After saying that, the tall old man stepped forward and began chanting something, the power in the air almost being drawn to him. He took his staff and knocked it down hard three times. Then, out of thin air, a large table and chairs appeared in front of him, complete with tea pot and cups. He had given us all a quick wink before relaxing in one of the chairs with an audible sigh.

“Just to get the first set of questions out of the way, I am Cylkia, the gentleman with a bow is Halfi, the old foggy over there is Baern, and the cool beauty is Xi. You are currently in the kingdom of Zalsh, and the world of Zioln. You were all brought here from your home world by the great Goddess Malxonus, the ruler of our world and the god queen of all deities we know of-”

Kirie, one of the best gymnasts the school had ever seen, stomped forward and raised her voice, cutting her off mid sentence, “Wait wait wait, what are you even talking about!? We got taken from our world? To do what!? We’re just a bunch of highschoolers… Shit, I haven’t even graduated! I just got accepted into a college! Otherworlders my ass, send us all back now!” She yelled wildly and looked around at everyone, her eyes wide. There was a moment of silence as we all hesitated at first, looking at each other uncertainly. Slowly, we all began nodding our heads and muttering our agreements after a moment.

Cylkia’s smile didn’t even falter for a moment, but there was a look of sadness that passed over her eyes as she continued, “Ah yes, about that… I’m not exactly sure how to say this, but I'm very sorry to say we’re not exactly sure why you’ve been summoned here. That is unfortunately something only the great goddess Malxonus knows, and she very rarely speaks directly to us. Only the speakers of the divine church claim to know her divine will, and to have a direct connection to her.” She let out a long sigh and looked at us all with sadness and pity. “You poor kids… We were on our way to an important war meeting with the Queen, but when we saw the signs of summoning magic, we came here as fast as we could. I wasn’t sure of the surroundings here, but I had Baern erect a protection barrier around all of you, just to be safe.”

Cylkia despondently looked down, a single tear tracing its way down her cheek, before wiping it off and looking back up at us with a forced smile. “You all might have been brought here, but we do not intend to leave you to die. We will only have a little less than a week, but we are going to try and get you all back on your feet and help you however we can. We won’t force you to do anything dangerous, but in this world you don't always get that option. As bad as that may sound, there are so many bright sides and amazing things in this world which I think you all will find quite worthwhile.”

At that, everyone looked among themselves, confusion evident on their faces. Personally, I found it pretty interesting, and I wondered just what Cylkia meant by that. I carefully checked the group out again, looking at each of them surreptitiously. Halfi and Baern seemed like they were very relaxed, and were joking amongst themselves. Cylkia, who, after saying all that, had turned around to face Xi and was now rummaging around in a bag that the armored giant was holding out for her. They all seemed a little… hmm… carefree? Especially considering there was a pretty large group of confused and scared kids that had just randomly appeared in their world. I hummed to myself and rocked back on my heels. I wonder how often that goddess of theirs was just randomly pulling people from other worlds…

Without even looking up from the bag she was rummaging around in, Cylkia began speaking again, her voice only slightly muffled by the bag. “Alright everyone! I know you’re all worried, but first things first, I want to let you know that you’re all incredibly safe right now! The only people that can get through this protection spell are those that Baern allows, he is actually quite the magician, and the strongest wizard in the kingdom. Secondly, as you probably guessed from my previous statement, magic is real here, as I doubt your old world utilized it. At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand from what I’ve read about them…” Grinning, the old man, or I guess I should call him old wizard, stepped forward, “Now, not just anybody can use magic, and there’s a bit of a process to it, but if you have a talent for it, Baern will happily train you. As for the rest of you, Xi, myself, or Halfi will give you as much training as we can before-”

Melody, one of the choir kids, stepped forward cutting her off yet again, “I’m sorry but what crack are you smoking!? You think we’re just going to take that stupid half- assed explanation you just gave us and just let you train us? We’re 18! Why do we even need to know how to fight anyways? Can’t you just protect us!? That’s like, the least you could do after your stupid goddess snatched us up from our world right!?” She exclaimed, stomping her foot down and glaring at Cylkia and the rest of them.

