September 02, 2059. Lakeshore West Heights, Toronto, Canada, Earth

Raven walked on the sidewalk of Lakeshore West Heights. She took in the view of a particularly irregular orphanage. Beside her was her disciple, the same 'blond little shit' that tore through the Path's corridors. She was here due to a source saying there was a latent etheric signature coming from one of the children.

Of course they'd send her. It was well known she has a soft side for orphans. All her disciples were orphans, and she grew up as one too. Her last night as an orphan was a horror. Accused of being a witch while picking at rotting food beside a tavern, and...they were right.

During the Salem Witch Trials, they put her at the stake. Just when they were about to burn her to death, a whisper asked her:

You will do everything I say. Fetch, carry, break, kill when I tell you to. In exchange, I will give you a life you cannot imagine. What say you?

That wasn't even a question. That night, she gave her life to the voice, earning her the name Witch Raven.

The moment Raven met Her sharp eyes and smile, it felt as though She was looking into an endless void that peered back deep into her very soul. That was the day she met the only Transcendent in the globe of Earth.

Over centuries, they fought in the wars of the wild west, close out rifts, and removed entities that threatened humanity. Foreign actors such as the Knights and the Jiuling tried to suppress her rule. Yet through Her magnanimity, She never retaliated, just defended.

She is what the witches lived for, their raison d'etre.. To do Her bidding to defend and better humanity, even when Her decisions may be questionable.

It's been 7 years since she disappeared, but Raven could still feel the connection she had with Her. All the witches believed she would come back one day. They did their jobs, cleared rifts, made peace with the other factions.

Life became quiet, slower than before. It was what Raven wanted. A 9 to 5 job that didn't bother her after work hours... yet it felt all so empty without Her.

The Path had recently lost its way. Meaningless profit for the sake of nothing but profit. Corruption and bribery became rampant, justified by the founder's own words that as long as it made money, it was within their established standard operating procedure. Most of all, mundanes became commodified resources.

In just under 7 years, the Path lost its path. Raven sighed. If all the witches just gathered together and did a small cleanup, it wouldn't be so bad. Just get rid of the bad ones, and done. Oh well. Even she was reluctant to part with her cozy 9 to 5.

As they passed a convenience store, Raven stopped. "Ollie, could you buy me a Monster?"

"Whatever. I'm buying chocolate bars too." Ollie extended his hand.

Raven pulled her phone from her purse and gave it to Ollie. "Not too much, though. You might hurt your stomach."

"It's not for me," Ollie grumbled, swiping the phone from her hand.

Raven smiled. These days, her disciple's been getting a bit more comfortable with her. She could still remember how scared he was when they first met.

Ollie entered the convenience store, its sliding doors opening as he walked through. He went straight for the candy section while texting on his own phone.

Turning around, Raven heard slight sobs from a girl crying. She looked left and right along the street, but found no one, just passers-by walking home while on their phones. The sound was too clear as if it were amplified by the ether. Unable to see the source, it was too suspicious.

It could've been the latent Awakened from the report.

Raven followed the sound of the voice, stepping onto the suburb road and crossing to the other side of the park entrance. Her eyes darted around the park, particularly the dark corners of the dimly lit path. At 19:00, there was still daylight, but orange had already cast the sky.

After entering the main section of the park, benches lined the path. On one of the benches sat a little girl, crying and wiping the tears from her eyes. She wore a simple white dress. Her hair was pure black that fell to her elbows, all normal except for the streak of white by her fringe.

The white streak on her hair was a dead giveaway that she was no normal child. A latent awakened should already have a signature. The best way to describe it, it should've been the size of a single grain of rice that you know was sitting on the table. Except hers was the size of a grain of sand, incomparably smaller. Yet, she might've unknowingly been projecting her voice.

A sound type awakened then. Highly valuable with the right training and equipment. Reconnaissance and spying were their main jobs. However, since she wasn't about to awaken any time soon, the best approach was to monitor rather than onboard her.

Raven walked up to the bench and sat beside the girl. "What's your name?"

"Mel."

"Mel, is there anything wrong?"

Mel shook her head. "There's nothing wrong."

"There wouldn't be nothing wrong if you're crying, right?"

