Chapter 30 - My Brother, the [Hero] of Placeholder

Jared stood there in disbelief. He had to be dreaming. There was no other way that he would hear his brother’s voice.

That belief was only solidified as blue words appeared in his vision, and he suddenly found himself in a suit of shiny and surprisingly light armor.

System: Zone entered, Faroff City. Faction - Gram

System: Congratulations! You have been chosen as the new Hero of Placeholder!

System: Your base class has been set to Warrior

“It’s a dream,” he stated as he looked at the sword that also appeared in his right hand. “It’s just a dream.”

He laughed in relief. “I must’ve eaten something weird before bed,” he told himself as he looked around at the medieval town that his dreams put him in, especially the blue-colored pillar-thing that he was next to.

The chaos around the square seemed to have calmed down, and people were looking at him and pointing. More than a few were asking things like if he was the hero.

Jared pinched his cheek to be sure he was dreaming and grinned widely when it didn’t hurt.

It is a dream. Jared thought. Awesome! That means I can do anything I want!

Jared immediately put every one of his brain cells to work.

Hot babes. Hot babes. Hot babes. He chanted mentally.

“Excuse me, sir,” said a woman who fit the description nicely. “Are you the [Hero] who was summoned from another world?”

Jackpot! Jared fist pumped internally.

He cleared his throat. “Why, yes, that would be me,” he replied. “How can this humble hero-“

He was cut off as the woman’s expression turned into a sneer, and she pulled a vial out of nowhere.

“Death to the [Hero]! All hail the [Demon Lord]!” she shouted as she flung the vial at him.

Jared gave a… ahem… very manly scream as the vial broke across his chest and he caught on fire.

… Fire that didn’t hurt one bit.

It’s a dream. Just a dream. He thought as he calmed down. He looked back at the woman and shot her a wink.

Yeah, there were shouts and the sounds of a fight in the background, but Jared didn’t want to fight in his dreams. He pressed on for his original goal.

“Thanks for warming me up, though I would have preferred another way if you know what I mean,” he wagged an eyebrow at her.

She looked at him in shock and confusion… until a hooded figure appeared behind her and knifed her in the back.

“[Hero]!” the figure shouted, throwing back his hood and revealing an old man with pointed ears. “It’s not safe here! We need to move!”

“Dude, not awesome,” Jared said with a shake of his head. “We were going somewhere! I can’t believe my dreams are such buzzkills.”

“Dreams?” the pointy-eared man muttered in disbelief. Then, his eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure, sir?... But my oaths… Understood.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “Now listen, grampa, why don’t we have a nice talk with the police so they can sort things out?” Jared asked as he reached his free hand for the man’s arm.

The man stabbed a knife into his hand.

“Dude! Not awesome!” Jared shouted as he jerked his hand back. “That hurt, bro!”

But that jolt of pain finally shocked his brain into motion.

It hurt. Dreams don’t hurt. And… He looked down at the body of the woman, where a small pool of blood was forming from her knife wound.

“Oh god,” he said, doubling over. “I’m going to be sick. She’s dead? And… and… she tried to light me on fire. Oh god. Not awesome. Definitely not awesome.”

“Sorry about this, [Hero], but I need to get you to safety,” the old man said as he stepped forward. Then, despite his twiglike appearance, he easily hefted Jared over a shoulder and took off at a full sprint.

… No easy feat. Jared was 6’2”, 220 pounds of former NFL linebacker.

He tore off down the streets, and Jared was now starting to feel sick for a different reason.

“It’s okay, you can put me down now,” Jared said. “I can run by myself.”

“I would love to, but it seems we have company,” the man murmured.

Due to his awkward position, Jared could only hear, not see the group of 3 that closed off the other end of the alley… but he could see the three that closed off the side he was facing.

“Why, Shadow Knife, I should have known that our Lord’s message would have you poking your head out of hiding,” came a female voice from the other side. “Or is it Shadow Leader now? You’ll need to thank our lord for your promotion.”

“Oh, I would not count her out just yet, Speaker Tunalia,” the old man replied. “The top members of the Hero’s Shadow are not so easy to kill.”

“A ladyfriend of yours?” Jared whispered in the brief lull after that.

“No,” the old man hissed. “Bad news. Right hand of the [Demon Lord] type of bad news!”

“Now, hand over the [Hero] before he gets hurt,” the woman continued.

“Over my dead body!” the man snarled.

“Oh, dear Knife, that was always the plan. [Wall of Perdition’s Flame]!”

Before Jared’s eyes, a wall of black flame sprung up that seemed to stretch and deform with images of screaming faces.

He craned his neck to look behind him and saw that way was covered, too.

Not awesome. So, not awesome.

“Please tell me you have a plan,” Jared begged the man whose shoulder he was still stuck on like a sack of potatoes.

“I do, but you will not like it,” he muttered. “Hold on tight!” he shouted as he threw something down on the floor that burst into smoke.

“A cheap trick,” the woman called. “[Breeze]!”

Said [Breeze] was more of a gust, and the smoke cleared away… right in time for the second thing the old man had tossed.

