After we finished our mana scanning, Carrel... robe guy, said something to the king.

I paid close attention of what he was saying and I roughly understood that he was making a report about our mana and quantity, but I can be wrong since it has been more than one hour since I first heared this language. Since this language is similar to Greek, even though the names aren't similar at all, I guess that I could learn this language in a month or less thanks to this ring.

After robe guy finished his report the king stood up and said " ◥▆▼△▽⊿◤ ◥▆▇ ██▇ ┓┗┛ ┳⊥﹃﹄ ┌┐└ ██■▓ 回□〓≡▇█╚╔╗ ╬═╓╩ ┠█■ ▓回□〓≡  ▄█▌▐ ░▒ (Heroes, powerful ability bestowed by god Wion is not mana, but a skill embedded to one's soul, a soul skill. The amount of mana that you heroes have does not reflect the power that you have)".

So I guess that my new observation ability is something that comes from my soul, well if magic and another world exists, then soul existing is not weird at all.

"Your Highness, I... I... we... still cough. Your Highness, mana and soul skills are not something that were present in our former world so we still can not grasp that concept properly. Is there a way for us to learn about it in more detail?" said grito, who was extremely nervous at first, but surprisingly, after coughing once, he managed to convey his words fluidly.

"▌▐░▒▬ ♦◊◦☼ ♠♣▣▤▥▆▇ ██■▓  ▦▩ぃ◘▼【】 ┱┲❣✚ ✪△▽⊿◤ ◥▆▇ █ (We were aware of if thanks to the legends from old so we were already prepared for it, but it is still surprising to hear directly that in another world there is no knowledge of mana at all)," answered the king, but his face didn't show any surprise at all.

Then, the king directed his gaze to the robe guy and told him something in a commanding voice. I know that he mentioned heroes so it is probably about us.

"╳¯– —≡▄█▌▐჻░▒▓ ▤▥▦░▒▬ ♦◊◦☼▪▫☼♦▀  ░▒ ♠♣▣ ▪▫☼♦▀ ▄█▌▐ ░▒▤▥ ▦▩ぃ◘  (Heroes, I know that you are tired, but before resting, follow Carrel. He will guide you to a training field where you can learn about your soul skills. After that a maid will guide you to your rooms and you can enjoy a meal. You can leave now)," said the king to us in his usual imposing voice.

This old man, doesn't he know how to say please? Ah, I guess he really believes that he has the right to order us around since he was the one who summoned us.

After everyone bowed as a farewel we, the "heroes", left following robe guy.

***

Once we were outside the room, everyone besides robe guy, let out a sigh.

"Fiuu, this was much stress, I could not even talk at all hahaha" said macho with his usual broken English while letting out a hearty laught.

It seems that he still remembers that we are supposed to talk without the rings as much as possible, since we still don't know our conversation could be leaked or not if we use the rings to talk.

"That's right, I think you guys are amazing for being able to talk in that situation. I was trembling the whole time," cutely said Sarah with a strained smile.

Ahh, that's right, Sarah also didn't say anything at all and I think that she almost fainted from shock when she touched that mana sensor.

"Kuroko is the amazing one, she was the first one to talk and she did it without faltering at all," said grito with such a small voice that I am having a hard time believing that he is the same guy who was able to ask a question to that old man in such a composed manner.

"Oh come on, I just did the introductions, you Blair and Linda were the ones who managed to ask him something. I may look calm but I was super nervous that time hehe" I humbly said with the usual cute smile and voice that makes me want to kill myself.

"Don't be shy now, if you hadn't talked first I won't have been able to ask the king anything at all," said Blair while petting my head.

"She just wanted to show off, it should be obvious if one looks at what she is wearing right now," Linda grumbled annoyed, making me remember what kind of slutty costume I am wearing again.

It hurts, but I won't cry for something as simple as that, seriously.

"Don't worry, you look extremely cute in it, so don't cry okay?" said Blair with a caring smile giving me a stronger blow than Linda's words.

"That's right, you look adorable Kuroko," said Sarah giving me a fatal blow.

