Heroes

Del just stopped in place as his mind replayed the words the king just said to him. He held his status plate in place as he felt his heart devastated and crumbled piece by piece. He didn't even react when the whole class was walking in his direction. It could be seen that all of them had curious expressions on their faces. They were curious as to why the king was so disappointed.

"Del, that's quite a shitty status," Jackson, a student, commented as he showed his own status plate.

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[Jackson Martin] [Level: 1]

Strength: 50

Agility: 75

Vitality: 25

Aptitude: 50

Perception: 30

Skills: Language Comprehension | Swordsmanship Comprehension LVL. 40 | Knife Throw LVL. 3 | Dash LVL. 2 |

Magical Energy: 200/200

Health Point: 250/250

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Del took a deep breath and tried to regain his confidence that was just being devastated, "That's quite… a good one, I presume?"

Jackson pulled his status plate back and put it into his pocket as he replied with a smile filled with pride, "Haha, damn right it is."

In the meantime, the king headed back to his throne chair, ignoring the students who began taking a look at Del's status plate. He was about to give the heroes their next order after his adviser whispered something to him. Before this, the adviser had been looking around at the students' status plates to see whether there was something odd with the heroes or not.

The king just nodded on what the adviser advised him to do. Meanwhile, Del felt uncomfortable with the situation. The king said that his status was below average. Could it mean that he will receive harsher training than the others?

Moments later, the king stood up and introduced them to their trainer. His name was Lyner and the man was apparently the head captain of the royal guards. He was a tall man with a height as tall as probably six feet or something. Moreover, the man was wearing a very heavy-looking steel plate armor.

He would be their trainer for the next couple of weeks. The king said that they needed to train their strength before they would be adequate to be sent to the dangers of another world, to their quest of vanquishing the demonic lord. Del just nodded at the king's words, understanding that he had to put more effort and train harder than the others to be strong enough.

"Alright. Let's take all of you outside, shall we?" The king's adviser said as he walked to the door.

Without further ado, all of the students followed the king's adviser out of the throne room. They walked through the massive hallway of the palace, where they could see the extravagance befitting of a palace. The red carpet was stretched as far as the hallway went and dozens of exquisite artworks placed throughout. Looking out the window, Del saw a vast courtyard where neatly-trimmed verdant grasses grew profusely. They stretched across the courtyard which was as big as a football field.

Eventually, the adviser led them to a balcony of the palace. From there, everyone was served with a spectacular view. There was a colossal mountain visible to the north. Rings of clouds covered the mountain peak like a crown. Meanwhile, there was a dense forest located in the west direction.

"Welcome to the Elbanian Kingdom, heroes. We are the biggest country on the eastern continent. The mountain to the north is the Belfar Ancient Mountain, the home of the dragon race. The forest to the west is the Gepard Sacred Forest, the home of forest creatures," the adviser explained right in front of the balcony.

The students were amazed by the sight of the mountain and the forest. They could see there was a city in the middle of the two landscapes. That city appeared very lively with carriages entering the city walls from many directions. It would be safe to assume that this was the capital of the Elbanian kingdom.

The adviser pointed his finger at the town and said, "That town is called Ferris, and it is the capital of the Elbanian Kingdom."

Needless to say, the town was simply amazing. There was no way to describe it other than saying that the town was a marvel of technology during the middle age. Del looked intently at the town while enjoying the breeze blowing through the balcony.

The other students were asking questions to the adviser, but the latter didn't answer. He went ahead and simply described what the Elbanian Kingdom was, and what the heroes' goal in this world was. As they heard the adviser's words, some of the students that weren't convinced to help the Elbanian gradually became convinced.

In the end, it seemed that everyone would come on board to help the Elbanian Kingdom fighting the evil demonic lord. On the other side of the balcony, Del just stared impassively at this and knew the reason why. This was what would happen when teenagers got praised too highly. They were quickly brimmed with unbridled pride and felt that they were capable of taking on the entire world.

So far, it seemed that the king and his advisers were praising them as if they were Gods or something.

The demonic lord resided in the western continent, and apparently, an expeditionary force had been sent to that region to investigate the activity of the demonic continent. The demons were known to be extremely powerful creatures, which required a strong force to be subjugated.

The adviser told them that the demons had been bothering them for too long with their attacks on the merchants and adventurers in the eastern continent. Del didn't understand too much about the politics of this world, but he understood from the adviser's words that the demons were evil and the humans were good.

"I hope this can convince you all enough to help the Elbanian Kingdom in our fight against the demon lord," the adviser said.

"One important question, if I may ask," Eric raised his hand, "What is the Elbanian Kingdom going to provide for our fight against the demons? We are just students, and so we certainly can't fight against demons or whatever you are saying."

"Don't worry, Head Captain Lyner will train you to deal with the threats of the demons. He will teach you the basics of surviving inside of this world. We will also provide you with the finest weapons in our arsenal," the adviser said.

Eric nodded, "Great."

"Anyway. You'll have to train every day with Head Captain Lyner. We don't accept any compromise with the heroes. We want the heroes to fight to the best of their ability. I hope every single one of you can live up to our expectations."

"Don't worry, we are the best after all," Eric replied while nodding his head readily.

Hearing his words, the adviser complimented Eric, "As expected of the best person in the party. We will count on you, heroes!"

After that, the group headed inside the palace again and made their way under the lead of the adviser. It turned out that they were invited to a banquet that the king held to commemorate their arrival. The adviser told them that they would be briefed more about the situation of the Elbanian Kingdom in the banquet. Everyone was excited when they heard about the banquet.

However, Del wasn't thinking about the banquet. He worried that the kingdom would do something to him to make him stronger, something that was outrageous. And that, wasn't exactly what he had in mind. He only hoped that he could become as strong as his friends to defeat the demon lord.

His status was below average. Therefore, he worried that he would instantly die the moment he encountered a demon.