.

    Afraid that someone would find the corpse of the hydra, I aimed an ¡®Inferno¡¯ at its deathbed to destroy the body then covered the hole using the spell ¡®Earthen Tomb¡¯. Giant clumps of dirt appeared from thin air and covered the ashes as I made my way back to the schoolyard. Walking through the forest as the trees got less and less crowded, a familiar presence emerged within a part of my soul. Burning brighter than a dying star, the image of a flaming greatsword appeared in my head. I smirked. Looks like we¡¯re still connected.

    ¡°It is so good to be alive."

    <hr>

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Time flowed once more, my feet carrying me back to where I had left Sion. On the spot where I used to be, 3 people stood around in a circle, feet tapping the ground like they were waiting for someone. From the fact that I could see Sion¡¯s blonde hair, it was probably me. Waving my hand, I greeted them to catch their attention.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°There you are!¡±

    All three turned to face my direction. Apart from Sion who smiled at me, the other two just stared at me. One had a far cleaner look in contrast to Sion¡¯s scruffiness. He wore the school uniform with a bit more pride, his black hair kept short and his posturestraight. The other guy was a bit more loose, like Sion. He kept his shirt untucked, his fringe gelled high, and his tie no where to be found. In retrospect, he looked at me with indifference while the other semmed like he didn¡¯t know what to think.

    ¡°Damien, meet Josh Williams and Ethan Jones. Two of my closest friends and soon to be yours too!¡±

    ¡°Hey there.¡±

    I gave them my own smile, watching as Josh and Ethan turned to each other before flashing there¡¯s and responding.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    It was a simple exchange but I kind of liked that. These interactions reminded me of the life I saw people had in... Piora. Saying that in my head was a bit hard. It just feels so foreign now; alien, in a way.

    ¡°This guy here just move from... where did you come from?¡± Sion looked at me with his question.

    ¡°Llan-On-Wye. It¡¯s an old town near the river Wye. I¡¯m Welsh, but my parents have a bit more diverse background. I have family all over the world that I visit often so my accent isn¡¯t really thick, if I have one.¡±

    I tried my best to explain my planned out lie. I don¡¯t really want to hide the fact that I was kidnapped, though that isn¡¯t true at all, but telling people that I was isn¡¯t really a good way to get friends. It gets you people who just pity you, that¡¯s all.

    ¡°When you said that name, I was wondering where you accent was,¡± Josh said, laughing a bit afterwards.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m Welsh, I can¡¯t really speak it so... I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going with this,¡± Ethan was a little more confused, not with the topic but with what he was saying.

    I laughed. These guys were pretty friendly from the looks of it so I¡¯m thankful for Sion for introducing them. Guess I won¡¯t be without friends for another year.

    As I was caught in my thoughts, a short boy who had bangs that covered his entire face bumped into Ethan. A pair of glasses fell on the floor as the boy dropped down to scramble for them. In one smooth motion, Ethan picked up the glasses of the ground and tapped the boy on the shoulder. A squeak escaped his mouth as he looked up, happiness spreading over his face as he saw the glasses being handed. Hey, is it just me, or is he actually a she?

    He was short, but his lithe figure matched his height. Standing up, he lifted the black bangs covering his eyes and a pure, gentle face stared back at Ethan. Holding her- I mean his glasses to his chest, they were swiftly put on.

    ¡°T-thank you.¡±

    A soft voice came from his mouth. His face turned a bit red. I¡¯m turning a bit red. Even Sion and Josh were. Yet there Ethan stood, unaffected by his- I mean her- I mean, god dammit! I don¡¯t want to be here anymore.

    As he walked off, Sion¡¯s head snapped to face Ethan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell me you did it again.¡±

    Ethan looked helpless at the statement.

    ¡°He¡¯s a dude! I think.¡±

    ¡°You think?!¡±

    The softness was gone was gone, replaced with an anger that exploded forth as she stomped back. Right on to Sion¡¯s face.

    ¡°I¡¯m a girl!¡±

    She stomped off towards group of girls who looked at us like scum. Onlookers were snickering at the large red mark on Sion¡¯s face.

    ¡°Ethan... how do you this?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±

    Didn¡¯t Sion say ¡®again¡¯ before the girl came back. Oh, and thank god she was a girl because- never mind.

    ¡°How many girls do you have in your harem?!¡±

    ¡°S-shut up.¡±

    ¡°Are you stuttering? Are you really stuttering? That¡¯s like the fifth girl! Now you have a reverse trap!¡±

    ¡°What the hell¡¯s a harem?¡±

    I watched the little comedy act, Sion throwing abuse at Ethan as he just awkwardly laughed at each statement. Josh just stood off at the side, sighing as he watched his two friends one-sidedly bicker. At no point in the conversation, did they explain what a harem was. Still, no matter how cute she was, I¡¯ll only love Vivian. I''m getting just a bit depressed.

    <hr>

    School ended after a few hours and not much really happened. Lessons were less than interesting and I was nearly bored to death by the end of it. I¡¯m regretting my decision to agree with going back to school.

    Hundreds of students flooded the gates with me included. Excitement bubbled through the crowd, the first day buzz still fresh in their minds. Not relating whatsoever with the others beside, I walked with Sion, Ethan, and Josh to the road outside.

    The group split up as we left the school grounds, each of us going our separate ways. Despite the argument between Ethan and Sion, they were still happy about each other at the end of the day.

    According to Josh, their little fight happens every once in a while, when Ethan mysteriously manages to catch a girls eye. Apparently, Sion dubbed these girls as part of Ethan¡¯s harem which Josh explained to me was sort of a group which had a crush on Ethan. Now, I¡¯m not going to say that the short girl fell in love with him, I think that she was just grateful for his polite response to the collision. Sion begged to differ saying ¡®that¡¯s how it all starts¡¯. I don¡¯t where they get this from; maybe I¡¯ll ask them tomorrow.

    Anyways, I said my own farewells to the 3, about to head home when a click sounded in my head.

    ¡°Hello, hello, hello. It¡¯s me, God,¡± he said joyfully, happiness oozing from his voice.

    ¡®You seem pretty happy for a guy supposed to be worrying about a monster invasion.¡±

    ¡°Well, this and that happened and let¡¯s just say ¡®this and that¡¯ makes for a very happy God.¡±

    ¡®Okay... so, what do you need.¡¯

    ¡°North from here, a pack of plague rats have spawned in the sewers below. I need you to kill them before they spread their awful disease.¡±

    ¡®Sewers? I guess it might not be so bad as the time I went spelunking in the Flesh Caves of Garrok. I¡¯ll be there in a bit.¡¯

    ¡°Great, looks like your first hunt should be easy.¡±

    Click.

    Abrupt as the call was, I followed his directions and headed to the plague rats.

    *************************************

    That was, of course, before I realised that he didn¡¯t really specify a location.

    For an hour, I walked around town aimlessly with the vague idea of ¡®north¡¯ in my head. I had the stamina to do it all but my brain could not handle extra boredom of the task.

    My search led me to the middle of a housing street. Left to right, homes stretched a good half of a kilometre before being cut off another street or a main road. It was almost empty save for a few students who stayed out a bit longer with their friends.

    I nearly left the street when I saw a manhole cover open slightly to reveal a pair of dark, beady eyes. A foul odour escaped the hole, a clear sign that those eyes most likely belonged to one of the plague rats. I could recognise that smell from a mile away. I had to, what with my enhanced senses forcing me to inhale it with a far more acute sensitivity.

    Cringing at the smell, I cast a weak ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯ around my head to stop myself from gaging any further but still breath. To not catch the rat¡¯s attention, I pretended to walk to one of the houses near to the cover. I could feel its eyes on me, the hunger of food apparent in its continuous gaze.

