Just Alex’s figure disappeared into the giant vortex, on the other side of this same world, there stood a large kingdom. It was very large, covering several hundred Kilometres worth of land.
The land around the outer walls were clear, but there was still grass growing. Some distance from the walls, was where trees began to populate the area.
Looking deeper into the kingdom, one would notice the abundance of people walking around the streets. Inside the many buildings around the streets, merchants of many different profession opened up their own shops and did business with the people.
At the middle of the kingdom, one could see a large castle, much taller and larger than any buildings ever built in this country. This was the home of the royal blood, and their personal guards.
But, that wasn’t the only large building in this kingdom.
Several Kilometres west from the castle, there was a large wooden building that looked like a giant Japanese dojo. The walls were built from wood and the roof was flat.
On the front of this building, a giant emblem was built into the front wall of the building, shaped like a giant golden flower with 4 diamonds surrounding it. This building, was the kingdom’s public guild.
Once more, looking from the clouds far above, one would call this kingdom as prosperous. And indeed, it is!
Many of the people here were living comfortably, or at least had enough sustainability to carry themselves along life. The number of people in poverty only took on about 1% of this kingdom’s population.
This is, the grand kingdom of the Human race, {Tordge}!
At this very fine, and windy, day, we close in on a certain young boy, walking around the streets of {Tordge}.
His almond coloured hair flapped with the wind, and his dark golden eyes continued to stare into the bustling streets. In his hand, was a piece of bread with a slab of meat cooked within. He quickly took his last bite and got up.
This boy, was Jake Darryl. Like Alex, he was also a senior student in his second year. His height was around 170 cm, and his body build was quite similar to Alex’s, not too muscular, but not a stack of bones either.
As a close friend of Alex, if not the only close friend of Alex, he had built quite a good relationship with him. Both being interested in the world of Arts, just in different categories, they both naturally got along.
Although, he would always need to start the talk. Being an introvert at heart, Alex would never speak first, and Jake had to try and start a conversation with him. Alex would always reply with a short sentence, and would never talk lengthily, which annoyed him slightly as the conversation would end instantly.
But one day, he found out why that is. His heart felt sorry instantly.
“……”
Thinking that, he brought his mind back to the present and merged with the crowd.
On this day, he had an appointment he had to fulfil with a person he met a while back.
Following the familiar streets, he stopped right in front of the public guild. His eyes stared at the giant golden flower, which he was told to symbolize prosperity. Their golden colours matched together.
Shaking away the thought, he stepped into the large building, and he was bombarded with a loud sound.
*BOOM*
The wall on the right of him broke away, and a man flew out. His body was twisted in an unnatural way, but his eyes were constantly looking back inside. Like a raging beast, he landed gracefully and rushed in!
*BANG*
More explosions sounded!
At first, Jake was terrified at this display. Never in his life would he ever think of seeing a man with such a good build being launched out of a building. It was absolute madness!
But after a while, and after actually learning of who these people are, his shock was lightened, but he would always receive the chill when watching these battles.
Apparently, the two people who constantly fought against each other were the infamous Boston brothers. Infamous for breaking walls in a mere second, although reluctant, the kingdom would call for their help when in need!
The one who just got launched out was the younger of the two, Temprano Boston. Famous for his high ranked defensive skills, he gained the title (Iron Blooded Fortress) at a young age. His body was practically bulging with muscles. But, if you were close with him, you would feel his goofy and easy-going personality.
Finally seeing past the dust, he saw the older of the two, Luego Boston. He was the other side of the same coin. Having become famous instead for his large and high ranking explosive offense. He didn’t have a large quantity of skills, but his raw strength alone already made him a monster.
Just like his brother, his body was also bulging with muscles. You wouldn’t spot any difference between them, if not for the red hair he has, instead of the blue hair his brother has. Just like his brother, he was also quite easy-going, but he was much quieter and calmer than his little brother.
Just as the fight began getting interesting, a man from his left called out to him.
“Young Jake, over here!”
“Huh? Oh! Zed!”
Quickly rushing past the crowd, he met up with his partner.
From within the crowd, a man wearing a blue leather T-shirt and a pair of black jeans covered by some thin armour waved at him with a large smile plastered over his face. Jake waved back at him and did a quick high five.
This was their personal greeting, to see if the one meeting up with them was an imposter or not.
This was mostly because of the delusions Zed keeps having, but it seemed plausible, so he went along with it.
That aside, Zed’s full name was…Zed. Actually, Jake had never heard his full name, and even when he introduced himself, he would refer to himself as simply ‘Zed’.
Zed was a man in his early 30’s. His height was no more than 190 cm. He has short black hair. His hair was also slightly messy too. His eyes were bold green, which displayed a great sense of wisdom in him from a simple stare.
The first time he met him, was at a public church. To his surprise, this man standing before him was actually a prophet! What a twist!
