Part 1.
“This marks the third student in the Tokyo Area to go missing in the last week. There is no evidence of foul play. It simply appears that they have vanished into thin air.”
“Thank you, Tanaka. We will keep you updated with all the last information.”
The sound of the TV echoed through the living room in the early morning.
“Hina! You’re going to be late!” Yelled Sumire from the kitchen. Alex was sitting at the table, already eating breakfast, and drinking an early morning cup of green tea. Tamago kake was one of his favorite meals. It was incredibly, raw egg over rice topped with soy sauce. It was something he used to make himself back home when funds were low due to how cheap the ingredients were, but even with the harsh memories, it was still a comfort food for him.
Hina came shooting into the kitchen, dressed up for her first day of fifth grade at Mita Elementary, though her grandfather wanted her to go to Arima, though Sumire had talked him out of it, every year for the past five years. She jumped up into her chair, churning her egg into the rice with her chopsticks.
“Careful, you're going to make a mess and make mommy angry.” Alex laughed at her. Her morning energy was better than any cup of tea or coffee, and a very important part of his morning routine. Eventually Sumire joined them, sitting at the table next to Hina with her coffee and a slice of toast with avocado.
“That it?” He asked his wife.
“I am not hungry. This will be fine.” She said calmly, perfectly hiding her true feelings on the subject matter.
“You know… you really should eat more. It will be healthier for you. I’d love you even if you got fat.” He grinned. He knew exactly what he was doing. His penchant for mischief in riling up his wife was legendary. She would get upset, shoot him a nasty look, but it wouldn’t change anything. She knew that he was an honest man, honest to a fault, and he was terrible at holding back or hiding anything.
After they had been dating for a year, he had gotten tickets for a vacation for the two of them in early April. It could only mean one thing to her, they were going to take time off for Hanami, the Sakura Blooming that happened around that time. After a few drinks, he told her they were going to Hyōgo Prefecture, which meant they were going to see the flowers bloom at Himeji. Something he had said previously that he thought was quite romantic. When they arrived at the Castle on the 2nd of April, they climb to the top. He had been right about it; it was beautiful watching the pink flower whisked away in mass, captives to the breeze blowing through the trees.
She didn’t always know his secrets though, and obviously couldn’t always read his mind. While it was a romantic getaway for the two, she hadn’t realized that when she turned around to look at him, she would find this America man kneeling on one knee, a ring in hand, asking for her hand in marriage; in front of everyone there. It was a very Western style, one that had definitely skipped a few of the usual steps done traditionally. She wasn’t really a traditional girl though, and taken by the effort he put forward, and the kind of man she knew he was, she was overtaken with happiness and said “YES!” on the spot.
So, when he told her, “I’d love you even if you got fat.”, she knew he meant it 100%. Not that at her age, she would ever let herself get fat. So, when she shot him a dirty look at his comment, she wasn’t really angry at him, and simply played along.
“Are you going out tonight? It is Tuesday.” She asked him.
“Not if I can help it.” She replied before taking a sip of his tea.
“You say that, but it seems they always find a way…”
“To irritate, to annoy, to vex, to disturb, to irk, to peeve me.”
“Those all mean the same thing.”
“So, you understand why I don’t wish to go.”
“Izakaya with the boss is a good way to build camaraderie among workers.” She responded.
“Maybe for twenty minutes. I’d rather be home with you.” he responded weakly. “Tachibana is getting too….” He trailed off, feeling he may have already made a mistake.
“What is Tachibana doing?” his wife responded. He could have sworn he saw veins popping in her forehead.
“Nothing you need to worry about. It is uncomfortable, but she hasn’t crossed any lines… and she won’t.” he quickly added the last bit in a way to reassure her. Truth was, at the office one the staff members, Tachibana Aoi, who was an extremely hard and efficient worker, was getting too close. She liked to find excuses to come to his office, even going so far as to volunteer to take work from other section leaders, just so she could report it to him. She was actually a very attractive woman who had caught the eye of many men at the office, just not his eye.
To make matters worse, one of his other kouhai, Watanabe Asahi, who had been the person who begged Alex to come to his mixer where he had met Sumire, was still bitter, after more than ten years, of the fact he had married Sumire. He often tried to intrude whenever Tachibana was in the office, hoping to catch a slip up. When Alex said that the people around him irritated him, that was when they were sober, after they had some drinks in them, things only tended to escalate.
