《Being summoned into another world isn't so great after all...》 Ch 0: Prologue It was a nice summer evening. The sun was still in the sky and you could hear children running and playing outside. A young man was sitting in front of his computer and browsing the internet. That young man was me. About 1,70 meters tall, short brown hair and a face that always seemed to be sleepy. In other words, an average guy. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked outside. It was about 7 pm and I was already getting hungry. While I was thinking about what I should eat, I saw something shining bright from below my feet. As I looked down, I could make out a circle with lines of strange symbols along the edge. I rubbed my eyes once more and looked down again. There it was, a circle, not unlike the ones I saw several times in anime and mangas. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.I sighed and closed my eyes. Was my mind playing tricks with me? I have always fantasized about suddenly being reincarnated or being summoned into another world, but of course, they were only fantasies. I would have never dared to think that such a thing would become a reality. As if mocking me, the circle began to shine even brighter and I began to doubt that this was just a hallucination. The light got so bright, I had to close my eyes. ¡°Oh, come on...¡±, I murmured while covering my eyes. All of a sudden, the ground disappeared. Before I even realized what happened, I was already falling. Around me there was only darkness. My name is Ron Noguchi, my story was about to start. Ch1: The summoning ¡°Ow!¡± The first thing I felt was the pain as my butt slammed on the ground. Where was I? The ground was hard and cold. Which meant that I wasn''t in my room anymore. Cursing lightly, I got up and looked around. It seems I wasn''t alone. About 30 to 40 other were around me and making confused faces just like me. They all seemed to be around my age as well. We were in a big hall of some kind. The walls were made of stone and it gave the impression of a medieval setting. To our feet, there were traces of a magic circle slowly fading. ¡°I welcome you, o heroes!¡± The voice of a man rang through the hall and I turned around to see a group of several robed figures. One of them stepped forward and removed their hood. The face of an old man appeared as he smiled and spread his arms. ¡°Welcome,¡± he repeated, ¡°to the Kingdom of Asgare!¡± As everyone stared at him in confusion, he cleared his throat and began to speak. ¡°Many of you must be very confused right now. Let me enlighten you. As some of you may already suspect, you are not in your original world anymore. We, the royal mages of the kingdom, have summoned you in order to put a stop to the evildoings of the newly emerged demon lord.¡± I couldn''t help but sigh heavily. This was a very cliched situation indeed. If I hadn''t fallen on the ground and hurt myself before, I would think this is a dream. The old mage continued his explanation but I barely listened. Instead, I looked around and observed my soon-to-be comrades. Many were still confused but here and there I could see someone shaking their head in disbelief and a few people were even covering their faces with their hands. If my guess was right, then they as well knew what was about to come. ¡°Now!¡± The voice of the man became enthusiastic. ¡°Let us proceed to measure your mana levels!¡± He indicated us to follow him out of the big hall and into another room. While walking, he continued to explain. ¡°Mana is the force within the body. You could also call it the power of the spirit. Each living organism has some mana inside its body. Some have more, some have less. Mana is what enables us to perform magic.¡± ''So mana is some kind of inner force, like Ki or chakra?'' I thought while tilting my head. ¡°We have arrived.¡± After opening a double door leading into another big room, he signaled us to stop and went to the middle of the circular room. There was big crystal sphere on a beautifully decorated base. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Now. Please proceed one at a time and put your hand on the sphere. It will measure your respective mana level.¡± A self confident looking boy went first and put his hand on the sphere. It began glowing and after a while, the number 103 appeared. ¡°Oho!¡± the old man exclaimed, ¡°103! That is indeed a very high amount of mana!" With a smug grin, the boy went back into the crowd. ¡°Next one please!¡± This time, a girl stepped forward. ¡°124! Very good, very good!