There was a blinding flash of light and a loud boom.

Jared’s vision turned into a white smear as his ears rang.

System: You are blinded

System: You are deafened

Jared let out a groan that turned into a scream as the old man turned and sprinted for the wall of flame on the opposite side of the alley. His scream then turned back into muffled grunting as the old man shoved his free hand over Jared’s mouth.

Jared’s vision and hearing returned partially, just in time for the old man to push past one of the freaky robed people and jump for the wall of flame.

Jared closed his eyes and braced for the incoming fire… only for him to instead feel the world shift in a way that made him nauseous.

When he dared open his eyes, he found the old man setting him on the floor of one of the decrepit buildings next to the alleyway. The old man then peeked out the window at the freaky robed people.

“After him! He couldn’t have gotten far!” the woman shouted, and the flames suddenly died down.

After that, the old man waited for an uncomfortable amount of time, and Jared finally spoke up.

“Hey, uhh, bro-“ he started but was cut off by a shushing motion.

Jared wisely shut back up.

After even more uncomfortable silence, the man finally spoke up.

“I will get you to safety, but I need you to do exactly what I say, understood?” he whispered.

Jared nodded.

“Good, first, tell your armor to activate shadow mode,” he stated.

Jared had about a million questions… but he owed the old man his life so he might as well.

“Uhhh… activate shadow mode,” Jared stated.

The lightweight plate armor suddenly shifted, and Jared found himself in a set of lightweight leather armor covered by a cloak similar to the guy who’d just saved his life.

“Awesome,” he whispered as he lifted up his arm and examined the armor.

“Second, put your sword away. It will draw too much attention.”

“You got it,” Jared said as he felt along his back and then at his hip.

“What are you doing?” the old man asked in exasperation.

“Looking for the sword holder thingy,” Jared whispered back. “I don’t think this armor has one.”

“Just put it in your inventory!”

“What’s an inventory?” Jared blinked in confusion.

“System preserve us. He might as well be a child,” he grumbled.

“Hey!” Jared replied indignantly. “It’s not like we have magic and freaky robed people and giant floating pictures of demons threatening the world where I come from!” He paused. “Well, I guess maybe the last one if you count movies, and that would make an awesome plot for a movie, but those are all made up!”

The old man sighed. “Alright, let me give you the basics while we wait for reinforcements…”

Jared got a quick explanation of things over the next several minutes. Health, levels, the inventory, and all of it sounded a lot like those games his younger brother used to pester him to play.

Never thought there would be a day when I would regret not playing video games. Jared thought with a slight frown.

Either way, he got a good enough handle on things to put his sword away, and then the old man sprung one last surprise on him.

“And while we are discussing all of this, this should help me keep you safe,” the old man said.

System: Shadow Knife has invited you to join their party. Accept?

Jared shook his head. “I’m all for a good party, but is now really the time, bro?”

The old man stared for a moment before looking up and sighing deeply. He was about to reply when he suddenly clammed up and turned away.

“Yes, sir. Understood. Thank you, sir,” he stated to thin air.

Before Jared could ask what that was all about, he got even more words thrown up in his vision.

The Grandmaster: When the System refers to party, you can think of it more like “squad” or “unit.” You should join. It will help Shadow Knife keep you safe

“Okaaay,” Jared said with a hint of suspicion. “I accept, then.”

Instantly, the upper left portion of his vision was filled with a list of 9 names… all of them starting with Shadow. At the very top was Shadow Knife.

“Only Jared,” the old man nodded in satisfaction. “You’re not as foolish as I thought. Full names are powerful here.”

Jared furrowed his brow. He hadn’t meant to remove his last name, but now that he thought about it for a moment.

What is my last name? And how could I forget something like that? He asked himself.

However, his concerns were put on the back burner as someone appeared inside the building… and he instantly knew they were friendly for some reason.

Probably because they were in the squad.

“Regretting your decision to take the [Hero] and split?” a normal-looking guy said as he threw back the hood of his cloak.

“No, Fighter,” the old man said with a shake of his head. “I would have easily made it to the compound… Had we not run into Speaker Tunalia.”

“Son of a dave,” the new guy muttered. “What in the blue text is she doing here?”

“Same thing as we are,” the old man replied, gesturing to Jared.

And then Jared realized that he’d been a bit rude. He couldn’t just keep calling him old man and new guy in his head.

“I’m Jared, by the way,” he said sticking out his hand to the new guy. “And you are?”

“Shadow Fighter,” the new guy replied.

He turned to the old man. Who simply said, “Shadow Knife.”

Jared frowned. “So, those are like… codenames, right? Do I get one?”

Shadow Fighter chuckled. “Your codename is [Hero]. You don’t really need one since we’ll do the lurking in the dark for you.”

Jared hmmed. “Alright, awesome,” he said as several other cloaked figures stole into the room. “But what organization do you all work for? Is it like the CIA or the NSA or something?”