"Ahh, is that cosplay right? cosplay?" Blair said a little panicked after she saw my depressed face.

"That's right, this is called cosplay. I am not wearing this because I want, I was just helping a friend. Seriously!" I strongly said, wanting to at least convey that I am not a pervert. 

But... if they knew that I was actuallya twenty-one years old guy... I don't want to think about that.

"What character are you disguising yourself Kuroko? My country doesn't air China cartoon so I am curious," asked macho curiously

"It is anime, not Chinese cartoon Juán. But this is the first time I saw this costume, is it an original?" followed grito.

If Grito knows that this is an original, then he must be the same as Carla. That means, if I give more information he will guess that this is a not for minors original.

"More importantly, what do you guys think about this stuff about heroes, demonic forces and origin of evil?" I quickly asked to change the topic.

I don't think that my pride will ever recover if they found out the origin of this costume... I kinda feel that I am forgetting about something, if I can't remember then it must not be important.

"Heroes and demons and stuffs... isn't it a little exciting?" was the answer that macho gave to my question.

"Exciting... aren't you scared?" asked grito with his usual low voice.

"A hero is something like Superman, hadn't you dreamt about becoming a superhero at least once in your life?" macho said with an excited voice.

"Hero... if they really need heroes, then that means that they are in serious problems, right? Then if we really have superpowers then we must help them," Sarah innocently said.

I guess that she is the kind of people who thinks that power comes with reponsability. I honestly think it is bullshit. Why someone strong should naturally help the weak for free?

"Don't be such an idealistic child, I am planning to deafeat that source of evil just so that I can go home, I don't care about his world at all, you should do the same," said Linda without an annoyed voice. Why I am the only one that is getting her hate?

Also that strange feeling of forgetting is really bothering me.

"Come on kids, don't be so excited. If we really have to fight, then we can die you know?" Blair calmly stated pouring a cold water to everyone.

It seems that besides me and Blair, nobody had thought about the possiblilty of death.

Afterwards everyone went silent.

"Ehm, Hinata-san, can you please tell me what is happening now?" asked Hugo in Japanese destroying the silence.

Ahh, that's right, I completely forgot about that guy. I feel better after I remembered what I was forgetting. At least I was right that it wasn't anything important.

"Hu... Hokuto-san, I'm sorry I forgot about my job as an interpreter, but don't worry, we weren't talking about anything important, it was just casual banter," I quickly explained it to Hugo. What a pain.

"No, it's okay. It's my fault for not learning English, haaa. I should have paid more attention in classes," dejectedly muttered Hugo.

That's right, I am pretty sure that most serious high-schooler's English level is way better than yours. People like you are the reason why they say that Asian's sucks at English.

After that, everyone, except Hugo, enjoyed some llight banter without exchaning any useful information, but it wasn't completely useless. I managed to clear my head and in our way I carefully analyzed the surrounding to find some escape route.

***

The training field was a big courtyard that could field at least five baseball stadium, but in such a large place, there were only nine people. The hero group, robe guy and an armored knight, making this place look really lonely.

Robe guy said something to the knight, then he bid his farewells and left the place.

After that, one of the armored knights approached us, and reomved his helmet showing a chiseled face with brown hair and eyes.

"▪▫☼♦▀ ▄█ ▪▫☼♦▀ ▄█▌▐ ╓╩ ┠┨┯┷┏ ░▒▌▐ ░▒ (I am honored to meet you estemeed heroes. My name is Tiwor Klin. I hold the position of commander of the Magic Knight Squad. I was given the task to help you with your training)," said the armored in a polite tone.

"Nice to meet you Sir Tiwor. My name is Kuroko Hinata," I introduced myself in a polite tone too.

Following after me, introduced started to themselves.

"I am Blair Douglas. It's nice to make your acquaintance".

"I am Juán Arancivia. Nice too meet you".

"My name is Linda Torres, I hope that we get along with each other well Sir Tiwor".

"I am Sarah Smith, nice to meet you Sir Tiwor".

"I.. I am, Chris Thompson".

Everyone introduced themselvse... except Hugo.

