Side-Story

At another place, at another point in time.

...

Deep down, in an underground dungeon. A foul stench was permeating the air, enveloping and corrupting everything it came into contact with. The rattling of bones was ever-present and a large amount of darkness mana was swirling around in the atmosphere. The sound of fighting was everywhere, and if you were to be in the middle of the dungeon, you'd be able to see around 35 people locked in intense fighting.

Now, what were they fighting? Mostly undead, as well as some other vile creatures like hobgoblins. The people consisted of mostly teens, as well as some knights. Overseeing these teenagers fighting were 2 old men clad in robes. In this group of about 30 teenagers, 2 people stood out from the rest, one young man, as well as a young woman.

The young woman was very beautiful, yet not too over the top. The man was the same, very handsome, but not abnormally so. The biggest reason as to why they stood out so much, was because of their classes. The young man had been endowed with a variant of the [Hero] class, called the [Hero of the Flame]. The young woman's class was called [Grand Elementalist]. Even though her class didn't sound as extravagant as the young man's, hers was actually stronger, albeit by a tiny margin.

The rest of the teenagers were by no means ordinary either, they might seem a bit lackluster in comparison with the other two, but in reality, they all had very powerful classes, even some borderline legendary.

These teenagers were currently locked in some pretty intense combat, but it didn't really last very long. Even though they seemed to be in trouble, this was like a walk in the park for them, they only fought with these undead to gain experience and levels. After about 5 minutes of fighting, the young Hero of the Flame got a little impatient, and he used one of his strongest skills, [Inferno of Samsara]. As he used this skill, he instantly erupted in flames, before creating a massive inferno, consuming the entirety of the undead. What was peculiar about these flames though was their colour, they were an eerie shade of green. The reason it was called the [Inferno of Samsara] was that it would send any foe into the wheel of reincarnation.

As everyone saw these flames consume everything in their path, they collectively gulped, before regaining their bearings. The girl also let out a soft sigh, before walking back to the magical knights that waited for them next to the old men wearing robes. These old men were actually court magicians of the Estridsen Kingdom, and the magical knights were actually a squad of royal guards. Now, even though these people were hailed as heroes, why would they be accompanied by a squad of royal guards? The reason was actually standing at the helm of the royal guards.

A gallant young man clad in silver armor was standing silently in front of the royal guards. The silver armor was full of intricate and complex engravings, exuding a mystical sense of power. The young man had deep purple eyes, with very handsome facial features, as well as a head full of beautiful platinum blonde hair. This young man was the 3rd and most talented prince of the Estridsen Kingdom, Oscar Estridsen.

As the young teenagers had vanquished their foes, they all started to gather in front of Oscar. The young woman, whose name was Ella, had a visible spark in her eyes as she chatted a little with Oscar. The Hero of the Flame, also known as Arduin looked a little upset as he glanced at Ella fawning over the 3rd prince, but he quickly regained his normal bearing. As he arrived in front of the 3rd prince himself, he quickly took half a step forward, before bowing a little, and then he started talking.

"Your majesty, what should we do now that we've cleared the dungeon?"

"You don't have to be so formal you know, but we should probably get back to the palace, for now, the war with the demons has already started, and your levels should be high enough to be able to fight right now." The prince responded with a slight chuckle.

Then with a drastic turn of his body, the party of about 35 people started to follow him and gathered in a circle around the 2 old men. The 2 court magicians didn't waste any time and in a couple of seconds, all of the 35 or so people were standing on top a huge magic circle. The magic circle shone with a peculiar purple light before all of the people suddenly vanished as if they were never there to begin with.

...

In a majestic palace, a large magic circle suddenly appeared out of nowhere in one of the grand halls. Before a group of around 35 people suddenly materialized from within the magic circle. The 2 cour magicians, were currently very pale, and they instantly sat down when they arrived. Drained of their magical power, the 2 old men instantly started to absorb the mana in the surroundings, bringing some colour back to their faces.

The young prince didn't even spare the 2 court magicians a glance before he was on his way, walking at a relaxed pace. The other teenagers followed a couple of steps behind, with Arduin and Ella walking in front of the rest. Even though it wasn't noticeable, these teenagers were actually split up into two groups. One of the groups followed Ella and the 3rd prince, aiding the kingdom. This group was about 15 people. Meanwhile, Arduin's group was only 10 people.

Even though Arduin's group also followed the king's orders and fought for the kingdom, that was only on the surface. In reality, neither Arduin nor the people that followed him truly believed in the king. What did they truly know? Nothing. Which was why they didn't want to risk their lives going to war against "Evil" demons, who they didn't even know if they were actually evil. At first, they were easily persuaded, since they had no idea what was going on, but after some thinking, they all realized their situation.

None of them were stupid after all, and they couldn't just blindly put their trust in the first person they saw since they arrived in this new world. The other group was a little simpler in their thinking, they all believed the demons to be inherently evil since they were "Demons" which existed in fairy tales from their old world. They didn't know what to do otherwise if they didn't follow this kingdom into war, and they were all excited at the prospect of being heroes of "justice" and "peace".

Due to their difference in beliefs, the group of people naturally split up into two groups, even though Ella's group didn't know about Arduin's group actual agenda. After walking for a while, the group of teenagers arrived in front of 2 massive doors. These doors led to the throne room, and the prince promptly opened them after fixing his appearance a little bit.

As he entered, the rest of the group also followed after him. After walking into the middle of the room, the teenagers all knelt down, except for the prince, who only offered a slight bow. In front of them, was a big throne made out of gold. On top of this throne sat an older man, the current king of the Estridsen Kingdom!