Fred was the most excited person in the whole of Vera tonight. His excitement was more than those of the young virgin men visiting the brothels for the first time tonight, more than the young lovers who finally got married, greater even than the rich royals indulging themselves in the ecstasy that money can buy, for tonight he was to serve the savior of the world.

Fred was summoned 3 weeks ago to meet the king. While waiting he could not help but think back to when he was initially summoned 15 years ago. Fred was at home preparing to open his inn when knights suddenly surrounded the Inn, barging in telling him he was summoned Fred’s only thought at the time being he was to be punished for something. No one just gets summoned to meet the king for a mundane reason. He really doubted that the summon was real as he had rarely even seen the king and tried to protest,

“There must be some mistake. I am just a small Innkeeper. I have done nothing wrong. Surely you have the wrong person?”

Thisonly led to him being forcefully dragged out of the Inn. Sometimes Fred would be asked to help prepare dishes that would be served at royal feasts when soldiers returned from battle for relief or when new recruits left to the front after training as with that many people they always needed extra hands to cook. He always created the dishes to the best of his ability and hoped that he did not screw anything up. Fred’s fear was unfounded as unbeknownst to him, King Anthor the 13th of his name loved Fred’s dishes. After trying them for the first time at one of the feasts he complimented the head chef Devin, who was saddened to reveal he was not the creator of the dish the king was so fond of. King Anthor thought so highly of them after the 3rd feast that Fred helped out when he summoned Fred to make him the Royal chef. Devin retired a year later from service.

King Anthor 13th of his name will see you now Royal Chef Fred. Fred walked into the great hall noticing there were only the elite guards near the King in the Great Hall that was normally full of nobles. nervously hoping he had not disappointed the king with a bad dish,Fred kneeled down down before the king

“Good to see you Fred, I need your help with something very special in the coming weeks.”

Fred, not looking towards the King, quickly spoke, “I am at your service, your majesty just name the task and I shall pour my life into its completion.”

“I am glad to hear that you are so enthusiastic but I feel this task will be something you will be excited to do. What I am about to say does not leave this room understand?”

“Certainly.” Fred is curious as to what the task will be responded to.

“In three weeks time we will be performing a ritual in secret. This ritual will be to summon a savior for our world. Once they are summoned we will no doubt need to treat them with the utmost respect and hospitality that we can offer from clothing, to bedding, to view overlooking the city… to food.”

Fred was shocked by what he just heard, they are summoning a savior? The Savior will be brought to the castle as a guest! That means I might be able to meet the person who will save the world?....... .

Fred not able to contain his excitement stood up abruptly and walked towards the king,

“Y-your majesty are…. are you saying I get to cook for the person who will save the world?!”

King another showing now mind to Fred’s excitement replied,

“That is exactly what I am saying Fred. Feasts unite the spirits forming the bonds that bind us together as allies. I hope that we can serve the Hero the greatest feast imaginable. Whatever ingredients you need we will spare no expense in acquiring, whatever help you need you shall have it.”

Fred realizing the rashness of him jumping up quickly stepped back and kneeled,

“Thank you for this honor, your Majesty. I shall not disappoint. This feast will be the greatest in history!.”

Fred made sure that every single detail was perfect for tonight. The cups were hand washed 20 times the night before. The meat that was to be smoked was smoked with the best wood available within a week's travel. The Fruits were all individually chosen to be the best of the crop this year from the crispiest apple, to the supplist berry. The vegetables which were usually lacking at feasts were also hand selected to be the best available, selected from the bunch were only the best carrots, beats, potatoes, cabbage, squash, that was available.

Every dish was prepared and kept fresh with a Mage at the side casting a spell of Freshness on them to keep them ready for the Hero to arrive. The chairs were all new with the softest of cushions created by the best seamstresses in the land. The floor was lined with the best furs. The hall was lit with a mix of magic and fire to make the focus the large table in the middle of the hall. The table was 50 feet long, covered with food and drink from end to end. Various areas of the table were dedicated to hand picked dishes each area contained a mix of every style and palette oriented variant of a dish. Not wanting anything to be too spicy or to mild Fred had made multiples to suit whatever palette the hero might have.

Fred was currently walking down the table inspecting every detail so that it was perfect. On the sides of the tables were different weapons of history, ancient books, artifacts, art. The best musicians were off to the side ready to entertain. Everything that could show the great accomplishments of the human race was there, be it warfare, art, poems, history, food, architecture plans, maps of the world, it was in the hall or stored away in a known position ready to be brought if asked.

Waiting in the Hall were various important groups, some representatives of Nobel houses, others great creators that represented the pentacle of their field be it art, music, poetry etc. . There were also representatives of the Dwarves and Pixies races ready, electing to sit at the feast rather than attend the summoning in case something unexpected happened while the king was away.

