Chapter 3: Prologue - Part 2
It was 09:55h when Yuuta arrived at the school gates. He let out a deep sigh – he had made it in time for the ceremony. He hurried to the school gym and sat on the empty seat in one of the middle rows.
As he sat down, he could sense people staring at him. Most of them were the love-struck girls from class 3-2. Yuuta was considered to be one of the prettiest boys in school by his fellow students, but the fact annoyed him. All day long, he would be approached by several women who were nothing more than a pain in the ass for him. He would feel stares stabbing into him as he walked through town or if he went shopping for things. The girls in the gym were whispering and giggling while shifting their eyes back and forth from the stage to Yuuta, which annoyed the hell out of him. Still, it couldn't be helped – the ceremony was about to start, so he ignored it for now.
The ceremony was painfully long – it went on for hours. Yuuta spotted some people falling asleep in their seats and he almost fell asleep himself, but he managed to pull through. When it was finally over, the gym cleared out and the graduates were greeted and congratulated by their families and friends outside.
Yuuta looked around and, as he expected, there was no sign of his family anywhere. With a forced smile, he waved to the girls that were calling for him. He wasn't keen on staying on the school grounds for much longer since he didn't want to get surrounded by them again, so he headed back home as quickly as he could.
On his way home, Yuuta thought about his life. He was amongst the top students of his year, he was smart, he was respected by his fellow students and his friends, he was the first love of many girls since elementary school, he was a kind and loving older brother and a model son and student no parents wouldn't be proud of.
But still, something was missing. Despite all that, he wasn't quite happy with his life. He felt stressed out by all the pressure people unknowingly put on him. Everyone always expected the best from him and he struggled to keep up with their expectations. He needed a break from his everyday life.
He remembered the first time he played "War in the East: Total Shogun". It was a couple of years ago when Yuuta stumbled upon this video game after being urged to play it by his classmates. Since then, Yuuta got hooked on strategy games. His newfound passion slowly escalated until he reached a point where he was almost entirely obsessed with them. They became his treasures which he would not show to anyone. Whenever he had some free time, he would play them in his room and immerse himself into a variety of game worlds while forgetting about the looming reality that was waiting outside.
Over the years, he's played through many different strategy games – some he played through several times – but none could match to the game he held most dear.
"Arthenia: Rise of an Empire".
To him, this was the pinnacle of RTS gaming. No fantasy world of any genre could come close to this one. No story could surpass it's own. The game mechanics were revolutionary – combining virtual reality with complex, voice-activated commands – and the game looked beautiful. It gave players the feeling of actually being there, taking command of their forces and letting them become their nation's rulers.
The battles that took place were a type of battle royale where each player fought for themselves, commanding their armies against several foes at the same time. Only a master strategist could prevail against up to 9 other foes.
Yuuta was bad at the game at first since he was not used to playing an MMORTS game like that, but due to his vast experience with various strategy games, he soon rose up to the top and became the number one player in the world – a feat many could only dream of accomplishing.
Yuuta often wished he could have the same power, the same freedom and be an actual part of the same world as his game characters. He wanted to replace his boring, shallow world with a new one - where he would not be a victim of selfish expectations and where his life wouldn't be dictated by society.
Most of all, he just wanted a world where he could be himself.
As he was nearing his house, the weather took a sudden turn for the worse. It was raining heavily and he didn't bring an umbrella. Luckily, he was minutes away from home, so he didn't get too wet as he reached the front door.
"I'm home!"
He stepped inside the house and closed the door behind him. As he expected, there was no reply. Yukiko – his little sister – wasn't home yet.
"All right!"
As he exclaimed, an honest smile – something only a handful of people were able to witness – suddenly appeared on his face, banishing the gloomy mood that hovered over him so far as if it never existed in the first place.
He took off his shoes and headed quickly upstairs to his room.
After changing out of his wet clothes and getting into something more comfortable, he sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. He couldn't help but get excited as today was the release of the long-awaited sequel to his favorite MMORTS game.
"Arthenia II: Warring Nations". Ah, I can't wait to play it!