¡± The girl didn''t smile but kept maintaining a serious face. And so it went on. The average amount of mana was about 100 to 120. Just as I was starting to lose interest I noticed the old man going silent. ''What''s going on?'' I thought and looked at the sphere. The number displayed was- ¡°78...¡± the old man murmured. The boy, which was standing before him, had a shocked look on his face. I could see a few boys and girls grinning and giving him a pitiful glance. The old mage quickly regained his composure and exclaimed, ¡°W-Well, it is still higher than the average amount of a human. With enough training, I am sure you will be able to grow!¡± The boy made a slightly dejected face. I remembered a few of the novels I read. A lone character, who seemingly had absurdly low stats compared to his fellow world travelers was almost guaranteed to become the OP main character instead. Either that or he was destined to die first. I made a mental note to speak to him later. But for now, it was finally my turn. I stepped forward and put my hand on the sphere. It felt strangely warm. As with the others, it started to glow intensely and after a while the light dimmed. I held my breath as the numbers began to form. ¡­ ¡­ ¡°69...¡± ¡­ What. 69¡­ My score was even lower than that of the boy from before!? I could hear someone burst into laughter. My face went red. The old man said something but I didn''t hear it. I simply went back and stared at the ground. The boy with the smug face wasn''t even hiding his laughter. ''Goddammit, shut up! It''s not like I can help it!'' I thought. Someone patted me on my shoulder. It was the boy who went before me. I could sense a weird feeling of camaraderie. Ch2: Introductions are in order After calming myself down, I began to think. I had the lowest amount of mana. That was definitely not good. With things as they were, there were two possible options for me. One, I was going to get bullied until something life-threatening happened to me and awakened my hidden OP-ness. Two, I was going to get bullied until something life-threatening happened to me and actually managed to kill me. Thinking realistically, the second option was more likely to happen. After all, plot armor was something I probably didn''t possess. In other words, no miracle was going to save me. In order to avoid that, I had to do something. I looked at the boy, who was still consoling me. ¡°Thanks, I''m fine now.¡±, I said and gave him a wry smile, ¡°What''s your name?¡± He seemed surprised at my sudden question, but still answered. ¡°I''m Andreas.¡± ¡°I''m Ron. Nice to meet you.¡± It was a somewhat awkward greeting, but still a greeting. We shook hands and then looked back to the sphere. Somewhere, a certain annoying guy was still laughing. The next surprise came when a girl with short, red hair stepped forward and placed her hands on the sphere. Her mana count was¡­ ¡°83...¡± The old man seemed lost. I couldn''t blame him, it was already the third person with a low score after all. The girl noticed us and we waved our hands at her. She joined our group as the annoying guy started laughing again. ¡°Dammit, that guy thinks he''s special, or what?¡± She sounded very irritated. ¡°It''s always like that,¡± I said with a shrug, ¡°the ones with high scores think they''re better than anyone¡± ¡°You seem to take your mana count surprisingly well though,¡± Andreas remarked. The girl shrugged. ¡°Well, I don''t really get what the numbers mean anyway, so I don''t really care.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.She shot an angry glare to the direction of where the smug guy was standing. ¡°I do care about people making fun of other people though.¡± ¡°Well, let''s just ignore him for now. Maybe there are still more people like us.¡± I said and pointed to the next person touching the sphere. Our expectations were not betrayed. Together, a total of three boys and two girls had a low mana score, me included. The mage seemed at a loss what to do, but didn''t say anything else about it. ¡°Well then! Now that you all know how high your amount of mana is, let us go to meet the king!¡± He lead us out of the room and we started walking again. While we were walking, Andreas tried to strike up a conversation. ¡±So, uhh, we all got pretty low mana scores, huh?¡± Way to go, buddy. I almost face palmed. ¡°Seems so,¡± the third boy answered with a flat tone. ¡°Ah, right, why don''t we introduce us to each other first? The name''s Andreas.¡± Andreas said in a panic. There we go, buddy. That was better. I decided to follow up. ¡°I''m Ron.¡± ¡°My name''s Tony,¡± the third boy replied, still with a flat voice. ¡°I''m Lily,¡± the girl with red hair said. ¡°I-I''m Nakamura Chihiro, but, umm, I think just Chihiro is fine.