When the light faded Finn found himself not in the lab. Instead, he was in a low-lit chamber with pillars surrounding him, standing atop a raised altar. The only light source were the candles sconces placed around the room. He raised his hand to his head in annoyance only to find it holding a sword. It was a simple shortsword with the only unique thing about it a smooth blue sapphire embedded in its pommel.
But before he could do anything else a voice rang out.
"Heroes, please save our world!"
He looked down and all around him were people. They were all dressed like wizards with their purple robes and hoods that covered their bodies and faces. Did they say heroes, plural as in more than one. He was interrupted as he heard curses and whimpers from something beside him. He looked and found three others sprawled on the ground. He helped them up and examined them at the same time.
The first man had a spear with a ruby embedded in the crossguard. He was dressed in a white shirt underneath a red striped jacket and white jeans. His blonde hair fell to his waist, and he had blue eyes like Finn. He looked a little bit older than him and a lot prettier.
The spear user had Finn consider his own appearance. He had his hair cut close to his scalp just the other day and was dressed in a simple blue shirt and jeans combo.
The second one was much younger than the spear wielder and Finn. He had wavy light brown hair and golden eyes, he was dressed in what looked like a uniform the kind that Bonnie would have made Finn wear to special events. He also cared a shortbow with an orange gem embedded just above the grip.
The last one to get up there had a buckler strapped to his arm with an emerald placed in the dead center. This one had unruly black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a zipped up green hoodie over a white shirt with blue jeans.
With them all standing Finn turned to the assembled group of wizards. Finn had worried at first that they might attack but when noting happened he relaxed a bit.
The seemingly leader of the wizards took a step forward and spoke. "We are sorry for the inconvenience we have caused you all. But our world stands on the brink of Destruction. To save it we need the help of you heroes to fight back against the Waves of Calamity."
They wanted heroes to save them, even so. "You know it rude to just grab a guy all willy nilly. You really should give a guy some warning okay."
"Sounds dangerous think I'll pass." Said the Spearman.
"Bringing us here to fight your war for you? You must be insane!" The Archer snapped.
"What the hell is going on!" The Shied bearer said.
"Great heroes, please I know you have questions but let us bring you to our king and he can answer all your questions!" The leader of the wizards yelled out gesturing towards the only exit.
"Fine, but any funny businesses and you'll have us as your enemy." The one with the spear said as he marched through the wizards. They all stepped away and cleared his way. As he passed by Finn could see that the man was smiling as he left.
"Waves of Calamity? Sounds..." Finn mumbled something about that was familiar.
"This King of yours better have answers, or a way home. I'm not risking my life for a bunch of kidnappers." The Archer said as he followed the spearman a smile on his face too.
"Those guys are weird." Finn decided as he followed them. The chamber exited into a stairway that spiraled downward. They be in the top floor of a tower. The Shield guy hurried beside them.
"What's going on? This is almost like a novel, but this is real right?" Shield guy asked nervously.
"Think we're going have to ask the king about it, shield guy." Finn said.
"My name is Naofumi Iwatani not Shield guy. What's yours?" Naofumi asked his worry expression diming a bit as he talked to Finn.
"Naofumi." Finn spoke the name aloud committing it to memory. "Names, Finn Mertens." He held his out his arm for Naofumi to shake.
"Finn, you from America?" Naofumi asked as they shook hands.
"No, Ooo. What's America?" Finn asked.
[America is the name of one of the continents of the old world before the Mushroom War.] Owl helpfully told Finn. The sudden interruption made Finn skip a step and almost fall over. Naofumi didn't hear the voice or seen Finn trip, so he continued.
"Are you joking? Wait? Your hand!" Naofumi shouted as he stepped away from Finn looking at Finn's right arm. "You have a metal hand! That's so cool!"
"I know!" Finn laughed. It was pretty sweet if one ignored the reason for why he needed one in the first place.
As Finn made his way through the tunnel towards the throne room, he took a glance out of the many windows. A few steps infront of him the Archer and Spearman were doing the same.