Yuuta had pre-purchased the game as soon as he learned it was coming out. Now, after several months of waiting, his eyes sparkled and his smile widened as he stared at the release countdown on the monitor. Two minutes remained until the game would be available for download.
He thought about the new features coming with the game. Instead of simple single-map, 10-player battles of the first game – where each player spawned in a stone keep stronghold they had to protect with their army and conquer the enemy strongholds in the process – the sequel introduced world-scale cross-kingdom battles of up to 100 players with each player ruling over their kingdom and where each of their choices had a massive impact on themselves and their allies. They were now in charge of numerous innocent lives, all depending on their abilities as rulers. They had to manage their own kingdom, form (temporary) alliances with other players and defeat the enemy kingdoms until only one remained victorious.
And all that had to be done within a set time limit.
Not many people could survive long enough to wave their kingdom's flag as the last ones standing and be victorious. It would be extremely difficult – even for Yuuta – and only those with exceptional management, diplomatic and strategic skills could hope to be the ones at the top.
But Yuuta was not bothered by this fact. He was determined to win. No, he knew he could win.
With a determined look on his face, he counted down the seconds until release in his head. Ten seconds remained. Ten seconds until he could play what could be the greatest RTS game ever made. His heart was pounding in excitement as he counted down the remaining seconds out loud.
"Ten, nine, eight…"
His voice slightly wavered for a moment after seeing unexpected flashes of lighting with the corner of his eye and hearing a loud thunder soon after, but he quickly continued with even greater excitement than before.
"…seven, six, five, four…"
The rain seemed to be pouring even more heavily than before, lashing out at the windows in Yuuta's bedroom. The sound of rain hitting the windows as if trying to break in sent a shiver down his spine. It was as if it were trying to stop him from continuing, but it failed – Yuuta continued with the countdown.
"…three, two, one-"
As he reached the end of the countdown, a flash of light appeared, sudden thunder was heard from outside and then everything went dark.
"Wha-? What happened?! What the hell?!"
Yuuta was furious. If one looked closely, he could clearly see veins pulsing on the side of his head as he was shaking his computer monitor back and forth in anger.
"Why!? Why today of all days? Why now?..."
For a moment there he actually felt like crying, but slowly, his anger subsided and a feeling of disappointment washed over him – a feeling akin to a child who wanted a toy to play with, but his mother couldn't afford it at the time. All he wanted was to lose himself in the game world and rid himself of the annoying reality that was his life.
Instead, he finds himself alone in the greyish darkness of his bedroom after a lighting strike caused a citywide blackout. With nothing else to do but wait, Yuuta thought about reading some manga or a light novel or two to pass the time until the power was restored to the city, but he felt too tired for it.
He decided to take a nap. Perhaps, when he wakes up, his sister would be home and he could at last play the game he wanted more than anything.
As he laid down on his bed with his arms to the sides, he stared at the ceiling while thinking about today's events. The sound of pouring rain and an occasional thunder strike could be heard from outside.
He recalled the voice that woke him up this morning. He couldn't make out who it belonged to. He also didn't understand why it called him and that bothered him.
As he pondered on the matter, he could feel his body relaxing in the comfort of his bed and his eyelids slowly closing, urging him to rest. After a few moments, with his mind clear of all his thoughts and troubles, Yuuta finally fell asleep.
Chapter 4: Prologue - Part 3
"-Hello~? Can you hear me?"
The echoing, faint female voice called for him in his dream. It was nothing like the voice that woke him this morning. It was more similar to a child's voice. In fact, it 'was' a child's voice. Yuuta was both surprised and confused at the same time.
'Am-…am I turning into a lolicon?!'
"Hello~? If you can hear me, please open your eyes!"
Yuuta frowned. He did not want to open his eyes just because a random, annoying child's voice like hers wanted him to. Who does she think she is, trying to interrupt his dream?! If she didn't call for him, he could've been at a tropical beach groping foreign girls or something along the line instead! The very notion of it made Yuuta shiver in excitement for a bit.
Still, he figured it would probably make her stop if he did so. He had to admit that he was also a bit interested who was the kid who called out for him and why the hell she wouldn't leave him alone to his dream.
