NOTE:
(Apologies for the long chapter, but it was necessary to id out the other information in here that will be relevant in the next chapters. I hope you understand!)
...
As we ran down in the seemingly endless hallway, the maids and other personnel that saw us were shocked at the sight
Who wouldn't be? The daughter of the king, is dragging someone like me, a shut in, a nobody, in the hallway
I can feel their stares around us...specifically me. After being a burden this whole time, I feel like the stares they gave me was hurting
"Looks like they're surprised to see you out in the open!"
I don't think that's the case...
Suddenly, we stopped running, she then turns to the left, where the big door is
Without even a care, she smmed the door open, dragging me inside in the process
"Father! He's finally ready to take on the role!"
"Do we really have to do it now?!"
I said frantically, while looking at the corner of my eye...
...therein lies the King, eating at the further end of the room, her daughter's sudden entrance stopped his actions and instead looked in our directions
After a few seconds of silence, the King raises his hand in a courtly manner, and the maids on standby left the room, leaving the three of us alone
"What did I told you about having proper etiquette to such things?"
"But this is important, Father!"
She says as she pouts at him
"*Sigh*..."
He looks at me up and down, like what he did on that day
"I see...you finally have some light in your eyes, young man"
"Huh...?"
"I wasn't wrong to think that you had your own issues when I first saw you"
"You knew...?"
"I didn't, but a man such as you couldn't be so expressionless without a reason. Moreover, I hope that you can forgive those summoners on that day for not knowing anything"
"I don't resent them for anything. I should be the one who should apologize, for doing nothing but locking myself up in that room for many days straight"
The King shrugs his head at my statement
"There is nothing you should apologize for. It is only our way of serving someone like you, a Hero"
"...? A Hero...?"
"The one who will be able to protect the citizens, the one who will eradicate the evil, the one who will protect the Empire...that's the Hero we need...and its no mere coincidence that it was you who fits the requirements"
I know that I was summoned to this world because Elena said they need me
But...a 'Hero'...?
Those descriptions...that's a lot of responsibility for that role...
...Can I even do it?
"I don't know if this is a stupid question but, how would you know that you summoned a Hero?"
"We know because we can only summon Heroes. Every once in a century, our Mana reserves are refilled, and thus a summon can be conducted. We had a lot of heroes summoned by other Kings before me, but all of them including the Kings had fallen in the hands of the Heavenly Beasts, but for some reason, we can summon another one in just a decade due to us still having half of Mana reserves"
"Our summoners had a thorough discussion on how our mana reserve depleting to none didn't happen, but there were no decisive proofs or tests to know how to do it again. If we were able to do it the way we did it to you, our summoning of Heroes will drastically lessen from once a century, to once a decade"
"There was one intriguing hypothesis that was presented, right?"
"Yes, that hypothesis...the possibility of us summoning a soul that was on the brink of death"
"!"
Does that mean that I didn't die in my old world because I got summoned at the right time?
Or did I die first and got my soul summoned?
But this is still my body from my own world...
...Is it something reted to the reserves they're saying?
...
Mana...Heavenly Beasts...Hypothesis...
All of the terms they just id on were confusing to understand. I stayed silent as they kept going on
"Yet we got no leads, the researchers that we have, have their hands busy on other proposals as well"
"If only there was some hint..."
Elena said as she ponders about the thought. The King however, moved on to another topic
"Apologies on my behalf, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Druel Tremsworth. The 37th King as well as the current ruler of Sol Empire"
"O-Oh, I'm Hikari Tenjin. Looking forward to working with you, your Majesty"
The King gave a light hearted smile at my response
"But...do I really have no choice?"
"What do you mean?"
"Being a hero...I don't think I'm cut out for it...its a lot of responsibility for me"
"..."
As Elena holds her Father's hand, the King replied back
"I know what you went through and I'm not forcing you, but I should tell you right now that there's no way for you to go back"
"I don't want to go back"
There's nothing left for me in that old world...