    Just as I reached the fence gate of a house, I turned on my heels and ran to grab the rat out of its peeking hole. With my speed, the fight was over in a second. An oversized brown rat struggled in my arms, its pig-sized body scrambling to bite off the hand that gripped on the scruff of its head. Green steamed floated around its body, the smell now more pungent than ever. Birds fell from the sky it was so bad.

    ¡°What¡¯s that smell?¡±

    I¡¯m such an idiot. Why would I pull it out where anyone could see the thing? Taking the manhole cover that was tossed to side, I jumped down into the sewers with the rat covering the hole as I fell. The rats squeaks grew louder as I landed in the dirtied water. I don¡¯t really want to think about what I¡¯m standing in right now.

    ¡°Fairy Lights.¡±

    The tunnel brightened up as motes of light appeared on the walls. What I saw would have scared most people. Hues of brown to black took up most of the tunnel, the same beady eyes on the rat I held repeated hundreds of times on the large mass of fur.

    Nope. Just, nope.

    ¡°Ice Breath.¡±

    The rats froze with a crisp sound as light blue wind burst from my mouth. In my hand, the last one grew stiff with fear. Looks like it knew all the others are dead. You know, I felt a bit sorry for the guy.

    <hr>

    ¡°So, how was your first day? Did you make any friends?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, met these guys who show me around. Classes were boring though, my new friends were only in a few of my classes and we didn¡¯t have them today.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. More chicken?¡±

    ¡°No thanks.¡±

    My parents and I sat around the dinner table, eating the roast chicken my mother made. One of the only dishes she can make.

    ¡°What about peas? And I know you¡¯d just love some mashed potatoes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, mum.¡±

    It was a fairly standard family dinner.

    ¡°Anything interesting happened?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Exchange

    Time turns as weeks pass by. Winter¡¯s chill approaches like hand, ready to grasp anything it touches. Yellow and brown leaves littered the pavement outside the schoolm, the warm colours contrasting with the cold weather.

    My head can¡¯t handle all the frequent fighting. While I can¡¯t really get tired, I do like to sleep. With God popping into my mind four times a day, at least one of those eats up into my night. What¡¯s worse, the spawns are getting more frequent and wide. Just yesterday, I was taken to China to fight some dumb river troll. The fights are easy enough, my skin hard enough to deflect most attacks. It¡¯s my clothes that can¡¯t take all the hits.

    Let¡¯s see... I¡¯ve been through 15 shirts, 6 trousers, and 3 pairs of shoes during my hunting. God is being pretty stingy about the whole thing. He says the blessings he gave were already enough for me. What¡¯s wrong about a regenerating outfit. Stupid omnipotent know-it-all. None of them have even activated!

    Due to the fact that I repeatedly came home with burnt, cut, and/or destroyed look, they¡¯ve been asking a lot of questions. Questions like ¡®are you being bullied¡¯, ¡®did you jump into a fire¡¯ or ¡®were you fighting a bear¡¯ which was true in some cases. They were not happy. I do mostly use magic but when you¡¯re up against a giant chameleon that can jump into shadows, enhanced senses and fireballs can only do so much.

    ¡°How was your weekend then guys?¡± Asked Sion.

    ¡°Same old, same old. Watching anime and playing games,¡± said Ethan, thumbing pen in his hands.

    ¡°Boooooring.¡±

    Things were going pretty well to be honest. No one¡¯s noticed any of the wilder things going on since I clean them up pretty fast. No news reports talking about porcupine bears, newspapers writing about sea serpents in Loch Ness, and online videos with hysterical men ranting about-

    ¡°-dragons!¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°What did you just say?¡±

    I looked at Josh like he was a ghost, an ugly one. Some are actually pretty nice once you get to know them.

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s this video on MyTube about this old guy who runs out of some woods in Scotland. He screams about seeing dragons.¡±

    Pulling out his phone from his pocket, Josh pressed the ¡®On¡¯ button then flicked the screen a few times

    ¡°Here ¨C watch it.¡±

    What I saw made me swallow the words in my head.

    ¡®God is number one¡¯

    Still dumb.

    Click.

    ¡°You called?¡±

    ¡®Yeah, how come you didn¡¯t tell me about the dragons in Scotland?¡¯

    ¡°Scotland? Let me see... you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡®Anyways, they shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m good with dragons; they pretty much treat me like royalty. They¡¯re also good people.¡¯

    ¡°What about that hydra I killed then? Shouldn¡¯t you be mad about that then?¡±

    ¡®Hydras... are a bit different.¡¯

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯ll head to Snowdon after school. Can you give me a their specific location?¡¯

    ¡°They seem to be moving around in Snowdonia National Park. I¡¯ll send you there right now.¡±

    ¡®Wait, what-¡®

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop time, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.Click.

    Before I knew it, I was standing on a huge, sprawling plain. Sighing, I gauged my surroundings. Mountains to my left, and grass everywhere else. Looks like I was dropped in the middle of a clearing.

    ¡°Life Detect.¡±

    Mana spread in all directions before echoing back to me. Found my reptiles. A pair of them.

    Like a rocket, my body sped towards where the two dragons were.

    <hr>

    Stopping at a line of trees, I saw the targets of this mission.

    Silver scales lined their bodies, more streamlined then bulky. They lay atop uprooted trees formed in a makeshift nest of sorts. One of them seemed to be struggling.

    ¡°Hang in there, honey. I don¡¯t know where we are but we should be fine.¡±

    The larger one seemed to be comforting the other, its wings acting like a blanket for it.

    ¡°The humans, Yona, they seemed so scared! It hasn¡¯t been like that since the war ended! And the mana. It¡¯s so thin! Thinner than what should be natural.¡±

    ¡°I may be of some assistance.¡±

    Stepping out of the tree line, I made the dragons aware of my presence.

    ¡°Who are you? Where is this place? My wife is pregnant and I swear to Ysveria that if you do anything I will kill you where you stand!¡±

    The panic and rage was apparent from the words of the dragon named Yona. Seeing as he was letting his worry take control for his, I tried to use something special to get him to listen. Diving into my soul, I swam through the ocean of magic to find the one I have that dragons always trust.

    From my chest, the hilt of a sword gradually surfaced up to its guard. Placing my hand on it, I pulled it out with a swish, its long, orange blade like a wave of lava.

    ¡°Do you recognise this?¡±

    Yona froze, his that was nestled in his wings squirming to see what I showed him.

    ¡°What is it Yona? What did he show-¡°

    When she saw the weapon, her movements stopped as her eyes shone with the blade¡¯s reflection.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Blade of Ysveria! Only the Hero... you¡¯re the Hero, aren¡¯t you? Damien, the Hero!¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°The blade¡¯s aura ¨C nothing can imitate it, not even other divine weapons,¡± Yona muttered while mesmerized by the greatsword¡¯s fiery light.

    ¡°Hero, please help us!¡±

    ¡°Syndra!¡±

    Pushing herself out of her husband¡¯s protection, she bowed her head before me

    ¡°We don¡¯t know where we are and we don¡¯t know what to do. As the chosen of Ysveria, please help us her lowly servants get back home.¡±

    I regarded her with pity. Dragons. Creatures full of might. Before the war occurred they were feared because of their power and magic. Now, with the alliance helping to forge bridges between all sentient races, they were seen as people and not just beings that rampaged in a city every few decades. Ties have been built and amends have been made but the fact still stands that they were the most powerful of the alliance races. They were still feared. Yet, here two were begging for help from someone they didn¡¯t know. Like any other person.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. This place is my world. You are no longer in Piora.¡±

    Syndra¡¯s head lifted to reveal eyes filled with fear.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the truth. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    She studied my face for a few seconds before her head fell to the ground. I could her muffled cries from dirt.

    ¡°Syndra!¡±

    Yona instantly arrived at her side, holding her body up to his chest to once again cover her with his wings.