Yuuta hesitated a bit before slowly opening his eyes.
He could see a blue light mixing with the darkness surrounding him. Darker and lighter tones of the color shifted in a beautiful cascade. His anger dissipated in an instant.
'Amazing…'
As he gazed in awe at the sight before him, a bright white light appeared above him.
"Ah! I knew it! I knew you could hear me! Hello there, uh, Yuuta, right?"
As she spoke, the white light above him increased and decreased in intensity. While staring at the light, Yuuta noticed his body felt weightless as if he were floating in water.
"Y-Yeah…so, who are you? What do you want from me? "
"A-Ah, right!", she clears her throat before continuing. "My name is Corteena Delaphor, though everyone calls me Corty! I was trying out a spell and it seems it worked this time, though it's quite unusual that I can speak to you like this…"
"I see. I'm glad your spell succeeded and all, but could you please leave me alone now? I want to wake up now. I've got things to do.", Yuuta said and closed his eyes for a moment, hoping she would leave him be.
"E-Eh?! I'm sorry, but I can't leave you alone! This is the first time something like this happened! Besides, I summoned you, so there's no way back now!"
Summoned? What does she mean? You summon things using magic, right? Can this kid use magic?!, Yuuta panicked for a second before dismissing the idea. No, there's no way an annoying kid like her would be able to use magic. After all, stuff like magic exists only in fantasy manga or light novel series, not real life, right? Besides, this is a dream. I shouldn't be worried about such things anyway…
As he thought about what she said for a few moments, the girl suddenly spoke to him.
"Oh~! It won't be long now! I'll see you in a minute!", She said that in a happy tone, which made Yuuta shiver for some reason.
Before he could fully process what was going on, he could suddenly feel a slight pressure on his back, as if he was slowly being pushed upwards into the light. The sudden development surprised him.
"Hey, kid! What's going on?!", he shouted at the light as he was being moved towards it, but there was no response.
His heart was beating wildly as he grew ever closer to the light. He was afraid because he could no longer make out if this was dream or reality. The touch on his back felt real, but the sight in front of him claimed otherwise. He tried to move away from it, but he could not move a muscle. He tried closing his eyes in hope it was all really just a dream, but when he opened them again, it was still there.
He was terrified as he was being enveloped by the bright white light. However, what waited for him beyond the light would scare him even more.
Chapter 5: Chapter 1: An Awkward Awakening
CHAPTER 1: AN AWKWARD AWAKENING
Yuuta could hear the calming sound of chirping birds and the murmurs of several people close by. He felt a strange, warm and soft sensation on both his left shoulder and his left thigh. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but it felt comfortable. For a moment there, he forgot about what happened in his dream and gave in to the comfort of his bed.
"Mother…", a soft, feminine voice exhaled as it spoke.
'Eh? Mother?'
Yuuta slowly opened his eyes and looked to his left. He was stunned. His eyes widened in surprise and his mind went blank for a minute before he realized what he was looking at.
Lying next to him was a beautiful young girl with long, silky red hair, wearing nothing but a pink, laced nightdress underneath which her soft breasts were pressing onto his left shoulder as her left leg enveloped Yuuta's. He could feel her warm breath on his face as she slept peacefully next to him. His heart was beating so fast, he thought he would die.
'Oh, shit! What's going on?! Why am I in bed with a beautiful girl like her?!'
Yuuta was used to girls trying to get close to him, but he was never truly alone with one and especially not with a girl as beautiful as her. To make matters worse, he was even sharing a bed with her.
Yuuta could not look away from her. He was too excited to think and his breathing got heavier the more he observed her.
His heart was beating wildly as his right hand slowly moved towards her breasts. He did not know what he was doing, but he could not stop either. He never felt this way before. It was like his hand had a mind of its own.
As his excitement reached its peak and while his hand almost touched one of her breasts, the girl murmured something before slowly opening her eyes. They were of a beautiful light blue color.
It took her a moment to process the development in front of her. Yuuta froze in place with his right hand close to her breasts and his face contorted in fear and embarrassment as he stared at the girl. An embarrassing silence filled what little air there was between them before both of them realized the position they were in.
