It has been four years since Caden Keats defeated and killed the king of the demon race, Pathetrona. Four years since he was coined a hero. A hero? That name is the biggest lie told throughout the kingdom. Now he has no useful qualities. Someone who was not needed, someone who was cast aside. This is neither the beginning nor the end of his story.
Six years ago.
Caden Keats was living a normal life of someone who enjoyed being alone. Although most other tenth graders enjoyed partying and enjoyed hanging with their friends. Caden enjoyed playing videos games or going to martial arts training. He has been doing so for the last ten years of his life.
During school he was the student that the bullies set their sights on originally, yet when they found out how ruthless the quiet, ranked number one, student could be, they quickly left him alone.
He wasn't the type who would just take shots from anyone else, nor was he the type to get angry. He merely put a stop to unnecessary wastes of energy. All he wanted to do was either train or go home and play more video games. Which mainly consisted of fighting themes.
This was his life. The life of a straight A student with the looks of the most popular boy in school. His thick short black hair that had the definition of bedridden written all over it. His bright green eyes that no one in he school could match, drove the girls crazy. Yet he never indulged in them. For some reason he was not aware of, only the popular girls with the most sexual rumours came to attempt the taming of the unattainable.
He was not interested in any of them, which seemed to have the affect he most despised. It only made them want him more. He became fed up with these people.
On his way home from his late night Tae Kwan Do class, he began to feel refreshed suddenly. It was a feeling he has not felt after any of the training he had had to endure. However, he did not necessarily dislike this feeling.
What he didn't realise was that at that moment, he was being summoned to another world. To a world where all his logic seemed to not matter. Where even the laws of physics are toyed with. A land of magic and wonder.
He felt himself beginning to lose consciousness as he fell down the bank of the river. As he blacked out he panicked. Is this how his life is going to turn off? Is this everything?
Suddenly he felt refreshed once more. He realised that he was not dead but merely unconscious. He laughed softly at that fact, glad that he was not dead.
"Why are you laughing?" Came a voice he had not heard before. Instantly he opened his eyes and stood up. Unfortunately for him, the gravity in this new world was far less than he was used to. His sudden motions caused him to fly backwards into the cement wall, causing it to break under the impact.
"Son of a..." Caden stopped his cuss as he usually did, at the same time bringing his right hand up and rubbing the back of his head. "What the hell?" He said and this time he stood up slowly. Instantly he knew about the gravity and instantly he knew to cater for it.
"Incredible." Came the voice from before, and this time he knew it belonged to a female. It was a smooth melodic voice that could soothe the very doubts from ones mind.
Caden looked upon this unfamiliar voice and stood stunned. This woman was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She stood just under six feet, with waist length dark brown slightly curly hair. She wore a light blue frilly short sleeve dress with light blue bicep length gloves. Atop her head sat a gold grown with dark red and green gems that sparkled against the light.
Just who is this creature, Caden thought to himself. And where the hell was he?
"Hero, thank you for coming." She said in a strange language that Caden could instantly comprehend. This is one of the things he needs to figure out.
"Hero?" He replied back in the same language that shocked even himself. How did he know this language? And how can he speak it with such familiarity?
"Yes, a Hero." This obviously Royal lady said with a soft smile. "We have summoned you to this world to aid in our plight. A dark magician by the name of Pathetrona Vatroca has plagued this world for far too long and we are unable to defeat him. He commands the demon race to the south and we are in need of assistance. Hence your summoning." She said with a humble and courteous tone. She sounded as if she really needed help. That his summoning would be a great aid in their endeavours.
"Interesting." Caden replied. "Very interesting." This seemed to confused the Royal lady as her expression matched.
"I'm sorry?" She said slightly confused, which only seemed to pique his interest more. "I don't understand. What is interesting?" She asked clearly oblivious to the thing she has failed to mention so far.
"You are forgetting something." Caden said with a chuckle. He wanted to see how much she could figure out. It would give him an understanding of the type of people he would be helping. If he chose to help them.
"What am I forgetting?" She said softly as if trying to remind herself to this fact. Caden, however, found it funny that she did not realise what she left out. He laughed softly which caught her attention.
"What is so funny?" She said loudly as a bright blush crept upon her cheeks. She really did not realise? And Caden coincidentally found his type of woman within her. He became entranced by her actions and he wanted to see more.
"Do you not realise what you left out?" He asked as he walked over to her closing the distance to a mere two meters. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." He said as he wave his right index finger at her with a big smile on his face.
"Tell me!" She ordered as she became flustered. "I did everything by the book. I did what the court wizard told me to do. Why are you laughing at me?"
"This world might be fun after all. Especially with people forgetting the most crucial pieces of information one might have." Caden told her with another smile.
"Crucial information?" She seemed to ponder within her mind as to what he might have meant by that statement. Finally it clicked. She was ashamed that it took this long to realise her blunder, but an apology would have to suffice. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Hero. My name is Kathrine Helena Gathoway, Queen of Kintadrea. Please to make your acquaintance." She finished off with a curtsy by holding her dress in her hand, placing her right foot behind the other, and bending down slightly.