    ¡°Hero, please, is there really nothing you can do.¡±

    Staring at Yona as he pleaded once more, I could feel guilt welling in my chest. I¡¯m the Hero, god dammit! I should be able to help!

    ¡°That¡¯s where I come in.¡±

    Light from the area coalesced into a single point behind me to form the robed figure of God.

    ¡°Can you help them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you aren¡¯t surprised. And yes, I can.¡±

    Stepping past me, he stopped in front of Yona and Syndra.

    ¡°The Hero seems to know you,¡± Yona said, nervously looking at the person before him.

    ¡°I am the god of this world and the one who sent him to you.¡±

    Taking off his hood, he exposed his head made of light.

    ¡°A-a god?¡± Yona cautiously leaned his neck back, his claps on Syndra getting noticeably tighter.

    ¡°Yes, I stopped time so that Damien here could see you. He was in school you see.¡±

    ¡°How can you help us? My wife is about to lay an egg.¡±

    ¡°I have a few ideas.¡±

    He took his hand out of his sleeve and put it between himself and the couple ¨C just like he did the first time we met.

    ¡°Take my hand and I can teleport you and your wife to an island where you can live and raise your child.¡±

    ¡°But can¡¯t we just... go home?¡±

    ¡°I apologise but I can¡¯t do that. I can¡¯t influence the other world in any shape of form.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    Yona looked a bit dejected once he heard that.

    ¡°However, I do believe it shouldn¡¯t matter anyway.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    This time, I had a question.

    ¡°Damien, there is more to this monster invasion than we know. Have you watched the news as of late?¡±

    Thinking about the bits and bobs I¡¯ve seen from the morning news, I gave him my answer.

    ¡°A bit.¡±

    ¡°Then you must know of the disappearances.¡±

    Now that I think about it, apparently hundreds have gone missing over the past few months all over the world.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that in your mind. Yona, Syndra take my hand.¡±

    After not speaking for while, Syndra¡¯s voice could be heard from her cover.

    ¡°Will my child be safe?¡±

    ¡°You have nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Then yes.¡±

    Both of them place their hands together then on top of God¡¯s hand. In a flash, they were gone, leaving only their nest.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sending you back now.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Before he put his hand over my head, I wanted to ask a question.

    ¡°Do you know where the people disappear to?¡±

    God¡¯s face dimmed.

    ¡°Piora.¡±

    Now that¡¯s something to think about.

 Chapter 4 - The First Of Many

    ¡°The guy¡¯s probably crazy or something.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Back at the classroom, the revelation left me a bit winded.

    People were being sent to Diora?

    ¡°Hey Damien.¡±

    What did that mean? What¡¯s happening to both worlds.

    ¡°Damieeeen.¡±

    How long will this go on? Can they ever come back-

    ¡°DAMIEN!¡±

    Sion¡¯s shout got me out of my reverie. I turned to face him, his eyebrows narrowed at my behaviour.

    ¡°What did you think of the video?¡±

    What did I think? Well, the dragons were real but he can¡¯t really know that.

    ¡°Fake, all of it. The old man¡¯s probably on drugs or something. Too much paracetamol.¡±

    That got them laughing.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± Ethan said, smiling at my comment.

    As they continued their conversation, I pulled myself into my head once more. First of all, I need answers. Like, why can¡¯t God do anything about the disappearances? Or, why can¡¯t God stop time each time I go fight a monster? Were the dragons really important or something? They weren¡¯t hurting anyone, just trying to find out where they were. This whole situation was already complicated but now its just numbing brain. At least a few things are straight forward; I still need to kill monsters that want to cause harm. Actually... do they?

    Aggressive, dangerous, and out for blood ¨C all monsters I¡¯ve met so far had just wanted to kill everything in their sight. What if they were just scared? Violent because they didn¡¯t know where they were? Bah, all these questions and-

    Wait.

    ¡®God is the best.¡¯

    ...No answer. Odd.

    <hr>

    ¡°What did you think about the light novel I recommended?¡± Ethan turned to Josh.

    ¡°Trash.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Ethan said, hitting the table with a little bit of force.

    We were in English, doing character analysis of the people in book.

    Boring stuff. To pass the time, we talked about random stuff, which mostly consist of games, anime, or shows on Webflix. Then again, I can¡¯t really keep up with what they say. With most of my time spent on monster hunting, I wasn¡¯t able to watch or read most of the things they said were good. Except for One-kick Man which came out a two years ago; that was good.

    ¡°All you give me are garbage otherworld LNs.¡±

    That looked like it hurt Ethan emotionally.

    ¡°You cannot be serious,¡± uttered Ethan, a look of disbelief on his usually expressionless face.

    ¡°I am,¡± said Josh, chuckling a bit.

    ¡°You have no taste for good books.¡±

    Hearing the topic, I put my opinion on the plate.

    ¡°Otherworld LNs? So like stories set in a different world. That seems pretty cool to read."

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s always the same shit of some average guy being summoned into another world to kill some demon king, and get a harem with unrealistically beautiful women along the way. Like Ethan.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t bring me into your stupid opinions.¡±

    B-but... that¡¯s exactly what happened to me except for one thing...

    ¡°Were they summoned by a kingdom or something? B-by a princess?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve read them! See Ethan, they are so predictable!¡±

    Oh my God. Where¡¯s my harem?! But I did have Vivian, and I guess I wouldn¡¯t really like to have one in reality. Also, I think Vivian would kill me if she knew I was having these thoughts. She was a bit possessive. Still love her, though I probably can¡¯t see her again... let¡¯s stop having depressing thoughts.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    ¡°Sion, what do you think?¡± Said Ethan.

    ¡°I think you guys need to do work,¡± he replied.

    Surprisingly, Sion was actually being diligent in class.

    ¡°Probably thinks they¡¯re trash, Ethan. Just like your battle harems, Sion.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even say anything!¡±

    I¡¯ve got it!

    ¡°Is that why you shout at Ethan when he gets a so-called member in his harem?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Why can¡¯t I have one?¡±

    ¡°The four of you! Shut up and do you work!¡± Shouted Mr Kaner, the English teacher.

    ¡°Sorry, sir,¡± we said in unison.

    The whole class was laughing at that point at our weird conversation.

    Pen on paper, I was about to continue doing my work when I low rumble came from the floor beneath. Looking around, no one seemed to notice it. Strange. I kept the pen still and focused on the vibrations. It slowly got stronger and stronger, like an earthquake was about to rip through the building. Yet, it just didn¡¯t feel like it was an earthquake. I just had a feeling.

    Minutes passed and the vibrations soon showed visible effects. Pens kept inching towards the edge of desks, a quiet hum had spread in the air, and people started noticing.

    ¡°Do you hear that?¡±

    Someone on the other side of the room had spoken out loud what many had been thinking in their heads.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± someone replied.

    ¡°The floor feels like its sort of shaking,¡± another answered.

    Soon everyone felt it. The shaking grew stronger and stronger as displays on the walls fell down. People were panicking.

    ¡°Get underneath the desks, now!¡±

    As the command sounded from Mr Kaner, chairs were pulled to side so the students could sit below the tables. The whole thing was worrying.

    Beside me Sion and Josh were sat close to each other curling up into balls while Ethan was just darting his eyes around the class. I kept a lookout for any monster spawns outside but everything had fallen silent, now muffled by the crescendo of the vibrations.

    As the sound got unbearably loud, I covered my ears to not go deaf. A lot of people were crying underneath the desks, huddling up as a form of protection. What is actually happening?

    The weird thing was, it was only the sound that intensified, the shaking never grew pasts to being able to knock things down from the walls. No walls crumbled, ceilings collapsing, none of that. It reminded me of what Vivian told me about the ritual she used to summon me. It was like that ritual. A summoning ritual.

