Transcendence?

***Norfolk, Sarn***

***Sera***

“Ouf!” I am on the ground again! I am dirty and everything hurts. Is this the end? Will I really die at the tender age of ten? All my hard work and effort. I want to cry!

“Get up! We still have time to train.” Celestial's voice comes from above me. She is displeased with my development. According to her I could be much stronger if I would put more effort into it. But to be honest I don't see how I could compete with a goddess!

Mother is trying to raise me and Arran to godhood. Although I don't see how that should be possible. As far as I understood you need to fulfil certain criteria to reach godhood. Like being very good at your own field of expertise. I doubt that being beaten up by mom is a help in that regard.

I would be far more eager to train spells with dad.

“Don't look at me like that. You are too old for the puppy-eye-attack!” Celestial doesn't budge. “There is no way to tell how long we'll have peace until that stupid god revives.”

Damn! I get to my knees and ready myself again. “Why don't you guys band together and catch Charon and Wynne.”

“They are still much stronger than us. We can't control our power completely. According to Lidith we have about half of their fighting power. So that means that I, Ascathon and Jazira could take on one of them. With Lidith on our side we may be able to win. But there would be casualties on our side for sure. If Aneth reincarnates and they decide to work together, the advantage will be on their side.” Celestial starts trading blows with me.

I pout. “But dad dealt with him very easily. Don't his new weapons count for something? Can't we just abandon this stupid world and travel somewhere else?”

Celestial sighs. “Ascathon managed to lure Aneth into a trap. Aneth didn't expect that any weapon could hurt him. Now they know that we can kill them. It won't be so easy to stick a blade into them now. And do you really want to go somewhere else after living here for so long? We have a whole country working for us here.”

Now it's my time to sigh. “No. I guess you are right.” The other countries lost most of their military powers during the great battle over the northern sea. They still haven't recovered and it doesn't look like they will anytime soon. My parents don't want to bother with the subjugation of other nations since they aren't a threat any more.

We continue to train for another hour until Celestial finally decides to give me a little breather. I curse Arran for ditching me to train with Lidith.

“I'll go and take a look at what Ascathon is doing. Don't run off, I'll be back right away!” Celestial walks off and leaves me behind.

Freedom! Now I can finally try my new spells! Just a few feet separate me from the stall with the training dolls and as I turn to go there, a huge magical circle appears under my feet.

Everything dissolves into light. A swirling feeling wells up from my intestines and then I am suddenly standing in a big hall. There is a huge magical circle on the ground around me and dozens of people who seem to supply the glowing circle with power.

I am standing on a small podium. The magical circle disappears and several people collapse. I take a look around. The people around me don't look like they are from Sarn.

Then my eyes fall onto a group of people who are approaching me. There is an old wizard-like fellow, a white haired bearded guy and a blonde woman. Behind them is someone who looks like a knight and a priest.

I stagger from the podium and take another disoriented look around.

“It's a child! I wanted to summon a great hero! Wasn't I clear enough in my description.” The bearded guy points at me while screaming at the wizard.

The wizard shakes his head. “I don't know what went wrong. We used enough mana for the summoning to call forth a demigod.” He turns towards me and smiles. “What's your name little girl? Where are you from? This world is called Jateria.”

The gears in my head slowly start to work again. So I was summoned to another world? Crap! Mother will come back any moment and she'll surely be pissed when she gets back and I am not there.

“Look at how dirty she is. Probably some kind of peasant! The summoning must've failed.” The blonde woman snorts in disgust.

“That can't be, those are fine clothes. Were you training?” The knight kneels down and smiles at me.

All eyes are resting on me. They are waiting for the first sentence from their new summoned hero. Introductions are important, I have to think carefully of my words. They shouldn't get a wrong impression of me.

“~My name is Seraphim Asceron, first princess of Norfolk.~ And you are all screwed once my mother finds out that I am gone!” I wave my fist at them.

The bearded guy starts to laugh. “A princess? Maybe I should marry her to one of my sons. She could develop quite nicely.”

“Unfortunately there is no way to go back. We don't even know from where we summoned you. So there'll nobody come to get you.” The wizard looks down at me with a sad expression.

“That may be true if mom and dad were normal people, but they are gods. And you guys are all going to have a bad day when they show up!” I cross my arms in front of my chest and smirk at them.

“Ahahahaha!” The bearded guy got a laughing fit and can't stop any more.

The only one who looks concerned is the wizard. “So you are a god? That would explain why we needed such a huge amount of mana to summon you.”

I frown. “Not yet. I am still in training.”

The bearded guy is finally able to catch his breath again. “It's fine! You are funny. I'll marry you to my youngest son. Then I can always have you close to me as an entertainer.”

“Don't tell me that this idiot is something like the king?” I turn to the knight in front of me.

“Y... you can't call the king an idiot.” The knight's expression drops.

“I am the princess of Norfolk! When I say that someone is an idiot, then he is one! Or do you want to call me a liar?” I try to look imposing and stand up straighter.

The stupid blonde woman starts to say something when a cracking sound comes from behind me. I turn and look at the distorted space at the place where I had been summoned. The distortion widens for a moment and then disappears. Ascathon is standing there with his back to us.

He has beeping device in his hand and points it in different directions while not caring about his surroundings. Then he scratches his head and hits the device.

“~Daddy!~” I run towards him and hug his leg.

“Ah! Sera! How the hell did you get to another world? Did you awaken your powers?” He turns and bends down to take me under one arm. “Anyway, we don't have much time. Your mother gave me a tight time limit on finding you.”

“They summoned me to be their hero!” I point at the group of people.

Ascathon ignores them and the space around us distorts. Just at that moment the bearded guy calls out to us. “Stop! You can't abduct the wife of my son! We put too much effort into this summoning ceremony!”

The space distortion around us stops and everything returns to normal. We are still in the big hall with the group of strange people. Ascathon turns towards the group like seeing them for the first time.

“What did you say?”

“They summoned me as their hero. But that bearded idiot laughed at me and said that he would marry me to his son instead!” I give my father the short version.

Ascathon blinks while looking down at me, then he looks up at the group in front of us. “You want my daughter?”

“She called the king an idiot repeatedly! I think it would be more suitable to use her as a concubine.” The blonde woman blurts out.

Ascathon sets me down, so I can stand on my own. Then he takes a look at his wristwatch. “I have just half an hour before I have to report back with you.”

I realize what he is thinking about and give a helping hand. “~I think Mom would forgive you if you are ten minutes late. Especially if you explain the circumstances. And if you don't stop this for good there could always be other unexpected summonings.~”

“It might be just enough time to destroy this country.”

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