Quickly, faster than anyone could blink, Halfi flashed in front of her staring down at her, “Look little miss, we don’t know how to send you back to your old world, nobody does. That ‘stupid goddess,’ if she so chose, could smite you and turn you into a slimy toad forever. Frankly, we don’t even need to be here, you ungrateful little child. When I was 14 I wielded my first pair of daggers and carved out an orcs heart, so you'll just have to deal. Our lady Cylkia over here happens to have a soft heart whenever things like this happen, and she likes to help out. Mind you, that’s not for free. There are no free rides here in Zalsh, and definitely not on Zioln. I train you when you first get here not because I really want to, but because as soon as you leave this barrier, without any training, you’d all end up dead. You’re going to be fighting against monsters that would gladly chew on your bones, and have to make your own way in this world. You’ll have to figure out what you want to do as your job, find a town, contribute, or die. Take it or leave it, little miss.” Growling, Halfi stepped forward eyeing Melody, before being stopped by Cylkia who had finally found what she was looking for.

“Jeez Halfi, take a breather. She’s just scared, and you always go so far. Look, kids, I’m not going to lie, life is not going to be a cake walk from here on out, but you all haven’t been straight up ignored, the goddess did see fit to leave you all with her gifts. You see, here in this world, everyone is born with the ability to get stronger. Every human, demihuman, monster, and animal here is born at level one, and slowly over the course of their lives they get stronger through learning, fighting, and even eating. Every creature has the ability to learn skills, such as fire bolt or sword slash.” She waved her arm, gesturing at Baern and Xi, who both nodded. We all watched as Baern held out his hand and after he muttered something, a bright red fireball suddenly appeared in front of him, floating above his outstretched palm. Likewise, Xi took up a stance and unsheathed their sword, before they suddenly slashed it through the air, slicing a tree cleanly in half.

“You can increase these skills through hard work, though they are usually something determined by luck and genetics. You’ll find it is easier to improve some skills faster than others, and that is because of your ability, which gives you a bonus and a focus in leveling up certain paths over others. The goddess Malxonus has gifted each of you with relatively high starting skills and even an innate ability, which should help with each of your paths. As for leveling up, that will all be up to you and how much effort you are willing to put in. Though with the abilities Malxonus has given you, that should be easy. Now, I’ll have each of you place your hand on this crystal sphere in my hands. This’ll allow us to be able to see your status and where your strengths may lay.” Still smiling, Cylkia offered up her crystal ball. “Perhaps we'll start with the lady?”

We all turned to look at Mrs. Fletcher. Honestly, it looked like she might just faint right then and there, but she visibly took a deep breath and pulled herself together. Nervously, she walked forward and placed her hand on the ball in Cylkia’s hands, before she let out a loud gasp. In the air above the crystal ball there appeared a 2D square, and written on it were various numbers and words. I couldn’t see exactly what it said from here, but it was apparently quite impressive. Cylkia’s smile grew even wider as she laughed, “Wow! Such amazing skills, Malxonus must have some high expectations of you!”

Mrs. Fletcher glanced back and gave us all a small nod to tell us it was okay, her face relaxing into a relieved smile. Then, she followed where Cylkia was pointing and began walking over to Baern. One by one everyone walked up, placing their hands on the crystal ball before walking over to either Halfi, Xi, Baern, or behind Cylkia. Unsurprisingly, the football kids and a couple others walked over to Xi, the smartest kids in class went to Baern, the quieter and more nervous kids ended up with Halfi, most of the band and arts kids went to Cylkia and as for myself…

“Ummmmm… sorry what does this mean?” Frowning, I looked at what should be my stats page. I’d looked over my classmates shoulders when they had gotten their stats, and the numbers had been what I could only assume as being pretty good. Melody had skills and abilities like Melodic Harmony, Sleep, and Pacify which were all classified as… hero? Whatever that meant. Jake had skills and abilities like Mind over Matter, Ice freeze, and Flame which were a little more varied being either Adept or Hero. James had skills and abilities like Barbaric Strength, Sword Swipe, and shield bash which were all Hero as well. That was actually impressive enough that Xi had whistled and stepped forward, clapping him on the shoulder. However, when I walked up and placed my hand on the crystal ball, I looked at my status screen and I saw… nothing.

