Summoned Again?

This is the story of the first time I had been summoned.

I was sitting on a park bench and eating the hot dog I had bought for lunch. I was eighteen years old, had just graduated high school, and was looking for my first job. It was the start of summer break and I only had a couple of months to make enough spending money for college. My parents already had my college money saved up, so I was relieved when they told me that.

I swallowed the last of the hot dog with everything on it, then stood up. Suddenly, this glowing circle started to form under my feet. I thought it was a joke or something that one of my friends was playing on me. I looked around to see if someone was shining a flashlight or something on me, and I didn't see anyone.

Worried that it might be something sinister, I tried to walk away from it and it followed me. I stared down at it and walked faster. It stayed with me and I started to run. A car honked its horn at me and I jumped out into the street. It screeched to a stop, barely missing me, and I ran across the street.

“Help! Somebody help me!” I said loudly as I ran. Everyone ignored me. I ran to the corner and bumped into a guy. “Help me!”

“Sorry, bud. I don't want any of whatever you're selling.” The man said as he pushed my hands off of him and walked away.

I couldn't believe it. No one wanted to help. I turned down the next street and ran, yelling for help, and no one reacted. I turned down an alley, in the hopes that I could somehow lose whatever this damn glowing circle was, then it snapped into place and I was frozen in mid-stride.

“ARRGGHH!” I screamed in pain as I was essentially torn apart and disintegrated.

After an unknown amount of time, I woke up on the floor. At least, I thought it was a floor. It was hard and smooth, whatever it was. All of my muscles ached and I sat up to rub them.

“Welcome, travellers.” A man's voice said.

I looked around to see who was speaking to me. It seemed like it was all around me and inside my head at the same time.

“I see some of you thought you could escape my summons.”

I didn't say anything and I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. “ARGH!”

“You would be wise to remain still when teleporting or you will injure yourself.” A man formed in front of me and his finger had poked my chest. “I had to heal you.”

“That was healing?” I asked, incredulous. “It felt like you tore my heart out!”

“Ungrateful.” The man said. “The others are happy to be alive.”

“The others weren't just running around screaming their heads off in fear.” I said and rubbed my arm then realized it didn't hurt anymore. I didn't admit that, though.

“You will stand in my presence.” The man said.

I was suddenly filled with energy and I stood up without telling my body to. It scared the shit out of me. Luckily, not literally. I was thankful for that.

“Better.” He said and walked over to the other three people. “I don't enjoy calling mortals for help, mainly because you never know what you're going to get.” He looked at the nerdy girl with short brown hair and thick glasses. “Imperfect.” He said and flicked her glasses off.

“HEY!” The girl yelled, then she screamed when the man stuck his fingers into her eyes and exploded her eyeballs.

“I am granting you Divine Sight.” The man said and slowly pulled his fingers out of her skull. Instead of eyes, she now had two slightly glowing orbs that looked like effervescent pearls. “Your mortal eyes lacked the basic requirements for your assigned task, so I replaced them.”

“I didn't ask you to!” The girl spat in his face. “That fucking hurt!”

“Pain is but a chemical reaction in your mind.” The man said, then he grunted when the girl's knee slammed into his genitals.

“Pain is just in your mind.” She said to him with a smile on her face.

“You... dare... strike...”

Her foot was next and she put a heck of a lot of effort into it. “How does your mind feel now, asshole?”

The man dropped to his knees and used both of his hands to cup himself. “I... banish...”

“Thanks for the Divine Sight.” She said and stuck her hand into his mouth, held onto his jaw, then she pulled out the long hairpin from her hair and jammed it into his eye. “Apparently, you are vulnerable in this spot.” She plucked the eye out and then stepped on it.

The man mumbled something and she laughed.

“It's just a chemical reaction in your mind.” She said and plucked out his other eye. “Oh, this one has some nice properties.” She said and let his jaw go. “Eww, drool.” She wiped her hand on his clothing and then looked at the eye. She turned it round, as if examining it, then she tossed it into her mouth and swallowed it.

“No.” The man said and reached up towards her.

“Yes.” The girl said with a smile. “I've got a piece of your soul now.” She said and looked up at the top of the room. “What are the rest of you going to do about it?”

“You still need to complete the mission.” Another voice said into the room.

“You have to give us our classes.” She said. “This guy's too weak to do that now.”

There was a light chuckling and another man formed near us.

“We hope you remain this amusing.” He said and held a hand out towards her. “This should only take a few moments.”

The girl stood there and waited as she received her class. “Chaos Berserker? What's that?”

“You will receive all information when you appear on the target world.” The man said and held a hand out to me.

I felt his energy flow over me and I felt things inside of me open up and my mind was filled with all these different skills and abilities, most of which I had only read about in game systems. When the energy finished flowing through me, my mind couldn't grasp what my class was. I was apparently not strong or smart enough to see what it was yet.

