Chapter 2

Morning

I stand in front of the full length mirror on the other side of the changing screen, turning this way and that before giving a tug on the robe I'm wearing. It's a utilitarian blue-gray fabric with a black rope, but so is everything else in the wardrobe. Lots of different sizes, too, so they must have just stocked it with generic stuff without knowing what kind of heroes they'd get.

This one only comes about three quarters of the way down my upper leg, and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be worn with pants, but those were scratchy and hung weird. The really long robes kept getting tangled up in my legs. I've never been against pants or skirts, but none of these did it for me for some reason.

Without pants, I had to go up a size or two more than really fit me to get it this long. Snagging extra ropes from the other outfits let me tie things down so that I have black ropes around my upper arms and my wrists, and my torso is secured against any embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions like I'm wearing a shoulder holster. It's surprisingly comfortable, a nice combination of secure and airy, but I'm pretty sure any bigger and I'll just look ridiculous instead of creative.

The girl in the mirror looks so young. I recognize my face there, but it's been just shy of a decade since it looked like that. Even then, this face, this body seems more ... perfected. I don't think I was ugly in high school, but I wouldn't claim to have been significantly above average.

This girl? This girl could have fit in with the cheerleaders. And I'm not even wearing any makeup.

Still, every time I look in the mirror, it doesn't feel real. Before coming here, my face had finally lost its baby fat and I looked like a grown woman. Now, with this face, I'd never need a fake ID, because nobody would believe it anyway.

Fifteen. That's what the box the old priest pulled up said. Well, at least I doubt I'll be prone to acting like I did the first time I was that age.

I turn to look out the room's window. It's the only window the room has, but it's large and faces a garden of flowers, trees and ornamental bushes that's awash in morning light. There's heavy blinds that I could have pulled to block out the light or to keep others from looking in, but I'm as decent as I'm going to get and it feels right to have daylight coming in.

I'm honestly a little surprised I'm as awake and ready to go as I am. Turns out, I arrived, or at least woke up, yesterday afternoon, but Yorin wasn't kidding about how exhausted I'd be.

The servant that brought me food wheeled in a tray loaded with more than I'd eat across five meals, but once I started eating, I couldn't stop. I shoveled in meats and gravy and starches and grains and fruits and vegetables so quickly that I hardly tasted it. I didn't quite get through all of the food, but by the time my body stopped gorging itself, I had made my way through enough to be mortified.

Rather than being shocked, when the servant returned, she told me that at least one hero had even asked for seconds before being sated.

I didn't even have time to worry about how to spend my evening. After eating like I'd spent my life starving, I barely crawled my way into the surprisingly comfortable bed before crashing like I'd ran a marathon for the last week straight.

Whatever getting dragged here had done to me, though, stuffing my body with calories and sleeping like the dead had apparently been the cure, because I'd drifted awake bright and early, feeling ready to go.

A knock at the door pulls my attention back its direction.

"Hero Remmi Lee, are you up?"

I step around the divider and open the door with a smile. "Good morning, Sacred Yorin, I am. What can I do for you?"

The young elf woman - it occurs to me that I don't actually know she's an elf, I'm just assuming from the ears - tucks her hands back into her sleeves and smiles to me, not even commenting on my lack of pants.

"First, how were your accommodations? Everything to your liking?"

My smile turns up to a grin. "Considering all I ended up able to do yesterday was stuff my face and sleep, I hardly feel qualified to comment on anything else. Or even the food or the bed, for that matter. I'm not sure I really experienced either."

She chuckles at that with an easy smile that's more motherly than it looks like she should be able to pull off. "This was the first summoning I've had the honor to witness, but the side effects are well documented. Don't worry, the worst of it is over now. If anything, you may find you need for less than you are accustomed. Of rest, anyway."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I can feel my face stretching in revulsion as I think back to that veritable mountain of food. "Oh, please don't tell me I'm going to have to eat like that for the rest of my life!" Even with the metabolism of a fifteen year old, I doubt my waistline could handle it. And I have no reason to believe I'll be staying fifteen forever, either.

"Oh, no, not at all. Your appetite might be a little higher, that happens sometimes for extremely active classes, but yesterday was an outlier," she assures me. "That shouldn't happen again. Well, except for powerful revival magic."

That's a relief and a half. Besides my waistline, I doubt my wallet could afford to feed me fifteen meals a day, either. My metaphorical wallet, of course, since it didn't actually exist. Not that I have anything to put in it, anyway. I file away the little detail that this world has revival magic, though. That's good to know. No reason not to be careful; as far as I know, it's only for near death, not ex post facto.

