"You have to believe me! There was this little girl, but I don't think she was a little girl. Some kind of intergalactic monster. She destroyed my world!"

  The priest sighed. "For the last time, dear otherworlder, being transported to this world must have muddied your memories. It is natural when experiencing it for the first time."

  I slammed the table. "But I did not experience it for the first time. This is my second time being summoned."

  The priests looked at each other, then laughed. "Being summoned twice? There is no way anything like that could happen. The damage to your soul; none of the priests here could have enough power for that."

  A priest walked into the room. "You asked for me?"

  "Ah, there you are! Now be honest with us all: you are the one that summoned this otherworlder, right?"

  "No."

  "How brazen, but courageous. I will look away from … What did you say?"

  The priest looked confused. "No. I did not summon any otherworlder. I had to go to a sermon in the eastern human kingdom Ser. I just arrived here."

  The priest looked back at me. "Please, continue."

  - Rachel, the twice summoned

  That went better than expected. Tom gained an ally and pinpoints to finding out about higher beings. Although, Sierra did act odd at the end. Did she still have any reservations about him? Tom felt the soft texture of his new satchel. At least she had given him some embodied items.

  A few soldiers were still training at the grounds, under the glistening lamps. Walking past him were a rowdy group of drunk soldiers. Tom was never one to go to parties, but he wasn’t like the diligent soldiers either.

  Tom arrived at the barracks and was surprised to see both Hiro and Mark there. Hiro was in bed reading a book, and Mark was cleaning his armor.

  "You guys don’t go out much?"

  Mark shook his head. "Sometimes, but on weekdays we usually take a break. How did your trip go by the way?"

  "Perfect. Sierra isn’t that bad once you get to know her. I was even invited to some sort of ball by a noble."

  Mark nodded. "Yeah, Sierra can be difficult to deal with, but … wait did you say a ball? As in the Midsummer Ball? That’s on Soldiers Day!"

  "Soldiers Day?"

  Hiro sighed, and put down his book. "It’s a day off the Commander gave us to celebrate our work as soldiers. The commoners light a huge bonfire in the training grounds, and the nobles hold their fancy ball called the Midsummer Ball. Invites only. Lucky you."

  "That means he will miss out on the bonfire," Mark said distraught. "It is one of the most important events!"

  Tom shrugged. "Doesn't sound that special."

  "But think of all that it would mean. It is the only day people can boast about themselves and their squadron without breaking the taboo of seeking heroism. What of all the times you practiced your speech in the bathroom about showing people your 'epicness'?"

  "Fart, you heard that?"

  Mark held up his shield. "You are the boss of the squadron. I even did as you said and spread the word of your greatness to other soldiers. They were a bit skeptical about it though, but I believe in you."

  "Mark, he has no obligation to be a part of that. Tom is a noble, remember?" Hiro looked at Tom. "You are one aren’t you?"

  Tom cautiously nodded. He quickly finished up the conversation saying he was tired, and started preparing to go to sleep. Mark looked disappointed.

  He was lying to these people a lot.

  Whatever, there was no need to be too attached to these side characters. They probably don’t like him that much anyway.

  ***

  The next day after listening to Alice’s boring speech about honor or something, he went to train with Zev to find that he wasn’t there. Zev wasn’t the perfect master, Tom wasn’t even sure if he still was his master. Training would have been much easier if he had some quest from the adventures guild or dungeons to complete. Without any other choice he went to train by himself in the training room.

  "I am pretty sure there are techniques or something in swordsmanship. You’re just swinging me in the air," Trash complained.

  "What am I supposed to do? Swordsmanship is so difficult. Why couldn’t you have been an OP one-shot-one-kill kinda weapon?"

  Trash hummed. "You can't shoot with a sword. And, regardless of my strength, people can still dodge if you try to kill them."

  Tom sighed. "Forget it." Searching through his satchel he pulled out a stone. A spirit stone. It looked mostly unassuming. Closing his eyes he tried to feel the stone. Nothing.

  Compared to a living person, imagining the aura of a stone felt impossible. Perhaps he needed to activate Trash with one of these?

  "Is that a spirit stone I see? Rare to see them in the kingdom."

  Tom looking around the training room. "Who said that?"

  "Up here."

  He looked up to find a hooded person standing upside down on the ceiling. It was one of the error cultists. "What the—?"

