The white pillar of light that shot down from the sky was a Hero Summoning Spell, used by the Kingdom of Hextia, entrusted onto the Hextia Royal Family by the Goddess of Eternity, Euclia.
It is known among those in the know of the spell that it can only summon one Hero, but it seemed that the Kingdom and it's mages have managed to successfully tweak with the spell as the result of it was on a much larger scale this time. Much, much larger. As if it was summoning a large number of people at the same time.
Though what had alarmed him was not the summoning itself, but where the summoning was taking place. He was summoned at the castle surrounded by old mages and greeted by the entire Royal Family with a squadron of knights, but now the summoning was happening miles away from the Castle let alone the Capital City.
The summoning light was in the middle of a vast forest, and aside from the multiple presences of the people summoned, he could feel no other presences of whoever cast the spell so a clear malfunction must've occurred in the middle of the summoning for their location to be so far away from the summoners—whoever they may be.
In this world where magic, demons, and monsters are almost everywhere, being out in the forest especially in the middle of the night is extremely dangerous even for trained knights and mages.
And with the huge pillar of light earlier and the dense magical energy left behind by the spell, he was sure no small number of creatures and monsters are heading their direction right now. Not counting the chance that dark mages or bandits saw that huge pillar of light and investigate things.
In this world, mana or magic power is abundant everywhere. All manner of things whether living or not possess mana and many species of animals and monsters feed on mana to grow stronger where strength matters for one's survival.
And if the people summoned were like him in the past, then they would all be easy prey, for a summoned hero usually possess more mana than normal person in this world.
The summoning spell has long since disappeared and the darkness of the night had already returned, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the night. He has been running for as fast as he could towards them, a total of 37 people were summoned and each of them had a large amount of mana in their bodies. And with them being new to this world, they could not control the magical energy within them and it's been blaring out of them with no control like a beacon for everyone that can detect mana.
But as the Hero Summoning Spell was only meant to be used for one person, fortunately or unfortunately, all of them had less mana than him when he was first summoned.
After ten minutes of running he felt the presences of multiple monsters surrounding them and with his enhanced eyesight, he saw a pack of silver-horned wolves.
Some of the summoned humans were using some thick tree branches they probably picked up from the ground and holding rocks ready to throw at the growling wolves to defend themselves. The wolves were growling at them menacingly while he heard some of the humans scream in visible fear as they swung or throw their 'weapons' whenever the wolves got too close to them.
One of them—a student judging from the uniform the boy was wearing—managed to hit a wolf on its head and the wolf was blown back a little bit. Groggily, the wolf got back up on its feet and growled before howling loudly before all of the wolves howled too and they dashed towards the humans in anger to feast on them.
It was at that moment that he finally arrived in the scene, falling from the sky, he sliced the head off of one of the wolves as it tried to pounce and attack a girl holding a wooden branch. Kicking the decapitated wolf towards the nearest wolf near him, he then leapt back and landed between the wolves and the humans.
A tall man with a shimmering silver ponytail fluttering in the wind, with purple eyes gleaming like bright amethysts and in his hand, his sword pointed towards the wolves. The Hero had come to their rescue.
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Jayne PoV:
I was currently on my way to school after having breakfast on my neighbors house today. With my mother leaving on a business trip earlier this week with my father out of the city, I was left to live alone for the time being.
Being an only child with no siblings in a household of three I was just about to have a light meal consisting of coffee and buttered toast as I was too lazy to cook breakfast when my neighbor invited me to instead have breakfast with her. I didn't decline since I've already had meals with her numerous times in the past.
The neighbor that invited me was Alice Brandt, a beautiful woman with purple eyes, and black hair in her mid thirties. She had been living alone ever since her husband died and her son went missing over two years ago.
His son was my childhood friend, and his name is Alex Brandt. He was also the same age as me, 18 years old, and he would also be graduating high school right now if he had never went missing.
The police investigation has last confirmed his known location in the city's public library before he vanished without a trace. It was our first midterm exams ever since we entered high school and as usual, Alex spent his time after school on the Library to study.
I was on my way to the Library too as we had already planned to study there together after I hanged out with my female friends first. If only I knew that it was the last I was ever going to see him again, then I would've never left his side and went to the library together with him.
But, it's too late for regrets now.
As soon as I arrived at the library, I went to our usual seats and found his bag and study materials there and only thought at the moment that he was around looking for more books or source materials for our studies, but Alex was nowhere to be seen.
I texted him to inform him of my arrival and asked him where he was at, but I never got a reply. It wasn't even seen.
At first I thought he was just doing his business on the bathroom, but when five minutes came and he still haven't come back and the message I sent him still haven't been read, I started to grow worried. Five minutes became ten, and ten became fifteen.
And it was at that moment I began to grow panicked and asked the guard at the library if he's ever seen Alex leave the library, showing the guard a photo of him I had in my phone.
The guard said that he hasn't seen him leave the building and I told the guard that I couldn't contact him and he was nowhere to be found. I grew increasingly panicked as we checked the security cameras and we failed to find even a shadow if him.