"But there is nothing wrong. Like... like how would you feel if the only boy that sounded good suddenly went away, far, far away?"

Raven smirked. Of course, these kinds of events were common in orphanages. "You mean he was adopted?"

"Was he really adopted? Then why wasn't I taken too?"

"Do you miss him?"

"Of course I miss him. We read books together, he made me laugh, and he didn't treat me differently."

"So you liked him, am I right?" Raven teased.

"Of course I like him. Why not? But it took him away."

It? That was a weird word to use to refer to people. Raven patted her head. "But you know, he's still out there somewhere. He's not gone. He's just somewhere else. You can still find him if you try."

"How would I do that?" Mel asked, turning her head up to her. Her big brown eyes had a slight tinge of red that made them entrancing.

"You could ask the orphanage staff where they took him. They would definitely have the family's address that adopted him."

"Really? You're not lying?"

"It's common orphanage documentation. There's no reason to lie about that."

"Right! There's no reason. I'll go now! But if you're lying... I'll be mad." Mel pouted.

"Sure, sure. How about I take you back?" Raven stood up.

"No thank you! I wanna go play around first!" Mel shouted. "Thank you, lady that wears all black."

"Sure, be careful not to get hurt," Raven patted her head, then whispered, frúin vakir.

An invisible sigil followed Mel as she ran through the park towards the playground. The sigil allowed Raven to monitor her location and her current etheric signature. When her signature increases to the size of a grain of rice, then she'll come back to take her.

Turning around, Raven walked back through the park. She moved through the curving paths past the main section of the park towards the street. At the other side of the street were five young adults looked left and right before crossing. When the coast was clear, Raven also entered the road.

In a split second she saw it. A faint glow of white streaking on the road before immediately becoming foreign magic circle. The runic inscriptions were unrecognizable, all she could do was watch it unfold below her, as well as the 5 other kids walking in the same road.

The Knights?! But it couldn't be. She hasn't even done anything wrong. And those inscriptions... they're not from Earth.

Raven tried moving, but it was as if time stopped. The falling leaves paused where they were. Only the things inside of the circle moved, and the young adults also looked confused. She tried whispering an incantation, but none of her muscles moved as no sound came out of her mouth.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it filled her whole vision with white.

...

...

...

Raven's eyes fluttered open as she circulated mana through her eyes to get rid of the afterimage caused by the brightness. As she looked around, she saw the same magic circle on the stone circle floor, drawn in chalk with blue green gems at each point of a decagon. 10 Rhombuses protrude out of the centre touching overlapping on top of another reaching out to each vertex of the larger decagon. Each tip connected to the blue green gem.

Around them stood a dimly lit throne room where the only light came from the stained glass above. Candle holders were placed at even intervals between the throne room's door towards the throne along both sides of the thick red carpet. They stood on an elevated platform made of stone that looked as if it wasn't part of the original set, looking like it had been moved there solely for the occasion.

The 5 other young adults who were with her all looked around, stepping back as they marvelled at the scene.

Exactly 15 knights surrounded them, all with their weapons drawn. Each one was at least a Resonant (3rd Step of Earth's Awakened Standards). Strong, but none of them could hold a candle to her if she wanted to make them all disappear.

Seated on the throne was a young man whose flowing hair resembled that of fire with dark red streaks mixed with yellow. His signature was that of an Early-Harmonic (4th Step of Earth's Awakened Standards). Apart from the knights and the young man on the throne, there was no one else in the room.

Hrafninn hverfr til himins, Raven whispered, a spell that would allow her to cast a raven outside the walls. But before the spell could activate to the outside world, it was stopped by a wall that disrupted the activation sequence before it could fully manifest.

Raven saw runic inscriptions covering the entire walls of the chamber, preventing any spell that would breach its walls from being completed. It was possible to brute force the activation and punch through the low-level barrier, but she was more worried about the 5 mundanes that got sucked along the summoning with her.

A murmur rolled through the knights.

There's a 6th?

There should be only 5.

Has this ever happened before?

"Silence," the young man's low voice echoed throughout the chamber, and the murmurs stopped. "Heroes, through this summoning, you have been granted access to what our world calls 'Spirit Sign'. You may bring up the sign by saying 'status'."

