Chapter 6
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Parker POV
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"Stella? Are you asleep yet?" I knocked on Stella's room 2 hours after we went to sleep
"Huh? Parker? Why are you here?"
"Do you have time? I want to talk about something."
"Come in." she welcomes me to her room. After I came in and sat on the chair, she closed the door and sat on her bed.
"I want to consult you on something," I said it immediately after she sat down.
"And?"
"First, I want to ask, do you want to go home?" I asked. This is the most crucial question.
"Hmm, I don't know. I do not remember my home." Well, duh, I am stupid for asking amnesiac people about their homes. But, Even though she has amnesia, she should still have a lingering feeling about her home, is she not?
"So, are you fine living here?"
"Isn't that question too soon?" she replied. Am I imagining too far into the future? I feel like I am getting dumber the more I talk now. This consultation may not be necessary.
"What is it?" She asked
"Huh?"
"What are you feeling anxious about?"
"Well, the truth is, do you know this world? I mean, how should I say it? I have seen this world's map back at the capital after our compatibility test, well, not this world map. It is just this kingdom's former territory map. And I should have said it. But our job might not be easy."
"So?"
"Hmm, I mean. I want to return because of something like schoolwork, test, etc. We have duties like that when we return, aren't we?"
"Sorry, I don't remember."
"No, because you don't remember anything is why I consulted you. Other guys might freak out if I say this now."
"I see."
"So, I might have imposed on you an unanswerable question. I apologized beforehand."
"It's nothing. I will just say I don't know if I can't answer. I have nothing to lose." Her blunt and logical answer made me relieved somehow. I have assessed her capability, she might have amnesia, but her thinking process might be better than mine.
"And so, I want to ask. If we stay here for at least 5 years. We are no longer our school age, and thus we might get dropped out of school. "
"Didn't King Gray say that he can turn back time?"
"Yes, but he didn't specify about our bodies. I forgot to ask this due to circumstances. But if I return after saving this world, I might feel awkward if I return to school with middle age man bodies. Heck, I might get kicked out of the house because my mother won't recognize me anymore." I said while dazing at the ceiling. I guess I let it all out, huh? It was pretty shameful that I consulted girls who were known to be more emotionally unstable than men. But she was an exception, right? This anxiety that I kept in my heart dulled my thinking. I needed to let it out on somebody.
"Hmm. So, you want to live here? Just to be safe?"
"If we save this world, we will have all the money we need. We can live happily ever after, I think? You understand what I mean, right?"
"I see." She was also dazed at the ceiling. She then walked and opened the window. "I want to return after all."
"Huh?" her answer was unexpected. I anticipate that she can't give the answer, or she might have gone into panic and apologized. But why she provides a clear reply? Why does she look out into the window? Isn't she supposed to have amnesia?
She should not have any memories of our world, and thus she might give a neutral answer. And isn't she saying she didn't know if she wanted to stay with her at the first question? Why has she confirmed it now? Could she have been silent all this time to think this through? Is she one or two steps ahead of me? Me, a politician's son with an IQ of 130, outwitted by an amnesiac girl?
"Hmm. The scenery sure is nice here. I wonder if the other world is better."
"Nope. The other world is full of pollution. Full of people and full of trash. It is incredibly crowded, and no natural forests are grown anymore. Everything is concrete blocks and houses. We have to pay to see animals." I blurted that out.
"I see. So, you think it is better to live here?"
"Huh? No, I mean...." why did I blurt that out? Am I unconsciously wanting to get away from that world? Now I am confused. I might unconsciously hate my world and try to find a reason to live here. But is living here actually better than our world? For us heroes, we have ample power to protect ourselves. We will prosper here. But from this world's commoner point of view, this world must be hell. Monsters roamed everywhere, and their lives were always at stake. While this world is vast with empty land, they are caged within their city walls. If they want to go out, they need to hire bodyguards.
"Well, my reason for wanting to return is simple. I just realized it now," she said while looking outside the window. "I want to see my home. Whether they accept me or not. Doesn't matter."
"Hmm.... if you say it like that, then I also want to meet them."
"Huh? You want to meet your family?" her expression remains unchanged, but her tone is slightly shocked.
"I do love them, you know. I forgot that. Maybe I do not want to go home because I do not want to disappoint them." I replied. My family has high expectations of me. I do not want to disappoint them. I have the necessary talent, but I would feel helpless if this accident ruined them all. Maybe that's why I want to run away here.
"They might be more disappointed if you never come home."
"True." Where did you get that soap opera sentence? Trying to look wise, huh?
"So, I guess we will be King's gray puppet for a while," I said while gazing toward the night sky beside Stella.
"Don't know about that."
"Huh? Don't you want to go home?"
"I do."
"Then, why?"
