Eyes squinting and the incredibly bright light, Albert stepped out of the crudely carved doorway. It was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the bright blue sky that majestically offset against the white tips of the mountains. If this was any other day he would have loved to just sit here and take in the scenery.

He exhaled deeply to remove the pungent, stagnant air from his lungs. If he were ever to do something underground with so many people again he would make sure to bring cleaning slime. The stench of human sweat was almost unbearable and was after the fact he had often partied with adventurers, which the nickname ‘soap dodgers’ was commonly applied.

Rousing from his thoughts he felt he better see the job done… after a quick nap.

-”in for a copper, in for some gold”, he muttered to himself as he walked towards a sprawling city of multicoloured tents and flags. There were over 20 thousand troops here to make sure nothing interfered with the summoning but all these tents were nobles or their private armies bustling to make sure no one else would get an advantage. Of course, this entire event had been a top secret which naturally meant even the beggars at the edge of the continent knew about it.

-”As much military sense as bag of weasels fighting over a fish ”

Albert slowly walked up to the back of a line formed by the soldiers that had left they cave. This was something Albert has set up to ensure that there were no lingering effects from the summoning.

It was soon his turn and he displayed his status plate to the guards making sure to hide any information that could leave him at a disadvantage.

Stats

Name: Albert Farseer

Active Title: Lord of Hellfire

(20% increase to fire attributes)

Race: Human

Type: Highborn

Health: ??

Mana: ??

Spirit: ??

Rage: ??

Stamina: ??

Strength: ??

Intellect: ??

Influence: ??

Primary Attribute: Fire

Secondary Attribute: Earth

Skills:

Racial Traits

Hidden

Hidden

Gear

Equipped Gear: ??

Party Gear Effects: N/A

Statuses:

Party Statuses

N/A

Positive Statuses:

Hidden

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Negative Statuses

Water inept: (-25% to all water related magics)

Fool me once: (It takes a long time to recover from a perceived slight)

Bitten by an elf: (You have been bitten by an elf, this reduces the mobility of the affected area until healed)

The curiosity of guard who was examining his tablet got the better of him and he went to turn it over to try and see more information before Albert snatched it from him and almost let out a growl startling the man.

“Everything looks OK here sir” replied the pale guard as he jumped out of the way.

As the Grand Mage left the guard finally stopped holding his breath. He knew the mage wouldn't let him look at his classes or jobs and they were probably hidden but he just couldn't help himself.

Then again, as he thought about it, knowing that kind of information was probably a bad idea. He might be ‘invited’ on a little trip to ‘share’ information before taking a nice long nap. Shaking his head at his own stupidity he marched off to find his commander and report.

Albert walked off towards his dull grey tent to get some much-needed rest. As he approached the entrance, his attention was drawn to the last cage being loaded onto a cart surrounded by a large contingent of mounted knights before heading off to join the convoy waiting nearby.

-”They don't waste any time do they” he mused before ducking into his tent.

----unknown pov----

I am shaken awake by rough, jumpy movements causing me to smash into the hard floor causing me to suck in a gasp of air. I try opening my eyes briefly before slamming them shut and subconsciously grabbing a heavy blanket that seems to of slipped off my body and cover myself.

I sit still for a bit trying to think.

-”I can’t remember anything about myself or where I am. I feel like I should be panicking or least a little phased by this but somehow....”

My thoughts are suddenly interrupted as I...I sense I suppose...someone I feel like I should know. It's almost like they are part of my own body but not, and boy do they feel like they are pissed off. For some reason I want to laugh somehow knowing that when that entity got pissed off all sorts of interesting stuff would happen.

After getting bored of smashing into the floor I notice that the more I focus internally and block out the world the better I would feel and I drift into a thoughtless state.

=====

Off in the distance obscured by the tents,  a group of around 40 knights were escorting a heavily armoured lone carriage heading in the opposite location of the others.

“Why did we get stuck babysitting the summoned humans” sulked one of the knights.

“Stop your belly aching boy” spat a huge man. “These humans are the cream of the crop, to be trained as generals and… well to be used for the benefit of the human race” he continued, hesitating at the end of his sentence.

In his mind, the only good non-human was a dead one and cared little for the others however these children were human. The boys would get a great chance at life having their every need catered for but for the girls....

It hurt when he first saw them it reminded him of his deceased daughter and all the haunting memories that were attached. He had been out adventuring when a demon war-band passed and its leader took a fancy to his wife. She had fought valiantly but their 5-year-old girl was caught in the crossfire. In her grief his wife had used a forbidden spell, killing many of the demons as well as herself. He had never really got over the loss and retired into the army to occupy his days.

The knight saw he had made the captain remember bad memories and tried to change the subject “I wonder when the others will start evolving”.

“Private Digerdy….. I will answer this one question and then you are going to shut up and not open that fly trap of yours until we get back to the capital or I will make it so you whistle every time you speak” [Captain]

“Similar to us, non-humans evolve after unique requirements are met or they gain enough experience however with the exception of beastkin and elf's, the rest aren't a very maternal lot and often their young are either forced to prove themselves or abandoned at an early age. To aid in their survival, each evolutionary step they take ages them until adulthood” the captain explained. “In the harsh conditions, you often see adults that are only a few years old”.

“There was an experiment a while back where a fairy youngling was captured and not allowed to gain experience. After a hundred years she finally evolved through meditation however until then she didn't age a day.” [Captain]

“How will they understand the trainers? Do they pick their own classes? What about jobs?” [Digerdy]

The captain glared at Digerdy and he fell into silence. He really wanted to know the answers but he knew his captain better. Any more and he risked more than a few teeth like the captain had threatened.

====

A couple of miles away a heavily armed convoy containing the rest of the summoned creatures were approaching a sprawling city with sand yellow walls almost 40 meters high and 10 meters deep. This was the fortress city of Alzor, the kingdom's frontier city and military hub.

The prince now king wasn't entirely foolish and had set the summoning take place at the edge of his borders. Although it meant there was more risk of others interfering, if anything went wrong the neighbouring kingdoms would suffer and so they had locked down their borders.

Towards the centre of the convoy a grey tarp covering one of the cages caught a gust of wind and lifted showing a young naked boy sitting crossed legs scowling out the cage with completely black, vortex-like eyes. The guards surrounding this cart were a little further away than the others. They felt a little odd when they approached the cage and decided best to keep a distance. If they were a little more experienced or wary, they would of known it was bloodlust emanating from the cage. 8 years of uneasy peace had meant that the younger ranks had little to no battle experience and that, especially when handling confused, highly dangerous beings was a recipe for disaster.

-”Kill the man that put me in this cage, Kill the man driving the cart attempting to hit every bloody pothole known to man, Kill the people who built this bloody bumpy road, SLAUGHTER THE BASTARD WHO DESIGNED THIS GOD DAMN HARD AS A ROCK CAGE!!...”.