Three days had passed since the decision for Avelina to perform the hero summoning was announced. It shocked many people. Some wonder when did the situation become so bad that the hero summoning ritual was needed. Everyone knew of the drawback of using the ritual, so many became worried about the princess. Only a few of the king’s most loyal subjects knew the whole situation regarding the reason that Princess Avelina was ordered to perform the hero summoning ritual.

On a plateau that was usually abandoned, people gathered, each one appearing almost out of nowhere on top of a strange stone disk with ancient runes written all over it. This plateau was the sacred place where the hero summoning ritual took place. It wasn’t unusually large, about the size of a football field, but it was so high up that it overlooked the clouds. Using a stone disk to teleport there was the only way to reach it. The plateau had an abundance of lavish green grass covering the whole area, a pleasant breeze in the air. In the middle of the plateau was a large stone pulsing a faint green glow, giving off a very surreal feeling.

Among the people stood a man that gave off an overbearing aura. He was about 5’11 and entirely blonde except for one silver streak of hair. He had deep blue eyes that when stared into, resembled the bottom of an ocean. Although he looked about thirty, his real age was sixty-something. This man was no other than Hildebrand Mortimer, the king of Silverflight.

“Is everything prepared?”

“Yes, father.” answered Nicolas, wearing a happy expression on his face as he looked gleefully at Rolla, who was standing behind Avelina with a worried look on her face.

“Good. Now Avelina, begin the ritual.”

Avelina was wearing a ceremonial white robe with silver trimming. Her hair was braided back with a silver feather, which just made her seem more majestic, but her usually smiling face was nowhere to be seen. Not even speaking to her father, she walked forward and used the sacred knife to cut both her palms before placing them on ritual stone. She began the hero summoning chant.

“I, Avelina Mortimer, offer my very being to the Divine One. Take whatever is needed to bring forth the one who shall deliver a mighty blow to whoever threatens this great kingdom, a hero who shall bring glory to this kingdom, a mighty hero who shall uphold the righteousness of our kingdom laws. I, Avelina Mortimer, a blood descendant of the great Mortimer, offer my very self so that thee shall grant my selfish wish to bring forth a glorious hero to serve this vast kingdom.”

With every word the pulsing from the stone grew more intense and the green glow grew brighter by each passing second. Avelina suddenly felt a force consuming her mana, weakening her to the point that it became difficult for her to stand on her own, but before the ritual was completed, Avelina whispered. “I sincerely wish that this person is truly someone who could change this world for the better.”

No one could hear her, but as if acknowledging her request, the stone pulsed brighter for a moment. A second later, the mana around the glowing stone became very dense. A vortex made of mana appeared in front of the summoning stone.

****

Three hours earlier in an apartment filled to the brim with books, manga, and random magazines in a small town in South Carolina, a distant sound could be heard.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

“Mmm mmm, ten more minutes.”

Beep... Beep...Beep...

“Damn phone, fifteen more minutes.”

Reaching out to turn off his phone from underneath the covers, he felt something odd when he tried to mash the home button. Lifting his head from under the covers to look at his phone, he saw that a quarter was taped to the home button. On the screen, there was a screenshot of his childhood friend, an earnest smile on her face, holding a pair of scissors, with a text above the screenshot reading if you’re late again, prepare to lose your most precious part.

After reading the screen and knowing his childhood friend’s temperament, his hope of trying to get more sleep vanished.

Shango Sanders, a 6’3 tall man with mocha-colored skin, two big braids, an athletic build and hazel eyes, emerged from underneath the covers. He gave off a very lazy aura, but it was very likable— many women and some men would throw themselves at this type of man.

“Damn that girl. Just because she’s kind of cute and older, she thinks she can get away with anything.”

Letting out one last yawn, he started getting ready while still grumbling about his childhood friend. He took one last glance at the TV, seeing that two people were arguing about some foolishness. He turned it off, grabbing his keys and gym bag, and rushed off.

Pulling up in his 1967 Chevrolet Impala—which he had bought from a junkyard and fixed up after being inspired by a TV show—he saw his childhood friend, Yuki Silva, getting hit on once again. From the looks of it, it seemed like she just arrived herself. Shango couldn’t blame the guy for hitting on Yuki, even he knew just how bewitching his childhood friend was. A half black, half Japanese beauty with long black hair that she usually wore in a single ponytail, she was 6’ which was very tall for a woman, but it just added to the uniqueness of her look. She had ordinary brown eyes, but they were so welcoming that they looked like they were calling out to you whenever she looked at you. She had an athletic build, but she still kept her womanly figure; her shape was mind-boggling in all three places. All in all, she was classified as a kingdom ruining beauty. Hell, even in his personal life this Femme Fatale brought many troublesome things his way.

He couldn’t keep a girlfriend because girls would become jealous of their friendship and always try to force him to cut off all contact with her, but Shango was not an idiot. He wouldn’t just leave his childhood friend for some random woman he just met, so after a while, Shango just gave up actively seeking a relationship. There were also many cases of people who liked Yuki coming to pick a fight with him just because of how close the two of them were. Shango let out a sigh, thinking about the many problems Yuki had caused him.