With his loud and confident personality, he displayed his passion and wisdom with great force, which gained him some unnecessary popularity, which he actually wishes he doesn’t have. That time, when they met gazes, Zed could tell that Jake was a special case, even between the summoned heroes. This shocked him, as he correctly guessed that he was one of the summoned people from another world.
They talked about it for a while, and he soon found out that he had a powerful skill called {Foresight}. On lower rankings, all this skill could do was foresee an attack that was coming. But on a higher rank, he could start seeing into people, just like a form of mind-reading. That was how he found out about Jake’s status. And even more, it could view events that had happened in the past!
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Hearing this, he asked suddenly to foresee into something. Zed was intrigued, as this was his first time meeting a summoned hero, so he listened in. Surprisingly, Zed accepted his request and started his foresight.
What Jake had asked him was if he could perhaps find the location of his missing friend. Intrigued by his request, Zed asked him about him, his appearance, and what he meant to him, as a friend of course. With that, he put his finger on his forehead, and {Foresight} was activated!
What he saw, was the sight of Alex battling against the giant octopus as the little crab watched uselessly from the side. Both of them seemed to be quite beaten up, with Alex injured and bleeding, while the octopus was slowly trying to get away from him, fearing its own death.
Staring intently with determination, Alex conjured one final cube, and with his battle cry, he forced his left arm to move, and threw the explosive cube at the octopus. The cube flew through the air, waving and wobbling slightly, before making contact. And then-
*Boom!*
The cube exploded brilliantly, cloaking the figure in a cloud of sand and dust. Alex panted in exhaustion as he waited for the dust to blow away. Second after second, the dust slowly faded away, revealing the octopus, floating lifelessly over the waters.
“Hah…hah…hah…”
Although he was extremely exhausted, and his body was injured and bleeding, this was still his victory!
Zed’s eyes sparkled in astonishment. Seeing that unique magic along with that odd way of fighting, his heart was instantly intrigued.
He began to recall what the olden prophecies had told him in the past. In a rush, Zed began asking various questions about this mystical young man, where he came from, who he was, and what powers he holds within. Jake was unable to answer any.
And then, that was the start of their relationship as partners. To his surprise once more, it seems like he wasn’t just a prophet, but also an adventurer! This was the title given to anyone registered into the guild. Jake was no different.
And so, with their extroverted and competitive personality, they got along pretty well, but that doesn’t mean that Alex was pushed out of his mind entirely. After he registered, he was ready to embark to find Alex, but was stopped by the kingdom. He fell into a fury because of this, but Zed held him back.
And that brings them here today.
“Well, shall we depart?”
“Heh, yeah!”
Jake never minded Zed’s royal-like speaking, but today, it fit quite well as today was going to be their starting point. Plan find Alex, begin!
“You must remember, we must train you to survive. We must not rush carelessly.”
“Ah, sorry…”
He scratched his head and laughed heartedly. The thought of training had completely slipped out of his mind! He may be a musician, but he was no warrior.
Walking out of the guild, the rays of sunlight flashed in their eyes.
“A fine day has shown itself.”
“I, guess?”
“Ah, before I forget. Jake, how are your stats?”
“Hmm…”
Status: Jake Darryl Lv 08
Health: 155/155
Mana: 150/150
Strength: 32
Intelligence: 30
Resistance: 28
Agility: 48
Skills:
{Jester} Rank 1 (Max)
[Assassin] Rank 1 (07%)
[Shadow Step] Rank 1 (11%)
Titles:
(Summoned One)|(Shadow)|(Noiseless)|
“It’s, alright…I suppose.”
“Doubt, perhaps? Do not worry! For I am here!”
“Right…”
Jake sent a dubious stare at the confident Zed. He didn’t seem to notice it though, and continued to mutter some words filled with wisdom, which he did not understand.
After forcing his mouth shut, Jake and Zed headed for the west exit of the kingdom. Once they reached the end of the road, there was an open path in between the large concrete walls that protected the kingdom. There were also some golden flower insignias attached around the walls.
Both Jake and Zed showed their adventurer’s license to the guard, and he let them through. And now, they were out in the wilderness!
“Jake.”
“Yea?”
“Remember, this place isn’t as safe as it looks. There are many shrooms waiting to ambush us. As of now, I can sense the presence of about…22 shrooms around us.”
Jake didn’t have a sensory type skill, so he didn’t sense any enemies around them, but Zed said that there were at least 22 of them. Where are they?
“Puuu!”
And then, something burst out from the ground close to him!
Its head was rounded, and it had a short and cylinder-like white body. There was a red and white polka dot pattern over its head. This was the shroom!
“Burst!”
With a simple command from Zed, the shroom’s body shook intensely before exploding into a puddle of purple liquid. Jake’s eyes widened in shock as the first shroom was taken out in an instance. What is this power?!
