The doors open and a sudden beam of light reaches my eyes. It was the equivalent of checking your phone at 5 am with the brightness on the highest setting. It hurt enough to make me think I have an ocular hemorrhage. As soon as I regain my sight, I notice that a lot of people are there. And by a lot, by a quick glance, I counted over 20 people. Maids with the typical outfit. A form of grey dress with an apron draped over from the front and some form of a white headband. A couple of foot soldiers with iron helmets, chest plates, gauntlets, and greaves. And right in the center of the room, across the huge red carpet that was extended all across the corridors of the castle, 2 huge thrones. 1 would’ve guessed that it belonged to the King and the Queen but instead, I can only see the King and a teenager.

“It’s the princess, her name is Catherine. Act accordingly.” Ciara noticing my confusion whispered the answer to the question that was racking inside my brain. I give her a quick nod and I make sure to follow her lead.

We slowly walked until we reach a point where Ciara and Jasmin stopped. I was too busy contemplating my surroundings to stop exactly the place they did. When I noticed, I turn around only to see the 2 of them kneeling. I do the same. But I managed to get a glimpse of the King’s face. And like I was thinking, that look of disgust in his eyes said everything that I needed to know.

I either make myself useful or he’s going to make sure my staying here is a living hell.

Ciara and Jasmin stood up after some words I obviously couldn’t comprehend. I decide to sneak a peek at both of them just to be sure if I was allowed to stand up. They gave a slick nod and I did as they told. I slowly and casually went to the same spot the 2 of them were and I decided to listen to the conversation that they were about to have.

It wouldn’t hurt at all if I could manage to grasp a couple of words but with my luck that wouldn’t happen. And it didn’t. I consider myself someone who’s above average learning languages but this one sounds inhuman. But that kinda makes sense. After all, this isn’t our planet at all.

After what appeared to be the longest 5 minutes of my life, we were excused and from the look on both of their faces, I could guess what they were about to tell me. Ciara talked way more than I was expecting and even Jasmin intervened a couple of times. We left the throne room and we waited for the doors to close behind us before we started speaking. As soon as they did, I decided to see if my guesses were right.

“Let’s see. You told him my stats, the fact that I would have to learn the language from scratch, and the fact that not even you think I’m fit for battle. And he wasn’t pleased with it and even tried to send me to an allied kingdom so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the failure of a summoned soul. But you opposed and since you 2 have quite a status among the “heroes” and he felt obliged to allow me to stay here.”

Jasmin opened her eyes pretty wide and her jaw dropped. Seeing that Ciara managed to laugh for a bit.

“You’re correct. He insisted that you would need to fight and I didn’t oppose that. Since our very first meeting, me and little Jasmin here declared that only the ones that wanted to fight should be allowed to do so. It’s without a surprise that some of them think this is a game, weirdly enough. I simply told him that for the time being it would be better for you to study in the library. I also told him that you are quite the strategist which he doubted but with Jasmin’s help he took the bait.”

“It’s not like we lied. Yurem and I worked on a couple of school projects together and in terms of organization and scheduling, he is even better than me. And believe me, I am quite proud of my work and study methods.”

“Do you want to remember our we both acted on our first project last year?”

My first interaction with Jasmin was awful. Do you know those girls who have perfect grades, they act somewhat cocky but only because they can back it up? Yeah, Jasmin was even worse.

“Kids, let’s take advantage of the fact that all of them are training, and let’s head to the dining room and have some tea. Because I wanna know that story.”

Let’s resume the story. Sophomore year. English teacher decided to pair me and Jasmin. Jasmin was sick and didn’t attend school for a week. During that weak, a pair project was announced. Well, I didn’t have a pair, Jasmin wasn’t in class, so our teacher decided to pair us together. My high school life went downhill from there.

Do you know those romcoms where the shy main character gets into a conversation with the most popular student? When all of the other kids give you menacing looks? That was it. Jasmin wasn’t aware of my grades at the time. They were nothing special but they weren’t also nothing to simply ignore.

English class. The teacher tells Jasmin that she is pairing up with me. She begs her to let her be on her own. I did the same. Didn’t work. After school. School library. We sit in front of each other. She looks at me and simply demands that I let her do the project on her own. She says that she is going to give us the top mark so I should just go for the ride. And there’s when the problem started. I hit her with a big, fat no.