We eventually called the police and filed a missing case for Alex, and I called his mom to tell her of the news. The panic, sadness and worry in her choked voice as she cried that night was something I would never forget.
Days passed, then weeks, then months. But we still found no traces of Alex's whereabouts, no clues at all as to what could have happened to him. We could only hope that he was still alive out there somewhere, waiting for us to find him or for him to find his way home to us.
And now two years later, the police and authorities have all given up on the investigation and the search stopped. But we still held hope in the bottom of our hearts that one day Alex will return home safe.
That I'll one day visit his house and I'll see him playing videogames in the living room as he snacks on chips. Or that I'll see him waiting for me outside my house so we can go to school together.
I really miss him. From the bottom of my heart, I want to see him again.
After having breakfast with Mrs. Alice, I finally headed off to school. Arriving in class just before the bell started, I made my way into my seat and sat down.
A couple of seconds after I sat down, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found my friend waving at me with a cute smile on her face. Bea Jackson, a cute girl with short black hair and thin rimmed glasses.
"Hey, Jayne. Soo… There's this guy from the next class, I think his name was Sam, and he was asking if he could have your contact info… I was just wondering if I should give it to him. What do you say?" Jayne said as she showed me a photo of the guy from her phone.
I knew him. Sam Watson, the ace of the football club and quite popular with the girls. He had a handsome face and I heard that he was pretty smart, he seemed like a nice guy overall but I've heard a couple of rumors about him taking the girls he goes with on a date to love hotels.
"I know you know about the rumors about him Bea, and you know that I don't like even getting involved with flirty boys like him." I answered flatly.
"I know," she sighed as she adjusted her glasses and deleting the photo of the guy from her phone. "I just wanted to ask."
After that brief interaction, she changed the subject and we continued and talked about various other topics before the bell rang and everyone in class scrambled to their seats as our homeroom teacher, Miss Zoey Watts, arrived.
It seemed like it would be just another day for us in Class 3-B, when suddenly, the entire classroom was engulfed in a blinding white light.
"Wha—?!"
"So bright!"
"Ah! My eyes!"
"What's happening?!"
Everyone, including I was shocked and confused by the bright light that everyone started to panic. A couple of seconds later, just as my eyes slightly adjusted to the light that I could barely see my surroundings, I turned around and looked at Alice as she grabbed my shoulder to try and run for the doors when in what seemed like a sound of thunder, the entire classroom shook and we were engulfed in the white light as it intensified and blinded us all.
When I opened my eyes, what greeted me was not the familiar sight of our classroom but a dark and gloomy forest. Tall trees surrounded us and the bright moon was shining upon us high above from the night sky.
What..? What on earth happened? Where are we?
A thousand questions ran through my mind as me and the rest of the class gazed, bewildered, anxious, and scared at the dark and silent forest. But my thoughts were disrupted as the same questions I had in my mind were said by my classmates.
"W-where the hell are we?!"
"What in the world is going on?!"
"Hey!! Is anyone out there!!!"
"Is this some sick joke?!"
"There's no signal in my phone!"
Panic was rising upon us at our current situation, I looked around again and saw our homeroom teacher silently looking around us and the forest, her gaze alternating between all of us, beads of sweat were running down her face.
As I was looking at our teacher, a trembling hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and saw a slightly pale Bea.
"Are you alright, Jayne?" She asked, her voice shaking with part fear and worry.
"I'm fine… I'm still currently trying to wrap my head around the situation. Anyway, how about you? Are you alright? You're looking quite pale." I questioned her back as her complexion looked very bad. She was as white as a sheet. I held on to her shoulders and back as I pulled her in a slight hug.
"I—"
But just as Bea was about to answer, we heard a loud howl in the distance. At first it was just one, but soon enough, we all heard numerous howling getting louder and louder. Some of my classmates panicked even more and started screaming or sobbing, some of the braver students grabbed whatever they could find in the vicinity for a weapon. I also grabbed a rather thick branch on the ground and Bea herself grabbed a handful of small rocks.
A couple of minutes later and I heard rustling in the nearby foliage. I turned to look in it's direction and saw a 4 feet tall wolf with bright golden eyes and a big silver horn on its forehead. It growled at us menacingly as more wolves came out of the dark forest to greet us.
"W-W-WOLVES!!"
"They're gonna eat us!"
"Someone help us!!"
"Everyone, please stop screaming! You're all just agitating the wolves!"
Miss Watts yelled out to our classmates, but it proved futile when the wolves slowly closed in on us as they growled aggressively, baring their white teeth at us.
I heard a quiet sob behind me and saw Bea shedding tears as she hid behind me holding the little stones on her trembling hands. She looked at me and fearfully asked, "Jayne, a-are we going to die?"
I stayed silent for a couple of seconds before answering.
"Maybe..."
Almost instantly as she heard my answer, she shrank behind me as more tears spilled out from her eyes.
