Chapter 2 — Heroes of Another World

Chapter 2 — Heroes of Another World

Darkness.

Ayomide couldn't feel his body. There was no ground beneath his boots, no sky above his head, and no air in his lungs. Just an endless, weightless void.

"...Master..."

The voice drifted through the silence like a thread of warm silk. Soft, gentle, and trembling—as if whoever was speaking feared he might shatter if she raised her voice.

"...Master... can you hear us...?"

A second voice joined the first, lighter, carrying a quiet, breathless gasp.

"...We've finally found you..."

Ayomide frowned in the dark.

Who...?

He searched through the memories of both lives, clawing through faces, names, and old regrets. Nothing. He didn't know these voices.

Yet, as the words echoed in his chest, a strange, phantom ache tightened around his heart—like a piece of a puzzle he didn't know was missing.

He opened his mouth to speak. "Who are—"

The void cracked.

Light burst through the dark, tearing the silence to pieces.

Ayomide's eyes flew open.

Cold stone scraped against his palm as his hands hit the floor. He stayed on his knees for a second, his chest heavy as he dragged cool air into his lungs. Sweat dripped down his temple.

The women's voices were gone.

He pushed himself up, his eyes quickly sweeping across the hall.

The lecture hall was gone. The row of worn wooden desks, the dry-erase whiteboard, the green campus trees outside the window—all completely erased.

Instead, gigantic white marble pillars rose around them, stretching so high into the gloom above that he couldn't see the ceiling. Intricate blue patterns etched into the stone glowed with a faint pulse, casting long shadows across the floor. Beneath his feet, the silver geometric circle that had swallowed the classroom was slowly fading into the tiles.

Whatever had happened... it wasn't a hallucination.

A loud groan echoed nearby. A male student pushed himself off the floor, rubbing his eyes. "What the..."

"Where are we?" another voice asked, trembling.

A girl scrambled to her feet, grabbing her backpack off the ground and unzipping it frantically. "My phone! Where is my phone?!"

Within seconds, bright screen lights illuminated dozens of panicked faces across the hall.

A girl in the second row raised her phone immediately, turning the front camera toward herself. "If anybody sees this video... I don't even know what to say. If this uploads, nobody go believe me!"

A boy beside her let out a nervous laugh, pointing his camera at the towering pillars. "Omo... this place fine sha. Guy, see this place!"

"Wait..." A student near the front frowned, tapping his screen repeatedly. "No network?"

He held his phone high above his head, turning in a circle. "Abeg, wetin dey do this phone?"

"My own too!"

"No signal!"

"Data isn't working!"

"I can't even send a WhatsApp message!"

A girl kept tapping her mother's contact number, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as the call failed again and again. "No... Mummy, pick up..." She tried once more. Still nothing. Her breathing turned shallow and rapid. "This isn't funny anymore. I'm getting scared."

No classroom walls. No lecture hall corridors. No voices from other departments.

Just cold white stone and a hundred terrified students.

Miss Grace finally stepped forward, smoothing her skirt with shaking hands. "Everyone! Please, let us remain calm!"

Her voice was instantly drowned out by a barrage of overlapping shouts.

"Who brought us here?!"

"Is this some kind of prank?!"

"Somebody has to explain what is going on!"

A tall male student near the front took a deep breath, stepping onto a raised step and raising his hands. "Please! We're all confused, but shouting over each other won't solve anything! Let's just breathe!"

A few students opened their mouths to argue, but the sheer absurdity of the situation pressed down on them. Slowly, the shouting died down into a tense, terrified murmur.

Ayomide didn't join the arguments. His eyes moved methodically from face to face.

One boy was laughing under his breath as if his brain had snapped. Another was dropped on his knees, frantically murmuring prayers into his hands. Some looked furious; others just looked utterly lost.

"Bro."

A heavy hand landed on Ayomide's shoulder. Tunde was standing beside him. The easy, playful grin he usually wore was completely gone. He scratched the back of his neck, leaning in to whisper.

"Abeg... tell me say you understand wetin dey happen here."

Ayomide looked at him for a second. "I don't." Then he added quietly, "And if I knew, shey I no go have tell you ni?"

Tunde stared at him, then looked up at the glowing blue ceiling. "...I swear, this one don pass movie."

A short laugh came from right beside them. Kemi was standing there, her hands clasped tightly over her bag strap, her eyes wide as she tried to force a smile.

"So..." Kemi looked around the massive hall, her voice shaking slightly. "Does anybody think this is... like... one of those social experiments? For YouTube?"

Nobody answered her. A few nearby students quickly looked away.

Beside Kemi, Adesewa didn't say a word. Her dark eyes immediately locked onto Ayomide. Adesewa stepped closer, her slender fingers reaching out to touch his arm, checking his wrists to see if he was hurt.

Kemi stopped mid-sentence, watching Adesewa fuss over Ayomide. Her jaw dropped slightly in dramatic betrayal.

"Wait oh," Kemi gasped, putting her hands on her hips. "Me, your best friend, you didn't even check if I'm fine first?! You're checking him first?!"

Adesewa froze mid-gesture. Her eyes widened, and a slight blush rushed to her cheeks as she caught herself. She quickly pulled her hands back, looking embarrassed, and tapped Kemi's shoulder twice to calm her down.

Tunde let out a snort of laughter despite the situation.

Ayomide stood between them, completely oblivious to what had just transpired. "What?"