I nod in appreciation, then motion to her. "Your turn."

She blinks. "My-? Oh!" Yorin gives a quick bow of her head. "A common room has been set aside for the Heroes, where breakfast will be served shortly. If you are interested in meeting your fellow Heroes before the royal review, this would be the ideal time to do so."

"Sounds fun," I agree, and motion for her to lead the way.

Apparently, we were all tucked away pretty close together, because the common room is just down the hall. I can already hear laughing and talking through the door before Yorin opens it and motions me in.

And I'm barely through the door before a loud voice blares at me from halfway across the room.

"Wow! Yellow hair! Your spirit must be something crazy!"

The one without volume control is a man with red hair. It's tall, like he combs it straight up and only the weight pulls the end back down into a droop. I can even see his widow's peak. I'd place him at about eighteen or so at a guess, and a solid foot taller than me.

Just the one sample of his voice tells me he was the one laughing.

I pull a lock of my hair around in front of me just to check. No, it's still the same color it was in the mirror, and I look back at him in confusion. "You mean blonde?"

I'm not even entirely certain he heard me, since he keeps going as he gets closer to get a better look at me.

"Blue eyes, too. Must be sky spirit! Sun and sky, right, Tash?"

The girl he elbows to draw her into the conversation looks a little annoyed, but she and the other two heroes had already been drawn over to see the newcomer, so she can't really get out of it.

"For the third time, Leuke, it's Tassim!"

It has about as much impact on him as my question had. "Whatever. Take a look for yourself! Maybe she shoots sunbolts!"

"She is right there, don't be rude." Tassim sighs and takes a closer look at me anyway.

I return the favor. She wears one of the long robes easily, and unlike Leuke's, hers fully closes over her chest instead of leaving it half bare. Her hair is pitch black and her skin is an olive brown, but if I had to call her features anything, I'd say they were Caucasian. We exchange polite nods.

"Your colors are certainly unique," she finally says. "Are they spirit related?"

I shake my head. "Inherited. Have you really never seen a blonde before?"

"I don't think any of us even know what that word means, and now that we're Heroes, Essence should be translating everything for us."

This quiet voice isn't Tassim, but another Hero. And this one, I do a double-take on. This girl is even shorter than me, and her incredibly long hair is just the cream side of pure white. Big, gray eyes look at me with doe-like timidity.

But holy volleyballs, for someone who doesn't come up to my chin, maybe it's because all of her growth went to her tits. Getting a robe big enough to cover up as much as Tassim would have made the rest of her look like she was swimming in it, so the wide breadth of pale flesh only a few shades more melanated than her hair is probably unavoidable.

Good to know I'm not the only one that's going to need to find something different at the first opportunity, I guess.

"Um ..." She blushes and offers a handshake. "I'm Seina."

I realize I'm gawking and give an apologetic smile as I accept the handshake. "Remmi."

Tassim comes up alongside me and guides me away from the door they'd practically pinned me against. She lowers her voice as she says, "We all did that," and pats me on the shoulders.

Leuke, meanwhile, with all the subtlety of a trumpet and surely twice the volume, slaps the last Hero on the back. "Hey, but how about that? First group of heroes anyone's ever heard of with five of us, and three of them are cute girls! You nervous yet, Benny? I know I am!"

... He doesn't laugh like he's nervous. He laughs like he's the biggest, rowdiest, star quarterback-est frat boy in the room. Which, actually, he probably is.

"... Benarou. Can't you get anyone's name right, or are you even trying?" The black-haired young man might be a year or two older than Leuke. He might be a little taller than him, too, if he wasn't hunched from the impact, but he's far leaner. He's scowling at the redhead as he pushes his glasses back up after the blow nearly knocked them off of him.

He's not my type, but I knew plenty of girls in school he'd have appealed to. He has that serious, studious upperclassman look. Valedictorian, disciplinary committee and quiet rich boy all rolled into one.

But then, with what becoming a Hero did for me, that could all be new to him and he'd been a scrawny beanpole before yesterday.

I actually want to ask about his glasses. Our bodies are supposed to have been "cleansed and purified," according to the old priest. Standing in a room with so many beautiful people, all of whom just happen to be Heroes, has me convinced I can't have been the only one to receive a face lift as part of the deal.

So why would he still need glasses? And where did they come from? Did the temple provide them on request?

Before I can do so, a bell rings and a number of servants start rolling in food carts.

Little surprise Leuke the Bullhorn is the first to react.

"Hey, the food's here!" he cheers as he claps and rubs his hands together. "Great! I'm starving!"

Suddenly, I suspect I know who ordered seconds yesterday.