*In a royal palace of kingdom Vahalad

In a private room, a group of Japanese students are gathering around, discussing their future in the other world.

“Do you think that they are lying about not being able to send us back?” A girl voices her question.

“Kaname, that is highly possible. Firstly, they do not need any reason to research about sending heroes back to their own world. Secondly, the ceremony is too difficult and consumes too much resource. And there are too many problems to deal with. They ‘d rather not waste resource on such meaningless activity.” A boy who has a leader aura speaks.

“Then, are we supposed to stay here for our whole life?” Kaname worries.

“What are you complaining about? This is the other world. The other world, you know.” Another guy speaks with enthusiasm “It’s one of the best things we can wish for. Can you imagine it? An adventure to travel across different lands, meet different races, defeat the monsters, and become heroes. It is our fate to be here. I am not being delusional here. We all receive the blessing from the goddess and have these cheat like powers. This is the most solid proof.”

There are various responses from the student body. Some agree with him wholeheartedly; some partly agree, imagining their future life; some show disagreement, thinking about their own world; and some while not saying anything smirk mockingly at the enthusiastic guy in their heart.

Hell, this guy is beyond saving. Anyone who reads story about the otherworld should know that life is not simple, even if the world they are in looks like it is still in Middle Age.

While each is having their own thought, the leader guy continues the conversation.

“Kaito, remember that the world is not so simple. You heard it from the history of previous summoned hero. This world is much more complicated and different from the world in stories we know so far.”

“The Heaven Sect.” Hitomi mutters as she looks at her status plate.

“Martial artist”, a special class that is rarely seen in this world and holds a special meaning to everyone in this world. History says that the first Martial Artist was the previous summoned hero.

As its name suggests, it is a job for those who practices martial art and hand-to-hand combat. However, that definition can also apply to another class called “Fighter” in this world. In fact, most of the citizens of this world who practice martial art has this “Fighter” class, while in a very rare chance, a person can acquire the “Martial artist” class.

Then, what makes this “Martial artist” class different from “Fighter”? The answer is its evolve class. Both “Fighter” and “Martial artist” can evolve to a higher class called “Combat Master”, “Combat Grandmaster”. However, only “Martial artist” can evolve to a very special class called “Cultivator”.

Nothing is known about this class, except the fact that all of them are very strong. Rumor is that once a martial artist becomes a cultivator, he will stop being human and ascend to a higher life form. Their standing can be compared to the dragons, the most prestigious being. The dragons have even admitted that the cultivators have the same standing as them, while no saint, hero, or kings in the past received the same honor. And all these cultivators belong to the Heaven Sect.

Hundred years ago, the Tristina continent was engulfed in the war between the demons and humans. It was a large scale war that spanned on several decades with both sides on equal ground. Seeking a breakthrough for the situation, the leading human country invented a ritual and successfully summoned a being from another world, a hero.

The one who was summoned was a girl with a strange attire. Many records about her are lost, either disappeared along the time or twisted by the tales of people. But her most famous saying is still widely known, and affects many people even until today.

“With only my fists, I will reach and break through the heaven.” It was her vow when she accepted to fight the demon army for the human.

Without relying on the Goddess blessing, she destroyed the demon army with only her fists and skills that were honed through the battle. Atypical from the story where the hero and his companions defeat the demon king together, she challenged him head on with a 1 on 1 fight and achieved victory.

During her stay in the human army, she had developed a new school of fighting techniques, incorporating magic into martial arts and using the other world knowledge. The human country received enormous benefits from that as they could outmatch the demon in many ways, be it tactics, individual fighting ability, total fighting force, and country development. It was considered a golden age for the human kingdom. The cultivators were the ones who received training directly from the hero.

After the war with demon, this was the point where things became complicated. True or not, the country which summoned the hero attempted to eliminate her through conspiracy. They were afraid of her power, her influence. Her existence endangered their position in the new world with the elimination of the demon countries. Her sharing the new fighting techniques with the other countries could help the them gain enough power to threaten the country’s ruling title.

But their plan had backfired them. After branding the hero as a demon, the cultivators who were direct students of the hero launched a Coup d'état against all the nations in the human alliance, and formed the Heaven Sect. Though few in number, they had shown the power that was even more terrifying than the demon king. One cultivator could slaughter a one hundred thousand men army. Even in a fight between top tier forces, even gathering all the champions and saints could not even kill one low class cultivator. Never did anyone think that the cultivators the hero educated are that powerful. And more surprisingly, the hero finally demonstrated her real power, not against the demon, but the human she allied with.

With only one skill, she leveraged the entire capital of the leading country in five seconds, and she did the same thing to the other countries who joined the conspiracy. The history of glory of many countries was decimated in only a few days, and the human regressed greatly after a short moment of rapid advancement.

After eradicating all the countries that were involved, the hero and the cultivators disappeared from the world without anyone figuring out where they went. Most of the detailed records regarding the war and the cultivators also faded away along with them.

“I don’t get it. Why is she still called the hero after doing all of that? And the conspiracy deal too. Why is it more detailed than the fight with demon?” Kaname asks.

“Because the cultivators intentionally left those records alone. They want the world to remember. That they once betrayed their teacher.” The leading guy says.