¡± My head turned almost automatically to the direction of the last girl. She had long, black hair that almost reached to the hip, a traditional hime cut. My otaku heart jumped a little. A genuine Japanese girl¡­ No! No! I shook my head. Now was not the time for such things! ¡°What''s wrong? You just made a weird face,¡± Lily asked with her eyebrow raised. ¡°Nothing, nothing.¡± Way to go, buddy. I almost face palmed, this time at myself. Chapter 3: Audience with the king Hey guys. This is only the third chapter and I already realised that I totally suck at describing things. It''s incredibly hard to find the right words sometimes. I hope you can forgive me for that. Anyways, here''s the third chapter! Please do point out any mistakes you find! I will try to fix them, if possible. ------------------------------------- Shortly after our conversation, we arrived at yet another double door. Only this time it was about 3 meters high. On each side of the door stood a guard in a shining metal armor. The old mage gave one of the guards a nod. The guard saluted and went through a small door he hid behind his body. ¡°We have arrived. Behind this door is the throne room,¡± the old mage said as he turned to us. ¡°Let me tell you something first. You are only allowed to speak when the king permits you to. Moreover, you are to address him as ''Your Majesty'' and nothing else. Has everybody understood?¡± A few people were nodding. ¡°Very well. When the guard comes back, we will enter. Just follow my instructions.¡± A few moments later the guard appeared again. ¡°You may enter.¡± He and his colleague opened the big door and we entered the throne room. It was a spacious hall with huge and colorful windows on each side. The ceiling was supported by two rows of pillars, which stood along the two sides of the room. A broad red carpet was laid out from the entrance to the throne. Knights were lined along the carpet and presenting their weapons. I gulped. There was at least about twenty of them on each side. We should probably behave ourselves. The old mage lead us before the king, who was sitting on the throne and watching us with expectant eyes. Six men in expensive-looking clothing, probably his ministers or something, were with him. ¡°Kneel before the king!¡± the old mage exclaimed, before he knelt down himself. I exchanged looks with my new friends. Lily made a grumpy face but we went on our knees. ¡°Arndet.¡± The king raised his voice. It was a deep and powerful voice. You could literally hear his authority. ¡°I assume the summoning was a success?¡± ¡°Yes, my king. As you can see, these young people here are the heroes.¡± So the mage''s name was Arndet, huh? Didn''t sound like any name I would know. A smile spread across the face of the king. ¡°Splendid! You and your mages have done well. I will take it from here. You may go.¡± The mage named Arndet bowed deeply and then retreated to the side. ¡°Heroes!¡± Now the king was looking to us. ¡°Once again let me welcome you to the Kingdom of Asgare! Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. My name is Ludwig von Asgare and as you can see, I am the king. I am sure Arndet already told you about our situation, so I will not bother you with that anymore. As you know, we want you to subjugate the demon lord. However, as you are now, the chances of you defeating him are slim. That is why I want you to gather experience and knowledge for now. You will be staying here at the castle for about a month and train. Once you have grown stronger, you will be able to set out and gather allies to fight along your side and finally be able to challenge the demon lord himself.¡± It was the typical speech of a king you''d find in any RPG or RPG-related novel. He even offered us to stay here and train before starting our adventure. But something was bugging. It made perfect sense what he said. We didn''t have any fighting experience and just going like this would be suicide. But why did I have this strange feeling? Like it was some kind of routine business? I mean, I have read hundreds of novels, so I was used to this scenario. But it even seemed as if the schedule was already planned out. Were they that confident that everything would work as planned? Could it be¡­? I raised my hand. ¡°Yes, do you have a question?¡± The room got quiet. Everybody''s attention was focused on me. I gulped. ¡°Um, I''m sorry, Your Majesty, but I was wondering. Did you- I mean, have you, by any chance, already performed a summoning before?¡± The king gave me a mildly surprised look. ¡°We have indeed performed a summoning before. In fact, you are the third generation of heroes we have summoned. But how did you know?