Arrival

I was walking my usual route home from college one day, when I had a sudden ominous feeling. I stopped to wonder why, and a sign in front of me fell down, crushing the space where I would have been had I not stopped.

‘Jesus christ! Thank god I didn’t go ahead.’ I watched wide eyed as the sign rolled to the floor, and then suddenly a glowing circle appeared on the floor beneath me. That brings us to the current moment.

I think me and you both know what this means. I’ve been teleported to another world, right? Nonetheless, I whirled through a black tunnel which felt like going down a water slide, and appeared in a room full of people.

Looking around, I noticed that the people were all from my P.E class. There were 29 people me included, and we all recognized each other. I wasn’t expecting much from them though, as I wasn’t super popular in P.E.

“Hello, I know you may be scared but it’s okay.” A man in white robes said to us, his face being wrinkled and his hair grey.

“What happened? Who are you?” The student nearest to him, Samara, spoke, confused at what had happened to all of us.

“Let me explain. You have all been summoned here to assist humanity in its righteous fight.” The man explained, and got several questioning looks from each of us.

“Can we go back home?” A boy named Eli spoke out to them, and they chuckled.

“There’s two answers. You all died, so as of now no. However, if you manage to defeat the demon lord, or the cause of the scourge then we will have enough power to undo one or two deaths and send you back.” The man explained to us, and we looked around.

“Woah woah woah, wait a second. First, who is the demon lord, and second do you mean only some of us can go back?”

“Calm down.” The man assured him, “Most of you won’t want to go back anyways, but if you defeat both enemies around five or six people can be sent back. If you defeat more than the leaders of those groups, you could almost all go back. As for your other question, the demon lord is the ruler of the demons, an evil being who wants to destroy humanity. The scourge is a sort of undead plague roaming sections of the world. Obviously you won’t be alone in your fight, but we need your help.” The man explained everything to us, and I began to suspect them.

First off, me and you both know that kingdoms and governments, or people in general, can’t be trusted. I am also suspicious, because I didn’t die, which means they didn’t teleport us because we died. If they ‘know’ we died, then they likely caused our deaths directly.

‘Let’s not trust these dudes.’ It was an easy enough decision to make, and I made it as soon as nothing made sense.

“Why wouldn’t we want to go back?” One of the girls from the class asked, and the people in robes laughed.

“Because, you now have extraordinary powers. We can only summon a set amount of people every few hundred years, but you all gain incredible power from being summoned. Think about your ‘status’ or something similar.” The man told us, and so we followed his instructions.

A yellow screen like one from a game appeared before me, and I could see my information.

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Name: Ashton Phoenix

Age: 19

Class: Consumer of the Gods

Class Desc: After killing and consuming a god, you gained the power to absorb skills, abilities, and classes from other entities.

Level: 1

Job: Hero (Hidden:[Destroyer, God slayer])

Abilities: [Devour, Absorb]

Passives: [Hide]

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Looking at my skills, they were described as such:

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Absorb: User can absorb skills alongside their levels and classes from those they kill. Absorbing classes is currently locked.

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Devour: User can devour a skill or ability, gaining it for themself. The skill begins at level 1.

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Hide: Passive - User can hide their class, skills, passives, and abilities from others.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Looking at my skills and class, I had only one though. What the hell? When did I kill a god, why am I a destroyer, and why the hell do I sound like an evil person? I have been a good boy world, why do I deserve this? Well, I can’t change it as it is, so may as well accept it.

“Now, let me explain. WHat you currently have are called abilities, special powers or feats unique to you. Skills on the other hand, are learned or gained powers or feats, gained either from study or from your class. Your class is just a way of telling you which skills and traits you will have access to, like a grouping. A wizard and summoner might share some basic skills, and can learn the same skills, but class specific skills will only be shared by others of the same class.” The man in the robe explained to us, and everyone nodded or showed some form of acknowledging their understanding.

Everyone looked at their class, and I pondered how exactly I could change it up. I didn’t want to be accused of evil the moment I arrived in another world, do I want to be forced into a war that I know nothing about.

‘A chef.’ I hid my class as a chef, and made both of my abilities and my passive disappear from visibility.

“Okay, we will now be creating identities for you all. They will record your appearance, class, age, level, and occupation.” The man in the robe said to us, and four others with robes stepped forward holding stacks of cards.

‘Information gathering. And, we can’t even resist it.’ I watched as they walked around and created everyone’s id, and eventually they got to me.

“Hold out your hand.” A man in a robe said to me, and I obliged. The card touched my hand, and I used devour on it. As I did so, it broke and I almost choked.

