Thump. A man fell out of thin air in front of a room full of people. Various people with blue robes and masks stood in a circle. Underneath them was some kind of symbol that lit up eerily, then slowly dulled until there was no more light within it.
“Put him with the others.” A man callously said.
““Yes, my lord”” Two robed individuals picked up the man who fell out of thin air and dragged him through a door and into a dark hallway…
***
The man opened his eyes in confusion.
What...happened? Where am I?
He looked around the room to see a small room with stone walls and iron bars. He was on a bed with a thin sheet for a blanket and no pillow. He simply ignored the slightly smelly bucket in the corner.
Various memories flashed through his mind, but they seemingly came from two different perspectives. It was so disorienting that he immediately rolled over to his side, crawled over to the bucket, and puked a few times. Panicking wasn’t going to do anyone any good, so he forced himself to calm down and let his mind wander slowly. He viewed each memory one by one. This Jake…This Zero…Zeno…the incident, his sister who was killed, his friends who betrayed him, The knight and the childhood friend both traitors. He recalled the feelings after the incident and the ones leading to the summoning.
The process was very slow and brought him a headache, but he kept at it. He wanted to know…he needed those answers. Who am I? Resounded in his mind over and over again until he couldn't handle the growing migraine from conflicting memories. Eventually, he stopped and reached a conclusion.
I am Jake and I am Zeno…yet I am not. They are a part of me, yet I am someone else…something else…
The man thought to himself and looked down. He thought of the memories of Zeno and Jake while inspecting his body. Slowly, a cold and calculating feeling welled up inside him. He seized the feeling and let it flow through his mind…through his veins…he let it become one with him as his anger toward the two lost lives pierced his heart and solidified itself in his mind. Yet, he recalled his broken memories of the soul arts that his brother talked about. He thought about those mystical arts and realized that there may be a way to revive them both…there had to be.
I will bring them back and make whoever did this pay dearly… he swore to himself with a cold heart.
He got off of his knees and stood up slowly. He felt the energy swirling erratically within him and was immediately disappointed. His previous mana was much more…stable. Right now it was fluctuating so much that he couldn’t even use the simplest of spells and he forget trying any enhancement techniques. If the amount of power severely spikes at any point during an enhancement, you can kiss your limbs goodbye as you scrape them off the ground. It wasn't a very pretty picture for the enfeebled man.
He reached within himself, felt the chaotic mana within him and slowly let himself relax…
One minute passed…then two…ten minutes…an hour. Slowly, his mana was calming down as he relaxed his mind and body. Must have been because of the fusion…but why is it so chaotic?
He couldn’t understand. In some of his memories as Zeno, his mana was under perfect control, yet now, it was like he was a rookie all over again. Forget even the amount that he had now, his control over mana in general was borderline infantile.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, he got back onto the bed that he rolled out of earlier and tried to force himself to relax and sleep. The spikes in his mana woke him up every now and then, irritating him even further.
Sometime later, he was woken up with a clank clank. The man rolled over tiredly and saw a man wearing medieval armor. It looked like a knight or something along those lines. He looked at the man who had a slight scruff on his face and chin.
With a swift movement, the knight unlocked the prison door and motioned for the man lying on the bed.
“Come.” The knight said.
The man wordlessly followed as they made various turns until they walked up a flight of stairs.
The stairs…They seem so familiar. What is going on?
Various thoughts went through the man’s head as they reached the door at the end of the long staircase. They went through and started to walk down a luxurious hallway that was lined with various paintings, statues, fruit and other expensive looking objects.They kept walking until they stopped before a large wooden set of double doors that had a strange crest on them. The knight pushed the doors open and motioned for the man to follow.
“YOUR MAJESTY! THE MAN HAS AWOKEN!” The knight announced to the people present in the room.
The man looks around the room and sees various people wearing gaudy clothing in the stands to the left and right of the large immaculate room. He looks to the left a little bit and sees a group of thirty or so people all standing in a 6x5 formation with an adult in front. He started to remember them, but he didn’t have time to think about it as the king began to speak.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“WELCOME! I am sure that you are nervous and have many questions, and we will be sure to answer any and all that you may have. However, I would like to introduce myself first. My name is Ruslan Costa. I am the current king and ruler of Elysia. Beside me are my wife, Ruth Costa; and my daughters, Harmonia Costa, and Layla Van-Hassel Costa.”
Harmonia...Costa… The name caused his mind to immediately go on alert. His mind was immediately filled with rage that threatened to overcome him from the depths of his soul, but he just barely managed to push it to the back of his mind.
Not yet…I need to be stronger… He reminded himself.
