The nauseating feeling of being forcefully teleported hits as the view before Gem's eyes turns pitch black. Everything below his head was completely immobilized, unable to move so much as an inch. Slowly, he start to see myself floating down a tunnel with lights passing along side the tunnel. Over the next 30 seconds or so, whole galaxies start to appear and disappear in barely a flicker. Like he's traveling at the speed of light, yet somehow still not completely atomized. The next 10 or so seconds, he noticeably started slowing down as he approach a planet. The planet was largely green/brown in color and surrounded by an asteroid field and what looks like 2 moons. He could see various deserts, forests, and a speckle of blue lakes all across the planet. The planet itself seems to be rather an inverse of Earth geographically speaking. Where Earth is almost 70% water, this planet seems to be almost 80% landmass and 20% water. This sight quickly lost focus as he continued to approach, as though he were quickly zooming in on a really detailed map.
Gem's final approach appears to be a valley containing a giant stone city, surrounded by tall mountains with snow capped peaks. Swarms of monsters were actively attacking the city walls at the entrance to the city. Giant fireballs and lightning strikes the size of a tree trunk could be seen combatting said monsters from atop the city walls. As the battle disappeared from view, he started to approach a square outlined in red, completely surrounded by a wall. A mix of well over 200 archers and swordsmen were watching his descent into the red outlined square. As he was softly set down into the courtyard, he could see the others also arriving with him at the exact same moment.
An awkward silence descended onto the square as all 50 of Hero's stared at the solders stationed atop the walls.
...
Someone with authority yelled out, "THE HERO'S HAVE ARRIVED. QUICKLY, HERO'S FORMATION! ARCHERS TO THE FRONT!"
Immediately, all of the solders at the top of the wall moved to allow the archers in full view of everyone in the square.
The same authority shortly yelled, "DRAW!"
Every single archer could seen immediately pulling out an arrow from their quiver and loading it onto their bow. Skimmed Knees Girl, "Wait, what's happening?!"
"PULL!"
Overly enthusiastic nerd started panicking and yelled, "WAIT WAIT, DON'T SHOOT! I'm a Wizard, I can help fight the monsters at the wall!"
"PRIORITY TARGET: WIZARD!"
"WAIT, NOOOO..."
"FIRE!"
...
Gem's eyes glazed over as the person standing in front of him had their entire head explode into a bloody mess followed by that same arrow making a crater right next to my feet. Blood endlessly splashed like a geyser as arteries were completely severed and exposed to the air. Whole heads were completely separated from their body. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the nerdy kid was completely shredded with hundreds of arrows. Their wasn't a single piece of his body left intact and any piece that was, wasn't any larger than the size of a penny. The head of the religious lady, who was praying the entire time previous to arriving here, rolled in front of him and fell into the crater next to his feet. Blood was still shooting upwards into the air from some of the still standing bodies, slowly deflating and collapsing down to the ground. He was completely drenched in blood from the surrounding bodies.
The smell of iron was so palpable, his stomach started to heave as he slowly collapsed to his knees. His eyes were slightly glazed over as he stared at the scene before him.
All told, it's been maybe 20 seconds since they first landed in the square.
A single black arrow was shot towards the position where the nerdy kid's mutilated remains were located. It hit dead center and immediately expanded out into a black sphere about 6 feet in diameter. The sphere only stayed in existence for maybe half a second before completely collapsing in on itself. Everything within the sphere's area of expansion simply ceased to exist leaving a giant spherical hole in the ground.
Far too shocked about the turn of events, the fact that he wasn't dead yet didn't even cross his mind.
Part of the wall in front of him liquified and turned into an arch. Slightly beyond the arch stood a lady scanning the scene to see if anyone was alive. Two people, one wearing a blue robe and the other wearing a brown robe, exited the arch with a crew of laborers. The laborers were pulling a cart filled with open ended barrels. They proceeded to start picking up body parts and loading them into said barrels. The blue robed woman started to approach Gem while also slowly cleaning up all the loose blood splattered across the square. Orbs of blood started to slowly form and float above her head as they continued to walk. Blood even started to slowly evaporate off his skin like a weird horizontal reverse rain.