¡± ¡°Oh, it was just¡­ a hunch?¡± ¡°I see. That brings me to another topic.¡± The king seemed to be remembering something else. ¡°Over the course of the last three hundred years our mages have managed to make remarkable progress in our knowledge of magic. Quite a few of your predecessors have also introduced us to what your world would call ''science''. That is why we are now able to create gates to other worlds at will. If you wish, we can help you send a message back to your world so that your relatives will not unnecessarily worry. It still costs a lot of mana, so we will not be able to do that often.¡± They could even do that? ¡°But for now, if there are no further questions, my servants will lead you to your rooms. I expect great results from everyone.¡± With that, we were led to our rooms. Our training would begin the next day. Chapter 4: Free Roaming This chapter is mainly dialogue. As usual, if you find any mistakes, don''t hesitate to tell me! With that, enjoy! --------------------------------- When I first saw what kind of rooms we were staying in, I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. Big. That was the first word that came to my mind. The room was quite spacious. A large double bed, a big round table with four chairs and a closet fit into it and you could still walk around freely. I opened the closet full of curiosity. Of course it was empty. Well, with this I wouldn''t have to worry about where to sleep for the next month. I could hear a bell ring. ''Was time measured like it was on Earth?'' I wondered. I got lost in my thoughts. Earth¡­ How were my parents doing? Have they already realized that I was gone? I thought about how worried my parents must have gotten by now when I heard someone knocking on my door. ¡°Ron? Are you in there?¡± I opened the door and a blonde boy with blue eyes stood before me. ¡°Andreas? What''s up?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m tired of sitting around. You wanna walk around the castle with us?¡± Behind him were Tony, Lily and Chihiro. ¡°Sure. Why not.¡± --- ¡°This castle is so damn big.¡± Andreas murmured. Everyone could only agree. This castle was like a maze. After a few minutes we already got lost and were now just aimlessly wandering around. Every once in a while, we crossed ways with a few of our fellow heroes, who were just as lost as us. ¡°Hey, guys.¡± Tony suddenly began speaking. ¡°What do you all think about this whole thing?¡± ¡°You mean defeating the demon lord and that stuff?¡± Andreas asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I don''t like it,¡± Lily said. ¡°They just went ahead and took us here and want us to beat a demon lord or whatever without our consent. We don''t even know anything about this place.¡± ¡°Yeah, that came out of nowhere,¡± Andreas said, nodding. ¡°I thought I was having some crazy dream at first.¡± ¡°Really? Do you still think this is a dream?¡± I asked curiosly. ¡°Well, the pain when we fell down felt pretty real, so no, I don''t think this is a dream anymore.¡± ¡°Does everyone think so as well?¡± I asked around. Everyone nodded. ¡°Well, shit. If this is real then I guess we''re stuck in this world forever.¡± I sighed heavily. ¡°But- but they said they would return us as soon as we beat the demon lord, right?¡± Chihiro exclaimed, ¡°That means we can still go home!¡± Huh? If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Wait, did they really say that?¡± I couldn''t remember anyone saying anything about returning to our world. Everyone gave me a surprised look. ¡°Weren''t you listening?¡± Tony asked, ¡°That old mage told us, didn''t he?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That''s right.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Huh, really? ¡°When did he say that?¡± ¡°Right at the beginning.¡± Tony put his hand to his chin. ¡°He also said that the flow of time here was about as sixty times as fast?¡± I began thinking. How could I miss something important like that? Then I remembered that I was looking around instead of listening to the old mage when he was explaining. I felt like a weight was lifted from me. If we really could return home, then it changed a lot of things. Everyone would be eager to finish the demon lord off as soon as possible. Moreover, time flowed as sixty times as fast as the time on Earth? That would mean one hour here would be a mere minute on earth. A day on earth would equal sixty days in this world. ¡°No wonder nobody was complaining...¡± I murmured. ¡°Still, I don''t like it.¡± Lily shook her head. ¡°How can we know that they were telling the truth?