...no retives...no friends...nor someone I can reach out to...
"I just want to take on other roles besides being a Hero. Is there a role that fits for someone like me?"
The King and his daughter look at each other for a few seconds, Elena then nods right after, and the King finally responds
"Although there is none that I can think of as of now, I will definitely find something that suits you, if that's your wish"
"Thank you your-"
"But I want you to think thoroughly about being a Hero. I still believe that you are suitable enough to be one"
"..."
"Prepare for tomorrow. Tomorrow's the start of your acknowledgement"
"Acknowledgement...?"
"Think of it as a ceremony, Hikari. It is a type of ceremony where the King acknowledges you to everyone in there as someone who's second-most important other than the King himself, making you open to any kind of privileges that the Empire has to offer!"
"?! Then that means-"
"Right, they'll also know that you're the summoned one, the Hero. Due to the nobles' demands, I can't dey the ceremony any further as it is, so it is also a great timing that you finally take on the role"
"B-But we just talked-"
"I know. The ceremony is just a courtesy to get you acknowledged by me with other people present. I will do everything in my power to make sure you get what you want"
"Your Majesty..."
"I'll have the maids prepare your outfit for tomorrow, so get plenty of rest tonight. Elena, you also need to take a rest as well. You did well this whole time after all"
"...?"
I didn't know what the King meant, but he left us right after, leaving his food on the long table
"Father's right, I should get going now. Lets go back to your room, shall we?"
"I can go back on my own, I don't want to bother you any more"
"Do you even know where your room is?"
Come to think of it...this is a big pce...
...I wouldn't be surprised if I got lost in here
She chuckles right after I stayed silent at her question
"...Please lead the way"
I shyly said, as she nodded. We then left the room and the maids went inside after, probably cleaning the leftovers on the table...
...
...
...
Then came the Acknowledgement
"I, Druel Tremsworth, the 37th King of Sol Empire, Hereby recognizes Hikari Tenjin, as one of the Empire!"
Different opinions can be heard from the side of the Nobles
"HUH?! ONE OF THE EMPIRE?!"
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"
"DID YOU GUYS FAILED THE SUMMONING RITUAL AGAIN?!"
"THIS IS BULLSHIT!"
"This is the end for this empire! May Saint Elysia guide us to her blessing!"
While the other side, the personnel, counterargues
"Hear out the King for a second! He isn't done talking!"
"What's there to talk about?! Why's a nobody like him supposed to be acknowledged as someone second most important other than the King?!"
"That's exactly why you need to listen!"
"I'M DONE LISTENING! YOU GUYS HAD NEVER DONE ANY SUCCESSFUL SUMMONING RITUALS! THIS IS A PROOF THAT THIS GENERATION IS DOOMED!"
"Why can't you just shut up for a second and listen?!"
"Bsphemy! Talking to someone like me like that! Do you know who you're talking to?!"
"QUIET!"
Shouted the King himself, the room went silent after
"Apologies for not making it clear to both sides. Therefore I shall say what I meant"
I maintained my pose, as the King slowly makes his statement
"Hikari Tenjin, is the summoned one. The First Hero that was summoned in the time of my ruling"
The Nobles were left in awe while the personnel kept silent...
...I figured that the King told them beforehand, hence the no reaction on their part
"Hmph! Should've made your statement clear in the first pce!"
"Finally! Someone who will save us!"
"However..."
"...?"
"...Hikari Tenjin wishes to not be regarded as a Hero due to some reasons"
The room once again went silent. After a few seconds-
"WHAAAAAAT?!"
Uproar between the Nobles begins to fill the atmosphere
"WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE IS THIS?!"
"WHAT KIND OF A HERO DOESN'T WANT TO BE A HERO?!"
"ITS A PRIVILEGE YOUNG MAN, YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL!"
