3rd Person PoV:
It has been half an hour and Alex along with the summoned teacher and students are currently walking through the forest. Watching the distance for beasts or monsters, Alex walked with his eyes peeled as he frequently checked behind him if the students and teacher were keeping up.
Maybe due to their near-death experience earlier on, but they've all mostly been very quiet and followed all of his instructions to the letter.
'How is Jayne here in this world? It's been more than 400 years since I was summoned in this world and it looks like she hasn't aged that much…'
Is the flow of time between earth and here different? If so, then how much time passed since I disappeared? And most importantly... Why did the Kingdom decide to summon not just one, but dozens of Heroes now? Could they be...?'
Alex glanced at Jayne as he thought to himself. She still looked the same as he remembered. As he was staring at her, her eyes met his and he immediately averted his gaze back to the forest and focused on the task of getting them all to safety.
'I should find an appropriate time to talk to her alone later if I get the chance.'
"Hey Jayne, are you okay?" The girl beside Jayne, Bea asked. "You've been staring at that guy for a while now, you said his name was Alex earlier right? Is it the same guy you keep telling me before? The guy that went missing on our first year of high school?"
"…Yeah. It's him." She murmured silently.
"So he's in the same situation as us right? He got transported here too." She said as she put one hand under her chin. "But aren't we supposed to be the same age as him then? You told me that we would've been classmates if he didn't go missing."
"Yeah."
"But he looks so different from all the photos you showed me."
She glanced at him and took a look at the man Jayne called Alex. Even though Alex could feel the girl stare at her, he didn't mind it one bit and proceeded to ignore her as he continued to walk ahead of them.
He looks a lot like the picture Jayne had of him on her phone, but with a different hair color and much older. He feels a lot different than what I imagined he would be.
The photo that Jayne showed her back then were of Alex with a goofy smile on his face as he ate ice cream while watching TV on a sofa. Apparently, the picture was only taken two days before he went missing.
He doesn't look like he's the same age as us… his appearance and mannerisms from what I saw earlier were that of a mature adult than an 18 year old.
She thought to herself as she watched Alex. After a minute of repeatedly glancing at his back she saw him suddenly halt in his steps. Bea and Jayne were about to approach him and ask what happened when he looked around the forest with a finger on his lips signalling all of us to keep quiet, a sharp glint in his eyes clear as he surveyed the surroundings.
The teacher and students instinctively shut their mouths and stiffened, nervously looking around and gathering as closely as possible.
Alex gazed on the forest, watching the trees, the shrubbery and even the shadows as he drew his sword and coated his body with mana. Centuries of travelling and constant life and death battles had sharpened his senses and just a few moments ago, he sensed a large number of presences coming for them in multiple directions.
They all had large amounts of mana in their bodies and moved in on them in expert coordination. They all had their weapons drawn as well.
Alex turned around to the others with him and said with a serious tone, "There are multiple presences approaching our location, they will get here in three minutes. Stick close to each other and follow my instructions." He continued as he wore a black hooded robe that materialized in the air with glowing purple motes, covering his head and only showing his lower head. "Let me do the talking, and in the case that they are hostile I will do my best to ensure that no harm befalls even one of you."
Upon hearing that someone or something are approaching their location, they went pale with fear and nervousness, they didn't try to refute or dare disobey him as they currently knew nothing of this strange place. For now, they all decided to place their trust on him and hope for the best.
A few minutes later and the sounds of hooves were heard through the dark forest and more than a dozen people wearing gleaming silver armors that shone in the moonlight and people wearing robes arrived in front of them riding on horseback.
Alex reinforced his body with mana as he observed the newly arrived knights and mages with a calm look in his eyes, ready to move and protect the people behind him if things turned bad. The knights and mages readied their swords and staves at the hooded swordsman, as experienced knights and mages, they naturally noticed Alex circulating mana throughout his body for reinforcement and the dangerous glint of his jeweled sword pointing in their direction.
Silence prevailed in the moonlit forest as the two sides stood on guard in front of each other. The standoff continued for a few minutes later until the sound of horse hooves treading through the dirt was heard and another fully armored Knight appeared riding a black stallion.
"Everyone, stand down! Lower your weapons!" the fully armored Knight bellowed as they got off from the stallion.
The armored knight stepped forward and removed their helm to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman with long blonde hair and bright azure eyes. She had a graceful smile on her face as she put her left fist in front of her armored chest and bowed slightly.
"Greetings Otherworlders. I am the Kingdom of Hextia's Captain of the 12th reconnaissance unit and the Hextia Kingdom's 2nd princess. My name is Cassandra L. Hextia."
"You!" Alex yelled in indignation, gathering the attention of everyone to him. "You, Hextian scums! For what purpose did you all perform the Hero Summoning spell?!"
"How dare you use that tone in front of Her Royal Highness! Lower your weapon and accept death you brute!" One of the knights yelled as he rushed towards Alex, sword held high for an overhead strike, following him was a mage throwing a fireball spell in high speeds aiming for Alex as well.
Even as the fireball flew and the knight rushed towards him, he didn't show any sign of fear or worry at all as he deftly spun and delivered a roundhouse kick on the knight's head, the force was so powerful that the knight flew up in the air for a few centimeters and cracked his helm.
Alex then swiftly followed up with a punch to the knight's chest that flew him back and smashed him into a tree.
As the fireball followed up and was mere inches away from him, he quickly stepped back and slashed the spell in half, breaking the spell, though the spell didn't break fast enough and the cloak Alex wore caught on fire and burned.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Alex grabbed his burnt cloak and threw in on the ground, revealing his long silver hair tied up with a black scrunchie, his purple eyes gazing at the knights with clear anger and annoyance.