    POP.

    The sound pierced my hands like a bullet, my ear drums feeling its reverberations crystal clear. The shaking abruptly stopped and the class fell to a tranquil state before people rushed out the doors.

    Sion, Josh, and Ethan followed suit and I was about to follow them when a familiar click resounded in my head.

    ¡°Damien. Damien!¡±

    ¡®God?¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s me. I¡¯ve been trying to connect to you since I sent you back from Snowdonia. I needed to tell you something but that can wait. I need you somewhere right now.¡±

    ¡®What happened?¡¯

    ¡°Something big, first if all. And something you might remember already know of."

    Click.

    My eyesight fell out of sync as I found myself standing in a brightly lit cave. The tunnel had dust obscuring my view but I could just about see the torches on the walls that allowed me to see what was inside. All the dust was probably caused by the earthquake or whatever it was.

    ¡°Over here.¡±

    The familiar voice came from further in the tunnel. Walking down the path of rocks, I turned a corner to see God in his usual attire.

    ¡°What is it,¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Take a look at that.¡±

    His finger pointed past him to reveal absurdly large double doors, the height the same as a two-storey house. Intricate designs filled both doors, depicting a battle between mythical creatures and giant, humanoid beings that shot bolts of lightning and summoned tidal waves. It was the doors that led to the Vault of a Thousand Divines, a special storage hidden deep within the mountains of Garn. A place only found in Piora.

    ¡°Where are we?¡±

    I turned to God for an answer.

    ¡°New Mexico.¡±

    ¡°The earthquake?¡±

    ¡°It hit the entire world.¡±

    What the hell happened?!

    ¡°Can you open it,¡± God asking me like it was only natural.

    ¡°No. Can you?¡± I returned the question.

    ¡°Something is interfering with my powers. The door won¡¯t budge at my command. Time as well seems to be out of my influence.¡±

    I turned to face him once more.

    ¡°You mean to tell me you brought me here while my school is still panicking?!¡±

    ¡°This was far more important. And, with all the chaos, it¡¯s safe to say that you being gone for a few minutes will go under your teachers¡¯ radars.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right... look, I¡¯ll send you the signal after school to get this looked at but, in the mean time, send me back.¡±

    He fell quiet for a few seconds before answering.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I found myself in my English classroom again, empty but chairs cluttered everywhere presumably caused by the commotion of people trying to get out. I could hear shouts outside the doorway, the voices of teachers calling the names of children to check whether they were there or not.

    ¡°Damien Pierce!"

    Hearing mine, I scrambled out of the classroom before speaking for my attendance.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    Everyone in my class looked to see me standing at the doorway. Seems like the chaos had been settled. Other classes could be seen standing in lines near their door, teachers standing in front. My class was no different.

    ¡°Where were you hiding? I swear when I checked the class just a second ago, no one was in there.¡±

    I could feel Mr Kaner¡¯s stare as I thought of an excuse.

    ¡°I was... knocked out underneath one of the tables! When the sound and the shaking stopped, I must have hit my head so hard as I tried to get out that I fell unconscious! Good thing I came to pretty quickly.¡±

    I rubbed a part of my head to play the part. Mr Kraner studied my face once more before ticking something on his sheet and sending me to line up.

    Walking past each person, I saw Sion, Ethan, and Josh near the back and quickly made my way towards them.

    ¡°Where were you? I definitely didn¡¯t see you unconscious underneath our table,¡± Sion whispered, worry apparent on his face.

    ¡°I... don¡¯t know how to answer that. Honestly.¡±

    All three looked at me suspiciously before simultaneously releasing a sigh.

    ¡°At least your here,¡± Josh said, patting my shoulder.

    ¡°That was totally a magical ritual guys. Maybe we can throw fireballs or make mana barrier now,¡± claimed Ethan.

    ¡°Can you not bring anime into this? We could have died in there,¡± Sion shouted, clearly annoyed at Ethan¡¯s carefree attitude about the whole situation.

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s right,¡± I said.

 Chapter 5 - Lost and Found

    Being teleported once more to the cave, I was mystified by the sight of the vault doors.

    ¡°How did you notice this?¡± I said to God.

    ¡°A large surge of magic blanketed the world, Damien. It was one of the first places to crop up on my search for changes.¡±

    We continued to watch the gilded doors, thinking of any solution to opening it. Last time I went there, I didn¡¯t have to go through the doors ¨C I was directly dropped inside by one of the gods.

    ¡°You can feel it, can¡¯t you?¡± God¡¯s voice echoed through the tunnel.

    ¡°The magic?¡±

    ¡°The very strange magic.¡±

    He was right. While the door did pulse with power, it wasn¡¯t really normal magic and I already knew that. It was divine magic.

    ¡°Well, divine weapons are kept behind those doors. What did you expect? It¡¯s just the different auras of the weapons leaking out.¡±

    He stayed silent for a few seconds contemplating my words before saying his answer.

    ¡°What about the sword?¡±

    ¡°You mean... my divine weapon?¡±

    ¡°Maybe you could use that to open it.¡±

    It didn¡¯t seem like a bad idea. I did get the sword when I was sent inside by Ysveria, the one who created it. Maybe it was still connected to it somehow.

    Urging the sword out of its slumber, I pulled it out of my chest. The blade shone like a flame that would not go out. Dying yet determined. I felt slightly exhausted by the whole process. Now to go to the door.

    An odd feeling came over me as I got closer, blanketing me with shivers from head to my toes. I could hear the blade scream in my head to not go any further, as if it was afraid that I was going to put it back inside. Like I would ever give it back. I sent the thought to calm it down, which then immediately ceased its struggles. The feeling, however, got stronger as the doors got bigger in my eyes.

    A ticking could be heard as the engravings moved apart in the middle of the doors, revealing a hole to what I assume I have to slot the blade in.

    Easing it in gently, I twisted the handle like I was using a key to open a lock which this exactly was. Letting the sword go, I watched as the doors loudly opened, pushing away any rocks that blocked the action. What I saw inside was what I saw before. A little less than a thousand weapons were placed on podiums, each having the sigil of their respective god on the body of each of them. It was truly a sight to behold. Each god ruled a certain aspect or quality of the world ¨C their weapons representing what they govern. For example, the god of agriculture had an overly detailed hoe which could make any land fertile. The god of fire had a large red flail that had ball which detach from its chain and become any fire spell. They were all unique in their own way. Even mine had a special ability but I¡¯ll get to that later.

    I walked in, my sword reappearing in my grasp and God following in my footsteps. Walls were made of a black, shadowy substance, beams of light coming from the non-existent ceiling. Each row of weapons were neatly lined up and categorised, like a curator had made spent his time do so. There was the row of nature gods¡¯ weapons, sea gods¡¯ weapons, and so on and so forth. You get the idea.

    Just like my weapon, all these items could project their own thoughts to others. While most were quiet, the more war-hungry and violent ones wanted me to take them, earning a fiery lash from the one I already have. Though I never mentioned it, my one had a name but it doesn''t like hearing it even in my head. To be fair Ysveria had a bad naming sense.

    After a few minutes we reached the end of the vault, greeted by another set of doors. This time, the doors were more simple, made out of platinum. I didn¡¯t see these when I was here last time. They were smaller, more to my height.  I tired to push it open but to no avail. No door knob, once again.

    ¡°Can you open these ones?¡± God asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m not getting the same feeling as I did before at the entrance,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Try knocking.¡±

    I gave him a look of utter disbelief before shrugging. Might as well as try.

    Knocking on the doors three times, I expected no one to answer but the sound of turning locks caught my attention. The door opened up to reveal a blonde elf wearing an embroidered white dress with golden details. She seemed very bubbly from the way her eyes just sparkled when she saw us and how she frantically waved her hands at us.