He wasn’t strong enough to do anything about her for now, and needed to bide his time and wait for an opportunity. His gaze met hers and the anger once again swelled up, but he tried to keep it within reasonable limits. The man knew that keeping his hatred down entirely was a feat only god was capable of. Such sorrow and wrath were normally too much for one person to bear with. It didnt help that he had a double dose of it clawing it's way through his mind and body...begging to be released upon anything and everything. Sweetly whispering in his mind with thoughts of the entire world burning in hellfire for everything they have done...to tear their souls from flesh and unleash his wrath incarnate-
He glared at her and looked away soon after, taking and almost inhuman force of will to jerkingly tear his gaze away. This caused Harmonia and Layla to be confused. The last thing he saw was a slight scar on the right side of harmonia's face before he looked elswhere. A permanent reminder of his suffering was still there which calmed him somewhat. The king and queen were talking with the rest of the group, but yet saw the flash of anger appear on the man’s face and was stumped on why he would be angry at Harmonia.
“We have summoned you here from your world to help us with something.” The king continued. “There is an evil presence far away from these lands that needs to be vanquished. If it is not, our people will die, millions will suffer and be tormented. The sick and diseased will overrun the world and they will eventually set their sights on your world after ours is but a rotten shell of what it used to be.” The king finished with a solemn tone.
“We have summoned you o’ great heroes, to help us combat this evil...to vanquish this plague that both of our worlds would face!”
Many nobles in the stands applauded. The thirty or so people had starry eyes and were excited about this…except the man who stood off to the side and two girls who raised their hands.
“Can you send us home?” Jessica asks.
“I am sorry but we cannot send you home at this time. But yes, overall, we can…It just takes time for the mages to recharge the catalyst that the portal uses. The time is around ten years; however, the threat will be here in Five years mind you.”
“What’s in it for us?” Christina calmly asks.
“Money, power, fame, and anything you desire that I can procure for you, ladies and gentlemen. This, I swear upon my crown.”
An attendant suddenly opens up the door and kneels in front of the king, interrupting his thoughts.
“Your majesty, a report.” The attendant says.
“Speak.”
“The other lords have called for a meeting regarding Sandstrom.”
“Very well. Please excuse me, heroes. I have matters that I must attend to. While you are here, feel free to ask any questions or seek advice. We will provide you with lodgings as you are the guests of honor. Also, starting in two days you will all begin an assessment to see which areas you should train in. ATTENDENTS! Bring our guests to their rooms!”
“”YES, Your majesty!”” Two attendants said in unison.
Immediately they walked over to the group of people and started to lead them out of the room and into the numerous hallways and finally into what looked like a guest wing of the area.
“You may take any room that you all wish in this entire wing. It has been reserved for your group as your personal area. Please relax today and tomorrow as we will be beginning the assessment the day after.”
The group split amongst themselves and each went into their own room. The man picked a room at random and found it was empty, so he locked the door and laid down on the bed. The inside was lined with stone and had a medium sized bed and desk, with a lantern and spare oil for late night reading. His mind was exhausted from sifting through the memories of two people as well as barely holding back his anger.
Never in his wildest dreams or his most dreaded nightmares, did he ever think or wish, that he would once again end up in his world…Zeno’s world…and in front of that damn princess. That memory was perfectly clear.
He let his anger wash over him and tried to relax as he slowly drifted off to sleep with his internal energy waking him up occasionally.
***
The man spent the next day mostly in solitude, trying to calm down his chaotic mana and regain his memories by painfully sifting through them. When he became too stressed out or exhausted, he would walk around the place he was in. Eventually, he found a way outside and took a look outside. The walls and inner city looked like nothing had changed while he was gone. As if he only took a stroll for a day and came back…a very painful stroll. His mind worked in overdrive putting the pieces together.
Angela…
He immediately started to walk with a slow pained gait towards a specific location in the castle until he went down a few stairs and came to a basement door. Apprehensive, he paused for a moment before he remembed what exactly happened in this room. The emotions crashed into his heart, shattering any semblance of calm he tried so hard to keep up. While shaking, he reached towards the door to confirm
As he was about to enter the door, a guard walked by and grabbed his shoulder. “Sorry, but you aren’t allowed in there.”
“Why not? Or rather, what is in there?” The man asked.
“Precious books and maps that are military secrets. I cannot allow you to enter this room sir.”
Books? Maps? Right. Wait this guard looks familiar too…
The man spent some time looking at the guard while walking back up the stairs behind him. Then it hit him. This is...N-eil? That bastard…!!!
Once again while pushing down the anger that threatens to come out, he walked out of the stairwell and back to his room to resume his meditation.
Not now…not yet. The man thought to himself as he slowly calmed down his mana and practiced his control over the now very chaotic energy.
Hours passed and it was dinner time by his stomach noise. He was about to ask someone what time dinner was held, when a knock appeared at his door. He walked over and opened it to see a servant holding a tray of food.
“Here you are sir. Your dinner has been prepared. If you want anything, please ring this bell and I will come immediately.”
The male attendant set the tray on a desk in the room as well as the bell, and left. The man walked over to the desk and lifted the lid on the tray of food. A line of sandwiches and meats were on the plate left for him, while on the left side was a large glass of water.
The man set the tray on the desk and looked at the food with hunger at first then immediately showed contempt and disgust. He sat on the bed instead of eating and resumed his meditation...