Nyra was eaten once before and nearly three times after over the course of three years.
The first time was when she was starting her wizard studies. It was a bright afternoon, or perhaps a morning—she did not know. On a day such as that, Nyra would hole up inside her chemical-burnt room, which always smelled strangely of chlorine and gas. Her windows would be shut tight, and she had gotten used to the carbon monoxide after fainting 20 or so times.
She lived on the outskirts of a small village over a hundred miles from the biggest city and usually saw little to no abnormalities unless you'd consider two-headed dragons and butterflies the size of houses abnormal.
Nyra's house was unusual in itself, always grumbling and shifting places. Goes to say that Nyra thought nothing strange when her floor rumbled and potion-filled glasses clinked.
When she finally finished a potion of invisibility, she wanted to celebrate by gracing herself with some sunlight. So, she opened her curtains…she died when a dragon chomped down, swallowing her and the house whole. It was a bumpy ride to the stomach, but luckily the contents of her potions spilling onto her helped to make the process quick.
When she respawned, she could've sworn her hair used to be a lighter color. She was so concerned about this that she visited a witch, who let her know that her hair changing was the least of her problems. Apparently, reviving so quickly was something strange even for a hero.
This hard worker got straight back to her studies. She made a breakthrough and developed [this world's] very first fire and chemical-resistant potion! In honor of her death.
She tried it out on a fire-breathing chicken the next year, and it proved successful. Only, chickens defied the laws of nature and preferred to peck at her until she had to crawl away looking like she had come from a garbage disposal.
She decided to retire young and spend her days in a shelter after being conned out of everything she owned by a 12-year-old. Nyra spent three months crushing cans and doing magic tricks for the children of the village.
She was eventually drafted to fight in the Blightfall War. After being evaluated, her stats were so pitiful that she was put on the healers team even with her main stats being defense.
She accepted her fate when the jaws of a tamed griffin set its sights on her. Fortunately, she was spat back out rather quickly.
She was thrown off the lines after setting off an explosion out of impulse. She wandered around until she found her way to an adventurer's guild. She had been in the hero system ever since she could remember, but no soul was unfortunate enough to pull her—aside from one summoner many years ago.
Nyra, with newfound determination, set her sights on being summoned. She became active in the field, sharing her potion findings and mana knowledge. She quickly rose in popularity, but at the height of her career, she fell the hardest.
She let a Wayfinding potion go to the wrong hands. To be fair, the guy really did seem lost; how was Nyra supposed to know he would use it to locate a special artifact and teleport there? Or that he would soon after unleash a fury of unhinged lizards and those damn chickens? It is not Nyra's fault some people are just unpredictable.
She, who had her few months of fame, surrounded by adulation and glory–was reduced to nothing more than a shut-in, again. She swore that she would get her revenge, it would just be some other day. Perhaps after she caught up with the latest update to her favorite novel.
It did not take Nyra long to put her short-lived life of fame aside and fall back into old habits. The incarnation of the sloth must have sent something to take her away because a few days later her house was eaten again. Right before she could succumb to death yet again, her soul was pulled by something else. Her motion sickness distracted her from the fact that she had cheated death once again.
She opened her eyes to find that her messy, potion-filled room was now replaced by four plain white walls and no decor. Nyra began to feel claustrophobic. Well, she was not completely hopeless, since she quickly realized what was going on. She had finally been summoned.
When she looked at her summoner, her smile faltered and she took a small step back. She had just gotten here and her summoner was already frowning! Was he so displeased?!
Nyra sniffled, jumped down the stand and ran behind the other boy in the room, who obediently stayed in place to be used as a human-shield. She watched as the man's expression darkened.
"You're scaring her…" Silvestro hesitated and Nepenthe tensed and looked away.
'Realll good boss, scaring girls. This isn't how you get people on your side,'
"Why…I haven't done anything." Nepenthe laughed a little, baffled. He pretended to clear his throat when the girl crouched down behind Silvestro. "Look, she's hiding behind a kid." Nepenthe sighed.
