"We thus spent a lot of our time trying to research parallel worlds and how to contact them. As we know nothing about the other worlds, we could only minimize our losses and hope for the best. We finally came up with a teleportation ritual capable of transporting only one person. Since sending someone into unknown co-ordinates is too risky. What we worked on was trying to summon an otherworlder to our world. That way we will be able to initiate contact, and have a reliable set of co-ordinates."

"So, My summoning was part of an experiment. How many more have been summoned before me."

"Only two. One was already dead when he arrived, and the other was an animal that died soon after. We were forced to halt the experiments and could only try to improve our search algorithms. Unfortunately realms similar to ours have a barrier around them that is difficult to get access to. So our only hope is to try through a cracked or weakened spot of the barrier."

"Holy c.r.a.p, Vincent"s bomb was that strong! Looks like that knucklehead really meant it when he said he would go out with a bang."

"So you basically sucked me in through a hole in the barrier between worlds"

"Yes, and we barely managed to.

As the wars went on, our world seemed to have been caught in a vicious cycle. Its been centuries since any major development in our civilization. The wars instead of leading to increased development, has been instead looping back to our state after the previous war. So, in order to break free from this phenomenon we finally decided to use our last resort.

Restart the research and seek help from an external variable. An otherworlder."

"How, interesting. A hero would be the perfect ident.i.ty of said otherworlder"

"Yes it would, but this is more than an ident.i.ty, its what we hoped to find. People need hope and what more than a hero that fell from the sky"

"Aren"t you being too frank with me. I believe you just told me some of the top secrets of your state."

"I wouldn"t have bothered if you were an incapable individual. We are after all the top bra.s.s of a nation, a single wrong decision would lead to disastrous consequences. You are as much of a potential ally as you are a threat. In such cases it would be best to show transparency and sincerity. We wouldn"t want to sabotage our cooperation due to unnecessary lies."

"Furthermore different people require different approaches,

you should no that better than most Mr. Martin. Am i right?"

"This cunning littl- calm down Martin, act like Lucas, act like Lucas!"

"You are as impressive as I was led to believe Ms.Freya. You are right on spot."

"You flatter me Mr.Martin." Freya responded adjusting her hair behind her ears.

"I must say I truly admire your way of doing things. Since you have shown me your sincerity, it shouldn"t be too much of a problem for me to a.s.sist you. One can never have too many friends, now can they."

Martin outstretched his hand which Freya shook. They both smiled knowingly.

"Now that this is out of the way, let me tell you about the basics of magic in our world."

"The air surrounding us has elementary particles known as mana present in them. Manipulation of these particles const.i.tutes magic."

"Magic had been divided into six main branches- light, dark, fire, water, earth and air.

This is mainly because those are the types of crystals we can find. Crystals can be used for storing magic spells like those lights in the halls and complex magic rituals like your summoning"

"Whenever someone comes of age they can choose upto two magic disciplines. This is because the body can only handle two types of mana at a time. Other than the pure elements, there are often subdivisions like ice, lightning, metal, poison etc.."

Freya lifted her hand and a tiny flaming tornado appeared above it.

"Air and fire, those are my disciplines. Pure elements after all have the highest firepower and versatility."

"Interesting and how do I go about choosing my disciplines."

"Most people have to be trained to sense the particles and then absorb a low-grade crystal of the appropriate elements. The kingdom will however provide you with two high-grade crystals of your choice. You would then be able to instantly awaken your abilities."

"I suppose that such high-grade crystals are only available to those high up in the ranks."

"You"re right. We are in fact making a huge investment in you. I hope it would be worth the effort."

"Me too."

"I will take my leave now. I will see you tomorrow afternoon. I hope you would have chosen your disciplines by then"

"See, you tomorrow Ms.Freya"

Martin watched on as Freya left the library.

"What a scary woman!" First they requested for his help and they are now already trying to make him feel indebted. Rational people are often way more scarier than evil corrupted ones.

----

The next day, in the training courtyard.

Martin saw a tall blonde man with broad shoulders walk up to him.

"I am the head knight. You can call me Marcus. I heard that you came here from another world."

"Is that so? Well you have heard right."

"As you have decided to take on the Demon lord I would like to see if you really have what it takes. Care for a spar? I want to witness your fighting style." Marcus stared on grimly and provocatively.

"So the test has finally arrived I see. I like that you didn"t confiscate the weapons that I brought with me to this world-"

It was a quite sordid move they played. Fighting style my a.s.s! A spar wouldn"t just reveal Martin"s abilities and thus usefulness. It would also reflect on his world as he represented the higher ability levels. Martin was sure of that, after his chat with Freya. The algorithms had been adjusted to look for the prefect candidate.

"-but you are soon going to regret it!"

Whipping out two pistols from his underarm holsters,

Martin fired off a few quick shots.

He wasn"t called the blue phantom for his health. If it was a show they wanted, a show was what they would get.

Evading the fire and deflecting the rest of the bullets with his sword, Marcus shot back "Impressive toys, but you are going to need more than that to defeat me."

Marcus shot forward cleaving his sword in a beautiful arc towards Martin"s neck. Flipping over the sword, martin landed a few feet away, firing bullets at Marcus throughout the exchange.

"Looks like you might have something in you, but I was just getting started." Marcus rushed forth first but Martin kept evading. A few exchanges later, Martin was covered in small cuts while Marcus had sc.r.a.pes all over him.

"Checkmate Marcus. I got you." Marcus turned to find a gun at his temple " Looks like you really got me. I was almost forced to use magic."

"Yes, you but you really went easy on me."

"Well I could say the same for you Martin. You held back too."

Martin froze, "Monsters they are all monsters!"

"Hahahaha! Looks like you got me there"

They both burst into laughter.

Now that the ice was broken they both sat next to each other.

"So, what"s the deal between the demon lord and this king of yours."

"You noticed huh. His son and daughter, both the crown prince and princess died because of the current demon lord. He calls himself Diablo the VIIth"

"No wander his eyes would darken whenever he mentioned the demon lord."

"Yeah, no s.h.i.t.! Otherwise why do you think there was no princess to honey trap you the moment you arrived."

"Really, I thought Freya was the honey trap."

"You thought she was the trap! Hahaha this is gold man! That crazy woman ain"t no trap. She may look pretty but let me tell you a secret, she is one crazy h.e.l.l of "

"Ahem! Its good that the two of you are bonding but I would really like to borrow Martin now. It"s time for him to choose his magic disciplines."

The two jumped only to find Freya standing right behind him looking at them expressionlessly.

"Holy c.r.a.p! Where did you come from Freya, see I told you she has magic powers that can sneak behind people too. That"s a big red flag bro!"

"Shut up douchebag!"

"Well, in her defense she is the head mage, so she should have magic powers and- I"ll shut up now."

Martin looked away, being glared at by a crazy woman early in the morning wasn"t very enjoyable, moreover he was quite excited about the magic initiation ritual.

He turned away only to find Marcus giving him a I-told-you-so face.

Martin smiled. Not a fake smile or conspiratory smile, but his first real smile since Lucas and Vincent"s death.

He realized that these people might really not be that bad after all. This could also be one of their schemes in all probability but he would rather wait and see how it plays out. Taking a break from being a vengeful maniac can be quite stress relieving at times. One should really try it. Works like a charm!