Shadow Fighter almost replied, but Shadow Knife cut him off. “Questions later, we need to get you out of here first. We have a secure compound nearby, and with all of us here, we should be able to guarantee your safety.”

Jared didn’t quite know what to think about the secret agents that he was working with, but one thing that he was sure of was that they were good at moving unseen and unheard. Even with his complete inexperience, they somehow managed to get him to a secret tunnel and then to their secret base underground all without any of the crazy people in robes finding them.

The entire group gathered in a room, and Shadow Knife excused himself to whisper in a corner for a few moments before returning.

“We shall do introductions momentarily,” he stated. “But before we do, you all should know that… that…” he took a deep breath and composed himself. “The [Hero’s] party was lost along with all operatives. The previous mission was a trap.”

That all meant nothing to Jared, but the rest of the room gasped or made other statements of disbelief.

“So, to begin introductions, I am Shadow Leader, previously Shadow Knife,” he stated. “I command this party of the Hero’s Shadow. As my previous name indicated, I am a knife specialist.”

He nodded, and the others introduced themselves one by one.

“Shadow Fighter. Mainly use a sword, but I’m proficient with all weapons,” said the normal-looking guy.

“Shadow Restorer,” said a grumpy, pointy-eared man who pulled out a scepter. “Healer. Try not to stand in any fire or anything stupid.”

Jared nodded but couldn’t help question that name. He didn’t say it out loud, but apparently, he didn’t need to.

“All the good codenames were already taken, okay? No Shadow Healer. No Shadow Cure. Couldn’t even get Holy Shadow!” he grumbled, and it must have been a common refrain as the next shadow continued without missing a beat.

“Shadow Brawler,” said a man who was even larger than Jared. “And I mess stuff up.”

Jared looked to Shadow Fighter, who mouthed the words. “Close quarters specialist.”

“Shadow Armorer,” said a short but wide man. “In charge of gear, consumables, and fighting the Hero’s Shadow accountants.”

That got a small chuckle out of the group.

“Shadow Sorcerer-“ stated one woman. “-and Shadow Mage,” stated another. They both had fiery red hair, and Jared realized they must have been twins. “Magic specialists.”

“Shadow Archer,” stated a quiet man who pulled back his hood and revealed wolf ears atop his head.

And then, at a raised eyebrow from Shadow Leader.

“Archer,” he continued with a scowl.

And that left the last member of the party.

“Shadow Song,” stated a cute, tiny woman with lightly pointed ears. “A-and can I just say how much of an honor it is to meet you, [Hero], sir?” She gushed. “I always wanted to be in the [Hero’s] party, and I’ll do my best and-“

“Song,” Shadow Knife… or Shadow Leader now, interrupted. “Your part of the team?”

“Oh! Right! Of course!” she replied, lightly smacking herself on the forehead. “Sorry. I got excited.” She cleared her throat and pulled out a flute with some extra mechanisms attached. “I’m a [Shadow Bard], so I make our allies stronger and our enemies weaker with my songs.”

Jared raised an eyebrow at that. He wasn’t quite sure how music fit in with the rest of the cloak-and-dagger secret operative stuff that was going on.

The small woman wilted a bit.

“Her class is highly experimental, but the [Demon Lord] has similar powers, and we needed to fight fire with fire,” Shadow Leader stated as he put a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder.

If the others thought it would work, that was good enough for Jared. And as he thought about it more, he kinda liked it.

“So, a dedicated hype man?” Jared asked. “That’s actually kinda awesome.”

She started beaming again.

“So, as a traveler from another world, I am sure you have many questions,” Shadow Leader stated. “Go ahead and ask. I will answer what I can.”

“So, what is this whole Hero’s Shadow thing about?” Jared asked. “I mean, it’s awesome, but what’s your goal?”

Leader nodded. “A fair question.” Then, he launched into a lecturer tone. “The Hero’s Shadow was established nearly a century ago to protect [Heroes] from the [Demon Lord] and his ilk. Prior to our creation, several [Heroes] had been assassinated or otherwise taken out in ways that were not straight combat, which is what the class seems to favor.” He smirked. “And so, an organization was founded by the Grandmaster to handle the underhanded threats of the enemy with our own.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Jared frowned. “And who’s this Grandmaster guy?”

Leader chuckled. “The leader of our order and I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. He provides us with intelligence and our missions, but his identity is a complete secret.” He raised an eyebrow. “It is a dangerous world we live in, and for him, doubly or triply so. The information he is privy to would make him a priority target for many of our enemies, so you will need to forgive him for never speaking to anyone directly.”

Jared nodded. “And what about those creepy robed people who attacked us?”

“The Children of the Flame,” Shadow Fighter jumped in. “Accursed cultists.” He spat. “They do the dirty work for the [Demon Lord], and his most recent speech about destroying the world has them in a frenzy.”

“They supposedly have a prophecy that the [Demon Lord] will destroy the world and remake it anew,” Leader said, taking back over. “And so, to them, we have entered the endgame. They are putting every piece and plot they have into motion.”

Jared frowned and took a moment to take all of that in.

He knew his next question but hesitated just a moment before asking it.

