Part 2

I managed to run for a long time, and I walked away from the cliff in the direction that the girl had said with all my strength, and after a good four hours of running, I stopped. I was tired, and putting the girl on the ground, I looked around me.

A very pretty stream separated two parts of the forest, and smiling, I looked in all directions. Looking at the young woman who was in front of me, I said. “Where am I?”

She slept peacefully, and seeing her, and I wanted to see her face completely. I reached over to remove her mask from her face. I was just going to take a look and put it back up, but when my hand reached out, she opened her eyes.

I was terrified, I walked away from her and saw her, she then told me.

“What was the hero doing?”

I looked at her and shook my head.

“No, I saw if you were okay. That was all.”

She looked at me incredulously and touched her mask, but as if letting go of doubt, she said.

“Hero, I’m very sorry for what happened. I’m very sorry for biting him, and I needed that power to save him.”

I looked at my neck and pressed it. I felt a tiny wound, and seeing the young woman, I said.

“Are you a vampire or something?”

She shook her head and, seeing me, said.

“No, you are a hero. Heroes have the purest mana, if we consume that mana, we get incredible power, but we can’t use it for a long time. It consumes a lot of energy.”

I looked at her and, taking a deep breath to maintain my composure, I said.

“Okay, you keep calling me Hero. First, my name is Ataru. Second, where am I?”

She looked at me and nodded. She said.

“Yeah, sure, it makes sense. Okay, I’ll tell you everything.”

She saw me and said.

“First my lord Ataru, I am Raila! I am one of the guardians of the Hero. Our job is to help and assist him when the fights begin.”

I looked at her and said.

“Which fights?”

She took a deep breath and said.

“You are in the kingdom of Lunalia. This place is ancient, so much so that God rewarded us with two moons. The moons increase the magical level of everything, and every ten years, they manifest in a Cadiz!”

I looked at her and looked up, and I saw the moons, she said smiling.

“When one moon overlaps the other, its power increases so much that Cadiz appears, then at that moment the magic of a bearer can be so great as to control nature and flourish the world.”

I looked at her, and she saw me said.

“For a long time, Lunalia was governed by a single king. However, it was difficult for everyone to be happy. Cadiz only lasted one night, and for that ancient king, it was impossible to use it to prosper all the cities. There were always one or two that did not receive enough help, and their development was delayed, because of that, the cities were separated into six kingdoms.”

I was immersed in the story when she said.

“Six kingdoms, Solaria, Lunaria, Shadow Town, Belfa Forest, Rigor Mountain, and Tundraria. Those were the six independent nations that were born. However, Cádiz kept appearing, and someone came to a solution all nations would have once to be owners of Cádiz. However, for those who did not receive anything, ten years was a long time, and twenty or even fifty years without the help of the moon was very difficult. That is why some became ambitious and decided to go to war to keep Cadiz.”

I looked at her and said.

“That’s terrible!”

She nodded and said.

“Lunaria and Solaria, being the most powerful, led the fight, but a winner could not be decided that way, and many people perished, so much so that one of the six villages disappeared. Tundraria was destroyed”

I looked at her darkly, and she said.

“That is why an agreement was reached. A single hero from each nation would face each other until the winner decided which nation would have Cádiz. But some managed to do the same. Someone summoned a hero from another world, and his mana was so pure that defeating him was impossible. That’s why…”

When I saw her, I sat on the floor and said.

“That’s why the other nations summoned heroes as well.”

She nodded and said.

“That’s right, the battle of the nations is five heroes summoned to decide who will stay with Cádiz. But truth be told, Lunaria disagrees. They are by far the largest nation. If a conflict breaks out, they will definitely win, and they think that sharing the Cadiz is absurd. But in a fair match, everyone has a chance. That’s why they kidnapped you. Their purpose is to win at all costs, even if they have to cheat.”

Everything sounded like an izekai and seeing things. I was terrified. She saw me and said.

“You are that Hero. All heroes have a gift that awakens as soon as they get here. Yours has already awakened.”

I looked at her and remembered how my body went through the rock, and she said, smiling. You were able to pass through stone. I can enter shadows, but apparently, with your power, you can enter anything.”

She excitedly approached and said.

“Also, it is not only a gift. All heroes have an ancestral weapon that only they can use because of their lineage. With that ancestral weapon, they can fight the battle against other heroes and try to win the Cadiz. It’s kind of amazing, actually.”

I looked at her and let myself fall. It was impossible for me to be a Hero. I was only twelve years old. However, something bothered me, seeing my body was much bigger, and she was smiling and looking at me without taking her eyes off me.

Breathing, I got up, and, seeing her, I said.

“Hey, what happens to the heroes when this is over!”

She saw me and said,

“We don’t know, but we believe that they return to the place where they belong, and their purpose has been fulfilled...”

I looked at her and, breathing deeply, and I got up when I said.

“Then you tell me that I have to enter this tournament, win this Cádiz, and I will return home.”

She looked at me and nodded, she could see her smile on her mask, and I said.

“Well, and what nation are we from?”

She looked at me and said, “We are from the nation…”

I looked at her and said.

“Shadow town!”

She looked at me and shook her head.

“No, what? Of course not.”

I looked at her and, raising my hands, said.

“Sorry, it’s just that you use shadows. I thought shadow town would be thematically appropriate.”

She looked at me strangely, and I shook my head and said.

“I’m sorry, it doesn’t matter. Tell me which nation?”

She saw me and said.

“We belong to the Forest of Belfas! That is our nation.”

I saw her and, nodding, I said.

“Okay, let’s go to your town and do what we have to do.”

She smiled and nodded, and then her eyes widened as she pivoted on her ankles and looked out into the brush. The same blade that almost pierced me appeared, cutting down the trees and turning around. She flew back into a boy’s hand.

“Did you think I was going to let you go back to your filthy forest, you damn brat?”

I looked at him, he was a huge man, almost two meters tall and with a double sword in his hand the sword had two blades stuck together and the handle in the center was very long. Seeing the young woman, he said.

“The hero is coming with us!”

I looked at him, and she said with a bit in her hand.

“Of course not. He’s coming to the Forest of Belfas!”

The smiling man laughed at the top of his lungs and said.

“Why would he want to go to that pigsty? We in Lunaria already have two heroes. One more will ensure victory without a doubt.”

I got confused, and seeing Raila, I said

“Hey, wait, since they have two heroes, I thought there was one hero per nation!”

The smiling man said.

“What? Where do you get that from? The heroes land in random places, and those who find them keep them, Solaria has two, and we have two. One more will give us the advantage again!”

I die and then seeing him, I said.

“How can they have two heroes? There are only five?”

They looked at me, and the man with the swords said.

“This silly girl didn’t tell you everything. No, the heroes are not summoned. The moon sends them six heroes for six nations. Only if you want to win, the most logical thing is that you keep all the heroes. That’s what we do, you are going to be the third Hero of our nation.”

I looked at Raila, the young woman was on the verge of tears, and without knowing why she was doing what she was doing, I walked towards her and, smiling, said.

“No, I’m sorry, but I will fight for the people of Belfas. You can go to hell!”

The smiling man twirled his sword in the air and said.

“Bad selection!”

And that was the first time in my life that I was in a fight.