Devon stood in front of the palace gates with his back straight as he stared into the distance at an incoming entourage.
They were the people from the temple.
The carriage surrounded by knights and bishops was inhabited by the saintess. The people who were walking on the road stood to the sides as they clasped their hands before themselves and bowed their heads fervently.
As soon as the entourage got into the palace, the gate closed shut.
The door to the carriage opened as the saintess stepped out.
A woman with a veil over her face just above her nose, you could only see her eyes which were being shaded by the bangs lf her blue hair. Yes, she had sky-blue hair.
She was dressed in a seamless white gown that did nothing but to show how curvy she was. If it wasn't known that she was the saintess, one would think she was a succubus with the bloodline of an angel.
"Welcome to Grixia once again, Saintess Anelle" Devon bowed curtly to which the woman just waved her hand.
Anelle stepped forward, a paladin immediately appeared two steps behind her and followed her as they followed Devon who led them towards the royal court.
Meanwhile, inside the royal court.
The Queen sat on her throne, her gaze peering into nothing. The doors opened as Kaelen walked in with two girls in his arms, Freya and another girl, behind him was Morgan and Lexus followed by the others, Sheila walked in last and stood faraway from them.
"Your Majesty...for what reason did you call us?" Kaelen immediately asked.
The Queen looked at Kaelen and a ghost of a frown flashed ascroos her face before disappearing. She did not like the boy but she had to accept the fact that he and the others were the world's only source of hope.
"The Saintess wanted to meet you all"
Kaelen's eyes gleamed as pulled away from Freya and the girl before composing himself as a noble man. Freya's eyes dimmed while the other girl's lip just twitched.
Then, the doors opened again.
Devon walked in first followed by Anelle and her paladin.
The students began to murmur amongst themselves.
"Damn, is that the saintess?"
...
"How can someone so thicc be a saintess?"
...
"If someone like that is the saintess, I did be going to the temple everyday"
Unperturbed by the murmurs, Anelled walked towards the queen and curtsied.
"Your Majesty"
The Queen just nodded, so Anelle raised her head back up before turning around to face Kaelen and the rest.
Kaelen flashed her a grin when she looked at him, but she just looked away unapathetically causing him to frown.
Anelle continued to looked amongst the students before noticing Sheila who was standing a bit far from the rest, aside from that, she still did not see who she was looking for.
She turned around to look at the Queen.
"Your Majesty, where is the extra summon?"
Her question sent the room into silence as the expressions of Kaelen, Freya , Morgan and Lexus changed.
Kaelen frowned, wondering why the saintess asked for the loser.
Freya, Morgan and Lexus could feel their nerve wrecking as they imagined whay would happen if anyone found out what they did.
"Don't ask me Saintess, his fellow otherworlders cast him out and I fulfilled it" the queen said which puzzled Anelle.
She turned around and faced the students again, this time her gaze no longer held the warmth she had, her gaze became neutral.
"Since this is everyone, let me cut to the chase" she started.
"Our world, Xenoria is under the threat of being destroyed and you all were summoned due to the revelation that the gifts you had awakened would save our world"
"The threat is a single entity called Destruc, as he cannot enter our world due to the world's will, he decided to remove 0.1% of himself and sent him here where he gathered those who shared his ideals and created a cult whose sole purpose is to find the core of the world and destroy it"
"So what I am saying is, we need your help, all of us, no matter the gift you awaken, we need its use...there are no useless gifts only useless people" as Anelle said this, she spared a glance at Kaelen.
"Now any questions?"
"If we complete this, can we return back to our world?" A bespectacled girl asked.
"Your world no longer exists" Anelle said which sent the whole students into uproar.
"What do you mean?" Sheila asked as she unfolded her hands.
Anelle looked at her, "literally what it means, Destruc knew we wanted to summon otherworlders, so he started destroying the worlds we set our eyes on, therefore as soon as you appeared here, he destroyed your world...
...you have no world to return to"
Most of the students fell on their knees as they sobbed, remembering whoever or whatever they had back on Earth.
"Stop being wimps!" Kaelen shouted which caused most of the students to glare at him.
"Wimps?, really, Kaelen?" Sheila spat as she stared at him with undisguised disgust.
"Before you jump into conclusions, let me finish..." Kaelen said.
"I have parents too back on Earth, so I am not feeling any less pain than you all are.
Now, think about it, we have the opportunity to cross worlds, gain abilities beyond physics, now reason if we ever reach the apex and defeat this Destruc or whatever his name is, we can bring our world back to life, what do you think?"
Everyone thought about it and began to nod their heads as they spoke out.
"Yes, just like in the novels, there would always be a chance to revive out world"
...
"I'll make sure it happens "
The once gloomy sir began to charge with positivity.
Seeing this, Anelle looked at Kaelen who has been looking at her, the rising image in her head crumbled instantly. Meanwhile, the Queen who was watching, sneered.
"Now, you are not alone in this, we are training our own people too, therefore you all will be attending the Xenoria Academy which is the Central continent in two months, to get this opportunity, you have to level up to Rank 1" Anelle said
"In the coming week, you would undergo training and enter dungeons in order to achieve your ranks"
Everyone's eyes gleamed with determination.
"When you get to the academy, you will receive offers from other kingdoms, you're obliged to do as you deem fit" Anelle continued.
"Any other questions?"
Sheila raised her hand, to which Anelle nodded.
"Explain the ranks and level "
"I will do the explanation " the Queen said which caused the students to look at her, she looked towards the Saintess who was looking at her, "I'm sure you're tired from journey, please make do with our hospitality "
As soon as her words ended, Devon walked forward and gestured Anelled to come with him.
Kaelen's gaze remained on her back until she crossed the door.
'Saintess or not, she's still a woman'
"Ahem, now let me explain the ranks and levels" the Queen started.