Four Heroes

The wind blew at Tito’s back. The clouds drifted overhead as his crimson cape flapped. His eyes grew sharper as he chewed his jaw.

“What’s The Spirit Call?” Yusato asked, standing behind Tito.

Notching his head back, he shot Yusato a smug grin. “Watch.” He spit out some blood into his palm before slamming it into the ground. A circle formed underneath him and soon his hair grew white. Wrinkles decorated his face and his eyes looked sullen and tired.

“The Spirit of Ailments. This is her power.” Tito stretched out his hand an in response the giant Sirhix fell to its knees unable to move. “Paralysis.”

A powerful screech ruptured the air as the creature tried to fight off the paralysis to no avail.

Yusato, Tomoki, Azumi, and Mahina all watched on with their eyes wide. They were in complete and utter shock at just how powerful that ability seemed to be.

“That’s…insane.” Tomoki hands shook, fire igniting around his fingers. “How do we do that?”

“It’s not a skill to be used lightly. It’s a last resort,” Tito said. “Now, Yusato! Use that sword to kill it!”

Why had Tito’s hair, face, and body changed? Yusato was still stuck thinking about that as he stared on at him, so he didn’t registered what Tito said at first.

“YUSATO!”

“Yes, Sir?!”

“Use the tip of the sword and release its magic! Before it stops glowing!”

“The tip of the sword…? He looked down and remembered that the blade had been glowing gold this whole time. And sure enough, it was slowly starting to flicker away.

“Got it!”

There was no more time to waste. He had to do it now. Yusato held the sword forward and focused again just like with the spellbook. A blast of golden magic shot out from the tip of the sword and penetrated through the beast’s body.

A roaring golden light overtake it as the Sirhix wailed a frantic death cry. It withered into dust, scattering the wind.

The golden light around the sword had all but vanished at Yusato let it fall to his side. Harsh and ragged breaths escaped his lips.

Was it over?

All around him were dozens of wounded knights and mages. The fountains had cracks and tears in them. Some pieces had fallen off and were now littered across the pavement. The stalls and houses weren’t in much better shape either.

Tito slapped Yusato on the back with a hardy grin. “Good job out there, kiddo. You did well.”

It was hard to believe that just a moment ago, Tito looked so much younger. Yusato practically felt like he was talking to a completely different man. The more he looked at Tito’s face, the harder it was to believe, so he tried not to meet his eyes.

“Captain Tito?” Yusato asked, lifting his head, but still avoiding the man’s face. “What happened to you?”

Tito’s smile vanished. “That’s the price of The Spirit Call. It’s why I told you kids it’s a last resort. It doesn’t require any magic.” Tito looked up at the evening sky and sighed. “But everything has a price. In order to use the power of the spirits, you must sacrifice something important you.”

“So, what exactly did you give up?” Yusato asked.

Azumi clasped her hands over her mouth. “You didn’t.”

“Seems she figured it out.” Tito nodded in affirmation. “Yes, I gave up my youth. I won’t be able to fight anymore and it won’t be long until I’m gone now.”

Mahina looked up from a wound on her hand she had been staring at. “Wasn’t there anything else you could’ve sacrificed?”

“Sure. But the bigger a sacrifice you make, the more power you get. I couldn’t risk shortchanging it.” Tito walked past the four, his stride noticeably slower and more clumsy. “But it was worth it.”

The rest of the knights ran up to Yusato, Azumi, Mahina, and Tomoki. They cheered and applauded as they surrounded them.

“Wow, what’s this all about?” Azumi blushed as she dabbed at her cheek.

King Aster and Dadilda approached the group as well. “You four are the heroes of this world. Naturally, we’d want to celebrate you.” King Aster smiled warmly at them. “Thank you all. You’ve done your job well. Dadilda, if you’d please.”

Dadilda placed shiny golden medals over each of their necks. “Yusato, Azumi, Mahina, and Tomoki. Congratulations. You are the Four Heroes of The Fifteenth Crisis of Talria. Wear these medals proudly. You have earned them.”

