Summoning

I sat at my worn-out, cheaply-made school desk, tracing the lines that the students before me had carved into the wood.

I only half-listened to my math teacher, who was rambling on about rationalizing denominators, as the carved lines seemed far more interesting than math.

The desk had been inscribed with a massive hexagon, and a bunch of triangles connecting to its edges, making it look like a star. The rest of it was filled with meaningless scribbles and the occasional heart with two sets of initials in it.

My mind began wandering, flitting between ideas like a lost butterfly.

My eyes sightlessly gazed out the window as my hand continued to trace those graffitied lines and my mind ran wild.

"Anthony." I was brought back into reality by my math teacher's wooden ruler snapping against the back of my hand. "Is you aren't going to pay attention to class, why don't you show me you don't need to?"

I glanced at the board, relieved it was a problem I could solve, and quickly solved it before returning to my seat in the back row.

"I suppose you win...For today." My math teacher said, scouring my work for any detail he could nitpick.

I unfocused once more, my mind dreaming about anything that seemed even remotely interesting.

Eventually, the bell rang, signifying lunch, and I was mobbed by my friend and a few people I didn't know.

"Wow, Anthony, I thought you sucked at math." One of the newcomers said. "What gives?"

I recognized the newcomer. His name was Matthias. I didn't know him, exactly, but I had heard of his poor reputation.

"I just don't act like you do around women." I responded easily, satisfied by his face contorting in anger.

"Oh yeah? Well-" He was cut off by my good friend Mark.

"That's enough. If you have nothing constructive to say, shut up and leave." Mark waved him off.

"I'm Martha." The other newcomer introduced herself. "Could you help me with this class?"

I shrugged and decided it couldn't hurt to help her. I nodded and we slipped into mindless conversation.

As we chatted, enjoying our lunch together, Martha began acting strangely.

"What do you think about my figure?" She asked, looking at me hopefully.

I was at a loss for words. Why did my opinion matter? Was she asking because she liked me?

"It's very...Alluring." I couldn't think of anything else to say, but gauging her reaction, she didn't think it was enough.

I couldn't think of anything else that was remotely school-appropriate to say to her about her figure, so I remained silent, eating my lukewarm soup from my thermos.

She pouted, but didn't press me.

After school, Martha tagged along during my walk home, insisting that I continue to tutor her in math.

I finally relented in the face of her endless onslaught of questions.

I brought her into my home, and had to face another endless barrage of questions from my mother about why I brought a girl home and if it would interfere with my studies.

After tutoring her for most of the day, she left. I was utterly exhausted by her endless inquisitiveness that forced me to reevaluate my comprehension of the subject.

I was so tired I fell asleep dreaming about what it would be like to be transported into another world.

After who knows how long, I was awoken by a cold bucket of water.

I was immediately awake, but I had been woken by my mother like this numerous times when I was late for school, so I wasn't particularly surprised.

Until I opened my eyes, that is.

Standing above me was a woman who was wearing what looked to be a red-trimmed cloak that stereotypical mages wore, and holding an empty wooden pail.

I abruptly got up.

"Where am I?" I demanded, realizing there were more people in the room.

"Welcome, o hero." Said a voice behind me.

I turned and saw a elderly man sitting on a jewel-encrusted golden throne.

'That's...Extra.' I thought to myself, examining both the invaluable throne and the king that sat in an equally expensive robe.

"Bow before the king!" The woman who had so rudely awoken me shouted at me.

"No." I laughed, hating this world already. "He's not MY king."

A small group of guards surrounded me.

"You WILL bow before the king, or you will die." One of the guards said.

My mind shifted into high gear as I slowly examined each of the guard's postures and stances, picking out the weakest link so I could take them out.

I planned on using the wet marble floors to my advantage, along with the element of surprise.

I had been trained with the staff since I was young, and I figured I would be forced into some sort of bullshit contract or something if I didn't fight.

"I can't bow if your spears are so close to me, now can I?" I asked, hoping to open up some space for movement.

They obliged, now each with their spear tip an arm's length away.

