The Summoner

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked the cat girl.

"My name is Xylvia," she said. "I'm one of the many therianthropes in this world."

"Oh...so that's what you guys are called. Anyway, where exactly is this palace that you're taking me to?"

"See for yourself."

Xylvia pointed at a huge, round building. It was covered from top to bottom with what looked like jewels. The exquisite structure shined brightly in the starry night sky as if it were a jewel itself. This truly was another world.

"Stunned?" Xylvia asked.

"Uh huh." I said nodding my head.

"Well, that's pretty much every newcomers first reaction. Now come on, the summoner is waiting."

Two guards stood at the entrance of the palace. They noticed us walking up the steps.

"State your names and business." one of them said in a strict tone.

"We're here to see the summoner," Xylvia said. "This man right here was summoned from another world."

The guards looked at me for a bit, then one of them held out their left hand.

"State your full name summoned one." guard #2 said.

"Uhh...Hiro Satomi." I said to him.

"Scan Individual: Hiro Satomi." guard #1 said.

When he said that, a bright blue circle with complex writing all over was hovering above his hand. It looked like one of those magic circles you see in an isekai anime.

A small ray of light suddenly shined at my eyes. It didn't stun me though. I just stood their looking at the beam of light without any problems. Eventually, the light flew back into the magic circle which then disappeared from above his hand.

"Alright then, head on inside," guard #1 said. "Our Goddess will be waiting for you inside."

Goddess huh…

The guards then opened the doors that led into the palace. I didn't know what was waiting for me inside, so I was a little anxious. But even so, I still wanted to keep going. I wanted to move forward because this time I was actually motivated. The excitement of being in this new world was killing me with joy. I wanted to explore every inch of this wondrous land. I could go on exciting adventures as many times as I wanted. But first, I needed to see this summoner. After that, I would be free.

The inside of the palace wasn't as glamorous as the outside was, but it was still a wondrous sight to behold.

"So, Hiro was it?" Xylvia said.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What do you hope to do in this new world?"

"I want to go on exciting adventures and explore every inch of this wondrous world."

"Well that's a first."

"What do you mean?"

"Most people who get summoned here either want to become a hero and start a harem. However, I've never heard of someone wanting to go on adventures before."

"Well I guess that you can call me an exception or something."

"I wish I could go on adventures. But, I don't want to go alone."

The great hallways of the palace had huge pillars that touched from the ceiling all the way to the floor. They were colored a light blue and shined brightly throughout the halls.

"Doesn't this seem a little too flashy?" I asked.

"No kidding," Xylvia said. "I don't see a reason as to why they need this much shiny crap either."

After a few exchanges of lame comments, we came across a big door with what looked like emeralds and rubies covering the exterior. The interior was covered in a glassy and, of course, shiny substance.

"Ok, either they're just showing off, or trying to overwhelm us." I said.

"You'll get used to it." Xylvia said.

"So now what?"

"Just knock."

With nothing else to think of, I knocked on the door loudly five times before I backed away slowly. As I expected, the door opened slowly into an even brighter room. But somehow, this room stunned me with surprise.

"Woah..." I said under my breath.

"Somehow, this never gets old." Xylvia said.

The room was a bright purple with blue crystals hanging on top of the ceilings. The same color as the magic circles that those guards summoned. The walls were covered in paintings that I can only assume was representing the history of this world. The floors were made of glass that was stained with a bright red color. But out of everything that I laid my eyes on, only one thing caught my attention the most.

At the center of the room, there was a bed with small stems on all four corners that supported a small ceiling above the bed. There were bright gold curtains on the sides. Everything else was colored in dark red and pink. The sight was both wondrous and strange.

"Prepare yourself Hiro." Xylvia said.

"P-Prepare for what?" I asked a little concerned.

"Just be ready."

I didn't really know what to expect, so I backed up a little and held up two fists as if I were a street fighter. Xylvia walked up to the bed and drew back the gold curtains. I was expecting some kind of monster to come crawling out from there, but I was dead wrong.

What emerged was a beautiful woman wearing absolutely nothing! She had long, black hair and deep, red eyes. I tried to keep my eyes on her face, but being a single, nineteen year old man didn't really help my chances.