“Gee, this is kind of embarrassing.” Azumi said, still blushing. “We just did what you asked us too…”

“Screw that.” Mahina placed her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest. “Bring on the praise!”

“You would say that.” Yusato shook his head.

“You’re just jealous.”

“What do you mean jealous?! I’m a hero too!”

“Yeah yeah.” Mahina whacked him in the face with her twintails as she turned around. “Anyway, thank you! Thank you all!”

“Ugh…”

Though as annoyed as he was, Yusato did see where Mahina was coming from. It did feel very nice to be congratulated and praised like this. The four of them never had particularly good home lives, so this was a welcome change. No one had ever been this kind to them before.

“Huh?” Yusato looked over at Tomoki, noticing his arms were crossed with his head off to the side. “Tomoki, what’s up?”

“Nothing.” Tomoki kept looking away, not sparing Yusato a single glance.

What was that all about? He hoped Tomoki was okay, but he couldn’t figure out why he seemed so unhappy. The monsters were defeated and everyone survived. So then, what was wrong?

“Now, I’d like to discuss another matter with you four,” King Aster said.

Yusato directed his attention to the king. “What is it…uh…Your Highness?”

“You may be Heroes, but I would suggest you all find a way to make money in our world for the time being.”

“Excuse me?” Tomoki stormed over to the king, his eyes alight with rage. “What do you mean? We don’t have time for that. We’re have to get back to our own world. It’s time for us to start preparing for exams.”

“Tomoki…” Yusato’s chin dipped to the floor. Why was he in such a rush to get back home? He thought that Tomoki was excited to be able to spend more time together. Was he mistaken?”

“I am sorry to tell you this. But you won’t be able to leave this world for at least two years.”

Clenching his fists, Tomoki glared at the king. “The hell is that supposed to mean? Why can’t we leave?!”

“It’ll take us a while to build up the necessary magic to send you back to your world. It takes more magic to send someone back than it does to bring them here.” King Aster smiled wryly at Tomoki. “I am truly sorry about this, but there is nothing to be done. That is why I suggested you make the most of your time here. You can make money by doing quests so long as you find a Quest Manager.”

Tomoki grunted. His fist shook at his side before he slowly started to lift it. For a minute, Yusato was worried he was about to punch this king. Thankfully, he let it fall back to his side again and scoffed. “Whatever.” Tomoki turned around and walked back over to Yusato.

Yusato wanted to say something. To ask what had been going on with him lately. However, he found himself unable to spit out the words. Whether it was because of how mad Tomoki seemed or how nervous Yusato was to know the answer, he wasn’t sure.

“What’s a Quest Manager?” Azumi asked.

“I can answer that.” Dadilda pushed up her glasses. “A Quest Manager searches out quests for you to find. And they have access to different weapons and magic tools you wouldn’t be able to use otherwise. As well as access to different locations. Every Quest Manager has different domain areas, but the highest ranking ones have bigger and better ones.”

“Alright,” Yusato said, nodding his head in interest. “Where can we find one then?”

“You got one right here.” Dadilda winked. “As one of the top five, I’ll gladly be the Quest Manage for The Four Heroes.”

Dadilda went to shake Tomoki’s hand and a purple glow emanated as their hands connected. Tomoki shirked back. “Whoa?! What was that?!”

Dadilda giggled behind her hand. “Not to worry. That is just the link. It does that whenever an otherworlder’s hand makes contact with their summoner’s hand.”

“O-kay?” Tomoki rubbed his hand while backing away from Dadilda a little.

Dadilda shook hands with Azumi and Mahina as well and the same occurrence happened again. Then, she shook Yusato’s hand. And nothing happened. No purple glow.

“Huh? That is quite strange.” She looked at her hand, blinking a few times. “I wonder what that is about.

“Um, Dadilda? Why didn’t it do it with me?” Yusato asked in confusion.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. This is the first time we’ve had four heroes at once though. So, maybe you’re just a special case?”

“Special, huh?” Yusato smiled at that as he looked at his hand.

Tomoki narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, real special.”