Every guard had stepped in the puddle that encircled me, and I was going to use that to my advantage.

I abruptly pulled as hard as I could at one of the guard's spears, while simultaneously lowering my center of gravity.

The poor guard slid without resistance towards me.

He relinquished his weapon and readied a fist, but I swung the butt of the spear into his chin.

One down.

The guards began closing in. If I were to live I needed to break the encirclement.

I took a step and dove forward, twisting so I would slide on my back.

The startled guards failed to stab downwards in time and I collided with one guard's legs, sending him crashing down on top of me.

Perfect.

I sprang up and began sprinting towards the opulent doors as fast as my wet feet would allow, away from that king and his bullshit.

The two guards at the door readied their spears to intercept me, but I wasn't playing by their rules. I jumped through the stained glass windows flanking the door instead.

I didn't expect there to be nothing but air beneath the windows, but at least there was a pillar I could use my still-wet body to slide down at a rate I wouldn't break my legs.

Now, from what I could see from the bottom of the pillar, I needed to escape the entrapment of the walls.

I sprinted towards a guard tower embedded in the walls so I could climb the rough outer stone and bypass the guards likely stationed in it.

Arriving there, I made the split-second decision to slide the spear through by back belt loops on my jeans so I could take it with me.

I scaled the wall like a spider, not stopping even when the guards gathered beneath me and shouted for me to stop.

"Stop climbing and come back down unless you want to be turned into a pincushion!" A guard shouted at me.

"Are you insane?" The man I could only assume was the guard captain shouted at his subordinate. "We need him ALIVE!"

So they needed me, huh? I was going to use that to my advantage. They would regret summoning me.

I neared the top of the guard tower and began to go around it, rather than reach the top. My clothes dried rapidly in the afternoon sun as well, which warmed me up pleasantly.

I figured there would be guards waiting for me at the top, so I circled the outside and began climbing down.

I saw they had encircled the area below me before I had begun to climb down, so I looked for other options.

To my left was a plaza bustling with people and filled with colourful tents and goods, behind me was fields of...grey? Why were the plants grey? I pushed the question from my mind and looked to my right where the gates and more guards were.

I chose to jump onto a tent and prayed it would hold me.

"HOLY FUCK HE JUMPED" I heard a shocked soldier exclaim as I fell.

I spread my legs and arms to reduce my speed and hit the red tent I aimed for.

Upon impact I heard the tent begin to shred and I desperately held onto the frame, stopping it from being ripped entirely. Instead, the fabric was dangling, held together by a small amount of fabric that I hoped would make it easier to repair.

I pulled out my spear from its home in my belt loops and used it to help absorb impact from the fifteen foot drop I was going to take.

After that I took off running once more, giving up the idea of parkouring because I didn't see a single hard building. I guiltily threw an apology over my shoulder at the stunned shopkeeper as I ran.

I rapidly navigated the crowd, heading towards another guardhouse to repeat my last escape strategy.

I looked behind me briefly and saw a large company of soldiers shouldering their way through the crowds with their eyes firmly fixed upon me.

I reached the guardhouse, before realize something was wrong. The mage lady was there.

I immediately pivoted and ran towards the gate.

It was strange how I never got tired, but I chalked that off as adrenaline and pushed the thought out of my mind.

I decided I was going to try and break through the gate.

I reached it and grinned. I was lucky I was fast.

There were only four guards out and several I could see in the guardhouse nearby. I needed to be fast if this was going to work.

The guards were clearly not paying attention, especially considering that most of their gazes were firmly affixed to some noble's bosom.

I sprinted behind one of the guards and body-slammed another one, stumbling as I continued to run.

It was easy to outpace the guards sent after me after that, especially considering they ran in full plate-armour.

I ran with only one idea in mind: escape.

How I was going to escape was simple. I had planned this out.

I was going to outrun them in the forest, then return to the path at some point to put distance between us.

As I sprinted through the unfamiliar forest, I suddenly felt like I wasn't running as fast as I felt I could.

I increased my pace easily, finding I could go much faster than I could have previously, but it was that much harder to keep up mentally with my actions.