“And the reason the kingdom is so nice to us is that they do not want to repeat the same mistake in the past. They desire our power, yet be afraid of it. They are trying their best to give us good impression so that we do not intend to bite them back.” Hitomi says.

“I have to say they are making a very brave decision. They told us this story, instead of hiding from us. They could have controlled us better when doing so. With that, they have at least gained my trust. That’s why we don’t need to be afraid of betrayal from the king.” Kaito says.

This time, many people nod in agreement with him. Being honest and sharing a critical information that can be detrimental to themselves show a lot of good will to the students.

“How should we treat those cultivators? Are they ally or enemy?” A student asks.

“Before leaving, they had declared that they would no longer interfere with the matter of this world anymore. And for hundred years, they have not appeared again. I believe that most of them have probably passed away, including the former hero.” The leading guy says while adjusting his glasses.

“But they are no longer human, right? Even the dragons accepted them as equal standing. Should they have much long lifespan as the dragons?” Hitomi says.

“That part is only a rumor. I suspect that the strength of the cultivators is pretty much exaggerated, as to make the story more impactful for people to fear. I don’t think that it is possible training the whole army that each of them can even be stronger than the demon king. The one who fought all the saints and champions must have been one of the strongest cultivators. For any information about their strength, please keep in mind that they can be exaggerated.” Leading guy says “We have deviated from the main topic quite a lot. We should concentrate on our plan on a short term first.”

………………………………………….

Makoto is inside the white cloud that is engulfing the goblins. Even she is the master of the spell, she cannot see anything beside the white scene. However, she can feel the presence of any goblin in the cloud.

As the skill “Air manipulation” activates, Makoto can feel the flow of air she created. Wherever there is an empty space in the cloud, it is where the goblin is. She can even know correctly the distance between them, the height of each goblin, and what each goblin does. Makoto is enjoying the feeling understanding everything around her.

(Amazing. What is this feeling? It feels like I can see everything even without eyes.) Makoto thinks.

As she is observing the activity of the goblins, she notices some goblin grab the clubs or stones nearby, smashing the ice shackles binding them. Although Makoto is confident in the hardness of the ice, she decides to get back to her task. There are a lot of things she need to check by using these goblins.

Next to her, several fireballs float around. During the construction of the stove, she absorbed the fire with her ability as fire was the common necessity in this world. Setting the targets, the fireballs fire toward the target and burn the monster. The goblins scream in pain as their skins are charred by the flame.

New skill obtained. Fire magic (Lv 3)

“Hm? The intensity feels wrong.” Displeasure shows in Makoto’s face “Wait. Perhap.”

Makoto creates several fireballs next to her. However, this time she uses the skill just gained instead of her own white flame based manipulation. At the same moment, in her mind, a blue energy flow image appears in her mind.

“This is ….. mana.” She mutters.

The fireballs increase in size many times bigger as she infuses the mana in the spell. Their heat intensity is even greater than before. Feeling hot suddenly, Makoto quickly sends the fireballs to some goblins. And the result surprises her greatly.

Without even time to scream, the targeted green skins are immediately vaporized as the fireballs pass them and shoot through the white cloud. Luckily, Makoto is aiming downward, with the spell hitting the lake and the ground before reaching the trees. Many blasts occur and the lake boils with extremely fast rate.

Skill level up. Fire magic (Lv 5)

Makoto gives a relief sigh as she realizes her mistake. If one of the fireballs hit the trees, she would cause deforestation, resulting in many more troubles.

However, the situation is still heading toward the unexpected direction. With the boiling water, the ice shackles melt down, become weak enough for some high level goblins to shake free from the shackles.

“Tch, no choice then. Have to finish them quickly.” Makoto clicks her tongue.

Snapping her fingers, a sudden gale sweeps through the group of goblins near her. Different from the harmless white air breeze, this wind is deadly as it is imbued with mana. With the invisible sharpness, the gale slices the goblins into pieces. The ground is filled with junks of meat like a meat processor dumping its product there.

Not minding the gruesome scene, Makoto manipulates the lake water to flow toward the goblins with their feet in water. Like a snake, the water climbs on the goblins, reaches their heads and starts suffocating them.

New skill obtained. Water magic (Lv 5)

Seeming satisfied with the voice in the head, she twists her hand extending toward those goblins. The mass of water on the goblin heads also twists around like a towel being wrung, then becomes frozen into ice. With Makoto’s hand clutching, the ice immediately explodes, blowing away the goblin heads.

New skill obtained. Ice magic (Lv 4)

Despite not seeing anything, the goblins are not stupid enough not to know that their friends are being massacred. They become frantic with breaking away from the shackle, mustering all the muscles they have to get away.

“You are not going anywhere.” Makoto transmits her power into the soil beneath her. However, unlike the other spells, she is using a lot of energy on the soil.

The ground rumbles a bit and suddenly, sharp spikes protrude on the ground, impales all the remaining goblins without fail. The monsters give loud painful shriek because they are not killed immediately. Most of the spikes pierce through their stomachs, or chests, leaving them alive for a few moment.

New skill obtained. Earth magic (Lv3)

With all the enemies finished, Makoto disperses the white cloud away, exposing the aftermath of the one side slaughter.