“In fact, I probably won’t go. I’ll tell them that something has come up at home.” He said, finishing his tea and standing up.
“What are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know… Hina is sick, and I need to get home.”
“That won’t work.”
“Why?”
“She isn’t… and you can’t lie. When it comes time to say it, you will probably just blurt out the truth like you always do.” she said coolly, taking a sip of her coffee.
“What… I am sure I can…” He thought for a second about all the times he had attempted to tell a lie. “Okay, you have a point. Then I will just tell them I am not feeling up to it tonight and come home.”
“So, then I’ll see you late tonight.” Was all she said, not bothering to look up at him.
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Part 2.
The clopping sound of the horse hooves against the clay dirt road was the only sound that had been heard for the last dozen kilometers. He wasn’t necessarily a good rider, so moving at any expedited speed had been a no for him, causing their trip to take three times the length. On horseback, to go from Faustus to Dortmin pushing the horse would take three days, meaning at their current pace, it would take them over a week. Marice didn’t mind it though, it got him out of the barracks main office, filling paperwork and doing expense reports.
Marice was in fact a trained soldier, just not a very good one. He had wanted to join the military, much like most young men did. It meant steady pay, and for boys from poor families that meant a future. Luckily, the last war had been before he was born, and that wasn’t even considered to be a real war, It was a rather small campaign by the empire, using mainly mercenary forces, making incursions in the north. The Margrave of Dortmin had seen to it and drove them out, being rewarded the title of Margrave for it, and even marrying the current Prince’s sister, making him a relative to the royal family.
With little threat, and decent pay, there was little reason for people to not join the military. However, military HQ new about this quite well, and weeded out people who underperformed, thinking that they could just collect a paycheck. Marice was nearly one of them. Physically he was inadequate as a soldier. He didn’t have the strength to lift anything large than a one-handed sword, had two left feet, almost zero spatial awareness and would pass out at the sight of blood. The reason he was still in the military was, he was smarter at bureaucracy than most bureaucrats.
Under Holdebark’s order, he was tucked away into Military HQ, taught all the aspects of how the military functions behind the scenes, then shoved into an office with a mountain of paperwork, old expenditure reports that had somehow not been seen for the past decade, and made to compile the reports. Then he was tasked with organizing the current expenditures of the military, finding anywhere he could to cut costs, effectively becoming the sole accountant for the Faustian military.
This was the first time in the past four years he had seen the outside of the walls and given a vacation, as he considered it. Though he wished that they had given him a cart, since like much of everything else to do with the military, he was terrible at horseback riding. However, as according to his expenditure report, they could not afford the extra luxury of acquiring a coach for him, especially with war looming on the horizon.
“Go to Dortmin. Investigate Platz. …Act if necessary? What does that even mean?” he said, reiterating his orders from his superior aloud. He had been sent to Dortmin, alone, with just enough supplies to make the trip, that being if he was riding the horse normally. He had made sure to buy extra with his own money before leaving.
He was feeling incredibly unlucky, and the thought of running, well trotting, away from his mission had in fact crossed his mind. The thing keeping him steadily moving north, his parents. After joining the military, he had acquired a steady pay, and would give nearly all of it to his parents, to give them a better life. He saved only just enough for himself, and considering he slept at the barracks and ate in the mess hall, he didn’t need a lot. His parent’s life had drastically improved, being able to afford a place in the nice area of the Old Town, and they never went hungry anymore, leading to their health improving. Because of that, he felt incredibly guilty for even thinking about deserting.
Taking in a big breath of fresh air, he slapped his face. With rosy cheeks he said, “Alright! Winston, we need to hurry… just not too fast!” He said grabbing on to the reins of his mount. The rather intelligent horse began to gallop forward, at the fastest speed he knew his master to be able to ride at. And so, the rather lankly soldier, riding a rather lanky steed, continued his journey north.
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Part 3.
