Heading the table that sat in the centre of the room and the owner of the voice, was an ageing man who was destined to be addressed as a wise old crone. The large robe that he wore resembled something an archbishop of the church would wear and it swept the floor as he hovered towards me. A clean, white robe with a golden shawl around his shoulder that swished in a steady flow and gently brushed the floor. He reminded me of Soran in the way that the wrinkles on his face creased with his smile, forming the crow’s feet that appeared around his eyes. The difference being, this man was well kept and clearly had the luxury that came with his position.

“I assume you are all hungry. Let’s get you something to eat first.”

We all shared a glance with each other and none of us opposed the idea. I didn’t know about the others but sitting in a carriage for hours was one way to build an appetite. I just hoped this food relieved some of the stress building up around my head.

The old man, who introduced himself as Sage Rowland, led us through the palace, back through the throne room, into the entranceway and up the stairs to the left of the main door. Aimy stuck beside me the entire time, as if not to let me out of her sight. It was great to know that she was alive and I made a note to speak to her about the accident and everything that happened afterwards.

No matter where we looked, the entire interior dazzled with wealth that made all five star hotels on Earth look like abandoned shacks. Gold lined dado rails traversed every wall, splitting the polished wooden lower half from the papered top half. My only issue was I had no idea where I was as every wall looked the exact same.

Sage Rowland walked us into a bright, spacious room. Down the centre of the room was an extremely long, polished table. One more fit for a large buffet at a party rather than a sitdown meal. After a quick count, I noticed that the table could seat at least thirty people, including the seats at either end. At one side, the wall had a beautiful, log-burning fireplace built onto it, and the comfortable heat from the fire filled the room.

Above this was a painting depicting a great landscape. Fantastic, snow-capped mountains sat side-by-side, the blooming orange sun rising between the greying stone shining its light over a luscious, green forest. The trees sway in a hidden breeze with loops of vines swinging between the leaves. In the foreground, a single person, staring at it all with both hands on their hips, chest thrusted forward as they watched over the scenery like a guardian though they held no weapon.

We all sat along the table and within minutes were presented with an incredible banquet that I had only ever seen in television shows. The smokey aroma of meat filtered into my nostrils and a large, glazed pig on a shimmering silver tray was placed as the centrepiece. Surrounding this were wicker baskets filled with different breads and fruit that looked like apples, grapes and pears. At least the world had something similar to home.

As soon as the last basket hit the tabletop, we dove in, tearing at food as the hunger took over. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was until the first burst of flavour exploded on my tongue. I held back a moan of joy since I wanted to shove more food into my mouth. We all ate through the pig and demolished most of the fruits and bread and after a good time of shovelling, every single one of us sat back in food comatose ecstasy.

“That was amazing…” Aimy groaned, slumping against her chair, receiving a chorus of similar groans.

“I am glad you had your fill.” Sage Rowland said, wearing a thin smile on his face. “Tomorrow we will begin preparations for developing your skills.”

“What do you mean skills?” One of the other guys asked the questions we were all thinking.

“Although you are guests here in the palace, we summoned you for a reason.” The Sage said, folding his hands over his face. “We would like to prepare you as soon as possible for the inevitable fights that will come. Tonight, we will have you all taken to your individual rooms.”

Rowland’s authoritative tone struck through any kinds of protest and he did not stop his explanation to answer any of the burning questions any of us had. It was beginning to feel more and more like an order the longer the older man spoke.

“What do you mean you… summoned us for a reason?” Aimy asked.

“You are the one that brought us here?” Saxon said, unfolding his arms. The rest of us only stared in utter disbelief. He had just confirmed that we were definitely in a different world and that alone was insane enough.

If we were in another world then we were way out of our depth. There was hardly a chance that we knew much of our own world. We probably had the basic idea of England let alone the multiple counties there.

“I am not the only one. My mages and I summoned you here.” Rowland spoke, unperturbed by the growing unrest. He was likely used to this.

Summoned One… That was the name they called me in the forest.

“Why? Why would you take us from our families?” Aimy said, and I caught a glimpse of tears pricking at her eyes. My family had crossed my mind, but it hurt to think about that right now.

“You need to send us back, right now!” Saxon demanded, slamming his hand on the table with a resounding crunch. We all jumped back, the sound much louder than it should have been.

“For that, I cannot do. It is likely that your families believe you to be dead.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“You don’t know that!” One of the others, a girl with her hair in a braided ponytail, cried.

“Actually, my dear, I do.”

The Sage was far too calm for my liking. I had half a mind to join in with the group, but the more the man spoke, the more I wished to know. There was a deep feeling in my gut that I wanted to confirm.

“What do you mean?” I spoke up.

“There are certain conditions that need to be met to summon others. First, they must be going through a stage of change, where their body can still adapt and grow.” Rowland said, holding up one finger.

We were all just hitting our twenties, which meant that our bodies still had approximately four years left to grow. Our minds that bit longer.