“And this [Demon Lord] guy,” Jared started. “Who is he?”

“The one you were brought here to destroy,” Leader stated and Jared tensed. “He is the sworn enemy of Placeholder, and he and his demonic ilk have killed countless people of Placeholder over the centuries.”

Jared untensed at the last word and gave a short laugh of relief.

That got him some strange looks, but he quickly explained.

“Sorry, I was just worried because when I watched that big broadcast, the way that he talked, I thought for sure that he was my little bro,” Jared said with a shake of his head and another small laugh, this one slightly bitter. “But of course not. I mean, Titus died at that nerd convention like two years ago.”

There was a brief pause and then an explosion of motion. Shadow Fighter drew a sword on Jared, Brawler cracked his knuckles, Song frantically looked between them, and everyone shouted.

“Quiet!” Leader finally shouted above even Brawler. “System has chosen Jared as the [Hero], and my oaths confirm it,” Leader said, slapping Fighter’s sword down. “[Demon Lord’s] brother or not, we are sworn to protect him and protect him we shall. Understood?”

“No,” Jared said with a shake of his head. “You’re… you’re wrong. You have to be. That can’t be my little bro.” Jared turned his pleading eyes to everyone, but no one met them… not even Song.

“I know this is hard to hear-“ Leader started.

“You have to be wrong!” Jared said, turning on him. Some tears were forming in his eyes, and he swiftly blinked them away. “Titus isn’t… wasn’t like that! He wouldn’t hurt a fly!” When Leader just grimaced, Jared kept going. “He couldn’t hurt a fly! I always tried to get him to learn to defend himself, but he always just stayed inside with his cartoons and video games. That can’t be him.” Jared sucked in a deep breath and looked down. “It can’t.”

Jared felt a hand on his shoulder.

“The [Demon Lord] has been in Placeholder for almost a thousand years,” Leader said softly. “So, for better or worse, whatever remained of your brother is likely gone. But before we go any farther, I must ask you.” Jared slowly looked up and met his resolved eyes. “Will you save our world? Even if it means killing what remains of your brother?”

Jared felt sick, but he knew the answer.

“If he’s willing to destroy the world,” Jared sighed. “Then… my little bro’s already gone. I’ll… do what I have to do.”

“Thank you, [Hero], we’re all counting on you,” Leader replied.

There was a moment of silence before one of the mage twins spoke up.

“Leader, I know that him facing his brother is less than ideal… but isn’t this also an opportunity?”

“How so, Sorcerer?” he asked.

“They’re brothers, so shouldn’t they share-“

“A last name,” Leader finished breathlessly before turning back to Jared, excitement in his eyes. “You share a last name with the [Demon Lord]! His first name has been known for ages, but his last name has escaped us all this time.” Leader got uncomfortably close. “Quickly! What is your last name?”

Jared racked his brain and even went into his status, which listed his name. The end result…

“I… don’t remember,” he stated lamely.

What followed after that were attempts to jog his memory, bringing in another wizard who could cast some spell called [Appraise], and then finally accepting that they wouldn’t find out.

“This is likely the [Demon Lord’s] handiwork,” Leader muttered, mostly to himself. “It makes sense. If he knew that his brother was the new [Hero], he would likely use some type of grand spell to erase the memory of his last name.” He sighed but then furrowed his brow.

“How did the Grandmaster contact him, then?” he continued so softly that Jared barely heard it. “Unless he already…”

Whatever conclusion Leader had come to, it seemed to greatly increase his mood because he was instantly back to business.

“Now, the first thing that we need to do is to get you stronger,” Leader stated.

“Stronger?” Jared asked. “Uh… no offense, bro. But I think I’m already pretty strong. Shouldn’t you be teaching me how to use that shiny sword instead?”

“You are likely strong for the world you came from,” Leader stated. “And sword training is also our second highest priority. However, you will need some levels if you want any hope of standing up to the [Demon Lord].” Jared’s doubt must have shown in his eyes because Leader sighed and sat down at the nearby table. “How about a demonstration?” he asked, putting his arm up on the table in a familiar position.

“An arm wrestle?” Jared asked, sitting down. “Sure, I’ll take you on.”

The sooner he got to the real training, the better.

“You may begin whenever you wish,” Leader stated.

“Alright,” Jared nodded. “On the count of three. One. Two.” He readied himself. “Three!” he shouted, putting all his might into pinning the old man’s hand.

He might as well have tried to move a boulder.

“You may begin whenever you wish,” Leader said again with a slight smirk.

Jared grunted, leaned, and then even used the leverage from his other hand on the table as he tried uselessly to get that hand to move.

It eventually did… as it slowly lowered his own hand into the table, with Leader barely looking like he was trying.

“This is the difference in physical strength granted by 17 levels,” he stated. “And I am not a [Warrior], so strength is not my forte.” He stood up. “As a reminder, you face the [Demon Lord]. He is known to be level 25, and will be much stronger.”

Jared was mostly convinced. However, the remaining piece of doubt must have shown on his face because Leader sighed.

