Inside the dimly illuminated underground hall of a castle, a solemn atmosphere encompassed the summoning of 'Otherworldly Heroes'. Supervising the entire summoning procedure was an elegant sorceress named Anastasia Clyde, the Head Court Magician in the Grand Kingdom of Averon.

"Attention! Concentrate and condense your magic power as much as you can, then pour every single drop of it into the summoning circle; do not let up!" Anastasia ordered in a stern manner, as she poured great amounts of her mana into the shining circle. "Also, remember to quickly switch places with the reserves if you can't go on any longer!"

It has almost been a week now since they've began this daring operation of summoning Heroes from another world to assist them in vanquishing the sudden monster insurgence. Normally, a nigh impossible feat such as summoning Heroes from another plane of existence would never be feasible, and it would probably never be duplicated ever again.

But now, it was all made possible by utilizing an Elder Dragon's Core which possess huge amounts of magic power, the Quintessence of Yggdrasil to greatly enchance all of the secondary materials, and a bottle of water from the Fountain of Life to regulate everything. These three main ingredients and some other unmentioned components were all put together in order to conjure up the ultimate summoning magic known in existence.

"I can feel it... we're almost there!"

A frenzied flow of magic power began wildly gathering at the focal point of the summoning circle, letting out waves of mana undulations in the underground hall. And soon enough, a resplendent holy light erupted outwards from the summoning circle while sending out great shockwaves along with it.

"I-Is it finished...?"

"Yeah, at least... I think so."

The participating Court Magicians and High Mages quietly discussed amongst each other.

As the view of the surrounding area started to clear up more and more, silhouetted figures could be faintly discerned through the blinding beam of light. Shortly after, a crowd of young people wearing a familiar uniform normally used by students on Earth could be seen standing on the flickering summoning circle.

"We-we...We did it!"

"After a long week of endless toiling we finally managed to succeed!"

"Hooray!"

Cheers of joy mixed with some relief reverberated in the underground hall. Anastasia, the supervisor of this whole operation, breathed out a sigh of pure exhaustion after a job well done. All it took was one hellish week for them complete the daunting task, which was considered a fairly short amount of time but it certainly drained the life out of these Mages.

And while they were zealously celebrating their success and expressing their sense of triumph, the summoned individuals were blankly staring at them with dazed expressions on their faces. Noticing this, Anastasia quickly tried to regain her composure while putting on a dignified air befitting her position as the Head Court Magician of a Grand Kingdom.

"Ahem!"

She loudly coughed to clear her sore throat, while also trying to get everyone's attention completely focused on her. Once Anastasia was positive that everyone's eyes was solely trained on her, she began to announce in the loudest and most dignified voice she could muster out,

"My warmest greetings to you esteemed Heroes from another world! I, Anastasia Clyde, the Head of the Court of Magicians in the Grand Kingdom of Averon, welcome all of you to the wonderful world known as Imahen!"

Listening to her dramatic speech, the so-called "Heroes from another world" reacted by looking at their classmates in confusion.

"Dude, do you know what she's talking about?"

"I don't know man, beats me. But why did she call us Heroes from another world, that doesn't make any sense..."

"Yeah, you're right... Aren't we still on Earth?"

"Hmm... No, it doesn't look like it."

The high school students that were now only summoned, murmured to each other while occasionally glancing at the long-robed strangers that were surrounding them.

"Hey, do you have any idea who those robed people are?"

"Uhm... Maybe they're cultists...?"

"Crap! What did we get ourselves into!?"

Ignoring the alarmed expressions that they were putting on, Anastasia unhurriedly concluded her speech, "I know all of you are utterly confused by what is happening, but I assure you that we do not mean any harm. Now then, I would like to request all of you to please follow me as I lead you outside."

Without further delay, Anastasia made her way towards a large double door where two armored men were standing guard. Although they were still hesitant, there really was no other choice left for them but to comply. And so, the hapless students silently tagged along with Anastasia.

When she arrived in front of the large double door, Anastasia commanded the guards stationed there, "Deactivate the spell and open the door immediately."

""Yes, right away!""

As they both answered her in repectful unison, the guards pushed the door open from their respective sides. Very quickly the only door to the underground hall was reopened and Anastasia walked through, followed of course by the group of students.

"Hey Yuan... What do you think so far about our current situation?" Jacob quietly whispered to the youth beside him, but even after a long while he didn't receive an answer back.

Finding this silence odd, Jacob glanced to his side where he saw Yuan blankly staring into air. His entire focus was apparently somewhere else, evident by the way he was knitting his eyebrows with a pensive look.

"Yo Yuan, what are you thinking over there?"

Jacob abruptly stopped where he was and put on a serious expression. Yuan promptly stopped in his tracks as well when he sensed that Jacob had come to a halt.

Meanwhile, the others continued marching forward as they weren't aware that two of their classmates had stopped following them. They were originally placed at the farthest back of the line where they were completely out of everyone's viewpoint, so it's only normal to get left behind in this situation.

"What got you so serious all of a sudden, Jacob?"

"I'm like this because of you man, you've got me worried, y'know? You're usually very calm and collected in every situation that you're put in, but now, I can sense that something is bothering you..."

"...."

Staring into his pure eyes, Yuan could feel the genuine concern his best friend had for him. I guess they were close to each other for a reason, and that their 12 years of friendship really did amount to something special.

Putting on a nonchalant smile, Yuan shrugged his shoulders as he said to him, "It's nothing man, trust me. Maybe I'm just slightly unnerved by the situation that we're in is all."

Even though he was still somewhat unconvinced, Jacob could only nod his head in understanding. Besides, he knew to trust in Yuan's judgement when it came to almost anything. Because that's just how it's always been for them whether it'd be in the past, the present, or the future.

"Right... Look man, if you ever need help with something or you just want to share your thoughts with someone, just know that I'm always here for you."

"I know, and I'll be sure to find you if anything ever comes up that I need your help with." Yuan nodded in acknowledgement. "Now then, it's about time we get going."

"Huh...? Oh yeah, I totally forgot that we were supposed to follow that robed lady!"

Casting aside the worries he had for Yuan to the back of his head, Jacob reverted back to his usual energetic self. While smiling brightly, he turned towards the direction where his classmates and the robed lady from before should be.

"Wait a second, where the hell did they go?!" He instantly switched to panic mode. "This is like, seriously bad man! We got left behind!"

Still being unable to believe how Jacob could so easily change his mood like it was some sort of switch, Yuan let out a faint chuckle in amusement. Taking a calm step forward, Yuan made his way down the hallway like he already knew where to go.

"Just follow my lead and we'll catch up to them in no time."