Name: ???

Level: One

Race: Human

Abilities:

Enduring Heart (INCOMPLETE)

Skills:

Sprint (Apprentice)

Confused, I flicked my eyes from my status to see what Cylkia had to say and froze. Her face was a complete mask of disgust and disappointment, it was like she was looking at a dead bug on her shoe, not even something she wanted to wipe off. Then, before I could do anything she suddenly switched back to the sweet smile she had on before. “Oh… I don’t know if I’ve ever seen skills that low before… usually your skills from your old world translate over to similarly powerful skills and abilities here… maybe the goddess didn't think you were cut out for this…” Cylkia muttered to herself before looking away dismissively, “I’ll have you work with Xi for now, okay? I guess endurance would be under her purview…”

Warily, I took a step back. What was that? Cylkia looked disgusted that I'd even gotten close to her. That was… odd. Why didn't I have any powerful skills or abilities? I got dragged to this world by a bullshit goddess and now I don't even get anything good? God it’s like my life back on Earth, always under everyone's notice, and never good enough or bad enough that I warranted any attention. I was always just… average, or well, I guess in this case I wasn’t even that, I wasn't even worth the effort. What had that message called me again? Inferior? Seriously? Man fuck this shit.

I walked over to Xi, seething. Even this world thought I was only good at running. Really? Enduring Heart and Sprint… Ugh so if I ran into any monsters I could just run away? How much lamer could I be? I scowled as I heard my classmates talking about their abilities and skills. Ashton had been given a Rare blade waltz, Barry had lucked out with both a hero Overhead Smash and an Adept Killer Sidestep. Wow, so cool… I snuck to the back of the group, and kept my head down as Xi started leading the group away from the others in the circle.

“Alright, listen up maggots. This may be the kingdom of Zalsh, but that doesn't mean that it's safe outside of this bubble. As soon as you leave, it's going to be a fight to get to civilization, and we ain't helping you out there. We’ve got other things to do and frankly I feel like even this is too much help. Lucky for you, Lady Cylkia has a soft heart and wants us to give you a bit of a crash course in order to make sure you don't end up as some magibeasts dinner.” Turning around Xi crossed their massive arms and stared us down. “Now, I saw most of your stats, but frankly I didn't care enough to remember them. You may have stronger skills and abilities than the average warrior out there, but you'd probably die to even a goblin child. My job the next few days is to teach all of you fledglings how to use your skills. Your abilities are something more passive, and you'll figure out how to use those on your own. Any questions? No? Good.”

Before anyone could even raise their hand or process anything Xi had just said, they turned around and started marching again, this time towards the bubble. Everyone in the group glanced at each other before rushing along after Xi, after all, we'd already come this far.

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Pausing at the barrier, Xi muttered a few words then suddenly reached out, placing a palm on the barrier, before suddenly passing through. Pulling back their hand, Xi turned and beckoned to the rest of us before stomping through.

Nervously Ashton nodded at James before slowly walking over to the barrier and passing on through. Then he popped his head back in and called to the rest of us, “Alright I think we're good, just more grasslands and trees like it looks like from here!”

Raising their chins, James and Barry walked up to the barrier and forced their way through like Ashton, and then the rest of us followed right after them with myself walking through last. I didn't really feel anything as I pushed through, but as I came through to the other side I shivered. It was windy, and the temperature was well lower than what it had been inside the barrier. Rubbing my arms, I jogged over to the rest of the group who was arranged around Xi in a loose circle.

