[Mika’s POV]
It’s been 2 days since I was summoned in this world called ‘Gaia’. A world that seems like a fantasy world, filled with magic and monsters. A world that you can only imagine in your wildest dreams, and I’m the supposed ‘hero’ of the world.
Anderson lectured me all about this world and the major events that happened. It’s year 6XX in this world. He told me that I’m the 3rd Hero chosen by the Goddess of Light, Qydona, the Goddess that gave great strength to the previous heroes chosen before me.
The 1st hero was named Delco, a hero born in Lionel who saved humankind from ruin and savior of the whole world hundreds of years ago when the world is filled with strong monsters and the residents of the world are living in fear. He fought back against hordes of terrible monsters and drove the 1st invasion of the Demon Army back to their realm. There are even statues of him as a remembrance and hope for the people in this world. Delco fell in battle in his last battle against the Demon Army, risking his life for saving the world.
The 2nd hero was someone who was summoned from another world named Jack Schrader, a man who claims to be from America and wields a strange weapon which creates a loud sound as it kills enemies in the far distance. The Goddess chose a person as the hero from another world because we are beings not bound to this world, a courageous and brave soul worthy of receiving the Goddes’s power. Jack was summoned during the start of the Great War, where the 2nd Demon Army invasion arrived and stronger than before, creating multiple portals around the world, it was known that the Demons created the portals to traverse to Gaia. The Great War was known to be the longest and the most brutal world war in the history of Gaia, where all races in this world team up to fight against the invasion.
The arrival of the 2nd hero managed to push back the invasion while also giving a morale boost to the soldiers fighting back against the demons. The Great War lasts 2 years as the portals endlessly spawning more and more demons to the world. The hero and his party pushed them back to the hellish portal that is used to traverse between Gaia and the Demon Realm. The 2nd hero made the ultimate sacrifice to traverse the portal and destroy them from within. He succeeded in closing the portal, destroying it, but was never heard from again. There are also statues of him beside the 1st hero’s statue.
It’s been hundreds of years since the Great War, and there haven’t been any threats and the world is finally peaceful. Until a grand seer foresees danger, a severe threat that will be world-ending if they don’t prepare for what’s to come, a 3rd invasion, with a portal that is even bigger than the previous ones coming from Deadwood, a dead land with little to no life in its soil after the Great War.
That’s where I come in, the 3rd Hero, who will be fighting back the invasion to come. After hearing all of that, I was very dumbfounded and speechless, I needed some time alone to process the information I received from Anderson.
It’s just… I was only a high school girl, walking home from school with my childhood friend just like usual, but now… I’m a ‘Hero’ in some fantasy world… Thinking about it again, it sounds pretty cool, being the Hero and having people worship and holding you in high praise, but… it doesn’t feel right... he is not here…
There has been no news from the Lionel kingdom’s scouts who were out on their way to search for Dian. I always hoped that he would be found, and I still do, but for now, I’ll fulfill my role as the Hero of this world, and as well as searching him myself, and also… he hasn’t answered my feelings yet… *blush*
Knock Knock
“Lady Mika, are you in there?” Asked Anderson from the other side of my room door.
“Yes, Anderson, what is it?”
“The priests have prepared the Ceremony of Light, in which Lady Mika may receive the power bestowed by Goddess Qydona, so I suggest that Lady Mika dress up in your Hero attire.”
“Ugh… that armor again..? *sigh*, okay then, I’ll be out soon.”
That armor feels horrible… I’m better off not wearing it. Sure, it looks fancy, shining, and is colored silver (which is cool!), it’s really heavy and only hinders my movements…
I started to get out of my bed and wore the armor that the king gave me yesterday.
Oof… it feels kind of tight around this area of my body… the upper torso part of the armor is the wrong size!
After some hard time adjusting to the tightness and heaviness of the armor, I tied the back of my hair to my usual ponytail style and soon opened the door of my room, greeted by the always kind looking Anderson with his calm smile.
“Ah, Lady Mika, you look stunning in that armor,” Anderson said as he puts his hand on his chest and bow in a respectful manner.
“Quit it! Let’s just get this over with…”
“Lady Mika, pardon me for asking, but… is there some discontent with that armor..?”
“Well, it’d be nice if this armor is lighter! And also, it feels kind of ‘tight’ in this part of the armor!” I said as I irritatingly point to my breastplate.
“O- oh… we are deeply sorry for your discomfort… we’ll make sure to make another set of armor that is lighter that fits your taste, Lady Mika.”
“Humph! Let’s just go… lead the way.”
“R- Right! This way!”
