Aio woke up to a shocking sight. He saw his classmates and their teacher, but also new individuals with priestly robes on. Shifting his gaze, he saw a mural depicting a smiling figure with long blonde hair, no features that would depict it as a man or woman, with a halo. Behind it, there were lakes and mountains. It was a work of art, almost medieval. Shifting his gaze again, he saw the white walls and floors of what looked like a church.
"Welcome to Tortus, brave heroes. It is our pleasure to greet you. I am the Pope of the Saints Church, Ishtar Langbard," the man called Ishtar said with a good-natured smile.
"But first, let's go somewhere more comfortable for this discussion. Follow me if you will."
A few minutes later, Ishtar explained to the group that they were in a world parallel to theirs, called Tortus. Their god, Eht, summoned them to this world because they have powers that far surpass the humans of this world, and they were needed to save Tortus from a horrible fate. They were at war with the Demons who rule the Southern part of this world, and the humans face dangers that may lead to their ruin. Suddenly, Aiko slammed her hands on the table, furiously, with a frustrated look on her face, and exclaimed, "What are you saying?! That's a horrible joke! This is the worst joke I've ever seen! Have you got permission to do this?! If not, I'll sue you for kidnapping us! Return us to the school at once!"
Ishtar sighed lightly and looked at Aiko before speaking calmly, "Hmm, this is problematic... How about you join me outside, and we shall take a breather."
Everyone other than Aio and Hajime, still believing this to be a prank, followed Ishtar, as Kouki spoke up.
"Ishtar, can I ask you something?"
Ishtar, surprised by the sudden request, walked in silence for a moment before speaking, "Yes, of course."
Nodding lightly, Kouki then asked, "You said the humans are at war with the Demons... Are there any other races besides the two of them living in this world?"
In slight surprise, Ishtar chuckled and responded, "Ohoho. Unlike the rest, do you believe my words?"
Shaking his head, Kouki spoke, "To be honest, I don't. Mostly yet, after assessing the situation, I think I have no choice but to believe you."
Ishtar only hummed before continuing, "Well, then, let me tell you about our world while we walk to the gates."
According to Ishtar, in Tortus, there are three major races. Humans govern the North, Demons rule the South, and Demi-humans inhabit the forests in the East. The war of Humans against Demons has been going on for hundreds of years, but there have not been any major clashes in recent years. Then the Demons started using monsters, changing the tide drastically. To answer the pleas of the people, the God of this world summoned them.
Ishtar then proceeded to stop in his tracks before facing the group. He took a moment to view the faces of the students and their teacher before speaking, "Here we are, the gates. If you still question which world you are in at this moment, you can confirm it with your own eyes."
As the gates opened, everyone saw that they were in a mountain area, completely shocking them.
As Aio looked on, his teacher, Ms. Aiko, crumpled to the ground, her bewildered expression etched in his mind. He couldn't believe what was happening and was filled with a mix of shock and curiosity as he watched her quivering voice utter the words, "We-We're in the mountains?" His mind raced with the possibilities of how something like this could be possible.
Ishtar, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying their confusion, asking with a good-natured smile, "Do you believe me now?" Aio observed as everyone else was too stunned to speak, and Hajime finally gathered the courage to ask, "U-Um, I'd like to ask a question....If you could summon us to this world, surely you can return us back to ours, right?"
Aio was surprised to see the varied reactions of his classmates, ranging from shock to panic, as Ishtar responded in the negative. However, Kouki and Kaori stepped up to help, and gradually, the rest of the students followed suit. As they brainstormed ideas to make their way back home, Ms. Aiko continued to protest.
Aio, realizing that it was best not to test Ishtar's patience, approached Ms. Aiko and spoke softly, "Ms. Aiko, I understand how you feel about us joining some war, but there probably won't be another way to return. While we might feel out of place and unfit for the task, we were brought here for a reason, and so we might as well get over it."
Ms. Aiko looked at Aio and sighed. "You're right, Aio. I just don't want to see any of my students hurt or in danger."
"We'll be careful, Ms. Aiko," assured Kaori, "And we'll do our best to make it back home!" responded Kouki. Aio nodded in agreement, still feeling apprehensive towards the situation but understanding that there was no other choice but to follow along.
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-Time Skip 8 hours later -
After being shown their rooms for the night, Aio found himself in a dimly lit room at the Royal Palace, with most of the lights off due to it being night. He had managed to light a candle to provide some more light and was using it to write in his diary. As he wrote, his mind was still preoccupied with the day's events, replaying them in his head over and over again. Aio had a sinking feeling that things were only going to get more troublesome from here. He let out a deep sigh and closed his diary, feeling too exhausted to continue writing. The weight of the situation was starting to wear on him. "How troublesome," he muttered to himself, trying to push aside the anxiety and get some much-needed rest.
-next day afternoon Aio's Perspective-
It's the day after meeting the Royal family and we were all taken to the training grounds where we were met by Meld, the Commander of the King's knights. He thanked us for our cooperation and explained that we were each given a Status Plate. As the name implies, it will record our status in numeric form and it's also used as an identification card, so we should never lose it. Meld instructed us to spill a drop of blood on the Plate, then it will register us as the owner. So, I pricked my finger with a needle and let my blood spill on the Status Plate, registering it as my own, and a moment later my stats popped up.
Name: "Aio Sato" Age: "18" Sex: "Male" Level: "1" Job: "Devourer"
Strength: "80"
Vitality: "30"
Agility: "50"
Magic: "10"
Magic Defence: "30"
Skills: Devour , Reactive Evolution ,Selective Grasp, Biomorphing, Gluttony Empowerment, Supernatural Conditioning, Language Comprehension.
