I arrive at the masterfully carved stone balustrade. My gaze sweeps all over the surrounding scenery. The castle’s balcony is positioned a few stories higher than the usual wooden and stone buildings, creating a perfect depiction of a medieval fantasy city. I have been expecting a great sight, but laying your own eyes on a real, full of life, medieval capital is just something unspeakable.

“Beautiful…” I mutter under my breath admiring the breathtaking scenery. I take a bite of my apple while looking around.

To my left, and to what I assume is also west, a shining golden beach and a sea or an ocean are located. This capital must be a coastal city. There are a dozen piers and a few smaller docks constructed there, but a lot of the glittering beach is a free and open space, perfect for some relaxation time.

Moving my eyes more to the middle and right, I can barely spot the external walls of the town. There are a lot of buildings, and even my otherworldly self can easily differentiate between the existing districts. Close to the castle must be a noble one, since all the houses and stores have a lot fancier finishings than the ones far further. The north side resembles a mercantile area with most of the constructions visibly proclaiming they are business ones. I can also spot a huge market with a lot of colourful stands. 

To the east and more inland, there are plenty of chimneys with some of them spewing smoke of various shades, definitely representing an industrial or artisanal district. Lots of large warehouses, forges and workshops of many kinds. Unfortunately, I can’t see what is behind the castle right now, but I guess there would be more housing areas since, in front of me, they are mostly squeezed around those districts mentioned before. The whole city is designed in a circle fashion, with rings of living quarters separating bigger districts. The whole scenery is something you’d usually see in those big CGI movies, and here I am, admiring this beautiful sight.

I gaze carefully at the sun’s position. If this planet or world is orbiting at a similar speed and distance from its… double suns… it should be a few hours after noon. While I’m working my brain over the differences in time between our worlds, the Court Magician Cornelia appears at my side and also takes a peek outside.

“How long is an hour here?” turning my head to her, I ask directly without any kind of warning. She looks at me slightly surprised, but answers nonetheless.

“That’s an interesting topic for your first ever question about our world. An hour consists of 60 minutes. I believe your next question would be about them. One minute is 60 seconds and also, 24 hours make a day.” She then extends her palm and proceeds to form a small hourglass out of ice. She places it on the railing and continues. “And one minute is exactly how long it takes for this hourglass to get filled.”

We stare at it in total silence. After 60 seconds, I confirm that there won’t be any issues related to time differences. Remembering something, I check my pocket. It’s still there. My smartphone. I pull it out and try unlocking it. Still works, with most of the battery power and obviously no signal. I quickly turn on the most efficient saving mode. I don’t think I will be able to charge it here, so let’s make the best use of it as long as I can. Then, I exactly do so. I open the camera app and take a panoramic shot of the city. I look at it satisfied and turn the phone off completely.

“What was that tool? Did you do something with it when it made that weird sound?”

Obviously, my spectator has noticed it. Now, how should I explain this? I could just say magic and be done, but that would be kind of a lie.

“Hmmmm… Do you have something like Illusion Magic here?”

“Yes, we naturally do,” she answers in a calm tone.

“Then, are you able to create an illusionary picture of a view you have seen somewhere in the past?”

“If it’s supposed to be a flat picture like a painting, then even novice illusionists are able to pull that off.”

“Well then. This tool has many functions, but what I just did was basically creating a flat illusion of the scenery in front of us and then storing it inside its… records or memory, if you can imagine it having something like that. Now, as long as it’s supplied with energy, I can recall the picture at any time to look at it. And no, it wasn’t magic, it’s a mechanical tool. Saying all that, it will run out of juice in a week or two and become useless, so I decided to make good use of it while I can.”

She has been nodding during my short explanation, so I guess she did manage to follow through.

The sound of a door being opened makes us turn around. The King enters alongside the priest we have seen in the throne room. He looks at me and then at the others.

“Now then. I believe this is a better place to explain everything and answer all the questions you most likely have been wanting to ask.” 

While speaking, he moves to the fancy chair and sits down. The priest stands slightly behind him, at his right side. Since he sits facing me, I decide to stay on the balcony. The breeze is just so enjoyable and refreshing.

“You said before that we won’t be able to use our powers right now. Why? When can we then? What do we have to do to unlock them?” 

Kamil eagerly barrages the King with questions about our supposed powers. I’d rather hear about our situation first, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be playing the representative role that much longer.

The King chuckles with a smug smile on his face. “I knew you would ask about this first. Well then. Let’s begin from the start. The inhabitants of this world have been blessed with the power to quantify their strengths and weaknesses, which also helps them develop the proper talents for them. Since you were not born in this world, you do not possess it… yet. You have been marked and pulled in by the Goddess to our realm and the inkling of this power has been implanted into you. And since you are all people with great potential, we believe you will be able to use it to the fullest, towering over the common denizens.”

He then gestures over to the man standing behind him, who lowers his head.

“With the help of our Archpriest Nerphym here, we will be able to awaken this inkling.”

Kamil starts visibly fidgeting in excitement. I’m amazed he can stay this calm in front of fun things, but I guess even he knows it would be bad to fuck up in this situation.