"Don't know. I can't make any promises until my memories return."
"I see." Though I am a little disappointed, at least she won't suddenly stab me in the back. This answer is satisfying enough. "Well, thank you very much for your time. I feel much better now. Good night."
"Good night." She replied while I left her room. She is still gazing towards the night sky. I can't understand what she is thinking about. She gave a contradictory answer at the very end. That made me very uneasy. But my father says that a person like that is most trustable. So, I guess I should trust her now, huh?
"Huh? Parker? You haven't slept yet?" Nana said while yawning. She must have gone out to the bathroom.
"I want to sleep now."
"What were you doing?"
"I talked... to someone," I replied vaguely.
"Huh? What's the secrecy about?" she said while opening her eyes. Crap, I forgot. Girls are weak to secrets. They will pressure me now.
"I just consult someone, okay? Something is bothering my mind!"
"Who? The maid? Well. Since they are maids, I don't mind. But it would be best if you were a little more considerate too. They are humans and need rest just like the rest of us." why does she connect it with maids? Well, her misunderstanding doesn't bring any harm. I am tired. Let's say okay and sleep
King POV
"So, Darius, what is their result."
"Pretty much satisfying. Mister John's status is A+ magic strength and A+ magic speed. The others are C, or D. Mister Riko and Riki have A+ in Weapon Edge, B+ in body, and S in sense. Nita is a close combat mage with S in stability and A+ in speed. She might be proficient with healing magic. And her power is B."
"Hmm. So all the heroes aren't defective. This means we can assume that the ones in the other country will have pretty much the same spec as these heroes. "
"But we have 10. While the other is 6."
"True. For now."
"Your highness?"
"Nothing. Just be careful of something unexpected. Kidnapping or assassination, for example."
"Of course, Your Majesty. Should we arrange for them to go to faith academy right now? They can leave tomorrow."
"No. Brief them thoroughly about the academy first before sending them. This group isn't as composed as before."
"Yes. Your majesty."
Now, I can finally have some rest. In the usual course of the academy, students get their crystal in the middle of the intermediate class. But do we have time to wait 1 and a half years? Can't we compress the schedule more? I have lent them this kingdom's elite knights for their tutor, but they only manage to cram it from 3 years to 1 year. I do not want to rush, but I do not want to relax either.
If possible, in the next 6 months, they should get their crystals. Their talent is through the roof anyway. We just need to assess their behavior to see if they are traitors or not. The other country, especially half-human, might have installed the crystals on their heroes by now.
We are on friendly terms officially, but since their territory has been invaded, their refugees are turned into slaves here. Legally, they are not slaves but the treatment they receive now looked like slaves. They might harbor some hatred towards us. Well, no use worrying. Let's prepare the crystal so we can install it on them anytime if the need arises.
Parker POV
"Hello, mister and missus heroes. I am fay. Elite mage imperial guard. "Fay said while introducing herself in the same field as yesterday.
"So, you are like Richard."
"Exactly. To be truthful, all 4 of us here are on the same team. And by the way, Mister Parker, I am an A+ in magic strength, A- in speed, and B+ in magic stability. Do you need to know my warrior ability, too?" she said while winking.
"Huh? Oh. No, ma'am." Why is she revealing her status without me asking? Is it about that event with Sigil?' words traveled fast no matter which world you were in, huh?
"So, I want you to practice magic today. If you attended warrior class yesterday, it is pretty much the same thing, except that you release it outside rather than absorbing power into your body. Umm, you also learned this in general knowledge about magic, right? Or I guess Miss Sera hasn't reached that far?" She said while explaining. Huh? That's different than what Stella taught us. She is pretty unorthodox, alright. So, the mages in this world all use a chant, huh? You can remove it. But it would take a longer time for the spell to manifest. I already read a little ahead in general knowledge about warriors and mages from Sera and Sigil's class, so I kind of know what she meant.
"Let me demonstrate it to you. Open your book to page one. There are several stages of chanting. Of course, when you are proficient enough, you may shorten the chant. For a simple fireball, let's see. Flame, I command you... rise in power.... and strike down the enemy!" she said while pointing toward the wooden target practice. The flame was shot and incinerated the target.
"So, you get it? The first stage is initiation, the second stage is firepower or size, and the third is shooting capabilities. For other spells, there might be more stages included."
"Umm, ma'am?"
"Yes, Miss Nana?"
"The words in the paper you gave us this morning are incredibly long. Parker?" Nana asked. Please don't look at me. I am translating what I hear from the source, okay?
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"I just write what I hear."