¡± Chihiro gave her a terrified look. ¡°Y-You mean they were lying?¡± ¡°It''s possible. We can''t assume that they were telling the whole truth.¡± ¡°Aw come on, don''t make things complicated!¡± Andreas complained, ¡°I hate stuff like that!¡± ¡°Well sorry, but that''s how it is,¡± Lily replied, ¡°things are never as simple as they seem.¡± ¡°I agree with Andreas though.¡± Tony said, ¡°let''s not make things complicated for now. It''s true that we shouldn''t trust them too easily, but it''s not good to over-think things either.¡± Lily gave him a skeptical look. ¡°Lily, look at it this way,¡± I voiced my opinion, ¡°Whether they told us the truth or not, they gave us a place to stay and offered to train us. They could just say, like ''Go and defeat the demon lord!'' and just send us off. But instead they told us that it''s too dangerous, even though we''re the heroes and told us to gather experience first. That means the thing about the demon king being bad news is real, right? I think, for now we should concentrate on getting stronger. After that, we can still think about getting home.¡± Lily frowned and crossed her arms. ¡°Hmpf. Fine.¡± With that, our goal was clear. For now, we would be focusing on getting strong enough to survive in this world. Chapter 5: The First Day ~ First Decision When I first wrote this chapter, something felt wrong. Needless to say, after a while I arrived at a dead end. To be honest, it was a total pain because for each sentence I had to decide whether it had any relevance to the story. So I said, "F#ck this shit," and rewrote the whole thing from the beginning. And I must say, it turned out pretty good. Edit: After reading this chapter myself, I once again realized that there were some things missing. So I changed somethings here and there. As always, if you find any mistakes, please do tell me! ----------------------------------- The next day, I was woken up by a knock on the door. ¡°Excuse me, Sir Hero?¡± The voice of a girl rang through the door. ¡°Wha...¡± I looked around in confusion. Oh, right, I was summoned into another world. I quickly got up and opened the door. ¡°Yes?¡± A young woman in maid clothes was standing before me. ¡°S-Sir! Please, you don''t have to open the door by yourself!¡± She seemed to be flustered by my unexpected action. ¡°Um, sorry about that.¡± ¡°No, no! Please don''t apologize, Sir! It was my fault!¡± What was your fault, I wondered, but decided to leave it be. ¡°So, what is it?¡± ¡°Ah, yes! I have brought you your clothes!¡± The maid showed me a bunch of clothes she was holding in her hand. ¡°Also, after you have changed, please head down to the throne room!¡± she said and handed them over to me. ¡°Um, thanks. Keep up the good work.¡± I took the clothes and gave her a smile. ¡°T-thank you, Sir!¡± She returned the smile and gave me a deep bow before leaving the room. She''s kinda cute, I thought, while I spread out the clothes on my bed to take a closer look at them. What the heck! These clothes looked and felt just like modern clothes you''d wear on earth! There was even underwear and socks! The outfit the maid gave me consisted of white pants, a black T-Shirt and a white blazer with shoulder pads. This looked just like a school uniform. Or a military one. At first, it seemed to be a little big for me but strangely, it was a perfect fit. --- When I got out of my room. Andreas and Tony were already standing there. ¡°Morning, Ron,¡± Andreas greeted me, ¡°looking good!¡± ¡°Morning,¡± I replied, ¡°Thanks, you too.¡± ¡°Kinda gives a boarding school vibe, doesn''t it?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Good morning, everyone!¡± I turned around and saw Lily and Chihiro approaching us. It was a little sad that they weren''t wearing skirts but pants as well. Nevertheless, it looked quite nice on them. ¡°Morning,¡± Lily said. She seemed to be thinking about something, ¡°Morning. Ready to go?¡± Andreas asked. ¡°Yes!¡± Chihiro replied, while Lily just nodded. --- ¡°Good morning, Heroes!¡± The king greeted us with a friendly smile. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°I hope you had a good rest.¡± He looked at our uniforms with content eyes, when someone suddenly raised their hand. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± A boy who wasn''t wearing his uniform, stepped forward and knelt down. ¡°Please forgive me, but I don''t think I can help you.¡± It happened. Of course there would be someone who would refuse. I knew this would happen, but I was still surprised. Everyone''s attention was focused on him. ¡°Could you state your reason?