“Song, you’re up,” he stated.

“Me!?” she asked, her voice shrill. “Are you sure? I mean, there’s got to-“ Leader just gave her a look. “Right away, leader!” she replied, sitting across from Jared.

Afraid of hurting her, Jared removed his gauntlet before taking her hand.

And her hand was so small… and soft. He couldn’t imagine the delicate woman in front of him hurting a fly.

Then Leader said, “Go.” And Jared was suddenly fighting for what remained of his pride.

The tiny woman in front of him was much stronger than she looked, and while it wasn’t quite as bad as his loss to Leader, Jared still had the humiliation of losing to a woman half his size.

Who then consoled him by saying she was 9 levels higher than him.

“Alright, I need some levels,” he admitted. “How do I get them?”

------

It turned out the plan to get him levels involved going to a place called a dungeon… which definitely was an eyebrow-raiser until they explained that it was just a place where monsters spawned, including a boss.

That gave Jared some images of a monster carrying around a briefcase until they gave him more details.

He didn’t quite understand all the elemental stuff they talked about, but he did understand his role in the fight.

He was supposed to hang back and let everyone else do the work, and then he would finish the monster off to get some levels.

That didn’t seem very heroic to Jared, but he had been in the world only a few hours. He figured he would leave the planning to people who knew what the heck was going on.

Leader also made some plans for some kind of secret training in the far east, but Jared didn’t hear very much about it. Apparently, it was kind of a longshot that they could make it there and still be in time for the final showdown with the [Demon Lord], which was helpfully indicated by a counting timer that never left Jared’s vision.

The only good news was that the dungeon was apparently available that very night… since the cultists had taken it over?

Jared didn’t quite catch all of that “faction” stuff either, but he did understand when Leader told them their orders were to go immediately.

And so, with another squad of the Hero’s Shadow in tow, Jared and his party made their way into the dungeon.

The other squad took out the cultists guarding the entrance, and then it was a straight shot… after dealing with all the spiders and weird stalagmite monsters.

And then, they were in the boss room.

------

“I expected something way gloomier,” Jared said as he looked around at the forest. “This is… awesome.”

“And also dangerous,” Leader replied, breaking his staring. “Now, do you remember your job?”

“Stay out of the way until you tell me, and then finish the boss off,” Jared replied.

“Good,” Leader replied. Then, after a brief moment when it looked like he was fiddling with something about his status, Jared got a notification.

“You’re kicking me out of the squad?” Jared asked. “Why, bro?”

Leader hesitated for a moment, but Fighter took over.

“The party that gets the kill gets all the experience,” he stated. And at Jared’s look of confusion, he continued. “All the levels. And while everyone in the party gets the same amount, that amount can be lowered if they didn’t contribute enough to the kill.”

“Oh, gotcha, bro,” Jared nodded. “You’re making sure I get all the levels since I need them the most.”

At the slight looks of shock, Jared folded his arms in irritation. “What? I’m not a complete meathead! I couldn’t have memorized dozens of different defenses if I didn’t have any muscle up between my ears.”

“Anyway,” Leader said and then cleared his throat. “We should hurry. We cannot know for certain when the Children of Flame will launch their counterattack.”

What followed was an impressive, albeit boring for Jared, fight against a giant rocky/icy/windy wolf and its cubs.

However, Jared most often found himself watching Song. He wondered how it worked having someone play music in a fight, and he found himself fascinated by her flute playing… especially since she played it one-handed with the other holding onto a shortsword.

That was helped by a contraption that she placed on the flute that covered up multiple holes with the press of a single button, but that just made Jared even more impressed since she had played the normal two-handed fingering as well on their way to the dungeon.

Fortunately, he didn’t just have to stand and watch the whole time. As the windy wolf finally “died” Leader tossed him a lit torch.

“Mage and Sorcerer are low on mana, so we could use your help on the next round,” Leader told him.

“Just hit them with the fiery end?” he asked.

Leader nodded. “Yes. Just hit them with the fiery end.”

Split 10 ways, the incoming pack of fiery wolves was no big deal.

“Group up!” Leader called as the last of them were taken care of. “Wait for my signal to get the last attack in,” he continued as Jared joined the group in the middle of the clearing.

“You got it,” Jared nodded. And then, he noticed that someone was missing. “Wait, where’s Song?”

“Help!” he heard her cry from the edge of the clearing, near where the giant fiery wolf was bounding in. “My leg! I can’t move!”

Jared immediately started towards her. “Hold on! We’re coming!” he shouted… and then Leader and Brawler blocked his way.

“If she cannot keep up with even this simple mission, she will only be a hazard in the field,” Leader said with a slight sneer. “Perhaps it is better this way.”

“What the frick are you talking about!?” Jared asked, trying to push his way past them, but Brawler held him in place. “She’s one of your people! You don’t just leave your own people to die!”

“Sometimes, sacrifices must be made,” Leader said flatly.

“[Hero]!” Song shouted. “Jared! Save me!”

