Outside a room filled with teenagers and one middle-aged woman. A man stands looking through a window wondering if he created the room or if his powers just unlocked the door. The main thing Nicki knew was when the woman asked if they would get any training, he was about to say no when he wondered. Why wouldn’t they train Heroes? That's when he felt something pulse out of him. A lot of something, until it found what it was looking then it pulled deeper from him making his head feel like it was going to pop.
He was barely able to keep himself together to lead the class down to a room with the word “TUTORIAL” in bold letters above the door.
The teacher paused, “Tutorial? I thought it was training.”
Nicki shrugged. “Same thing.”
The woman looked like she was going to say more but her students were pushing into the room. That looked filled with weapons, a field, a door labeled magic, another labeled melee, and two that were labeled male and female dorms. Wow. Nicki was still examining the room when the teacher, being the last turned to him.
“I don’t like this.”
“Sorry. I wish there was more I could do.”
She opened her mouth and then looked to change her mind. “Just. Remember to be kind and try to be patient. I don’t know how others get here, but it's disorienting and terrifying.”
Nicki’s head felt heavy, he was fighting to stay awake when he answered. “I will try.”
The woman smiled “All I ask.” and entered the tutorial. As soon as she passed the threshold, the door slammed shut and the little window next to the door showed the people moving like a blur. Is time sped up inside?
He had enough for-thought to sit down leaning against the door before darkness claimed him.
#
In a place of song and worship, a choir is singing, gathering gospels from their congregation, and collecting the combined faith in preparation for a grand song. For two days, the people had been singing non-stop, swapping only when their voices began to fail or crack. They had lost more than half of their congregation and would lose more as the days passed. They needed this power. Time was running short, and the grand harmony would be sung on the morrow.
The war was creeping ever closer, even deep into the capital people were starting to feel its effects. Merchants were coming less and less. Supplies were starting to slow, and all too soon they would stop altogether. Thankfully the people were all too eager to help, to do anything other than stew in their homes waiting for the monsters. Thousands upon thousands of people headed the churches call showing up to give their voice and fight for their kingdom.
It was in the middle of one of their deeper hymns that it happened. A bright holy light appeared where a summoning circle once stood. It latched onto the faith in the air draining all they had gathered in the past two days away. Even the song itself was swallowed leaving only silence. They had all heard of the failed summoning, even a few people had heard about the piece of paper. But many chalked that up to karaoke talk. We're one singer who had too many drinks. But this was proof as the people began to hope, that this was what they had been waiting for.
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The light began to crack, unfathomable things lurked behind each tare, as it undulated, and then shattered revealing their Heroes. Thirty children and a middle-aged woman stand, all of them on guard taking in their surroundings. Looking ready to pounce.
The silence was suddenly broken when one of the children yelled.
“A church I called it!”
The class turned to glare at the boy as one of the others hissed. “Shut up!” the boy chastised and drooped.
Valentina on the other hand paid no attention looking through the people. For someone important. “Who's in charge?”
One of the priests leaned over, to another with a rather large hat before running off.
The man in the hat stepped forward, “I’m highest rank, but we're sorry we thought the summoned failed. The conductor should be here soon.”
“Good.” Valentina turned to her kids, “Everyone check yourselves. Is everything the same?”
A couple of the teens began to sing, as water, fire, and wind illusions spells of all types began to appear.
“Looks like it.” Gina, who just made a rather realistic illusion of a dragon answered.
The rest of the kids and Valentina were all testing the magics they had learned when a man in ornate robes and a rather long conducting baton walk up to them.
“You're in charge?” Valentina asked.
“I am. Oh, Heroes!” The man began to speak grandly, “We are in desperate need. Our world is in danger creatures from the void are moving on us and we are being pushed back.” The man paused as he lowered his head. “Please help us.”
Valentina had known this was coming. They had been training for the last two weeks for this exact thing. She couldn't remember anymore how she knew all this, just that she did. That was another thing bothering her. She stared down at the man and the people all around who summoned children to save them. To die for them. She bit back a scathing reply instead, she took a breath. “We are here to help.”
“Thank you thank you.” The man and the other priests bowed and scraped as they were taken in front of their King, given a similar speech and a banquet in their honor. After the King had one question, “Do you know why your summoning was delayed?”
Valentina laughed, “We had to finish the tutorial.”
#
A man sits slouched against a door groggily waking. His whole body was stiff and sore, and he was currently wondering why he wasn’t hearing anything from the room behind him. Didn’t he just guide them there? He couldn’t possibly have fallen asleep for that long. Curious he forced himself to stand to take a look through the little window, only to find the room completely empty, looking more like a storage closet now. It had none of the things it had before. No dorms. No training rooms. Only a small empty room. Was it a one time thing? That felt wrong to Nicki, the words above “TUTORIAL” were still there. Maybe it has to have a Hero?
Nicki shook his head and reached for his phone to check the time only to find his phone completely dead. That's not good. He was still in awe at the fact his phone still worked in his office, chalking it up to magic buggery. With it dead though he looked around for the closest clock. He knew he saw one around there somewhere. He eventually found one that looked like an analog clock that someone glued the digital time onto the glass. He thought it was a drawing at first until he noticed it updating in real-time. It was 6:15 PM. I slept all day.
Feeling it was time to go home, Nicki found a door and opened it. The door opened revealing his parent's house. That morning he had simply walked through the front door right to work. It was a nice commute but he wasn’t sure it was the right way to do this. It felt wrong that his parents might see the office. The door shut and the first thing he saw was his mother pop her head out.
“NICK! I was so worried” She ran over giving him a hug.
“What?”
She pulled back eying Nicki up and down.“Where were you? Why weren’t you answering your phone?”
“I was at work.” He said dumbly. Wondering if something happened. Was his dad alright?
She looked at him now annoyed, “For two days!”
“Two days?” He stared dumbly. There’s no way.