We have been summoning otherworlders for over two millennia now. For some reason, they seem to come from the same era in their world and almost all of them come from the same country, Japan. We have no idea why, but the Japanese are most receptive to being summoned. Otherworlders from other countries are a big risk. The gods forbid their technology or their crops from growing in our world. And, given the destructive power some of the weapons of their world are reported to do, we are glad for it.

These otherworlders seem to have the ability to come and go to several worlds. They gather in hundreds or thousands and dive into these other worlds for glory and gold. Tales told by the summoned tell of epic raids against Lich Kings in frozen castles, of rescuing elves that delved into demonic magic, of attaining power unimaginable, of countless hours of 'grind' - their term for hardcore training - in those worlds. Some report even paying for the right of fighting in other worlds.

It is no wonder they are so powerful.

Excerpt from On Otherworlders and their Homeland.

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Eight women, one man, and a tiny dragon made their way through the tunnels of the dungeon, wary of ambushes. After entombing Shinji in stone, stashing what was worth keeping but not carrying away, and incinerating everything left behind including the bodies of the slavers, they left for the stairs leading up. Aidan reassured himself that he was right in pressing for the stairs, even if it led to some weird event. Or flags, as the otherworlders say it. They were guided by floating balls of flame conjured by Aidan and Dawn. It was better to use magic than to burn the few torches they took as an emergency lighting. They had to go with as little luggage as possible. And with the flames they could warm themselves, reducing the need for heavy winter clothes.

So far they the only encounters they had was with mindless slimes that seemed to spawn randomly from the filthy pools that littered the place. This whole cavern system might flood after Spring thaws all the snow and ice on the foothills. They traveled past groups of Kobold corpses bisected and horribly mutilated, probably victims of Kazuya's rampage. Aidan and Dawn were closing some tunnels behind them to reduce the chance of something or someone sneaking up behind them. He figured out that he and Dawn had separate mana pools. He could alternate who was casting to allow the other body time to recover mana. His senses and coordination were also improving little by little.

Pearl was being supported by Deb and the strongest maid. She only walked, lifeless eyes and not even a single word was spoken. Aidan wanted to do something but had no idea what to do. It was awkward between her and Dawn after the bath.

While they made their day-long trek through the cavernous dungeon wary of ambushes, Aidan mused about what was going to happen with this crisis going on. It was already a worst-case scenario, one worth of declaring a national emergency. A summoned hero went out of control and was rampaging around. To make things worse it was a stealth-type. Magical messages would need to be sent to the neighboring countries, warning of the slaver activity and of the rogue hero. Aidan glanced at Pearl, a pale shadow of her former self. There was going to be a demand for blood, and some detractors would go as far as to ask for Pearl's head. If she remained alive, she would probably be removed from the line of succession, her worth reduced to near zero now that she no longer had the two heroes with her and no magic either.

They reached the stairs going up and Sora signaled for the group to halt. There was blood dripping down the steps and the channel Aidan dug was running red. It foretold the situation upstairs.

"Human blood." Sora smelled the blood and declared. "Or some race close to human, like a half-human, quarter-something. it is mixed from several sources."

"Are you sure it is not Kazuya's blood?" Dawn asked.

"I can't get his scent. This place smells like a butcher shop." The squirrel-kin whispered so only Dawn could listen.

"Let's hurry upstairs. I am closing all the tunnels behind us, kobolds are damned." Aidan declared.

After climbing the stairs and going a few corridors toward the exit they found a terrible scene. Aidan dismissed the Cavernsense spell because he felt disgusted sensing all that was around them right now. Dozens of humanoid bodies were horribly maimed and dismembered. It was impossible to count them. The smell of blood, meat and entrails were overwhelming. Three maids retched and emptied their stomachs and the others fought to not follow suit.

"Lumina, look. Slave collars." Sora pointed out. "And the cut on the bones are too clean. A sharp blade."

Dawn was covering her nose with a handkerchief. Aidan thanked whoever decided that princesses should have scented pieces of cloth on themselves at all times.

"Probably a Japanese sword. Weapons forged by our people are not that sharp. The blades would dent when hitting the harder targets. Some of these people didn't have weapons or armor. They are also too skinny and have no muscle built."

"The slavers were using common people as fodder." Sora finished Aidan's train of thought.

"Sora, search their torsos. The slavers should have a tattoo they use as the control for the collars. I am going to gather and bury all the collars."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The maids watched horrified as the princess and the beastkin dirtied their hands rummaging through the bodies. Aidan kept his male body still, focused on the senses from Cavesight. Skippy was wrapped around Aidan's neck as usual, but his head was bobbing left and right, wary. Pearl didn't even react to the gory scene in front of her. She kept staring at the void with blank eyes. Not a word came from the princess.

Without worrying about killing the person inside the collar, Aidan tried several different approaches to disabling the collars while Dawn brought them to him. With magic sight, he could see the effects of deleting or unraveling one or other sequence had on the collar as a whole. He was still far away from being able to manipulate them or just destroying one without triggering the shrinking effect, but each attempt placed him one step closer to unraveling this mystery.

"Ten slavers." Sora gave her headcount.

