Hero Party

All of us that had decided to join the hero part had gathered inside of one of the many meeting rooms in the castle, sitting around a large round table with Sir. Johnsworth, with his full name being Audrey Johnsworth, in front of us, the captain of the royal guard as well as the man teaching some of my classmates and George swordsmanship.

His body almost looked like it was wider than I was tall, and even though he was now wearing some loose, casual cloth over his body, his muscles were impossible to hide. His face was hardened through many years of experiencing hardship, and his short hair was of a golden blonde.

However, when he was looking at us, it was obvious that his heart was warm, despite his trying to keep up a tough façade. He needed a moment to look at us while he stood up, probably wondering what we were thinking when going along with George's suggestion.

It wasn't as if the suggestion had been accepted by the king just for the sake of it, though. The king, as well as Sir. Johnsworth, had accepted it as they realized how much the potential for growth increased by focusing on fewer individuals.

Naturally, our classmates would also try their best to get stronger and would get a lot of support as well, but they wouldn't be part of the advance squad when war arrived. They would instead act as support for the rest of the nations, focusing on saving as many people as possible.

Finally, the large man in front of us spoke, making the white cloth tunic on his torso stretch a bit in response to his muscles moving.

"Today, I will be explaining to you the plan that we have made in order to stimulate your growth as much as possible. To be honest, you have already done the first step of it, which was to get used to using your bodies and mana, but it could also be said that it was just preparation."

On the table laid a stack of rolled-up paper, of which he grabbed one and rolled it out over the round table, showing us the contents.

It was a huge map, a map showing all of the currently explored areas of Terros. In the center of it, there were the three nations, with Creria in the north, Esna in the center, and Luprad in the south.

To the west was the ocean called Brinegir, which separated this continent from the rest of the world, which was still yet to be fully explored. Though there were supposedly myths about a land on the other side of the water, there were no official records of it.

Then, lastly, we had the east of the three nations.

The Dark Lands; the kingdom of the demon king that was divided into four different parts:

The Snowy Peaks northeast from here, The Swamp of Malice in the center, The Sands of Time in the southeast, and lastly the Cradle of Malevolence, perfectly protected in the center of these vast lands of death.

Though I didn't have much of a reference point, with the only travel I had done being from Laowh to Estador, I believed it to be of a similar size to that of Europe or Asia on Earth.

Of course, we weren't here today to think of a way to attack the Dark Lands, as we were first of all not strong enough, and second of all there had been no attacks so far.

Though I couldn't quite understand the full reasoning behind not simply going there with as many soldiers from the three nations as possible, the explanation that we had gotten went something like this:

If one tried to enter the Dark Lands during the incubation period of the demon king, not only would one have to fight against extremely strong monsters, but everyone who went there would get cursed by a demon god.

It turns out that there were records of the three nations attempting to gain control of the Dark Lands in the past after the heroes of our world had defeated the demons, but it had only led to a complete slaughter. Everyone had died, and although the records didn't have information about what exactly had happened, no one dared to try something like that again.

Therefore this never-ending cycle of misery had been created, where a demon king would inevitably show up every couple of hundred years, and otherworldlers had to be sent here to defeat him.

Thinking about who had sent us here, a goddess, it wasn't all too far-fetched to imagine there being some sort of evil god as well, meaning that it did sort of make sense, even if it was a very strange situation.

Bringing me out of my thoughts, Sir. Johnsworth placed his finger on the map, "This will be your first hunting ground. In the past, the heroes always began their journey here, and although there will be far fewer of you this time, I still believe there is reason for you to follow the footsteps of the past."

"How so?", asked a quite intrigued George, wanting to understand just why Audrey believed it to be a good idea to start where the other people from our world had started.

"Because after they had been here, hunting at the Crypt of the Ancients, where a lot of lower-leveled undead roam, it was as if fate took hold of them, leading them in the direction of victory."

"You mean that we might find something there that will help us?"

"That's right. This is also where some of the champions of the past diverged from the group, leaving behind the twelve heroes that became the main fighting force against the demon king."

'Twelve...?'

As the goddess had already told us that we were free to live our lives however we wanted, it wasn't a surprise that there had been people in the past that also chose to not fight against the demon. However, hearing him tell us that they had been twelve heroes, while we had chosen to be only five, did create a bit of stress inside of me.

"Don't worry, Selene. What is brilliant about this plan is that although you will be fewer in number, you will grow faster than the heroes of the past thanks to it. I have no doubts in my mind that if you work hard, you will reach higher heights than they did."

The large man had instantly seen right through me somehow, now smiling at me after telling us some comforting words. In the end, I knew that this wasn't the time to act weak, therefore urging myself to look closer at where he was pointing on the map.

His finger had landed on an area inside of Esna, to the east of Estador, somewhere in the middle of the nation. As all the capitals had been strategically placed somewhat near the ocean to the west, to make logistics and trade easier, it was still not too close to the border of the Dark Lands where I felt the need to be worried.

"This is where you will be headed, and although I would have liked to accompany you, history has proved that in order for our heroes to reach their full potential, you will have to go by yourselves."

'Why is that?'

Yet another 'fact' came up that somewhat made sense, while at the same time, not at all.

Before I even got the chance to think about it, though, a curt voice belonging to a certain dwarf was heard.

"Didn't you say you would help us? If, in the end, we have to go by ourselves, does that not mean that we will also have to fully take care of ourselves?"

A dark shadow was quickly cast on Audrey's face, showing just how bad he felt about it, "That's... It's both correct and at the same time wrong. It is true that we will not be able to help you out there, but we will be able to help you by sorting out equipment, as well as to help you practice your abilities and spells."

*Bam!*

Slamming his fist and standing up, Jeffrey wasn't having none of it, "That's not...!"

"Enough, Jeffrey. Getting heated isn't going to help. Please sit down."

Turning his gaze at the brown-haired hero who had interrupted his outburst, Jeffrey only clicked his tongue before falling down onto his chair, wearing a very displeased expression.

"I'm sorry for his outburst, Sir, but at the same time I can't help but feel similarly to my friend here."

Looking even more guilty than before, with his large shoulders falling a bit, Audrey forced himself to stand tall, "I understand that, and I am truly sorry for the way things are. But I'm afraid that you must simply believe in yourselves, just as much as we believe in you."

Letting his eyes trail all five of us, even Olivia who seemed incredibly unbothered as if this was all to be expected, he spoke tenderly while at the same time with conviction.

"You are the hope of the three races on Terros, and although you might not believe it right now, there will come a time when you will be the deciding factor whether we all live, or we all die."