"Welcome champions."

The group of people, 2 women and 3 men chanted as Leon's class got to their feet. They were of differing heights only one reaching more than five and a half feet. The student all looked at them and at each other, none wanting to be the first to speak up. The place they appeared was heavily wooded with unknown trees, and the sounds of the forest could be heard in the distance, their immediate presence scaring away the more timid creatures.

"Come, come now children don't be shy. I am Ohm Icura, a guide to your new home." The tallest of the men said, approaching the students ahead of the others.

"What's going on here old man!?" Billy stepped forward. 'He may be a bully but he is brave' Leon thought to himself.

"We were told of your coming by the oracles of the gods and sent to guide you to a place you may learn and acclimatize to our world. We were not told you would be so young, in truth, we were expecting warriors of some sort."

Billy holds up a short thin sword, causing Leon to notice that all of the students have a weapon or item that they didn't have before.

"Haha, I just talked to a god, that's got to be better than just some warrior!" Billy declares. Some of the students start to realize that whatever is going on, they just had a brush with truly immense powers, that must make them special, right?

Leon doesn't miss the looks of greed on Mr. Icura's face at the sight of Billy's sword and is reminded that Chaos said to put blood on the ring he was given. The contract also said that he would get a God tier item. 'Is that sword also a god tier item', he wonders looking down at the shabby copper ring he was given. 'No matter how you look at it, surely something called god tier isn't common.'

Leon wonders how to go about drawing some of his own blood. The quill drew blood for his contract with Chaos, but the wound was nonexistent now. He starts to put pressure on the inside of his bottom lip with his teeth. Normally the pain would have been unbearable, but given the seriousness of the situation, he manages to cause a minuscule cut.

Meanwhile, the old man Ohm Icura smiles at Billy, "Yes Champion, but surely you would agree, that given the life or death missions you were tasked with, seasoned warriors would not have been a bad idea."

"You know our mission!? I thought it was a secret though..." One of the students, Mary Kendrick blurts out.

Leon rolls his eyes, thinking the old man was unlikely to know what they were tasked with if not even the other students knew. Raising his hand to his lips he puts a drop of blood on the ring. The ring shines for a moment, then the shabby copper appearance dissolves into a reflective black one. It then bonds to Leon's finger, sinking into the skin until it looks like a dull black tattoo.

"Given the state of the world at present, living day to day is a life and death struggle for many, I don't imagine the tasks given by a god would be any less arduous than that." The old man bows slightly to the students. "That is why the alliance as decided to extend to you an offer you should consider."

"What's that, old man?" Billy asks gruffly, but it's apparent the Icura's statements have rattled him and many of the students.

"Rather than sending children to fight and die in our battles, the Southern Highlands Alliance has decided to, instead, send our own warriors. You will be treated as honored guest and nobles until the end of the war. That means you won't have to learn how to kill people or have thousands of very well trained soldiers trying to kill you."

Many of the students are truly frightened now. Many are nodding their heads, willing to take up the offer right then. Jermaine Scott, the class genius instead ask, "But how will we get home?"

Ohm Icura seems reluctant to answer, the men and women behind him also seem like they would have preferred the question not have been asked.

"Unfortunately," Icura says, "there is no way to send you home, even the gods will not do such a thing unless you gain them far, far, far more power in this world than it would take to send you back to yours." Icura's face is apologetic, but Leon doesn't believe it to be sincere. "However, as noble guests of the Alliance, I can assure you that here, you can have more than you could ever dream of back in your world. Power, wealth, slaves of all kinds, and entertainment commoners can only dream of."

The faces of the students go through many emotions at the news that they do not have a way home. But some go through different emotions at the news that they can be treated like nobles. Some don't feel they have all that much back home, so why go back. Other's feel the risks involved may not be worth it, sure they will miss their friends and family, but surely it's better than being dead. A few are wary about the slavery thing.

"And you're just going to let us not fight? For free?" Jermaine persists, with a hopeful look on his face.

"Well, no." Icura says, "I'm sure, that not even on your old world was anything given for free, Right, children?"

"Tha... that's true." Billy replies. "So what do you want then?"

"Well, we would definitely need you to swear always to be a friend of the alliance, and never to work with our enemies against us, and of course we can't have you running around with those weapons, so we would have to give those to our warriors instead, but that should be all, it wouldn't do to put many restrictions on guest brought to us by the very gods, themselves. It's true we don't gain much, but I would never be happy with sending such young ones off to die for our cause."

Ohm Icura smiled confidently at the students.