Year 2: The Heroes Descend - Chapter 5

After yet another long ball hosted by the leaders of the Free People’s Alliance, the summoned heroes returned to their mansion.

“Everyone, could I have a moment of your time?”

Just before they went upstairs, Duncan unexpectedly called out to them.

“I know it’s late and we’re all exhausted, but I have something that we all need to talk about.”

“All of us?”

Duncan nodded. “It might take a while, but I promise it’s necessary.”

“But…”

“I agree,” Ewan said.

“But you don’t even know what it’s about yet.”

“I can take a good guess, and, judging by the looks on a few of your faces, I think you know what it is too.”

Kayleigh and Hajime looked at each other, nodded and raised their hands.

“Duncan talked to us about this earlier and it’s really important you all hear what she has to say,” Kayleigh yelled.

“Yeah, yeah!”

After a few seconds of hushed murmuring, no one voiced any more objections and followed Duncan into the reception hall. Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and smiled.

“Just before I get started, can I ask everyone a question? How many of you were keeping track of everyone else’s Divine Artefacts?”

About twenty people raised their hands.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try, Guy,” Yve confessed.

“W-well, I tried to, but then everyone else’s weapons had really long names too, and then I got lost and then-!”

“I remember yours quite well, Brother Guy,” Feng Li said. “Your twin blades are most beautiful and most valuable treasures from my country.”

Yve laughed awkwardly. “But Feng, you didn’t put your hand up either.”

“Indeed, I did not, Sister Yve, though that was because I was too busy talking with my good friends, Hajime and Duncan.”

“Wait, how comes you didn’t address them as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’?” Brenda asked.

“Because they have given me permission not to, Sister Bre-”

“I give you permission too!”

“My thanks, Brenda.”

Seeing that the conversation was getting off-track, Duncan coughed and drew everyone’s focus back to him again.

“At first, I was having trouble too, but Kayleigh, Hajime and I all worked together to memorise as many of the other Divine Artefacts as possible and, more specifically, what type of Artefact they were.”

“For what reason?” Akane asked.

“Because I wanted to see if there was a pattern to any of this,” Kayleigh interjected. “I wanted to see if everyone was really choosing a random weapon or item, or if we were picking things to fulfil roles in a party.”

“Like in an RPG,” Hajime quickly added.

“Except you got distracted by Feng after Duncan went in and forgot what you were meant to be doing.”

“I’m very sorry!”

“Don’t bow to me.” Kayleigh sighed and dismissively waved her hand. “Despite a few set-backs, I think we were able to figure out something quite important about the thirty summoned heroes as a whole.”

“Which is?” Liam inquired.

“That, broadly speaking, all thirty of us have been divided into three RPG-like classes without realising it,” Duncan continued. “There are ten people here who we think would be classed as ‘Warriors’, ten who would be classed as ‘Rogues’ and ten who would be classed as ‘Mages’.”

“What’s even more interesting is that out of those ten mages, half of them seem to be better suited for offensive magic and the others seemed to be suited for support magic,” Kayleigh mused. “Adrien, Kavi, Trevor, Zuzu and Delwyn; could you come forward for a moment and line up in front of us?”

The five in question, whilst slightly confused, did so.

“One by one, could you tell us what your Divine Artefacts are please?”

“Nehushtan.”

“The Rod of Asclepius.”

“Ruyi.”

“The Solar Crown.”

“Caduceus.”

“…Now I see,” Ewan mumbled.

“What do you see?” Akane asked.

“Nehushtan - the staff Moses erected to protect the Israelites from serpents. The Rod of Asclepius - a symbol of the Greek God of healing. Ruyi - traditional Chinese Buddhism implements that bring good fortune. The Solar Crown - that is said to give off the healing light of the sun. Caduceus - the staff of Hermes.”

“…For a man with no memories, you sure know a lot,” Blake scoffed.

“I…I don’t know why, but…” Ewan furrowed his eyebrows. “I just…know it…that’s all.”

Blake grunted and folded her arms. “Yeah, right.”

“I must admit, I only knew of the Rod of Asclepius myself,” Amen chimed in. “To think you would recognise them all; do you, perhaps, know where everyone else’s comes from then, Ewan?”

“…No.”

Many suspicious glances were thrown at Ewan who could only keep his eyes closed in response.

If he really doesn’t have any memories of his previous life, I imagine he’s just as surprised as we are about how much he knows, Duncan thought.

“Regardless whether or not Ewan’s telling the truth about his memories, he isn’t wrong in his assessments of their Divine Artefacts,” Kayleigh said. “These five have Artefacts that make them more useful for protection. Therefore, Duncan, Hajime and I arrived at a solution not too long ago during the party.”

“Which is?”

“We divide ourselves into five teams of six, with each team having two Warriors, two Rogues and two Mages in it,” Duncan announced. “That way, each team has a good balance of members.”

“Further, if we appoint team leaders and hold regular meetings, we’ll be able to better communicate and coordinate with one another should we ever need to move independently of one another,” Kayleigh added.

“What’s the chances of that happening?” Blake demanded.

“Most likely, very high. Last night, I decided to visit the library and start doing some research on Aangapea to about its geography, people and, more importantly, where the Demon Emperor’s forces currently are. Right now, there’s more than a thousand miles of land connecting the east and the west, meaning that the Demon Emperor could launch an attack from anywhere along that massive border at any time. If, let’s say, we’re all sent to the north and he strikes the south, then the war would be lost instantly.

“Conversely, let’s say that we were in the south when he struck, but he also sent an army to the north. We could still end up losing if we didn’t defeat the Demon Emperor in battle. Not to mention, it’s apparent that the monarchs leading the Free Peoples all have their own interests and people at heart, and that they wouldn’t want one nation hoarding all of us at once.

“As it is, King Alexander seems to have attracted much negative attention from the others by letting us stay in this mansion inside the Kingdom of Rhodes. The chances of us being separated into smaller groups and being dispatched all across Aangapea is high, and thus we should make preparations for that event.”

“If we decide our teams now and tell Dante and the monarchs what the teams are, then they’ll take that into consideration and dispatch us in those groups,” Hajime said. “Or at least.” He laughed awkwardly. “We hope they’ll listen to us.”

“If we start working together well in the teams that we create ourselves, then they’re much more likely to take us seriously and send us off in our teams,” Duncan continued. “That’s why we three think it’s best if we decide the teams, and their leaders, tonight and tell Dante in the morning.”

“So, that’s all well and good, but how are we going to decide the teams?” Talon asked. “I mean, outside of you three and Feng, or Guy and Yve, the rest of us haven’t really had much chance to get to know one another.”

“We can draw lots to decide the teams and then the teams can vote for their leaders. If the leader doesn’t do their job well, then the team can vote them out and vote someone else in,” Kayleigh answered. “If they still can’t decide on a leader themselves, then the other team leaders will pick for them.”

“So, the five team leaders would get to call most of the shots?” Yve inquired.

“For now, at least, until we have a better idea of our abilities and of the threat we’re up against.”

“In that case, sure, let’s give it a go.”

“I agree, it’s worth a shot.”

“Me too, me too!”

“We know you do, Hajime!” Three people yelled at once.

“…Sorry.”

Once everyone else had voiced their agreement, lots were created and, after an hour-long debate, the teams, and their leaders, were decided.