What is wrong with him? Maybe he is too nervous? Just when I was about to say something to him, Hugo opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Tanaka Hokuto!" strongly yelled Hugo.

Since I was just besides him, my ears hurts a lot.

"Hahahahaha" Armor guy didn't mind at all that kind of rough greeting and just let out a hearty laugh

After the introductions were done, he made us follow him to the center of the field.

***

"╓╩ 回□■ ▓回╩ ╬═╓╩ ┠█■ ▓回□〓 ╬═╓╩ ┠ ┠┨┯┷┏ █■██■▓ 回□〓≡╝ ▓回□〓┨┯┷┏ (As I said before, I am in charge of training you, estemeed heroes, but since this is the first day after the summoning I am only going to give a simple explanation about mana and soul skills) Armor guy said after we were in the middle of the field and then he proceeded with his explanation.

Even though he said it was simple, it was really long and boring and I felt that he added a lot of unnecessary stuffs in his explanation.

To summarize his explanation:

* This world is filled with mana.

* Mana is the energy that one uses to cast magic.

* The amount of mana can increase with training.

* Magic are all the phenomenon that occurs due to shaping the mana.

* If one overuse his own mana, the person will suffer a lot of exhaustion.

* Soul skills are skill that is embedded to one's soul.

* Soul skills use a different system than the one used for magic.

* A soul skill usually doesn't use mana as energy source, but the soul energy itself.

* The power of a soul skills increases with training.

* It is recommended to not abuse the soul skills since one can die if one overuse the soul skills before letting the soul energy to restore.

* The recovery rate of soul energy varies from person to person.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

After reviewing the imporant parts of his explanation again in my head, I started to worry about a certain aspect.

The thing that it is about the risk of death if one overuse his soul skills. If my analysis ability, too long, let's just rename it Appraisal. If my Appraisal ability is my soul skill then there is the chance that I am in a huge problem, since my Appraisal is always activated and I don't know how to stop it. I can only hope that the amount of soul energy that this ability uses is lower than my own recovery rate.

To try to calm myself I looked at the rest to see how they were doing following up armor guy explanations.

Linda had a fed up face, Chris and macho's eyes were shining, Blair was thinking with her eyes closed, grito was taking some notes on a pocket notebook that he took out from his coat and Hugo had a poker face, no Hugo's face was more like a face that reached Nirvana, a really calm expression.

Don't tell me that Hugo didn't understood anything?

When I was about to confirm my suspicion by asking Hugo, armor man started another explanation.

"░▒▓ 」↑↓→ ←■▓ 回□〓≡╝↘↙♀ ..۩ ۩๑๑۩۞ ۩ ▌ ┐└┘∟「 」▌▐▀↘↙♀ ▐░▒▬ (Now the important part for today. The reason why we are in the training field. Now that you know the risks of using soul skills, we are going to test what soul skills you have. First, close your eyes and try to look deep inside yourselves), instructed armor guy in a calm voice.

Everyone followed his instructions and one by one closed their eyes. Macho and Chris were the more enthusiastic in the group.

While closing my eyes I was hoping that maybe there is a chance that Appraisal is not my soul skill.

After a minute has passed I felt something different than mana inside me, but it wasn't something that I didn't know. It was appraisal. I can't explain why, but I know that I am not mistaken.

"►◄ █░▒▓ ▌▐▀▄─┼ ╞╟╚╔╩╦ ╠ ◠◡╭╮█■ ▓回□〓▧▨♨◐◑ (Once you found your soul skill, try to release it with your will, the first time may be complicated but after doing it once, you will remember that feeling and will be able to bring it out easily in the future) explained armor guy.

I can feel my appraisal, but it seems that it is already released, it seems that I released it when I was shaken by the resemblance the princess had with Carla.

I tried to stop the appraisal, but I didn't knew how to do it. Armor guy only teached us in how to release it, but not how to stop it. I guess that it is not normal to having your soul skill be function constantly.

I decided to give up and opened my eyes. I observed the surroundings once again. This courtyard is surrounded by small walls, maybe at the other side of the walls is the exit of this place, should I check it o...

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

What the hell was that!?