    ¡°Hello! My name is Alta and welcome to the Vault of a Thousand Divines, though you probably already know that. I¡¯m the immortal keeper of this hall made by the gracious God of Light, Solur, to make sure the weapons don¡¯t fall into unwanted hands. Some gods are bad people so I can¡¯t really say ¡®evil hands¡¯. You must be..¡± she looked to the sword in my hand and God¡¯s face. ¡°The chosen of Ysveria! And a light elemental? What brings you here?¡±

    Her energetic mood was really welcoming, what with some of the vibes the weapons give off.

    ¡°Just looking around... hey, do you know where we are?¡±

    ¡°As in the location of the vault? Of course! Inside the mountains of Garn!¡± She waved her hands around to show her excitement.

    Looks like she didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Listen. Right now, we aren¡¯t in the mountains. We aren¡¯t even in Piora anymore,¡± I said as gently as possible.

    She stood stock still.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You may or may not know this, but I was summoned to Piora to help stop the Demon King who was leading an army against the Alliance of Races. I managed to kill him however, and was sent back to my world. The world that you are in. Right now.¡±

    I let her take a few seconds for my words to sink in. I expected some sort of reaction from her but all I got was a look that sort of said, ¡®okay?¡¯

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter,¡± she said, swining her head from left to right, ¡°the Vault is an independent space.¡±

    ¡°Like a pocket dimension?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    I looked to God for an answer.

    ¡°She¡¯s right. I didn¡¯t mention it to you since I didn¡¯t think it would be important,¡± he said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°What does it mean anyways? Why is the Vault an independent space?¡± I asked Alta this time.

    ¡°Well, people used to like trying to break the Vault open a lot. The gods got annoyed so they moved the Vault into a pocket dimension small enough just to cover the exterior. This means nothing outside can affect the Vault, only something from the inside. It also means that the Vault can be accessed by any god no matter where it is due to the nature of the spell that made it like this.¡±

    ¡°That means... this basically connects my world to Piora?¡±

    ¡°Basically.¡±

    I¡¯m getting a real bad feeling from this.

    ¡°So... a god could just pop in here at anytime? Like, right now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and yes!¡±

    ...Nothing happened. I was really expecting a god to just come out right then and- now!

    Huh. Guess I had a bad feeling for nothing.

    ¡°This could be a problem,¡± God said.

    ¡°Definitely,¡± I returned.

    <hr>

    Alta waved from in between the doors as they closed shut, the keyhole disappearing once again behind the various designs on them.

    ¡°My powers seems to be a bit unstable right now. I can send you back, but I won¡¯t be able to know whether or not there¡¯ll be people in the area of your location,¡± God said.

    ¡°I anticipated something like this so I hid myself in a park before signalling you.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll investigate the matter of the magical earthquake for now, see if any other locations have changed. I¡¯ll tell you if I find anything.¡±

    With that, I found myself deep within the wooded area of the park near my house. Seeing at how dark it is, its probably around six so I need to get back, like, right now. Scanning the area to make sure no one was around, I used Life Detect just to see if my eyesight failed me. Apart from some of the wildlife, no one was around. At top speed, I ran to the entrance of the park, stopping when I neared the road outside the gates. I needed to go right from there to get to my house.

    <hr>

    The start of the school day was really quiet. Contrary to what happened yesterday, the school was silent throughout the halls as not a lot of people had come in. Due to the earthquake, the media was raving about end of the world theories and the parents ate it like hotcakes. While there was no structural damage to the school building, parents were still concerned for their children¡¯s lives so chose to keep them at home. My parents weren¡¯t really buying the news but they were still worried. They both had work today so they just sent me to school.

    So, here I was, in registration time with just a few people. Sion wasn¡¯t in as he took advantage of his parent¡¯s love to catch up on all the anime he missed last season, while Ethan and Josh were in a different form. Fun fact ¨C the girl who Sion dubbed the reverse trap was in my form. I didn¡¯t speak to her but I did know her name; Alice Davies.

    Our form tutor, Miss Hughes, was sitting on her desk, talking to some of the few students who had come in. I sat on my table, going through the news on my phone to look for any ¡®crazy discoveries¡¯ random people reported. Hope God¡¯s having better luck.

    From the corner of my right eye, I saw Alice looking at my direction nervously. Why was she nervous? I lifted my head to meet her gaze when she suddenly looked down at her desk, probably to avoid it.

    Our teacher didn¡¯t really mind us moving around right now, what with a little less than half of the class being gone. Taking the opportunity, I picked up my stuff and moved to the seat right in front of Alice. Her shoulders stiffened as I pulled up the chair, her eyes still glued to the green table.

    ¡°Hello, I notic-¡°

    Before I could finished, she ran straight out of the classroom, her face fixed into one of mute terror. Everyone else looked at me like I had done something.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything,¡± I said, putting my hands up in defence.

    Seeing as no one believed me, I volunteered to get her. It was pretty easy considering I could just pinpoint her location with magic. Let¡¯s see... the other side of the school? She¡¯s pretty fast.

    When I caught up to her, she was turning her head to each classroom frantically, like she was looking for an exit.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    I called out to her and she froze once again. She turned to face me and again her face warped into fear. What I didn¡¯t notice before was how fast she truly was. Her shoes shimmered with gold as long ears made out of starlight came out of her head. She seemed to skip through the hallway with inhumane speed, going down a set of stairs before disappearing from my sight. Now that was definitely magic. But how could she use it? Deciding to get to the bottom of this quickly, I planned to stop her as soon as possible. Another Life Detect saw her going out to the tool shed the gardeners used. If I didn¡¯t get back soon, my form tutor would probably call someone to find us.

    <hr>

    I made my own way to the tool shed, now standing in front of it. The old rusted doorknob was on the ground, the door slightly ajar. Pulling on the side of it, I was met by the door slamming onto my face. From the inside, Alice came running out, passing me to make a quick getaway. Didn¡¯t work out though.

    ¡°Frozen Hold."

    The spell swiftly activated, an icy hand coming from the ground that grabbed her foot. A scream sounded out before a body could be heard hitting the ground.

    ¡°Finally caught you,¡± I said with a sigh.

    Struggling get her foot out of the hand¡¯s grasp, she lifted her upper body off the ground and angrily spoke to me.

    ¡°W-what are you? I saw you in the park last night and y-you aren¡¯t human.¡±

    Apart from the fact how she became so strong-willed when she was just scared of me a few minutes ago, I was very surprised by the fact that she actually saw me last night. How did she not get detected by my magic?

    ¡°What about you? You were clearly using magic.¡± I gave her a pointed glare after saying that.

    ¡°W-what do you mean? What magic?¡±

    ¡°You know, the starry rabbit ears you get and the glowing shoes when you run. Made you a lot faster.¡±

    She gave me a blank stare before tilting her head to the side. Man, head-tilting is so cute... I wanto see Vivian do that.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Rabbit ears and glowing feet? You must be crazy or something.¡±

    She clearly didn¡¯t notice them on her body right now.

    ¡°Look at your feet,¡± I said.

    She looked at the light which covered her foot then paled.

    ¡°Now touch the top of your head to find the ears.¡±

    Her face was white as a sheet as she felt the threads of light which formed her rabbit ears.

    ¡°I rest my case.¡±

    Undoing my magic, I watched as the ice melted into a pool of water. Alice laid on the ground for bit before slowly standing up, her head facing the ground.

    ¡°Now, I have a few questions. One, what did you see me do yesterday?¡±

    Had to make sure.

    ¡°...Are they gone?¡± She mumbled, rather downcast.

    ¡°You don¡¯t answer a question with another question, gosh. But yes, they¡¯re gone. Must have unconsciously deactivated them. Will you answer my question now?¡±

    ¡°You said it was magic right?¡±

    ¡°When will my question be answered... yes, I said it was magic. Can you answer me now?¡±

    She was quiet for a few seconds.