It was a nice day out, sun was shining brought giving Finn a good look at the human kingdom he found himself in. The buildings were made of stone and wood and stretched out quite the fair distance. From the grasslands he could see it looked like the kingdom was situated in a large flatland with nothing, but those massive wall Finn spotted to protect them from attack. The sound of people living their lives reached Finn along with a variety of smells that made him cringle his nose.
"Wow." Naofumi breathed out as he leaned out the window. "It's amazing."
The other two said something of the same then after a few minutes they as one made their way out of the tower and into the throne room. They came out of a side entrance and stepped onto a red and gold carpet that led to a golden throne were a grey-haired old man in opulent clothing fit for royalty and a heavily jeweled crown resting on his head sat staring down at them.
The room was ornate and spacious with balconies built alongside the walls that had several people looking down at them. Behind the throne rested several large windows that bathed the room in light and made the king hard to make out in the glare.
The four of them had to step within the shadow cast by the throne to see the King properly.
"Finally, you have arrived." The old man said annoyance dripping from his voice as he leaned on the armrest of his throne.
All his life Finn had met and dealt with the many Kings, and Queens of Ooo. So, he knew immediately without a doubt that this one was the type of king that was worst kind to deal with.
"Sorry, got distracted." Finn apologized as they formed a line infront of the King.
"Hmm. My name is Aultcray the 32nd. This is the land Melromarc of which I rule. You four Cardinal Heroes have been summoned to save not it but this world as well. Now Heroes of Legend Introduce Yourselves!" Aultcray shouted the last part, radiating such authority that the four of them rushed to obey.
"My name is Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm 21 and a college student." The Spearman, Motoyasu introduced himself.
"I'm Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm 17 and still in high school." Followed by the Archer, Itsuki.
"My turn, then. Finn Mertens, I'm 19 and I'm not in any kind of school." Finn introduced himself.
"American?" Motoyasu and Itsuki asked at the same time.
"Ooo." Finn replied, he turned to Naofumi. "Seriously, what's America?"
"Are you still joking?" Naofumi asked Finn. Turning to Aultcray. "Best for last, I guess. Naofumi Iwatani, age 20 college students."
As Naofumi spoke, King Aultcray glared at Naofumi with such hatred that Finn instinctively grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him a step away from the King, Finn stepped forward his gaze locked on the King.
Tension in the room rose noticeably as the King's glare transferred from Naofumi to Finn. As both stared at each other the room fell silent. The guards on the far wall reached for their weapons. As violence threatened to spill over, Aultcray sighed and lean further into his throne breaking eye contact with Finn. The tension vanished and everyone in the room let out a breath as Finn stepped back in line.
"Apologizes, I did not mean to offend." Aultcray said as he passed a considering look at Finn. "But it is commendable that you would rush to each other's aid after only just meeting each other. But you have your roles reversed it's the Shield's job to defend not the Sword."
"You said that you needed us right. But what exactly is in it for us?" Motoyasu asked, uncaring or not understanding what just happened.
"Exactly, you bring us here then force us to fight for you. Sounds like you intend to enslave us. If that is what you're after, then you will find us as your enemy!" Itsuki shouted at Aultcray.
"Let's just calm down a moment here." Naofumi said nervously, he glances at Finn who was saying nothing, but still razor focused on the King.
"Yes, calm yourselves heroes. You all will be rewarded richly for your efforts. But first let me tell you of the trial that awaits you." Aultcray said gently as he stood from his throne his staff slammed on the floor with a resounding bang.
The way the King explained the coming crisis.
There was a prophecy about the end of the world. Waves of Calamity would appear, each on bring entire armies of monsters with the only goal of killing every living thing they could get their hands on. Unless the waves were stopped and the monsters that have been brought forth killed, the world was doomed. The prophecy was from so long ago that the people of this world thought of it as myth.
That was until the large and ancient hourglass called a dragon hourglass that would signal the times, sand began to fall. It predicted the arrival of the waves, and its sands began to fall one month ago.
At first, they had thought it was a trick, or a mistake until the final gain of sand fell. The moment it did the sky turned red as reality shattered revealing a hole to another dimension. Terrifying and horrible creatures crawled out from it in great numbers.
