Alua, our guide, began her explanation.

“First let me clarify the situation you are in. You have been summoned to another world, where magic exists and monsters roam the lands. I know it may sound absurd but just think about what you saw in that forest if you don't believe me. I can also show you some magic if you want.”

I already believed her, everything made so little sense that this was the only possible explanation, I wanted to see magic anyway though. I always dreamed about something like this happening after all.

“Please do,”

I replied.

“Well then.”

She pointed her right hand at the sky and a ball of flames appeared on her palm, a few instants later it flew to the sky, avoided the sails and exploded in the sky.

“This is Fireball, one of the most basic fire spells, if you become magicians you will surely learn it, but it can be useful to warriors too.”

I couldn't help but feel very excited about all of this. I didn't like being in the custody of someone I didn't trust but I dreamed about a situation like this one all my life.

I could finally abandon my past dull life for something much more exciting. There was so much I wanted to know about magic and so many things I could do with it.

“Now is there anything you want to ask me?”

The guide continued.

Jane's mouth was agape, she probably couldn't get her head around all the information, so I asked first.

“First, who sent you here? And second why go to such length to save us? Does it have to do with the reason why you have been calling us heroes this whole time?”

“I am a ranger sent by the city-state of Hoss to rescue you and that's because you heroes have all a blessing on you, given to you by Goddess Esha. This is a world when one can become extremely powerful as long as one is willing to fight and with your blessings, you heroes can become the strongest.

I am here to offer you the assistance and protection of Hoss so that you can develop your potential.”

I didn't know anything about any blessings or goddesses but I guessed it was possible.

'It seems they are kind of used to heroes being summoned and she's here to scout us. I prefer doing everything on my own if I can though.'

“I am very grateful for your help but I would like to think about it a little before I decide to affiliate myself with any country. You can leave me in the first town on the way if it's not a problem, I'll be sure to repay you in the future.”

The guide hesitated a little and then replied without changing expression.

“Oh no, what tutor would I be if I were to leave a hero alone in a world full of monsters and evil demons like this one? You don't have to worry hero, Hoss will do all it can to comply with your needs.”

'So I have no choice uh? Well, at least she didn't ask me to fight any overlord or whatever evil thing for them.'

“Also, I didn't want to talk about it yet but in this world, there are evil things called Hollows, their main bastion is the Dark Fortress in the north of this continent. Since they are enemies of the Goddess they would aim to your lives. In fact, the Goddess should have asked you to go there to destroy the Hollows and their leader, the Demon King, the source of all evils. That's another reason why I can't leave you alone.”

'Oh for fuck's sake.'

“Hic”

Jane hiccuped behind me, she seemed about to cry. All those absurd happenings were already overwhelming her and on top of that, she just heard that some dark lord wanted to kill her. I couldn't blame her for that, that is the reaction a human would have in a situation like this after all.

'Now, since she isn't willing to let us get away from her faction, she probably slipped some lies and omissions in her speech to scare us into sticking with them. Let's keep what she said in mind but later I have to investigate those dark guys or whatever they are, maybe they'll turn out to be nice people who just happened to be at war with Hoss. After all the voice I heard didn't say anything about killing or destroying. Now I should ask her things I think she won't lie about, let's go with magic for now.'

“ Can you also tell us about magic? I'm sure there's a lot to say, but can you at least introduce it?”

I asked.

“Yes, I will explain some basic theory then. First, there are eight main attributes, they ar-”

“Wait.”

Jane abruptly interrupted Alua.

Then, while still on the verge of crying, she asked:

“Did you also find a boy named Harry? He's tall with brown hair and was wearing a leather jacket.”

“I'm sorry but we found just another hero and his name is Oliver. You see, miss hero, every hero is teleported in a different location, unless you were touching them. You should not lose hope though, once we are in Hoss we will help you find him.”

'Oh my, you must have said the wrong words miss Alua, it's:” we will use you to steal him away from another nation”.'

“I-I see.”

Jane seemed a little comforted by Alua's reply.

“Anyway, I think that for now you should just rest or talk to each other, so you can let all this information seep in. I will tell you more once we arrive. Mr. Oliver is there, chatting with my colleague if you want to talk to him.”

Alua said while pointing at her right.

There, the boy me and mark tried to protect was talking with the other guy who saved us from the goblins.

'No time for that, just give me that juicy magic theory please.'

“Can you please finish to explain that thing about magic attributes first?”

I asked.

“I will just do a brief introduction then. First, there are eight main attributes, which are: earth, water, fire, air, light, dark, holy, and demonic. they are divided into three groups: the first four attributes are called elemental attributes; light and dark are called existential attributes; at last holy and demonic are called divine attributes. Those are the attributes that everyone possesses, but once you will become a little proficient, you will be able to mix them to create new attributes. Those are called hybrid attributes and they can be mixed as well, so there are actually countless possible attributes besides the main ones.

Also, regarding the main attributes, everyone has a different affinity to any of them and some attributes have a more variable affinity than others. Affinity will influence the efficiency of that attribute and is determined by how much you are in tune with it and how much you train with it. But let's stop it at that for now, we will measure your affinity once we arrive, for now, try to get acquainted with each other, you will be together for a while after all.”

'All right, I guess it's as far as we go about magic for now.'

“Thank you. By the way, I forgot to mention it, my name is David.”

“Right, I forgot it too, my name is Jane.”

