Yagi turned to his left, to see three young men, one wielding a spear, sword, and bow. As he suspected, hen was wielding a shield. This sounds like that book he read in the mysterious library. He thinks can't be a coincidence.
"What do you mean it's in need of saving?" Asked the light brown-haired teen with golden eyes.
"The story behind it all is long and complicated, but suffice it to say that you are the four cardinal heroes, and you were summoned here using an ancient ritual." Replied one of the figures.
"Our world is in a most fragile state and teeters on the brink of destruction. So we beg you, oh brave heroes, please lend us your aid." Pleaded another figure, tilting his upper body downwards, along with the other four figures behind him.
"Forget it." Replied the black-haired teen with blue eyes.
"I also refuse." Spoke the golden-eyed teen.
"You can send us back to our homeworld right?" Asked the blonde-haired teen with orange eyes. "Do that and maybe we'll talk."
"You brought the four of us here without our consent." Protested the blue-eyed teen, raising his sword. "Do you even feel the least bit guilty about it?"
"Not to mention, if you throw us out as soon as we restore peace, we have done all that work for nothing." Added the golden-eyed teen.
"How willing are you to accommodate our requests?" Asked the orange-eyed teen. "Depending on your answer, we may end up as your enemies instead of your allies."
"Good sirs, before I say any more, we'd like you to have an audience with the King of Melromarc." Replied the male figure. "You can negotiate your rewards with him directly, so please."
"Alright, fine." Said the blue-eyed teen, lowering his sword.
"I suppose we'll consider their offer." Said the golden-eyed teen.
"Sure, doesn't matter who we talk to, our demands won't change." Said the orange-eyed teen.
Yagi and the other three followed one of the presumed summoners to a set of spiraled stairs.
"Wow look, this is another world, huh." Said the golden-eyed teen.
"Sure is." Said the orange-eyed teen.
"Judging by the breeze, I'd say this place has a fairly standard Mediterranean climate." Said the blue-eyed teen.
"No doubt about it, this is another world. And recalling what the book said, we'll be fighting off the 'Waves of Calamity'." Yagi thought.
Yagi and the other heroes arrived at the king's throne, hearing out what he had to say.
"So, you young men are the four cardinal heroes of ancient legend. This is the land of Melromarc, and I am their king, Aultcray Melromarc the thirty-second." The king said, presenting himself. "Welcome, brave heroes. Please identify yourselves."
"Ren Amaki, I'm a high school student and I'm 16 years old." Said the blue-eyed teen.
"Motoyasu Kitamura, college student, 21." Said the orange-eyed teen.
"I suppose I'm up next, Itsuki Kawatsumi, still in high school, and I'm 17." Said the gold-eyed teen.
"Yagi Toshinori, high school teacher, I'm 31." Yagi said.
The king was about to ignore Yagi if it wasn't for his particularly strong physique and abyssal-like eyes with blue irises, along with his booming voice. The king snapped out of his daze and continued.
"Now then, I suppose I need to explain why we brought you here. My beloved country of Melromarc and the entire world surrounding it are heading down a path to certain ruin." He paused to let them digest what he just said.
The king told the heroes about the prophecy and the waves of calamity. And how the first wave was devastating. Everything Yagi had read on the book before he was transported here.
"We underestimated the waves. Once we actually experienced the first one and barely survived, we realized that only the four cardinal heroes could counter them, so we followed the legend and summoned you four." The king explained. "But now, we have no time to lose!"
"Okay, I think we get the gist of it." Ren said, clashing his sword against the floor. "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't bring us here thinking we'd save you for free."
"Of course not." Said an old man. "Once you repel all the waves, I can assure you we shall reward you most handsomely."
"Yeah? Well, it would seem we have no choice but to take you at your word." Motoyasu said.
"Long as you don't go back on it, we'll work with you." Ren said. "But don't think for a moment that you can tame us."
"Exactly, we won't put up with you looking down on us." Itsuki said.
Yagi simply nodded.
"If I can trust that we have an agreeable arrangement, I would ask you brave heroes to check your statuses." The king said.
"Um, pardon my interruption, but what's a status?" Itsuki asked.
"Are you dense? It should've been the first thing you noticed when you got here." Ren said. "Don't you see the icon in the lower-right corner of your vision?"
Yagi turned to his lower-right corner, noticing the icon with three dots on it.
"Try focusing your attention on it." Ren said.
Yagi did so, causing a UI to pop up in front of him.
"Young Amaki is very observative, I'll give him that. Still, he doesn't need to be so condescending about it." Yagi thought.
"Only level one?" Itsuki questioned. "Well, that's disconcerting, isn't it?"
"Yeah, no kidding." Motoyasu said. "Who can tell if we can even fight like this."
"What is all this, exactly?" Yagi questioned. Again, taking the room off guard with his voice.
"It's called status magic, an ability exclusive to the heroes." The old man replied.
"So, where do we go? What's the first step?" Yagi questioned.
"You must set out on an adventure to develop and upgrade these legendary weapons you have been equipped with." The old man said.
"Can't we just wield other weapons until these are usable?" Motoyasu asked, spinning his spear.
"Suppose we have to figure that out as we go." Ren said. "Regardless, it looks like we have a lot of training ahead of us."
"We'll have to level up hard and fast." Itsuki said.
"Then once the four of us feel like we're ready, we can form a team." Yagi said enthusiastically.
