"I demand you release us!" Kevin McGilvray yelled. "Kidnapping is illegal and you've had your fun. Whatever this is, it's done now. So let us go and give me back my phone so I can contact the police"
Aaron and Jarred both face-palmed as it was clear that their teacher wasn't taking this remotely seriously. What kind of kidnappers could give you abilities and show half the kind of shit they had so far? I mean that conversation with the self-proclaimed God by itself was pretty convincing. Let alone the guards, weird clothing they'd found themselves in and the huge building they had been brought through that was clearly some kind of palace or castle.
They'd both seen a bunch of videos online of people doing bizarre pranks etc and even those with people that appeared to have unlimited budgets, buying private islands to give to the winner of self-made survivor type challenges and giving away tens of thousands to people who complete obstacles or social experiments could not afford to build an entire castle like this.
Hoping for this day to come for years made the experience somewhat less jarring, but for an older man who probably hadn't shown any interest in the kind of genres that were appearing these days must find this difficult to fathom.
"Please calm yourself. You are not the first to react this way and I assure you we mean you all no harm" Allaan replied gently, raising his hands in a placating gesture.
Aaron attempted using his Inspect skill on the newcomers in the meantime as he awaited the inevitable backstory that quite frankly, their teachers constant protests were just slowing down.
First was the King.
King Allaan
Level too low to assess further information.
Next was the young woman accompanying them.
Kiera: Level 6
Class: Apprentice
HP: 40
MP: 60
But when Aaron attempted to use it on the old man, he felt his attention switch quickly from a general look around the room to a piercing glare followed by a warning message.
Warning. Skill Blocked. Level too low.
Aaron looked away quickly in shame as he realized his attempt had been noticed.
"Oi don't use Inspect on the old guy" He whispered to Jarred who noticed the look on his face.
"He blocked it and looks a bit pissed that I tried"
Jarred nodded quickly.
They returned their attention to the King Allaan still trying to calm down Mr. McGilvray.
"Listen to me please. I know this is a scary time, for all of you. Despite what you may believe, you are no longer in the world that you knew" Allaan explained.
"Bullsh… I mean rubbish" Kevin replied. "Take us back. Now!"
Allaan glanced at Aedir, his gaze asking for assistance. Aedir seemed not even remotely surprised by the complaints he was hearing. Much because he had already been through this twice before. Words were not sufficient sometimes to explain their situation to new Champions, so he opted for none.
Instead, he gestured with his staff as the gems within filled with bright blue light, his face taught with concentration. Suddenly the room around them disappeared and all of those present in the room found themselves on a balcony atop a brilliant tower.
Gazing out over the railing was a large vibrant city. The city went on for kilometres in every direction, while most of the housing appeared a little worse for wear, the town squares were filled with people dressed in bright clothing going about their days. From so high up they looked to be ants and a few of the students took several steps back after realizing how truly high they were.
Each house they could see reminded them of the kind of old school building you'd see in history books, all at different points depending on the area.
The north held the wealthy parts of the city, and had houses built with brilliant shining marble reflecting the sun. Each had beautiful gardens with room for all kinds of exotic plant life within and without. Most and high fencing around the property, made of a kind of common limestone brick instead of the more costly marble, yet they all looked well maintained. The roads were paved with pristine cobblestones and beautifully carved signs far too far away to read.
The somewhat lower income areas in the east and west had wooden and stone housing, with shale tiled roofs that while less fancy still possessed a great deal of charm. They also possessed extra room for small gardens, they weren't as expansive and fancy. The roads seemed well maintained too with the occasional pothole here and there. This area seemed the most highly trafficked as people moved in every direction, on business none of them could guess.
To the south was clearly the lowest income or poor section of the city. While most of the houses were still thick wooden ones with thatch roofs, one could see battered down shacks here and there that looked like they could be knocked down by a strong breeze. The roads were barely existent with main areas cobbled and the rest just dirt which Aaron imagined would turn to thick, muddy paths on a rainy day with heavy traffic.
Turning around Aaron looked at the tower itself. They were almost at the top, and through a door with pane glass windows he could see an incredibly messy study. Books were piled on the floor everywhere, an actual bookcase did run around half the rooms circumference, yet it too was messy with books not stacked properly, all sorts of weird looking contraptions and jars on odd looking shelves appearing to follow no rhyme or reason.
Taking a couple steps closer to look further a thick wooden staff suddenly blocked his path. Its owner giving him an intense stare making it clear that poking his nose where it didn't belong would not be tolerated. Again rather shamefacedly Aaron went back to where the rest of the class were still gawking.
Mr. McGilvray looked spooked as he could not believe his eyes. Each direction he looked he hoped would dispel the 'illusion' but when he even cast his eyes up at the two moons, one green and full of life and the other red, his hopes came crashing down. Taking a moment and he walked as far away from everyone as the balcony and distance allowed.