Raven rolled her eyes. Ollie liked playing these kinds of games with Cassie. She never understood the fun.

"Status," the tallest one said.

A blue interface of some sort appeared in front of him. The other four also noticed it along with Raven, but from what she could see, everything inside his status interface was blurred mosaically.

"Bro, I can't see shit on your status screen," another boy said, wearing a SUPREME hoodie.

"No shit, though?" the tallest one said, before turning to the young man on the throne.

"Status," the other boy said.

Again, Raven couldn't see the information within that boy's status screen.

"Mira, you wanna try?" the tall boy said.

"Cringe..." Mira said, shaking her head. "Status."

A blue screen lit up in front of Mira. All the status they'd seen so far were all blurred.

"Hi, King of this world. My friends can't see my status screen. How come?" the tallest one said.

"You may call me King Adric," the young man said.

"King Adric, how do we see each other's status screen?" the tallest one asked.

"Your request is impossible," King Adric said. "The ability will require one of our legendary mages to give you the talent 'Grant Access'. However, he is on a mission, therefore, he cannot be here to allow us that opportunity."

"Coolio," the tallest one said. "So what are we doing here?"

Mira elbowed him. "Allen, treat this seriously."

"I am! That's why I'm trying to figure shit out..." Allen said.

"Heroes, you've been called to action to defeat the demons that invade from the north. You've all been given the chance to save this world, and with it comes the Spirit Sign, granting you powers beyond mortal ken. In doing so, you shall be granted all the wealth you desire should you accept the call for this quest," King Adric said.

Allen put a hand on his chin. "Be more specific. How much money are we talking? And what kind of living quarters and food we talkin?"

"You guys got boba in here?" the other woman said.

"Dammit, Vivian. You just had one this morning," Allen said.

"I'm thirsty, asshole," Vivian said.

"Eh, how the fuck do I get home? I got my Lexus parked on the street and I'm getting no signal here," another man said, holding up his phone that looked like he was trying to catch a signal.

"I just had my nails done. Don't tell me we have to hold those swords?" Mira asked.

"Yo, how many vapes we got left?" the third man who hasn't spoken yet asked.

Raven wanted to laugh right there. These were the typical Asian friend group from Toronto. Their apathy about the situation was quite remarkable that even she was impressed by how relaxed they were.

"All of you shut up," Allen said. "Can't you see they're serious?!"

"Chiiiill, bro. Easy," the third man said.

"Shut up, Justin. Now let me do the talking," Allen said.

"Why are you so into this?" Mira asked.

"Look, guys. If he's got the money, this could fund our start up," Allen looked at the three other guys.

"You're really still into that?" Vivian asked.

"Shut up," Allen said. "Justin, Kevin, you with me, bros?"

"Fine, but this better pay for my Lexus," Kevin said.

"Whatever," Justin said.

Allen cleared his throat, turning back to the king. "So, how much we talking?"

"You will get up to 100 gold per Ter as is standard in our world," King Adric said.

"Up to?" Allen asked. "Look, bro. You summoned us here and you're giving us a bad deal. Why bother with the summoning if you're not going to treat us right?"

"What do you suggest, young hero Allen?"

"First of all, pass me what 1 gold looks like," Allen said.

King Adric nodded to one of his knights.

The one at the centre sheathed his sword and walked up to him before pulling out a single gold coin. He extended his hand to Allen, who took it without hesitation.

"So, how heavy is it? Is it real?" Mira asked.

Allen bit into it, and his teeth left a mark. Putting it between his fingers, he flicked it up into the air, catching it with the palm of his hand. "Shit, dude, a hundred of these suckers and we're makin' bank."

"Hell, yeah," Kevin said. "Dibs on the first lambo."

Allen stepped forward to meet the King's eye contact once again. "50 gold minimum per Ter, or whatever. And the rest can be based on performance."

King Adric sighed. "The contract is agreed upon. Then shall I take this as your acceptance of the quest?"

"Yeah, sure." Allen looked around them, but then stared at Raven. "Lady, you good?"

"I'm actually not, thank you for asking," Raven said as she stepped forward to be the one addressing the king. "This corruption you talked about, what does that entail?"