“Puuu!”
“Pupupuu!!”
Several more shrooms came out of the ground to avenge their fallen friend. In a swift motion, Jake drew his knife from his back pocket and poised his body. But, there was no need, as Zed’s arm was raised in the air.
“Surround!”
Like a chant, he shouted his magic attack, and the air shook intensely! The bodies of the shrooms began shaking before bursting into more purple liquid.
Immediately, the rest of the shrooms jumped up to try and take them out. They all landed on the ground and began running at them. “Young Jake, jump!”
“What?”
“Jump!”
He wasn’t sure what was going on in Zed’s mind, but he followed and jumped. Pushing his fist on the ground, Zed muttered something and a great force was transmitted from his fist, and into the ground. “Scatter!”
The earth wailed as the earth shook. The ground was becoming unstable!
The shrooms incoming were either blown away, or suffered a fatal blow from the shockwaves. The shrooms that survived suddenly exploded into more liquid.
It was a one-sided massacre! What was that?!
Jake was completely blown away. Who would ever think, that this prophet who seemed way over-confident of his abilities, actually had the ability to back it up?! It just shows that he still has a lot to learn…
“I do not suggest fighting these shrooms on close combat. Their toxic gas are able to paralyse us.”
“I…see.”
Not just powerful, Zed seems to be quite acknowledgeable about many things. It really was lucky to have met this man.
“Well, let us continue on. Our destination is that small cave.”
Jake looked to where Zed was pointing, and sure enough, there was a small cave opening just standing there in the middle of the grassy plains. It was quite small, and it will probably only barely be enough for a small van to fit in.
Zed and Jake went over to the cave, and Zed pressed his hand against the inner walls. He stayed silent for a moment, before letting go.
“Excellent. It does not seem like there is anyone in this cave.”
“Nice!”
“Let us continue.”
Following behind Zed, Jake went into the cave. As they went farther in, the sunlight found it harder and harder to get in, and soon enough there were no sunlight inside. But the cave was still lit.
As they stopped descending, Alex awed at the beauty of the cave. He had never gone to a cave before, and that’s understandable, but he has never heard of a cave with shiny blue crystals as a replacement for lanterns.
That’s right, the inside of the cave was lit because of these blue crystals, which gave off a nice warm blue light. Other than that, the cave was a completely normal cave.
“If an encounter occurs, you shall be the fighter.”
“Heh, I got it!”
Jake gripped his knife tightly and went in deeper into the cave. The first couple minutes were quite calm, meditative even. But soon enough, the first monster of the cave shows itself.
The monster that appeared before them looked like a giant crab carrying a giant blue crystal. Its claws are much sharper and larger than any normal crabs, and they were quite nimble too. It had two small eyes, which poked out from within the hard shell.
Zed withdrew from the battle and watched Jake battle. Using his [Shadow Step] skill, his steps became silent and his figure became blurry. This was a skill he obtained from the many attempts he made to escape the castle!
Appearing behind the crab, he pushed the knife into the back of the crab. However, the knife only made a dent and left only some scratches. The crab quickly turned around and slashed its claws. He barely dodged its attack!
“I do not suggest attacking the shell. It is very strong, and hard to penetrate.”
Zed gave his words of advice. Taking that in mind, he decided to try something else. He disappeared with his [Shadow step], and appeared right in front of it! He drew an arc with his knife, and it hit its eyes!
“Chhiii!!”
The crab withdrew a couple steps back as it tried its best to cover its bleeding eyes with its large claws. Not giving up his attacks, Jake attacked the thinnest part of its claws continuously. Fearing more damage, the crab flailed its claws around.
“A little more!”
Jake stepped back and disappeared. The crab stiffened as it felt a chill creeping on its back. It quickly turned around, and realised that it was its worst decision ever made!
“Ha!”
Eyes exposed, he pushed his knife into the thin slit for its eyes, and blood spurted out like crazy. Luckily, the blood was blue, so his disgust wasn’t that bad, but he took a step back for safety.
After flailing around its claws like crazy, it slowly stopped its attack and limped on the floor.
His first enemy has been taken down!
“Woah!”
A small white orb floated out of the crab and into Jake. He felt a slight warmth surging in his body, but he didn’t feel any changes in his body.
“Congratulations! Your first enemy has been defeated!”
For some reason, he felt like his victory was missing something, like a victory board or something, but he humbled himself and stopped complaining.
“Let’s go!”
Jake said excitedly as he ran ahead at full speed. Zed didn’t lose and closed in quickly, and soon overtook his speed without much effort. He even seems to be enjoying it…
“What kind of stats does this guy have?!”
Jake thought to himself as Zed was now leading him deeper into the cave.
He sighed softly and threw the idea question aside. After all, he would soon find out, right?
But, he would never expect that this prophet had such high stats!
Looks can be deceiving you know?