“Secondly, it takes a lot of Willpower to summon a large number of people, so I had to use a lot of the Imperial Court mages to bring you here. The healthier a person, the harder it is for the summoning to work. This is because the Summoned One’s body needs to adapt to the new world and the healthier that Summoned One is, the harder it makes it for their body to accept the changes it needs to go through.”

My eyes widened as the facts sunk in. There were barely enough of us here to count on both hands, and the fact that summoning works better on weaker bodies could only mean that those of us here… I felt sick thinking about it.

“Finally, there has to be an uninterrupted ritual with enough space to draw in and consume more excess power to act as the grounds for where the Summoned Ones would arrive.”

But it wasn’t uninterrupted… wait. I quickly glanced around the entire group and noticed a vital, concerning fact. The university course I was on held enough spaces for at least sixty people. There was barely a third of that sitting around this table right now. Not everyone on the course was summoned… so that meant...

The food in my stomach leapt in a vain attempt to escape as the memories of mangled bodies and rupturing screams replayed. It took many deep, heavy breaths to settle my mind enough to come back to the current conversation.

They could only summon a few of us because of the interruption… I was one of these summoned ones yet I woke up in the forest surrounded by completely different people. If that was the case then Soran and his group had to have caused the interruption which means that the rest of the course is…

Bile made its way into my mouth and I had to lurch forward to prevent it from flying onto the leftovers spread across the table. All of those lives in that bus and we were the ones who were still alive because of the summoning. Without the summoning, there was a very high chance that we would also be dead along with them.

“But why us?” Aimy asked.

“We did not get to choose you, my dear. As long as the mages all had the same thoughts in their mind whilst enacting the summoning then you were chosen based on specific parameters.” I could tell Rowland was answering all questions carefully and each answer was so convincing and clear that none of us could rebut any of it. But there was a burning question on all of our minds.

“Why did you need to summon us?” I asked, though I instantly regretted it when all eyes turned to me. The Sage smirked at me, as if happy to get into the real reason for having us brought to a foreign world.

“It is simple. There is an enemy gaining power across the otherside of the continent, one that plans to wipe out life and rule as the one true life over the whole world. I cannot allow that to happen.” Rowland’s eyes grew distant as he spoke.

What is this anime bullshit? I thought, keeping my expression as neutral as possible.

“I have watched the Empire being built for years. Gathering allies across this side of the continent to be able to create one cohesive army that may have a chance to fight against the tainted power that affects the lands. I have helped to develop strong warriors, great fighters and have some of the best mages this world has ever produced.

“However, a couple of months ago, a legion of tainted beasts completely eviscerated an entire kingdom in the centre of the continent. One legion took out an entire kingdom purely for the fun of watching people, humans, suffer!” A blast of pressure exerted from the man's frame and the force had my classmates and I gasping for breath. “My apologies…” Sage Rowland said, the suffocating pressure floating away.

“We were not able to save that kingdom from annihilation and I vowed to ensure that the rest of the Human race did not meet a similar fate. Then, we came across Florian. The old reports in Florian spoke of a way to summon beings of power from another world, but they had to ensure they met the requirements I mentioned previously. It is said that these Summoned Ones would develop exceptional skills that would rival, or even surpass, the greatest of evils within the world.”

“I do not believe it…” I shot a glance over my shoulder, expecting to see the woman who owned the voice. Except I was met by the wall.

Who the fuck is that and why am I hearing her?

Sage Rowland was paying particular attention to me at that moment. I could understand if someone suddenly glanced over their shoulder for no apparent reason. “That is why we had you all summoned.” He continued, “You are the best hope we have of ensuring that the human race can handle whatever force is growing across the continent. You are all my best hope of keeping everyone under the empire safe, as I promised when I took the mantle upon myself.”

We sat there for what felt like hours, processing everything the man had just explained to us. We were supposed to save a world that we didn’t even come from? Have abilities that made us more powerful than anything else in this world? At first, I had to think this was some elaborate prank, one to mess with us. Then, I started to believe that I had died on that bus. This was my afterlife. To be tormented by fantastical opportunities only to end up dead days later. But, the more I sat there, glancing at the faces of my classmates, each of whom stared at the table with thoughtful eyes, the more I began to believe that this was all real. We really had been summoned to another world. We really were the ones to help humanity in any way we could.

“I realise that this is a lot to unload onto you. It is rather unfair of me to assume that you would believe what I say straight away.” The Sage said, and I had to credit the man’s intuition.

“For now, please, get some food and rest. It has been a long day for you all. I will have the Maids take care of you all. Do call for assistance if you need anything.”

With that, Sage Rowland strode out of the room, leaving us to sit with our thoughts. Mine ran rampant in my head. We came from a world where conflict was rather minimal and even then a large percentage of the world remained out of such business. There were rarely any wars that required us to take up arms and fight on the frontlines. The closest I had come to conflict was sparring with others in martial arts classes that I took; I couldn’t vouch for the rest of the class.

What are we supposed to do to help?