Humanity had prophesized the coming of the Chosen One since the beginning of the Mechanical Era. A brave human arriving from another world with otherworldly godly abilities will heal the lands of the demonic plague and bring prosperity to the civilized nations.

Many humans pined for the coming of the Chosen One and many placed their utmost faith on the prophesy word for word. One empire, in particular, had just the thought and treated each word of the prophesy as truth and law. This empire was the Neslandic Empire, home to the priests and priestesses of the Goddess of Life – Artece.

When the goddess sensed the aura of the Chosen One fast approaching, she quickly gathered all the higher-ups of her worshippers for a divination. The hero will soon arrive and Artece believed that it was up to them to pave the road for the Chosen One to ensure easy travel.

The humble room that held the divination, though small and reclusive, displayed a terrific mixture of power and auras. The lineup consisted of the Pope, the Paladin Queen, the Emperor, the General King, the Merchant Guild Guildmaster, the Adventurer’s Guild Guildmaster, and lastly…the goddess herself. The seven sat at a round table while the six believers focused all of their attention on the beautiful Artece.

After a few minutes of silence, the Merchant Guild Guildmaster impatiently broke the silence. “So, what have your Esteemed Self called us here for?”

“Don’t be rude Janis!” The Paladin Queen snapped as she glared disdainfully at the obese merchant who was fiddling with one of the many jeweled rings on his fingers.

Marilyn, we are all busy people. Something that you – who laze about all day doing nothing but pray – would ever hope to understand.” Janis countered as he tentatively glanced over to see what the Pope’s reaction would be.

The Pope didn’t give any reaction but Marilyn almost flipped the table in anger. However, her action was stopped by the General King who smacked his hand down on the other side, preventing Marilyn from actually doing it.

“Marilyn, now you are the one being rude here.” The General King remarked nonchalantly.

“You!” Marilyn roared as she leaped to her feet and pointed an armored finger at the middle-aged man.

“Enough!” A blast of divine energy rushed out from Artece, erasing all negativity in the chaotic duo.

The two mortals closed their mouths shut and sat down timidly. Even if they were powerful beings in their empire, they were still mere ants in front of the goddess. Once everyone settled down, Artece began.

“The reason I called you all here today was because I have sensed the coming of the Chosen One. The hero that our land needs is fast approaching! We must prepare for his arrival.”

“Really?” The Emperor exclaimed excitedly. “What must we do? Is the hero exactly like the legends?”

“No, before that, you said the Chosen One is a ‘HE’?” Marilyn interrupted, a bit of concern shown in her voice.

“No worries, Marilyn.” Artece explained. “The Chosen One may be a male, but I can at least tell that he isn’t someone who would treat females badly.”

“T-That’s good then.” The Paladin Queen nodded, somewhat still unsatisfied with the answer but realizing that there wasn’t anything she could do.

Artece looked at the others to see if they had any comments before continuing. “Alright, let’s begin the preparations. When the Chosen One arrives at the passage between our two worlds, I will try to direct him to the throne room. Meeting adjourned!”

The six influentials saluted before rushing out excitedly. The General King ordered the armies to patrol around the borders while the Paladin Queen ordered the priest knights to patrol the emperor’s castle. The Emperor and the Pope had their most trusted officials invited over to the throne room in order to welcome the Chosen One. Meanwhile, the Merchant Guild Guildmaster opened up his guild’s coffers and compiled a hefty and reasonable gift for the Chosen One while the Adventurer’s Guild Guildmaster ordered the best A-ranked adventurers to teach the Chosen One.

And so, they waited….

Suddenly, loud shimmering noises burst forth as all the light in the world seemed to draw towards one place – the center of the throne room where the directing ritual was taking place. The Emperor, the Pope, and their men leaned forward in hopes of catching a glimpse of the first appearance of the rumored Chosen One.

The convergence of light reached a peak brightness before dimming considerably, revealing a humanoid outline. The outline solidified and a human male appeared. The young man looked to be about fifteen years old with coarse black hair and dark brown eyes. The youth wore strange clothes and had a bright smile which gave off a kind aura.

“Welcome hero!” The Emperor smiled as he and the Pope walked up before the young man. “It’s to my understanding that you have been told a few things right?”

“Yes. I was briefed by Highgoddess Lyju before I arrived here. She told me that I am your world’s Chosen One destined to fight against the demons and the Darkness. I’ve agreed to help so here I am.” The young man nodded. “My name is Leopold Qin. Your Majesty and your Reverence are?”

“I am Emperor Horath and this is Pope Krieg. Welcome to my Neslandic Empire!” The Emperor smiled as he gestured at the Pope.

The religious man stood up and approached their Chosen One. “Hero, is it possible for me to view your profile?”

“Sure!” Leopold replied as displayed his Profile Plate for all to see.

Name: Leopold Qin

Title: Lyju’s Hero, Chosen One

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Lyju, Highgoddess of Light and Healing; Artece, Goddess of Life

Skills:

• Bandage Mastery (Passive) – Leopold can stop most bleeding wounds with skilled bandaging.
• Heal (Active) – Heals one target up to half vitality.
• Holy Bolt (Active) – Fires a bolt of holy light that deals damage to enemies of undead or unholy nature.
• Restore Life (Active) – Restores some of target’s stamina.

Blessings:

• Boosted Life – Blessed by Artece
• Divine Light – Blessed by Lyju

“Amazing! Truly amazing to be blessed by not only the Goddess of Life but also the Highgoddess of Light and Healing, you are definitely the Chosen One!” Pope Krieg praised, his eyes filled with mostly respect.

“Naturally!” Leopold thumped his chest, flattered by the praise.

Emperor Horath nodded in admiration as well. He lifted up a hand and motioned towards a nearby attendant. The servant bowed and approached Leopold with a package in his hand.

Leopold glanced at the small bag curiously and asked the Emperor. “What’s this?”

“This is an artifact that we had prepared for you. It is a storage bag, capable of storing up to a hundred square meters of items. I hope this will aid you in your quest.” Emperor Horath responded with a smile.

“A bag of holding?” Leopold gasped inwardly, his eyes narrowed as he recognized this bag to be something extremely similar to a fictional bag he used to own in a tabletop game. “Thank you, your Majesty!”

“Haha, no problem, no problem. If there’s nothing else, follow my attendant and he will lead you to your room. Oh, and there will be a gift for you in that room. It’s something the Merchant Guild Guildmaster had prepared for your arrival. I guarantee it will make your quest easier to complete.” Emperor Horath chuckled as he gestured for his servant to lead the Chosen One away.

Leopold agreed without hesitation as the toll of transmigrating just settled in. It wasn’t anything major, just a version of jetlag. Nevertheless, the young man couldn’t help but let out a big yawn as he followed the servant towards a spacious room. Immediately, Leopold scrambled onto bed without checking the items that were on his table and went to sleep.

As the Emperor and the Pope watched Leopold go, the Emperor couldn’t help but feel a burden lift off of his shoulders. “Finally, the time has come for our Neslandic Empire to rise once more.”