“If you are able to use magic that way, that would mean you are not limited to anything other than what you can think of.” The sheer idea that someone so magnificent had come before her was exciting. Her curiosity was beyond piqued, she wanted nothing more than to study him. If his ability to use magic could be fully understood it would cause immediate advances in magic that would overnight, surpass everything they had done in the last hundred years. “Tell me again how exactly you do it. Please don’t leave out a single detail.” She was sitting at her desk in the main part of the house. She had a piece of scratch parchment, about half the size of a usual piece of paper, and in her left hand was a rainbow colored feather, with a silver tip which held ink from the well she dipped it in.
“I told you. I ability [Create] creates mana. I then used my [Manipulate] ability to alter the type of mana it is. So, if I want to use fire, I change to mana till it becomes fire. When I am done, I use [Destroy] on any excess mana.” She was furiously jotting down what he was saying on her piece of scrap, and then some of it appeared. “I told you the same thing three times already.” He complained.
“Do you ever just read a book one time?” she shot back. “No, you always find something new the second or third time through.” The response made him sit back in the dining room chair and think about the last time he had read a book for pleasure. Every book he seemed to remember was either a manual or a text book, and the thought made him sick. “What happens if you don’t manipulate it into an element?” she asked, not even bothering to look up from her desk.
“I…” he couldn’t answer. He hadn’t even thought of that. All he knew about was the four elements of the world, plus the oppressive magic of darkness and the magic that was considered to be holy by the world, light magic. “I don’t know.”
As far as the elemental magic went, before, he could use [Create] to make things like fire, water. He could already use [Manipulate] to make the wind or earth move, the difference this time was, one the expenditure was drastically cut, because manipulating mana was far less taxing than manipulating physical constructs and using the mana version caused it to be coated in mana, meaning that it could affect things that were corporeal like spirits or ghosts, among other possibilities.
“Try it out!” she exclaimed. “For Science!” Her face was radiating.
“Alright.” He was feeling somewhat down. They had shared a rather intimate embrace outside beforehand, and now it seemed that all she cared about was his new found magic. He had learned long ago though, don’t disappoint, cause you will probably never hear the end of it. He held out his hand and, [Create], in it he created mana, and instead of using [Manipulate] to try to morph it into some kind of element, he simply let it collect and gown. Eventually it became a large colorless ball in his hand.
The sight of it caused Evona’s eyes to grow wide. All magic up to this point had fallen under the category of one of the four elements and the two opposing forces, light and dark, this was the first time that pure mana was collected like that. She flipped over her parchment and began scribbling more. “Can you morph it into different shapes or doing something with it, without altering its makeup?” She looked him in the eyes. It was not the look of a beautiful woman, it was actually terrifying, he curiosity was insatiable, and he had become the object of it. Pictures of being tied up in a lab to be the subject of experiments began to formulate in his mind, but he shook them off.
“I’ll try.” He began expanding the ball in floating in his hands until it formed an elongated shape the size of his arm. The sound of the quill scratching away in the background let him know that he was apparently performing well enough for the researcher. Then thoughts of his own came to his mind. He then lowered the mana mass until it came in contact with his skin. It began to wrap around it, like a sleeve. The feeling of it coating his skin was… nothing. It wasn’t warm, it wasn’t cold, it didn’t tingle like it had earlier when Evona was shooting mana through his arm. He could still feel the wind against his arm, the warmth of the room they were in; However, when he placed the arm down on the table it was different. He could feel no impact from the touch.
Curious about the development, he got up and went into the kitchen, ignoring Evona’s cries about leaving. He went and turned on the stove, turning the flame on high, causing it to rise high from the burner. Then, ‘for science’, he shoved his hand into the flame and… again nothing. It was the same as before, he felt the air and warmth of the room he had been in, not the excruciating heat of the blue flame his hand was in. He turned his head to call for Evona, only to find her at the counter behind him, scribbling down on a larger piece of parchment.
“From my understanding, though more tests still need to be done. When I wrap my body in this, it maintains the environment that it was in when it first wore it. Keep out the elements of any new environment.” He told her, as she feverishly scribbled down her notes.
“Put it over your head.” She said flatly, again, not looking up from her paper.
“What?” he said blankly. The image of him suffocating in his own magic bubble came to his mind.
“Put. It. On. Your. Head.” She said. Another truly terrifying woman had entered his life, but he couldn’t seem to find the reason to say know. It was better to do it now and find out how it really worked, when he was in the company of the most powerful caster in the world. At least then, if something happened, she could save him.