“You will discover it in time.” The man said and went to another guy and gave him his class, a Magic Enforcer, whatever that was. The last woman was in deep denial and wouldn't even look at us. I actually understood her position. When she tried to refuse, she was covered in a bright light, given her class against her will, then dropped to the floor.

“No, I... I don't want to do this.”

“What you want is irrelevant.” The man said and walked over to stand in front of the four of us. “I just hope you complete it quickly. If you do, you will be sent back to your homes that much sooner.”

“You'll send us back?” The woman asked, her voice full of hope.

“Even if you fail, I'll still send you back.” The man said. “Learn fast. Fight hard. Persevere and win.”

“That's it?” I asked. “No inspiring speech? No other encouragement?”

“You won't believe it, anyway.” The man said. “Why waste even more of your time?” He waved his hand and a portal opened under our feet. “Good luck.”

“At least you... ARGH!” I screamed as my body sunk down to the waist and seemed to want to tear itself apart. The others screamed, too.

“This may hurt.” The man said to us with a smile as he helped the other man stand. “Don't worry, brother. As soon as she dies, you'll get your soul back.”

Oh, shit. I thought and then we completely disappeared into the portals.

*

A year later, after some truly terrifying battles, she was dead. She had been crushed by a hundred foot tall statue of... get this... the same man that she had plucked the eye from. We had found an ancient temple that was haunted by phantom beasts and we had to exterminate them. We did that, then Hanna had the bright idea to let her Divine Sight tell her what to do. Before I could stop her, she had started to ritual to resurrect the embodiment of the Living God. The funny part? It had picked up her tiny little body, popped the head, arms, and legs off, then ate the torso.

I thought the rest of us were going to die as well, then the living embodiment changed to pure stone. It couldn't support its own weight, so it crumbled and fell apart. The three of us had been far enough away that none of the debris fell on us. We went back to the quest giver and not only received the reward, we also received titles and achievements for slaying the old god. Also, we were allowed to keep all the treasure we had found inside that statue.

The other guy retired and stopped adventuring with us after that. He had fallen in love with the crazy girl and without her, he had no reason to try to save the world, or go back where he came from. Neither I nor the other girl shared that view. We both wanted to get back to our lives as soon as possible.

What I didn't tell them was that I had retrieved the parts of our companion. I wasn't sure what I could do with them, though. I just knew that I needed to keep them for some reason and they sat in my inventory for years.

We worked hard, levelled ourselves up as much as we could, and we fought harder and harder enemies. Our skills, equipment, and our desire grew as we continued on what seemed like an endless campaign.

At the five year mark, we received word that the guy had died when an old enemy discovered who he really was and disposed of him. Of course, we went back and took care of it. I also secretly retrieved the guy's body. Once again, I wasn't sure why I was keeping it, I just knew I needed it. I still didn't know what my class was.

It wasn't until the ten year mark that we finally maxed out our levels, our abilities, and reached the pinnacle of our classes. Well, she did. I still had no clue. I could fight with weapons, use magic, and even fight in hand to hand. No one we talked to could tell me what my class was, not even the people that were designed to tell those things.

Regardless, we went to face the big bad guy. There were only two of us, despite canvasing the entire world for others to help fight. We made it to the lair where it was rumored he stayed. We walked in and there was no protection. No barriers stopped or delayed us. There were also no troops, underlings, or even servants.

I thought that was odd, until we went to the main throne room. On the throne sat the man we had met when he had summoned us.

“It took you long enough.” The man said and stood up.

“You're the main bad guy?” The woman with me asked, surprised.

“No, I've suspended all of them into a pocket dimension.” The man said. “I was just going to congratulate you on reaching this far, despite there not being four of you.”

Oh, shit. I thought.

“Yes, there's a specific reason there are supposed to be four of you. All four of you need to be present to complete the circumstances to finish off the 'bad guy' as you call him.” The man said. “Out of all the heroes I have brought here, only the two of you have ever reached this far.”

“What?” The woman with me asked. “I thought you said you would send us home when we finished!”

“Of course, and I will, when someone actually finishes.” The man said. “No one has ever finished.”

“That's the same as lying!” She nearly yelled.

“Well, just complete the task and see for yourself.” The man said with a smile. “Good luck, and I'll try not to gloat too much as I watch you desperately try to win a fight that you can't win, thanks to your companion that hurt me.” He said and then started to fade away.

“Wait!” I said. “How long is this pause?”

“Another sixty seconds.” The man said and completely disappeared.

“Oh, god.” The woman with me sat down on the floor and started crying.

“Don't give up!” I said and turned away from her as I took out the head of the arrogant girl.

“We're dead in fifty seconds!” She responded.

“No.” I said and plucked out the two still effervescent pearls that were still in the eye sockets. I knew what to do to absorb their power and put one of them into my mouth.