I reduced my pace so it was just past my comfortable threshold because I wanted to avoid tripping.

I continued running, but after a while I saw the lady who had awoken me standing there.

I didn't alter my course, hoping to get her to flee.

Instead, she extended a hand and I suddenly felt excruciating pain for a moment that was gone the next.

I stumbled, but managed to stay up, my adrenaline surging.

"Oh? You're still able to move?" She asked, surprised. "Even after all that pain? Wouldn't it be less painful if you gave up?"

"Pain is what you make it." I growled, increasing my pace as much as I could, rapidly accelerating until I collided with her.

She had a look of shock on her face when I suddenly closed the distance in a split second and collided with her.

I lost my spear in the collision, but I did not slow, desperately fleeing from her.

I didn't spare a single glance behind myself as I continued deeper into the forest, changing my path so it was more difficult to track me.

The pain of the collision came later, as a dull but persistent ache in my shoulder and ribs.

I pressed on, however, fearful of recapture.

I only slowed when the sun was half-hidden behind the horizon.

I slumped down, feeling my legs were sore, but oddly enough I still didn't feel out of breath.

I knew a bit about wilderness survival, but I had no idea how to hunt.

'Guess I'm going hungry tonight.' I thought to myself, climbing a sturdy tree that closely resembled an oak.

I had trouble falling asleep, but that was to be expected. I literally escaped from a city, right out from beneath the king's nose.

I felt slightly smug at that, but quickly wiped the smug grin that formed on my face. I wasn't out of the woods yet. No pun intended.

I slept sporadically, throughout the night I was constantly jerking awake and looking around for fear of being found.

The next morning I was tired, but not unbearably so.

I began running once more, initially for the main road, but I realized that the king had probably blocked off the roads, so I turned back and began running alongside it.

As I ran, my mind was slowly able to keep up with the ever-increasing speed at which I ran. It felt good to slowly adapt to faster and faster speeds.

As I ran, I thought about the summoning ritual they had clearly completed. It occurred to me how fucked up it was to pluck some random citizen out of their own world, without their consent I might add, and plunk them into some random fantasy realm of which they had no knowledge of. Couple that with no way back and you have yourself a recipe for depression and perhaps even suicide.

Now, out of spite, I was going to do everything in my power to depose the rat bastard that summoned me here.

While I was on the run and weak at that moment, that didn't mean I was unable to do anything. I was going to find a town, hope that adventurers are a thing, and sign up to grow stronger.

I ran parallel to the road, far enough off it so as to not be seen, but not so far as to obstruct my view of it.

I ran for the remainder of the day, bypassing two large cities and stopping at the third city, which was much smaller.

"Halt." A guard levelled his spear at me. "Who are you?"

"I am Anthony." I said simply, shrugging my shoulders. "Is there an adventurer's guild present in this city?"

"Yes, there is." The guard didn't lower his spear. "Show me your guild ID."

"See, that's why I wanted to know if there's a guild." I said, the very picture of nonchalant. "I need to get myself an ID."

The guards exchanged tense glances. "Are you by any chance, the summoned hero?"

I glanced at them, not disguising my genuine surprise. "It succeeded?"

The guards visibly relaxed. "I'll personally guide you."

One of the guards broke off from the group and gestured for me to follow.

I fell into step beside him and began questioning him about the local news.

"Did the hero summoning really work?" I asked, acting excited.

"It did indeed, however the hero was powerful enough to escape the contract the Supreme Sorceress's prepared contract." The guard answered easily.

"Wow. He must have been powerful." I said, not disguising my pleasure at that piece of news. "We have summoned a very powerful hero, then."

"Very powerful indeed." The guard agreed.

"Have there been any unusual sightings in the area recently?" I asked, slipping into the guise of an enthusiastic apprentice adventurer from stories I had read.

"Oh yes. Far too many for us to be comfortable behind these walls." The guard shuddered. "We've had unconfirmed sightings of Ogres, Trolls and Orcs, confirmed sightings of Lamias, Goblins, and Undead- Of which we have unconfirmed sightings of a Greater Lich, along with confirmed sightings of Death Knights."