“She will save me, right?” He hid it well, but on the inside, he was questioning how stable she really was. Nonetheless, he removed his arm from the burning flame and began moving the bubble up from his arm until it covered his entire head.
Much to his relief, he had no problem breathing. Even after all the time it had been on his arm, there was still plenty of oxygen inside to allow him to breathe. He did notice though; the membrane of the bubble was thinner than it had been previously. His own curiosity getting the better of him, he used [Destroy] in small fine increments to break down the inner layer of the bubble. It was then he noticed a problem. In an act of desperation, he destroyed the bubble on his head, and took in a massive breath of air.
“I think… I figured… it out.” He said in between gasps. Right at the moment he had begun suffocating Lili had walked in. She had been exhausted from the Spartan style training regime she had endured under Aururia. The sight of Alex suffocating in the kitchen, however, had woken her up in a dramatic fashion. All she saw was a bubble around Alex’s head and him suffocating. Not realizing that it was self-inflicted, she immediately conjured up blue flames around her, and rushed up between Alex and Evona and emitted a high-pitched yelp or howl towards her.
Before Alex could react, Evona had already conjured up three magic circles behind her and was wearing a devious smile. “Alright Foxy! You think you got what it takes?” she said. Stepping up to Lili’s challenge. There, in the kitchen, which was nowhere near big enough for some kind of magic showdown, they stood off, with Alex as the prize.
Before things could get any more out of hand, Lili’s Foxfire, and Evona’s Magic circles suddenly vanished. Both were startled and were looking back as if to see what went wrong, but Alex voice yelled. “Both of you! What the hell!?” Startled by the sudden loud voice, their heads whipped in his direction. “Over here, both of you!”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Both of them sat before him, in dogezas. Instructed to reflect on their actions, Alex scolded them, “Lili! You are jumping to conclusions. She didn’t cast anything on me. That was my own fault!” He stamped his foot, causing her to flinch. “And you! Your six hun…” he chose not to finish, as even though he was the one scolder her, the look she flashed at him when he brought up her age sent a chill down his spine. “You are old enough to know better. All you had to do was explain what happened, instead of readying magic to fight a child!” Both of them looked away, understanding that they had in fact overreacted and where in the wrong.
“We are sorry.” They both said in what could have been practiced unison. They then turned to each other and bowed their heads. While Evona’s face had a bright smile, Lili on the other hand still had a very obvious pout.
“Now… to continue where we left off.” He said, taking a seat down at the dinning table. The other two girls both got up and found seats of their own, each on either side of him. “Ahem… So, it appears that when the bubble was over my head, it would automatically convert the inner lining into breathable air. I found this out when I attempted to destroy the bubble from the inside out. I quickly ran out of it.” He wore a painful expression on his face.
Alex could take a lot of punishment physically, even mentally he was quiet strong, but some things he was just never really able to get over. When he was a young boy, he had gone swimming one summer at a neighborhood pool. There, two older boys had decided they would play with him, by shoving his head under the water and holding him down. It was only because a passing adult had noticed what was going on that they stopped, and he had been able to surface. The damage from that was done though, and since then he had severe issues with asphyxiation. Something that resurfaced in his Brazilian Jiujitsu days, with him getting rather violent during choking practices.
“So, see, Lili, it wasn’t her fault. She is part of the reason I have this new power.” He told the young girl pouting at the head of the table. She in fact seemed to be more upset at the fact that Evona was the one that had helped him become stronger. Scrunching his face at the realization he wasn’t gaining any ground with her, he said, “Impressive magic though. You worked really hard today didn’t you.” It may have been slightly condescending, considering she was actually older than she looked, a truth he often had to repeat to himself, but it was too late to take it back.
At the praise she had received, she first seemed to stiffen up, not wanting to accept any praises from him, or at least not wanting to be happy to get any praises from him. That didn’t last though. She was incredibly happy to hear him praise her for her hard work, it caused her heart to flutter. Eventually she relaxed her body and smiled up at him. “I did! I worked reeaallllyy hard!” she told him, flashing her pearly whites back at him.
The worry of being hated lifted the metaphorical weight off of his shoulders.