¡± the king asked him. ¡°It''s just¡­ You brought us into this world and you want us to go and beat the demon lord. But, in fact you haven''t told us anything. Yet you want us to go against something we don''t know anything about. You want us to become your soldiers to fight for something which doesn''t have anything to do with us. I''m sorry, but I just can''t do that.¡± The king gave him a thoughtful look before speaking. ¡°I understand that it must be quite sudden for you to be brought here and that some of you are doubtful as you know nothing of this world yet. However, I intend to fully inform you about the circumstances of this world in the near future. Moreover, I promise to do everything within my power to ensure that you are fully prepared to face against the demon lord and to provide you with food and shelter as long as needed. With that in mind, can I not convince you to change your mind?¡± ¡°I''m sorry,¡± the boy answered without hesitation, ¡°But I have made up my mind.¡± ¡°I see. That is regrettable.¡± The king made a slightly disappointed face. ¡°If I cannot convince you to stay, then it cannot be helped. I will not hinder you from leaving his place. However, while I can provide you with some gold, I must ask you to return your uniform. After all, it indicates your status as heroes of this kingdom. This is all I can do for you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°As for the others,¡± the king declared, ¡°Whoever wishes to leave, is free to do so. Bear in mind, however, that as soon as you leave this castle, you will not receive any support from this kingdom anymore. You will be on your own. Think carefully about it before making your decision, as it will be final.¡± --- In the end, three more boys decided to leave. We gathered at the main gate to see the four of them off. We didn''t really know each other so I didn''t really feel anything when they left. I also thought about leaving the castle. But in my opinion staying here for now would be the better choice. When my friends and I were wandering around yesterday, we happened to come across a grand library. In there, we will probably find a lot of useful information. Furthermore, free food, a place to sleep and training were exactly what we needed. My only concern was the question what we were supposed to do after this month was over. Chapter 6: The First Day ~ First Conflict Still no action yet. As always, enjoy! ----------------------------------- ¡°Finally¡­ some food!¡± Andreas groaned while staggering toward the counter of the canteen like some zombie. ¡°Ow¡­ My body hurts a little¡­¡± Chihiro murmured while walking unsteadily. ¡°I''m sure you''re not the only one hurting,¡± I said while rubbing my shoulders. For the past three hours we''ve been running and doing exercises. It was nothing but basic stuff like stretching, mock battles and sword swinging practice. I was surprised at first, because I didn''t expect to be training the old fashioned way, but the mock battles proved me that it was necessary. We had enhanced physical abilities and a larger mana pool than the average human of this world, but the instructor easily demonstrated that actual fighting experience and technique were not to be underestimated. But enough of that. Now that training was over, it was time for breakfast! The canteen was a big hall with enough space to contain about a thousand people eating inside. Hundreds of tables were positioned in rows. A lot of knights came here to eat together with us. It was a little strange seeing all those bulky men lining up nicely in front of the counters to get their food. I was startled at first when Lily complained to a group of them passing us because one of them bumped into her, but he just apologized before walking away. Breakfast consisted of a simple soup with some meat and vegetables and a small loaf of bread. It was nothing special but after that training everyone just hungrily stuffed themselves. We finished in a mere minutes. ¡°Few, finally¡­¡± Lily said in a satisfied voice. ¡°After some hard work, food tastes especially good, don''t you think?¡± Chihiro asked while rubbing her belly. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± we agreed. ¡°Eeek!¡± Chihiro suddenly screamed. We turned around to see a group of our fellow heroes standing right behind Chihiro. One of them was holding an empty plate in his hands. ¡°Hey you!¡± Lily exclaimed angrily, ¡°What are you doing?!¡± ¡°Oops! So sorry!¡± ¡°¡­!! You''re that guy¡­!¡± It was the annoying boy who was laughing at us when we were summoned. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Lily glared at him before she took a tissue and wiped the back of Chihiro, which was now full of soup. ¡°It was an accident! Just an accident!