"Well, the chant is entirely up to you. But for a first-timer, I suggest you use what's in the book and then shorten them. The paper is the official chant. People with low magic stability tend to use longer chants, so the spell doesn't explode midway. And by adding several phrases to the original, you can also manipulate its strength. By decreasing the chant, you should be able to cast faster. Well, no one knew the specifics, but unlike warriors, magic talents complemented each other. "she said. So, for example, Will has S+ in strength, S in stability but C in speed. He can forcefully chant faster by lowering his spell strength. In the general magic class that Sera taught us yesterday. Magic talent, magic speed is how quickly you can cast, magic strength is how powerful the spell is, and magic stability is how safe the spell is. Higher stability will prevent misfires which could endanger the caster's life, so all talent is essential. But miss fay here said that you can manipulate these 3 factors to complement each other. She told us quite an interesting thing.
"Okay."
"Now, training begins. Let's start with Will."
"Hmm. Mana from the world, I command thee, convert into a fire that burns my enemy. The flame spell from mana is now activated. Now, rise and rise so you can burn through my enemies. Power is everything, and so my flame will empower you. Kill my enemies, burn through the speed of sound, and crush my enemies. Fireball fire at my enemies!!" as Will finished chanting, A fireball was shot through the target practice, and it was charred black.
"Ohh. That was a very nice shot just now. 90 points!" Fay looked while giving a score. Wait, we are just starting, and you already marked us? I am B, so I am a little bit worried.
"Alright. Stella." Fay looked incredibly pleased. I am curious as well. Let's see how she will fare.
"Hmm....." she hummed. Wait, she isn't speaking anything, but a fireball is already on her hands.
"Hmm?" She tilted her head while looking at the ball in her hand. The ball changed in size, sometimes bigger and sometimes smaller. "Fireball fire at my enemies."
And the target was charred. It isn't as strong as Fay or Will. But looking that she didn't use any chant, I am pretty amazed. After the shot, she keeps looking at her hands as she ponders about something. What a mysterious girl.
"Hmm. Not bad. Is it on purpose?" fay question her. What does she mean on purpose?
"Hmm, I am not sure. I can't control it like ice."
"I see." Fay narrowed her eyes. Is there something wrong with her technique? Is it wrong not to chant? Richard and the others whispered something to each other.
"Oi Stella. Trying to show off you can do it without chant?" Will was throwing a tantrum. He might be agitated.
"Well, you should chant for the first time. I know it is boring, and you don't like talking, but..." Nana can only make an awkward smile. Does she hate talking so much that she skipped over her chant? She should be able to produce a better fireball with a chant, isn't she?
"You need medicine for your taciturn behavior Stella. It is starting to get chronic." Hart said while laughing a little. Thank you for enlightening the mood hart. Fay made a complicated expression.
"Well, I can't deny her talent on this. But, disregarding the method, if we look objectively. Stella's speed is 8 her power is 7, so it is around 75 points." miss fay said while looking troubled. Well, if you score it in that method, she is not wrong. But I think she missed something on her scoring criteria. She must also vaguely realize this, but she can't point it out, huh?
"Okay. Next one." Nana was next, and then me, Chloe, and hart. As expected, hart has the worst score. His fireball is only as big as a pebble. Fay consoled him that if he trained, he would get better. The surprising thing is that Nana has a higher score than Stella. Stella was a little bit disappointing today. But why does she chose not to use chant anyway? Is Stella experimenting? She might have some pride since she is the one who taught us to use magic chantless. It is not good to compete with your teacher, you know.
"Alright. They were quite exceptional people. Everyone was able to cast. Mister Hart and Chloe, and Parker, although I knew you guys might aim for a warrior, it never hurt to learn to cast spells. Who knows that it might save your life someday?"
"Yes, sir. Now continue. We shall aim to master 3 spells today. For Hart, let's focus more on your fireball. I shall give some pointers. And, miss Stella, try to chant the next spell." Fay said. She looked like she had expected something. Stella noted the next spell she was going to use
"Okay." Stella comes forward." Mana from the world, gather your power unto me, turn yourself into the power of light, turn yourself into the power of blinding light that can scorch the enemy. Now turn yourself into light and empower yourself. Light gathered unto my hands, strike evil within your hands, show no mercy upon my enemies, your light shall become the brightest, your light will become a ray of hope unto mankind, and you will strike my enemies. See through the enemies, and cast your wrath unto it. Scorch it black, and may all of us see your power now. Strike only at my enemies. Light ray strike!" she said as light gathered on her hands and shot it. Her light burns through a hole in the target practice. Rather than admiring her spell, I was more in awe of her memorization ability. Isn't she just memorizing that chant in less than 1 minute? It's like she hears the chant from Miss Fay only once, writes it, and remembers it perfectly. You can't stutter in a chant, so it is quite a feat.