At the time, the country was barely able to contain the onslaught, but at the cost of the many lives of the country knights and civilians. But, at the end of the wave the Dragon's Hourglass refilled itself as the countdown to the next wave began.
It was prophesied that each wave would be even more terrible than the last. As they were now the kingdom stood no chance of stopping the next wave. So, considering the situation nearly hopeless, the King decided to summon heroes from another world to save their them.
"So, what say you heroes? Now that you know the fate that awaits us all! What will you do?" Aultcray thundered at them. Less asking for help but daring them to refuse.
"Okay, count me in." Finn said simply resting his sword on his shoulder.
"Truly?" Aultcray asked a grin on his face.
"Helping people, and killing monsters are what I do best." Finn said with a smile on his face to match the king.
"Hey, even if the American is fine with helping! Don't expect me to fall in line so easily!" Motoyasu said cutting in throwing a glare at Finn.
"Hmph. Don't expect us to throw our lives away for nothing like him." Itsuki added also glaring at Finn.
What did I do? Finn thought to himself at the looks he was getting from the other two heroes.
"As I said before. All of you will be rewarded for your efforts to save our world." Aultcray looked to be getting annoyed at all the back talk.
"Well, as long as that is settled then we got nothing to worry about." Motoyasu said pride in his voice.
"Now, Heroes, check your status and give me an honest assessment of yourselves." Aultcray asked as he sat back down.
"How do we do that?" Itsuki asked embarrassed.
Aultcray said nothing merely wave the person standing at his side forward. The man was dressed in purple robes and was completely bald.
"One of the most basic magic that any person can learn is Status Magic. With it you can see the basic power, or level of yourself. Once learned it can be used to observe the level of all living beings of the world. The Legendary Weapons that you carry already hold this magic. For each person it is different visual experience, but if you focus inward, you should be able to see your level at least." The bald man said.
Finn tried to follow the man's advice as his focus channeled inward after a few moments words began to appear in front of him.
Finn Mertens
Class: Sword Hero Lv 1
Equipment: Small Sword (Legendary Weapon)
Otherworld Arm
Otherworld Clothes
Skills: None
Magic: None
"Level 1?" Finn said aloud, nudging Naofumi he asked. "Is that good or bad?"
Naofumi quietly reading under his breath stopped and looked at Finn in complete disbelief. "Yes! Haven't you ever played any kind of game. Level 1 is where you start at."
"I've played games before." Finn said offended. "Just not anything that had this kind of thing."
"You never played like an RPG, or a MMORPG, things like that?" Naofumi asked.
"What do those letters mean? Why are you speaking gibberish?" Finn stammered confused.
"Any experience with RTS or FPS games?" Itsuki asked amazed.
"What!" Finn was beginning to panic at all the letters thrown around.
"So, you're just a Newb. Don't worry then, just stick with me and I'll show you the ropes. I'm a pro at this game.
Newb? Pro? What game is he talking about? All these letters and words being thrown around was giving Finn a headache.
"Heroes, I must cation against that." The bald man spoke up again. "Legends state that the four Heroes cannot travel together, or they would suffer terrible consequences."
"Really, are you sure?" Finn asked.
"Looks like it." Naofumi said. "Check with your menu, it should tell you the same thing."
"Menu?" at Finn's word a list appeared before him. Scrolling through it he quickly clicked on the bar that said, help. When he did more words appeared in front of him. Warning him that traveling and fighting with the other heroes would cause too many problems. The least of which was not being able to level up.
"So, we have to go it alone then." Motoyasu asked.
"Not at all." King Aultcray declared. "Give us the rest of the day and we will procure for you all companions to help you on your journey. Until then we have rooms prepared for you to rest for the night."
A second door to the side opened as a servant stood there waiting for us to follow them. The four Heroes thanked the king as they followed the servant to their rooms for the night.
As the four Heroes settled in the room they were provided. Each on began looking through the menus provided to them by their weapons. Well, most of them were anyway.
Finn reached over to the table that was placed in between the four of them and helped himself to the meat and cheeses they were given.