  "Might be a bad idea to try that spirit stone alone if it is your first time." The cultist jumped from the ceiling, head first, and crashed down on the floor with a thud. Before Tom could react to the situation, the cultist got back on his feet. "Oops. Sorry about that. Forgot to flip myself first." The cultist hand moved onto their body hidden under the cloak. "I think all bones are in order. Why don't we have a little chat now?"

  Tom raised Trash towards the stranger and took a step back.

  "Nice aura sword. It can even talk." He took a step foreward and Tom took another step back. "Don't worry. I have no interest in stealing your aura sword."

  "You're one of those cultist aren't you? What are you doing here?"

  "You remember! How wonderful." He coughed. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Zero, and my job is to spread the good word of the Error Cult to the common folk. I have come to you with a proposition, Tomassio Rossi. We would like for you to join our organization."

  Join them? They wanted Tom — no, Tomassio to join. "Why? What reason would I have not to report you to the authorities?"

  Zero shrugged. "Goodwill? The Error Cult is relatively new, but we have members in every nation around the Void. You, according to our intel, have traveled back from the South. Having someone who is familiar with the happenings down there would be beneficial for us."

  Wait a second, what the space was happening in the South?

  "You must also have learned the truth about the kingdoms predicament. As a future Duke it would be within your interest to gather allies to keep ahold of your legacy. So, what do you say?"

  Tom wasn't sure what to make of this. The real Tomassio travelled to the southern part of the kingdom, and that was a big deal? And what did he mean by 'the kingdoms predicament'? Regardless of what he had learned, there was no reason to tie himself to this cult. The moment they asked a detailed question about the south, he would be revealed as an impostor. But he was still curious about this cult.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "I do not know enough about your cult to make such a decision."

  Zero shook his head. "No need to worry. The decision is yours alone to make. If you find yourself willing to join, we are holding a summit at the end of the month. It is in the abandoned factory besides the rift. The summit would be the perfect opportunity for you to learn more about the cult, and converse with some of our other members."

  "A summit? What will—."

  "Apologies. It would be burdensome if I revealed too much. I will take my leave now. A crazy lady will be arriving soon and I would rather not have to deal with her."

  Crazy lady?

  Zero threw a ball at the floor which made a cloud of smoke appear. Fanning the smoke away from his face, Tom coughed and looking where Zero had been, leaving behind a slowly dispersing cloud of smoke. "He disappeared. Was that teleportation?"

  Trash hummed. "Nope. He just ran out the door as fast as he could while you were distracted."

  "Way to put a damper on my imagination." Tom sighed. "How would I even be allowed to leave the camp in the first place? I think that cultist was overestimating my influence."

  "Just ignore them. It is a cult after all. Most likely a bunch of weirdoes."

  "I think you're right."

  Tom tried to go ignore what had just happened and continue training, but he felt like his drive had drained away. Should he tell Alice about this invitation? No, it would better to keep this card close, in case it could help him escape this camp. All he was supposed to focus on now was trying to get stronger, but training alone was boring. And regardless of how weird the cultist was, he did mention to not try the spirit stones alone.

  Not knowing what else to do with his day Tom decided to check on his squadmates. They were all at the training grounds. Sierra was swiftly going through an obstacle course, likely preparing for her mission. Hiro was sparring with a background character, and Ilona was healing people.

  "Squad meeting with Tom!" Trash hummed, loudly.

  "Hey," Tom said, startled. "What did I say about talking in public?"

  Although not recognizing the voice, his squadmates came over when they spotted him.

  "Since when was squad meetings a thing?" Sierra asked.

  Well, this was embarrassing, but Tom was used to it by now. It was best to be direct. "I need to train, but Zev ditched me since he’s bad at teaching."

  Hiro crossed his arms. "I knew there was a logical reason why he wouldn't train me."

  "I need to get stronger, but all the instructors here hate me," Tom continued.

  "Oh, I don't think they hate you," Ilona said.

  Sierra rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously going to ignore all the constant insults about him? Well, ignoring the truth is your specialty."

  "Hey! That’s mean — I think."

  Tom ignored their arguing and noticed Mark running over to them. "Where did you go? We were just about to figure out my cool training arc."

  "I think I know a way to accomplish that," Mark said. He held out a small black box. "We can use this box dungeon. I managed to borrow one from the Inventor."

