[POV Artur]
(So naming a few students is already enough to tire out a goddess? How much energy does that process actually consume? Or did she see something she wasn't supposed to?) I thought.
I gave a faint smile.
"It's fine, Goddess. Go get some rest. I can wait until you're feeling better"
"Ah, thank you, Hero Artur" Goddess Sapphire replied, returning the smile.
"It's nothing" I said calmly.
I looked straight into her eyes… and they shifted away. (Fickle eyes, Goddess?) I thought, with a hint of sarcasm.
It was in that brief moment of discomfort that King Dinos rose from his throne.
"I will answer any questions you may have, so feel free to ask" he said.
One by one, everyone turned to look at me. I sighed inwardly. Even though I was considered the class nerd, I always ended up as the group's representative. I never really belonged to a single clique, but my literature teacher used to call me a "wildcard student"—someone who moved between all the groups in class. The problem was that this always came with the burden of handling everyone's questions.
Good thing I was used to it.
"All right… just to make sure I understand" I began. "We were summoned to fight demons as heroes?"
"That's correct" the king replied calmly.
"There's magic in this world?" I asked, keeping the same steady tone.
"Yes" King Dinos answered, just as simply.
"We'll be able to go back?" I asked.
"Yes. If you manage to defeat the ten Demon Lords and gather their philosopher's stones, we will have enough power to perform the reverse spell" the king replied.
"But will we return to the exact moment we were teleported?" I pressed.
"That… I can't answer" he said, making no attempt to hide his uncertainty.
The answer was vague, but it was enough for me.
"Okay, I think that's it" I concluded, in a show of pure pragmatism.
"Very well. I know you are still confused, so use tonight to rest. There will be other opportunities to ask questions. Tomorrow, you will be given an evaluation mission" King Dinos concluded.
"What do you mean?" Guinle asked immediately.
"You will go to the forest accompanied by teams of knights. We wish to observe your innate abilities" the king replied.
I remained silent. Guinle looked at me, clearly expecting some kind of reaction.
"We will provide individual dormitories and a personal attendant for each of you. They will guide you to your rooms" the king continued.
"What level of freedom do we have within the castle?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.
"You have complete freedom, even to visit the city. Still, I advise you to always take a bodyguard—at least until you reach level twenty" the king said.
"Okay" I replied without giving it much thought.
One of the attendants, who had remained motionless until then, approached me. The others went to the remaining boys, while male attendants guided the girls. Each student was led to their own room.
When I stepped into mine, I was genuinely surprised. The space was large—around two hundred square feet. A massive bed occupied the center of the main wall, surrounded by extravagant, almost excessive decoration. There was a door on one of the walls, and I pointed toward it.
"The bathroom, sir" the maid replied promptly.
I walked over to the bed and sat down. It was unbelievably soft. Then I took a closer look around the room. Despite the luxury, it felt… empty.
"If you would like anything added to the room, such as decorations, just let me know and I will take care of it" the maid said, polite and attentive.
"I won't need anything for now. Just leave me alone and bring me a bottle of something sweet in an hour" I replied.
"With alcohol?" she asked.
"Yes" I answered calmly.
She gave a slight bow in farewell and left the room.
(Well… we've been summoned to another world. This is insane) I lay back on the bed, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. (I don't even know how I'm supposed to react)
I don't want to go back.
I don't have any strong ties to the other world. My parents died early, and my grandparents never cared much about me. Everything in my life was always… lukewarm. No explosive loves, no overwhelming worries, no stressful routine that even made me feel bound to something important. I never had anything I could truly dedicate myself to.
Here, at least, it feels like there's a chance to start over.
But that scares me too.
I'm afraid of ending up as nothing more than a pawn in this Goddess's hands. We're being dragged into a war, whether we like it or not. If I don't want to be trapped by a destiny chosen by others, I need to become strong.
So the first step is understanding my abilities.
Absorb…
I thought about it for a few seconds. (Absorb what? Damage? Magic? Other abilities?)
Time passed as I got lost in those thoughts, until a knock on the door snapped me out of it.
"Coming"
I got up as I spoke, walked to the door, and opened it. On the other side were a few of my classmates: Selene, Lissa, Bia, Jano, and Kairos. Even though I didn't really belong to any clique, those five were the ones I could most easily call friends—or at least the people I felt the closest to.
Selene was the first to speak: "Artur, we wanted to talk"
"Come in" I replied, stepping aside with a slightly serious expression.
They came in quickly and arranged themselves in a circle in front of the bed. Before I could close the door, the maid appeared, carrying a bottle of liquor and a few glasses. I waited for her, took the bottle, and then closed the door, joining the group.
"I was expecting you" I lied, pouring the drinks.
"Man, what the hell is going on? We got summoned to another world… is that really possible?" Kairos said, clearly upset.
I gave a small smile: "I know it's hard to wrap your head around, but we need to accept reality. The sooner we do that, the easier it'll be to deal with everything"
"But… are we going to make it back home?" Bia asked hesitantly.
"Let's leave that topic for when everyone's a bit more relaxed" I said, handing her a glass. "How about we start by talking about everyone's abilities?"
"I've got the skill Gaia's Prison, maxed out, and Substitution as a Unique… whatever that means" Bia said, frowning. "Substitution… do you have any idea how it works?"
Before I could answer, in the blink of an eye, she swapped places with Kairos.
"Hm… interesting. The first one is definitely meant to restrain or contain an enemy" I crossed my arms, thinking. "You've got great crowd-control abilities. You'd make a solid strategist. It really suits you"
"What's the point of all this, Artur?" Lissa asked suspiciously.
"Well, whether we like it or not, if we want to do anything in this world, we need to survive" I replied calmly. "And for that, it's important that everyone knows what they're good at and uses those strengths"
"Seriously?" she shot back. "Just yesterday we were calculating the circular motion of a sphere tied to an inextensible string, and now we can shoot magic from our hands. And you think analyzing completely illogical abilities is going to increase our chances of surviving?"
"Yes. Actually, it's pretty obvious" I said, letting out a light sigh. "But I get why you're upset. Still, it's better to forget how irrational this world is and simply accept it"
I paused for a moment before continuing: "Of course… if you want to return to our old world, you might not understand what I mean by this kind of analysis right now. But it's worth thinking about"
We spent some more time drinking while analyzing our abilities. After I explained the Five's skills, Bia brought the subject of going home up again: "Artur, do you think we can go back home?"
"Well… I don't know" I answered honestly. "But the real question is: do you want to go back home?"
"What do you mean? That's obvious" Kairos replied immediately.
I shook my head.
"Not necessarily. Think about it. This mission to defeat the Demon Lords isn't going to be quick. We're going to spend years in this world. It's impossible not to form bonds with people. So my question is: five years from now—being optimistic—will you still want to go back home? Think about it. Be honest with yourselves"
"That's really hard to know" Selene said thoughtfully. "A lot could happen. We could lose one of our classmates, among many other things"
"You really had to jump straight to death as an example" Lissa commented, looking uncomfortable.
The conversation grew a bit heavier after that, until Jano shifted the focus.
"Okay, but there's one thing I can't get out of my head… what are your abilities, Artur?"
"Hide Status and Absorb" I replied. "The second one being a Unique"
"Absorb?" Kairos frowned.
"Yeah… I still don't know exactly what it does" I admitted.
We kept talking for a while longer, until night fully settled in. Little by little, everyone headed back to their own rooms. I was already in mine when I threw myself onto the bed and passed out almost immediately.