Taking another look at the guy, Shango recognized who it was. Brook was one of the people who had been chasing after Yuki for many years, he was also one of the people who picked a fight with him because how close they were. Needless to say, he left the guy lying in a pool of his blood, but that was about two years ago. Shango had heard a rumor that Brook became a cop recently and judging from the uniform, it appeared to be true. People had also been saying that he was a dirty cop. Shango didn’t care if he was a cop or not, he still couldn’t do anything to him—mainly because Yuki’s father was the police chief.

Grabbing his gym bag, he got out of the car and walked towards their direction. Yuki had a very indifferent look on her face as if there wasn’t even a person trying to talk to her. She was steadily looking at her phone, trying to emphasize to the guy that she was not interested in him, but the pigheaded idiot would not take the hint. Shango could only let out a little sigh before speaking.

“Hey, Yuki, I’m here.”

Smiling, he walked closer, putting his arms around her and giving her a gentle hug while looking at Brook. It was the usual ploy he used when she was being hit on by a guy to just get them to back off. He doesn’t even remember when he started doing it; it was just a natural occurrence. Plus, he had to admit that he enjoyed hugging her. So soft, he thought.

“You were almost late; you nearly lost your little friend.” she said as she smiled and looked down while they were still hugging each other.

He could only shrug and give her a weary smile.

“Now hurry and get ready.”

Not even paying attention to Brook, who was just staring at Shango like he had deep throated his mother, she let go of the hug. Wrapping her arm around his, she led him into the gym. Brook, who hadn’t spoken a single word since Shango’s arrival, could do nothing but shake in anger for a while before getting in his car and leaving.

Inside of the building, Shango let out another sigh, thinking about the problem that was sure to follow.

“Yuki, you truly

``zare a troublesome friend. Wouldn’t it be better just to tell them you’re a lesbian?”

That’s right, one of the main reasons Yuki never paid attention to any other guy was because she liked women.

She looked at him coldly before saying, “First, why should I have to tell them anything? If I said I’m not interested, that should be enough. And secondly, I’m not a lesbian, I’m bisexual.”

“Bisexual my ass. I have never seen you with a guy.”

“Humph, what about Jim, my prom date?”

Only then did he remember that she once dated a guy named Jim back in high school for a week and four days. Shango remembered the exact number of days well because his stomach was in knots the whole time they were dating. It also became very awkward for him to talk to Yuki during that time because he had started to truly notice just how beautiful she was. Since she had always been around him when they were growing up, he never really took a good look at her. She was just Yuki, his childhood friend. From what he could recall, they broke up after prom and no one knew why reason way.

He stopped walking and looked at her, her arm still wrapped around his.

“Why did you and Jim break up anyway?” he asked with a frown.

Giggling, she wrapped her arm around his tighter and, with a teasing smile, said, “Jealous? Let’s say Jim wasn’t my type. He was more interested in one of our juniors, so he just wanted to use me to get closer to that person.”

“Jealous, me? Hell no. I remember nearly all the people that went to our school and there was no girl as beautiful as you at that place. Plus, even though you were popular, you weren’t particularly close to anyone but me so how could he have used you to get to close anyone?”

Her scowl turned into an alluring smile when he complimented her, staring at him for a second before she said, “Whoever said it was a girl?”

The gym bag that he was carrying in his other hand dropped to the floor and he looked at her with a blank expression. She smiled once more before letting go of his arm and walked towards the women’s changing area. Shango didn’t even want to think about it and instead grabbed his gym bag and headed towards the men’s changing area.

Ten minutes later both exited the changing areas. Yuki wore a black sports bra, black boxing shorts and black grappling gloves with her hair still in the ponytail she was famous for. Shango thought that she still looked as sexy as she usual. He was wearing a white Underarmor shirt, black trunks and the same type of grappling gloves as Yuki. His hair was tied in a ponytail as well. Yuki was an MMA teacher at the gym, which was owned by her mother, a three-time Brazilian kickboxing champion and two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion. Yuki herself was also a semi-pro fighter, a few steps away from becoming a pro, but because of her skill level and height, she often had trouble finding sparring partner that suited her needs. That was why Shango always ended up as her sparring partner and it had been that way since he could remember.

After they both warmed up and stretched, Shango asked, “Should we get started?”

“All right, I’m warmed up. Let me practice on my ground game first, go to the mat and lay down.”

“All right, all right.”

He walked towards the mat and laid down. Yuki then walked over and mounted him, her knees resting either side of his body. “Feeling naughty?” he asked with upturned eyes, looking like he had been wronged in some way.

“At least be gentle. I remember the first time you were so rough, I was sore for more than a week.”

She was taken aback for a second before she leaned forward, caressed his face and said, “Relax, the first time is always the hardest. You will get used to it, you’re a big boy. I plan on taking full responsibility this time around.”

They both let out a big laugh before beginning their spar session.

About an hour later when they were in the half-mount position, Shango was on top of Yuki trying to fully mount her.

That’s when she asked, “Shango, how come you’ve never asked me out?”