The st part made me tick off, which made the King noticed
...Do they really expect me to be grateful of such role? Don't they know how much responsibility it is for me? How heavy it is for me?
These bastards...
"That's why I have a proposal for Hikari Tenjin"
For me? I didn't heard this yesterday...
"Hikari Tenjin. I would like you to think through about this. Being a hero of this Empire is not an easy task I know, but it is only something someone like you can do, for you are the ones who have extraordinary abilities"
"..."
"Hence why you have 5 years. Think hard about it for 5 years. Be a Hero and exclusively get privileges to everything that the Empire has to offer, or reject the offer and banish from this Empire"
"..."
5 Years...
...That's a long timeframe...
..But why...?
Why is it that long?
"YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! 5 YEARS?!"
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD, OLD MAN?!"
One after another, they started to insult the King, which angered the Personnel. The King however, responded in a calm tone
"Call me anything you like, but my orders are final. Irreversible"
"I can't believe this! I'm leaving from this empire for good!"
"I'm right with ya brother!"
"Same, there's no future for this Empire with this dumbass ruling"
Many Nobles left the scene after, but there are still some Nobles that stayed inside
"I don't know your reasons, but I'm with the King. Take your time and think through about it"
"Kid, there's a lot of things in this world that might surprise you, so I don't even bme you for not taking on the role. I hope that you do take on the role on the end though"
"Like the old saying 'Don't Judge The Book by Its Cover', they should've not concluded the outcome. I've known the King for years and I know that he knows what he's doing. So whatever you choose, I'm with you both"
I looked at them with a surprised expression, and nodded after
The King then continues
"It hurts me to see them go, but I must stand by in my own words. During that timeframe, Hikari Tenjin would be trained personally by our Commander, Gideon"
The man then stepped in. I can tell just from his appearance that he had gone through a lot of situations
"You are in charge of training this young man to be fit and ready in the next 5 years. I'll leave him in your care"
"Understood!"
"For those that stayed throughout the end"
"...?"
"I would need you to further extend your stay in here"
The Nobles agreed in unison
I wonder why...?
"That concludes this meeting. Gideon and Hikari Tenjin, kindly step out of the room, as another meeting between I and the Nobles is going to start"
...
...
...
At the other side of the door, therein lies me, and this man, who's supposed to train me
He then walked down the hallway on his own. I didn't know what I should do next, so I followed him
...
Eventually, we went into a garden of some sort, away from other personnel
The scenery in this pce is so rexing, I wonder why there's barely anyone in here?
Suddenly, he spoke to me
"I guess first things first is introduction between us. I'm Gideon, the Commander of the Knights and the Mages. I may not be the best teacher around here, but I will do my best to teach you"
"Hikari Tenjin, nice to meet you, Commander Gideon"
"No need for formalities. As you're the second most important other than the King, you ought to have higher authority than me, hence the social status"
Is it his way of saying "I should be the one addressing you with formality" ?
"Oh ok, Sir Gideon-"
"Gideon's fine, don't sweat it!"
"..."
"So, mind if I assess you right now?"
"Huh? I-I don't mind..."
"Alright"
He then looks at me up and down as I saw his right eye turn into green
"Hmm...that's interesting..."
"What is?"
"Your special skill, its something quite destructive"
"Special Skill?"
"Types of skills that you get when you get summoned as a Hero. Adventurers that aren't heroes typically don't have special skills, so you can easily tell who's a hero and who's not. Heroes have also ridiculous stats inherited when they get summoned, so with the skill that you have, I doubt that you'll have any hard time fighting any enemy"
"I see..."
This is still all new into my head, but Elena did say those to me a few days ago...
...special skills, stats...
I am getting a grasp that those terms seems like it came right out from a game, but what's intriguing is that this isn't just a game
This is reality, and I can only live once
"What is my special skill?"
