Chapter one - "Where the Hell am I?"

"99,997! 99,998! 99,999! 100,000!" Andrew Perez almost fell to the ground out of exhaustion. He lay down on a nearby bench in the gym, resting himself. "Hey, Andrew!" His friend, Kyle, looked down at his state. "don't tell me, you did it again?"

"yep."

"Come on, man, I know you practice hard, but is it worth it to train like a spartan pretty much every day? I've seen your schedule. It's utter hell. Even if you are an eight-year armored combat league veteran, this is over the top! What are you, training to become a demon lord?" Kyle began to ramble on about Andrew's health and extreme training regimen. Andrew chuckled weakly and looked at the ceiling, the words of his friend flowing out of his head as easily as they entered.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

He ruffled Andrew's jet-black hair.

"Not like you'll take my advice to heart." Kyle sighed.

"Do you think there's more to life than swinging a sword? Having someone to love, or another purpose in life?"

Andrew thought for a moment. He'd been training and fighting professionally for eight years, but he never had someone to love, something to live for. He'd just been swinging his sword for a while, but for what? *I'll think about this later,* He thought. He sat up slowly and started to limber up. "1 hour till the match." He reminded himself. Andrew picked up his blade and inspected it.

It was his favorite sword, Mamba. Stroking the blade, he looked at the handle of the sword. The handle had an intricate carving of two black dragons entwining, along with the phrase "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" etched in the handle, a memory from the past. He put it back into his scabbard, admiring how long the blade was. It was a massive 4 feet, 2 inches for the blade, bringing the total length to 5'2. A massive sword that he had defeated many an enemy with, and that he turned into his trademark. Not only was he unrivaled with his sword in his hands, but he also used a multitude of other weapons, proving useful in multi-weapon tournaments, where he had to use a different weapon each round. He slowly walked over to his locker, taking in the backlash of his training spree.

Once he got to his locker, he threw it open. Inside he saw the many things kept inside. A 1911 pistol from his days as a soldier; A wooden shortsword, the first weapon his mother trained him in. His old bow, the first ranged weapon he was ever taught in. The small survival pack Kyle always insisted he takes everywhere he goes, just in case: his throwing daggers, 13 in total. And finally, his armor. He picked up his chest plate and inspected it, taking in every aspect of it.

The pitch black armor, the grey chainmail, and the white skull painted on the back. He slowly puts on every piece of armor, feeling the weight of it all. He slipped the small pack onto his belt, and picked up his locket, and opened it, with a photo of his past in it. It was of him and his mother, his mentor. He was only 14 in that photo, but it felt like yesterday to him. He held it close to his chest and whispered a prayer to her in heaven. He picked up his bow and put it on his back. He tossed the quiver filled with arrows over his shoulder and attached the daggers to his right hip. Finally, he secured the scabbard to his left hip, not noticing the magic circle slowly growing under him. He cracked his neck and jogged to the door. Once he reached it, he stretched out his arms one final time, listening to the large crowd roaring behind those doors. He put on his helmet and whispered to himself, "This is it, no turning back now."

Then he reached for the door.

He teleported at the exact moment that he opened the door.

_________________________________________________________________

"The summoning was a success, sir!"

The court magician whispered to King Roy II, sitting upon his throne. In a defensive stance, Andrew threw off his helmet and pointed to a knight, exclaiming, " Hey, you! Where the hell am I?!" Without missing a beat, the king stood up and yelled, "O hero, help save this country from the demons!"

_________________________________________________________________

Andrew immediately drew his sword and assumed a defensive stance while grimacing. He heard a familiar sound of dozens of blades being drawn. He started to slowly turn around, looking at the rows of knights with their swords drawn at him. He began to sweat as he calculated the odds of him winning.

The odds? 0%.

Looking around again, he noticed something. The arena looked different, like a throne room. He took off his helmet, startling the soldiers, and pointed to a random one, and yelled, "Hey, you! Where the hell am I?!"

There was only one problem with what he just said.

It wasn't English.

Andrew clapped his hand to his mouth, eyes wide at what he just said. He repeated the sentence but in a small whisper. It still wasn't spoken in English. Whatever he said, it was in a different language. Suddenly, he heard a booming voice yell,

"O hero, help save this country from the demons!"

Andrew froze in his tracks, as the language spoken by the person wasn't any he recognized.

"You are in the great Kingdom of Astines, and we have summoned you to help save the country from demons!"

Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Does this mean.... that he was 𝘐𝘴𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘪'𝘥? Andrew's eyes widened with realization. No one ever knew, but when he wasn't training, he was a sucker for isekai. Then, a thought popped into his head.

"Status!"

Name: Andrew Perez

Title(s): A Summoned Hero from Another World!

(A summoned hero from another world gives you the Appraisal, Infinite inventory, and Auto translator skill)

{HP: 20k/20k

MP: 10k/10k

STR: 100

INT: 30

DEF: 45 + 22 (67)

SPD: 24 -3 (21)

Transferred Skills: Longsword mastery MAX LVL, Judo LVL 19, BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) mastery LVL17, bow mastery LVL 15, Karate mastery LVL 13, Throwing daggers mastery LVL 11, Boxing mastery LVL 9, Spear mastery LVL 7, Wrestling mastery LVL 2, M27 mastery LVL 1, Crossbow LVL 26 Horseback riding LVL 18, Katana LVL 14, Halberd LVL 12, Mace LVL 12, Axe LVL 8, Tough skin LVL 8, Halberd LVL 4.}

Acquired magic: {Light and Dark magic Mastery, Gifted from Rhoteus, the Goddess of night and day}

Acquired skills from Title: Infinite Inventory and Auto-Translator.

'Wait, so all the skills that were "Transferred" were ones I had in my old world? Guess what Kyle said was right.' Andrew inspected the board for a couple of seconds before tapping at the Acquired magic.

{Light and Dark magic Mastery, Gifted from Rhoteus, the Goddess of Night and Day}

{Due to mastering light and dark magic, you can now use it to create new spells instead of learning from magic books! However, your affinity for magic other than light and dark is stupidly low, so don't even bother learning any others. So use all your creativity, and create new spells! Note, don't get this mixed with dark magic and holy magic; this only affects the light, like say, from the sun, and the night's darkness, for example.}

...

"So, hero, what skills did you acquire?"

"On the board, it says I acquired dark magic mastery and -"

"O hero, you don't need to continue, as you are already.... good enough."

Andrew squinted since what the fatass of a king just said sounded forced, like he didn't want to say it. He'd read and watched plenty of betrayal animes/mangas/LN, but he didn't know if he was going to betray him, like in those mangas, but hero summoning is probably rarer than most gems, right? He shook his head. Since he was #12 in MMA and #1 armored combat, he wouldn't go down like your average teenager or a middle-aged otaku who barely knows anything about fighting. I'd probably be able to take on at least a low-level demon, with my stats & skills alone.

"Hero?"

The king's question snapped him back to reality. "Yes?" He responded, fearing if he ordered his execution, as that would be an enemy no one could fight.

"You will be taken to the pass between the mountains dividing this side of the content and the demon king's side and hold the castle for three weeks, as reinforcements will arrive at that time. Take this bag of coin to buy what you need for your journey, as well as this pack of potions. They are high grade potions which can use during your stay."

With this, the king threw a bag of coins to Andrew's feet, followed quickly by a second bag, placed in front of him, filled with several potions: Green ones, Blue ones, orange ones, and red ones. Andrew bent down to pick them up and then froze. He felt hundreds of eyes on his back. Judging eyes, hating eyes, eyes that want him to die. Was it something he said? Maybe he shouldn't have said he knew dark magic. Then, the king proclaimed, breaking off Andrew's train of thought,

"The carriage is outside, waiting for you. Now, move with great haste, hero!"

After around half a minute, he picked up the two bags, and decided that it was best to get out because if he picked a fight with the king, he would most likely die, even if he took several knights down with him. He returned his sword to his scabbard and walked out to the front of the castle. When he went outside, he looked at the multiple people walking on the street, some having animal features, some being normal humans. He looked towards the sky, and wondered how he would survive in this world.

_______________________________________________________________________

...30 minutes later

Andrew looked at one of the only windows in the carriage. In truth, it felt more like a prison cell due to the only two windows being covered in iron bars, one facing the driver and the other attached to the door. Suddenly, an idea hit him. he moved over to the part of the carriage that was devoid of light and tried to bend the dark to wrap around his fingers like a glove. Although slowly, it started to gather around his hand and encased it completely. The driver rapped twice on the back of the carriage and hissed, "Hey, you okay in there?" Breaking his concentration, the glove dissipated he looked over to his lizardman driver.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine." He opened up his inventory, looked over and saw the bag of coins he was given. He reached over and grabbed it, looking through the massive amount of coins in there. Sifting through the bag, he looked through the many coins, most of them being gold or silver, with one being a glowing white-silver coin the size of his palm.

