-Reyha Royal Palace; Underground Area; Summoning Room-
In the same room, where they had been for a while, Fritz, Heather, and Leopold were once again talking to one another.
"Don't you think you dropped a bit too much on the kid?" Leopold asked.
"Kid? She pulled out a gun from God knows where, and seems to be dealing with all of this better than us. As far as I'm concerned, she's our best chance to survive if things go haywire." Fritz responded calmly.
"Honestly, he makes a good point. She literally froze a man to death unfazed. Treating her like she's a normal child sounds like an oversight." Heather added.
"At this point, all that's missing is a waterfall going up... If they told me that this is actually hell, I wouldn't doubt it." Leopold commented.
"I would say something, but I don't want to jinx it." Fritz replied.
"That... Whatever let's just focus on how we'll deal with this." Heather brought up the main focus.
"What can we do really? Aside from the gun child over there, there's not much we can do to defend ourselves overall. It's not about ability, it's just that there's no way we will be able to deal with a few knights, much less an army." Leopold pointed out.
"Don't forget the fact that even if we escape by some miracle, have no idea of where we are and what the situation is on many fronts." Fritz continued.
"Ok, ok, I get it, but we still need a plan just in case... I guess escaping is better than double death? Honestly, how does this work?" Heather began rubbing her forehead.
"We can't make much of a plan if we have no idea what the place we're trying to escape looks like... We can at best set a few signals to at least know the basics of what we intend on doing, but specifics are blurry." Leopold brought up.
"Agreed, for now, we should just focus on getting the full picture, and if we're going to do anymore, that can come later. All in all, I don't believe they want to harm us, at least not yet, 'cause if they do, they're going through a bit more trouble then necessary." Fritz threw out his perspective on things.
"... That's likely true, and there's really not too much we can do now with how little we know. I guess waiting isn't too bad..." Heather came to agree upon reflection.
-Later-
Time passed after their conversation and just like before, the big metal door was opened and Merilyn came in with 4 knights again, carrying the same finesse as before. This made her presence stand out much more than it had to, but that was something that felt a bit overkill in such a closed environment with so few people.
"Once again, you'll have my apologies. The accommodations and hospitality you've received thus far are not adequate for people with your status but as the princess, it was my duty to worry about my people first, and that's why I left you here until now. From this point on, however, things will change and you'll see that, it's not as bad as it might have seemed so far." Merilyn apologized before meeting them with another short bow, then smiled and said. "Please follow me, it's time for you to find out what's going on."
Not having much of an option, Fritz, Heather, and Leopold all follow through while Lavenica went on with them, because of Kymani's orders, following from a bit farther behind.
Even though the princess herself said nothing, the knights wouldn't stop looking at Lavenica and Kymani in her arms with obvious suspension from time to time, but nothing came of it and they all reached another big door after going upstairs and walking through long corridors with various paintings, vases, and a few sculptures here and there.
"Once, inside, I ask that all of you kneel before the King. It's not that you can't stand, as your status would allow you to, but I advise against it since some nobles might use it as an excuse to discredit you." Merilyn warned them as she looked at them before turning towards the door, which then began opening slowly.
To each of her sides, two knights could be found as everyone got ready for what lies beyond. So, they all marched forward.
-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Throne Room-
Inside, a contrast of blue and golden could be found, and aside from the numerous knights, in there, various robed individuals could also be found, and standing to the sides of the room, at what could be called a safe distance, were the nobles looking at every move the supposed heroes made. Finally, at the end of the room, two thrones, one of a King and the other of a Queen, as they each sat imposing their presence on everyone there. To one of their sides, one could see an old-looking man that would be the royal adviser, and to the other, 2 young men, a small boy, 2 young ladies, and a small girl.
Soon, they came to stop in front of the thrones, and as the knights kneeled and Merilyn walked up to join the other younglings to the side of the thrones. The heroes kneeled and Lavenica reluctantly followed to not disobey Kymani.
"So those are the supposed heroes?... Not only are their attires unusual, but some of them also don't look fit to deal with the weakest of monsters." A comment came from the nobles to the side.
"Honestly, their attire looks to be made of high-quality fabric but that's the best I can say about them. The fact that a little girl is among them says all that needs to be said." Another noble added.
"How unsightly! We were made to come here repeatedly and even waste a few days of our time for this? I hope the status sphere proves my fears wrong." The tirade of comments continued.
"Let us take in this exotic view of individuals from a whole other world, something one can't just do. That alone is interesting, though I do hope they are more capable than they look."
"You're all making too much of a fuss. Don't act as if you've never seen young prodigies, when one of the greatest mages of our time is still a child at this time."
"That's the exception, not the rule. By your logic, are we supposed to assume every child can just destroy cities with their magic?!"
"Say what you want, but these heroes at least have some basic etiquette."