“I know everyone! How about baths?” Said Evona, interjecting when some of the tension had subsided. “You both worked hard, and it would be good to get clean before dinner.” She clapped her hands and smiled at the two of them.
“That will be good. Lili, why don’t you go get ready.”
“Okay.” She responded, then headed off down the hall to the room.
“Good thinking. A bath would really help with her mood. Hard to come out of a relaxing bath in a bad mood.”
“She is really protective of you.”
“Yeah.”
Alex headed back to the room to prepare a change of clothes for his own bath. As he was about to go into the room, Lili came out and grabbed his hand. “Bath.” She said.
“You are first.” Memory of the previous bath came to his mind, how she had been very shy and wanted to bathe alone, which only made sense given her age.
“Together.” She responded.
“No, you are old enough to bathe yourself.” He shot back. He couldn’t understand the change in attitude. Well, he had an idea why, but he didn’t want to enable her. It was better that she simply bathes herself. It was part of being a responsible parental figure.
Not taking nice to the rejection, she inflated her face, and stormed off to the bath alone. Much to Alex’s relief. “Are all teenage girls such a rollercoaster?” He thought to himself.
After Lili had finished with her bath, Alex entered and took off his clothes. He took a look in the mirror in front of him. He was still amazed at the change. Part of him still expected the middle aged man to show up, instead he was greeted by the appearance of the young man, in his prime. It wasn’t his younger body, but the body of a young well-built male that had some similar features to his earthly body. Imagine if an older person had the skin all over their body tightened and invigorated, their muscles hardened, and in his case, facial and chest hair erased. That being the primary reason he knew it wasn’t his body, considering in his late teens he had a beard better than most adult men.
“This really is the new me. I’ll admit, I’m kind of hot. There is still this slight air a maturity, but at the same time, I am young. …if anyone ever heard me say that though…” He felt guilty about his own thoughts regarding himself.
Alex went into the bathroom and proceeded to shower his body off. While doing so, he used his newfound magic ability to rewarm the water in the tub, just so slightly. “If I am gonna relax in the tub, I have to make sure the water is warm enough. Cold bath may be good for you, but a hot one is enjoyable.”
As he was about to begin scrubbing his body, he heard a voice behind him. “Shall I wash your back?” It was Evona. It startled him since he had not heard a single door open, but he simply just chalked that up to the running water drowning out sounds from the other side of the door.
“Is that appropriate?” he asked her calmly. The idea of her washing his back was definitely enticing, especially for the easily excited younger body he was sporting. At the same time, he was worried about the thought of a particular young fox girl that was accompanying him.
“You helped me, it would only make sense that I at least help you wash your hard to reach places.” She said. Her voice was serious but seductive. It left both of his heads confused. “Just… don’t turn around.”
He sensed her grow closer, and could feel her kneel down behind him, then eventually go about scrubbing his back with a cloth. He was definitely happy about it, but when someone tells you, “Don’t do this.”, you are far more inclined to want to do it. That meant that while having your back scrubbed by a pretty lady was exhilarating, he couldn’t focus on that, because he was too busy trying to fight the urge to turn around.
“Why would you come into a bath with someone, and then tell them not to turn around? That is just evil.” He though, mentally fighting a losing war.
“You know it will be bad if Lili sees this.” He started.
“Let us hope she isn’t looking then.” She responded.
“Why do you feel the need to do this?”
“You bathed me, remember?”
“That would have been a long time ago.”
“Yet you haven’t aged a day from then.”
“… you have certainly changed.”
“It was a long time ago. I was a young and beautiful elf back then, nothing like I am now. Now I am stained… I am dirty.“ There was a sense of loss in her voice.
“You were definitely the spitting image of an elvish princess, but…” he paused, only for a second. He then defied her wish and turned around. “The you now, is also extremely beautiful.” All she was wearing was a bath towel, which seemed to be in a war with her breasts to keep them under wraps. Though it seemed that even Takeda Shingen wouldn’t have been able to win that war. The surprise of Alex turning around caused her to lose her balance on the wet tile, and she fell backwards, landing with a thud on her supple bum, causing her entire body to shake. As if they had found a weak point in the enemies’ formation, her breasts sprung forth before him.