“Alright, first things first, a little crash course on life here on Zioln. Yes, there are humans here like you and I, but there are also Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Naga, Kobolds, Dwarves, Dragons, and others I really don't feel like remembering. Every single one of these godforsaken shit for brains, and those I didn't bring up, hate humans like us. They see us as dumb and weak, much like cattle with sticks. Most of the other races here on Zioln are much stronger or smarter than humans, and they very much take advantage of that fact. Thankfully, here in the kingdom of Zalsh, there are not many of the stronger magibeasts or the other denizens of Zioln.” Taking out their greatsword, Xi suddenly whipped around towards a tree they'd been standing in front of, and faster than I could follow, slashed their blade through the air. My mouth went dry as I watched a massive snake drop to the ground, leaking blood through its now bisected skull. Looking up my eyes widened as I realized Xi was staring in my direction. “In this world, the weak die fast, and there is no easy way to come back. You must always watch yourselves lest you end up as one more dead otherworlder.”

Meeting Xi's gaze, I considered that. If Xi was telling us this, and so many of us died anyways, what was even the point of training us? What did Cylkia and the Kingdom of Zalsh get out of having a bunch of kids get half trained and then sent into the wilderness? It couldn't just be to get some extra set of hands in the local villages, right? And then there was also that look Cylkia had given me… hmmm…

Turning their helmet away from me, Xi continued, “Now, as I said before, abilities are a passive effect on your body, allowing one to excel in a certain style of fighting. No ability is like another, and you'll figure out how they work as you level up and live. You all were selected to come with me because of your more physical based abilities. The goddess even saw fit to reward you with some skills, lucky you. This part is a bit more complicated, though once you figure it out the next steps are much easier. Now that you’ve placed your hand on the ball, it’s unlocked the status window permanently in your mind, in order for you to bring it up, close your eyes and call it to the forefront of your mind. It’s a bit different for everyone, so don’t be surprised if it takes a while.”

Shutting my eyes closed, I concentrated, trying to feel for something like that might look or feel like a status. I didn’t really know what to feel for, I mean, like what is that even supposed to feel like? Besides, could I even call mine up, considering I had no skills or abilities? Groaning, I opened my eyes and looked around. Besides the group of trees and the dead snake, they were all in the middle of a clearing with rolling hills in the distance. I could see my classmates inside the barrier, each arranged around their respective teachers. If I squinted I could almost make out some shapes in the distance, though they vanished over the edge of a hill before I could make out too much. Turning around, I looked at the rest of the group. Ashton looked like he was going to have an aneurysm, he was straining so hard, James was relaxing on a rock that he’d found, and Barry was thoughtfully staring at the snake. Xi was cleaning off the edge of their greatsword, carefully checking the edge and nodding to themselves.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and thought about how I could possibly pull it up, and if it was even worth it. I mean, it’s not like I had any skills or abilities. What was I even supposed to do? It’s not like any of us knew what they wanted from us, and the only thing I did know was that after we got our little ‘crash course’, they were just going to leave us to try and find our way back to civilization. What the hell was I supposed to do? I was just a highschool student… hell, I’d never even gotten in a fight before. Ugh, I hated this. As my mind wandered I noticed something in the corner of my mind. It was almost… wait… suddenly my eyes snapped open as I saw my status suddenly pop up. It was still as empty as before, and for some reason my name was still blank… that’s especially odd since my name was Matt. At least, that’s what my parents had named me.

“Ah, so you were the first one to find their status eh? A pity it’s the reject. Ah well, I guess I can’t show you too much since you don’t have any real abilities or skills, but I guess I’ll have you work on some basic sword swipes.” Whipping around, I came face to face with Xi, who had finished cleaning their sword and was now looming over me.

Glancing at the others, I saw that they hadn't moved from where I'd last seen them. That was… odd. Motioning for me to follow, Xi turned and started walking over to the trees again. Frowning, I decided to follow Xi, and I jogged over to a tree a bit away from the others. Turning towards me, Xi suddenly pulled a sword seemingly out of nowhere.