"Hey, can you tell me about the currency here?"

"Sure! Here are the basics: a bronze coin is five ral, a silver coin is 100 ral, a gold coin is 2000 ral, a holy silver coin is 500,000 ral, and a holy gold coin is one million ral. A apple costs a bronze coin to buy one, a decent sword costs 1 silver coin, a good horse costs 10 silver coins and a nice house with a decent bit of farmland costs around 10 gold coins. I have a pretty good job, so my earnings are 2500 ral every 2 weeks after taxes. However, most middle-class people earn 1500-2000 every 2 weeks after taxes on average. A commoner like me would probably never see a holy silver or gold coin in my life. By the way, stranger, what is your goal by going to the front? It is a dangerous place, where many demons roam unhindered. Some say that even the castle there had to be abandoned for a while, and it is where several high-class demons reside."

He was about to answer the driver when it finally hit him. He was in another world permanently. His hometown, his birthplace, his mementos, and his one and only friend, Kyle, his childhood friend who has ADHD, who stood through him all his life, were gone. He may not be able to go back. Through childhood, school, war, everything he did, Kyle was right by his side, helping him, pushing him to the top. He could still remember his impulsive smile, his matrix-level reflexes, and his somehow god-like ability at video games. Suddenly, a tear fell from his eyes. Unable to stop, all his memories flowed through his mind, just like the tears that were falling. His first ever weapon, Kyle and him going to the marine recruiter, the many times that they trained together, Kyle making jokes in class because he couldn't sit still, his mother taking him to a blacksmith to choose out his sword, his father & grandparents teaching him about farming.

For the first time in his life, he felt that he had a purpose—a thing pushing him forward. Most likely, there will be a demon lord to defeat, and the kingdom may send him back after killing it. He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to make a scratch on the demon king right now, so he knew he must train till he can't feel his body. "Plus," He thought, "I have a cheat ability. all I need to do is train with it until it is just an extension of my body." Wiping away his tears, he looked through the light shining through the door's steel bars.

"Hey, you okay there? I heard you weeping."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to find someone who can match me." Andrew chuckled internally, as that was a half-truth.

"Just be careful, mate, alright? You may be a great fighter, but I have seen great knights fall for such mistakes. Anyways we're here."

He opened up the carriage door, feeling the sunshine on his face as it slowly waned. Looking towards the sun, he estimated it would probably be another 3 hours until it set, around double the time it took to get him here. The smell of foreign flowers and trees hit him like a tsunami, almost overpowering his sense of smell. He looked over to the guide and asked,

"Hey, d'ya know where the castle where the demons lived is?"

The driver, looking nervous and hissing lowly, pointed to a path. "Follow the path and take a left, and you should arrive. There is also a lake that is safe to drink from. About the castle, the only thing is, the castle and town are long overgrown. It was supposed to be a military stronghold, but the ground was extremely fertile, and tons of farmers flocked to the place. It was a decent town until the demon king's son struck at it personally and sacked it. Strangely, he didn't want to destroy it and left it in decent condition."

Andrew, nodding, walked over to the driver and shook his hand.

"Thanks for taking me."

"It was a pleasure. I actually had someone to talk to besides stuck-up nobles or silent travelers. If you need to go anywhere, ask around for me. I'm one of the fastest carriage drivers around!"

The lizardman driver turned away. Andrew, confused, looked in his hands and saw his business card. He laughed lightly and put it into his inventory. He'd been gotten quite well versed with using inventory, and he felt lighter, being now able to full-on sprint in his armor. However, he kept a steady pace, walking along the path.

As he traversed along the path, he felt the soft wind on his face, as he got to the crossroads, true to his words, there was a crystal clear pond of water behind the Y-split. Feeling the effects of conserving the bottled water in his back, he sat down, took off his gauntlets, and started drinking, scooping up the water in his large palms and sipping it, feeling the cool relief of the water quench his thirst. After drinking his fill he stood up. While putting his gauntlets back on, he looks into the pond to see if his appearance has changed. Nope. He still had the same amber eyes, not a single strand of mustache or beard hair on his face, and he still had the small birthmark under his left eye. Smiling, he made a left at the fork, once he limbered up. Walking down the road, he slowly walked down the road, wondering what would life bring him next.