Allaan made to move in that direction before he too, found a staff in his way as its wrinkled owner shook his head.
"Give him a moment. A quick sharp shock is usually the best way to deal with those who don't believe. Once he's organized his thoughts, THEN we will be able to discuss this properly" Aedir said gently.
Allaan felt immense gratitude for the man before him. Today had been incredibly difficult and so much more still needed to be done. The loss of Aegan was a blow he still had not recovered from, let alone being the one to wield the knife. Even if at the end Aegan had pushed himself through the barrier, his warm blood coating Allaan's hands was not a thing he could forget easily.
And with everything that went wrong in the Summoning ritual, the paperwork alone would likely bury Allaan in the days to come. Not to mention the political ramifications when it got out that Aestria had bungled things so badly. There were still search parties out looking for the two Champions that had yet to be found, but he felt and sneaking fear that these two may not be found easily.
While important that he helped settle and calm these… children and one man, it was something he had originally intended to leave to others. But after everything that had occurred in only the last 12 hours, he needed to get away, if only momentarily.
After arguing with himself for several minutes, Kevin McGilvray came back to the group. He gave the class a reassuring smile before turning to the King and his advisors and asked in a firm voice.
"So, tell me everything. How can I get these kids back home?"
...................
They were teleported back to the palace, then taken to a dining room where food was heaped on the tables nearby. Chicken, beef, roasted potatoes and thick vegetables layered with a thick gravy were added to plates and handed round to those in attendance as servants filled large ceramic goblets with freshly pressed juices.
In the centre of the room dancers twirled and musicians performed to entertain although it felt a little forced and the air in the room was heavy with anger and fear.
Aaron sat next to Jarred with the others from his class and slowly picked up his fork to eat. On his other side was Scylla, the two were not close, if anything calling them friends even would be a stretch. But because of the current situation, all of the students were getting along a lot better than normal with much less of the click like mentally that permeates school in general.
Scylla was quiet, her faced streaked with tears and she was not the only one. Several of their classmates were clearly upset, hearing that you are stuck in another world and that your only hope is defeating a group of demons may sound fun to some, but others were already homesick. The fact none of them even had the phones they usually relied on to distract them as well added to their distress as they were forced to face the situation head on.
Aaron and Jarred were, if anything, the weird ones for their initial excitement. Which if he were honest, was wearing a little thin. Using Inspect on his food he revealed several pieces of chicken that were undercooked and carefully ate around them. Salmonella was not how he wanted to begin his experience in a new world.
Their teacher and the king were still talking, there were several occasions in which one or both began to gesticulate wildly but no sound reached their ears. Seeing the look of mild concentration on the old man's face it was obvious to the pair that some kind of spell was at work to prevent them hearing. The king had originally offered to take Mr McGilvray aside, but he blatantly refused to let any of them out of his sight.
"You've already lost TWO of my students, I will be DAMNED if the rest are going anywhere" He'd roared angrily at the suggestion even surprising his charges.
Most of the class had a fairly good opinion of their teacher (especially after the last few hours) but his genuine cares for their safety in this situation was surprising. After all no one could hold him responsible for the current situation. It was far beyond the scope of what anyone could expect a teacher to do as a duty of care, yet still his attempts were heartwarming to say the least and probably the only reason that the group was as calm as they were.
"So did you meet your other version or whatever when you got here?"
Aaron asked Scylla quietly, attempting to make conversation. The thick aura of depression around her was worrying so he was hoping to cheer her up a little.
"Yep" She replied shortly, shoveling food into her mouth and clearly having no interest in a continued conversation.
"Right… What were they like?" Aaron tried again, not giving up but also not seeing the very clear warning signs. Like flairing nostrils or the 'shut up I don't want to talk' written across her forehead.
"She was a fucking bitch" Scylla said firmly ending the conversation.
"Right…" Aaron said again lamely before returning to his food. For a moment he swore he saw a darkness in her, like a shadow filled with anger seeking to devour him. Unlike the power he always half thought, half pretended he had this was thick and pronounced, visible yet see through like stained glass.
Perhaps that's what Sense Malice is he thought. When I piss people off enough to want to rip me a new one, I see the same kind of darkness I always felt before back in our world.
He looked around carefully at everyone else, but nobody exuded that same feeling of negativity.
Suddenly the music silenced as the King stood up and addressed the group in general. Kevin sat next to him, still looking disgruntled but he did not attempt to prevent Allaan's words.
"I am sure many of you have questions, you have been taken from your homes to another world. It is a scary situation and I as the King give you all my sincerest apologies, but with no options left we had to attempt this summoning, and I hope you will all forgive me"
He bowed his head low, and the class looked at him, then around at each other. What do you say or do to that? Applaud?
After an awkward moment of silence, Allaan raised his head and said slowly
"For those who don't know, you have been Summoned to defeat the Demon's plaguing our lands. We will give you all our support in doing so, and should you succeed I believe you will all be able to return home"