"Nothing, boss," Tunde chuckled, shaking his head. "Forget them."

Kemi reached out and pulled Adesewa's arm into hers. "Either way, we're not separating. Even if death tries to separate us, we're still best friends for life."

Adesewa smiled softly, nodding once.

Behind them, Success was on her knees on the stone floor, quietly picking up her notebook before anyone could step on it. She dusted off the cover against her skirt, holding it tightly to her chest.

Not far from her stood Victoria and Ella. The arrogant confidence they had displayed while picking on Success back in the classroom was completely gone. Victoria had her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"This place is giving me bad vibes," Victoria muttered, her voice trembling.

Ella swallowed hard, stepping closer to her friend. "...Let's just wait and see what is going on first."

Neither of them looked as fearless as they had twenty minutes ago.

Near the back of the hall, a tall student named Maxwell clicked his tongue loudly in disgust. "This is nonsense."

Before Ayomide could track Maxwell's movement—

CREAK.

The sound of heavy, ancient doors echoing through the hall killed every single conversation instantly.

At the far end of the chamber, two massive wooden gates swung inward. Silence hit the room like a physical wave.

A dozen men and women dressed in white robes stepped through the entrance. They moved with calm synchronization, each carrying a long silver staff topped with a blue crystal. They spread out, forming two neat lines along the central aisle.

Then, a central figure walked between them.

He moved at an unhurried pace. Threads of grey were woven through his dark hair, and his robe was embroidered with silver running down the sleeves and chest. As he passed, every white-robed figure bowed their heads ever so slightly.

The gesture lasted only a second, but Ayomide caught it immediately.

I see so he's the one in charge.

The man stopped a few meters in front of the crowd of students. His eyes moved across them slowly, taking in their casual clothes, their phones, and their frantic expressions.

When he finally spoke, his voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed clearly off the high marble pillars.

"My name is Karl," he said softly. "I am one of the Shepherds of Aetheris."

A few students exchanged confused glances.

"Shepherd?"

"Wetin be that?"

"What kind of title is that?"

Before Karl could elaborate, Maxwell shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped out of the crowd, his face twisted in annoyance.

"Oga, abeg forget all this grammar," Maxwell spat, pointing a finger toward Karl and his guards. "You people carried one hundred and nine students from their classroom to this strange place. So make una explain wetin dey happen right now! Who are you people?! And how did you kidnap us?!"

Several students immediately shouted in agreement.

"He's right!"

"We didn't ask to come here!"

"This is kidnapping!"

"I have rights!" a boy near the back yelled. "You can't just—"

Karl didn't argue. He didn't raise his voice, and he didn't blink.

He simply raised his right hand, palm open.

BOOM.

The air in the room instantly turned into lead.

Ayomide felt an invisible weight collapse onto his shoulders. The air was ripped straight from his lungs. His knees buckled as an overwhelming pressure drove him toward the floor.

Around him, students choked as body after body slammed against the stone.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

One student tried to push himself up, but the invisible gravity slammed him back down flat on his face.

Maxwell gritted his teeth, his arms shaking violently as he tried to resist the weight. "Damn..." A choked curse escaped his lips before his legs gave out completely, slamming his knee into the hard marble.

The hall went so quiet that the only sound left was the frantic, painful gasps of a hundred students pinned to the floor.

Karl slowly lowered his hand.

Instantly, the suffocating weight vanished.

Students gasped for air, coughing and clutching their chests. Several remained lying on the cold floor, too shocked to move.

Karl looked down at them, his expression completely unchanged.

"I did not do that to harm you," Karl said calmly, his hands folding neatly behind his back. "I merely wished to end the argument. Now... may I continue?"

Maxwell stayed on one knee, his jaw clenched, his fists trembling against the floor. For the first time since arriving, he didn't say a single word. He swallowed his pride and slowly pulled himself back into the crowd.

Karl nodded once.

"I understand your confusion," Karl said, his tone measured. "If our positions were reversed... I would likely ask the same questions. But the truth does not change. You were not kidnapped."

He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the silent hall.

"You were summoned."

A boy near the front frowned, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Summoned...?"

"Yes," Karl replied smoothly. "To this world. The world known as Aetheris."

The unfamiliar name hung in the cold air. Nobody recognized it. Nobody had ever heard it.

"Our sacred records speak of a day when Heroes from another world would answer our world's greatest hour of need," Karl continued, his voice carrying weight. "That is why you stand here today. You have been chosen by the ancient Summoning Rite."

Silence stretched across the marble hall.

A boy near Tunde let out a nervous laugh. "So... you're telling us... this is another world? Like an anime?"

"It is reality," Karl answered without hesitation. "Whether you choose to believe it now or later... it will not alter the floor beneath your feet."

He bowed his head slightly toward the crowd.

"So... allow me to be the first to welcome you. Welcome... to Aetheris. From this moment onward... you are the Heroes chosen by our world."

The word echoed off the massive white pillars.

Chosen.

Ayomide lowered his eyes, staring at his palms.

Chosen?

For thirty years, nobody had chosen him for a single thing. Not his teachers, not his classmates, not his bosses, and not his life.

Now, an entire world was calling him a Hero before he had even taken his first breath.

Ayomide slowly straightened, keeping his eyes on Karl's composed expression.

Nobody gave away power for free. If one hundred and nine strangers had been dragged across worlds... then someone expected something in return.

Nothing in life came without a price.