"Thirty-five slaves." Dawn offered her own count. "Or more precisely, thirty-five collars. Some were not even attached to a neck anymore or never were."

"Let's get out of here," Sora suggested.

"Yes. After I incinerate all these bodies we are moving. Go ahead, girls."

 Dawn looked at the carnage one last time and dug a pit in the rock.

"Ash suppression." This one extra large to cover the whole room.

"Incinerate."

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One day later, the group got out of the dungeon. After that carnage, they didn't find any more signs of fights or even of the slavers. The smaller kobolds on the first floor were avoiding the main corridors, probably afraid of the bloodlust and death that now filled the dungeon. They got glimpses of kobolds in the far tunnels, but they fled instead of attacking them. The smallest boon.

"Kazuya passed here some hours ago," Sora reported after scouting outside. "I can still feel his scent."

They reached the surface in the dead of the night. Being underground has this effect on the perception of time. They walked for half an hour before setting camp against a rock formation that would cover their flanks. Aidan decided to send his female half talk to Pearl.

"Pearl. Pearl. Talk to me, Pearl." Dawn shook the princess.

It took a while, but Pearl raised her head and looked in her eyes.

"They are gone, Lumina. Shinji is dead, Kazuya is out of control. What will happen now?"

"I don't know, Pearl. Maybe Kazuya will come back after he kills enough slavers. What do you want to do?"

"You told me and I didn't believe. Stupid, stupid." She said in self-derision, "I want to die." Pearl's voice was thinning.

Dawn's face and voice became icy cold.

"I am going to punch you if you talk like that again." Dawn threatened. "You had no idea how much dying hurts and I only got very close. Too close. Pearl, you have to fight. You have to want to live. As long as you are alive, things can change. Once you die, it is over. Forever."

"I can't, Lumina! I am not strong like you. It is over. They will ask for my head in a platter when I return to the capital. Or I will be disowned and given as scraps to some noble."

Pearl was not the oldest of the five children of King Jett. Neither was she the heir apparent for too long. It all changed when she successfully performed the summoning ritual.

"No. I forbid you to give up. If you lost your position as heir, I outrank you. You will hear and obey me, Pearl. I forbid you to die."

"Lumina. I won't be able to comply. I don't understand. The prophecy. I was supposed to find what I lost, not lose even more."

"What was it again? The exact wording."

"If I came to this dungeon, I would recover something I lost."

"What did you lose, Pearl?"

"What else? MY MAGIC! I am mundane. Not a single mote of mana."

"And what inside that dungeon would give you your magic back?"

"I don't know! I don't know. Oh, Shinji!" Pearl hugged Dawn and started to cry again. Better crying than staring at nothing thought Aidan.

"Pearl, there is a chance Kazuya didn't return to town, and even if he did, he would try to rat out the slavers. If we return now, we can resupply and leave. So long you can say you are searching for Kazuya, you will be safe. But you cannot give up."

"You said you were returning to Yutis. Please take me with you."

"No. Absolutely not." Dawn waved her hands to put emphasis on the finality of her decision. She almost shouted and it drew everyone's attention to the princesses' conversation. Even Sora approached.

"I thought we..."

"You are not coming with us. We are kidnapping you. Of course, you are going to send a sealed letter to your father explaining what is going on because I don't want to be a fugitive anymore. But so long you are unable to return, nobody will demand anything from you."

"And by now we are rather experts in kidnapping princesses." Added Sora in jest.

Pearl was so shocked she stopped crying. The gears in her head started to turn and she brightened up just a little. "This is so absurd it might work. But Lord Aidan will earn a bad reputation."

"I am already considered a dark wizard by many of my peers, your Highness," Aidan answered from his watch post. "And I am already wanted for kidnapping Lumina. One more princess will be hardly a burden."

Pearl opened up in a faint smile. "You are crazy."

"Runs in the family blood." He agreed.

"Godslayer, right."

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Later, during their rest. Aidan was alone, keeping watch.

The situation felt surreal for Aidan. How fragile was Pearl's safety net? A single mistake can cost one's life. All it took was a moment of distraction and unseen enemies...

'But not unforeseen. You were naive, Aidan.' The thoughts came more like concepts than real words in his mind.

He felt violently ill and coughed blood. His insides felt like he ate year-old raw eggs. Dawn was just fine though but he made her keep still to focus on his predicament. His vision blurred and his balance faltered. Deep inside him, at his core, he felt something stir, something revolt.

"Lumina, please. Hold still, I am going to take you home. But if you fight me now, we are both going to die." He told to himself.

Inside his soul, Lumina fought to break free. Aidan bled a little more.

"I have to stop casting Soul Restoration. The spell speeds up the merging. Don't worry, Lumina. I am helping Pearl if that is what you are worried about. Yes, I know summoning is bad. You made that very clear to us. But what is it that you want?"

Something flashed and Aidan was elsewhere in his mind. The image of Pearl naked in a familiar ritual circle, herbal extracts smeared over her body in the shapes of magical glyphs appeared. Looking around, Aidan saw both himself and Dawn casting the ritual on her.

"Of course! This might work if the summoning ritual damages the soul. Is that why Pearl can't use magic?"

He felt a smug sense of victory, not his own. Exhausted by this struggle, Lumina went dormant again.