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
The girl mumbled something as she jumped out of the bed in surprise, almost at lighting speed. She grabbed and unsheathed a dagger that she kept hidden under her pillow and pointed it at Yuuta. After taking a few steps back, she glared at Yuuta for a moment before she shouted at him in a mildly embarrassed tone.
"W-Who are you?! How the hell did you get in here, you pervert?!"
Yuuta got up quickly and sat on the edge of the bed. He couldn't help but to stare at the girl for a few more moments. She was nothing like any girl he had ever seen. Of course, he had seen his fair share of pretty girls throughout the years, but when he thought about it, none could compare to the one in front of him.
Noticing the disgusted look on the girl's face, Yuuta shook his head as he came to his senses. He stood up and calmly introduced himself.
"I'm Yuuta. Yuuta Nakamura. Nice to meet you.", he said with a smile as he bowed.
"Eh?", she said in a surprised tone.
The girl did not expect him to politely introduce himself after almost being groped in her sleep. The unexpected development made her lower her guard against Yuuta a little, but she was still cautious of him. After all, not many people would be able to get so close to her without her noticing. She was curious about him. Just what kind of person is he?, she wondered.
"So? Why and how did you get in here? If you came here to p-play with my b-body, I will-"
"-I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me back there. Please forgive me." Yuuta interrupted her and bowed. He formed a serious expression on his face as he spoke.
She could not say for sure, but the girl felt like he was being honest with his apology. She did not sense any ill intentions from his words. He was probably truly sorry for his actions, but it's not something she could forgive that easily. She thought about it for a few moments before she answered.
"…Alright. I forgive you.", the girl said as she exhaled. "But I'm keeping my eye on you!"
"I see. That's understandable. Thank you, uh…?", Yuuta hinted at the girl that she should introduce herself.
"…Alice. Alice Grivois.", she said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"…Thank you, Grivois-san."
Yuuta smiled as he thanked her. His honest smile made Alice blush for a second. She sheathed her dagger and crossed her arms.
"Hmph. I was ready to kill you if you were some ordinary pervert, but it seems you have more decency than I thought you would. Well then, care to finally explain why and how did you get in here without me noticing? Not many people have been able to get so close to me and walk away unscathed afterwards, you know? You should consider yourself lucky to still be able to call yourself a man!", she said while pointing to his nether regions with her eyes.
'Tsundere? Seriously?'
Yuuta got a little annoyed by her act, but he tried not to let it get to him as he replied.
"Well, before I say anything, I believe it would be best for the both of us if you got dressed first, don't you think? Standing here covered in nothing else but a thin nightdress in front of a man you've just met must be quite embarrassing, right?", Yuuta said with a devilish smile on his face.
"Ah! R-Right!"
Her face turned bright red. Seeing him ogle her body as she replied made her terribly embarrassed. Alice realized she was indeed standing there wearing only her silk nightdress which went down to her smooth, slightly plump thighs. She had completely forgotten about covering herself up with something while she was on guard against Yuuta.
"T-Turn around while I change, then! And don't you dare peek! I'll kill you if you do!"
"Don't worry, I won't peek. I've already seen plenty anyway…", Yuuta said in a sarcastic tone as he turned away from Alice.
She glared at him for a moment before she quickly reached the small wardrobe some steps away from the bed.
Yuuta could hear Alice frantically searching through drawers for some clothes to wear. He listened to every move she made while he looked around his side of the room. It was dark, but there was some light coming from a pair of windows, so he could still make out some shapes and colors.
White walls were layered with brown wood panels and had several decorative paintings hanging on them. Two stained glass windows with a brown wood frame surrounded the fairly large bed made out of high-quality materials. Both windows had pure white curtains hung over them. One of the windows was partially opened and a warm wind blew through it, making the curtains dance to its tune. There was a small nightstand on both sides of the bed and each nightstand had an unlit wax candle on it. Underneath the bed was a soft fur carpet laid on top of the brown wooden floorboards that covered the room.