This was obviously not the first pair of boobs he had seen in his life, and with the way things seemed to be going for him in this fantasy world, didn’t seem likely to be the last. Ask any man though, when a pair of perfectly round, pleasantly plump breasts appear before him, he will more than likely take a long look, doing his best to commit them to memory. Alex considered himself to be a better man that most in the field of male perversion, but this was too much for him, and not just because he was in a younger body that had more aggressive hormones. He could no doubt feel a great rise from below.
“Are you okay!?” he said, doing his best to sound worried, and disguise any sort of joy that may be trying to leak out in his voice. She grabbed his outstretched hand and raised herself upright, only to then get a clear view of his extended self.
Now she was an elf that had lived for over six hundred years, so it was hard to say if this was the first time she had ever seen an exposed male, or it would have been, if her first reaction was not to immediately blush like a little girl, and cover her eyes. This reaction was the exact opposite of what someone with her appearance would be expected to do. She was the cliched buxom dark elf beauty, but her reaction was similar to that of the young meek princess. This again also confused both of Alex’s heads.
In the midst of this encounter, a very upset fox had entered the bath. Alerted to the noise, particularly the sound of a female voice, coming from the bath that should have been occupied by only one person. It was too late by the time either of them had noticed her presence, her face was red, and she let out an angry animalistic snarl. Before any of the guilty party could do anything, a large purple bagua appeared below them engulfing an area larger than the bathroom. Neither of them could move at this point and were left helpless as they watched the small girl run away, tears streaming from her eyes.
They heard the door on the other side of the wall, and finally they heard the front door slam. It was a long time with the two of them frozen. Alex’s naked body hovering just a few centimeters over Evona’s naked form. Finally, after a time the bagua disappeared, and Alex came down, deftly dodging the woman under him, but a certain sensitive part of him did seem to make contact with her soft skin.
“Not the time!” he said, lifting himself to his feet, and rushing out the bathroom door. Just barely remembering to grab the clothes as he rushed out.
Evona, lying naked on the bathroom floor, was left alone feeling the guilt of her actions, but something else had ignited to. Her own desires had awoken, and because of that, she wasn’t feeling anywhere near as guilty as she should have.
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Part 4.
The muffled sounds of karaoke could be heard in the background. While the others in his group where busy playing their silly game in the room, Tachibana Maru had stepped away to the vending machine. Not necessarily because he was thirsty, there were plenty of drinks back in the room, but because he wasn’t as thirsty as his friends, nor as much as Imai. She was the girl that had latched on to him right away. He didn’t seem to remember her first name, but it didn’t matter that much to him. She was overly clingy and trying way too hard to grab his attention. It was a big turn-off for him, but at the same time it also meant that it was going to be enjoyable for him to toy with her, lead her one, use her and when he was done, toss her to the side.
Maru was your above average seventeen-year-old high school student. He had excellent grades, but not top spot, he was athletic, but didn’t participate in any clubs. He was also outwardly nice to everyone, especially when the adults were looking, but in reality he was the head of all the boys in the school, well all the violent ones. They all followed his orders, usually pulling attention away from him, allowing him to freely how he chose. Nearly a quarter of all the girls in the school had their contact information in his phone, and nearly all of them had had their hearts broken by him on more than one occasion.
He was the alpha male that most young boys dreamed of. A Chad, as modern kids would call him, a title that he didn’t even realize he had earned.
After taking a breather, and coming up with a few ideas for Imai-chan, he turned to go back into the room. He put his hand on the door and turned the knob. As he opened it, a deafening silence came over him, causing his left ear to ring harshly. On the other side of the door was blackness, an empty infinite void. He looked around himself, all was the same black void.
Panic was starting to set in, sweat flowing from his brow as he continuously twisted his head in every direction. Partially to look for any changes, and partially to make sure that nothing was sneaking up on him, considering his senses were dull.
As he frantically twisted and turned in place, a voice spoke from beyond. It was a deep voice, not a welcoming bright one, but one that felt dark. There were no pleasant undertones in its speech, it was dry and very matter of fact. “I have summoned you to a new world, Hero. Here you will save the world from the Evil Demon King. He seeks to ravish this world, and eventually destroy all of it. None in this world can match his might, so I have summoned you, you are our only hope. I have also brought two others along to aide you, they are Heros as well, but they will need you to lead and guide them.”