"It is a skill where the more damage you take, be it magic, or physical attack, it would accumute and then return that damage back to the enemy. It only accumutes the damages that you managed to deflect, parry, or block though"
"I have that kind of skill? Isn't that a bit too powerful?"
"It may be, but if you think about it, there's some downside to it"
"Downside?"
"Say that you were able to defend the attack that your enemy inflicted, you were able to accumute the damage, but you aren't immune to its force"
"...?"
"Simply saying, even if you can counter every attack that your opponent throws at you, it doesn't mean that you will be able to counter it forever. Sooner or ter, your body will fall and you won't be able to counter anymore. You're a hero, yes, but you're still a human"
"I see..."
"Fighting someone stronger than you is where your special skill shines, but it can also lead to your demise if you depend on it too much"
"..."
Which means if I don't be careful enough, it can kill me...
...best not to use it too much
"But now we know your skill, we should hone it further"
"Hone it?"
"Since your special skill, Golden Counter, only works when you counter, block, or parry damage, I reckon its best for you to learn the way of swordsmanship"
"But I don't have any experience on that"
I haven't even hold a sword either...militaries back in my own world use guns and such...
"No need to fret, I can teach you how. Slowly and steady, you will eventually get the hang of it"
"Okay..."
"Now, for the basics, the proper way of how to hold a sword as well as the correct stance..."
Without even a rest on that day, we immediately went ahead and trained till the sun sets...
...and again...
...and again...
...and again...
Day till night, Gideon would train me everything he knew about the way of swordsmanship, as well as types of tactics in a battle...
...
...Right before I knew it, 2 years had passed, and eventually...
"?!"
*CLUNK*
Gideon's sword flew away from his hands as I pointed mine at him
He can't help but raise both of his hand and says-
"I surrender"
"...?...?!"
I was so into it that I got surprised to what he said
This was the first time that I won against Gideon in my whole 2 years
"Congratutions!"
Said Elena, who was cpping as she walked towards us
"Your Highness! What brings you here?"
"You always ask that every time I came here! Of course the usual"
She responds with a smile
"But to think that you would be able to defeat the Commander of our Empire by a short timeframe, that's impressive!"
"It wasn't that short, it took me 2 years"
"Don't say that to the Knights, Hikari, they would be upset with you"
I looked at Gideon with a confused face
"Why's that?"
"Oh? You didn't know? No Knight can defeat our Commander, Hikari"
"What? Seriously? Even the Mages?"
"I can't defeat all the Mages in here of course, I can't get close to most of them especially when they gangs up on me"
"I see..."
"To top it all off, no past heroes either defeated him!"
"That's because they were too focused on finding blind spots on me, which made them vulnerable to a lot of blind spots on them"
"Hikari's so strong!"
"..."
So I was the first one that defeated him...?
I looked at my hands that were covered with bruises and cuts
"...I guess I've really come a long way..."
Elena and Gideon looked at each other with a smile
"You really did, Hikari. I remember the first time we had a battle, you weren't able to utilize your Golden Counter that much, but now you can easily do it anytime you want"
"Even though I've seen it multiple times, it still amazes me to this day as well"
"Thank you but..."
"...?"
"...I actually haven't used my Golden Counter in a while"
"..."
"..."
"..."
...
"...Eh?"
They both said in unison, as I stayed silent the whole time...
It took me a while to expin the whole thing to them, but eventually they gave up arguing, and went on with what I want instead
This was also the day that marks the end of my training from Gideon, getting acknowledged by him and the King announcing my completion of training
A new set of mission was id out to me by the King himself, to which he wanted me to assist and help the citizens in need on a daily basis
Since I had nothing to do but do training in my spare time, I agreed to the task, and it became a part of my routine
...
...Soon after, I became more known to the community. Everyone greets me with a smile whenever I walk in to their area, always tries to give me goods and such, but I never accept them
Its something that they sell after all, so I shouldn't hoard it to myself
Then one day...eventually, my name got reached out to the Cathedral
"Cathedral?"