“Screw this!” Jared shouted as he headbutted Brawler, who let him go in surprise. Then, he was off running at top speed. “I’m coming! Hold on!”

A ball of fire exploded against the incoming monster, but that only made it so that a giant physical wolf was bearing down on the helpless woman.

… And Jared wasn’t going to be fast enough.

Song was on the ground, her arm stretched out toward him, but the wolf would reach her first.

Jared couldn’t allow that. He wouldn’t allow that.

And the new world that he found himself in agreed.

Time slowed down, and a bunch of words appeared in his vision, but he didn’t care. He only cared about the information of a new skill that suddenly appeared in his head.

He pulled out his sword and felt it gather electricity. Then, with a wordless yell of rage, he exploded forward with a thunderclap.

He felt his blade cut into the wolf as he practically teleported in front of Song, and he held his sword out in front to meet the rest of its charge…

But none came.

The monster faded away, and the threat was dealt with.

Even more words popped up, but he didn’t pay them any attention.

“Song!” he shouted, turning toward her. “Are you-“

“You did it!” she yelled in delight as she jumped into his chest and wrapped him in a hug that he barely managed to return with one arm. “I knew you could!”

Jared stood there blinking in confusion. “Uhh…”

“Oh. Sorry!” Song said, detaching from him. “I just…” she gave a few nervous chuckles. “I got a little excited. Sorry. Didn’t mean to just jump on you like that. Sorry.”

“But… your leg,” Jared stated dumbly.

And then the rest of the group joined them.

“Now that’s a [Hero]!” Brawler laughed as he clapped him heavily on the shoulder.

Confusion was the only thing running through Jared’s mind as the others congratulated him, no hint of their earlier coldness toward Song showing at all.

Fortunately, Leader finally decided to explain. He bowed low as he approached.

“[Hero],” he stated. “You have my sincerest apologies. We needed you to gain power, and forcing you to gain [Sunder] was the quickest way I could think of.”

Jared frowned. “Wait. So you knew I would get that thunder skill, and this was all… just a test?”

“That is one way of putting it,” Leader said, still bowed. “Yes. You only have a few short months to prepare, and [Hero] skills are the most important piece of your power next to levels. So, I thought to recreate the scenario that gave the first [Hero] of our world the skill, and the Grandmaster agreed with the plan.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I am well aware that trust is vital to the performance of any combat group, so I will step down from my position as leader if you wish, and we can have someone else take my place in the party.”

Jared thought for a moment.

“Stand up,” he said.

Leader did, and the two locked eyes.

Then, Jared slugged him in the face… with a bit more power than he expected since he had gained a few of those level things.

Leader took the hit and fell to the ground, but Jared was slightly confused that there was no blood… or broken nose.

“That’s for putting Song in danger,” he stated anyway. Then, he held out a hand. “But if you promise that you won’t do anything like that again, I won’t fire you.”

“I solemnly swear by the System that I will never lie to you or deceive you again,” Leader stated.

Jared… assumed that probably meant something serious based on the wide eyes that the rest of the party had.

“Good,” Jared nodded, with his arms crossed. “And now, what about putting Song in danger?”

“Umm,” Song tugged on his arm, and he turned to look at her. “Sorry. Umm. [Hero]. But… I wasn’t really in that much danger.” She chuckled nervously. “If you didn’t get the skill I was free to get out of there, and umm… the boss would have a hard time catching me since I’m pretty slippery. And if it did catch me…” she rapped her knuckles on the armor beneath her cloak. “I wouldn’t have taken that much damage.”

“Oh,” Jared said, deflating a bit.

“No time for moping,” Fighter said. “We need to get you your upgrades and then get out of here before the Children of the Flame know we’ve taken their dungeon.”

Leader nodded in agreement, and Jared was taken to a large black pillar thingy in the middle of the room… that changed to a large white pillar thingy when he claimed it.

Jared didn’t really know what was going on.

The good news was that he had several knowledgeable people there to lead him through things, including picking out his “perks” and “skills.”

At the end of it, he was level 11, had [Swordsmanship], and [Power Strike], and also increased his “stamina” at the urging of Leader since that was apparently what he used when he used his [Hero] skill.

All of that was wrapped up in a few minutes, but apparently, that was too slow.

“I will now portal us out of here,” Leader said, putting his hand on the obelisk and quickly withdrawing it. “Yes, sir,” he stated to thin air. “Understood.” He seemed like he was biting back a curse.

Shadow Fighter immediately asked about it. “Trouble?”

“It was an ambush. The Children of the Flame are waiting at the entrance of the dungeon in force,” Leader scowled. “I should have known this was too easy.”

A part of Jared was wondering about that “too easy” bit when he was distracted by a small noise. It sounded like high-pitched but somehow melodic laughter.

Another voice joined it. And then another.

“Uhhh,” Jared said, looking around. “You guys hearing that?”

“Hearing what?” Brawler asked.

That answered his question in a way that Jared really didn’t like. However, it soon got worse. A tiny winged woman flew up in front of his face, giggled, and then waved.