"May I ask for your name, summoned female hero?" King Adric asked.

"Just call me Raven."

"Hero Raven, the corruption creates amalgamations and mockery of life within the north. It spews out abominations that tread the land, seeking to capture the realm of humans. We need you young heroes to vanquish the beings of the dark lands."

"Why can't your people do it?"

"Summoned heroes are granted special abilities by the Spirit Sign. By growing your prowess, more powers shall be unlocked that are more significant compared to those born in Nulfrae."

"Shit... I should've asked for more," Allen muttered.

"You could probably still negotiate," Kevin said.

"Children, quiet down please. The adults are talking," Raven said.

"Did she just call us-"

Raven snapped her fingers and Mira's lips sealed before any more stupidity could come out. "Do you have any plans to unsummon us to where we came from?"

"Of course, Hero Raven. Once the corruption has been slain, a portal naturally opens, allowing you return to your world."

"And how do you know that? Has this kind of summoning been done before?" Raven asked. The King's answer was too fast, as if this were a routine for their world to summon heroes. If the corruption hasn't been slain yet, then how would he know? Or, better yet, what happened to the previous heroes?

"The Spirit Sign is how our world communicates to us. She has said that once the corruption is slain, that is the event that would allow the summoned to return to their original world with powers and wealth they've gathered in our world."

"That actually doesn't sound too bad... right, guys?" Allen asked.

"Yeah, but how long would that take?" Vivian asked. "I told you I'm thirsty."

Raven had other thoughts. If the Spirit Sign is the one that told them about that, then it would be a logical conclusion to believe it, but she didn't know exactly what the spirit sign was.

"Status," Raven said.

[Loading…]

For a couple of seconds, Raven waited. It really did feel like a game watching something like her status load. Though, why did the others not take time to load?

Suddenly, her status finished loading, appearing before her.

[Name: Witch Raven]
[Mana: 20,147/20,150]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Tenacity: 1,241]
[Perception: 1,852]
[Dexterity: 985]
[Aura: 877]
[Mana Heart: 2,015]
[Mana Brain: 1,623]
[Total Prowess: 4,758.95]

Did this thing calculate her original attributes from Earth and then quantified them? The scout she had used earlier used up 3 mana units, and the display showed her mana had gone down by three.

siðferðis eldr, Raven raised her hand and a small wisp of fire appeared on it, causing a reaction among the knights.

The King held up his hand to stop the knights. "What is the meaning of this, Hero Raven?"

"Testing," Raven said. This spell would cost exactly 1 mana to use, and it was exactly at a temperature of 370C.

[Mana: 20,146/20,150]

And as she thought, her mana decreased by one. It was... amusing, but a simple gimmick. She already knew how much mana she had in reserve due to centuries of practice. Such an interface would just be training wheels.

It was useless.

"Hey, old lady, how did you do that?" Vivian asked. "Can you do more magic tricks?"

"Shut up, child," Raven said.

The King pulled up a blue green monocle up to his eyes. When he looked at Raven, his shoulders shuddered. "4,758..."

"My King?" the lead knight turned around.

"The sixth is a demon! Eliminate the demon!"

The lead knight suddenly charged at her, his sword aimed right at her neck. A single finger stopped the sword dead in its tracks.

"Quite rude, are we?" Raven smirked.

"Use Aura!" The lead knight shouted.

The other 14 knights joined the battle. Their swords glowed in different colours. Multiple men came at her with all their swords all at once. In the background, she could hear both Vivian and Mira scream while Allen and the other men pulled them away from the action.

None of their blades met any part of her form, though. All of them blocked by a single finger. Raven even yawned at how weak they were. At least a Resonant United Knight could at least give her finger a paper cut, but she couldn't really expect much from an underdeveloped world.

As she was about to get bored, the King rose from his throne. The young man brandished a giant sword, much larger than his own body, wielding it as if it were a stick. In one step, he appeared in front of her, swinging, but it did no harm except for a simple paper cut on her finger.

"Die, you demon." King Adric's expression grew tense. His sword, coated in pearlescent light, swung once again.

