Another World

A vibrant light struck Adam's eyes blinding him.

Deprived of sight, a pulse of pain raced across the veins of his eyes.

He could faintly feel his body, but even that sense was dulling.

Looking within himself, in his mind's eye, he saw tendrils of darkness flowing into his thoughts.

As they neared, the numbness became more intense.

Urging his body to move, he attempted to lift a part of his body.

A toe, a finger, his lips.

Just barely, he managed to move them.

The barest of chills strummed his face, like the wind.

In trying to keep moving, to regain control of his body, a panic settled in.

When he tried to move a finger again, he felt an overwhelming pull on his torso.

Akin to a vacuum, a force as subtle as a passing breeze plucked him forward.

As the momentum of his towing body rose, his body became increasingly light.

The lightness was accompanied with restored control over his body.

He shuddered his eyes open, a pain much like peeling tape on skin reverberated.

A milky darkness was before him.

He pulled an arm up and saw his body was glowing, slightly transparent with sparkles of light twinkling.

Anxious, he wriggled his body more.

The constant tug on him bringing him forward, proceeded.

A faint realization struck him, as he found himself unable to resist it.

There was no ground.

Blinking, his sight adjusting, he saw subtle specks of light bannered around him.

Light as a feather, he continued to look around.

This was a summoning, right?

His doubts it weren't struck down as he was hauled closer to tiny humanoids that glowed similar to him.

Closing in, he was about to call out to them, when a ball of light even brighter than them, shuttled towards him.

His breathing wavering, he tensed up as it crashed against him.

Extremely tense, he gritted his teeth pre-emptively, ready for horrible pain.

To his surprise, when it met his body, the light was refreshing as it squirmed around and started to encase his body.

Soon, he was fully wrapped by it.

He felt nearly euphoric as if had just run miles, in the light's embrace, before he felt drowsiness tug on his consciousness.

The feeling magnified, a yawn coming on before it transformed into a boiling hot sensation.

The overbearing pain shot through his nerves, he let out a scream.

Overwhelmed by the pain that constantly flooded him, he could barely hear screams echoing nearby.

His eyes slammed shut as he worked to fight through the pain.

It was worse than anything he could have imagined.

Unceasing, the pain threatened to knock him unconscious, crushing all notions he had of pain.

The pain over time easing slightly, he creaked open his eyes.

A blur blasted towards Adam.

His gaze narrowed, he saw the shape was seemingly rectangular.

It grew as it closed in.

The overwhelming pain dulling further relieved Adam.

However, his relief collapsed as he recognized that he was in its trajectory.

A shudder ran through his thoughts.

This would hurt.

Colliding with his skin, the rectangle pierced him, excavating through his body.

Immediately, the pain amplified to extreme levels, his consciousness was holding on by a thread.

Drowning him, a sea of pain crushed any resistance he had left.

Ripping deeper into him every second, his eyes were soaked unable to bear the pain.

Tensing as much as he could, he was unable to alleviate his pain.

Without notice, the pain assaulting his nerves dialed down.

His consciousness nearly fractured coming back, he screamed.

He looked down but he didn't see a wound.

Confused, he saw what looked to be worlds coming into view.

The tug on his body moving him strengthened, fading the other ones out of sight, he was brought before a specific planet.

The thought that it slightly resembled Earth crossed his mind before his glowing body blitzed towards it.

Crossing thousands of feet in seconds, his consciousness was bombarded by a myriad of colors and shapes.

His mind overburdened by the sight, Adam blacked out.

When Adam awoke, his heart racing, he saw foggy silhouettes of shapes.

He could feel weight beneath him again.

There was no sign of pain either.

Happy beyond words, he looked around, his vision fully back.

To his side, people were breathing heavily, their clothes and faces drenched in sweat.

Their tense gazes flickering and bounding as they looked around their hands and knees on the ground.

To his front, he saw a throne.

An older man with a dignified gaze, with orange eyes, and grey hair sat upon it.

By his side, were people wearing robes, armor, and fine clothes.

Drawn upon the stone floor around Adam was an intricate circle, superimposed with various sigils and shapes.

Which matched the one that summoned him.

Regaining his calm, he pushed himself off the ground.

The other exhausted people seeing this staggered to their feet as well.

Everyone within the circle standing, the man on the throne started speaking.

"Welcome, you have been summoned here, to the heart of Randail, the Kingdom of Erustus."

"It is sudden, true, but you have been brought here to help defend this land from the Demon King."

"I, King Lucius Erustus request that you humans from another world aid this land."

Pausing, the King's words settled into Adam's mind.

Adam could see doubtful gazes from some of the people that were summoned with him.

"Seeing your faces, I can see you have questions. Ask away."

The first to ask a question was an older man in camo attire with combat boots.

His voice gruff, he questioned: "As you are asking us for help, rather than telling us to, it sort of sounds like we can be sent back. Can we return back?"

The King replied: "Unfortunately, it is a one way trip, and the resources to send you back, should you not want to help, are considerable and has gone untested."

Chewing on the information, the man took a step back, a pondering look on their face.

Brows raised, a young woman with a tan, who wore a pink hoodie and shorts, asked the next question.

"Hero stuff aside, why can we understand you..." She looked to her side, continuing: "Each other? Where we come from, we speak different languages."

Stroking his beard, the King responded: "That is the translation skill, a useful skill that allows heroes to converse and understand the common tongues of the land."

A teenager with black hair, wearing a Japanese school uniform scratched his cheek, and asked:

"You mention heroes, how are you so sure we can help?"

His brow furrowed, the King responded: "Otherworlders, in other words, you humans that have been summoned here, are bestowed abilities befitting heroes."

The teenager's eyes lit up, realizing something before their head lowered in thought.

Not getting asked more questions, staring at the crowd of people in the summoning circle, the King inquired: "So then, what do you say? Will you help this land?"

Slowly, the heroes assented, nodding.

A few grunts of agreement here and there mingling between the nods.

A smile breaking out on the King's face, he mused: "Excellent."

The King gestured to a person near them who walked out for a moment.

Shortly after, returning with a magic orb that was rolled into the room, and positioned before the summoning circle.

The King stated: "To know how much you will be able to help, and where your help is most useful, we shall be using the orb to allow you to access the status, which will tell you your ability."

He wasn't feeling it with that pain before, but Adam was starting to like having been summoned.