The world of Mefora was a different place than what one would imagine of a fantasy land.
It was filled with immense danger and was a catastrophic world. But if we trace back the history, back then it was similar to the Earth Toliver knew. Scientific and evolving. A world where social values like freedom and rights were respected and it was a peaceful place.
Until.
Suddenly the ice of the southern continent began to melt. First they suspected that global warming may have been the cause, but the change was too sudden. Soon as the research progressed, they found an otherworldly portal in the melting land.
It was radiating immense radiation and heat.
From those portals came monsters they had only heard of in fantasy. They weren't exactly like what fantasy novelists imagined them to be. Instead they were far too terrifying and were intelligent.
Collectively they were named as Ends.
Humans were able to find out the reason behind this portal and their arrival in Mefora.
Actually, the world of Mefora had a unique substance that only high tier worlds had, which was named as mana. For the humans who evolved without much need of it, it wasn't really necessary to live. Scientists deduced that mana came after the evolution of humans and thus mana wasn't their integral part. But now after years of exposure to mana, humans of the past two hundred years were four times stronger than their ancestors from two hundred years ago.
The existence of mana wasn't something that was made visible to them before, but now that it was discovered, many questions they had in space and quantum mechanics were answered.
Another thing was that, like oxygen is to humans, this mana was to Ends. Without it they couldn't live and that was the reason why after their own world was destroyed, they opened portals on Mefora, to make it their new home.
And after that came a grand war.
A war where all nations came under a united banner. All religions came together, calling the Ends as incarnations of evil and something that must be obliterated.
Unfortunately, this wasn't enough. Their advanced weapons, be it nuclear bombs or even the strongest hydrogen bombs, were powerless against these Ends who were resistant to many such attacks thanks to them being adapt in magic.
Humanity was on the brink of collapse. Far too many died. The remaining came together and made huge walls and formed a human nation inside, and did everything to protect itself. Their last line of defense.
But when hope was deemed lost, a miracle happened. Someone among them was able to harness the power of mana to connect with otherworldly beings. He could summon them in Mefora and fight Ends with their help.
And surprisingly, otherworldly beings were effective against Ends and this practice was taught to all humans.
The summoned beings were called as Guardians and thus with their newfound power, humans were able to survive and even expand their territory a little.
But still the casualties weren't any less and peaceful days were far from reach.
It was the base setting the story of "While Others Summon Great Beings, I Summoned a Knight" took place in.
Recalling everything Gustav knew or could remember, he made a diary and started noting it down. A physical diary was always better than any note app. That was his thinking.
After everything he could remember was noted down, already half the night had passed and tomorrow was the summoning ceremony.
In the life of Mefora's humans, the summoning ceremony was the most significant moment, even more than those university exams conducted on Earth after high school.
The summoning ceremony would decide the path an individual would take. His future achievements. How successful he would be or even if he would survive or not. Human rights were talks of the past now. In such desperate times where resources were scarce, useless humans were treated even less than livestock.
Even better if they died. A less mouth to feed then.
The world was cruel to the talentless.
Well, if you were born in the five great clans then it was a different story.
But if Gustav remembered right, tomorrow the real Gustav summoned a pack of grey wolves.
A Tier E Guardian.
An E tier summon and that too so common? No one expected that from the heir of one of the great five clans.
He became the new joke of the school, and other students began to make fun of him behind his back. But due to his background they didn't have enough guts to directly bully him.
Gustav was really frustrated and chances were he would no longer be heir to the clan anymore.
And thus in frustration he began to drink, stroll around late at night and bully main character, Frey who also summoned an E tier guardian.
Well, a week passed like that and after the first practical assignment, Gustav was found dead in his room.
Various thoughts filled Gustav's mind. He was concerned but also excited. So instead of sleeping he walked towards his wardrobe and wore the first suit he found. Tomorrow was also the opening ceremony of the college and so students weren't mandated any uniform.
Actually, Gustav was aware of how and why the original Gustav was killed and to counter it he made a simple plan.
To return to his clan now, before the ceremony. If the ceremony happened he would be in great danger.
Without further waste he logged out of his apartment and made a run down the stairs. It was a huge forty five story building and his apartment was on the twenty seventh floor. It was a high tier temporary dorm facility given to new high class of the college before their permanent dorm was assigned to them after the ceremony.
He reached the ground floor in seconds by going through the lift which worked with mana. It looked similar to a normal lift but was four times faster, smooth and silent.
As he was moving out, a voice called him out.
"Stop there, child. Where are you going?"