¡± the annoying smug face said. It didn''t sound convincing at all. ¡°Wait. Aren''t you that redhead¡­?¡± He suddenly said and gave her a curious look, ¡°You''re¡­ and you¡­ and you¡­!¡± He looked at each of us before he burst out laughing. ¡°Damn! Aren''t you the five wimps with low mana! Pffaahahaha!¡± Now his groupies started laughing, too. ¡°Get lost!¡± Andreas said with a threatening voice and stepped in front of the girls. ¡°Hey, now! Told you it was an accident, right? No need to get angry, Blondie!¡± The people around us started looking in our direction. It seems, we were starting to attract attention. ¡°Let''s go.¡± Smug Face said to his group, before they turned and went off. That face. It annoyed the heck out of me. ¡°That goddamn son of a-!¡± ¡°Calm down, Lily,¡± Tony said and handed her some more tissues. ¡°You okay, Chihiro?¡± I asked with a worried voice. The whole time she was just sitting there and not saying anything. ¡°I-I¡¯m alright, thank you!¡± She was slightly trembling. Lily suddenly gave her a hug. ¡°Eh- ah- Lily?¡± Chihiro stuttered. ¡°Next time he tries something funny like this, I''m gonna bash his head in!¡± Lily grumbled. ¡°Aw man, now your uniform''s ruined!¡± Andreas said and looked at the big stain on Chihiros back, when he suddenly became wide-eyed and shouted, ¡°Whoa- look!¡± We got around Chihiro to see what he was pointing at. The stain on her blazer was slowly wandering downward. It was as if the blazer was waterproof. Lily took another tissue and wiped it off. ¡°I-is there something on my back?¡± ¡°Heh, this uniform is kinda amazing.¡± Andreas said with an impressed voice. The stain was completely gone. The uniform looked as good as new. ¡°Everyone?¡± Chihiro asked with a scared voice. She couldn''t move because Lily was still hugging her. Chapter 7: The First Day ~ First Class Chapter 7 of my fiction. As usual, if you find mistakes, please do tell me! Enjoy! ------------------------ After finishing our breakfast, we gathered at the main gate, where several carriages were standing in line and waiting. They were supposed to bring us to the Capital Magic Academy, where we would learn magic. I couldn''t help but feel a little excited. During the ride the five of us looked outside like some curious children on a school trip. This was the first time we would see what this world looked like. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Chihiro murmured. Cobblestone-laid roads with lots of pedestrians and rows of street lamps on each side, planted plants on every corner, shops and cafes everywhere. What we saw was basically a European city. The only things missing were cars and skyscrapers. I was reminded of a certain beautiful city where a certain blue hedgehog ran around in. ¡°I wonder how far their technology has advanced,¡± Tony murmured. ¡°Well, they have toilets, glass and stuff¡­ So I guess pretty advanced,¡± I replied. After a few minutes, we already arrived at our destination. In front of us was a grand building, about five floors high with a clean white front. Next to it were several more buildings but about one floor smaller. The windows and doors were all decorated with ornaments and the corners of the buildings with reliefs resembling pillars. A fence was surrounding the whole area which was covered in grass except for a paved road, which lead to the broad entrance and from building to building, connecting them to each other. Here and there, a few students in uniforms could be seen walking around or relaxing on the grass. When we got out of the carriage, we were greeted by an old man with a bald head and a thick gray beard. Next to him was a female teacher with black hair. The old man cleared his throat and began to speak with a loud voice. ¡°Greetings, Heroes! Welcome to the Capital Magic Academy! I''m Roy Aldin, the headmaster of this place. The king asked me to let you study here, so I''ve arranged a special class for you!¡± ¡°What? School? Seriously?¡± someone murmured. ¡°For the next four weeks you will learn how to use magic,¡± the headmaster continued, ¡°You will start with the basics and then gradually learn how to effectively make use of your mana. Ms Lydia Schwartz here will teach you everything you need to know.¡± He pointed to the female teacher standing right next him. ¡°Any questions?¡± the headmaster asked. No one said anything. ¡°Good! Then Ms Schwartz will guide you to your classroom now!¡± With that, we were guided into our classroom. While we walked through the corridors, I could feel the curious gazes of the students watching us. ¡°Okay, everyone!