1 Transmigration

Drake was a young orphan in his senior year at high school. He was one of those who always stayed quiet and tried sitting at the last desk to draw as little attention as possible. However, whenever classmates remembered his existence, they would constantly mock him for being so lowkey.

"Drake, would it fucking kill you to join the conversation with us?" a class president said, looking down at him.

Drake's response to her was a simple glare, a gesture that screamed he wasn't interested in speaking.

He then looked over at a table where several students played cards and sighed. While he tolerated some of his classmates, he hated the rest of them for always picking on him, playing stupid pranks during lunchtime, or talking shit about him behind his back. It didn't take a genius to realize that Drake had no real friends. They either mocked his loner attitude or acted like jerks whenever he wanted to be alone.

And no, Drake was not a pushover. One time, he got so angry that a classmate continued poking his back with a pen during class. He stood and straightforwardly punched him during class, leaving the whole class speechless despite the teacher being there. Of course, he had hell to pay for after school because the bully and his friends ganged up and beat him.

One day during class, something changed his and his classmates' lives. If you ever asked Drake whether reincarnation or transmigration to other worlds was possible, he would have instantly answered, "Bullshit." However, that day, while he was in class, a magic circle appeared, transporting him and his style into the royal kingdom of Estheria. A dozen soldiers and a beautiful woman wearing a blue dress greeted them. She introduced herself as Princess Mary.

"Welcome, heroes. I am the second princess of Estheria," she said with a slight bow. "I know you have questions, but…."

"What's going on?!" Mark, one of the famous guys who constantly bullied Drake, began to freak out.

"Is this a kidnapping?" the class president asked, raising her brows.

Everyone was shocked, trying to process what exactly happened until a knight spoke.

"Please let the princess finish." The knight frowned but still tried to be as polite as possible.

Everyone stared at him, and his menacing tone made everyone shut their mouth and stare at him respectfully.

"If you are here," the knight started once again, "that must mean you are here for a reason," his eyes shifted back to Princess Mary, "Please, continue!"

Princess Mary nodded her head and cleared her throat before beginning her explanation.

"You were summoned as heroes to save our world from destruction at the hands of a demon lord. His soldiers began to invade through our land, seeking out any living things to kill and enslave for his benefit."

"How do you know we can beat that guy?" the same bully that always bothered Drake raised his hand.

"You were all blessed by the goddess of light," The princess smiled. "While there are very few demons, we can't even scratch them without the blessing."

"But why should we help you? You kidnapped us!" the class president retorted.

"I understand that," The princess nodded. "However, we could not choose the heroes we were summoning. It was random."

"May I?" The knight asked the princess for permission to talk. He started after she gave the nod. "Right now, you are in this world, and it is in your own best interest to keep it safe, as there is no chance for any of you to return home at the moment. Not until the demon king is defeated, that is…."

The princess nodded again to confirm his words and continued. "That is true. When the demon king is defeated, the goddess will show up to grant a wish for the demon king's slayer. Returning home is not impossible."

A bunch of students murmured among themselves, thinking about what they had just heard. Even Drake found himself having doubts. However, he didn't care much about which world he was in, as he was an orphan in his previous world and had no one waiting for him.

Soon four cloaked men walked in, and one was holding a crystal ball size of a human head. Everyone looked at each other before turning towards the strangers.

"Greetings! My name is Ikkari," the hooded man greeted them. "the royal mage of the Estheria." he looked around the students, and seeing their startled expressions, he chuckled. "hehe, don't worry, I won't bite."

The knight suddenly told the students. "Everyone will now get checked if they have a goddess blessing. While it is true that you were summoned with a prayer to the goddess Lux, there is a slight chance of some of you not having the blessing due to your personality."

"What do you mean by personality?" someone asked.

"If the goddess disapproves of your personality, she might refuse to give a blessing."

Suddenly, everyone went silent and began to look around nervously.

"Now, you should not worry too much," the knight continued, "Even if you don't have a blessing, the kingdom will not abandon you." he smiled and continued. "In case some of you won't have the blessing, we will give you enough gold and land to have a humble life in our kingdom."

Drake glanced around and saw the students' fearful and unconvinced faces. Some of them were whispering amongst themselves.

"Now, who's first?" Ikkari smiled and walked toward the class president. "Maybe you, young lady? Just put a palm on the crystal."

She gulped before taking a step forward. She gazed at the smiling person, who encouragingly nodded. Once she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she extended her palms. There was silence for a couple of seconds before a golden flash showed up in the crystal ball.

"You have a blessing! See?" Ikkari chuckled as the class president opened her eyes to see the crystal glowing. She looked down, and she gasped as the golden glow disappeared.

"Congratulations, you're a hero!" Ikkari's subordinates clapped.

They continued to check everyone else. Each student passed, that included Drake's bullies. So Drake felt assured that everyone was going to have a blessing. However, when it was his turn, the crystal showed no colors.

'Huh?' he thought.

"Oh! You did not have the blessing?" Ikkari laughed. "Well, don't worry; we will take responsibility and pay you the compensation."

"Seriously? This loser is the only one without the blessing?" Mark began to laugh.

"Tsk." Drake clenched his fists in annoyance. He couldn't believe that even Mark had gotten the blessing, but not him.

Everyone stared at him with either mocking expressions or pity. Soon, Ikkari took them out of the room, leaving only Drake and a few soldiers present. Drake asked in frustration.

The soldier who led him here shrugged. "Go find yourself a place to sleep." and handed over Drake a bag of gold.

"Huh?!" What was he supposed to do with this? Where should he go? Didn't they mention some land? However, he was dragged out of the castle when he tried asking.

Drake walked around the town. After a few hours, he found an inn. When Drake paid for a room, he realized he could stay in the inn for a month only if he skipped meals. "What the fucking cons!" he cursed under his nose.

He was tired and decided to nap despite it being a day. When he fell asleep, he found himself in a very dark place. However, when his eyes adjusted, he noticed a dark figure in the sky. Soon, the figure crashed in front of him and roared.

A blinding light appeared in the middle of that roar, forcing Drake to shield his eyes. After the light faded away, he finally got a clear sight of what this creature was.

"Is that a dragon?" Drake muttered in awe as the creature's claws were getting closer. "Wait… A dragon?!"