She looked so confused and she asked what I said. If I could repeat myself. And let’s just say that hearing a monologue of how I’m better at the subject than she was didn’t let her rage ease at all. So I offered a solution. The project was to be made in 5 parts. 5 different presentations. Each of us makes 1. When we get the report of how to proceed to do the last bit, we add the grades of our 2 projects, and whoever wins decides how to do the final part. I won. By a big margin.

Since then, every time we paired up we had the best grade in the class. Obviously, everyone thinks I get carried by Jasmin. She wanted to dispatch those rumors but I didn’t let her. Because it would give me even more problems. Reluctantly she let them pass. So we had our little thing. She had the right mentality but her scheduling was keeping her from reaching maximum efficiency. So after I fixed that for her, the grades simply exploded. She raised them by a lot.

And that’s how Jasmin and I became friends-but-no-friends. We made this agreement because I know if she actually tried to befriend me, I would get into more trouble. She was reluctant but she agreed. We would occasionally text each other when we had issues with school subjects but only that.

“And that’s it. It was too big of a story, now please let me drink my black tea in peace.”

"I really wasn’t expecting all of that. I knew little Jasmin wasn’t a bad girl. But explain to me. Why couldn’t the 2 of you act like friends?”

“That’s quite simple, actually. He was worried I would turn into a target.” Jasmin actually said that with a lot of confidence. Hey, what do you mean I was worried? We are not close at all for me to be worried about you at all! Stop putting words and feelings on me.

I give her a face that shows my contempt and I promptly return to my good old tea.

“Oh my, look at my little Yurem, making friends.” Ciara, I swear that if you keep making those kinds of jokes, I swear to someone that I’ll never give you a back rub in order to remove the knots that you have due to your bad posture. Ah. Behold the power of the younger brother. Rejoice, my companion. If I had one.

“… Can we finally get into the topic?”

Ciara raises both her hands and finally decides to get serious. “Very well. I told the King that I would provide you with the basic alphabet and numerology since I believe you could go from there. From the quick glances that I get before the words are translated, I think you can catch up quickly with only that. He didn’t give you a deadline, so I think you’re are free to do what you wanted about the research. And there are quite a few topics that I want you to do so.”

“What’s on your mind?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “And you do know that you need to tell me what kind of research you want. This isn’t the same when your lawyer friends ask me for help.”

“You used to help lawyers?”

Great, now I’m done.

“Yeah. Last year we were in a bit of a pinch due to our plumbing so my boss lent us one of his apartments. I was a secretary but I also helped with research. Well, since my boss would literally live on a floor above the one he lent us, we would eventually work at home. And little Yurem here would usually help us. My boss was a bit disappointed when he told him that he wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer but he still had an offer to work there next year as a researcher if he desires. However, if that’s the case, he can’t go to college so we are still thinking about what to do.” Hearing this, Jasmin was dumbfounded.

“If I survive until there, that is.”

“Yu…”

“What? I’m the weakest of the group. You know that. But not the point. Tell me what’s on your mind and how explicit you want me to be.”

“Aff… Fine. I want you to research the alliances that the kingdom of Astax has. Also, make a list of how slavery is working. Both here and on Asparia. Because my guess is that this country is all about human supremacy while Asparia is about equality of species.”

“Why does that matter, Ciara?” Good question, Jasmin. Because I don’t see her point.

“Because if push comes to shove, I wouldn’t mind at all making an alliance with a kingdom that supports all kinds of species.”

“In other words, you are just trying to see that in the case of King Elis kicks me out, I have a place to go, right?”

“Bah, you’re no fun. I also thought of something. In your stats screen, on the 2nd column, you have several symbols. I think those are resistances to several elements and whatnot. I wanna confirm that without having to be burned alive. And last but not less important. I’m going to make you a list of guards. I want you to…”

“Check family records to access if anyone who is going to be near us is either a decent person or someone who can stab us in the back.”

Giving me finger guns and a wink, she smiles. Behold, 17 and overworked. Call child support. This is an abuse of power.

“What about you little Jasmin. Have anything in mind that Yu can search?”

“Well, if it’s not a bother, one of the guards mentioned that people have magic affinities but we only get to see ours after our first 2 weeks of training since we need to adapt our bodies for the first time we use mana. I also want to know easy ways to manipulate it since I can assume that not everyone is going to have an easy time doing so.

