THE SEVEN KINGDOMS

After the bright light disappeared, they found themselves in the middle of a big hall. "Welcome, heroes. Welcome to the kingdom of Artenia, also known as the kingdom of humankind. We are all greatly pleased about your arrival," said a man sitting on a huge throne. "As you were told by the goddess, there are seven kingdoms, and I am the king of one of those kingdoms," the king of Artenia said. "My name is Galick von Darion. Welcome to Pantheon."

Everyone quickly understood what was going on and became excited. "I guess it was really true," Avalon said.

"Everyone, calm down," Aiden said while stepping out and moving to the front with a straight demeanor and an aura oozing confidence. He greeted Galick with a respectful bow. "Hello, I am Aiden, the leader of the group of heroes," he said. After he looked around and saw that no one from his classmates commented or denied what he just said, he continued with a confident smile. "We were told by the goddess that we will be briefed by the kingdoms of Pantheon on certain things and on how we will proceed."

The king smiled, thinking very well of Aiden after his performance. "Hmm, what a heroic demeanor," he responded. "Yes, my daughter will brief you on some little things right now, then the rest will be told to you by your respective kingdoms after the hero gathering," he said.

Then, a gorgeous girl came from the side of the king with a very beautiful smile, wearing a beautiful white gown with 15 or so men in white garments following behind her. No one could see her face because of the white veil covering it. She bowed elegantly. "Oh great heroes, we welcome you to our humble kingdom. My name is Elsa von Darion, the one and only daughter of Galick von Darion and also the princess and the only heir of this kingdom."

The whole class was stunned and baffled by her beauty. Even Aiden just stood there staring at her, especially Avalon. "Such a beauty," he commented with his eyes full of unconcealed lust. Well, everyone was baffled except for Jay and the cold Rein. Okay, maybe he was a little surprised by her beauty, but that was it. See, Jay has never been happy with the way things were turning out, especially after seeing his stats, and he was still thinking about what he heard, trying to figure out if it was his imagination or he truly heard what he heard. "Hmm, nope, it's my imagination," he said.

Alice continued, "Just like my father said, we have been appointed by the goddess to guide you heroes through your journey as heroes and also to spread the names of the ancient gods and goddesses far and wide. You heroes are the saviors of this world and all other worlds. You are the vessels for the seven ancient ones to make their power and blessings descend on us. That's why we will treat you with the utmost care."

"Now, let me start the briefing about the seven kingdoms. The seven kingdoms were created by the past heroes after they were summoned by the ancient ones. Since they worship and serve different ancient gods and goddesses, they decided to split themselves to avoid disturbance or fights when spreading the names of the ancient ones and only coming together when facing the demons or demon kings of the worlds."

"The first kingdom is the kingdom of Artenia, which is known as the kingdom of humans. That's where the majority of the humans live. It's also one of the kingdoms with more than one demigod, including my father, which makes it the third strongest kingdom in Pantheon." Jay was surprised after he heard this. This seemingly handsome-looking man on the throne is a demigod? As he was still staring at the man, something sounded in his mind [skill activated "God's Eye"]. Then words started appearing on top of the king:

Name: Galick Von Darion

Race: Human

Title: Demigod, Mortal King

Age: 25 years

Parentage: Son of Aeloria, and Thalor Von Darion, a mortal king, descendants of the hero Igarot.

Strength: 3,700

Dexterity: 3,200

Constitution: 3,300

Intelligence: 2,800

Wisdom: 2,500

Charisma: 2,700

Skills:

1. Divine Light Manipulation: Can summon and control light, using it to blind enemies, heal allies, and create powerful energy blasts. Can be copied.

2. Radiant Storm: Channels a massive amount of energy to create a storm of blinding light and heat. This attack covers a large area, incinerating enemies and leaving a field of searing light that continues to damage any foes within it. Can be copied.

3. Solar Flare: A powerful burst of concentrated light that explodes upon impact, dealing immense damage to all enemies in a wide radius and causing temporary blindness. Can be copied.

4. Enhanced Strength and Agility: As a demigod, he possesses strength and speed far beyond that of ordinary humans. Innate ability.

Jay rubbed his eyes just to make sure what he was seeing was truly real. His strange behavior even made Rein, who was next to him, a little bit annoyed. He soon stopped and thought, This is real. He checked around to see if anyone else could see what he was seeing. When no one was paying attention to the king and just listening to Elsa, he confirmed that only he could see this. Hmm, I guess it's because of my skill. As he was thinking, he noticed some words written at the end of the skills. What is that? Can be copied? Then he focused on one of the skills [copy skill Solar Flare Yes/No]. He chose yes. Then words appeared in his mind [copying in progress, please stay focused on the target 10%...50%...75%...100%...] Skill copied.

Status, Jay thought.

Name: [Jay]

Class: ???

Level: 1

Experience Points: 0/100

Stats:

Strength: 20 (locked)

Dexterity: 20 (locked)

Agility: 20 (locked)

Constitution: 26 (locked)

Intelligence: 28 (locked)

Charisma: 15 (locked)

Mana: 24 (locked)

Skills:

1. Tamper: Ability to tamper with your stats by unlocking and temporarily or permanently adding to your stats. The more you level up, the more it's used, the more stress your body experiences over a longer period.

Level 1: Tampering effect of 30.

Level 2: Tampering effect of 60, and so on.

Note: As you level up, unlocked stats become permanent.