"Now, that is the proper spell. If you don't chant, you might mess up something in the spell stages. For example, your fireball earlier lacks power and speed. You must have messed something when determining its spell strength and speed. But I must salute that your initialization is incredibly fast. With that speed, if there is an enemy just 2 meters from you, you might still survive with that short chant. But you scrutinize your spell strength and speed for too long, so the fast initialization becomes meaningless. Understand?" she said while lecturing. I don't understand a single thing she is saying. This is still the first day of our magic class. How the heck do you add spell strength or accelerate the initialization? If Stella understands this, I doubt she is from our world.
"Maybe. Thanks for the advice."
"Huh? Maybe?" Fay tilted her head. Her vague answer is confusing, right?
"She might be instinctual type, Miss Fay. Though it is incredibly rare for mages to be instinctual type." Richard butts into the conversation
"Instinctual type?"
"Yeah, just like Bane. Though he is a warrior."
"Ahh, I see. But it is incomprehensible to me for mages to be instinctual. Magic is not something you learn by reflex like a warrior. There are formulas for everything. Well, it is not like I never saw an instinctual mage. As long as the results are fine, I am fine with it. Good luck, Miss Stella."
And so, Stella was doing fine from there on. But she gives a dissatisfied look on her face. She kept looking at her hands, and I felt she was giving them a disappointed look. I did understand a little since I am also considered a genius in school, but I think her pride now is too great. It's like she finds fault in the method her teachers gave her. Still, since that method produced better results than her original method, she couldn't complain and only swallowed her complaint.
Except for Stella's dissatisfaction, the lecture went well. After this, we went to a mock battle as a team. All of us from warrior talent oriented were given a wooden shield and a wooden sword. For mage-oriented talent, they are either given a wand or a cane, or a staff. It is their picking. Nana, an all-rounder, takes a wand together with a sword and shield, but she never has any chance to use the wand on her waist. The instructor advised Nana to focus more on the warrior class since it has a higher survival chance than mages who are weak in close combat. But I think that advice is slightly biased since Stella's magic dominated our battle. Will magic is no joke, but his firing rate is draggy.
But this mock battle is totally unfair since our instructors are battling us together. Even if it is 6 against 4, they are the cream of the crop and the most experienced of the kingdom's army. It's like 6 total beginners in karate class facing 4 black belt instructors. Isn't it unfair? Richard, Und, and fay knew how to hold back, but that Bane gave some strong kicks sometimes. He is a prick.
"Yay, tomorrow is a holiday! I wonder what I should do. Maybe I should go to town?" Nana hummed. This day was over, and she was dreaming about her day off tomorrow.
"I never taste any delicacies in this world. I wonder what their cookies tasted like? Do you think they have their version of chocolate or candies? Is it better than in our world?" Chloe was in high spirits.
"I doubt that. And besides, we don't have any money, you know, the empire didn't give us anything." Will poured cold water on the girls' mood.
"But, don't you think we could borrow a little from the kingdom?" Nana tried to argue. It's not like I can't understand your thought. No matter how luxurious our dorm is, it is very stifling to our minds if we do not get any relaxation outside. But I highly doubt the kingdom will lend us money. We have yet to work an inch for the kingdom anyway.
"Money? I have that...." Stella gave an unexpected answer
"Eh?" it was my turn to get dumbfounded. The others also turned their head.
"Huh? Didn't I tell you that I was made to help out by the barracks treasurer? I was paid a little for it," she said casually. She sure works fast.
"Stella, what work did they make you do?"
"I am counting their budget. It is only arithmetical questions."
"If it is only arithmetical questions, I can also do that." Hart was smiling
"Think we could also work there? How much is the payment?" Chloe and Nana were in high spirits
"I was paid 10 grams of silver." The currency in this world is divided into copper, silver, and gold. They are not in coins but in grams. She explained that the money used here is weighted based on that. Since it is weighted, the form does not matter. They usually paid in the form of sand or tiny pebbles for small exchanges. But for significant transactions, they might use cubes or blocks. For medium transactions, they use plates of varying sizes. 10 grams of silver she had now is in the form of a small plate.
"Is 10 grams of silver big or small?" Will asked
"I... don't know. Sorry" Stella answered, looking a little apologetic. Will, seriously, how could you ask an amnesiac girl in another world who only got her first money yesterday, with a totally different currency system than in our world, a plate of silver big or small? I also want to ask the same question since she got the money. In our world, money is a universal power. No matter which country, as long as you got money, you can survive. So I want to find this out soon.
"Stella, think you could introduce us to that treasurer? And I want to pay a visit to those imperial soldiers that have saved us." I said, trying to look normal as possible.
Stella looked at me, tilting her head. "Sure. There might be some work left there. That place is quite chaotic."
"Yay!!" the girls were in high spirits. Hart and Will were also incredibly pleased.
But that last phrase worries me a lot. But let's be brave through it. There is no harm done with an introduction, right?