    ¡°Will they come back?¡±

    ¡°You know what? I¡¯ll just answer all the questions you probably have right now. Yes, they will come back. No, they need a trigger to come back, probably when your scared. No, its only the ears and the glowing feet that appear. And I don¡¯t know, it may or may not be permanent. Now, can you please, please answer my question?¡±

    Alice looked up into my then back to the ground again, like she was unsure about something.

    ¡°...Your eyes were slit like a snake¡¯s-¡°

    ¡°-dragon¡¯s,¡± I chimed in.

    ¡°-that glowed in the dark. And it felt like you would swallow me whole when you looked over where I was at. I was really scared. Before I could run, you were already gone.¡± She seemed like she was out of steam after she said that.

    ¡°I see. Well, the whole ¡®swallow you whole¡¯ thing was my fault. Old habit. Sorry about that.¡±

    Smiling at her, I was about to walk back inside when Alice grabbed my shoulder.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Back to form. You need to come too, the teacher actually sent me out to get you back and,¡± looking at the time on phone,¡± it¡¯s been 10 minutes. She¡¯s probably called for someone to find us.¡±

    We were inside the school when she said something to me again.

    ¡°So, what are you anyways?¡±

    I don¡¯t know if it was out of fear or out of curiosity, but she was really intent on finding out the answer.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°W-well, you have snake eyes, you¡¯re really fast, and you can use magic. What does that make you?¡±

    She was a little less afraid now, though she was still stuttering.

    ¡°Have you ever read a manga or a light novel where the main character was summoned to another world?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah,¡± she responded.

    ¡°Just imagine me as the main character, but back in his world with all his powers.¡±

    Her face lit up as she had an epiphany.

    ¡°So you¡¯re like super OP? And you have a harem? And you have-¡° her hands quickly covered her mouth, cheeks turning red.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked.

    She put her hands down as she said, ¡°well, I haven¡¯t really told anyone that I like anime. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing.¡± She gave an awkward laugh.

    ¡°Just like an anime girl....¡± I mumbled, looking at Alice in awe.

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°Nothing!¡± I yelped. ¡°Anyways, I think it¡¯s fine that you like anime. And no, I don¡¯t have a harem. I think you¡¯d really like my friend, Ethan.¡±

    ¡°I-is that the boy that I bumped into before,¡± she asked, eyes sparking and cheeks red but not from embarrassment this time.

    ¡°Sion was right...¡±

 Chapter 6 - Making a Mountain Out of an Ant Hill

    Click.

    ¡®People are gaining magic.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡±

    My mind went silent from the exchange.

    ¡®There¡¯s a girl in my school who was using spirit magic, though subconsciously.¡¯

    ¡°One of my monitoring angels found a man in Iraq who could bend sand to his will.¡±

    ¡®...Seems like mana is everywhere now. I can feel it. It was thin before, only the forest near the school could compare to any place in Piora. But now... I bet its probably caused by the earthquake.¡¯

    ¡°Agreed. There¡¯s something else. It seems I didn¡¯t notice monster attack. I¡¯ll need to cover up some things but-¡°

    Click.

    God? Hello God? Did we actually just lose connection?

    It was only 11:15 in the morning and more things keep piling up on top of me. Alice can use magic, but she doesn¡¯t know why. There¡¯s a guy somewhere in Iraq that can use earth magic. And God didn¡¯t notice a monster spawn. This day is just getting out of hand.

    Pulling out my phone, I went to my news feed to find a bunch of articles about a colony of giant ants attacking Florida. From the pictures, I knew from experience that they were caldera fire ants, nasty little creatures that lived of the rich soil around a volcano. Turning my phone off, I channelled my mana into my hands. Big spell time!

    I haven¡¯t casted this one in a while, what with God teleporting me to anywhere that was far. This one burns lot of my mana, nearly half so I have to finish this fight quick to have enough to get back. Already knowing how to defeat the ants is a big advantage. Seeing through the small windows on the door, I made sure no one was outside. Closing my eyes, I completely focused on completing the spell. Spatial magic was not my forte. I imagined where the ants were than spat out the command word of the spell.

    ¡°Teleport!¡±

    The pull on my mana was strong as I opened my eyes to a battlefield. A large hole was in the middle of the street, boiling fumes coming from the red, hot pit. Sheep-sized ants were crawling out of the hold, molten rock dripping from their from their mouths. The street around the hole was a mess ¨C burning cars with bite marks could be seen up and down the entire thing. It was devoid of people, save for the few policemen unconscious on the sidewalk. Fortunately, the ants weren¡¯t carnivores. They didn¡¯t even eat food; they¡¯re just gatherers who retaliated to attacks.

    Walking up to the hole was fairly easy. The worker ants just ignored me and continued to funnel in and out of the hole to scavenge for resources. Heat didn¡¯t really bother me so I jumped into the hole with no problem. My clothes would have a problem so I recently started casting buffs on them to keep them intact. I¡¯m supposed to be saving mana but her I am wasting them on stupid buffs. Still don¡¯t get why regenerating suits are stupid. I dropped into a large chamber, a storage of sorts for the ants. Many were stacking street signs and car parts on a large pile, the workers anyway. The soldier ants, however, were staring at me. Bigger and stronger, they looked like red bulls that spat molten rock.

    Five came stampeding at me, mandibles snapping very menacingly. Awakening my sword, I injected a bit of mana into the hilt to let the blade send a wave of energy at the soldiers as I swung it in a wide arc. 4 met it head on, crumpling to the ground as their rocky carapace opened to reveal a stash of metal. The last ignored the deaths, still charging with no restraint. When it got closer, I thrust the sword into its body, impaling the poor insect. With that done, I continued my way to the source of the colony¡¯s power ¨C the queen.

    Soldiers ants had continued to try and stop me, but they were greeted with a swift taste of divine steel. The interesting thing about caldera fire ants were that they weren¡¯t actually living creatures. They are constructs made by the very powerful and very intelligent queen ant. Operated with a hive mind, the queen can see and hear everything the ants encounter. That¡¯s why it¡¯s probably throwing everything it has on me. All the soldiers, even the workers came, standing in my way like a wall of living rock. I cleaved my way through easy enough. While their armour could deflect bullets, my sword could shatter them upon impact. Easy.

    The tunnels were long and winding, walls filled with holes that more ants kept coming from. They weren¡¯t hard to kill but just annoyingly persistent. Well, not really they. Her, the queen.

    Arriving at a large cavern area, a giant red orb floated in the centre. The entire cave was the size of a stadium with the biggest pile of metal I have ever seen in the back of the cave. The temperature around could probably cook a person alive. In the middle was a large red sphere, transparent enough just to see the silhouette of a large insect inside. Its ruby eyes flittered in the dark as it looked at me.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Lightning Lance!¡±

    Like a javelin, the bolt of pure electricity flew into the orb, piercing the shell. The orb started to tremble, the queen inside squirming and screeching. Fractures echoed from the whole that was until the whole thing eventually burst open, revealing the lifeless, winged queen. Time to go I guess.

    ¡°This is not... over.¡±

    A scraping voice came from the dead body sending chills up my spine. Um, caldera fire ants were ¨C last time I checked ¨C not supposed to talk.

    Purple runes appeared like chains around the queen, circling its body. Loud cracks could be heard as I watched the elephant-sized ant grow and morph into a more malevolent being. Its abdomen grew in length, now the size of a bus several large holes lining the bottom. The thorax ballooned, several spines covering the surface. Great wings lifted the creature, three sets each with the wingspan of two F-16 jets. To top it all off, the mandibles looked like they could easily wrap around 20 people and cut them in half with ease.