  "The great inventor Artorius himself?" Hiro perked up. "How did you manage to do something like that? I thought it was almost impossible to even find him."

  "What is a box dungeon?" Tom asked.

  "It is an artificial dungeon core that simulates a training zone. All of the nobles have unlimited access to these. The commoners getting to use one is extremely rare," Mark explained.

  "Hey Hiro, didn’t you say there were no dungeons to explore? That’s why I started training solo today."

  Hiro shrugged. "I meant no natural dungeons. Natural dungeons used to exist. All dungeons had a dungeon core. Then the Hero came and destroyed all of them. The box dungeon is an artificial dungeon core. I figured you just were stupid, and thought everyone could use them. It is common knowledge amongst nobles. They used to have a monopoly on all the dungeons in the kingdom, then the Hero took that privilege away."

  "Yeah, he is pretty dumb." Sierra interjected. She glared at Tom, probably trying to convey that he was bad at pretending to be a nobleman. He appreciated the save.

  Tom turned his attention to Mark. "You aren’t doing this to make me join that bonfire party, right?"

  Mark shrugged and laughed. "It really is difficult to hide something from an observer."

  This Mark guy was clingy. For some weird reason, Tom didn’t mind. "Let us get this over with. How does this work?" He went over and touched the box making the world go blank.

  ***

  When he opened his eyes Tom found himself in what looked like a floating platform. There were small stone walls scattered around facing the center of the platform. The sky was completely dark, yet he didn’t have any problem seeing his surroundings. Tom could feel Trash hum with intrigue.

  "Cool isn’t it?" Tom turned to see Mark. The others were beside him. He held up a box that looked identical to the box dungeons, but his one had text on it. "With this, I can summon creatures in the center of the arena which we can fight."

  That was cool. Maybe this was his key to getting stronger? "Let us start then."

  Everyone else was curious to try this out, and they went to their own part of the arena, positioning themselves behind the stone walls.

  Mark touched the cube, and a couple of green creatures reminiscent of goblins appeared in the center. "I’ll go first," Tom declared.

  Tom unsheathed Trash, and took one embodied vial and a random spirit rock. "You ready?"

  Trash hummed. "I am always ready."

  Tom put down the rock and stabbed it with Trash. His body shivered as the sword lit up with a turquoise-blue color. Ice Spirit, Tom guessed. The gloves looked to be working; his hands weren’t cold at all, but the rest of his body was another matter.

  Taking a step away from the stone wall cover. He threw the embodied vial at one of the nearest goblins. It made a surprised grunt and turned to see Tom run up to it. Tom cut the goblin in the stomach and used [stabilize].

  Purple icicles grew from the goblin's body. Frantically trying to get it off the goblin fell over. Foam flowed out of its mouth when the goblin stopped moving.

  "I did it!" Tom exclaimed. Trash changed back to his usual form. He stood there in confusion, barely able to par the blow from another goblin making him fall to the ground. "What the space? Why did you change back?"

  Trash hummed. "I used up the spirit. Its power has returned to the world."

  Another goblin started charging at him but was interrupted by a dagger. "Close your eyes," Ilona shouted, and Tom heeded. A blinding light came, and when he opened his eyes again he saw Hiro swiftly finishing the goblins. Hiro’s sword had some static on it. Since when were electricity spirits a thing?

  Mark went up to Tom with the box in one hand and helped him get up with the other. "That was awesome! I didn’t know you could do that with an aura sword. How did you even manage to use two spirits at once? The poison spirit is perfectly merged with the effects of the ice spirit."

  Tom shrugged. "Is that such a big deal? It was only one strike anyway."

  "Don’t beat yourself up," Ilona said. "We are just using the byproducts of spirits. You are using the power of spirits themselves; that is a huge deal."

  Sierra gave Tom a nod, and Hiro came over after he had finished his extermination. "Your use of spirits is commendable, but your sword technique is lacking." Hiro gripped his sword and slashed in the air. "Try slashing like this next time. Focus on replicating this stance."

  Tom didn’t expect them all to be so supportive, but … No, this was his isekai. "Forget it, Hiro. I know what I need, and that is a rival." Tom pointed at Hiro. "You are officially my rival now, so don’t try and teach me. It’s a competition."

  "Erm. I’m not sure that’s a good idea."

  "It is what I need. And with all the praise of me using the spirits, didn’t you power your sword with electricity?"