“Now, even though you have no skills or abilities that grant you increased physical strength, that doesn't mean you can't learn them like the rest of us born here. While I teach the rest of them how to use their skills, you'll need to learn a skill. Once you've done that, come back to me and I'll give you a couple tips. Frankly, I'd prefer you all learned like this, but time is not on your side,” Handing me the sword, Xi stepped back and motioned for me to swing it at the tree. “Look, imma be honest with you. You're probably not gonna be able to get a skill before we leave y'all. The best I can offer you is some practice with using a sword. If this ain't your style, feel free to go see Halfi and he'll show you how to use a bow, though if I were you I'd just stick to the sword. More respectable than some cowardly tool.”

Turning around, Xi left me and started heading back to the others who seemed to be still concentrating on bringing up their status. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the tree and looked it up and down. It was big enough that even if I wrapped my arms around it, I wouldn't be able to hold my hand on the other side. Glancing at my sword again, I smiled. It wasn't anything special, obviously, Xi probably scavenged it right before they met us, but they'd given it to me. I'd always wanted a sword. Wow, I was such a kid sometimes, but honestly, if I was being honest with myself, I was excited. It was like my dreams, but instead of just sitting still, watching the knight as it fought golems or giant beasts, I was the knight.

My grin widened, and I looked back at the tree. I wasn't as big as some of the football guys, but I was pretty big for a guy who ran cross country and track. I always used to joke to myself that the only reason I was half decent was because of pure willpower, always forging ahead no matter how much it hurt.

Raising the blade, I swung it horizontally at the tree as hard as I could, and as it got closer to the tree I tensed, wanting to let go of the blade when it impacted. As the blade hit the bark of the tree I flinched, yelping as the blade bounced back, not even leaving a dent in the bark. Startled, I almost let go of it, as the whole blade shook and vibrated from the impact. Fuck that actually hurt. Wincing, I shook my hands one at a time as I inspected the tree where I had hit it. Damn, not even a scratch? What was this tree made of, steel?

Sighing, I rolled my neck and got back into position, holding the blade with two hands like before. Today was really going to be a long one. I grit my teeth, and then swung my blade at the tree again and again, honestly feeling more like a lumberjack than some knight from the stories I used to read. As the minutes turned to hours, I swung that sword over and over tuning everything else out. It was hard work, and my muscles ached and burned, but it was something I could focus on. It was almost like running in that regard, and every time I thought I hit a wall, I just swung the blade one more time. Each time I convinced myself it was the last swing, I found myself swinging one more time. Over and over I hit that tree, sometimes slashing at a diagonal, sometimes spinning, and sometimes with the pommel. Like that I fell into a rhythm, slash, strike, spin, overhead slash, then a brief rest break. Like that, I forgot where I was, what had happened, how fucked I was, and all the emotions I was feeling. I wasn’t in a new world. I wasn’t worried about whether I was going to survive when that barrier fell. I was just working out again. I didn’t have to deal with all the noise of everything happening. My thoughts finally stilled and I took a deep breath. I was… peaceful. It made me miss being home, and being able to race with my teammates after school.

Then it was over, almost as if it had never happened. As I struck the trunk once more I was stopped by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. Panting, I looked up dizzy from exertion. It was Xi. They were looming over me, silently staring at the trunk. Before I could say anything, they turned around and walked away. Confused, I looked back at the tree, but I didn't see anything different. I hadn't even dented it… gods I was terrible. Looking down, I realized I still had the sword Xi had left with me. Confused, I looked back up at Xi, but they were already leading the rest of the group towards the trees. Hurrying after them, I followed behind them. Gods my arms hurt, I gotta be careful next time, I couldn't afford to be sore if I came face to face with a monster. Sighing, I followed the group eavesdropping on the rest of their conversations.

“... figure out how to get your status to show up?”

“Yeah, did you not? It wasn't even that hard. I just kept on thinking about different ways to call it forward until one worked. The shittiest part of it all was Xi making me practice sword swings on a tree. Like what's the point of doing that anyways? Not like any monsters are just going to stand still.”