This time, Raven didn't dare take it with just a finger. Instead, she used two fingers to stop it dead on. "Young man, are you done playing?"

"Shut up! Demon!" King Adric slammed his sword on the ground, and the inscriptions all over the throne lit up.

A slight pressure weighed down on Raven's shoulder, but not enough to actually do anything. Her smile turned sharp before saying, "My turn."

With one snap of her finger, a blue outline appeared on everyone's silhouettes. No one could move except her, not even the mundanes that came with her into this place. Walking over to the King, she looked him up and down and saw the intricate armour he wore, made of pure white metal. The plates of the armour were lit up by literal streaks of fire. Gems could be seen embedded all over his armour, and the one on the chest was particularly large.

"For attacking me so brashly, I'll require a payment. I didn't do shit to you, but you can thank me another time for letting you off the hook," Raven said as she placed her palm on the giant gem. With a single grip and pull, the gem broke off the King's armour.

hrafnarnir taka flug, Raven whispered. Darkness coated her whole body in a swirl of black feathers. Once the darkness dissipated, a flock of ravens took its place.

The ravens began flapping their wings harder as it flew towards the stained glass at the top of the chamber, shattering it. Sharp glass fell onto the floor of the chamber, landing on top of the summoning stone where the group of 5 friends once were.

...

Allen felt the warmth in his pants. He just slightly pissed himself at what the fuck just happened. What even the fuck was all of this and how did that woman transform into ravens?! Turning around him, all his other friends looked like they also just pissed their pants.

Standing up, Allen looked at the knights and then the King. "King Adric, was that a demon?"

"That was." King Adric slowly turned towards the group of friends, the four of them still lying on the ground. "Do you now see what we fight for? Her brutality is what we must overcome. We need you heroes to fight against those kinds of demons."

Turning back to his group of friends, specifically at Mira. "You guys all fucking just see that too, right?"

"No fucking shit, idiot. What the fuck do we do now? You're telling me we have to beat things like that?" Mira asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Hero Mira." The King threw away his sword aside. As it landed, it shook the whole chamber, causing Allen to flinch. "You will be given a room in the royal castle to sleep, bathe, and eat. We have exemplary knights that shall attend to your every need and you shall be given every resource under the sky to succeed. You will train everyday to get stronger. I shall accept the 50 gold minimum compensation that Hero Allen has requested. However, the remaining 50 gold shall be up to performance."

The King knelt in their direction, and so did the other knights. "Please, heroes. Save our land from the corruption of the North."

"Is there another choice?" Allen asked.

"You may take 100 gold each, and leave. However, if you choose to do so, you will no longer be a responsibility of my Kingdom."

100 gold was a lot and could probably buy them a good enough start up runway once they were back on Earth. Problem was, how would they live out there where demons roamed and their physical safety wasn't secured? Allen turned around to face his group of friends again, "So what's it gonna be guys?"

"I get it, we got no fucking choice, okay?" Mira stood up. "Vivian, you better shut your mouth."

"I wasn't even going to say anything..."

"You were," Kevin muttered.

Turning around one last time, Allen said, "On behalf of my group, we accept."

The King smiled for the first time. "Then we shall proceed with the tradition. Please, each hero, introduce yourself along with your prowess shown on your Spirit Sign."

"The name's Allen Nguyen, prowess says 31."

The knights clapped, all of them patting each other on the back.

"Mira Pham. Nice to meet everyone. My prowess is 26."

Once again, the knights clapped, but not as loudly as Allen's, though it still looked like a welcoming response.

"Kevin Vu, 25 prowess. Fuck you, Allen."

The knights clapped, but then the King nodded, his smile unfading. "It is all right, Hero Kevin. You shall grow strong. I believe in you."

"I'm Justin Li, just here for the ride--Ow!" Justin rubbed his flank that was elbowed by Mira. "Fine, fine. I'm Justin Li. My prowess is 26, too. Nice."

"Vivian Hoang, 29 prowess, but I'm actually only 22 years old."

"Shut up, Vivian. God damn," Allen muttered.

"Summoned ones, I welcome you as the heroes of Pandor. Be proud and grow strong. We shall vanquish the demons of the north hand in hand." King Adric rose from his kneeling position.