"Finally!" Caden exclaimed clearly happy to finally know her name. "My name is Caden Keats, the so called Hero." He matched her curtsy with a bow of his own. He has seen movies where the Japanese bow to their superiors, so he just tried to copy that. Apparently it worked.
As he bowed he finally realised what he was wearing. It wasn't the black school uniform he knew he was wearing before, but rather a strangely comforting robe. The type of robes that travelling samurai used to wear. He became confused at this, due to the fact he was not Japanese, let alone a samurai. The robe was dark red in colour with a dark purple lining. Too be fair, it looked quite good in him.
He stood up slowly once more, noting the gravity, and looked at the Queen once more. The queen who now wore a matching smile on her face having finally introduced herself.
"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Caden asked and instantly realised he couldn't actually ask a lady her age, so he added something more to it. Not realising he did not actually change the question. "Because you look far too young to be a Queen."
"I don't mind." She replied with a chuckle at seeing his sudden discomfort talking about her age. "I'm sixteen, turning seventeen in a few short months." She said with a smile. "And you?"
"Just turned seventeen last week." Caden admitted as he matched the queens smile with his own. If this world was anything like this queen then he knew he would like it.
The next few days consisted on Caden and Katherine spending time with various trainers. Trainers for History, Common Sense, Weapons, Magic, Geography, and everything needed for him to operate in this world unaided.
It was tough at first. Learning about an entire new world while noting all the differences between the two was taxing on Caden, but he persevered. Due to his adept knowledge retention abilities, he was able to comprehend the basics of everything he learned.
After the first week, Katherine began to explain to him about the current level system that was setup over five thousand ears ago. It enabled the creatures on this planet to understand their strengths, their weaknesses, and to determine whether or not the person that obstructs them is worth fighting or fleeing from.
"Say the following words with your right hand extend I'm front of you. Your hand has to be open and your Palm showing outwards. Your fingers need to be stretched out." Katherine ensured he had his hand in the right position before uttering the words he needed. "Now say 'Command: Status'." She added with an expectant look on her face.
Caden did so and instantly a status window appeared to the left of his vision.
Caden Keats
Level: 12
Title/s: Hero, Arcane Warrior
Stats:
Agility: 10
Strength: 19
Intelligence: 32
Speed: 21
Stamina: 27
Mana: 102
Skills:
Weapon Master: Level 2
Elemental Magic: Level 4
Divine Might: Level 4
Summoning: Level 1
Iron Might: Level 2
For someone his level, he found that having Mana over 40 would be considered great, but having it 102, especially when all our stats are evenly spread, no one could make heads of. They ended up classifying him as a genius.
That and his adept learning, who Katherine was surprised to see wasn't a skill, made him able to learn this faster that the rest of the people around him.
He spent the next two years travelling the world, growing stronger. His name spread like wildfire and soon everyone knew of the Hero's appearance. However during these two years he never saw an actual demon nor that of their king. It seemed as if they were avoiding him.
During these two years, he made many friends, both noble and common. He even befriended the Royals of every country. To him all the struggles, and all the fights were worth it. He finally mattered somewhere, and he found what he was good for. What he didn't expect would come later.
After the two years were up, he decided that he was ready for the so called Demon King. He was as sure as he could be after finally maxing the levels one could achieve. He was the first person in history to attain 100 levels in two years.
Even those of the Royal guards only managed to get to 60 or 70 in their lifetimes. None much higher.
He travelled south to the barren lands of the Demon race. He was unsure of how they could call that place home. It was scorched earth where nothing grew.
Him and his team of four slaughtered the demons they came across.
His team consisted of, Madeline, a tomboyish short haired blonde witch who embodied her title. She wore a dark blue robe with a dark blue pointed hat. Another was, Derek, the overly muscled knight with short brown hair and two small scars on his right cheek. He wore a fancy shining set of steel knight armour that exuded his strength. Francis, a calm quiet mage with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and a similar dark blue robe as Madeline's. The last was Richard, the archer of the group. He wore a soft looking black leather getup with dull purple linings. His bow was that of the black iron wood type which was worldly famous for its strength and difficulty to use.
Caden thought he had it all. He defeated the Dark Magician after a lengthy battle and now thought he could live the high life. He could finally ask Katherine to be his. They went out celebrating that night and drank their fills a few times over.
Over the course of the next week, Caden realised what was happening. His so called friends, the men and woman who aided in killing the Demon King abandoned him. None would see him. The Royal families of the kingdom's rejected his requests to see him. Katherine, herself, refused to be in his presence.
The entire world had turned against him. He could not find a job as he had no qualifications. He could not join any guild as none would vouch for him. He had nothing. A Hero without a cause, he would find, meant nothing to anyone. This is the world that summoned him.
It has been four years since then.