Chapter 1

The bell rings. signalling the end of lessons as multiple students come out in groups while chatting away. A boy walks past the different groups of people causing them to stop their conversations either to exchange pleasantries with him or to wave at him.

The boy eventually leaves the school premises and starts walking down the road till he stops in front of a crosswalk. He brings out his phone to see it's past two as he sighs in relief.

'There's enough time', he says to himself.

Arato is a tall, handsome 17-year-old boy with black hair, brown eyes and a fit physique. This, along with his good grades, great personality and tendency to help those in need makes him the most popular guy in his school. Arato was impatient because of a limited comic he wanted to buy. He had a hobby of reading novels and comics and was a frequent customer of the bookstore.

As Arato was waiting for the green light, he saw a girl waving at him from across the street.

'I haven't seen her before.' He thought to himself as he waved back. The girl seemed to be from his school. That was probably why she was waving at him.

The light turned green as she was waving; she then proceeded to cross the road as a truck approached at a high speed. 'It's not slowing down.' Arato thought to himself. 'Hey! Look out!'

he shouted as she looks at the truck and freezes in fear.

As the truck is about to hit her, Arato immediately pushes her away as the truck hits him and sends him flying. He then lands on the floor as the girl and people nearby rush to him. Arato's vision fades slowly as the last thing he sees is the crying face of the girl he saved.

Arato wakes up lying in a white, vast space with no end in sight. He sits up in confusion as he looks around.

'Where am I?', he says out loud to no one in particular.

'The afterlife.', a soft voice responds from behind him.

Arato; startled looks back to see an extremely beautiful lady with flawless, fair skin, golden hair and eyes wearing a long, flowing white robe with golden ornaments and a floating jewelled halo shaped like the sun on her head. She had a golden radiance around her that made Arato feel at peace and the same time, fear.

'Who are you?', he asked.

'My name is Iris, and you're on the plane between life and death.', she replied.

'Huh?', Arato responds in confusion. 'Wasn't I..', before he completes his sentence, he remembers everything that happened up to his death as the situation dawns on him.

'So, I'm dead?', he asks as she nods in response. 'I see...', Arato chuckles to himself because the thought of death seemed unreal yet, oddly comforting to him.

'So is the girl safe?'

'Yes, she is thanks to you.'

Arato sighs in relief. 'At least she's safe.' Arato looks at her with curiosity, 'So, what's next?'

Iris smiles kindly as she responds, 'You're a good person, Arato Kirigaya. So I'll give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I'll give you life, but in another world.'

Arato is visibly shocked by her statement. He never thought something like that would happen to him, especially if it's something that happens in the books he often reads.

'I accept.', he answers immediately.

Iris chuckles lightly at his hasty answer as she replies, 'Don't be hasty Arato, there's a condition to my proposal.'

Arato wondered what the condition could be. 'What condition?'

Iris replies, 'My condition is that you save my world.'

Arato was both excited and confused at the same time. The thought of him saving that world and helping people gave him a sense of pride and responsibility but he thought, 'How can someone like me save a planet?'

'You can, with my help.' Iris answers.

'How did you..' Arato stopped halfway through his sentence because he realised shouldn't be surprised; she was a goddess after all.

'What's so special about your world anyway?' Arato asks.

'It shares multiple similarities and differences with your world. For one, it's about ten times larger than your world and many concepts and theories in your world don't exist or have an influence there.' she responds.

'I see...' Arato thinks for a while before he answers, 'Alright, I'll save your world.'

'That's great.' Iris says as she smiles at his response. 'But first, I must greatly enhance your physical abilities.'

'Why?', Arato asks.

'Because, if you go as you are now, you'll probably be crushed by the planet's gravity almost instantly.', she says with a smile.

Arato suddenly became nervous with this new information. 'Alright, I'm ready.', he says after convincing himself to follow through with his decision.

Iris snaps her fingers as Arato is filled with immense strength. The strength made him feel like he could do anything he wanted, and that caused him to look forward to what is to come.

'Are you ready?'

'I am.', Arato responds with eagerness in his voice. Suddenly, Arato starts transforming into light particles as he looks at Iris in confusion.

'It's time to go.', she says to settle his confusion. She continues,'Take care, I'll be with you in

times of need.'

Arato asks, 'What's the name of the world I'm to save?'

Iris responds as she smiles brightly, 'Gaia.'

Arato chuckles, 'Alright, I'll see you later.', with this, he disappears.

Iris' expression changes into worry while looking at where Arato stood previously as she says, 'Be careful hero, you have a long journey ahead of you.' she then disappears.

Arato sees himself in a large chamber filled with multiple soldiers wearing silver armour. He looks at his feet to see a strange circular inscription on the floor glowing with a blue colour. All of a sudden, he loses the strength to stand as he falls to one knee. He wondered if the strength Iris granted to him had left him but that wasn't the case; she only gave him enough strength to survive the planet's gravity.

A large old man with grey hair, a beard, one eye and a scarred, battle-hardened face walks forward and stops right in front of the circle. He also wore silver armour but it had different engraved designs on it and a black fur coat on his shoulders. The man stares at Arato with his cold blue eye which sends a shiver down his spine. 'This is the one to be my student? He can't even stand properly.' ; The man says as he looks at a young, beautiful lady with long, blonde hair, sky-blue eyes and curvy features wearing a long, flowing white dress.

The lady replies while smiling, 'Don't be like that uncle, that's why you're training him.'

The lady seemed to be of a higher status than the man since he grudgingly accepted her words. The lady looks at Arato and says, 'What's your name?'

'It's Arato... Arato Kirigaya.', he replies.

The lady grins as she says, 'Welcome to Gaia Arato, my name is Isla Fierra, princess of the kingdom of Faria. You have been summoned here as the hero destined to beat the Demon Lord. O hero.'