Darkness
"What... Where am I?" flashed through the mind of a young man floating in weightlessness, surrounded by impenetrable darkness.
He was slightly taller than average, with raven-black hair, deep-set blue eyes resembling the purest sapphire. Sharp facial features, pale white skin, and a toned physique gave him the appearance of an elegant young man.
"Wh-where am I? Who am I? What am I doing here?" surrounded by emptiness, he asked himself these questions for an unknown number of hours, days, weeks, or maybe months? And only the screams of people, echoing occasionally in his consciousness, like a warden, accompanied his existence in this place.
This place was very strange. Neither cold nor hot. No wind, smell, sound, color, only a feeling of incredible calm.
Suddenly, like lightning in the night, a bright beam of light pierced the darkness around, bringing colors and sounds into the void.
"B-1380, sector GOLF has fallen. By order of the A-8 council, our unit is being sent to support the first line of defense of sector Kilo."
"ATTENTION! THE ENEMY IS APPROACHING THE RIGHT FLANK! IT IS RECOMMENDED TO SEND SEVERAL SQUADS TO SUPPRESS IT!"
"Aggghhh!!!"
"Help, no, no, please! I don't want to die!!"
"Open the door, bastards, you have no right to leave us here!"
Immediately after the appearance of the light, hundreds of memories simultaneously arose in the consciousness of the blue-eyed man. Dozens of strangely familiar images, bringing with them terrifying pain, cut through his consciousness like a razor-sharp knife through tender flesh.
=====
(indistinct sounds resembling speech)
Adapting after the sudden appearance of all 5 senses and raising his eyes, he saw a huge hall decorated with banners with an unknown coat of arms. The ceiling stretched upwards, as if trying to reach the sky, and the sun shone outside the window.
"Bene..." — a female voice was heard from somewhere. — "Rituale felix fuit. Accipe eum in aulam magus." — said a stranger with soft facial features, chestnut hair, and emerald eyes, standing a few meters away from him. A moment later, the guards grabbed him and dragged him to another room. Not understanding what was happening, he obediently followed their will.
The new room looked completely different. It resembled an office. Or a laboratory? Piled with various papers, there were all sorts of flasks with unknown liquids everywhere.
"Cum iti vindeci inima gratulor, filia" — said an old man in a robe standing in the center of the room.
A huge guard in steel armor grabbed his hand again and led him to the old man. Placing his hand on the young man's head, he began to mutter something extremely indistinct.
"O deus scientiae .... Domine sapientiae .... Summe sapiens .... oro pro tua benedictione... da scientiam puero huic."
"AAAGghh!?" — clutching his head, the black-haired young man fell to his knees. The pain, piercing his consciousness like the sharpest sword, brought with it an understanding of the language of these people.
"Now he should understand us." — said the old man, turning to the green-eyed lady.
"Thank you very much for your work." — she said, bowing slightly towards him.
"Welcome, hero, who was summoned to our world. My name is Anet Valeri Timor. I am in charge of the summoning ritual and am the princess of the Ignis Empire." — saying this, she performed a light curtsy.
"What? Where am I? What world?! Hero? If this is a joke, it worked, but I will file a complaint for kidnapping, clear?!"
"Please, calm down. I will tell you everything in order, but for now, follow me." — she said, gracefully pointing to the exit.
=====
Walking down a well-lit corridor decorated with banners and portraits of people who looked remarkably like this lady, she began her story:
"You see, you were summoned to this world to resolve the conflict between the three largest states of the eastern continent: the Republic of San-Harz, the Kingdom of Vjorn, and the Ignis Empire. In our world, there are six continents – Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern, Elven, and the Continent of Darkness. At the moment, we are on the western continent. The conflict is a war that broke out between the largest empires five years ago."
"But how and why did I end up here?" — the young man said with a shocked expression.
"Please do not interrupt. I understand your shock, but I will tell you everything in order." — said Anet. At the same time, her expression changed for a moment. It seemed she was holding back her irritation.
"As you say..." — understanding this, he decided to remain silent and listen to the story.
"Ahem, ahem. As I said, there is currently a war between the largest states on our continent. We are now in the palace of the Ignis Empire, and you were summoned to resolve this conflict. Naturally, in our favor." — she said with a slight smile.
"What??!! But I am an ordinary person, how can I resolve THIS??!!" — he exclaimed.
"Please do not worry. Every person who comes to our world, due to the specifics of the ritual, possesses power. To be precise, the ritual independently selects a candidate capable of moving from one world to another, and such individuals simply cannot be ordinary. Since you are here, it means you have enough power to be considered an outstanding person capable of resolving the situation." — she said.
"According to our information, the enemy is planning to summon, if they have not already summoned, heroes with the same goal as us."
"You mean I will have to participate in the war, and there will also be several others like me?!" — he said, almost shouting.
"Please do not worry, the empire will provide you with full support."
"GO TO HELL WITH YOUR SUPPORT, CLEAR?! BRING ME BACK HOME!!!" — he shouted.
"Sorry, but we cannot do that."
"WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO KIDN..."
"We cannot prepare the relocation ritual right now." — she interrupted.
"WHAT THE H..." — he wanted to shout, but fell silent, hearing the footsteps of the guards behind him.
"You mean to say you can kidnap me, but cannot return me?" — he asked.
"Returning you requires a huge amount of resources. Due to the complexity of the process, it may take months or even years to prepare the ritual." — the princess interrupted, with an imperturbable expression on her face.
"It is in your best interest to support us, after the war we will return you, but for now, proceed to the assessment hall." — she said, making a light gesture towards the huge doors at the end of the corridor.
Having no choice, the young man, who had fallen into slight despair, trudged in the indicated direction.
Arriving at the assessment hall, Anet pointed to a strange metal device resembling an astrolabe, with symbols carved on it, externally resembling runes, and said:
"Please, place your hand on the device. It will measure your mana and we will be able to determine the powers you possess." — she explained.
Having no choice, he placed his hand on the device. A moment later, the symbols began to emit a blue glow, and the device hummed faintly. This continued for a couple of minutes, after which everything fell silent.
And a moment later...
"He has nothing!" — shouted the old man in the robe, looking at the empty screen a couple of meters from the assessment site.
"What do you mean nothing!?" — shouted the girl with chestnut hair.
"He doesn't even have essence! Not to mention unique power like other heroes!" — he shouted in response.
"Could the device have malfunctioned?" — she asked.
"Impossible. It was calibrated two days ago. Moreover, an hour before us, a knight from the Dracardis family was tested on it." — the mage objected.
"DAMN, don't tell me he is one of the summoned without power!!!" — she said, hitting the table nearby with her fist.
"Princess, please, do not use such vulgar words." — the old man said timidly.
"I don't care about vulgarity! We spent so many resources on the summoning ritual and it was all in vain!" — Anet shouted and turned to the pale young man.
"Throw this wretch into the dungeon! We will decide his fate later." — she ordered the guards.
Pale, he once again glanced around the room in hopes of finding an exit. But the only salvation was the slightly open door, treacherously located right behind the guards. Having no other choice, he rushed towards the door, but...
BAM
It took the armored man only a couple of seconds to strike and knock him out.
*****
Note: (An astrolabe is a historical instrument used to determine the position of celestial bodies and predict astronomical events.)
(I apologize for using Latin instead of a fictional language...)