Nyra took a deep breath, slowly standing and coming out from behind Silvestro.
"My name is Nyra. But my friends call me Rye, at least they used to call me that back when I actually had friends. But now I don't have anyone I consider friends–I mean, I have acquaintances but that's about it. I was born…years ago, sometime somewhere. I've been a wizard for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted–"
What the hell, was this a job interview? Honestly, Nepenthe was a little afraid. He waved his hands to stop her from rambling on.
"Breathe, please, you're going to faint." Nepenthe would faint as well from his head exploding if she would not shut up.
Silvestro had long since covered his ears and weaseled his way to Nepenthe's side. Nepenthe, although following no religion, prayed that he'd soon find someone normal.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Nyra covered her face, embarrassed.
[Hero attributes: Darkness, ????]
[User "Nepenthe" has earned the achievement: "Villains first summon" Congrats!]
Nepenthe had to remind himself to shut his mouth. What are the odds, that the hero turned out to be the right attribute? He felt on top of the world for a moment.
What's the catch?
Silvestro was trying to get Nyra to stop murmuring to herself, and Nepenthe took the chance to focus on the system.
"Considering your track record, I don't think there's a point in asking for information on what I'm supposed to do with…a whole person." Nepenthe glanced at Nyra as he communicated with the system. "If I keep summoning and getting heroes, do they just follow me like an army?"
The system window automatically opened to Nepenthe's inventory. 2 out of the 6 spots were taken by items titled "Extra-archive." One was a two-star and the other was a three-star, both in the form of spears. Nepenthe's gaze hovered over one.
[Item: Extra-archive (Rare, 2-star)
This item is single-usage and can store heroes temporarily in your inventory]
'There is a permanent storage for unused heroes, and higher star items will hold the hero longer.' The system added.
Nepenthe closed the interface and focused on Nyra. He waited for her to quiet down before speaking.
"Nepenthe…" He introduced.
Nyra looked around, perplexed. "Do you need some?"
"Some what?"
"Nepenthe,"
"..."
"It's his name." Silvestro stifled back a laugh.
"Oh…" Nyra averted her gaze. "It's a very poetic name. I used to research the drug, but it was one of the things I couldn't quite figure out. Is it your real name?" She put a hand to her chin as if in thought, but Nepenthe could tell she was hiding a smile.
"Why wouldn't it be his real name?" Silvestro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know. For some reason, I seem to remember that summoners preferred to use aliases." Nyra hummed. They both looked at Nepenthe.
"Anyway, what matters is that it's my name and not a drug," said Nepenthe.
"What kind of summoner are you anyway?" Nyra asked, pulling out a notepad and pen. She had this foreboding feeling when Nepenthe hesitated to answer. But Nyra, seeing the best in people, did not want to put Nepenthe on the spot. "Since you summoned me, your attributes must be related to light…"
How wrong she was. Nepenthe, feeling a headache forming, did not bother to correct her. Although he had to ask,
"Are you saying your main attribute is light?"
"Of course it is," Nyra said. She didn't understand the look Nepenthe and Silvestro shared.
"Nyra, you will see what kind of summoner I am. But for now, let's get along as summoner and hero." Nepenthe walked back over to the summon stand and pulled out the purple diamond. He did it once before, so he figured it should be easier now. Only, when he brought the crystal to the light, nothing happened. The three stood in silence.
"I just remembered that I have something to do," Nepenthe's voice came out smaller than intended.
"More important than the summon?" Silvestro blinked, oblivious.
The kid could have high EQ when he wanted, so why not now?
Nyra glanced around, or more like sniffed around. Her nose led her toward Nepenthe, and she recoiled back with wide eyes.
"It's very faint, but the energy on you…" Nyra shook and quickly took a flask out of her inventory. She opened it and splashed a green liquid toward Nepenthe, which evaporated right before contact.
Nyra took a big step back and put out an arm in front of Silvestro, her eyes on Nepenthe.
[System warning: A party member is feeling "hostility" towards you]