    ¡°For what you¡¯ve done, you shall pay with blood.¡±

    The queen spoke once more, her anger and pride clearly shown by her words.

    She rose from the ground, wings beating at breakneck speeds.

    I threw another Lightning Lance at the monster, only to have it deflected and hit the ground near me. The air around her seemed to shimmer, a definite sign that she had put up a magical barrier. Well, magic is the queen ant¡¯s thing. Flying overhead, the holes on her abdomen opened, dropping large deposits of molten metal that went straight for me. Dodging to the side, hot metal splattered on the ground where it landed.

    Since magic wasn¡¯t going to cut it, I decided on a more physical approach. With a running start, I jumped up high and crashed into the barrier, sword first. It shattered instantly, allowing me to get on top of her body.

    ¡°Get off me, you filthy creature!¡± She screamed.

    Her anger exploded, magic circles materializing over her all pointed at me.

    ¡°Oh boy.¡±

    Bolts of lightning, fire balls, and rocks came hurdling towards in a cacophony of spells. I keep moving out of the way of the spells but they just keep coming. Going on the offensive was probably the best option right now. Sword in hand, I ran straight for one of the wings. With one fell swoop, I cut it straight off the queen¡¯s back. Shr shrieked, her spells going haywire as she poured more mana into them. I¡¯ve got to ground this thing.

    More of her wings fell to the ground as the fight continued. Stronger, more powerful spells were being cast from her circles and I started to take damage. My clothes were ripped, burnt, then frozen over and over. The buffs didn¡¯t stand a chance. I could take a lot of magic head on but with the amount of spells the stupid ant was casting, I was hurting more than I¡¯d like to admit. The spells were comparable to an archmage¡¯s and let me tell you, I¡¯d rather fight against 50,000 trolls than a single one of those bastards. What was worse, she could take her spells. Each one that hit her body barely leaving a scratch.

    When only one wing was left, the queen finally hurtled to the ground, the earth splitting at her weight.

    ¡°You puny cockroach! I shall crush you!¡±

    While her flying capabilities were gone for good, her 30-metre long feet weren¡¯t. She forced herself up from the ground, eyes glowing with power and hatred.

    The ends of her legs left holes on the ground as she charged at me. She was very big, but her long legs allowed her to gain ground faster than something like her size normally could. When she neared, I ran to the side using my superior speed to gain ground. The queen herself crashed into the wall, causing a large portion to collapse. She pulled her face out of the rocks and looked at me, her eyes filled with grim determination.

    ¡°I shall not let you leave this place.¡±

    Her anger cooled, yet now it felt like it was more condensed. I did not like this.

    Rushing to the queen, I swung my sword towards the legs. Seeing this, she swiftly put up layers of barriers to protect them. While I managed to break through most, my blade stopped a few short before I had to back away from her retaliation. Hundreds of spells came zooming towards me like a storm of bullets. I knew I couldn¡¯t tank them all so I resorted to my own multi-layered barrier. The following explosion of magic managed to break through all of them, but my body could take the damage that did get through. Dust was everywhere due to the explosion so I used it as cover to get closer to the queen. I step right at the edge of the dust zone before shooting out for the element of surprise. Within a second, I was at the bottom of the head of the queen. She tried to grab hold of me but it was too late. Ramming the sword into her head, I gripped it tightly then ran for the other side of the giant bug. A desperate wail came from the queen as it was split open. Purple liquid oozed from the massive wound. The legs quickly gave in, losing all strength and letting its owner flop onto the ground.

    ¡°Phew.¡±

    However, before I could celebrate, the ant gave one last line of defiance.

    ¡°I told you... it¡¯s not... over...yet.¡±

    With that, a large pulse of mana erupted from the body. Bracing myself, I waited for the worst... yet nothing came. What a let down.

    Exiting the cavern, I was making my way back up to the surface when several explosions shook the ant hill. The entire thing was collapsing!

    ¡°Wind¡¯s Vessel!¡±

    I empowered my speed to escape the self-destructing lair. As I passed by the numerous intertwining tunnels, I tried to look for any clues as to what caused the cave in. I had a feeling that the queen¡¯s final move had something to do with it.

    I got to the surface and everything looked like hell. The shops and apartment blocks that once stood around the entrance were now piles of rubble, the streets littered with holes from what I assumed to be more explosions. Even the buildings far away had large chunks missing. Worst of all, it was quiet. No police sirens, gun fire, screams ¨C though I wouldn¡¯t want to hear screams. The gun fire though... the ants! They¡¯re all gone! Of course, since the mage controlling them and supplying them with magic is gone, they should have just crumbled.

    Yet there wasn¡¯t any distinct piles of red rock on the streets, nothing like that. When I killed a caldera fire ant queen back in Piora, the ants always left remnants of their bodies. They also helped the queen when I fought her. Then again, this ant queen was different. She was a lot more powerful and intelligent. So, why didn¡¯t she have ants helping her? And why can¡¯t I find any of their bodies? Unless, something happened to them...

    The explosions.

    ¡°Fucking dammit.¡±

 Chapter 7 - A Guiding Light

    ¡°The entire world is shocked by the events that took place today in Jacksonville, Florida. A third of the city was destroyed from a freak attack of giant ants. Citizens within the area were evacuated and military forces were sent in to control the situation.

    Disaster struck when all of the ants inexplicably blew up, causing hundreds of deaths and billions in property damage. It is still unknown how the ants came to be but police investigators found what could be the collapsed entrance of a large ant hill in the middle of the effected area.¡±

    I sat on my sofa, eyes fixed on the TV screen. What happened yesterday was just a complete and utter catastrophe. That ant queen knew she would lose, didn¡¯t she? She sent all those ants out to cause as much destruction as possible when she died, that¡¯s why she had no help. I should have noticed sooner.

    I haven¡¯t felt this terrible since the first time I failed to save a town. I¡¯m so pathetic. I know it wasn¡¯t my fault, I didn¡¯t know something like that would happen. But, I should have known something was up when it was only the queen against me.

    As I wallowed in self-pity, my dad walked into the room. It was only seven in the morning and I don¡¯t usually wake up this early. Just, I had to know how bad the damage was. I didn¡¯t get a chance yesterday since I had to get back to Treford. Missing for over two hours would probably turn the entire school into a manhunt zone. Mitching classes was my reason that I disappeared. There would have been a few consequences for me, but the low student count yesterday made the staff kind of lax. I got off with an afterschool detention set for same day. Didn¡¯t even phone my parents. It was Friday, so the detention was annoying.

    ¡°Morning. You¡¯re up early,¡± he said, stretching his arms above his head.

    ¡°Wanted to catch the news, I heard about the giant ants that hit Jacksonville.¡±

    ¡°Pretty bad what happened there. To think aliens just popped out of nowhere and attacked us like that,¡± he said, sounding a bit drowsy.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they come from the underground?¡± I asked, just to amuse him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Still, they¡¯re still aliens. Anything can be an alien, as long as it¡¯s not native to their current location.¡±

    His words stuck to me. Alien. Most of what I¡¯m made of right now isn¡¯t from Earth. I¡¯ve changed, grown stronger and tougher, can use powers other people can only dream of. Yet, those ¡®other people¡¯ are also changing. But why? And how? They just use magic out of nowhere, activate spells without even knowing them. The world¡¯s going to shit and despite that, its people are gradually adapting to the changes. Preparing to ride the storm. The thing is, how long do we have until the storm catches up?

    <hr>

    Because, I really can¡¯t do this alone.

    It was three hours later when my sister popped in through the front door.

    ¡°Hi, Nat. Welcome home.,¡± I greeted, giving her a small smile.

    ¡°Hey, Damien. By the way, there¡¯s someone outside that wants to see you.¡±

    When she said that, I felt someone¡¯s magic pulse from outside the door.