2. God's Eye: Able to copy ?????? [Skill slots [1/4]] and see detailed information on anything or anyone:

Skills:

a. Solar Flare: A powerful burst of concentrated light that explodes upon impact, dealing immense damage to all enemies in a wide radius and causing temporary blindness. [copied]

b. [Not added]

c. [Not added]

d. [Not added]

3. God Possession: ??????

4. ??????

Blessed by the ancient god of ????? (????)

He ?????? Total obliteration of ????? Ancient dea ?????? Rule ??????.

Seeing the skill on his status board, Jay was surprised. Then the surprise turned into joy. I can copy others' skills? That's so OP! No wonder it was written with question marks. If anyone saw that, I don't think I'd be able to leave that summoning hall alive. I think the ancient one that blessed me is trying to protect me. He mused, If one of my skills is this powerful, I wonder how all my skills will be like. He pondered. As he saw Rein's annoyed face and his out-of-place behavior, he quickly corrected himself and focused on what Elsa was saying. Wow, I almost got caught. I should learn how to conceal my feelings really well. As they say, a man's wealth is his own demise, he thought.

Elsa continued talking, "The second kingdom is the kingdom of elves, Eldoria, ruled by the queen of elves, Queen Evelina, one of the oldest and strongest demigods in history. Thanks to her, their kingdom managed to rise up until they were able to match the three great kingdoms. They are also one of the kingdoms having more than one demigod, including Evelina."

"The third kingdom is the kingdom of the fearsome and legendary dragon race, Drakonia, the strongest race and kingdom to date, ruled by the strongest dragon of them all, their king Ignatius, the most powerful and oldest demigod of their kind. He is almost reaching godhood," the princess said with a smile.

"Then the next kingdom is the kingdom of the dwarves, Ironhold, the most financially accomplished kingdom in the whole of Pantheon, second only to the kingdom of dragons. It is ruled by their great king Durgrim. He is not a demigod himself but has the equipment and the financial means to kill a demigod. Even the three great kingdoms are cautious of them. They earn their financial wealth by creating and selling legendary equipment for combats and also for manual labor. Every kingdom gets their equipment from the dwarves, which is one of the main reasons why even the dragons show respect when dealing with them."

"The fifth kingdom is the kingdom of Feys. Silverwood, also a kind of race in Pantheon. A race closer to the ancient god of life than any other race, they were blessed with the power to communicate with plants and life itself. It's ruled by the Fey's queen, Sylph. They are one of the kingdoms with only two demigods, one of whom is a powerful ancient tree which they call their ancestor. The other is the queen's sister, Titania, also known as the chief general of the kingdom.

The sixth kingdom is the kingdom of Demi-Humans, Elarithia. The Demi-humans are a diverse and fascinating race, distinguished by their combination of human and animal traits.

They possess the intelligence and dexterity of humans, complemented by the enhanced senses, physical abilities, and features of various animals. They are one of the least strong races with only one demigod, their king Thaddeus.

They are often well known for their strength but crude way of using magic, which is one of the reasons why they are a little bit weaker than the kingdom of feys.

The last kingdom is the kingdom of monsters, Vorngard, also known as the weakest kingdom in the whole of Pantheon. It is ruled by their king, Aether von Oakheart, an orc.

They barely have any demigods. While some are innately strong, they are nothing compared to Demi-humans, and because of their monster heritage, they can't use any magic. That's why they have no demigods there, and everything is done by hand. That's why they are not really developed, she continued.

They are always the ones with the most casualties when there is a demon attack or outbreak. They are also easy prey to demons. Because of their monster-like appearance, everyone despises them, even the other kingdoms, and especially the dragons. They think they are a lower breed than them, so I think they are disgusted by their heritage. Well, that's it about the kingdoms.

Then she continued, "The next thing you must know about are the emissaries, which are people like me. Every thousand years, which is when new heroes are summoned, some people will be chosen by the ancient ones, which are the emissaries in every kingdom who will serve as vessels for the gods or goddesses of the ancient ones to possess and serve as a guide for you heroes.

We will still have our original consciousness, but also the gods and goddesses' soul too. All the kingdoms except the kingdom of Vorngard have an emissary. For some reason, the ancient ones never choose an emissary from their side till now.

That should be one of the reasons why they are hated; they're seen as the race abandoned by the ancient ones," Elsa said with a strange expression on her face. "But a few years ago, an emissary was born on their side too. I think the ancient ones, being benevolent, have chosen to not let their race run into extinction and have decided to help them," Elsa said with her full of worship and admiration.

"Now, I think that should be enough for the briefing. The rest will be told to you by the kingdom you were chosen by, which will all be known during the heroes gathering which will be happening tomorrow.

So, you heroes will have to stay here for today. Each of you will be given rooms to sleep in, and food will also be served to you by the servants." As she said that, 10 females in maid outfits came in to escort the heroes to their rooms. The heroes followed as they were shown their rooms.

The heroes entered and were preparing to rest. As Jay entered his room, he opened his status board, thinking about what happened when he focused on the king in the hall when they were being briefed.

"I wonder why I was given these skills," jay thought . "Well, what's there to think about? What has happened has happened; it can't be changed.

But I am really grateful for these skills. Finally, I can see hope of surviving this because I have a feeling that everything is not as it seems, especially the ancient ones. And why were there question marks on the name of my ancient one?

I thought there were only supposed to be seven ancient ones. And also, why was I summoned to this world? Was it by mistake or was it all planned? I have a feeling that the tides ahead are not going to be as peaceful as it seems," he said, lost in thought. He drifted off to dreamland.