"What was that with you and Aultcray, Finn?" Naofumi asked, he was also chewing on the food.
"You couldn't feel it?" Finn asked confused at the question.
"Feel what?"
"That guy totally wanted to kill you." Finn felt the sudden surge of anger from the King and saw the way he was starting to stand up. Knowing when something wanted to kill you was necessary skill when it came to being an adventurer.
"What! I just got here how could he already hate me." Naofumi had a panicked look in his eyes.
"I don't know, but you should avoid being in a room alone with him just in case." Finn advised Naofumi trying his best to be helpful.
Naofumi retreated inward going back on his meager interaction with Aultcray to try and divine what he did to piss the King off so badly.
"So, what exactly are we supposed to do anyway?" Finn asked through a mouth full if food. "The King wasn't clear on what he needed us to do."
"It's simple, level up, kill the monsters, save the world. Standard story in a game." Motoyasu explained leaning back into his couch a glass of wine in his hand.
"Okay see, I got the last two. I'm not clear, what dose level up mean?" As Finn asked, he could see the annoyed expression cross the Spear and Bow heroes.
"It's when you get enough EXP to reach the next level. From 1 to 2 then 3 and on and on." Naofumi explained coming out of his downward spiral.
Finn opened his mouth to ask another question.
"EXP is what you get for killing monsters and clearing quest?" Itsuki snapped angrily.
"So, all we have to do is kill monsters? That great, I'm a great at killing monsters." Finn cheered.
"No way, that's just the start of the grind. If you really what to get anywhere you're going to have to upgrade your weapon properly. Just like in Emerald Online."
"Emerald Online, what's that?" Instead of Finn asking the questions this time it was Naofumi.
"You don't know? I mean I expected from this guy." Motoyasu pointed at Finn. "But from you that's just disappointing, Naofumi. It's only the greatest online game ever."
"You wrong about that, Motoyasu." Itsuki cut in. "This game is more like the console game, Brave Star Online."
"Never heard of it. Most have been some minor title or something" Motoyasu said as he took a sip from his glass.
"Minor!" Itsuki shouted as he stood up.
Before an argument could progress, Naofumi spoke up. "How about Odin Online, or Fantasy Moon Online. You heard of that?"
"No."
"No."
"I have no idea what's going on anymore." Finn muttered.
"This doesn't make any sense. I mean are we really in a game, and if so, how did we even get here?" Naofumi asked burying his hands in his hair.
"Maybe none of us are from the same world." Finn suggested.
"So, we weren't just summoned to this world, but from four different worlds as well. How would we even know, Wait!" Motoyasu snapped his fingers as he jumped up as well. "Who's the Prime Minister?"
The three heroes answered each with a different name, as Finn just wondered what a Prime Minister was. From there each one would ask a question only for the other two to answer in a different way.
"So, we really are from different worlds." Naofumi said shocked.
"Expect you didn't answer any questions, Finn." Motoyasu said.
"I have no idea what any of you were talking about but did any of you have a Mushroom War." Finn asked.
"Mushroom War, what's is that?" Naofumi asked, in his mind he was picturing people attacking each other with giant mushrooms.
"Well, it was a long time ago, but it was like everyone was mad at each other, so they fought. Then they kept fighting and fighting, until they got so mad, they dropped these bombs on each other. See, when these bombs fell, they exploded into theses mushroom clouds. That's why they call it the Mushroom War. After that the war ended because there was nobody left to fight. You got anything like that?" As Finn talked, he could see that the faces of the other heroes begin to pale.
"How..." Naofumi started then stopped for a moment to swallow nervously. "How long ago was that?"
"About a thousand years." Finn answered. "You, okay? You look a little pale."
"Fine! Fine, I think that is enough talking for today." Motoyasu headed for the door not taking his eyes off of Finn. "I'm uh going to bed. Need to be ready for tomorrow."
"Me too." Itsuki said following Motoyasu out the door.
Wordlessly Naofumi stood up. He looked at Finn as if wanting to say something but decided against it and left after the other two.
"Was it something I said?" Finn asked out load.