"One moment, brave heroes." The old man said, stopping the four. "I neglected to mention, you must each recruit allies and adventures separately."
"And... why is that?" Itsuki asked.
"It is said that by their very nature, the legendary weapons repel one another." The old man said. "If you try and work together, it will hinder their development."
"I have a feeling this isn't the case, but I won't protest until proven otherwise." Yagi thought.
"Since the sun is about to set, rest here for the night and begin your quests tomorrow." The king said. "In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties."
The four heroes acknowledged everything the king said until he spoke again. "But, if you do feel like doing so, you may make a party on your own. So, anyone who wishes to make a party by themselves, speak now."
The three teens didn't say a word. Yagi, however, raised his hand to speak.
"I wish to make my party by myself if that's not a problem." Yagi said, lowering his hand.
"Very well. Go ahead." The king said.
A woman walked up to the heroes and led them to a room, where the four sat around and chatted.
"I guess when you're heroes of legend, you get special treatment." Motoyasu said. "The girl that showed us here was cute, too."
"Although it did taste unusual, our dinner was quite sumptuous." Itsuki said.
"I suppose we can't complain about that." Ren said.
"This place reminds me of a videogame I used to play when I was younger, 'Hero Quest V' if I can recall correctly." Yagi said.
"Huh? What do you mean? This is exactly like Emerald Online." Motoyasu said.
"What are you talking about? This isn't an online game, this is a new console game I'm playing, called Dimension Web." Itsuki said.
"All three of you are wrong, everything about this place is identical to a VR MMO called Brave Star Online." Ren said.
Motoyasu sighed. "Let's sort this out." He said. "First off, Ren, do you really mean an actual, literal VR MMO?"
"Yeah" Ren replied.
"You guys do get what he means by that too, right?" Motoyasu questioned.
"A sci-fi game I'm familiar with explored the concept." Itsuki replied.
"Virtual reality isn't much to talk about anymore where I'm from." Yagi said.
"Now to be sure, let's compare general knowledge." Motoyasu said.
The four heroes spent time comparing their knowledge, being surprised again and again at the differences they had.
Itsuki sighed. "Only one explanation, we're all from different versions of Japan." He said.
"Right? And they pretty much don't sound anything alike at all." Ren added.
"So there are parallel worlds with parallel Japans." Yagi concluded.
"I thought we might just be from different eras, but it would seem not, huh?" Motoyasu said.
"Wait, Mr. Toshinori?" Itsuki said, turning to Yagi, "You mentioned something about 'quirks'. What's that all about?"
"Yeah, you also said something about heroes and villains." Motoyasu said.
"I would like to know what that means as well." Ren said.
"Calm down young ones, I'll explain." Yagi said. "The story is quite long, so I'll summarize."
Yagi, having the full attention of the three teens, spoke again. "In my world, eighty percent of the world's population is born with peculiar abilities known as quirks, that can range to three types, mutation, emitter, and transformation."
"With time, people began abusing their said quirks to do whatever a typical criminal would do, but on a much larger scale depending on the user. They were known as villains, but with their uprising, also came people who stopped them at any cost, and thus, the hero profession was made public. With the addition of superhero schools and agencies to attend, as well as merchandise, among other many things."
"So what I'm getting is, eighty percent of people worldwide have superpowers and can choose to either become a hero or villain?" Itsuki asked.
"That's correct, young man." Yagi said, with a smile and a thumbs up.
"You said you were a teacher, did it happen to be in one of those said hero schools?" Motoyasu asked.
"Yes, and the former number one hero of Japan, All Might." Yagi replied, smiling proudly.
"I find it hard to believe, but considering our current circumstances, it could be possible that a world like that exists." Ren said.
"So what's your quirk, Mr. Toshinori?" Itsuki asked.
Yagi knew that question was coming at some point, so he prepared for it. "Super strength, young Kawasumi." He replied.
"Can you show us? I'm still questioning if the quirk thing is true." Ren said.
"Hmmm, if you insist." Yagi said. "Let's go outside."
The four heroes headed outside to witness what Yagi could do. Yagi stretched before puilling his arm back to punch some trees.
"SMASH" All Might shouted.
A huge gust of wind tore away some grass and blew away some of the nearby trees that were in its path. The rest of the heroes were amazed at such a display of power when a thought came to Yagi.
"Hey! I have an idea!" Yagi exclaimed, catching more attention from the other heroes. "How about a free for all?"
"What!? That's crazy! You'll tear us apart!" Motoyasu yelled, panicking.
"Yeah, no offense Mr. Toshinori, but we are way out of your league." Itsuki added.
"Hmm... It would be unfair to use my quirk..." Yagi said before looking at his shield. "I've never used a shield before, so I'll use that."
"Why would you use the shield instead of your powers, Mr. Toshinori?" Ren questioned.
"Why, you ask? To get to know it better, its abilities, strengths, weaknesses, everything." Yagi said. "And you can get to know your weapons as well!"
"H-how are we supposed to fight you?" Motoyasu asked, worried.
"Simple, I'll be using my shield." Yagi said. "All you have to do to win is for one of you to touch me, simple as that."
"I suppose we can give it try." Itsuki said.
"I'll go with you too, I wish to know the extent of my sword's power." Ren said.
"Fine, I'll go too." Motoyasu said, lifting his spear, with the others raising their respective weapons.
"Then it's settled." Yagi said. "Come at me, young heroes!"