As Fred was finishing his mental list of items he could overhear one group of the guests sitting at one end of the table. This was a group of two of the most arrogant nobels. Fred frowned when he realized David and Goliath were actually invented here. As he got closer he could hear the conversation.

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“There is no way you are going to be able to do that David, it just won’t be possible. You also know you should not even try unless you want to get yourself killed or worse put in the dungeon. You should know your limits.”

“Ah fuck you Ellen, I am definitely going to be able to do it. Watch when they arrive I will prove it to all you once and for all. They won’t even touch the hair on my head you just watch.”

“I think David can do it. If he can’t do it alone I will help him with both of us there is no way we can lose.

“Quit arguing with them already Ellen, did the King say when they would arrive if it went well? We have been waiting for 4 hours now, they should be done by now right?” Clarissa, David's fiance asked.

“The king said we should wait until he returns with the “Hero” until then no one is to eat or leave.” replied Ellen.

“When is this nonsense going to be over with then? We have been sitting here for hours now I am ready to eat now” David responded, eyeing a slab of meat in front of him.

Fred really despised David and Goliath, they were spoiled too much as children and always caused trouble for the regular people in the city. Fred had seen first hand when he owned the Inn just how they abused the power to command guards to push people around or get what they want with force. Fred had tried to use his position as Royal Chef to get the Guards to report it but that got him nowhere on the issue. He decided to go check the wine temperature.

Off to the side by one of the huge black stone columns were two seemingly out of place hooded individuals trying to stay hidden. They were looking over one of the framed maps quietly talking to each other.

“Do you think we can trust the King? Could he really be telling the truth about summoning a hero to save us?” The shorter of the two asked.

“I am not sure but that's why we are here. Look around us, the most powerful people in the entire city are here right now including the leaders of the Pixies and Dwarves. Something is definitely going on otherwise all these important people would not be gathered here.” Replied the taller one glancing around.

“Now that you mention it I did notice Gorden the Arch Mage was here. He would never leave the North front for some random meeting, maybe they really are going to summon a hero.”

… The taller one did not reply only looking over the large framed map gazing at the land to the east of Vera.

Clive, Frank, and The King had just reached the massive doors of the castle entrance. The tunnel they entered led them to the inside of a huge courtyard. They followed it along until they reached the front entryway. The Castle was made out of the same material as the city walls but seemed to have modern improvements or built- ins. It contained several tall towers that reached into the clouds and the sides Clive could not see around. The castle itself was enormous obviously whoever built it has meant for it to last forever. The huge front doors were a dark red wood with metal spikes equally spaced apart on both sides, its height was at least 40 feet tall. The sheer scale of the city walls and castles were larger than anything Clive had ever seen. They seemed to be even bigger than the mountain back at the farm.

The huge red doors were already opened with several guards on the outside and inside. Armored guards patrolled in groups of 5 jogging past jogging in set patterns. The King led Clive into the entry hall, down three long hallways, and then to a big room. The room was twice as tall as the front door that Clive had just seen. On each wall was large double doors each leading to different parts of the castle.

“The door straight ahead leads to the Dwelling areas, the door on the right leads to the war rooms, armory, and throne room. We are going to the door on the left that leads to the grand hall where we have prepared your feast. If you would please follow me I believe the feast is ready.” Spoke King Anthon smiling.

Clive could smell the food permeating from the doors as soon as they entered the huge room. As he followed alongside the king they got close enough that Clive could see the giant table filled with food. It was the greatest site he had ever seen, most of his favorites were all prepared there!

“Clive unable to contain his excitement quickly trotted into the room toward the table.”

Frank and King Anthon were taken back by the speed at which Clive had just sprinted away. King Anthon and Frank were just able to see into the room and spotted the different groups of people at the other end of the hall taking them by surprise.

King Anthon immediately realized he screwed up. He had planned this large feast for the welcoming of the Hero but also for the Hero to get acquainted with the various important figures of Vera and surrounding lands. He forgot to send word to the leaders of the dwarves and pixies to disseminate the summoning results ahead of time. Realizing this was really bad he hurriedly walked towards Dalnur, Eiki, and Finn the leaders of the Dwarves and Ella, Faye, Alvin the leaders of the Pixies, his trusted friends and allies.

“How the hell do I explain this quickly?” Thought the King hoping things would not go as poorly as the summoning.

While the King was trying to prevent a catastrophe, Frank caught up to Clive.

Clive was super excited looking all over the table, “Oh my god Frank! This is amazing, I have never seen so much food! I do not know what to try first!”