Maru was quiet while the voice spoke. Disbelief filled his mind. Was this that thing the anime Otaku were always talking about at school? Being spirited away to a new world, to an isekai? Why was he the target? He was just about to go score with some freshman girl, way to infatuated with a senpai from another school, now wasn’t the time to send him to a new world.
“Oi… you bastard voice! You know you have really shitty timing, right?” Maru was laughing, but he wasn’t even sure why. Anger? Disbelief? Had he just gone crazy? “Look… if this is all real, I don’t think I am really the Hero type. Why don’t you try for one of those nerds, they would get a kick out of this.” He was still laughing, though now it was because he thought he had made a valid point.
“I need someone who is capable of doing what needs to be done. Are you capable of doing things that most people wouldn’t be able to bring themselves to do?”
Maru thought for a second. Honestly, he really wanted to return, the idea of playing with that kouhai was still fresh in his mind, and he was a healthy teenage boy, nothing sounded more enjoyable to him than that. “What is in it for me?”, he asked the voice, still surprised he was talking to a random disembodied voice.
“Whatever you want from this new world. You will be the strongest, take what you want, when you want it. It will be all yours, you will just have to claim it from the Demon Lord.” It replied.
This reply exited Maru. He would be the strongest. He could take whatever he wanted. Especially being able to take from the powerful, leaving them weak and helpless. Maru was beyond excited by the prospects.
“Are you a god?” he asked the voice.
“I am. I am the god that no one speaks of. I am the god of gods, the god of revenge. Help me reclaim my world.” It said.
“Fine, you got a de-.” He paused. “Will I be able to go home when I am done?” he asked.
“If you complete all that I ask, I will send you back. That way you can enjoy your prey back home too.”
A twisted smile crossed Maru’s face. He could savor the flavor from two different worlds, probably even decide which one he liked better, then chose to stay or go home. It was the ultimate power trip for his sadistic mind.
“Alright my man… you got a deal!” he said excitement streaming out in his voice.
“Follow everything the man will say to you. I will be in touch with you at times. For now, join the other Heroes and begin your training.”
After that, the voice vanished, and light broke through the darkness. Tachibana Maru found himself standing in the middle of a giant dome structure. The inside walls were made of a white marble, reflecting the light that came through the rectangular windows near the top of the dome, illuminating the entire building. Around the room there were six statues, depicting different human-like figures. They were similar to humans, but most had some features that were overly exaggerated, especially the skeletal-like man in the far corner. He couldn’t exactly tell the direction it was in, but directly across from it was a statue of an excitable looking tomboy with short hair. “Heh… this is a new world?” he said under his breath.
“THERE ARE THREE!” said an exasperated voice.
Maru looked around him, sitting on the floor there were two kids around his age. One was a boy, he was wearing what looked like a winter uniform, something he found odd, considering it was the just before summer break back home. He had traditionally jet-black hair with slightly less-masculine features than Maru. He instantly saw the boy as he beta and made plans to use him as a slave as much as he could.
The other person was a girl, she had lighter hair. She was incredibly pretty, she had a blend of Eastern and Western features, no doubt a hafu. It was a common belief that when the east met west, something magical would happen. In her case, she had gotten all the best genes from both sides. Maru wanted her, he wanted to see her squirm under him, he wanted to break her, he wanted to make her fall in love with him, then he wanted to break her heart and sell her off. He couldn’t do that now, now he had to play Hero, but once he was done, then he would have his fun.
“Oh Heros! You have come at a most dire time. Our world is in danger. We need your help to defeat a being known as the Demon Lord.” A plump man in pristine white robes stood before them, his arms were in the air when he spoke as if he was a preacher giving a Sunday morning sermon.
“Yeah… I know. The god guy said the same thing.” Maru said, his voice was full of angst and annoyance.
“Ah!” the man gasped. “Then you have been given the oracle by the gods!” A big hearty smile broke across his face. “You must first prepare. Your first enemy you must defeat is the evil nation, they have summoned the Demon Lord, and plan to use him to claim dominion over the world!” he continued.
“Umm... Excuse me. Where are we?” The person talking was the other young man. He had regained some of his composure and was now standing just a bit away from his fellow male Hero.