  Hiro sighed and scratched his hood where his ears would have been. "You aren't the only one with an aura sword. My aura sword is related to weather, and can use the related spirits. It passively attract relevant spirits too it and enhances my attacks. Since I am half beastkin I am not able to use skill templates, so I rely on sword techniques."

  "What about that sword?" Tom said, pointing at the katana tied to his waist.

  "That is a sword made of beast crystal. It … does something else." Hiro looked like he didn’t want to talk about it, but Tom was curious.

  Focusing, he tried to feel the aura of the katana. Instantly he felt nauseous, and … empty. He closed his eyes and gripped his head.

  "Are you alright!" Hiro frantically asked.

  Tom waved him off. "I’m fine. Let's just get back to training."

  During the next hours, Tom focused on improving his technique, despite the empty feeling in his stomach. His ability to sense spirits was nonexistent so the spirits that he activated Trash with were random. One slash with a wind-powered sword made a poisonous mist, [posion mist]. Using an earth spirit made a poisonous crystal sprout from the wound. It wasn't as effective as [poison ice] since the frozen water more easily utilized the poison, but on a second try he found that it would be a nice protective wall that caused poisonous dust to appear when destroying it: [poison wall]. Unsurprisingly, when powered by a poison spirit nothing happened. The goblin still died from the poison melting its skin, but it wasn't as effective in quickly killing it. The fact that he only had one type of spirit embodied in the vial was disadvantageous. Especially when some goblins with more purple skin turned out to be poison-resistant.

  He could see Hiro look over at his swordplay, obviously wanting to correct him. But Tom wasn’t going to get help from his rival. He focused on getting familiar with his new fighting style. Being able to kill one goblin, and then run away felt pretty wimpy. It was nothing compared to how easily Hiro took down 5 goblins in seconds.

  Eventually, Mark told them to stop and said the box dungeon was out of mana. He told them all to touch the cube, and they were transported back to the training grounds where they came from. Tom suddenly felt his stomach grumble. His feet also felt tired.

  "That," Mark grunted. "Is a side effect of using a box dungeon. While our souls were inside the cube our bodies were standing still in the real world. It is difficult to get used to."

  "Couldn’t you have told us that before we went into it?" Sierra said.

  Trash hummed in amusement.

  Tom couldn’t even imagine how stupid they all looked lying on the ground.

  Mark obviously had to return such an expensive item, but the nobles had free access. He was going to check out how his new life would be, for tomorrow he was going to go to the Midsummer Ball.

  ***

  The others had to go to their electives, so Tom left the training grounds. Apparently there was a pletora of different electives. Hiro and Sierra were part of the feedback elective, tasked with gathering feedback from different electives and other workers. Ilona helped at the infirmary, and Hiro did guard duty making rounds around the tall brick walls surrounding the camp. Electives were basically tasks to help maintenance in the camp and give people something else to do. Most electives had limited spots to avoid chaos, and he was late so there weren't exactly anything fun for him to join.

  Perhaps he should join some random elective to gather more intel? Although, he had to remember not to get sidetracked on his quest to get OP for his EPIC ADVENTURE. Staring at the stone paved path, Tom pondered how he should train himself.

  For a moment he stopped and closed his eyes, trying to sense his own aura. All he could see was a messy cloud of differing colors, no rings in sight. He opened his eyes, back to reality, and sighed. With Trash he had a way to fight using spirits, but Zev told him that it was a waste of time training if he didn't know what route of progression he was choosing. The concept of getting stronger by understanding reality better also did not make sense to him. It looked like getting a blessing from a higher being was his only way of getting stronger.

  "Hey there! You are new."

  Tom looked up. It was a woman with long chestnut colored hair. At the top of her head he noticed that her roots were growing in a strong red color. She wore an eyepatch hiding her other purple eye, her one visible eye frantically shifting looking at everything around. No uniform, so she was for sure not a fellow soldier, but she wore something that looked similar to camo-clothes from his world.

  "Erm. Yes, I am new."

  "It must be difficult being all alone, but don't worry." She stretched out her arms. "For I have arrived!"

  Tom nervously chuckled. "And you are?" What a crazy lady … wait a second.

  "Rachel is my name." She raised her fist. "Don't be afraid. I will help you, fellow otherworlder. I always do."

  Then she punched Tom in the face.