    A familiar magic.

    Following my sister¡¯s words, I walked out of the door to find a blonde man with a beard sporting white robes. It was...

    ¡°Solur?¡±

    The Pioran God of Light looked at me with relief.

    ¡°You still remember me,¡± he said with a gentle look on his face.

    ¡°It has only been a year and a few months. Did you get in here through the Vault?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Me and a few of the gods realized something was amiss when a our connection with the Vault got cut off for a few minutes. I volunteered to check on it and this is what I found ¨C your world.¡±

    ¡°Welcome, I guess.¡±

    I felt a bit intimidated by the man. He was a god after all, standing there with an air that screamed ¡®bow down¡¯. However, Solur was one of the nicer gods. Like a wise grandpa.

    ¡°My influence on light here is bit weak. I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s because my counterpart has more control than I do,¡± he surmised, scratching his beard while thinking. ¡°Where is he, anyways. I¡¯d like to speak to him.¡±

    ¡°About that... I don¡¯t know. I had a link with him for the past few months so that I could talk to him at anytime but these few days haven¡¯t been great for him and I. Monsters from Piora have been invading for three months or so I¡¯ve had to track each one down with the help of God,¡± I explained.

    ¡°God?¡±

    ¡°Your counterpart doesn¡¯t really have a name. Just goes by God. Or Father. Or Lord. Or Allah. Or- you know what? He does have a lot of names but they aren¡¯t really conventional. Anyways, instead of controlling one aspect of the world like you do, he controls everything.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Interesting.¡± He started to stroke his beard now.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot of questions myself. Like, do you know what¡¯s going on?¡± I inquired.

    ¡°With the disappearances? And the appearances? I have an idea.¡±

    I¡¯m finally getting somewhere with all that¡¯s happening.

    ¡°Antha, the god of magic as you know, said something about Piora recognising Earth as its grounds. Apparently, its treating the world like a dungeon, spawning monsters in. However, due to the connection being somewhat distorted, the monsters that are spawning are random. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got, though. I don¡¯t know why we¡¯re swapping people.¡± He shrugged.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know. I came back here through a spell and I don¡¯t think-¡°

    ¡°A spell?¡± He looked very concerned.

    ¡°Yeah. It sacrificed the Demon King to send me back here.¡±

    His face scrunched up in thought. "Was there something wrong with what I said?"

    ¡°Just... a small contradiction.¡± He fell silent.

    Seeing as he had nothing more to say, I continued what I was saying.

    ¡°Anyways, I came back through some sort of spell and it sacrificed the Demon King to do it. The excess mana from the sacrifice travelled here with me which caused it to infest the forest where I arrived and then multiply.¡±

    Solur just looked confused. ¡°Makes sense. It takes an unfathomable amount of mana to summon a being through worlds, something only sacrificing a soul of great power can yield.¡±

    Now I was confused. ¡°Then how was I summoned to Piora in then in the first place? I know for sure Vivian wouldn''t allow sacrificing others just to summon a person.¡±

    ¡°Us gods heard the races'' plea. We don¡¯t usually interfere with the problems of mortals to keep the balance of power between races, but the Demon King and his army were too numerous and too violent. We needed to quell them so we gave them the mana needed for the summoning.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Yet the fact still remains that people are being exchanged for monsters. Hundreds of people went missing and hundreds have died from attacks.¡±

    ¡°We honestly don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.¡± Solur¡¯s face was grim. ¡°A few weeks ago, some sort of flying machine had appeared near the dragon¡¯s territory and attacked the settlement. It was subsequently destroyed. I presume that came from here?¡±

    ¡°A-a jet.¡±

    That can¡¯t be good.

    ¡°A jet, huh. Well, as you can see, the denizens of your world aren¡¯t the only ones troubled by these events,¡± he stated as a fact. ¡°Prayers from our worshippers tell us of non-magical beasts getting within the parameter of villages at night and attacking people. Their alarms weren¡¯t set off as they are triggered by mana signatures, something animals from your world don¡¯t have. Easy to kill, but not before they take a life or two with them.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be-¡°

    ¡°Of course you didn¡¯t.¡± Anger was clear in his words. The sunlight intensified as Solur¡¯s magic fluctuated.  ¡°Elves, humans, dwarves, goblins, giants, and dragons to some extent are still just like your people. They can be vulnerable,¡± with his hands, he moulded light into each race on his palm. ¡°No matter how strong they are, magically-attuned, or physically-empowered, they can still be vulnerable. Vulnerable to the unknown. Those animals, and that jet, were unknown to them. They were completely bypassing all laws of their world, like the monsters from ours bypass yours. You can¡¯t fight something that plays dirty.¡± Closing his eyes, Solur snuffed out the replicas.

    I clenched my fist. I spent three years in Piora and now that I¡¯m gone, I¡¯ve barely even thought about the people I saved, the people who depended on me. I¡¯ve been hung up on Vivian yet I¡¯ve hardly said thanks to her in my head, or to Terrence, Fredrick, Layla, and Bolvar. All the times Terrence had my back with his tower shield ready to catch enemy spells. All the times Fredrick picked off that annoying mage who wouldn¡¯t let up. Each time I got wounded, Layla was there to patch me up and send me back out. Good ol¡¯ Bolvar smashing the enemies¡¯ faces in with his magic-imbued gauntlets. And Vivian. She could clear hundreds of monsters with just a few spells. They were my friends through thick and thin and I haven¡¯t even thought about how they were doing, or if they¡¯re alright. I¡¯m not a very good friend or hero.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± I said, hanging my head low.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t say anything.¡± I could hear him starting to walk away. ¡°I¡¯m going to go back to Piora now. I just wanted to find you or a god to speak to about the situation and see if you guys knew anything. Oh, and I¡¯m sorry for blowing up on you. All the stress from these past few months have been taking a toll on me.¡± The light in the area calmed down. ¡°Come to the Vault if you want to contact me, or any of the gods. Antha set up a portal system to ignore the mana cost to go from Piora to Earth and vice-versa. It only works in the Vault so that¡¯s why you need to come there. Ambient mana from all the divine weapons allows for such passage.¡±

    He started to blend in with the light. Before Solur leaves, I needed to ask one more question.

    ¡°H-how are my friends,¡± I called out to him. ¡°I¡¯m feeling guilty about how I just left them back at our campsite outside of the castle to go and fight Jaraxxus by myself. Are they fine?¡±

    Solur¡¯s figure immediately became full again.

    ¡°Your friends? Well, when you left, they all sort of split to go back to their respective kingdoms. They needed to inform their rulers of the Demon King¡¯s defeat. Bolvar, Terrence, and Fredrick were very sad about your disappearence but understood your actions, to some extent. Layla was spitting profanities the entire time they searched for you but calmed down after a while. Mad they were of your actions, especially Vivian. She did not like finding you gone from the campsite and finding Jaraxxus castle in ruins. It got even worse when she couldn¡¯t find you after they looked through the rubble. She got angry, then cried, then angry again, then just cried for a while. She destroyed a lot of things during the whole fiasco.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a piece of shit,¡± I said under my breath. How could I do that to her? To them?

    ¡°Maybe you are, but you did your job ¨C what you set out to do. You worried for the lives of your friends so you sacrificed yours to finish the job without anyone dying. A noble cause, indeed. As a hero, you were the best there was. The past year for them was great as well. Hailed as heroes and that, with your name echoing in each country. As a friend however... not so much.¡± He scratched his beard a little while chuckling to himself. ¡°Nevertheless, I do believe they¡¯ll have their word with you soon enough.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, with the way things are going, I can¡¯t help but feel there is more to this little inter-world event then we can ever imagine. Maybe you¡¯ll be sent to Piora as well! With that, good bye.¡± Smiling, his figure warped into streams of light.