“Damn enchanters!” The man muttered aggressively, and pulled out another card. I touched this one normally, and he read the card before handing it to me.

“Chef? Never heard of that one.” He said, before walking off. I checked my newly gained skills.

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New skill: Basic Stat Appraisal - Gives the level, class, race, name, and abilities/skills of the entity appraised. When applied to objects, a description of its effects and properties will be given.

New skill: Linking - allows for objects or entities to be linked together, sharing data or properties.

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Looking at the linking skill, I devised that they had private cards somewhere, which would update our stats whenever we touched the cards. ‘Good thing I found that out!’ I could only imagine what would happen if my class suddenly changed, and to one with god slaying involved at that.

After everyone had their cards, the people with robes led us away to meet the king. We walked down large hallways, and I appraised things along the way.

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Enchanted Armor - Enchanted with magic. Properties: When triggered the enchantment animates the armor to kill invaders.

Door - Door.

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Ignoring the last one, I never would have guessed that the armor surrounding us was a bunch of killbots! Amazing, now I know to avoid hallways!

We arrived in the king’s throne room, and stood before a sturdily built man in a horizontal line. As we sat down, he seemed to be reading a card with glowing text which a robed woman handed him. After a few minutes, he spoke to us.

“Hello heroes, I am king Jerinad Banqwuell the fourth, but you may call me king. I would like you all to know that we will help to nurture your powers, and explain your abilities as best we can, in order for you to slay your enemies as quickly as possible. Do you have any questions?” He asked us, somewhat serious.

“Who are our enemies?”

“Ah yes, the most basic question! I’m sorry we were a bit rushed to get you here! Your enemies are the undead and the demons, evil creatures who wish to destroy this world’s balance. The undead are those who died, reanimated to fulfill evil agendas, and the demons are vile beasts who wish to corrupt humanity as a whole.” The king explained, and there were several displays of understanding in response.

“What are levels?”

“Oh, well, levels are a basing on your power. The maximum level is calculated to be 300, though the greatest a non-hero has reached is 141. The demon lord was level 152 a few years ago, but is likely level 153 by now. We also have reason to believe that there is an existence behind the demon lord that is far stronger than he, and it is merely sealed away.” The king explained, causing several people to gasp.

“So, if we kill these demons or whatever, can we earn land or an army?”

“Of course. Every nation will assist in rewarding the heroes, our nation being at the lead of that. And, of course, most anything you gain yourself will be yours.” He proudly explained, and that seemed to hook several of the people in the room.

Who doesn’t dream of becoming a powerful hero, with their own lands and armies, controlling and ruling their own worlds or societies? Especially since many of the people here weren’t the brightest…

“Well then, since that seems to be all let’s get everything in order! First, you will be given your own room and demon servant.”

“Demon servant?”

“Yes, when we defeat demons, sometimes they survive. It feels pitiful to just kill them, so we help re-educate them. They go from savages, to understanding servants. Don’t worry about them, they’re both expendable and feelingless. If you want you can get a new one every day!” The king explained, and though reluctant several people just accepted it.

‘Um, okay? I know I’m not the only one who thinks that’s messed up...’ Sounds a whole lot lik enslavement, but maybe they’re telling the truth?

“Second, you will be allowed access to both magical and martial texts, so long as you check the books out with your cards. I am having a mana tester brought to the room now, and it will tell us your mana capacity.”

“So, can we do magic?!”

“Yes! Though, the level of magic will depend on your aptitude with mana, and your mana capacity.” The king waved to some people in robes, who I learned were mages after an appraisal. Why didn't I appraise the white robes? I’m an idiot.

They brought over crystal balls on pillows, and told us to place our hands on them. We all lined up, as there were only three brought, and walked up to get our mana levels. I finally arrived before one, and placed my hand on it without using one of my abilities.

“1002. Not bad, but not the best.” The mage said, and I walked away acceptant. I could likely improve it in the future, so why worry about it now.

After everyone was done getting their magic points appraised, we all returned to our line to hear the king's speech again.

“So, many of you are rather talented with magic! Heroes have some ability to increase their mana points, but it usually isn’t by much so it’s best that it’s high when you begin!.”

‘Of course.’

“Now, after we pass out your new rooms and belongings I would like everyone to demonstrate their powers, and begin their training.” The king waved his hands again, and several knights appeared behind us. They stepped towards one of us each, and beckoned us to follow them.

I saw another large hallway, and only a couple more armor suits along the way. The knight guiding me showed me the library, the study, the practice field, and then a few other places, before he led me to a hallway where the others were also arriving.

Several rooms lined up the walls, and the knight gave me a key. I took the key, and opened up my door, but what I saw shocked me.

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