¡± Ms Schwartz said after we got into our seats. Her voice was soft and had a gentle feel to it. ¡°Let me introduce myself again! My name is Lydia Schwartz and as the headmaster said, I''m going to be your teacher for the next four weeks! If you have any questions or problems, please don''t hesitate to ask me! I will help you in every way I can!¡± A few boys were snickering about something. I could see Smug Face grinning to himself. Ms Schwartz ignored them and continued her lecture. ¡°Now, before I can start to teach you magic, you must first know what mana is. Mana is something akin to life force within every living organism. Like blood, it circulates throughout our body. This circulation is the so-called mana flow. While plants and the like have a fairly simple one, the flow of animals and other intelligent species is way more complicated. The general rule is, the more intelligent a being is, the more distinct their mana flow is. Also, if an individual possesses a certain amount of self-awareness, it will be able to control it''s internal mana flow. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Now, in order to learn magic, you will need to master three steps: The first step is to control your flow of mana, in other words, to freely manipulate your mana. The second step is to freely emit and absorb mana. The third and final step is to give the mana properties and attributes. For now, we will focus on controlling the mana first. I will now go around and forcefully inject my mana into everyone. Everyone, please hold out your hand!¡± With that she took the hand of the boy in front of her and simply held it. The boy first had a confused look but suddenly stared at his hand with a surprised face. ¡°Focus on your hand and remember that feeling.¡± Ms Schwartz said and proceeded to the next one. After a while it was finally my turn. She took my hand and I held my breath, trying not to stare at her chest in front of my eyes. At first nothing happened and I was afraid that I wouldn''t feel anything. But then I felt it. It was¡­ very hard to describe. If I really had to say it, it was like the feeling of something from her hand flowing into mine, as if the warmth of her hand was transferred to me. And then it disappeared. I looked up to Ms Schwartz. She gave me a smile and then went on to Andreas who was sitting next to me. ¡°Now then,¡± she said when she returned to her front desk, ¡°Everyone has now experienced what mana feels like. Now please try to recreate that feeling by yourselves. Because this is something that requires talent rather than technique, you will have to learn it on your own. I can, however, give you a hint. As I said before, The flow of mana is quite similar to your blood circulation. That''s why, try to imagine it flowing through your body like blood. Well then, good luck!¡± Everyone looked at her in confusion. I looked at my hand. Remember¡­ It was a warm feeling, like the heat of her hand entering mine. I remembered it clearly. Now, she said to imagine it like blood flowing through my body. I tried to imagine the blood flowing from my heart into my hand. The warmth, flowing¡­ Nope. Nothing. I scratched my head and looked around. Everybody was either focusing on their hand or just sitting there with closed eyes. I sighed and closed my eyes. This time I decided to do it slowly, step for step. First, the heart beats. The heart beats and makes the blood flow through my body. I focused on my right arm. The blood flows through the heart, then to my shoulder, to my upper arm and then through the forearm into my hand. And from my hand, back trough the forearm, the upper arm, the shoulder, to my heart and the circulation is complete. I tried to focus on this circulation, to become aware of it. And suddenly, I could feel it. I could feel some kind of heat slowly making it''s way from my chest to my hand. And it wasn''t just my imagination. I''m really feeling it! As soon as I stopped focusing on it, the heat disappeared. Whoops. I tried focusing on my arm again. It took me a little while but I managed to do it. I could see that this was going to be difficult. I probably would have to train until I could activate this flow of mine subconsciously. I sighed in my mind and looked over to my friends. Andreas, Lily and Tony all had their eyes closed and their hands in front of them. Only Chihiro was looking at her hands in amazement. When she noticed my gaze, I gave her a thumbs up. She returned it with a smile. In the end, I became able to activate my mana flow in my arms and legs individually. But it was incredibly hard to maintain the flow for the whole body. I probably would have to work on that.