“Not awesome,” he groaned. “Now I’m seeing things too!”

The tiny flying woman put her hands on her hips and pouted, and to Jared’s dismay, several other flying figures joined her.

The Grandmaster: You are not seeing things. Your ride is here. You just have to repeat after me

Unfortunately, Jared was not the best at reading aloud.

“Greetings… uhh… honored guests from the fee… yeah, fee forest,” he stated. The tiny women preened for a bit at the start, but they looked confused at the end.

The Grandmaster: It’s pronounced Fay

“Then why isn’t it spelled like that?” Jared muttered, but the tiny flying people were looking impatient, so he continued. “Sorry. Uhh, from the fay forest,” he continued. They nodded.

“We have a… mu… mutual enemy,” Jared continued. “One who could be more easily… defeated if you would teleport us to the Great Eastern Volcanoes.”

The flying people gathered up and began whispering to themselves.

Meanwhile, Jared’s squad was confused.

“What in Jake’s name is going on?” Shadow Fighter muttered.

Leader almost replied but then paused. “Well, those are certainly orders,” he stated softly, then cleared his throat. “Everyone except the [Hero] is to shut up and follow his lead.”

“No pressure,” Jared muttered as the flying people finished their whispered meeting.

The first one flew over and then nodded to him.

“Hey, I think we’re good!” Jared called out. Then, as they gestured, he frowned. “I think they want us to get closer?”

“Are we sure this is safe?” Fighter asked under his breath as the squad huddled together.

Jared wasn’t sure if that question was meant for him, but he answered it anyway.

“I think they’re chill!” he replied. “They wouldn’t hurt us, right, little dudes?”

As their leader grinned and showed off her sharp teeth, Jared suddenly found himself not so sure. “Maybe we shouldn’t-“

He was cut off as there was a… weird feeling. It was like someone screamed in Jared’s ear, but not for any sense that he had ever used before.

And then, the entire squad found themselves standing on blackened soil… and Jared was feeling seriously nauseous.

He fell over but managed to keep his lunch down.

Song came over to check on him, but she looked a bit green too.

“Yes, sir,” Leader said in a familiar statement. “Understood.” Then, addressing the party that was all still trying to find its feet. “The Grandmaster is negotiating transport for us to rendezvous with the assault in 6 months’ time. It is more time than I expected, but will still be a tight schedule.”

“A tight schedule for what?” Jared asked.

“Your training,” Leader replied, and there was a light in his eyes that Jared wasn’t sure that he liked.

I shoulda fired him when I had the chance.

-------

Honestly, the training wasn’t as bad as Jared had expected. It involved a lot more killing of giant flaming snails than he would have guessed, but that was all done to get more of those levels.

And he didn’t even have to fight them alone since Leader had packed some special flame-resistant cloaks for the team, not that he got one since, apparently, his armor did an even better job of things.

However, that still meant that he walked out of every single one of those fights burned and singed. The good news was that magical healing was a thing, and they had prepared plenty of supplies for the time.

Apparently, the Grandmaster had known they would make it there. Jared wasn’t sure how, and he was a bit suspicious, but the rest of the squad took that all as a matter of course.

They took the Grandmaster’s word as law and had unwavering faith in him.

… Jared almost felt like he had been abducted by a cult some of the time.

Aside from fighting snails, Jared also had to battle against Fighter.

Or, more accurately, he had to lose swordfight after swordfight against the man as he tried to bring him up to speed.

… And then lose fistfight after fistfight against Shadow Brawler since they were also trying to teach him hand-to-hand.

The point was so that he wouldn’t be useless if he lost his sword, but after some discussions, those lessons were mostly removed from his training.

If he lost his sword, the Hero’s Shadow didn’t think he stood a chance of winning against the [Demon Lord] anyway, so the focus went to making sure that he kept it.

The good news was that that time wasn’t all training, or he might have gone crazy. No, he also got to spend some time with his favorite member of their squad, Shadow Song.

She told him stories about the world that he found himself in, called Placeholder, which he told her that they should really get onto renaming that, and he in turn told her stories from Earth. Mainly stories of his feats in football.

However, as both of them grew closer, it continued to eat at him until he finally had to come clean.

------------

“Song, can I tell you something?” he asked as the two sat alone after a grueling training session.

“Of course,” she said gently nudging his arm with her shoulder. “You can tell me anything.”

“Well, the truth is,” he started, looking down. “The truth is… I lied.”

“O-oh,” she said. “About what?”

“Football,” he said sadly. “I lied. I made all those stories up.”

He expected her to be mad… but as he finally turned to look at her, she just had her head cocked in confusion.

“Why lie about that?” she asked.

“Because I can’t remember any game I actually played,” Jared said in frustration. “And because I don’t think I actually played much in the NFL. And because… I wanted you to think I was cool.”

“You wanted me to…” Song trailed off. Then, she started giggling, which slowly turned into a full-blown laugh, which turned to her snorting and trying to get her breath back.

Thoroughly defeated, Jared stood up to leave, but Song grabbed his arm.

