It was a miserable bunch that returned to the palace for lunch that day. Plenty of grumbling could be heard from the group of teenagers as they trudged back, disappointment on their faces. A few complained about the high expectations, they had only been in this world for a couple days. Expecting them to kill monsters so soon was unfair.
Aaron overheard these comments but didn't say anything. He knew that this was the reality they were facing and this instructor, while harsh, had decided it would be more beneficial to throw them into the water to sink or swim in a controlled environment. Rather than slowly build them up with training exercises just so they could fall flat when confronted with the real thing.
"That's bullshit" Jarred complained, Aaron surprised to hear the same sentiments from his friend, who out of everyone he thought would figure it out.
"I DID get out without a scratch. Why did he act like we all were struggling against them when I'm pretty sure I kicked my Lynx's ass?"
"I think the point is most of us didn't" Aaron replied thoughtfully.
"Even if you did, you still had to use fire magic against them. He wasn't going to praise you because the point is you had to do that, and we all got scratched or slashed and some even failed when those things were still chained to the ground. The point he's trying to make is we're all weak. If he praised you, then everyone would try and use magic and that's not the point. It's about gaining the strength to fight on equal ground without it"
"Yeah, I guess" Jarred said, thinking deeply.
"It doesn't mean you shouldn't use magic. I'm gonna practice and try to find an option with water or air magic to be a bit more offensive. We've all seen shows about element manipulation so it shouldn't be hard to come up with something, I'll just need practice. But the point is, we need to be stronger. Able to fight and kill without being afraid"
Aaron stopped for a moment, trying to put his ideas into words that people from his world could understand as well as make sense of them himself.
"I guess it's like video games back home. None of us hesitate to pull a trigger or mash X to cave an enemies skull in. Some of the games we've played are brutal, where you cut people in half with your sword. We need to get there in real life here. It's a choice of eat or be eaten like that Viking bloke said. Otherwise, we'll just stand there taking damage until its game over. And right now, none of us are able to do it. I even still feel sick from thinking about killing that monster. But I don't think we have a choice, not anymore"
Unbeknownst to Aaron a few people were close enough to overhear. James was one of these. His fists tightened as he thought about how embarrassed he'd been in front of everyone. No one was currently thinking about it, the distraction of the events afterwards consuming everybody's thoughts, but red-hot shame still pumped through his veins.
This was his time, his moment to shine. He was the one with the Hero class. His stats weren't anything special yet but obviously he was meant to be the leader. When the time came tomorrow, he planned on making sure he would outperform everyone!
..........
The rest of the afternoon was taken up with a history lesson, as well as descriptions of the geography of the Continent. Where they currently were, was the central country of Aestria. To the west lay Zuthaya, land of the Werepeople, rich in both agriculture and full of life. Its western border was the ocean. Across which were many islands and archipelagos, some still yet to be explore.
To Zuthaya's south was its neighbour and ally, Dainippon. A very rich culture could be found there with cherry blossoms planted along the paved streets and unique foods available on every corner. They were famous for their beautiful silk clothes they exported as well as their ferocious warriors they called Samurai. A few in the class looked up in surprise, clearly Summoned Champions had had heavy influences on the countries and cultures over the years.
To the south of Dainippon and Aestria was a mountainous region called The Withered Highlands. A pass through the mountains led to the Desert country of Vuspesh, inhabited by the desert tribes. They weren't necessarily hostile, yet they did not suffer visitors and the group was cautioned not to enter uninvited as the locations of water were fiercely guarded. Most who enter uninvited did not return, regardless of how prepared they were.
To the east, was once a great and beautiful country of Bripran, home to a powerful religious group called the Following of Illumination. Their priests and paladins were powerful foes against the Demonic invasion. Almost one hundred years ago, they were the first to be targeted and eventually brought low by the Demon Lords both from within and without. Once they had full control, it's people were slaughter and their cities used as a base in which to invade their surrounding neighbours.
As such, the country was renamed to Stroirheil. Despite several incursions in an attempt to help and save those within, by the time Champions arrived leading a force of allied armies, the damage had already been done. Two Champions lost their lives in those lands before the main forces showed up and after many raging violent battles that left more dead than alive, the allied forces were forced to withdraw. The demons were simply too powerful and too well entrenched.
Finally, to the North was Jorfrugr. The more southern lands had the warmest climate, yet still it often rained and snowed often, leaving few places for the Vikings to plant and maintain crops that were able to survive. Their diets mostly consisted of meat derived from frequent hunts. To the north was inhospitable frozen tundra for the most part, few had explored far enough to see what lay beyond it and those who had did not live to tell the tale.