While I was formulating a few escape plans, I felt a big concentration of energy which was probably mana, moving at high speed right next to me, which was immediately followed by a loud exploding sound and then a cloud of dust appeard in the location of one of the walls.

"Ohh, so that's my soul skill, it seems powerful enough for a hero," said Linda who was standing up while pointing her two arms to the direction of that cloud of dust

After a few moments the dust settled down and we understood just how strong that attack was.

The wall and even part of the ground disappeared starting from in front of Linda until a few tens of meters ahead of where the wall was supposed to be.

That was her soul skill, that thing that pulverized everything that was in front of her?! My appraisal doesn't look impressive at all compared to that monstrous power, that's really a cheat power befitting a hero. Does Wion hate me or something? Why did that god gave me this weak cheat?

Armor guy was flabbergasted looking at the wall and then looking at Linda. Seeing armor guy's face I know that kind of power is not normal in this world.

"─┼█▌▐ ░▒▬ ╞╟╚▒▓ ▤▥▦▧▨╔█■ ▓╩╦ ╠ (Lord Linda, that was your soul skill! As expected of a hero. How many times do you think you can do it without tiring yourself)," excitedly said armor guy.

"Hmm, I feel as if I can do this three, no four times more if I push myself," answered Linda with a proud look on her face.

Hearing Linda's answer, armor guy's face was at first fronzen and at the next moment his face had a joyous look.

Those two aren't feeling even a bit concerned about the wall that just disappeared? Specially Linda, she is the culprit, but looking at her proud face I understood that she doesn't feel guilty at all.

Anyways, it seems that one can roughly feel how many times one can use their soul skill without running out of soul energy and since I don't feel any danger with my appraisal it should be safe to assume that I can keep using it indefinitely.

"That was awesome Linda! That was like a energy beam attack, like the ones that often appears in that famous monkey alien cartoon!" macho said with a face even more excited than armor guy.

"Linda! Linda! you are incredible!" happily squealed Sarah.

"If this is the power of a hero's soul skill then we can safely defeat those demons and return home without problem," said Linda with a relaxed face.

"Hmm, Linda I am sorry to say this, but my soul skill is not combat related like yours," apologetically stated a refreshing looking Chris

That's right, not grito, but a refreshing looking Chris. The dark under eyes were gone, his face was brimming with vitality and even his skin regained some color.

"My soul skill has the effect of healing people. I estimate that the most taxing healing is regenerating an organ and I think that I can do that fifteen times before getting tired," said Chris with a voice that wasn't as low as before.

"Don't be humble, with your ability we can avoid mortal wounds and it is a perfect match for my own," said Blair while she was taking some distance between us.

After she was ten meters apart from us, she jumped three meters... three meters upwards with just a jump.

"My soul skill give me a huge physical strength boost. I feel as if I were Superman," was what Blair said while she was descending.

"Blair, if you jump that high without pants, your underwear is visible for everyone on the ground," I said once she descended.

When she heard me, she just blushed a little at my remark, but it didn't seem that she minded it that much.

"Blair, for how long can you maintain that super mode?!" asked macho and Sarah at the same time brimming with expectations.

"Hmm, it depends. I can more or less regulate the amount of strength I gain, but I guess that I can remain on this current level of power for about one hour and at full power it will last for five minutes," answered Blair who was getting a little embarrassed from receiving the admiring gazes of macho and Sarah.

Armor guy is totally silent, even though it seems that he doesn't know what Chris's ability was, just seeing Linda's and Blair's was enough to impress him that much.

"Hey, Juán, Sarah. Stop fooling around and release your soul skills too! And that goes to Hokuto and Kuroko too!" said Linda with a scolding voice, but I doubt that Hugo understood what she said anyways and I am too lazy to explain it to him.

"Ah, Linda, I forgot to mention it, but my soul skill is one that gives me a huge boost of mana. It seems that I accidentaly used it once when touching that mana sensor," said Sarah with an apologetic face.

So that huge reaction from the mana sensor was due to Sasha's soul skill.