"SOLDIERS, AT EASE!"
Soldiers atop the wall began to relax and a low murmur arose. No one was panicking and they acted as if it was simply another day on the job. Gem turned his head from looking at the soldiers to facing the arch again. The blue robed woman finally arrived within earshot of him and was mumbling to herself.
"...-ing hate hero's month. Nothing good ever happens during this month..."
"Hey village kid! You coming or what? You won't get to see Old Sam if you keep standing around like that!"
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Gem said, "...Huh?"
"Never seen first-hand what happens during Hero's Month huh? No one actually enjoys butchering a bunch of innocent people transported from another world. Then again, in the face of having to deal with another cataclysm, murdering a few people doesn't sound so bad. Now run along to the nice lady waiting for you under the arch."
She continued walking past him collecting orbs of blood from the seemingly endless craters inside the square. The brown robed guy was slowly making his way behind the blue robed woman, leveling out the craters and slowly smoothing out the square. He completely ignored him while continuing on with his job.
Gem finally started to do a slow walk/shuffle, eyes still slightly glazed over. Following along the clean, smoothed out path leading to the arch, he shuffled up to the kind looking secretary lady. She had been following him with her eyes the entire time, giving me a look of empathy. Sometimes she would glance around him and her face would start to turn a little pale before refocusing back onto him.
When he finally reached the arch, she put a hand on his shoulder and quickly pushed him towards a lobby looking building slightly behind the wall. A few guards were present to make sure the only direction we went was specifically to this building. The kind lady immediately started to talk to him while they walked.
"Hello, my name is Claudia and I'm an advocate sent to help exiled village kids sent our way. I apologize for asking these abrupt questions considering what you just went through but if we want to get you into the city, we need to go over a few things."
My mind finally started to catch up to what Claudia was saying and the shock was finally beginning to wear off.
"First, did you recently just turn the age of 16?"
I mean, technically I did. "... yes."
"Well that simplifies things a lot! According to my Identify skill, you're a Unique classed Rank 0. Is that also correct? Please tell me now if that's not the case. If you're found to be using a skill to falsify parts of your status, you will be immediately killed. If you let us know pre-emptively that you have such a skill, we have other ways of validating your status."
She looked at him expectantly while still pushing him into the building and towards some booths eerily similar to something you would find in an international airport.
Just as he started to think back to the visual interface he had seen recently, it intuitively popped-up in front of his vision blocking out most of his view.
Name: Gem
Age: 16
Class: Nanomancer [Unique]
Rank: 0
Attributes:
Nanite Volume
4 Optional Attribute Slots
Skills:
2 Optional Passive Skill Slots
Chosen Growth
Summon Nanites
Network
Kinetic Force
Claudia catches him just as he trips over his own two feet. Surprisingly, she lifts him off his feet as they continue moving on to the booths.
"Well that all but basically confirms you just turned 16 and your status was recently activated. Did you even select your attribute yet? Wait, nevermind; save that information for when you talk to Old Sam."
"Please confirm that you're a Unique classed Rank 0."
My status disappeared from my vision as my attention focuses back onto her.
"Yes, you're correct."
She nods her head.
"Well that about covers it honestly, I'll take care of the talking and all the minor details. Just stay next to me until we finish going through the security check point."
Distantly, he could hear that same voice of authority suddenly speak out again.
"NEXT PREDICTED TELEPORT, 5 MINUTES AWAY. CLEANING CREW, CLEAR OUT! SOLDIERS, PREPARE FOR NEXT ROUND OF HEROS!"
My face immediately pales as Claudia continues to carry me away from the sound of weapons being drawn and arrows being prepared.
----------------------------------------
The security checkpoint was thankfully brief. Three different guards came to take a glance at Gem before his status was officially confirmed. He was provided with a black colored identification card. Engraved on it were his name, rank, and the rarity of his class. From just that example, it immediately became clear to him that the rarity of your class played a huge part in how the society of this world viewed you. He wasn't sure how Unique classed people were viewed, but for now he was being treated alright.