The King continues. “Shall we proceed then?” He sees Kamil is already standing up. “Just let the Archpriest circulate his mana around your body.”

Kamil approaches Nerphym and stands in front of him with expectant eyes. All the others are also glancing at them curiously. Who wouldn’t be curious about magic?

The priest grabs his left hand and places his own over it. He closes his eyes to concentrate. A few seconds later, they are both surrounded by a golden-white aura, which starts concentrating on Kamil’s palm. After the other man steps back, the aura subsides, leaving a glowing mark on top of the boy’s palm. I can’t really see its details from this far.

“Cool!” Kamil happily announces while investigating his new, glowing tattoo. “Hey, Shino! Aren’t I now like that idiot with red hair from one of the cartoons you spoke about with Natalie? I forgot its name... Maybe I can summon spirits like him too!” He laughs while spinning in circles with his hand up in the air.

“The series is called Destiny and you are the idiot. It’s one of the biggest anime franchises around the world with many novels, comics, animated movies and games. Knowing you, even if it was possible, you would end up summoning an old farmer from the Edo period at best.” She throws a jab back at him while rolling her eyes. Natalie and Marcia chuckle at her remark. The latter one stands up next.

“My turn now! Can’t be late to the party!”

She then undergoes the same procedure, and so does everyone. After being done, they sit again in their previous spots and keep gloatingly stroking their palms in awe. The priest starts walking to me even before I can react, so I meet him in the middle. But, I don’t immediately put up my hand. I glance over others' symbols and a thought rushes through my mind.

「This thing is pretty oblivious. Wouldn’t it be bad to walk around with a flashlight attached to your palm? And even if it wasn’t glowing, a weird symbol on your hand will definitely attract some attention. We know nothing about this world yet.」

The priest noticing my visible hesitation speaks. “Is there any problem?”

“Does it have to be located on the top of your palm? I’m not going to lie, having a glowing mark in such a visible spot is just like telling everyone ‘Hey! I’m different!’. I don’t see those on any of you, so I guess it’s not something every inhabitant of this world possesses.”

The priest looks at me and then at the King, who faintly smiles.

“You are intriguing me with every single word you speak. While others quietly awakened their blessings, you first thought about possible implications. You are quite clever.”

“I disagree, Your Majesty. It was just a simple matter of connecting facts. If I was truly clever, I would have realized this even before the first person underwent the procedure.”

“I see. A humble one at that. Well, I can reassure you that this symbol, which is called the Hero Sigil, should be able to become hidden with just the will of the owner.”

And with that, I notice how Shino’s and Paul’s sigils stop glowing and after a moment fade out, leaving no trace of it behind.

「Guess I was worried for nothing.」

I give my hand to the priest and he starts channelling something through it. I can feel a warm, pulsing sensation circulate through my body and then gather in my hand. It’s refreshing. Like I have just been washed from all the accumulated fatigue and stress. The awakening ends.

I look at the top of my hand and now I can see it in full detail. The sigil looks kinda like an oversized axe with dual, long blades, reaching almost to the bottom of its handle, which ends in a diamond-shaped protrusion. The head of the axe is caved in, roundly. In this space, a double circle is placed in the centre.

「Kamil was right. It does look similar to the master’s order from Destiny.」

I try to imagine it not being there and it slowly fades out. It then appears again when I think about it showing up. Handy.

“So… what now?” This time Marcia asks a question since Kamil is too lost in admiring his own hand.

“You have now established a proper connection with our world and the Goddess. Try invoking the most basic ability, which is Status,” the King answers.

Everyone murmurs or says it loudly and again the gasps of amazement and shock fills the room.

「So now we get a system out of an RPG? Let’s see if it works with just a thought. Status. Good, at least we don’t have to use verbal commands.」

A flat, semi-transparent, navy blue window appears in front of my face, with a list of options positioned like in a menu of some game. It includes entries like Full Summary, Information, Stats or Skills. I try focusing on the very first option and the contents change.

“I see,” he gives a quiet answer and goes back to analyzing his window.

“What about the Linguist skill? It’s the only one I currently have. It says it’s Lv. 3” Marcia takes her turn.

“Since you’ve been transferred from another world, you naturally possess this skill. It lets you speak, read and write the Common language, which is the main one in our realm. The higher its level, the higher your talent with languages lies. You can see more details when you focus on the skill.” This time it’s the priest who answers.

“What’s the highest it can get? Mine is at level 7,” Shino finally joins in.

“Oh! That’s great! You must be pretty talented then! I’m not sure about the maximum level, but the highest I’ve ever seen was around 13, I think? People who know only one language tend to stay at level 2, and that’s the most common.”

「Then mine would be at least 15 or 20. Doesn’t that seem kinda high? 」

I try to focus on the skill as the archpriest instructed and an additional, small rectangle pops out.

