The large door was opened before them with a knight in steel armor standing in front of it. He said in a deep voice, "Enter Priestess and Heroes."
Marveling at this great fantastic city, some of the students had smiles on their faces and enthusiasm in their expressions.
As they walked through the gate, thousands of people of different species stood in line on both sides of the road, leaving the center clear. Humans, elves, demi-humans, beastmen, dwarves…and more stood there waiting for the heroes.
They bowed slightly to welcome the ones who would save their world from destruction.
They remained silent with just a few whispers passing through the air.
Then one of the students approached the priestess who was in front to lead them into the castle. Then she asked, "What the hell is going on? Why are all these people doing this?"
The priestess replied at that moment, "For centuries, demons have been the enemy of all races. In every war, almost all races formed alliances to defeat the Demons. Your arrival here gives people hope, sorry if we can't make it a more festive welcome."
She then looked at the people standing to the right, her staff in her left hand continuing "By invoking you, we are preparing for war, so instead of celebrating your arrival with joy, we are just welcoming you respectfully."
She then looked around, understanding what she meant. Then the priestess asked, "What is your name?"
"Itsuki, that's what everyone calls me."
The priestess smiled slightly looking forward again.
"Riji, do you think we're going to have super cheat powers?" one of the students asked his friend.
"Obviously," he said with overflowing confidence, "I hope to be able to wield fire or lightning. Or be in a swordsman class."
"Why don't I feel anything, yet if they were there…" thought Amane at the very back of the group as if she weren't part of it.
Yuki looked at her with that same unsettling feeling. Even after this event, her best friend was still in another world, a darker world filled with despair.
The city itself was like a labyrinth with its towers, markets and cobbled streets.
The inhabitants were almost all different, species of all kinds mixed together. The children also bowed their heads, welcoming the heroes.
They arrived at the large entrance gate to the castle courtyard. Inside, everything had become more luxurious with its garden decorations. Knights in training greeted them warmly. The priestess and a man who was the captain of the royal guard appeared before them.
"I present to you the captain of the royal guard, Sir Davan," the priestess introduced to the students. "He will be in charge of your training during the two interstellar periods before the scheduled reincarnation of the Demon King."
The captain bowed his head in respect. "I hope we can work together properly," he announced solemnly.
"Interstellar? Sounds like something from space..."one of them whispered curiously.
"So we'll be with him all the time, but..." Itsuki thought and then asked the priestess, "What is an interstellar?"
The priestess was surprised. "Don't you know what that is?" Then she said, "I suppose even that is different. An interstellar is the number of 100 days. In a year, there are 4 interstellars." Then she looks at them all with a slight smile as she continues, "So we have 400 days in a year."
Rumors were starting to circulate, this information was already shocking.
"Seriously, we're going to train in 200 days!" "Is that like months in our world?"
"Damn, the sun is way farther away than ours."
"So that means we're stuck here for another 200+ days, and even then we can't even know if we'll make it back alive." Yuki thought to herself, then she spoke to herself looking at Amane, whose eyes were fixed on the ground, as if afraid that someone, or something might hear her thoughts.
The priestess then raised her hand and silence suddenly returned. "Each of you has a unique skill and evolution system that will be essential to you against the Demon King."
"Just imagine it in your mind and your system will appear." she announced.
Then excitement struck the students, the enthusiasm of a discovery within them that was appearing before their eyes.
"Wow...Scarlet Flame ! It must be too cheating!"cried one of the students.
"Exp×10…what does that mean?" a girl asked.
"Royal swordswoman. So cool, I hit the jackpot," Itaka exclaimed.
A smile spread across Yuki's face. She had obtained a rare unique skill of future awakening, one can even say that this skill is unique in the world. "With this, I will become strong enough." she thought with eyes sparkling with hope.
But unfortunately, some were not at all excited because of unique skills that were not very useful.
Amane closed her eyes to see hers. She inhaled and imagined her system. Her statistics table appears in front of her in blue and the letters and numbers in white.
[Current status – evolution system]
[Name: Amane Seiren]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Unassigned]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 200/200]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 7]
[Endurance: 4]
[Magic: 0]
[Chance: 1]
[Unique Skill: [Writer] — Can rename any ability]
[Status: Unfit for combat]
[Potential: Down]
[Additional Skill: None]
Amane lowered her head at the low stats. She knew that not everything written there could be considered powerful, no offensive, defensive, or even supportive skills.
Yuki's hand found hers, her eyes holding kindness and comfort. She then said in a soft voice, "We'll be okay."
Then a tear rolled down Amane's cheek as she looked at her with lost eyes and a completely paralyzed face. She then looked ahead, wiping away the single tear that fell.
The priestess with her eye where a mini blue magic circle was drawn in front of her, looking one by one at the status of the students and their unique skills. Then she announced, "You will be separated into three groups according to your skills."
A wave of tension ran through the students upon hearing this proclamation.
"What...on top of all that, we're going to be separated." exclaimed Itaka, surprised by this announcement.
"No, but wait, there's no point in dividing us." Itsuki said, trying to understand their words.
Discontent began to emerge among the students; they do not want them to be separated.
The priestess raised her staff and silence returned as if no whispers had taken place.
"This is not a punishment. It is training, preparation for your future confrontations, and your path will be strewn with pitfalls, but it is only by traveling it that you will become stronger."
After her few words, the students begin to be convinced as if his words were the definition of truth itself.
The priestess then continued, "Each group will train and progress according to its abilities."
Then according to the abilities that the priestess analyzed, she quickly sent them back supervised by the royal captain.
Amane was sent to the weakest group, the third group of failed unique skills. Yuki looked at her with a heavy heart and a feeling of helplessness.
While the priestess was organizing the sorting, Yuki approached and asked, "Please, uh...priestess, can I join the third group?"
As the captain of the royal guard wrote the students' names in a notebook, the priestess whispered to Yuki, "Sorry, the training program has already been decided based on your skills."
"Besides, your skill could be one of the most promising, so if one of your friends is in the other group, become strong so you can protect them." she said, trying to comfort Yuki.
Yuki resigned herself and agreed to stay in the first group but still accompanied by doubt."The first group will be supervised by the captain of the royal guard who has the most potential. The second will be assisted by the veteran knights of the court and the third group by the church."announced the priestess aloud.
"Damn, why did I have to be in the third group?" Riji said with a bored look.
"It was probably necessary, my skills are really useless."muttered another.
Yuki then approached Amane and said, "I can't be with you, but I promise I'll become strong for the both of us."
Amane then said with a smile, a smile that at least tried to say everything would be okay, even though her heart was still filled with despair, "Okay, Yuki…"
The groups began to split into different directions and different paths to achieve the same goal.
The priestess then led the third group to see their training grounds. "This is the place where you will spend the next interstellar periods." standing back at the door as the students walked around to observe the room.
The room was quite isolated and difficult to access. It was spacious with a worn magic circle drawn on the floor.
As the students stepped into the circle, a cold smile appeared on the priestess's face. Her eyes had become arrogant and all her former kind words seemed to be already falling into oblivion."You're nothing but trash, circle activate." she said with a surreal expression that she revealed, different from what she had shown from the beginning. A smile that was sly, selfish, and revealing her true nature.
Amane looked at her, the others tried to run away but she didn't move as the circle formed a dome and then engulfed them all.