"Now, please calm yourself, Lord Hero. As confused you may be now, things will be slowly explained to you all after this. For now, let me, Royal Mage Dwark, welcome the 5 heroes summoned from a world above us, to the Phoenix Empire!"
Silence ensued after the welcoming speech from Dwark, the royal mage of the Phoenix Empire.
Through the corner of my eye, I observed the reaction of the other four. As expected, shock and confusion was still occupying their minds. I wonder if I'm the anomaly for being so calm...
Putting such useless thoughts aside, the current situation requires more assessment.
'I seemed to have been summoned into another world through that golden formation back on Earth, and was greeted by these 8 strangely dressed men calling me, and the other four next to me, Heroes Of The Phoenix Empire.'
'I should try to get more information out from the old man who spoke to us.'
"Umm.."
The attention of everyone inside the room was placed on me as I raised my hand. The royal mage, Dwark, seemed to have understand easily that I have something to ask, as he turned to me with a smile.
"Yes, Lord Hero...?"
"Calling me Freryr would do. And if I remember correctly, you're Mr.Dwark, am I right?"
"Exactly so. What seems to be troubling you, Hero Freyr?"
An awkward smile grew on my face as the Royal Mage Dwark changed his way of addressing me, but it was quickly hidden away as I continued with my words.
"You called the five of us heroes that were summoned here, may I ask why would you guys do such a thing?"
"I was planning on revealing the story behind such a rude act to our lord heroes after things have calmed down, but now that you've asked, I supposed it will be better to do so immediately."
Saying so, the smile on Dwark's face was wiped off. I could feel the atmosphere in the room growing tense, as if lost lives filled the room we were in.
"Things started far long ago, an era where magic was scarce, but much more powerful than what we humans of this era could achieve."
"Kingdoms and empires formed, normal humans filled them as a few were nurtured into mages. Even though disputes would surface every once in a while between kingdoms, peace was what we swore to aim and protect for."
"However, all that came down as an evil force stepped upon our world. Destruction, chaos, even corrupted magic was what covered the places that it had been through."
"Just as this world was about to be met with its demise, four mages stood up against the terrifying power amidst tattered homes."
"Together, they unleashed world-ending spells and formation, rendering the evil power vulnerable as it was forced to surrender."
"After the battle, the four mages were crowned the tittle of heroes with different names, each following their respective signatures spells, which were Divine Tiger, Black Tortoise, Draconic Warrior, and the last of all, Phoenix."
Saying out the name of the last tittle, Dwark closed his eyes as his expression eased a little, with a smug on his face that seemed to have been nonexistent for how fast it disappeared.
"Not trying to be offensive, but why does the name Phoenix sound rather lame compared to the other three?" I questioned with a look of curiosity.
The tense atmosphere in the room immediately dissipated afterwards, with an escaped laugh echoing in the room for a second before being suppressed.
I turned to the owner of that laugh. It was the guy earlier who shouted out in panic. His anxiety seemed to have been relieved by a bit after my not-so-offensive question, which I guess it's a good thing.
Turning back to Dwark, I could see his eyes were twitching slightly, but probably because I was a hero that they summoned, he could only answer my question helplessly.
"There...has been speculation as to why it had been so, but none were verified yet. However! What cannot be denied is that the Hero Phoenix is undoubtedly the most skilled one amongst the four."
"It was also him who stayed the longest in the mortal realm after the four restructured the world's civilization and built the 5 empires on this continent, each named after a hero with the last whose name was Avialon."
The story ended there, with everyone going quiet as their heads thought again about the story of the Four Heroes. For some reason, the name 'Avialon' stick out a lot in the whole story.
"Ehem! Now that've I told our lord heroes the story about the four legendary heroes, it is time that I lead you to meet the king."
The other 7 royal mages stood up at the same time immediately after Dwark finished his sentence. Their sudden actions startle the five of us who were called heroes, but I guess things were already tense enough that such a scare wasn't anything.
Of course, I differed from the other four.
Leaving the enclosed room that felt suffocating with the presence of possibly 8 old men, we walked down a luxurious hallway on the red carpet that seemed to sewn with the fur of a type of an animal.
'Nah, that's impossible. What kind of animal would have red fur on their body?'
I denied my guesses as logic kicked in.
My eyes wandered around before landing on the other four who were summoned here with me. The teenager that chuckled just now caught my attention as I got close to him, striking up a chat.
"Hey, what's your name? Mine's Freyr, which I guess you should already know."
The dude looked at me in surprise, as if not expecting anyone to talk to him while we're on the way to meet the king.
Honestly speaking, I'd hit him up if he was a girl for making that cute expression.
"M-my name's Damian."
"Damian, right? I got it. The five of us probably will get the chance to speak with each other alone afterwards. So we'll talk more there."
"For now, just relax a lil bit. Gotta leave a good first impression with the king, right?"
The cu-Damian immediately knew that I could see he was still anxious, which made his ears turn red in an instant. Before I could let out a speechless expression, he nodded his head before keeping it back low.
'...Is he really a boy?'
I looked at him from top to bottom. Although the black hair seems a little too long for reaching his neck, his physique and the rests are similar to the average-looking boy.
'It can't be that he swings that way, right?'
Whilst I pondered about the question on whether Damian was a boy or not, Dwark pushed open a door carved out of gigantic gold slabs. The intricate carvings of a phoenix on the door trembled as the door and thee ground grinded, making the image seem alive for a second.
Dwark immediately walked in after making a slight bow, which was followed by the other royal mages. Since I wasn't that well-versed in medieval etiquette or things along the lines, I figured it'd be better to just do nothing.
The other four seems to have the same thoughts, walking into the room normally as we approached the other end.
We heroes looked around in awe as the whole room seemed to be made out of gold, with lifelike sculptures of warriors lined across the room and angels pulling the bowstring carved out from the wall close to the ceiling.
My eyes lit up in amazement as I looked at the shiny things around me. These things would be exclusive decorations for the rich back on Earth after all.
"Seems like we have summoned a brave hero despite it being the first time we conducted the summoning ritual."
A voice soothing to the ear sounded across the room as it attracted the attention of everyone. Naturally, I looked in the direction where the voice came from, not knowing that I would have my mouth agape.
A slender figure of a young woman, whose blond hair hang down loosely with a few strands on her shoulders, sat there on a throne next to the man whose seems to be the king. Even with the distance between us, her red eyes that resembled a ruby was still clear and visible to me.
Paired with the noble air around her and the beautifully designed green dress she wore, it wasn't hard to guess that the person who spoke, was the princess.