“it was really that easy? Damn, I'll have try that next time! Though I'm not all that ecstatic about having to swing a sword at a damn tree.”

“Right? Damn bitch didn't even let me keep it…”

That last part made me pause. Xi hadn't let the super jock, Barry, keep his sword? Why had they let me keep mine?

I looked down at the sword Xi had left me, confused. It looked the exact same as when they had first given it to me. It wasn't even dented, even though I'd been swinging it at a tree for a couple hours. Thank god for my enduring heart, otherwise I’d probably be crawling along the forest floor, gasping for air.

Honestly, I didn't even want to try letting go yet. I could tell my fingers would be unbelievably sore and ache more than any track workout. Why did Xi let me keep it? I doubted that Cylkia would be all excited that the ‘reject’ had a leg up on the rest of them.

Trudging along behind them, I tried my best to keep the sword out of sight. I doubted that everyone else in the group would be happy that I got to keep my sword when they couldn't. I dodged around the trunk of a tree, before pausing and cocking my head to the side. I could hear… the sound of water rushing over rocks? That was weird… I should've been able to hear that a while ago. Following everyone a bit farther, I stumbled into another clearing where Xi stood in front of a river. Quickly, I hid my sword behind a tree before running over to where everyone else was.

“Alright maggots, we're sticking with you for a couple nights, and I for one do not want to deal with the smell of sweaty teenagers,” Pointing at the river, Xi motioned for us to enter.

James stepped forward, and raised his eyebrow at the river, before looking over at Xi, “You serious? It's a random river, in a random forest, in some bullshit world. What happens when we get some alien disease and die huh? What are you going to tell Cylkia when you come back missing a whole group of kids, huh? What… Wait, what the hell are-” Before James could even get another word out, Xi picked him up with one arm, almost like he was a sack of potatoes. He kicked and struggled, but Xi didn’t even flinch as they chucked him in the river with only that one arm.

Slowly and ever so casually, they turned around and looked at the rest of us, their helmet cocked to the side, “Any of the rest of you got something to say?”

We all communally sucked in our breaths and shook our heads rapidly, paling at the sight of how easily Xi had thrown James. Everyone quickly made our way over to the river where James was cursing and spitting out water, shaking himself like a wet dog.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I heard James struggling. Maybe I should have felt bad, but he’d always been such a loud mouth that I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty pleasure at the sound of him struggling so much. I looked down at the edge of the water and hummed to myself. It looked like a normal enough river, and based on the fact that James was still alive, it couldn’t be that bad, right? I sighed and thought to myself, eh, fuck it, and slowly walked in. I almost yelped as my foot hit the water though because, GOD DAMN THAT WAS COLD. I sucked in air through my teeth and forced myself to walk in farther. I felt something smack into my back and flinched, turning around. It was Xi, who was currently standing at the edge of the river, chucking scrub brushes at each of us.

“You all stink worse than a zhaarst coup. Scrub yourselves clean. While you’re at it, soak for a bit as well. This is a rejuve river, so it'll speed up your recovery. Heals up the muscles and any injuries you gain. Not a ton of them here in Zioln, and there’s probably only three other’s here in Zalsh. Though you'll be able to find them all over Zioln, for a price.”

I narrowed my eyes and eyed them from where I was in the cold river. As much as it sounded like Xi just made the part about the water healing my muscles up, I realized they were right. The water did feel… nice. I let out a long sigh and relaxed into the water, slowing down my breathing as I closed my eyes and tried not to focus too much on my arms. It was almost like an ice bath, I just needed to let my muscles go numb and I’d be fine… But damn, they really did hurt so fucking much. The worst part was, I could tell that as bad as they felt right now, they were definitely going to feel worse in the morning. I groaned and dunked my head underwater, popping up after a moment to gasp for air. Now that I think about it, not only was this river like an ice bath, the cold numbing my aching muscles, but that ache felt like it was actually starting to go away. It was so… nice….