Waiting for Alice to get dressed gave him some time to think and calmly organize his thoughts. He did not know where he was, but this was definitely not his bedroom. The most likely scenario would be that he was kidnapped for some reason, but it did not seem like that at all. He tried to remember the events from before he woke up in this room for any answers that may help him make sense of the situation, but he only vaguely recalled what happened after he came home from school and the dream he had in-between was almost a complete blur. He did, however, remember fragments of a childlike voice talking to him and the bright white light from his dream.
Lost in thought, he did not pay much attention to his surroundings until he was interrupted by Alice's sudden response.
"-I'm done. You can turn around now."
Yuuta turned around and let his eyes loose upon Alice's unusual outfit. It was made entirely of black leather and almost looked like something straight out of someone's S&M dungeon rather than a fantasy world.
She was wearing tall leather boots and tight leather pants with two rapier swords strapped to her thighs and a large dagger sheathed on her back.
Her top consisted of a hardened leather chest piece with an open bust on top of a black shirt and hardened leather shoulder guards with dark brown leather wrist guards, followed by her black leather gloves. She also wore a fairly long cape – black on the outside and red on the inside – with a large hood attached to it.
As he looked at Alice, Yuuta felt a sharp pain in his head. Her outfit made him recall some of the child's words from his dream.
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave you alone! This is the first time something like this happened! Besides, I summoned you, so there's no way back now!"
As he remembered her words in his thoughts, the word 'summoned' echoed through his mind.
'Could it be?! No, there's no way! There's no way I was actually 'summoned' to another world, right? I mean, such things are not possible…right?!'
A seemingly forced smile appeared on his face as he gazed upon Alice in total silence. She felt anxious as Yuuta's eyes analyzed her from head to toe. She tried to say something to break the uncomfortable silence, but before she could, Yuuta suddenly rushed towards the open window a few steps away from him. He drew open the slightly closed curtains as he reached the window and fell instantly into a state of shock after witnessing the sights before him.
There were hundreds of people walking through a wide, paved street surrounded by gothic-styled buildings on both sides. Several horse carriages went back and forth through the street while various shopkeepers attracted customers to their shops. A group of children dressed in shabby clothes ran past the shops, went across the street and then disappeared straight into an unusually dark alleyway. A group of men, wearing what seemed like plate armor, appeared from around the corner running with all their might down the street while constantly shifting their heads left and right as if they were looking for something or for someone. In the midst of it all, a tall, strange-looking creature appeared from the alley while carrying what seemed like a large linen bag on his back. The creature was quite big with a lizard-like head and tail alongside its sharp claws on both its hands and feet. It walked past the armored men and soon disappeared down the street.
'It…it's real. It's real! I really was summoned to a fantasy world! This is amazing!'
As Yuuta observed the unusual events outside, he finally came to terms with his situation. He truly was in a fantasy world. However, instead of being afraid or anxious about this, he was happy and excited almost beyond belief. He was feeling the happiest he has ever been in his life. After all, this is what he secretly desired all along. He wanted to start over and try his luck in a new world and now, with his wish granted, he finally felt free for the first time in his life. He was no longer a slave to society's every whim and expectation. He was free to live by his own rules now.
Alice, who was looking at Yuuta in surprise as he happily examined the outside, could not understand his sudden actions.
'What is he doing? I've never seen anyone become so happy just by looking outside a damn window! '
Just as she was going to ask him about his weird behavior, Yuuta turned from the window and spoke first.
"Grivois-san! Although I am already pretty sure about this, let me ask you something!", he said loudly.
"Eh?!"
Alice stared at him in anticipation as Yuuta continued.
"What is this world's name?"
"Aruneya. Why?"
Yuuta let out a long sigh after which a satisfactory smile appeared on his face.
'As I thought, this truly is a different world…'
"I see. Then, can you tell me where are we now, what is this place and which country am I in?", he continued in a much calmer tone of voice.
Alice looked at him as he spoke, all the while trying to make sense of his questions.
'Why would he be asking such things when it's pretty common knowledge here? How could he not know this?'
Alice sighed while walking over to the round table close to the window. She sat down on one of the chairs and made a gesture which meant that Yuuta should sit as well.
