Duke Randolph paused to look around the room. It was a cruel thing he and the people of his world just did to the near thousand newly revived, but he has seen what happens when the demons get ahold of the people of a village. He has seen cities fall to their hordes over and over till the defensive line was established after half the continent was lost. And he knew, if something did not give them an edge, then all was lost.
He closed his eyes to remember when he was a boy over half a century before. He and his father watched the hero summoned to fight the demons when they were more contained and less powerful. The young man in gilded armor marched from this very city with an army at his back. Knowing what he does now, he knew the hero was young and overconfident.
The last summoning they did they sacrificed whole countries to train up the heroes they summoned. A group of six. Four of them could actually fight, and only three of them are alive now. The two crafters revolutionalized technology and magic items but fell into the trap of self-indulgence and nepotism. They now make trinkets for nobles instead of helping the war effort. The last one, the mage, left the war after the other three died fighting the neverending hordes. Locked themselves in their tower they have earned and foreswore the world.
Realizing he might have paused too long in his momentary reminiscence, he opened his eyes again to see several of the reborn in less-than-ideal sitting positions.
“ Right, as I was saying, we are in Nigal. More accurately, we are in what we call The Resort. A special compound outside of the city. Inside you will have access to the best elite trainers and resources we can offer. Take note, that we have granted each of you an allowance as part of your debt. Go under that allowance, and it will be removed from your debt, go over and add to it.”
Randolph started looking around noticing a lot of naked faces in thought, many others just angry or despairing. He took a moment to look at the boy that was chained up.
“ We will be giving you all six months for training. Most of you... those who squander this new life will not be given any choice but to be slaves. And you will be of use to us. Those who try hard will have their freedom. Even with your debt. Those who volunteer will be rewarded even greater after their term of service. Land and title, riches and fame, glory and eternity. All yours.”
Randolph closed his eyes again. Remembering the lessons hard learned from the second hero summoning during his lifetime. They were selfish pricks.
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Jeff and the others were soon given simple robes to put on. Which was nice except they were itchy. Then led into lines where their basic information was asked for. Name, age, sexual preference, class... Jeff was unsure what he should give them, but it seemed that the clerks taking the information did not really care if they lied or not. Just writing down what they were told. He has no doubt the teen that called himself something 20 words long and was total edge lord would regret it later.
When it was the girl in front of him turn, he learned her name is Rachael. From a country, he did not know the name of. Which allowed him to learn there were people from more than his world summoned here. In fact, other than the football player who caused the ruckus, he only recognized two others from his school here. One was Lindsey Leuis, the senior prom queen. Who he had a secret crush on. Then again half the school had a crush on her, including the girls. The other was Jared Wainwright. He only knew because he was his lab partner last year and the reason why he failed that class as well.
“ Next.”
Jeff stepped forward, scratching at his side where the robe was rubbing against his thigh.
“ Name?”
“ Jeffery Trever.”
“ Age?”
“ 17.”
“ Previous home?”...
On and on the questions went till about the twentieth, then the clerk said he was done and told him to move to the group with the red banner. Of the five others set up, his had the most women in it. As the blue banner seemed to have bigger and stronger men while the green banner had smaller and skinnier people. The purple banner seemed to have a mix of everyone, while the black and white banners looked almost deserted. Lindsey was in the white banner one. So was the football player.
As Jeff took a seat at the bench with the others of the red banner he saw Rachiel get up and move beside him. The act caught him by surprise and he could not help but blush remembering seeing her on the floor.
“ Well, that answers my first question.”
He could see he was not the only one blushing. Instead of just trying to ignore it, he extends his hand toward her.
“ Jeffery, but my friends call me Jeff.”
She takes a moment to look at his hand before taking it with her own and shaking it gently.
“Rachael... healer... sorry, last thing I remember was headlights and a truck horn... then this.”
He chuckled hearing that, realizing the ‘classic’ method most stories use.
“ Meteor strike... or space debris that did not break up. Doesn’t matter now. Also, Cardmancer, whatever that is. Seems like some kind of summoner slash commander.”
She looked at him questioning how much she should reveal when a man in a colorful robe and a bandolier of potions stepped in front of them.
“ All right red group. You are those that we call support. Or utility if you want to get technical. You do not interact with the enemy directly, but you are also not crafters or laborers. Which means you are the weak link in the team. Now, if you follow me, I will bring you to your dorm.”
Jeff stood and offered his hand to help Rachiel up, and she took it as she smiled.