"Wha—?!"
"Damn you!"
"Attack him!"
As the knights began to rush and attack Alex and the mages powered up their spells, they were halted when the princess knight yelled.
"Everyone stand down!!!" She bellowed.
A few of the knights and mages tried to protest against the order but all it took for them to shut up and obey was for her to sharply glare at them. They were confused by it but reluctantly obeyed as their loyalty to her was unquestionable.
The blonde knight captain then stepped forward and faced Alex, gazing at him with from up close. She did nothing but look at Alex for a couple of seconds before she kneeled down on one knee, put her right fist in front of her chest and bowed down.
"It's a great honor to meet the esteemed Immortal Hero of Blades, Alex Brandt." She said, her voice carrying respect and admiration clear to all those who heard her.
At her words, the knights and mages all froze in surprise for a second before they all followed suit, kneeling similar to their princess and captain and in unison they said. "We greet the Immortal Hero of Blades!"
"What the hell?"
"What is going on?"
"Immortal Hero of Blades? That sounds so cool!"
"Alex? What do they mean?"
Similarly, behind Alex the teacher and students were also in shock.
"Damn it, I should've just conjured a shield instead of cutting the spell." He sighed before looking at the kneeling princess and her troops. "Alright, stand up…" He said as he felt the troops hostility disappear as if what happened earlier was erased from their memory.
At his words, they all stood back up and looked at Alex with respect and admiration.
The legend of the Immortal Hero of Blades was known to everyone in the world, from the poorest of the common folk to the kings and emperors. His story sung by bards and memorialized, in books tell his tales of glory, his portraits and statues can be found in numerous noble households and castles.
So it was not a surprise that even now, 400 years into the future, with him disappearing from the face of the world that people still recognize him. Another side effect of his Blessing of Longevity is that his physical form doesn't match his age as his body stopped growing when he reached 27.
"I ask you again princess." Alex said as he sheathed his sword and crossed his arms, "For what purpose did the Hextia Kingdom perform the Hero Summoning spell?"
"I can only hope for your forgiveness, Great Hero. But the purpose of the summoning is of utmost secrecy and I cannot risk saying anything about it here outside for fear of spies or any other presences possibly listening in on this conversation." Cassandra said with serious tone.
Alex looked into her eyes for a few moments before releasing a deep sigh.
"Fine…. Then am I right to assume that you're all here because the people who performed the spell screwed it up somehow?"
"…Yes." She said In a low voice as she looked down.
It was all she said and she refused to elaborate further on it.
Hundreds of questions and thoughts ran through Alex's mind as he tried to find a reason why the kingdom performed the Hero summoning. But after a minute he released another sigh and said.
"I know someone among these otherworlders so I'm going to be personally tagging along with them to ensure their safety. I don't know the reason why your kingdom summoned so many heroes and frankly I don't care. But as someone from the same world, I think it's the least I can do to ensure their safety."
After Alex said his piece, he turned his back from the princess knight and her troops and returned to Jayne and the rest.
"So is everything alright now? We're not going to be fighting them right?" Jayne asked anxiously, she was quite worried the entire time especially when she saw Alex's brief fight against the knights.
The rest were also nervous the entire time, especially with the battle earlier. Even though their untrained eyes couldn't have followed the entire exchange they were quite scared.
Because even though Alex didn't look like he was having trouble dealing with them, their weapons and magic still appeared very intimidating.
"Yes. Their Kingdom is the one responsible for your arrival in this world. The same kingdom that summoned me way back."
At my words, Jayne and the rest with her visibly relaxed. Their teacher—I assumed because of her attire— stepped forward and spoke to me.
"What are we going to do now Alex?" She asked as she sent a glance at the princess and her troops.
"We'll go with them to the Kingdom. I've heard of the Princess Knight of Luminosity and her troops. They possess great strength and an admirable sense of justice, they are well known throughout the kingdom. We can trust them, of course I'll also go with you all to ensure your safety." A series of relieved sighs escaped the lips of the students when they heard him say that they would be accompanied by Alex to safety.
It was clear that the incident with the wolves earlier scared them all to a great degree and Alex's great strength and the ease in which he defeated the wolves solidified their trust in him. Add to that the fact that one of them is his childhood friend and from the same world as theirs significantly eased their worries.
On the Princess and her troops side, hearing their hero compliment and place his trust in them boosted their morale and they all swore on their mind to bring the newly summoned heroes to the Kingdom safely without a single injury on their bodies. The princess knight herself practically glowed with happiness when she heard her Hero's words and similarly to the knights she swore to give it her all and hopefully impress the famous "Immortal Hero of Blades" to take her in as a disciple.
Many among the knights, adventurers and swordsmen all over the continent admired and idolized the "Immortal Hero of Blades. His deeds and acts of great heroism inspired many people and the tales of his valor were forever memorialized in various books and other pieces of literature, songs from bards from way back are passed down and still sang to this day.
Alex turned around and went to the princess knight. He looked at her and her troops before he asked. "Are you and you're troops ready your highness?"
The princess looked back to her troops and they all answered in affirmation, she then nodded at Alex.
"There are over more than 30 heroes summoned this time, and as powerful as they are because of the Goddess's blessing, they were just normal people not too long ago so they will be in considerable danger. I suggest we move now, we'll rest for the night at Meldor city, it's in the same direction as the Kingdom's capital."
And with those words Alex, the knights and the newly summoned heroes set off to the village, leaving the dark forest behind.