The woman stood there looking me from top to bottom. She suddenly stopped and her eyes were looking somewhere at my lower half. The woman smiled.

"I see that someone's liking what they see." she said in a seductive voice.

At first I didn't know what she was talking about, but when I followed her eyes I knew exactly what she was talking to.

"Hahaha, there's no need to be shy." she said laughing while I quickly covered my crotch.

"I told you to prepare yourself." Xylvia said.

"How was I supposed to prepare for that!" I said a little pissed off.

The woman took a few steps forward to as if she were trying to get a better look at me or something. She then gave me what looked like a smile of approval or something.

"You don't look half bad summoned one." she said.

"Wait, you're the summoner?" I asked.

"I sure am. My name is Gleam. I am the goddess of this beautiful world. I used my powers to summon you here into another world filled with wonder and dreams."

Hearing all of this was overwhelming me, but it also felt a little satisfying.

"Why was I summoned to this world?" I asked Gleam.

"There are three reason as to why people like you are summoned here. Reason #1: You might have been summoned here to become a hero and fight against the Army of Darkness and defeat Devil alongside the Army of Light. Reason #2: You might have been summoned here because you thought that you couldn't get anywhere in your old world. Although, that only happens once every twenty or so years."

Was I one of those rare summons?

"What's reason number three?" I asked.

"Oh yeah...I almost forgot. The third and final reason as to why people get summoned here."

I didn't really know what the final reason could be, so I took a few steps forward so I could clearly hear her.

"Reason #3: Our world is going through a decrease in birth rate, so we summon men as breeding horses."

...what?

"I'm sorry, I think I had something in my ears," I said cleaning my ears a little. "What was that again?"

"Don't even try to pretend that you didn't hear that." Xylvia said.

Gleam dropped to the floor laughing. When she did that her legs spread wide, revealing something that would give even the most composed person in the universe a nosebleed.

Unfortunately, I was no exception.

"Ugh...here we go again," Xylvia said walking over to me. "How does seeing that cause nosebleeds anyway?"

"Please don't question it." I said.

When my nose finally stopped bleeding, Gleam walked over to me with a magic circle above her hand. Just like the one the guards emitted. However, she didn't chant anything. I guess a goddess didn't need to.

"I see." she said.

"I wasn't summoned here as a breeding horse was I?" I asked nervously.

"Oh don't worry," Gleam said. "Nobody has been summoned for that reason for hundreds of years. Although, the last person to get that reason ended up with a harem of twelve girls, so he was all up for it."

"I think I would be overwhelmed with that many girls. And not in a good way either."

"You were summoned here for the second reason."

"I figured."

"Hmm...so you were living a boring and stressful life in a place called Tokyo, and the only reason you attended a place called college was because it made your parents happy."

I nodded.

"What a selfless thing for you to do." Gleam said.

I completely forgot about my parents. I started wondering how they would feel about me living in another world. Well for starters, I think that they would think I was crazy. But would they also be sad? I was never really close with them, even when I was still living with them. It was like we were in two different worlds (no pun intended). But still, I should at least hear them out first.

"Hey...uh...Goddess Gleam." I said.

"Just Gleam is fine." she said.

"Is there anyway for me to talk to my parents about this?"

"My my this is a surprise," Gleam said. "I've never heard someone wanting to talk to their parents about this. Usually they just accept it and move on rather quickly."

"Can you be able to let me talk to them?"

"Of course I can. I am a goddess after all. If I have the ability to bring you into this world, then I should have the ability to send you back."

"It's really that simple?"

"Sure is. I can even send them back permanently."

Hearing her say this made me think. I could get sent back if I wanted to, but there was nothing waiting for me on the other side. If I stayed here then there would be endless adventures I could go on, but what would my parents think?

"Can you give me a day?" I asked her.

"Yes, but only one day. I can't keep teleporting you through different worlds all the time. It requires a tremendous amount of energy that is fully regenerated every ten years. So after one day, you either stay here or stay there."

"Ok, got it." I said.

Gleam then took a few steps back and summoned the magic circle above her hand again.

"Summoning magic: transport!" Gleam said as I faded away.