"In my case, it seems that I can convert the soul energy into mana. If I use all my soul energy, then I think that I can release ten times more mana than the last time," explained Sarah, using her ring this time so armor guy can also understand it. What  a nice child, being so considerate with a bunch of kidnappers.

"Ohh! That's also pretty impresive! My own soul skill seems to be a barrier or something like that, but is just what I feel so I am not sure," informed macho.

"Then it's easy. Make a barrier in some place away from us and I will shoot it with my blast," suggested Linda.

After we heard what Linda propossed, macho quickly agreed and after pointing his hand at another wall he said that he was ready.

Wait... why making a barrier on a wall? Could you just do it in the collapsed one? Ah well, less walls are better for me anyway.

While I was thinking, I felt how a lot of mana was gathering around Linda's hand. I know that it is mana, since the feeling is similar to the one I feel wriggling inside my body.

Armor guy was starting to panic after seeing what Linda was doing, but before he could stop her, she compressed that huge amount of mana and fired it.

BOOOOOM

A huge explosive sound resounded and a cloud of dust was formed.

"Hey, are sure that your soul skill was a barrier!?" screamed Linda, who amussingly, was the most surprised by the explosion.

It seems that she expected her attack to be stopped or something.

"I said that it was just a feeling and I wasn't totally sure... no wait look! The wall is still intact!" said macho with a proud face.

He said that the wall was still intact, but it was full of cracks here and there, but if we compare it with the first one, which was pulverized without leaving traces, this one was in perfect conditions.

"How was that!? Impressive right!? I managed to stop that energy beam!" yelled macho with a happy face.

"What do you mean with stop? The wall is clearly damaged to the point that it can be destroyed without my beam," said Linda pouting a little.

"Urg, that's true, but the amount of times that I can use this are eight times if I count the one just used, so in cost matters, my ability is better," complained macho.

"Don't fight you two, both skills are impressive, cheat level if I may say so," said Chris trying to pacify Linda and macho who were about to start a verbal fight.

"Ah, the only ones we don't know are Kuroko's and Hokuto's right?" said Sarah looking at me and Hugo with shining eyes.

"Guys... I don't know how to say this, but I can't feel anything inside me. I don't think that I have a soul skill," I said with a remorseful face.

I am not like those guys who can show their unique cheats without fear. Just a fool will reveal his cards to everyone easily.

"What, are you serious? Are you sure that you are just not looking carefully?" asked me Linda with a voice that it wasn't as mean as before.

"Wait, what about Hokuto?" asked Sarah with a face that was a little disappointed. Sorry Sarah, but even if I reveal my soul skill you will be disappointed anyways.

"Wait a moment, let me check," I responded to Sarah and then I faced Hugo and asked "Huguto cough. Hokuto-san what is your soul skill?"

After hearing my question, Hugo closed his eyes for a moment and then he surprisngly said "I am sorry. I don't know what is my soul skill"

When I conveyed what he said, everyone were looking at us with some suspicion.

It is not surprising. To them we are both japanese who just happens to don't have a soul skill, but is Hugo saying the truth?

Now that I think about it, he is being really silent and hadn't even tried to communicate with us using the ring. No in fact he hadn't talked with anybody besides me and that strange greeting he did with armor guy. Maybe he is not as dumb as I thought.

After we finished showing our soul skills, Sarah informed armor guy about what were our soul skills and after he finished hearing it, he took a bell, that has the magic function to sound at the same time with it's sister bel,l from inside his armor and lightly shaked it. A few minutes after a maid appeared who guided us to a dining room.

We didn't talked as much as before this time.

***

When we reached the dining room, I could see that there was a long table filled with lots of different cusines.

All of us were seated in a row. I took a seat at the corner of the table, in the place closest to the exit of the dining room just in case and then I observed our food.

There wasn't any food that was poisonous to human, just some foods that were harmful because it was too fatty or it could mess with the colesterol levels. Appraisal is really useful outside of combat.

Some maids gave us wet towels so we could wash our hands before eating.

After washing my hands I started to eat while organizing the information.

First, my current situation:

1. I was attacked by a strange pillar of light and appeared in this world. If that pillar of light was the summoning magic, then this means that Carla is probably safe, since the last thing I remember from Earth is that she was outside that pillar.