“I am sorry. How rude of me. I am High Priest Eigel. We are in the Holy City of Aquaria.” he said, holding his arms out in a welcoming fashion and flashing a big hearty smile across his face.
“Where is that exactly?” Now it was the girl’s turn. She stood up but kept her distance from either of the two boys.
“Forgive my high priest.” There was a new voice that entered the discussion, it came from far above. There, on a balcony on the largest wall in the dome, stood a tall… man, woman? He, she, it was too androgenous to tell from this distance. The person then continued. “You are in the world of Uvovia. Welcome to your new home. Now we need you to help save it.”
The person wore a long robe, it was mostly dark blue, almost black. It had long sleeves that ended with thick, fluffy black cuffs. It appeared to be rather thin, almost as if it was a kind of night gown, and when the man would turn, it would flow like a breeze had blown through and picked it up. On the back there was a large, embroidered emblem done with gold colored stitchwork. The image was that of a trident, its tips dipped in water.
The man then said, “Eigel. Please inspect them. Make sure that they are in awe of their power given to them buy the gods!” His voice was rather dramatic, like that of someone speaking while giving a big stretch but with erotic undertones.
“Yes… yes… Holy Father.” The plump man said. “Come with me.” He ushered them over, close to one of the statues. This one in particular, the largest in the room, was of an incredibly buff man with long flowing hair and beard, he was standing on what looked like a piece of coral, and hoisting a large trident, poised to throw. Anyone would instantly recognize that, for these people at least, he was their primary god.
“Now, now.” The white robed individual had taken out a large tome from inside the statue’s base. He then rose one hand up, nearly touching Maru chest, a light shown between the two, and then the many quickly smashed his hand to the book.
“Tachibana Maru. 17. Male. Level 1. Hero!” He said the last part with a lot of enthusiasm. “Congratulations Mr. Maru.”
“It is Tachibana. Last name first and try not to be too overly familiar.”
“Sincerest apologies.” He replied, bowing his head. “Now next please.”
The other male student wearing the winter uniform stepped forward. Eigel performed the same kind of ritual on him. When the light show between them, he again slammed his hand down into the book. He then read aloud. “Furuya Toshiyuki. 17. Male. Level 1. Hero!” Again, he finished with enthusiasm. “Congratulations Mr. Furuya, you are a true hero!” he was wearing a joyful smile directed at the young man.
Furuya’s response was bashful, slightly uncomfortable by the praise he was receiving. It was not like he had done anything to receive it, and unlike his counterpart, he was far more humble. It was to be expected, considering he was raised in a well to do traditional Japanese family in Kamigyo ward, in the Heart of Kyoto. He was the son of a wealthy land-owning family. His family owned a construction company, who had started out by renovating old homes around Kyoto and reselling them at a higher price, while his mother was a dedicated housewife. His younger brother and sister, twins, were in their last year of middle school, and were their respective top scorers on all exams at each of their private schools, though his younger brother had failed to break the record he had set.
Now Furuya had spent his days doing more of the same, much more, his days were filled with studying and then cram school. He had no such thing as a social life, and no intention of obtaining one. He was the student council president of his High School, much to the chagrin of his Vice-President who had run against him. After school he would spend hours at cram school, studying more, all in an effort to ensure that he achieved nothing less than perfect scores for Kyoto University, in the effort to one day become a lawyer.
However, now, all that effort was washed away. While on the outside he appeared calm and composed, on the inside he was a roiling furnace whose temperature was well beyond the suggested limit. Yet, he remained composed, and gave a bow to Eigel’s congratulations. A perfect response, from a perfect Japanese man.
“Now lastly, young lady. Please, come forward.” Eigel extended a hand to her. She denied his offer, but came forward, nonetheless. The priest stretched his hand, slightly higher than he had on the boys before her, hovering just over a rather uncomfortable area. When the light was shown, unlike with the boys, he didn’t immediately smack his hand down, he continued to let it hover, just oh so longer, giving her a rather unsettling smile. This was not lost on any of the people present.
Finally, after just a little too long, he pressed his hand into the tome and read aloud. “Satō Hina. 16. Female. Level 1. Hero.” He closed the book and smile a big smile at her. “Congratulations my dear Hina. You are, too, a Hero.”