Chapter 2: Day Zero
Noah was never anyone much. Average personality, average looks, a bit of a physics geek, fairly studious, but not enough for his grades to break into the top 10%, he was just another guy you could find anywhere. If anything, he considered himself quite creative, but there wasn't much more to him than that. Like most people, he let himself get swept into the flow of everyday modern life, spending every week waiting for Friday.
And it wasn't as if Noah didn't know any of this. No, he was very well aware that there wasn't anything much more to him than what you saw. Which is why what was happening was so baffling. He was about to be told that he had been summoned to another world with his three closest friends.
Noah rubbed his eyes, and looked at his friends. Noah pinched Evan beside him, who pinched Noah, almost at the same time.
'Fuck, ouch. Its fuckin real?'
Noah definitely felt it. Not just the pinch, but also the weight of the gaze from 7 grown men and women in ridiculous outfits surrounding the four of them, as well as that of the old man in an even more ridiculous outfit and also that of a very pretty woman beside him.
"ᛈᛚᚨᚲ, ᛖᚺᛟᛚᛞᛖᚱ ᛏᛖᚲᛊᛏ !"
"Woah, hey man, is that Greek? Uh, we english only?"
When the old man on the fancy chair that looked suspiciously like a throne threw himself to the ground while exclaiming a bunch of gibberish, Evan, with his omniscient genius, acted like a lost tourist looking for directions from a local, and attempted to communicate with the old man by dumbing down his grammar.
As soon as the words left Evan's mouth, all gazes in the room from the weird cosplay people redirected to him.
Except Mia.
"I've never heard of this language before but I understood him. I think I'm fluent in it as well."
"ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖᚺ, ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖᚺᛟᛚᛞᛖᚱ ᛏᛖᚲᛊᛏ"
When Mia spit out some gibberish as well, The three others looked at her intently, suspiciously.
"I just told him to repeat what he said"
"ᛈᛚᚨᛖᚲᛊᛏ,ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖᚺᛟᛚᛞᛖᚱ ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖᚺᛟᛚᛞᛖᚱ ᛏᛖᚲᛊᛏ ᛏᛖᚲᛊᛏ"
"ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖᚺᛟᛚᛞᛖᚱ ᛏ…"
As Mia engaged in their strange conversation with the middle aged old man that had gotten back on his fancy chair, Noah noted that the looks of the others in the room turned increasingly horrified, while Mia's turned from confusion, to horror, then to…acceptance? Did she just speedrun the 5 stages of grief?
"We've been brought over to this world from our world as heroes to save this world from the Demon Lord, and have skills that allow us to do so. These seven are archmages, that middle aged one's King Thorian, the cute one's Princess Elara"
Mia sighed, as she gestured to the natives in the room. Noah looked at her for a couple moments, stepped forward, and flicked her forehead.
"Alright nice prank now, I'm sure it took a lot of effort to set up, time to go home now."
Mia looked at Noah with a complicated expression when Noah denied Mia, and as time ticked by in silence, Noah realized it wasn't a prank.
"So we're just here now? What about our parents? Friends? We just never see them again?"
Mia responded to his outburst by casting her gaze to the ground, clearly upset.
"Alright, it's not as if it's her fault is it? We can't do anything about it now, so let's cry about it later, while we figure out what we need to do now."
Emma hopped to Mia's side and held her hand, and gently rebuked Noah.
As Mia looked up again, she gestured at the nearby archmage, who waved his hand in the direction of the four as Mia explains,
"This archmage here will cast a simple appraisal spell that will reveal the skills we have and what they are."
When text in a weird language shows up above their heads, the natives in the room almost looked horrified, while Mia translated what it said.
' Evan
Age:17
Skills: Absolute dexterity'
' Noah
Age:17
Skills: Mimicry'
'Mia
Age:17
Skills: Language mastery''
'Emma
Age:17
Skills: Illusion mastery'
"...Wow, Evan I reckon the ladies would lclove you even more now. Nimble fingers y'know?"
"So is Mia just a walking translator?"
Noah had been tactically ignored. Though, Evan's joke went unanswered as well. It was clear that everyone was thinking of the results of the appraisal, even including Noah and Evan, both of whom had instinctively thrown out jokes.
But the king and the archmages had frowns on their faces. Especially two of the archmages, who seemed pale for some reason. After a few minutes of silence, the king spoke up, followed by a wave of one of the archmages' hands. Of course, Mia followed up immediately after to translate.
"The king says he has to speak to the archmages, and that they'll be casting a soundproof barrier for a couple moments."
"Isn't that rude? It feels like whispering about a person to another person right in front of their face. Seems like awfully inconsiderate treatment of the people that's supposed to be their glorious heroes or whatever. They've also been frowning for a while now."
Evan noted, which was met by Emma's agreement.
"Something's definitely off here."
The same archmage then waved his hand, and the professional smiles that had returned to the faces of those welcoming the four was impossible to miss. Noah pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke.
"Mia, can you ask them to give us some time to think? I reckon we need to process this properly before we make any decisions"
"Of course, great hero. I apologise if you felt uncomfortable. We will do anything within our capabilities to give you what you need."
Before Mia could speak, the king interjected in perfect english. Looking at the slightly surprised expression of the heroes, an archmage coughed into his fist, then interjected,
"I have used a first circle translation spell"
"I see, thank you for that, but can we get some time to think?"
"Understandable. My daughter, Princess Elara will guide you to a room. Have a day to consider our words."
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