Anderson then lead me to a spacious and light room with a red carpet from the entrance to a strange-looking pedestal and a huge statue of a beautiful and gracious woman wearing white cloth, holding a white orb with both hands. There are many priests in the room, waiting patiently as they line up and look towards me. Beside the pedestal, four knight-like people are lining up, 2 of them are guys, 1 kid, and a woman, all wearing the same type of knight armor with a lion symbol on the middle of their armor, except for the kid, with his minimal plates of light armor.
As soon as I enter the room, they all bowed to me with their hand on their chests as they get on their knees.
“All Hail the Hero!” Said all of the people in the room.
Wha- what is this-?! I get that I’m a ‘Hero’, but come on! This kind of thing is too much!
“Raise your heads, all of you!”
As soon as I said that, they rose from their knees. A different robed priest and the four knights that were near the pedestal approached me and lightly bowed to me.
“It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Mika the Hero, my name is Gerande, a Bishop and a devoted follower of our light and life, the Goddess Qydona.” He said, then he slowly rose his head. “Today is a joyous ceremony, o’ Great Hero! For our fair Goddess, Qydona will bless you with strength and wisdom to aid you against the horrible travesty that is the dreaded 3rd Demon invasion!”
“Uuuh huh… okay? That sounds cool..?”
Actually, it’s not cool for me… I have to do the fighting.
The four knights then bowed their heads and puts their hands on their chest once more as they get on their knee. One of them stood up, a pretty handsome, tall, short black-haired guy with cold looking face, donning a spiky and navy-blue colored armor. He respectfully bowed again.
“Greetings, Hero. My name is Klein of the Lionel’s Four Elite, I know I’m nowhere near your supreme strength, but I’ll try my best to be of assistance.”
“Nice to meet you, Klein…”
He’s… pretty cool… I- I mean the armor! N- not that it matters though, Dian is 1000x cooler than him!
The one next to Klein stood up after, a middle-aged looking guy with a brown hair and a creepy smile on his pleased face, donning a simple-looking but sturdy silver-colored armor.
“Greetings, o’ Great Hero! My name is Albert of Lionel’s Four Elite. It is a great honor to be in your presence, Hero, I hope all of us will be of use to you, hehehe…”
“Uuuh… hi…”
What’s with this creepy guy..? he looks like the P.E. teacher back in high school with that creepy face and grin of his… Ugh… even remembering about him eyeing up on me give me the creeps!
The kid stood up with a huge grin on his face. A short blond-haired kid, dark tanned skin, wearing minimalistic pieces of armor with a dirty leather shirt and pants, puts both of his hands behind his head.
Don’t tell me this kid is a ‘Lionel’s Elite’ too?!
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Hero! My name is Khaf! I didn’t realize the 3rd Hero is a girl! The previous heroes are all serious and cranky! Hey, what’s your favorite weapon? What’s your favorite animal? Are yo-“
BONK
“OUCH!” The kid screams in pain after the woman beside him karate chopped his head, shutting him up.
The last knight rose as she dusts off her hands, looking annoyed at the kid.
“You are in the presence of the Hero, learn some manners!” Said the woman with an irritated face at the kid.
“S- Sorry, Agatha…”
The woman shifts her attention to me as she puts on a kind smile as she bows lightly to me, a pretty tall, lascivious, and attractive looking woman, with a long and wrinkly black hair, and her hair also covers one side of her face, wearing light-green light armor.
W- what type of armor is that?! It’s barely covering her- ugh, Is that even suitable in battle?! She looks around college-aged… definitely the type that woos the boys…
“I deeply apologize for that, Khaf is quite the rascal. Greetings, Hero. My name is Agatha of Lionel’s Four Elite, the twin sister of Klein. Mfufu~, I hope I’ll be of use to you, Great Hero.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
Klein’s twin sister?! Well… if I look closer, they both are quite similar, face appearance-wise.
“Now, Hero! Come forth towards the pedestal and pray, for you shall receive our gracious Goddes’s gift!” The priest said joyously as he presents the pedestal in front of the huge statue.
The four knights steps aside and the priest leads the way to the pedestal by the end of the room, he then steps aside and lets me near the pedestal.
I do feel… warmth… near the pedestal. He said I need to pray, right?
I kneeled and grasped my hands, closed both of my eyes as I focus on praying and empty my thoughts. At first, I wasn’t sure if it’s working, I feel nothing but faint winds gently brushing my skin.
Is this working..? should I open my eyes or…
“You may open your eyes now, Mika the Hero.” Said a gentle and beautiful voice.
I opened my eyes and in utter shock, I’m in a light and spatial looking place as I see no ground below me. I looked in front of me, and I saw a woman, looking exactly like the huge statue behind the pedestal, gently smiling at me with her kind face.