"Yes Yes Yes! The Saint herself wants to see you!"
"See me? Why?"
"Well the residents, including me, have been wanting to repay the favour to you for so long, giving everything we can as thanks for carrying out and solving our problems, but you always don't accept it. So one of us suggested that us residents should cooperate to seek help from the Saint herself! She said that she would do everything in her power to make it happen, so that's probably why she wants to see you!"
"All of that just to give me something? You really shouldn't have"
I wouldn't even bme the Saint for hating my guts if she is doing this just to make them stop...
"We insist! Go, Go, Go!"
"Alright..."
I haven't been to the Cathedral so I might as well stop by...
...
...
...
Right before I was able to enter the Cathedral-
"Halt! Cathedral's closed for the day due to Saint's orders!"
"I see..."
I was about to left when someone reached out to me
"Wait!"
"...?"
"Bypass my order to that particur individual"
"Are you sure, Saint?"
"Don't you recognize this man?"
He looks at me intensely
"...?! Apologies! I didn't mean to be rude!"
"You weren't-"
"I should repay this mistake with my life!"
"There's really no need to"
"He's right, all you need is forgiveness from the Goddess of Judgement herself"
"! I'll be on my way!"
With such fear on his face, I think the Saint is referencing something else...
"I'm terribly sorry about that, but its true that the Cathedral's closed for the time being"
"I see, I'll go back some other time"
"No, you however, came at the right time"
"...?"
"As the citizens' requests, I shall do my part"
"You really shouldn't have. I came here to tell you that there's no need to, I would like to apologize for making them do that to you"
"No, not at all. In fact, I'm grateful to you"
"Grateful...?"
"You see, our King had his time spent on other trivial things such as meetings, pnning, treaties, so he's quite busy to even make time to solve the citizens' concerns. The moment that I heard from the citizens that you were helping them tely, I became quite happy"
"Its the King you should thank for, he's the one who assigned me"
"I know, as expected of the King"
"...?"
"But even though that's the case, I'm still grateful that you never expected anything in return from the citizens. That alone makes you different from most people"
"Its something that they do for a living, of course I can't just take it for free"
She smiles at me sweetly after that, then continues on
"I'm gd that you were able to show up today, especially when the Cathedral is closed. We'll be able to do the ritual smoothly"
"Ritual...?"
"Yes. I want to return the favour. I will do the Call of the Blessing Ritual"
"Call of the Blessing...?"
"It is where you would gain a high affinity to a certain element that favours you the most. The first one who heeds upon your call will grant you a blessing that will further increase your strength"
Seriously...? I can be even more powerful...?
...but why?
"Why are you doing this for me?"
She looks at me with a smile
"It is what the Citizens wants, it is what I want, and it is what the Goddess of Judgement wants. So please, accept our gift"
She raises her hand as a big circle forms around the ground
"..."
They went this far for me...so I'll accept it
I slowly walked towards the circle...
...and then suddenly, brightness fills up the room...
...
I felt like I was dropped in a sea of water, slowly making my way underwater, but not drowning
...
Then a silhouette showed up, seemingly trying to make its way towards me
...
It was that time that a voice reached out to me
"Finally...you came!"
Right before I knew it, the Saint confirmed that the element favoured me was the Light Element...
...
...
...
I remember those days as clear as day...
...Even the day I decided that I wanted to be a supporting pilr for the Empire and the next generation of heroes
The day that I recruited the pilrs one by one...
The day that each one of them got blessed by the elements...
...The day that I trained those heroes...
...
...The day that tragedy happened...
...
...And now...
No matter how hard I tried
No matter how much I pn everything
There would always be a fw in everything I do
...Did I pick the wrong path?
Or wasn't I good enough in the first pce?
...
Where...did I go wrong...?
I said, while seemingly lying down in an endless void
Suddenly, I can feel myself losing consciousness once again...
...