As he sat down, Alice began to explain with a stern look on her face.
"We are inside the 'Hungry Dragon' inn, which is located within the city of Brurradin - capital of The Brurradale Kingdom. It's a coastal kingdom overlooking The Brurranean Expanse from one side and The Overgrown Forest from the other. Alongside Brurradale, there are two more human kingdoms: The Holy Kingdom of Sihranon to the west and The Gastrian Empire to the south. Besides the human kingdoms, there are also several non-human nations to the east. Most notable would be: The Khurdarum Empire, The Great Beastmen Alliance and The Enneas Dynasty. That's all, unless you'd like a history lesson too.", she said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"No, it's fine. Thank you for explaining this to me."
"Then I believe it's your turn now, wouldn't you agree? How did you get here and why?"
Her words pierced through him as he himself did not know exactly how and why he showed up here. He knew he was summoned, but he didn't know anything about magic apart from what he saw in games or manga and he couldn't use that as reference.
"I was…summoned here, apparently."
"Summoned?!", she blurted out quite loudly.
"Yes. A childlike voice spoke to me in my dream saying I was being summoned and then I saw a bright white light and soon woke up here. That's all I know, really."
It seemed to him like he just said something truly unbelievable as Alice's face froze in surprise. He could see droplets of sweat slowly forming on her face.
Despite doubting his words at first, Alice realized there was indeed a possibility that he was summoned to this world if one took in consideration his unusual behavior so far, but then who summoned him and for what reason? He was above average-looking, a bit of a pervert and wore an unfamiliar outfit, but that was all. He didn't seem like someone special to her. Just why would someone go through all the trouble of summoning a man like him?
More importantly, the person responsible for bringing him here must be a powerful magic user as a spell of this magnitude is something she never heard of before. She began to question what little knowledge she had about magic. She was quite skilled with a number of Illusion spells and a master of the delicate Shadow Arts, which used several Conjuration spells, but still she had little insight in other schools of magic.
Alice stared at Yuuta, lost in her thoughts, until his words snapped her back to reality.
"Grivois-san? Are you alright?"
"A-Ah, yeah! It's just…"
"What is it?"
She cleared her throat and calmed herself before continuing.
"Well, as you probably realized by now, magic exists in this world. It's divided into eight schools of magic: Protection, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Elemental, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation. Each school has several sub-schools of magic. Conjuration magic – the type of magic used on you – is used by wizards, sorcerers or priests to summon familiars or the undead by using low-tier spells. However, the potency and type of spell like the one used on you is something I've never seen or heard of before. Whoever summoned you must be a very powerful magic user. Then again, I do not know that much about magic and I could be wrong about this. That being said, you should consider paying a visit to the Brurradale Royal Magic Academy as you might find some proper answers there."
After listening to her explanation, Yuuta let out a loud, hearty laugh. He could not stop himself from laughing at the fact that this world's magic is actually quite similar to what he saw and read in games or manga.
"I see. Thank you again, Grivois-san!", Yuuta said with a wide, honest smile on his face.
Alice blushed a bit as she forced a smile back. She was afraid she might've said something weird, but Yuuta's smile somehow assured her that was not the case, so she ignored it.
"I'd like to visit the Magic Academy as soon as possible, then, but I do not know the way to it nor anything about this city. I'd hate to impose on you any longer, but since I do not know anyone else around here, could I ask you to lead me to it, Grivois-san?"
"Eh?!"
While she did not particularly mind leading him to it – as it would be a great chance to get him off her back – she couldn't do so with him looking like a fancy hobo.
"…Fine. I'll help you, but you can't go out looking like that. I'll go buy you something to wear, so you stay here and wait for me. I won't be gone for long, alright?"
"Y-Yes, I understand."
Alice stood up from the table and walked to the room entrance. As she was about to open the door, Yuuta called for her.
"Grivois-san!"
"What?"
"…Thank you."
"Don't worry about it. See you later, then."
The sound of the wooden door closing some steps away from him marked a new beginning for Yuuta and the end of a certain old man…
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