Eric slowly opened his eyes and saw a beautiful glass chandelier above his head, he then realised that he was inside a house, a very strange house. "Where am I?" he questioned himself sitting up straight and scanning the room. "Wow, this is a big room" he added as he realised just how huge the room was. He was resting on a huge bed big enough to fit at most seven people. He felt the fabric of bed, "It feels more expensive than everything I owned, and this room" he said as he pulled himself off the bed. "Everything looks beautiful, is this real gold?" he wondered as he ran his fingers across all the gold tableware.
Eric could tell how sophisticated the owner of the room was, not only were the contents of the room of a higher quality but everything was neatly in order. Not only that but there was something that told him that he was not in his time period, for one he could not identify any electrical compliances, the source of light in the room was from candles and lamps placed safely all around. He took a step towards the curtains covering a glass door, he could see there was a balcony, and he figured he would be able to identify where he was from there. Just as he was about to reach for the curtains, the door opened and in came a maid. "You are awake, my lord" she said as she bowed. "Yes" replied Eric as he studied the young girl. She was human about the same build as him but smaller, she was wearing her uniform maid attire.
"Forgive me, I will let his majesty be aware of this" said the girl and she immediately left. Eric was surprised and confused. "That girl just now, I am certain she did not speak English. Yes, the language she was speaking was foreign. Then how the hell can I understand it. I have never heard it before. What is happening to me?" he questioned. While still wondering if it was still a dream Eric went over the curtain and stood on the balcony which was not too large only to be met by the beauty of a city under the red glow of a setting sun. "This is… wow!" he exclaimed as he could see the beautiful medieval like city down from the castle he was in. It was arranged in a neat way as all streets had patterns and it was difficult to get lost.
The city reached far and as he could estimate its inhabitants numbered in the millions. The castle was placed in a high up cliff opposed to the city, he could see a huge wide road that led to the city, on it were various beings. Though it was becoming dark he could make out the forms of those beings ranging from creatures pulling carriages and wagons along with humanoid beings. Some tall, some short and he saw some flying which turned his gaze up to the sky and he saw them, the two moons. One moon was bigger than the other, golden in colour while the other was blueish.
"This is definitely not Earth. Where am I?" he wondered.
"My lord" called a voice from being him. He turned to see a young man dressed formally. He emerged from the curtains and walked over to him. "His majesty the king has arrived" the man indicated. Two soldiers entered they were human; it was probably in consideration to Eric as he had been shocked when he saw the two beast men from earlier. The soldiers were not wearing armour rather leather clothing and in their sheaths were swords. Eric was nervous but he held it in and at that moment the king entered.
The middle-aged man was accompanied by a dark-haired man who was young looking. He appeared to be in his thirties. Eric could sense something very intimidating about him and he avoided eye contact. Along with the man was the king and an older looking man, older than the king.
"Greetings oh summoned hero, I am Elijah Grayleon the forty-seven king of the kingdom Grayleon" said the king as he walked over to Eric extending is hands to cup his. He was smiling with a hint of joy in his eyes no one would mistake, Eric made way to bow and greet but was stopped. "Oh no need for that hero," said the king. Not knowing what to say Eric opted to introduce himself. "Greetings your majesty my name is Eric Johnson" he replied. The king's smile grew even more. "Eric Johnson, I know that this is surprising for you, and it came all of a sudden, but everything will make sense in a moment," said the king and he proceeded to tell Eric the story of why he was there.
*****
The kingdom of Grayleon is a kingdom found in the east central part of the continent of Siltar one of two continents of the world. The other being the continent of Bilzar found on east of Siltar and is much smaller compared. The kingdom borders an exceptionally large forest so large it takes up one fifth of the continent and separates the north and the south of Siltar together. The forest has many uncharted locations, and no one really knows what is deep inside it. Bordering the forest with Grayleon are two other nations.