I was satisfied with my stats, and I nodded my head in approval. Meld then explained that the Plates are written in numbers, class name, and a list of our skills. Our class is similar to our talent, and our skills are abilities that we have learned. For instance, my understanding of their language despite coming from a different world is thanks to the "Language Comprehension" skill. Meld explained that people in Tortus usually start with an average of 10 points, but because I come from a better world and have zero complete experience, my stats are several times higher than that!
Meld then asked everyone to share their status, and Kouki was the first to speak up. He introduced himself as Kouki Amanogawa, Class: Hero, and boasted that all of his stats are 100, and he has many skills. Meld quickly looked at Kouki's status plate before speaking with a smile on his face, "Hm...100 in all stats. As expected of a Hero. Very, very enviable!"
Suddenly, Daisuke appeared behind Hajime, looked at his status, and immediately started laughing. He ridiculed Hajime's status, saying that "Synergist" is the Crafting Class, and his status value is also a common average. I was taken aback by Daisuke's mockery, and Miss Aiko scolded him for laughing at his fellow classmates. Aiko then walked over to Hajime and showed him her stats. Curious, I looked at Hajime's and Aiko's stats with a raised eyebrow. I noticed that Hajime's skills aren't that bad, and in fact, his transmutation skill could be very useful as it could be used for combat and item creation. Aiko's magic stat is extremely high, which surprised me.
Name: "Hajime Nagumo" Age: "17" Sex: "Male" Level: "1" Job: "Synergist"
Strength: "10"
Vitality: "10"
Agility: "10"
Magic: "10"
Magic Defence: "10"
Skills: Language Comprehension, Transmute
Name: "Aiko Hatayama" Age: "25" Sex: "Female" Level: "1" Job: "Farmer"
Strength: "5"
Vitality: "10"
Agility: "10"
Magic: "100"
Magic Defence: "5"
Skills: Language Comprehension, Soil Management, Soil Restoration, Automatic Restoration, Large-scale Cultivation, Improved Scale Contamination, Conversion, Enhanced Fertilization, Selective Breeding, Plant Appraisal, Fertilizer, Production Mixed Breeding, Auto Harvesting, Fermentation Proficiency, Fermentation Acceleration, Large-scale Fermentation Remote, Fermentation, Wide-area Temperature Control, Temperature Optimization, Weather Barrier, Farming Barrier, Fertile Rain.
Aio looked at Aiko and Hajime with curiosity and amazement. "Ms. Aiko, your magic stat is just as high as Kouki's! That's amazing," he exclaimed. Turning to Hajime, he added, "And Hajime, your transmutation skill could be very useful for combat and item creation. Your easily the most versatile person here!"
Just as Aio was about to say more, Aiko interrupted him with a question. "Hey Aio, what are your stats?" she asked.
Aio was taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled and showed them his stats. "From the names of my class and skills, I can guess that they have to do with eating and transforming. It's awesome!" he said with a grin.
Unbeknownst to them, Meld was walking over to them as Daisuke made a scene. When he saw both Aiko and Aio's classes, he was shocked. "A farmer?! I've never seen one before! Hurry! Contact the Church! This person could very well be the harbinger of the era of better food quality!!! And this devourer class could help the mages guild with research regarding the monsters of the labyrinth!!! Contact the mage guild," he yelled at nearby guards.
Daisuke started laughing at Hajime's look of defeat Aio's and Aiko's attempts at cheering him up with praise and or showing him they were in the same boat failed, but both Aiko and Aio had a brief moment of confusion. Aiko who was trying to cheer Hajime up, failed abd was currently bewildered as to why a farmer class would be such a big deal. Aio, on the other hand, was feeling overwhelmed by the sudden attention he was receiving. Being an introverted person, he found it difficult to handle all the newfound fame.
(Time Skip 3 weeks Aio's Perspective)
As the weeks passed in this new world, I started feeling good. There was even this glow around me that my classmates noticed as I became more outgoing and began to talk more and more to them. While most were now on friendlier terms with me, some started to act strangely, in particular Shizuku Yaegashi, who seemed to become quieter around me. At first, I thought she liked me, but I quickly crushed that thought as ridiculous.
Aside from changes in attitude from some classmates, we all learned how to use our new skills. In particular, Hajime and I made significant progress. Hajime learned more creative ways of using [Transmute], and I myself had learned how my devourer class worked when I helped the Mage Guild with their research. My class worked in a way that I could gain the physical and magical properties of what I ate. In other words, I could transform parts of my body or my whole body into creatures I ate using [Biomorphing]. But I could also fuse and overlap different monster parts using [Reactive Evolution]. In addition, with [Gluttony Empowerment], I could continue eating indefinitely without getting full.
"Yo Hajime! Finally got out of your room, I see," I said good-naturedly.
Hajime looked up in surprise and spoke, "Oh, hey Aio. Yeah, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be for the dungeon. I've also read everything I could from the library about it, so I'm as ready as I can be. What about you? I heard the Mage Guild has been working overtime testing your skills, so how was it?"
I grinned. "Ooh, yeah, it was kinda fun actually."
Hajime raised an eyebrow. "From what I heard, you've been eating monsters for the past three weeks. Anything else you did besides that?"
I grinned even wider. "Of course, I have. I can-" Before I could finish speaking, however, a knight ran up to us yelling.
"Heroes!"
Turning towards the voice, Hajime and I were greeted by a knight running in our direction.
"Captain Meld and the other heroes are awaiting your arrival for the expeditions into the Great Orcus Labyrinth."
Hajime and I hummed in acknowledgment before following the knight, completely unaware of how our lives were about to change into a shit show.
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