 

【Linguist Lv. MAX】 You have learned over 7 different languages and perfected 6 of them. Your talent is one of the best in this world. Learning new languages is incredibly easy for you and takes 1/10 of the time and effort a normal person would have to spend. You perfectly memorize all learned languages. Thanks to your experience, you can guess the superficial meaning of all humanoid type languages you don’t know, be it in spoken or written form. Languages learned: [Earth] - German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Polish, Swedish, English [Naharren] - Common

 

「Woah! Doesn’t this seem totally OP? Ten times faster learning speed, perfect memory, and even an ability to guess the meaning of unknown words? The hell is my class then, a Heavenly Scribe? I’m starting to get worried here...」

I make a loud sigh and walk backwards until I hit the railing of the balcony. While taking a few deep breaths of fresh air, an idea pops into my mind.

「Since we have been subconsciously speaking this Common language all the time, then can we just switch to the other ones naturally?」

I ponder for a moment and decide to do a little test. Trying to focus my mind on Japanese, I speak loud enough for everyone to hear me clearly.

“I’ve eaten better apples in the worst slums I can remember,” I say while spinning the already eaten apple.

Shino looks at me quite shocked, while other students seem to be confused, recognizing the language they sometimes heard in class. She then stares at the King awaiting his reaction, but he just gazes back at her confused even more why she is doing so and then looks my way.

“I apologize for that. It was just a little experiment,” I try to speak in Common again and then switch mid-sentence into English. “Looks like we can still communicate properly in the languages we learned back on Earth, and they are not automatically translated into Common for others.” My students look between each other, Shino, Paul, and Natalie nodding knowingly. The other trio seems to also have caught up on the fact that I’ve been speaking languages not known to their world.

“So what about the power and abilities? All I can see here is Assimilating and just some numbers. Weren’t we supposed to unlock this after the awakening?” Kamil joins slightly unhappy that he can’t immediately check out his moves.

The King’s face is taken over by an uncomfortable expression.

“Well... I never actually said that everything will be unlocked after you forge your connection with this world. I mentioned that you won’t be able to manifest all of your powers at this very moment, and… it will take some time for your bodies to adjust after the transmigration. During that time you can still better yourselves with training and other ways, but your inborn classes will be revealed at the end of that period. We can guess their main area of expertise with a look at your stats distribution.”

“How long then? A day?”

“Exactly one year...”

“WHAT?!”

Kamil, Marcia and even Paul shout unanimously. I cover my face with my hands and sigh, AGAIN, audibly.

「For fuck’s sake… A year?! This is getting hilarious with every minute...」

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY ONE YEAR YOU BLONDE FUCKTARD?!” Kamil stands up again and shouts agitated. “WHY THE FUCK DOES YOUR HEROES HAVE TO WAIT ONE YEAR TO DO SHIT?!”

“I’m with him.”

“Same here.”

Paul and Marcia join and send the King angry glares. The Archpriest tightens his grip on the staff and I can see, even feel, the aura around Cornelia, who is still by my side at the balcony, slowly gathering. I place a hand on her shoulder and shake my head when we make eye contact. They are not stupid enough to attack a King in their outrage.

“Calm down. Your shouting won’t shorten that period. I get you. We are all quite angry here, but sit down, and for your own safety, try to not look like you are going to jump at him at any moment.” I wait until they sit down and then move my attention to the King and continue. “Explanation please?”

“As I’ve mentioned before, your reformed bodies are not yet ready for all the power. Inhabitants of this world discover their first class around the age of six, and the one they are most suited for, around the age of sixteen. It’s not a rule though. In your case, this process takes only one year, thanks to the Goddess’s blessing,” he answers while eyeing the students closest to him.

“And what are we supposed to do during this time? Wait patiently until everything unlocks itself?” I continue.

“No, of course not. We are going to extend our utmost support to you. Even without your special classes, you can still acquire and develop new talents, alongside regaining those you have already achieved in your homeworld. During your training, you can try yourselves with every weapon, magic and piece of equipment we can provide, thus earning a chance to guess your class specialization before it’s revealed. Isn’t that better than instantly sending someone not accustomed to our world away on their first day?”

He tries his best to present the ‘training arc’ in a positive light, cracking a nervous smile from time to time and wandering with his gaze over every single person in the room. I check Kamil and Marcia. They have slightly cooled down, but dissatisfaction is still visible on their faces.

“I’m not going to lie, living one year in the dark does seem really annoying… But before that, does time pass at the same pace in our worlds? As in one year here is one year there?”

“Yes. Naturally.”

Even though everyone must have at least thought about this issue at some point, a clear confirmation causes us to get slightly dejected. When we will finish this training, one year would have already passed back on Earth. Who knows what will happen to their families in that time.

“Well then, everyone. We can’t do anything about this anyway, so why not leave this for later so we can think about it calmly. A lot has happened. Rushing this won’t get us anywhere faster. We still know nothing about the main reason why we are here.”

Seeing how agitated most of the group got by the revelation, I try my best to change the topic, to the one really important.

“Ah yes. Since you have gone through a lot today, let me just present you with a short summary of the situation and then you will be guided around the castle and to your rooms, so you can rest and assimilate everything.”

“Assimilate… Tsch…” Kamil sneers at his unfortunate choice of words.

The King begins his story about the calamity that descended upon this world.

Saileri

Here's a sketch of the Hero Sigil. Sorry for the quality, I spent just a few minutes to make a rough representation.

Spoiler

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