“You don't need to worry about it. By the way, do you know the isekai genre mister David?”

Alua asked me.

“I do.”

“I figured, some heroes from the past who were recorded reacting calmly just like you, later indicated this genre as the cause.”

“I see, are there any heroes other than us? Wait, now that I think about it you can speak English, did you learn it from them?”

“Every twenty years a handful of heroes is summoned around the world, usually about twenty, so there are more than the ones from your group, but not so many. And yes, I learned some of your world's languages so we could communicate, I can talk English, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and right now I'm studying Russian.”

'Twenty heroes every twenty years uh, enough to be accepted as a truth without doubts but not enough to lose our value.'

“I see, thank you again, I guess I'll go get some rest then.”

'I don't want to socialize right now.'

“Have a nice rest then.”

I started walking back to the trapdoor and I felt Jane walking right behind me, then when I stopped in front of the trapdoor, she stopped too. I guessed she was following me because she couldn't decide what to do on her own. I liked the thought of being the one who leads but this seemed just a hassle.

“Hey Jane, what are you going to do?”

“I-i don't know.”

'She's probably overwhelmed by the situation.'

“Go to rest, you'll feel better afterward.”

“Y-yes I'll do that.”

'Problem solved.'

I was about to open the trapdoor when I heard an unknown voice from my right.

“W-wait.”

I raised my head and at my right was Oliver, the boy bullied by Jane's group. He was a pretty frail-looking boy, he was short and slim, he had light brown hair, and was wearing a brown hoodie. He was trying to say something but seemed very hesitant, he opened and closed his mouth a few times and his cheeks had turned red. He then took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stuttered:

“T-thank you for r-rescuing me earlier, I'm Oliver, n-nice to meet you.”

“Don't worry about it, my name is David, nice to meet you.“

An embarrassed smile appeared on Oliver's face.

“I-I'll go look at the clouds then, s-see you later.”

He turned around and swiftly walked back to the railing.

I noticed that Jane looked at the floor all the time. Maybe she was feeling guilty, or maybe, now that she didn't have her group to back her, she wasn't brave enough to take responsibility for what she did. I would have bet it was the second.

After that, I hurried up to the room where I woke up earlier, then closed the door and threw myself on the bed.

I sighed in relief, it was nice to be alone again.

I started to consider what to do in the near future. I would probably have to stay for a while with Jane and Oliver since all of us were heroes, so now was the time to sort out my thoughts on them.

Luckily none of them seemed very eager to be on a leading role, which gave me the chance to easily take up the role for myself. I didn't really like being responsible for others but I couldn't stand being ordered around and it is nice to have someone obeying you. I also considered myself a good strategist so it was better for everyone if I took that role.

The major liability was Jane. In our world she was bullying someone while relying on a great difference in the number and not dirtying her hands herself, she was probably a coward and someone who couldn't be trusted, I couldn't let my guard down around her. I felt nothing but contempt for her, but they were the ones like her which reminded me of how the world is.

'Humans are foolish, I will never forget that.'

Regarding Oliver though, I felt very different. He survived bullying, I couldn't say I was sorry for him but at least I respected him. He also felt more trustworthy than Jane, I still didn't know him well but for now, he seemed to feel indebted to me and that was good. He was also strangely cute, if we were in an anime he would have been a trap, also his movements were very feminine, and the way he blushed.........

'W-wait wait, wait, he's a guy, I will never forget that, I will NEVER forget that.'

Anyway, I've been eager to try it since earlier and now that I was alone I wanted to give it a shot, let's try some magic.

I pointed my arm forward with my hand open and said:

“Light.”

Nothing happened.

'Ok, let's try something else.'

“Aero.”

Nothing Happened.

“Ocus pocus?”

Still nothing.

'Well, I guess it ain't that easy.'

I tried to concentrate to search for some magic energy inside of me and felt nothing.

I tried to picture in my mind an orb of light created from my palm and tried to concentrate again.

I imagined it with all my strength.

“Nghhhhhh”

Nothing happened.

“Nghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,”

I Imagined it even harder.

“Nghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Then a little spark came out.

“What the fuck!?”

I didn't expect it to, but it came out.

It was just a spark but I just used magic.

I decided to continue experimenting, I could just wait to arrive and ask Alua but I preferred to be prepared as much as I could, there was no reason not to do it after all.

'Let's get to work then.'

By experimenting with magic I came to understand a few things: first, the magic seemed to take the shape I imagined, the clearer the image in my mind the more defined the shape of the spell was; second, it seemed that elemental magic only resembled physical matter, I managed to cast a bit of water magic and even if it resembled water it disappeared without leaving a trace when I lost concentration; third, casting spells was tiring, I mean, I kind of expected it but it seems that I only had a set amount of magic to use. I still didn't know how to replenish it though, I really hoped it did on its own.

More than physical tiredness, I was feeling like I didn't sleep for days. Now there was not much that I could do except sleep, I laid down on the bed and fell asleep right after.

--extra--

Excerpt from the"About Earth" by Ren The Timebender, Heian Kingdom,Eastern League, year 895 a. t.

Trap: Another type of character present in weeb culture. Traps are male characters with feminine traits and also often dress up like girls, usually of the male gender. They apparently were one of the most beloved types of characters of our glorious founder but we sadly don't have too much information about them so I took the decision to become one in the hope that adjusting myself to our majestic founder's tastes might help me in my quest to master time magic.