Is this really where I'm going to die? Out here in the middle of nowhere without even getting the chance to see my family again?
Without getting the chance to see Alex again?
I wish I could've seen him one final time. To tell him how sorry I am when I wasn't there when he disappeared… To tell him I....
"GRAAH!!!"
A loud growl jumped me out from my thoughts as a wolf ran and pounced straight at me. I panicked as I saw the wolf and my mind ground to a halt. His name and face came suddenly in my mind, and in desperation, I called out his name.
The name of the person that I trusted with the entirety of my being, the boy that I would probably never see again.
"ALEX!" I screamed as I closed my eyes and waited for the wolf to jump at me and kill me.
But my seemingly inevitable death never arrived as when I opened my eyes, I saw the wolf's head on the ground, it's headless body kicked on the direction of the wolves behind it as it flew towards them at blinding speeds causing the other wolves behind it to pause their charge and turn their attention to the one that killed their brethren.
I looked up and saw an unfamiliar man in front of me, his back was facing us so I couldn't see his face. The man had long silver hair tied shining slightly from the moon's glow, tied in a ponytail by a black scrunchie. He was wearing a red tailcoat jacket with a white sword wrapped in yellow thorns neatly designed on the back, Underneath was black, tight fitting armor, and black fitting pants. In his hand was a sword with a bright red, jewel in the area between the blade and the handle.
"Where the hell are the people that summoned you guys?" he muttered as his entire body glowed with a bright purple light. "This is why I don't involve myself in the matters of the Kingdom of Hextia anymore…"
As he was speaking, the wolves cowered back slightly when they saw the purple light covering the man. But after a minute, they became angrier before they all leapt at the man, completely ignoring the rest of us. He was the wolves sole target now.
The man took a stance the same time the wolves leapt at him, ready to kill the man. To the the rest of us, it looked like the man was going to get mauled by the wolves and die, but before they could bare their fangs at him, the man had suddenly vanished and appeared behind the wolves not even a second later.
"Your howls are annoying."
As the wolves fell from their leap, every single wolf that pounced at him fell on the ground hard as their heads seperated from their bodies much like the first wolf he killed. They were dead. Each one of the silver-horned wolves with a clean slice on their necks where their heads were separated.
"What?!"
"Did the guy kill all of the wolves?!"
"He teleported! He freaking teleported!!"
"That was badass!"
"Thank you for saving us!"
Various reactions came from my classmates as the man singlehandedly defeated the wolves. From awe, to disbelief, and gratitude.
The man didn't react at first as he silently cast his gaze on the forest. After a couple of seconds, he turned and walked towards us. His red jeweled sword disappearing in a cloud of purple dust. As he arrived in front of us, we finally were able to clearly see the face of our savior. He had a handsome face with striking purple eyes shining like amethysts, a mature look on his face even though he seemed to be only a couple of years older than us. From the looks of it, he looks like he's in his mid to late twenties.
His purple eyes glanced at each of us before stopping at my face. His eyes widened and he had a look of shock on his face as he silently stared at me. Surprisingly, I didn't find his gaze uncomfortable or creepy as I sensed a strange feeling of familiarity towards him deep in my heart.
After searching through my memories to see if I've ever seen this man before, I gasped loudly as I finally recognized the identity of our savior.
His hair wasn't the same color of black as I remembered it to be, he grew taller and more mature than I previously remembered him but his purple eyes and the way they looked at me was filled with longing and emotion.
After what seemed like an eternity, he nervously said, "Jayne?"
"Alex? But how?" I said as I slowly approached him.
"No, what are you doing here? I mean, how… How are you still alive? Why are you here—?!"
My mind didn't even register the words he spoke to me as I tackled him in a hug. Tears streaming uncontrollably down my face as I bawled my eyes out and hugged him tightly, afraid that he might disappear on me again if I let go of him.
"What?! What is going on?"
"Does Jayne know who he is?"
"How? Why is she hugging him?"
As my classmates were shouting bewildered and confused by my actions behind me, I felt Alex's hands on my back as he softly returned my embrace. After a couple of minutes, he let go of my back and held my shoulders as he gently pried himself out of my embrace. He had a serious look on his face as I gazed at him.
"We need to get you all out of this forest first. Nights in this world is vastly different from earth, creatures much more dangerous than the wolves I've defeated are living here." He said as he held onto my shoulders.
"Umm, Alex… right?" A hand shot up as I heard Miss Watts look at Alex.
"Yes."
"Do you know where we are right now?"
"Well we are all not on Earth, if that's what you're asking." He said, eliciting a gasp from Miss Watts and the rest of my classmates. "If you're asking where in this world we are, then we're in a forest south of the Hextia Kingdom. Now, let's go. As I've already told you all, nights in this world aren't safe. I know you all must be confused or scared right now but this isn't the right time nor the right place for a discussion."
He then let go of me and walked away as soon as he finished. Seeing no other choice if we want to see the next day, we followed Alex.