“You are a gamer, aren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yeah, Jasmin, tilting your head isn’t going to do much. You’re a gamer. A girl gamer. Ah, that’s why you understood some of the jokes I made. Now it makes sense.

“Sure. Sure. Anyway, I can do it. But let’s agree on something. These issues stay between the 3 of us. The last thing we need is someone running their mouth and yes I’m looking at you, Ciara. I know how lose your tongue gets when you go overboard and get tired.”

“I’ll be careful. Aff, I’m the older one, stop scolding me.”

“Act appropriate then. I’m going to do some research on quick ways to raise stats anyway. Is there a way to check when the next Spawn is coming?”

“Yeah. According to Captain Bernard, the capital church has a device that shows the time for the next Spawn. Oh, that device is also where you get your class upgrades.”

“Oh, great…” I sighed so loud that Jasmin got startled.

“You scared me. What’s wrong?”

“Church means religion. Religion means war if there are more than 1. If we are considered soldiers…”

“I didn’t even consider that possibility. Another task for you, I guess.” Sure, Ciara. Leave everything to me! It’s not like I don’t have to train and raise my levels and stats! And maybe get a skill so I can, I don’t know, survive? “I know what you’re thinking but we are to leave the capital on our own at level 20. Like it or not, I’m going to be one of the firsts. And in the end, I already decided that we are going to be together so you’ll get carried for a while. And I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

Easy for you to say, you’re not the useless one.

In the midst of our little petty argument, someone is chuckling. Of course, that person is Jasmin. The reason? She finds it ‘endearing how we are in sync and we still manage to argue back in forth with valid reasons’. Oy. Of course, I have valid reasons. I’m the one who’s gonna have to pull all-nighters in order to get you information while all you’re going to be doing is working out. Bit of unfair.

“Anyway, I think it’s getting late. The others are probably getting ready to have dinner. Shall we jo…”

I simply stood up as soon as I hear those words. The last thing I need right now is getting mocked for my stats. Or lack of them.

“Yeah, no. You’re coming with me, you’re going to write the alphabet and I’m going to figure stuff out. After that, then you can have fun with your new pals.”

“Jesh, no need to be so stingy. You’re going to die young if you keep behaving like that.”

“Yeah, luckily, next month.” Making jokes about being dead is the weak point of Ciara because she automatically thinks about our parents. She was their pride and joy. While I was the result of a night of drug and alcohol abuse and the no reminder of taking the pill. So they never got attached to me. We barely interacted. Every time they looked at me they had the same eyes as everyone else. Disgust. The only one who cared for me was Ciara. And the relationship between parents and daughter ended when she came home from school and saw my father lashing out at me with a belt. The reason? He gambled a month’s worth of money away. And the blame fell on me.

The first thing she did was run and grab the belt. Out father turned around ready to smack the person who was grabbing the belt but as soon as he saw his little princess, he lowered his hand and left the house. Me? Oh, I had 4 broken ribs and a busted face. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with Ciara sleeping with me on the bed. Her eyes were swollen from crying. I knew how much Ciara loved our parents. That’s why when the child services came into my room I simply lied and said I fell off the stairs. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her by taking our parents away from her.

And in the end, it was a somewhat selfish thing. I loved her. And the thought of not being near her was breaking me little by little. And she knew that. That’s why we became closer and closer. And when she hit her limit, she pulled a scheme where she recorded the abuse I suffered, the low quality of life we had, and how we lived. She handed everything to her, now, boss. And the next thing we knew, he showed up at our house with one of the police friends he had. He gave them the choice of passing to her the house deed and leaving and never coming back. He gave them a bit of money and off they went. 2 years later and we never saw them again. However, the last thing our father said before leaving was ingrained in our heads.

“I hope you 2 die as soon as possible so I can get my house back.”

That little remark broke Ciara. Her usual cheerful self was nowhere to be seen as soon as those words came onto us. But that remark also made him get a punch across the face by her boss. As soon as he was as far away as possible, Ciara asked for a job and she got one. Now back to the present.

“Yu…”

“I know. I won’t say it again.”

“Good.”

We left the table and Jasmin stood there without realizing what happened. We never talked about how we used to live with anyone. Only 4 people knew. The same 4 people that lived in that horror house. And that’s how we decided to live. From scratch. Just the 2 of us we are going to be happy together.

Walking through one of the many hallways into our room, we didn’t speak. We just stared at the floor. Only the sounds of our steps could be heard. We saw our door. She stopped in front of it, hand on the handle. I grabbed her and gave her a hug.