Grayleon also shares borders with five nations of which it is the third largest between them. With it having a coast Grayleon has an advantage in maritime industry and activities however that advantage is offset by it bordering five nations and also sharing a border with the Great Forest that always leaks in monster to pillage and kill the people that are closer to the border when they attack.
Not only is the kingdom faced with the problem of having to have to repel the monster every time which cost a lot of money it had constants battles with a neighbouring nation which took Grayleon as its arch enemy. The kingdom of Solvon located at the coast along with Grayleon is in a constant state of fighting every few years or a decade at best. These are the external problems faced by Grayleon that have placed a strain on its coffers.
Before Elijah was placed on the throne, the former king fell into sickness and his heirs fought over the throne resulting in a lot of spilt blood from royalty, nobility, and commoners. This resulted in a revolt and led to every one of the royal family being exterminated leaving the kingdom without a ruler. Fortunately, the military was able to hold out its enemies at bay until Elijah a noble marquis who was trusted by the people was placed on the throne and brought stability for a bit.
However the damage had already been done, the royal struggle resulted in funds vanishing and Elijah was forced to take out loans increasing the kingdom debts. Corrupt nobles became bolder and increased in number leading to the citizen of the nation to become poor resulting in many deaths and sickness. It had only been a few years since Elijah took the throne, but a kind-hearted man like him was of no use to the kingdom. The nobles took advantage of him, and finally he lost the respect of many of his vassals and also his people. This led to the decline of the kingdom internally where revolt could happen at any time, so the kingdom needed a hero. A hero that could protect the nation, the king had hoped he would use the summoned hero's strength to combat the monsters coming from the forest and be a deterrent for enemy nations. He figured he would use this to get some breathing room and be able to focus the funds on they had on the citizens. In fact, it was his prayer to the goddess, for her to send heroes to protect the kingdom while he saves the people.
He had thought the goddess would summon multiple beings but was disappointed when it was one person. He then figured if the goddess brought one person, then that person must have great power enough to contend with the strongest in the continent, little did he know.
*****
"And now you know the history of this kingdom" said the king as he was sitting before Eric who had been listening to why he was brought into this strange world. "This goddess showed you a vision of a hero who will save the kingdom?" asked Eric. "It wasn't much as a hero more like beckons of light that will chase away the darkness that has befell this kingdom," corrected the king. "I had initially thought that the goddess would summon multiple heroes to protect this kingdom however given that its only you, I imagine that you must possess great power" he said. "Your majesty if I may ask what does my purpose entail? "Asked Eric wondering. "You would be the sword and the shield of the kingdom. Because the goddess summoned you possess enormous potential and may have the chance of being one of the most powerful beings in the continent.
Eric's eyes darkened, and he realised what his life here would entail. The hero warrior, he would have to train hard and gain power and abilities enough to rival some of the best not only in the kingdom but the continent also.
He got up and bowed. "Your majesty forgive me, this information is a lot to process. Please allow me some time to be able to process it" he requested. Elijah smiled as he got up. "Of cause I understand, we will leave you. In the meantime, remain in the room I will have the maids bring in a meal, you must be starving" he added. It was then that Eric realised he had not eaten for hours, and his stomach was grumbling. The group left and Eric was left alone again but now with his thoughts running wild.
"What?" he thought embracing how big of a situation he had found himself in. "They want me to be a hero. This is like those web novels I used to read instead of studying about reincarnating into a fantasy world. But that must mean there is also a demon lord in this world, and I will have to end up fighting him" he added as he collapsed on his bed. "This is bad, I will have to go to wars constantly and given the state of this kingdom it is a given. Never mind the shitty situation of wars I need to keep an eye out for anyone who could betray me. Not to mention I am a coward; bravery is not my strong suite" said Eric smirking as if to critique himself. "No being a warrior is out of question, I need to come up with an alternative" he added. He needed to get himself out of being the hero warrior, but he knew deep down that he did not have many options. He was in a foreign world, with no money, no connections and was the only hope of a dying nation.