"Lamias?" I focused on the species I was unfamiliar with.

"Yes. Snake women." The guard laughed. "I hear they're very attractive. I also hear they're compatible with the human body, if you catch my drift."

I raised my brow at him. "Don't you have brothels for that?"

"Are brothels free?" The guard shot at me.

"Fair enough." I conceded.

We arrived in front of the rustic building sporting a sign that read 'Adventure', hung above the door.

"Thank you for guiding me here." I said sincerely. "You saved me a lot of time."

"Oh, anything to get away from the potential dangers of guard duty." The guard laughed easily, extending a hand. "I'm Michael. I'll buy you a drink the next time we see each other."

"I don't drink." I smiled at him and shook his hand.

"What are you, a monk?" Michael laughed.

"Of a sort." I responded easily, remembering the staff-wielding monk of one of my favourite dungeon-defense games.

"I'm sorry if I offended you." Michael apologized.

"Oh, no. It's perfectly fine." I waved off his apology. "Comedy exists to be offensive. It serves to expand our horizons, make us happy, and to make us mad. If we can't get mad at jokes then we have lost our ability to smile."

"You really are a monk." Michael was speechless. "I thought all monks shaved their hair?"

"That's why I said I was a monk 'of a sort'." I liked Michael. He seemed like a good fellow. "I follow certain practices, but not all."

"Alright, that makes sense." Michael shrugged. "Have a good day!"

"You too." I responded, making my way into the building.

I opened the door to the guild and was greeted by the classic novel scene of a bunch of adventurers gathering around quest boards, except they were ranked differently from what I knew.

I elected to ask the lady at the front desk when I got my ID.

The lady, contrary to novels I had read, was not attractive in the slightest, but I supposed that it helped keep the men in line. Her pinched and mottled face was accentuated by her unholy buckteeth and vibrant yet greasy red hair.

Getting my ID was really as easy as it was made out to be in novels, however. All I had to do was fill out my race, weapon of choice, age, height, and weight.

Although I knew my height in my own world's measurements, I had the cat lady at the desk measure my height and weight to avoid conflicting measurements.

"Alright, write it down when I tell you the value." She said, kneeling in front of me to properly measure to my bare feet. "One hundred seventy-two hundredths of a meter."

I wrote down exactly that, waiting for her to instruct me further.

"Step on this magical weigher." She pointed to a round piece of wood on the floor.

I complied.

"Eighty-two hundreds kilograms." She said, making her way back behind the counter.

I wrote it down and slid the paper back to the lady.

"Thank you." She smiled. "The first ID card is free, however if you lose it you will be charged irons for it."

"Alright." I nodded. "Thank you for accommodating me."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." She responded, grinning from ear to ear and making it clear that she wasn't often thanked.

She handed me the freshly and magically printed ID card and waved me towards the activity boards.

"The quests are ranked lowest difficulty to highest from left to right. This kingdom uses a slightly different ranking system, so it's my job to explain. The ranks are E, D, C, B, A, S, X, Y, and Z" She pointed at the quest boards corresponding to each letter. "I would highly recommend you start with E rank, however you can challenge yourself and try for a D rank quest. I wouldn't recommend that, however. One more thing. If a Z rank quest is issued, run as far as you can. It doesn't matter how powerful you think you are, you will be utterly demolished by even a sneeze from a Z ranked enemy. No matter your rank, unless you are Z rank yourself, you should not even get near to such a beast."

"I'll heed your warnings." I thanked the lady once more and left to investigate the signboards.

As is typical of nearly every single game, novel, manga, or anime, the goblins and slimes all seemed to be the easiest mob to clear for E rank. Of course this was purely based upon the net gain per monster.

A goblin's corpse was worth eleven coppers, while a slime core was worth twenty. Taking into account the slime's likely resistance to physical attacks, and my lack of magic, I elected to take the goblin slaying quest.

I was starting small, but I was going to build up my power. I thought of the arrogant king and how he took my chance at life without a second thought.

'You took my life.' I thought venomously. 'So I'll take yours.'