The comments and even a few discussions among the nobles went on for a while, making heroes feel uncomfortable, but they waited through it until finally, it was stopped.
"Silence!... Dear heroes from another world, I imagine that you are all curious as to why you were brought here. As my daughter must have already told you. This world is in danger and peril approaches. As the worshippers of Yovit have founded their own Demonic Kingdom, and intend to eradicate everyone else. That is only one of a few disasters we will face. Aside from that, both the Apocal and the Ertros are said to eventually invade our world at different points in time and ultimately wage war here. There is also the possibility of Yovit and the an unknown evil being descending on us at some point... Then we have the problem with the new breed of monsters that seem much more violent and destructive than all others increasing in numbers rapidly, and maybe worse a World eater will come... Finally, Another ancient evil will somehow rise to destroy everything. That's all the disasters we'll need your help preventing." The King shortly explained.
As one would expect after all that, silence was all that was left.
"I'm sorry to ask, hum... Your Highness, but how do you know all that is going to happen?" Fritz who couldn't with the absurdity had to ask.
"The greatest oracle Ark, the current Pope of the Great Church, has informed the royalty and nobility of every kingdom of the travesties to come and that's why the hero summoning was performed by a few chosen kingdoms." The King answered.
Once again silence ensued.
'Isn't this Kingdom... No, this whole world just fucked?' Kymani questioned hearing how many disasters were about to hit this world.
"... Your majesty... Can't we do one thing at a time, I assume an idea of which one of these events take place first exists, correct?" Heather questioned.
"Yes, the Demonic Kingdom of Yovit is the most urgent and immediate threat." The King replied.
"Oh ok, so we just have to kill some Demonic Lord or something like that right?" Fritz inquired.
"Well yes, but that's not all. From the information we have, their forces are not to meddled with at all. They have multiple Demonic Lords and a few Demonic Kings, and there are even rumors of the Demonic Emperor's power. The Demon Kingdom of Dekvel reported that a Demonic lord is as powerful as one of the four heavenly Kings, The Demon King's elite personal guard and Demonic Kings outclass even the Demon King himself! We can only imagine what kind of monstrous power, the Demonic Emperor possesses. Though rumors say he could crush the moon... Though those are just made-up tales to scare us more, I believe this being's power might be something of legend." The King responded.
The ever-so-prevalent silence strikes again as the heroes don't know what to say.
"... Your Majesty, I have to ask, how exactly are we expected to help with this? As far as I'm concerned we're just normal humans... For the most part." Leopold asked, then remembered Lavenica and added the last part.
"That's where you are wrong. Maybe in your world, you were normal humans, but here in Tefrat, you're all heroes, beings of great power blessed by the Gods with the potential to stop all evil. So long as you are properly trained, the strength you'll have shall know no bounds. Actually, since we've talked about the disasters, it's time to see your potential, so bring me the sphere of status!" The King ordered.
Soon a sphere on a pedestal was brought to the room and put in front of the heroes after the still-kneeling knights, who came in with Merilyn. It was then that the King signaled the royal adviser to act.
"You can now stand up, and walk to the pedestal. Touch the sphere and relax, it will do its job and show us the value of the hero." The adviser explained.
The first one to get up was Fritz who walked to the sphere and put his hand on it, then took a deep breath, and soon after, a floating screen appeared for everyone to see.
[Status Screen]
[Name: Fritz Relor Espada
Age: 20 years old
Sex: Male
Species: Human | Sub-Species: Earthling
Affinity: Neutral, Fire, Death
Bloodline: None
Physique: None
Level: 1
Exp: 0/50
Titles: Reincarnated Individual, Otherworlder
Job: Hero
Class: Necromancer
Stats:
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 3
Vitality: 3
Magic: 5
Willpower: 5
Agility: 3
Charisma: 20
Luck: 30
Unique ability/s: [Death's Embrace]
Innate ability/s(Racial skills): [Adaptability]
Active skills: Raise Skeletons,
Passive skills: Weak Death Aura,
Resistances: Instant Death Tolerance,
Magic: Death Magic,
Unique Magic: None
Extras: Blessing Of The Divine Of Death]
"A necromancer… to think such an evil class would be given to a hero of all things…" The Royal adviser was the first one to comment.
The surprise in the room was palpable.
"Execute him! It's too dangerous to have a hero with such powers around!" Amidst the crowd of nobles, someone yelled.
"That's true, someone with such abilities cannot be trusted!"
"If given time, he will certainly turn against us, it's better to cut off the weed while it's small."
"It will be a pity to lose a hero, but the risk is too great to be taken."
Various voices continued to urge for Fritz to be executed.
"Silence!" The King once again stopped the commotion and looked at Fritz as he also stared at the king, waiting for the decision.
____________________________________________
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and I in no way endorse the discrimination of necromancers. No necromancers were harmed or discriminated against during the writing of this chapter.