As they exited the opposite side of the building into a major road way, he turned to Claudia as she quickly railroaded any questions he might have with some very specific instructions.
"Look Gem, I realize you probably have a lot of questions but I have very little time before the next teleport. There's a possibility that another village kid like you is being sent here to address their... [Unique] class choice. You see the raised stone ledge following along the side of the road between those houses? That's called a sidewalk; follow that north until you find a grassy area covered in wild flowers and small groupings of trees. That area is called a park and it's a safe area for people to gather up. There, you'll find a man called Old Sam. He should be surrounded by kids about your age who turned 16 within the last week or so. He's the local teacher who helps kids navigate through their class choice and their associated options. Find him. Stay out of the road. I'm really sorry but I have to go... and good luck."
She immediately turns around and runs back through the checkpoint towards the teleport arrival area. Abandoned on a sidewalk outside the arrival checkpoint, he timidly started walking in the direction she told him to go.
...
The city was full of life, eerily similar to what he would picture a medieval city to look like. There were bits of trash all over the place; broken carriage wheels with spokes sticking out, ash leftover from fires burning in fireplaces, the uncommon animal excrement, rusted out nails, just a little bit of everything really. Shops were flourishing with business, especially weapon shops with an attached black-smithy. Every single bowyer shop had an army of fletchers producing arrows and delivery personnel sprinting towards the city walls as fast as their body could take them. Sometimes an official looking messenger would arrive at a shop with an official looking document and a line of delivery personnel. The entire shop would be completely ransacked of all it's inventory while all the delivery personnel would immediately take off towards the far distant city walls.
Organized panic would best describe the current state of the city.
Gem continued to slowly walk along the sidewalk while watching the organized chaos. Occasionally dodging out the way or flinching when someone moved around him so quickly, he could barely perceive them passing by.
Finally arriving at the park, it all but looked like an industrial sized child daycare. Groups of children were held in fenced-in areas while minders made sure they stayed safe. Guards tightly patrolled the area to ensure nothing would happen to them. Over a little to his right, he could see an old man sitting in a wooden chair. A group of teenagers were sitting in the grass in front of him. They were all chatting with each other, patiently waiting as though this were the beginning of another school day. A number of them had looks of concern on their faces as chaos in the streets continued on without abating.
Assuming this was where Claudia wanted him to go, he approached the older man with his identification card in hand. Seeing him approach and the color of Gem's ID card, he immediately waved him over with a smile.
"Hey there kid, did you just arrive from a recent teleport?"
"...yes, I did and Claudia told me to find Old Sam? Is that you by chance?"
"Hahaha, yes yes, that would be me. I keep telling everyone to knock off the Old part but just like you don't get to pick your name when you're born, sometimes you don't get to pick your nickname either. Please have a seat. We'll be going over all of the basics, even though it's generally a review for most kids. Choosing your class, your attributes, and your initial skills can have a huge impact on how you progress throughout your life. Though in your case, it seems you already decided to gamble on a [Unique] class. That's going to be a toughy but I've helped hundreds of [Unique] kids create a viable skillset. We'll try to figure something out and help you avoid any pitfalls in the process."
"Thank you.. sir."
"It's really not a problem, not a problem at all! I'm an [Uncommon] Teacher after all, it's what I do. Have a seat on the ground and we'll get started in another hour or so."
He then proceeded to give Gem another kind smile while directing him to sit on the ground with the rest of the teenagers.
As he sat down, it was at this point that everything caught up to him. Gem's entire body started shaking slightly while his fists were clenched so tightly, they started to turn white.
Old Sam looked at him with a grim face and said, "Did you end up catching your first glimpse of what's happening at the city walls? Nasty business that; thankfully we haven't had a significant breach in the past year or two."
Little did Old Sam know that monsters at the city wall were the least of his concerns.