““Love you.””

We both said. At the exact same time. We have our fights, we have our petty arguments and from the outside, our personalities don’t go well together. But we would die for each other. From that day where she stopped me from dying, I swore to protect her no matter what. And with that, she wrote the alphabet on a notebook that I had, she wrote a couple of words by memory, gave me a smile, and left for dinner.

Morning came. I finally had to face the music and had to see all of the 14 faces that I wanted to avoid. Surprisingly they showed concern about my health. I don’t know what Ciara and Jasmin did but they behaved like we just met. They also found out about my stats and instead of being a mocking subject, they said that they would train with me anytime I wanted. Putting my best effort, I made a forced smile and thanked them. Apparently, the princess, Catherine, thinks that the fact that we were summoned is amusing so she hangs with them. She takes care of her own studies and the future Queen and as soon as she is done, she goes and watches them practice. Encourages them, always make sure they have water and towels so they can rehydrate and dry themselves. When Ciara told me this, I was dumbfounded. The little rascal, who acted all smug when I went to my hearing with the King is actually a decent person? Guess you really can’t judge the book by the cover.

Meanwhile, while Ciara reported her day to me, I was in the library. I could tell the difference between some of the letters already so it wasn’t a waste. I don’t wanna burn my brain out so I took the time to make a workout plan for myself. I used to have lung problems in my world but ever since I came here, it’s like they vanished. Or the magic they used to heal me fixed everything? I don’t know how it happened but I sure am glad. So I’m just gonna make sure I raise my stamina before I decide to do anything else.

Ciara also thought it was a good idea and since she used to have a personal trainer she made little adjustments so from that day on I can make myself useful. In the meantime, I made sure to think about all of the RPGs that I ever played. I know this isn’t a game. I know that much. It’s not like I inflicted pain on myself just to test some theories. Me? Of course not. It’s not a dream. What we are experiencing right now, it’s real. The years of being a sandbag are coming in handy because I can tell the difference between actual physical pain and phantom pains. Normally phantom pains only occur when you are missing a limb or part of your body but it’s also the name when you feel pain and it quickly fades away. It’s due to stress and fatigue. The real reason behind it? Don’t know. Never made enough research on the topic.

I crafted a theory and I’m going to put it into practice as soon as I can. All of them already reached level 2 and some even level 3 because Captain Bernard wanted to know that they need to kill monsters in order to gain EXP points. Since pretty much all of them played games where stuff like that happens, they quickly leveled up. I asked Ciara and Jasmin if they remember their stats at level 1 but none of them did. They didn’t bother memorizing it. So here is what I have in mind. Usually, in order to gain muscle, you pretty much need to break them. So that they grow stronger. Well, if that’s the case, if one gains strength in a normal method, maybe with actual physical practice, the stats can also raise. It’s going to depend on what you do, obviously but I don’t think EXP is the most important thing. But this is going to take a while to test so I’m going to put it on hold.

The days are passing and I notice that even Ben and Jimmy are being nice to me. Ben has some sort of illusion magic and Jimmy can create objects from dirt. It's useful so they even train with me and ask me for my training schedule so that they can tag along. They did their own practice and they even did extra with me. Perhaps they did turn a new leaf. Perhaps they realize they need all the help they can in order to go back home. Hey, I’m not complaining. Fact is, either I like it or not, I was never cut out to practice sports. I was always sick and because of that, I put on a lot of weight. But now since I’m healthy as one can be, I need help to get into shape for the first time in my life so they are actually being nice and helpful.

Meanwhile, it took me a week to learn the language. It was easier than I thought. As soon as I felt comfortable reading and writing I started doing the research that I planned with Ciara and Jasmin. I still don’t know what I should prioritize so I’m going by logic. If I’m going to live here for a while I need to understand who is living on the same roof as I am. Research on the royal family and the army it is.

A whole section dedicated to the royal family was in front of me. Gulp. This is going to be hard. But I gotta do it. No point in complaining. Shall I look into the past? Na, don’t think so. Only the last generation and the current one. If I want to know how this King works and acts I think I need to know about the people who raised him. Same with the Queen. Which reminds me. How good is the relationship of the queen of Astax with the Queen of Asparia? I’m getting excited. Okay. Calm down Yurem. Let’s do what we do best.

It’s showtime.