2. The condition of my body. On Earth I didn't have mana nor this appraisal skill. There is a chance that this is a new body that is meant to function in this world while my body on Earth is dead. I don't want to think of that possiblity, but since magic exists, then the laws of physics should be different then is not far-fetched to think that my original body can't exist here since that would contradict the laws of this world. Also this could explain Carla's tears.

3. There is a chance that this body is a one that was created using Sung Eun-Ha's body from Earth as a base. In other words, I am just a clone.

4. Maybe my body simply undergone a huge change as a side effect from travelling between worlds. My sudden disappearence can also explain Carla's tears since she would feel guilty thinking that it was her fault that I disappeared.

Man, remembering Carla's crying face is depressing. Let's go to the next topic.

Next, the soul skills.

* Linda: Beam of Anihilation (Gather a huge amount of mana from the surroundings, compress it and fires it like a cannon).

* Macho: Mega Barrier (Gather a huge amount of mana from the surroundings, compress it and makes a barrier with it).

* Blair: Super Blair (Gives Blair a super mode where she is ridiculously strong).

* Sarah: Mana Fountain (Can have an incredible supply of mana, there is a chance that she could make an attack stronger than Beam of Anihilation).

* Chris: Miracle Healing (Can heal any wounds, including destroyed organs).

* Me: Appraisal (Gives the basic information of everything that I see, useful for poison tasting).

* Hugo: Mystery (Lying, he doesn't have one or he really doesn't know).

Those soul skills are really powerful and after I named them from what I saw; those skills, besides mine, really looks like cheat powers. Also, those abilities will get stronger if they train making them even more cheat abilities. If that power is what is expected of a hero, then I can't go to the battlefield. If I don't want to die then I need to escape as fast as possible.

Hmm, this is delicious. This beef like meat is a high quality one and the chef is skilled enought to cook it at the perfect stage. This sauce, is red wine sauce right? I think that I can replicate this flavor with the right ingredients on Earth, I just need to beg Carla to buy me some high quality wine and beef.

Ah crap, I almost got distracted.

"Fuuu" I slowly exhaled and started to think again with a calm mind.

Beside the soul skills, I found something more useful for me right now. The surroundings of this castle.

Thanks to Linda outrageous cheat, I was able to see what was behind those walls at the training field and, as I expected, the other side of those walls connects to the outside of the castle.

Looking through that hole, I understood that the castle is atop a hill and down the hill there is a huge city which is surrounded by tall walls too.

If one needs permission or identification to go out of the city then I can't escape after removing my disguise.

"This is so tasty!" said Sarah with an angelic face.

I know right? As expected of cusine made by royal chefs. Arrgh, I am getting distracted again, if this was a strategy to make one to stop thinking then it is highly effective.

Okay, okay, let's stop thinking stupid things.

A rough escape plan is:

1. Tiime of escape: Tonight.

2. Escape route: The hole that Linda destroyed, and if it is repaired already or heavily guarded, then I'll give up and wait for the next chance.

Yup, that plan sucks, in fact I don't even know if I can return home without relying on these kidnappers, but I already know after talking with that old man who calls himself the king that these kidnappers doesn't know the way to return us back or they don't want to do it.

Well, there is still the chance that they won't force me to fight if they know that I am not a fighting potential, but my gut feeling tells me that it is better to escape.

Escaping may be dangerous, but if staying here doing nothing is equally dangerous, then I think that doing something is better.

Once I manage to escape my next course of actions will be.

1. Remoiving this embarassing disguise and gather information about this world.

2. Researching magic since that can be a key to return home.

3. While researching magic, I will also train my magic skills to the point where I can defend myself. There is no point if I return half dead or in a state where I will be just a burden for those waiting for me.

Yes, that's right, my body is as important as returning home. I must do my best to avoid dying.

I will escape from this place and find a way to return home without losing my life!

After renewing my determination, I started to enjoy the food. Mhh, this duck like meat is also tasty. The first thing that I am going to do once I return home is to replicate this banquet and make a party with everyone using Carla's money.