Where we should be

In a dark room lit up only by computer screens, people rushing around with papers in hand. A massive screen is floated at the front, multiple live feeds are shown on the screen with sensor scanning every few seconds under each feed. A man dressed in a full black suit sat in the dark at the back staring at the screen, "Where did you go." 

In the middle of the night, the moon sat high above the clearing. People could be heard singing and laughing in the pub. A wavy orange light could be seen dancing through a window upstairs. Inside, Liam sat at a desk staring at a book in front of him.

'The basic of healing magic.' It was a book Liam was given by the chief when he requested to learn magic from him. Even though it was a book on healing it had the basic foundation for all types of magic.

'The book says all living beings have the foundation needed to become a mage, it's just something the caster must sacrifice when they wish to cast a spell. The example in the book talks about healing spells requiring one's life essence. The scale changes for how extreme the spell is, healing a scratch wound would have little effect on the caster. Healing a stab wound, the caster may suffer from a stinging headache and nausea. Exerting one's ability too much may cause the caster to die from life essence drain, once the caster feels like their life essence is running low, it is recommended they rest to recover their life essence. Being healed or taking a health potion can help recover live essence but will not help the pain.'

The book goes more in-depth about healing and the correct chants required to activate a spell but Liam wasn't able to understand the chants, to him, it looked like a bunch of scribbles. What Liam was more interested in was a page depicting a staff. It looked like that of the walking stick the chief first met him with.

The description states, 'While using a staff, one can cast spells quicker and more efficient compared to that of using one's own hand. A staff also allows one to store the desired essence in it, either through a slow and steady consumption of the owner's essence or by supplying the staff with the desired essence stone.' 

The book goes into how staves are created and the different essence stones that can be imbued with the staff. There was also miscellaneous stuff about the type of plants with healing effects and how to craft health potions. Liam read well into the night learning as much as he could through the book.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* 

A Bell could be heard outside by one of the guard towers, "Wake up, there's an emergency!" Someone wearing light leather armor could be seen outside yelling for everyone to wake up. 

People Could be seen running outside either wearing light armor or robes. Soldiers blocked the front and back gates, archers started climbing into archer towers. Mages cast either protection on everyone, or bright balls of lights to see the forest better. 

Liam ran to the door, wishing to go find the chief and ask what was happening. Grabbing the door handle, a rope suddenly pulled him back. In an instant, Liam's hands were bound behind his back and legs tied together, a hand grabbed his head and pinned him to the ground.

The sound of footsteps could be heard walking past him, sitting down on the chair he was at just seconds ago. His hoarse voice echoed through the room, "Who are you? You're not a part of the Gabina village. How did you get into the forest?"

"Wait, no, I'm not part of the village. I just got lost in the forest and met them today. I-I just walked into the forest, so I-" *Ding*

A softer bell with a long echo sounded in Liam's ear. The commotion outside turned silent, leaves frozen in midair outside the window.

A familiar voice echoed through the room, "Finally found you."

It was the man that brought Liam to this new world, dressed the same from earlier, "seems like you're in quite the predicament here, thankfully I made it in time."

The man reached out his hand and grabbed Liam's shoulder, in an instant the world turned dark, Liam felt like he was floating, but only for a second before the ground was felt again. 

Looking around, pillars could be seen standing high in a straight line. At the end was a throne made of gold, sitting atop the throne was a man dressed in a typical royal outfit. He had a golden crown with jewels around it. He also looked no older than Liam. Standing next to the throne was a scrawny-looking man holding what looked to be the king's scepter.

Sitting in a relaxed posture the man spoke with a light tone "Welcome to the Kingdom of Tragoria, I am King Arthur. I'll make this simple, join the Kingdoms army and you will pass the worthy test."

'The king knows about the test? Also, he's the king?' "You know about the test, can you explain it to me?"

"I know it exists, cause I passed it, but I still don't know what it is, or why it even exists. The only thing I know is everyone who joined the kingdom's army and didn't die or slack off too much all passed the test."

"Wait you were a participant at first? So how did you become a king?"

"When I took the test I led a rebellion against a corrupt king in the neighboring kingdom. I became the king and was loved by everyone. The examiners told me I was worthy and sent me to go take over the corrupt kingdoms of other worlds and restore order. After doing that for a while, I was asked to come back and take over the previous king and become the introductory guide. The reason they asked me to take over was cause all the new participants didn't trust an old king, they kept believing he was a corrupt king. Honestly, most new participants judge everything by looks."

"Well, it does make sense in a way but does that mean I have to make a good impact to pass the test?"

"No not really. You would have the same chance of passing the test if you were a king or a knight. You don't even need to be above the law to pass. I've seen assassins and killers pass the test, hell there was someone who got the nickname of Demon King when he was taking the test and still passed. The only thing I can say is the test seems more about how worthy you are of the role you make yourself to be. If you chose to be a soldier. than be a soldier, if you're a king, explain the introductions twice cause someone got lost immediately after arriving."

"That doesn't sound like my fault, and what if someone was a jack of all and did a bit of everything, would they fail?"

"No, it depends. If you were a knight who was good with sword, spear, bow, and magic you would still pass. It's hard to say exactly what the criteria is for passing, but jumping between professions does make it harder to pass the test."

The moon still sat high in the sky, it was still the same time as the forest, 'The forest should be close by, but also why is the king up in the middle of the night? Looking more closely, he doesn't even look tired.'

The King still sat on the throne in a relaxed manner. After a moment the king was the first to break the silence, "So what will it be, are you going to join the army?"

"Can I think about it first?"

"Of course. You will be staying at the Rose Petal Inn. Your first week's essentials are taken care of, it includes the room and three meals a day. You'll also be given a skill to get you started, and an ID card. The ID card has all your personal information, such as name and location of residence, if you ever change anything, the ID will change accordingly. It also has your profession and skills.

while the king was explaining, a maid walked in behind Liam holding a tray. On the tray was a small ID card but it was blank.

"Just grab it and all information should be imprinted into it. Try not to lose it, but if you do you can get a new one from any local guild."

Liam reached out and grabbed the card. Like magic, writing started appearing on the card, a photo also appeared on it, but Liam couldn't be sure where such a photo would have been taken, 'At least I looks better than my school ID photo.' 

"It's getting late, why don't you head to the inn and get some rest, the maid will take you there. A list of available skills you can choose from will also be in your room, you can claim a skill and learn it from the guild whenever you want."

"Okay, then I will take my leave now." Liam bowed down at the king before turning around and following the maid out of the throne room.