Hallgrim wasn't present for this lesson, but it made those in the room curious to find out more. The Vikings were little more than a history lesson on Earth, or something used to make brutal and interesting tv series for online streaming services. How they got here wasn't certain, but like the samurai of Dainippon, the most likely explanation was that a Summoned Champion in the distant past was a Viking, one that assisted in building a society and culture to the north.
It would be interesting to see how many more remnants of bygone eras were scattered around this world by past Champions. Or at least a couple of those in the class thought so. The rest wanted to move on to learning more about magic.
..........
Scylla sat there her eyes a little glazed as her thoughts still dwelled on killing the Lynx. It had been horrific, hers latching its jaws around her shoulder, as she stabbed its neck, stomach, chest, whatever she could. Eventually it died and one of the Vikings assisted in prying its jaws open and rolling it away. She could still feel the sticky blood dripping down her wrists and onto her chest, still feel its phantom jaws biting her shoulder.
A loud bang brought her out of her reverie, looking up to see Kiera, having slammed a book down on the desk at the front of the class. Looking around she saw she wasn't the only one with glazed eyes. Many finding it difficult to focus between the morning's events and the incredibly boring history lesson. The few that were able to pay attention were mostly boys, but whether they were listening or ogling the beautiful woman it was hard to say.
Sensing that the group weren't mentally there, Kiera sighed, then closed the dusty tome she'd been reading from. Raising her palm, she concentrated, creating a ball of pure mana floating an inch above.
"Who has successfully manifested their mana?" Kiera asked aloud, dragging the attention of those daydreaming and those eyeballing her chest to the ball instead.
Hesitantly a few students raised their hands. Aaron and Jarred among them.
"Show me" She ordered and four of the teenagers stood up. She was happy to see Aaron among them, meaning he'd been serious about learning magic and was studying the book seriously.
The first two, Tyler and Willow, managed to get small glowing balls of mana, barely the size of a Christmas light, to flicker before petering out. Jarred went next, creating a ball of fire the size of a golf ball that he then threw out the window. Kiera's face was a picture of shock, she hadn't given that student a book. Even if he had been reading from Aarons, the explanations and runes within were solely regarding water magic. So, he had somehow either found the runes elsewhere or was using fire magic without it, weak as the spells may be.
Next was Aaron, who concentrated for a moment before using almost all his mana and creating a ball of water almost the size of a basketball. If Kiera was shocked before her jaw dropped now. That book only contained basic explanations and a few low-level runes. To create a water sphere that big after only a day…
"What rune did you use to create that water ball?" She asked on edge.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't really understand your rune thing. I just visualized turning my mana into water and how water works and it just kinda happened" Aaron replied nervously. Having access to the internet on earth and a fairly decent education meant, while not being a chemistry or physics specialist, he and most of his class had a fair understanding of how gases, liquids and solids worked and interacted together.
"So, you didn't use runes. You just visualized it and it worked…" She replied in a dazed fashion.
"Um… yes?"
"I see. Class dismissed" Kiera said abruptly before storming out the door.
..........
"Don't you see master? What these kids know could revolutionize magic as we know it. They could change our understanding of the world. Why… Why aren't you excited about this…" Kiera started off excitedly yet seeing Aedir had not even deigned to get up at the news she began to trail off.
Aedir sighed, gripping his staff firmly, before using it to assist him in slowly getting up out of his thickly padded red sofa chair. Once standing he looked at his apprentice with what almost seemed to be pity, before gesturing for her to take a seat instead.
"Sit down Kiera"
"But master I-"
"I said, SIT DOWN" Aedir said firmly, concern written all across his features.
Stunned, Kiera wandered over to the nearby couch and took a seat, as Aedir waved his arms gently and a pot that suddenly started steaming arrived from across the room to pour a cup of tea that also floated over and landed on the coffee table in front of her. Taking a quick sip, a look of revulsion crossed her features, almost making her miss her master's next words.
"You must keep this to yourself Kiera"
"Master how many times have I told you, you can't just reheat old tea and serve… WAIT WHAT?" Revulsion turned to anger as she stood up, the discarded cup knocked clear off the table to pour out its contents on the floor.
"I said. You must keep this to yourself"
"Why must I keep it to myself I don't…" Again she trailed off, a million thoughts flying through her mind, until one final conclusion was all that was left.
"Because you already knew. Didn't you?" The hint of accusation hurt in her voice hurt Aedir more than he cared to admit, yet he couldn't deny it.
"Yes, I knew"
"Then why? Why aren't we sitting down and interrogating the Champions or their teacher? Finding out everything they know? Imagine what it could do for us? For our world?"
Aedir sighed again deeply then gestured for Kiera to take a seat again. After a few moments she did reluctantly, a petulant look still adorning her face.
"Give me a moment. I promise I will explain everything"