“Sorry… [Hero],” she said in between laughs as she tried to catch her breath. “Wait.” She gasped for air and then held her breath for a moment. “Sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you.”

Jared breathed a sigh of relief, but Song grinned.

“Well, mostly,” she said. Jared looked at her in shock as she continued. “You told me all those stories to impress me, but I had no idea what half of them even meant!” She giggled again. “Sorry,” she said as Jared gave her a look. “I still don’t know what different portions of backs mean and why you would have someone be a quarter back, half back, or full back. I had no clue what you were talking about with interceptions or goals that were on the field. Or why people needed to run in for touchdowns in a certain zone.”

Jared had to keep his mouth from falling open.

“But… you listened through all of it and looked so impressed!” he said in confusion.

“Because I am impressed,” she said, taking his hand. “With you. And if that was important to you, I was going to try and figure it out because… well… that meant that it would be important to me too!”

Jared was reeling.

“But… why are you impressed with me if it wasn’t that?” he asked.

“First, it was just because you were the [Hero],” she said immediately. “You were the storybook character come to life right before my eyes.” She paused. “And then it was because I met the real you. The you who was strong and brave. Who would charge a boss at level 1 to save a girl he’d just met.” She paused and tucked some of her hair back behind her slightly pointed ear. “And because you never judged me for being a dwelf.”

Jared furrowed his brows. “What’s a dwelf?” he asked after a moment.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” she asked. “Sorry. I guess I should have expected that. Other world and all.” She giggled lightly. “My parents were different races. I never met them, but one must have been a dwarf and the other an elf.”

Jared knew about dwarfism, so he focused on the latter.

“An elf?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. When Song just nodded, which didn’t answer his question, he continued. “Like… the workers who make toys in the north pole, or who make cookies in a tree?” he asked.

“Cookies in a…” Song repeated in light shock. Then, she burst out laughing again.

There was no containing it for several minutes. She was brought to tears and was barely able to breathe through her snorting.

“Can you… can you just imagine,” she said as she finally started regaining control of herself. “Leader in an apron, baking cookies?” she asked, busting out into one final round of laughs.

That finally answered Jared’s question. His mental image of elf shifted from short people baking cookies to a severe old man… in an apron baking cookies.

He joined in on Song’s laughter.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he asked Song when they finally got the last of the laughter out of their system.

“Of course!” Song replied.

“I always thought that your ears were… well… kinda cute,” Jared said.

She immediately flushed red.

“Can… I tell you a secret?” she asked quietly. “A big one that might get me in trouble?”

“Uhh,” Jared replied. “If you’re sure you want to. You don’t have to just because-“

She put her hands in his. “No… I want to,” she said. Then, leaning in a bit, she bit her lip. “Eliza,” she finally stated.

“Is that… a codeword or something?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s my name… my real name, and I wanted you to know it.”

That was a big deal. Jared was able to tell that much. She was basically a spy, yet she wanted him to know who she really was.

It was sweet. It was vulnerable. And as he found himself staring into her light brown eyes, he found his mouth drifting closer to hers as she moved closer too-

Only for their moment to be interrupted by Shadow Leader clearing his throat.

“I will need to stop you right there,” Leader stated. Both of them bolted upright and tried, and failed, to hide their blushing. “Song, your resources are full. Report for training immediately.”

“Yes, leader!” she replied and bolted off.

“I… I should be going too!” Jared said as he tried to walk past Leader.

Leader clamped a hand down on his pauldron before he could.

“There are three things you should know before anything else happens,” Leader said softly. “First, relationships between members of the Hero’s Shadow are highly discouraged.”

Jared winced and almost replied, but the pressure eased up just slightly.

“But they are not forbidden,” Leader continued. “And heaven knows that enough of a blind eye was turned to the previous [Hero] and previous Shadow Leader.” He shook his head. “Second, we have the fate of our world, which will be decided in battle in fewer than nine months’ time.” His voice took on more of an edge. “Any activities that may result in the only [Shadow Bard] in the world entering final combat pregnant should be?”

It took a moment for Jared to realize that wasn’t a rhetorical question.

“Uhh, not done,” Jared replied. “Avoided. Uhh.. sir.”

“Good,” Leader nodded and released Jared’s shoulder… but he wasn’t free to go just yet. “The third thing,” he said as he walked in front of Jared and stood eye to eye. “Is that Song is a bit like a daughter… or I suppose a granddaughter to me. If you pursue her but break her heart by leaving to your own world after this is over, I will hunt you down, other world or not. Are we clear?”

Jared… hadn’t known that going back was an option, but that didn’t seem like the right thing to say at that moment.

“Yes, uhh, Leader,” he said.

“Good,” Leader replied and then nodded back to the group. “Now get back to training… and take good care of her.”

“Of course,” Jared nodded.

------

Training continued as usual after that, and at the end of their 6 months, Jared felt ready.

Soon, he would be facing down his brother, and while he hoped it wouldn’t come down to a fight, he was uniquely qualified for the mission. After all, whether it was talking him down or taking him down, what else were older brothers for?