The Shield Demon
My name is Christian Finkle. I'm kind of a nobody living in southwest Florida in the USA. Despite being born in Bangkok, Thailand, I still see myself as an American citizen. I consider myself a pretty average nerd with a pretty average life. I work, I sleep, I eat, I watch anime and I enjoy dabbling in video-games every so often. I also play Dungeons and Dragons on the side every weekend with my best friend and my girlfriend. At twenty-two years old, I would say I have it pretty good compared to most people.
Well, I guess it's a pretty common start for most people, right? Unfortunately, common is anything but what happened to me. You see, I spend a lot of my time on the computer when I'm not at work, and one of the things I enjoy doing is going to DM's Guild to find some more resources to use in my D&D games. It's a fun way to pass the time and see the creativity that others have come up with. My whole story started when I found a PDF document labeled "The Four Cardinal Heroes". It was a lore-based item that piqued my interest since I'd been looking for more ways to expand the world I'd made as a Game Master.
"Not bad at all," I chuckled to myself, glancing over the different heroes listed in the PDF. "Sword, bow, spear, and shield. No names, but I can improvise that. Huh, looks like each one has their own story." My eyes scanned over the contents of the document, taking in the information with practiced ease. "And look at that. That must be the princess, huh? Sheesh, she looks like she has a stick up her ass. Well, books and covers, I guess. Even the shield hero has-"
I paused as I looked at the blank page that should have been the start of the Shield Hero's story, brows furrowed. "Eh? It's incomplete?" Suddenly, a pang of intense pain shot through my head, and I reached up to grab the side of my head with my left hand. "Ack! What the hell!?" I felt myself push back from my desk, my chair falling back. Instead of hitting the floor, I felt myself tumbling into empty space. "H-Hey! What the hell is- ah!" My back slammed against a hard surface, and the room was dark. "S-Shit... That smarts..." I groaned as I tried to force myself to sit up, but my back was in too much pain to do so.
"It was successful!" someone exclaimed. "O brave heroes, please save our world!" Hero? Me, a hero? Wait, heroes?
"What do you mean by that?" Somebody else, someone to my left, spoke up. I sat up, the pain dulling down, and looked to see who was speaking. In front of us were some pretty nondescript guys in robes, and to my left were some young-looking men who appeared to be dressed in casual clothing. The one closest to me was a muscled young man wearing a red tank-top; he appeared to be Hispanic in some way, shape or form. Beside him was a boy dressed in a blue sweater vest, who had dark, chocolate skin and buzzed hair. Furthest from me was a young man who seemed to be my age wearing a green school uniform. Was he Japanese?
"There is a long and complicated story behind this, but we've summoned you Four Cardinal Heroes here using an ancient ritual," the first voice answered. Wait, the Cardinal Heroes? That was just some story fodder, right? Did they really think we were that? And what was with this weight on my arm?
I glanced down at my appendage as the rest of the young men conversed with these weirdos, looking at a vaguely shield-like item that was hard-stuck to me in some way. In its center was an ominous forest-green gem.
"F-First, we'd like you to have an audience with our king, the king of Melromarc," I heard the panic in the man's voice. The rad-wearing Hispanic kid had raised his spear threateningly towards them.
"Hey," I decided to speak up, finally getting to my feet before calmly forcing the guy to lower his weapon. "Chill out." I could see him glaring at me. "We're obviously at a disadvantage here. Let's hear them out, alright?"
"Who made you the boss?" his tone was aggressive speaking back to me. I glanced at the guys who seemed to be waiting for us, and tried to give them a reassuring smile.
"I'll come with you," I told them, hoping to ease the tension. "Until you give me a reason to distrust you, I'll follow your lead." They seemed relieved at those words, but I also sensed... some kind of wariness from them. I wasn't the best when it came to expressing my own emotions, but reading others was a skill I learned quickly.
Speaking of, my girlfriend was going to kill me if I didn't get back to her soon. But I could quickly and politely decline these people and return to her, right? This would be pretty simple, all things considered. If these guys wanted to play hero, they could. I had a life to return to.
"I guess we can consider their offer," the black kid spoke up, stepping forward. He was taller than the rest of us, but he seemed like he was younger than us all. "It's not like our demands are gonna change." Sheesh, talk about conceited. We only just got here in a supposed time of need, and you're already making demands? Still, with that, the rest seemed to be convinced and followed the men alongside me to wherever this audience with the king was.
The halls were made of stone, but the atmosphere was warm and almost somewhat humid. Not overwhelmingly so; no, it was very pleasant. I caught a view of the outside world as we ascended a staircase, and it was definitely something from a different world. "Orange tile roofs, simple masonry buildings, and emerald green plains," I chuckled aloud. "This really is a different world, huh? It's pretty nice."
"Really? Seems kind of boring to me," the Hispanic kid looked down at me from ahead. "This is noob stuff." Noob stuff? What, was this like a game to them? But how could it be when it felt so real? Weren't they experiencing any of this?
"Suit yourself," I shot back. "It's just nice to have a place that seems well taken care of like this." I could hear them rolling their eyes as I spoke.
"Yes, our kingdom is quite well developed," one of the men leading us responded to me, however. "It's the pride and joy of our world." It was definitely hammy to hear that, but I could see what he was talking about. From this tower, the city looked beautiful. Of course, there had to be more. This wasn't some kind of fantasy world, right? If this was really some reality, there had to be more to it.
In no time at all, we were brought in to stand before the king. He looked very regal, and I had to say a little bit intimidating. I didn't show it on my face, however. Looking around, I also saw some supposed nobles and probably other high-priority people. Beside the king's seat was another, which I assumed belonged to the queen. Was she not present?
All four of us stood in a line before the king. Without hesitation, I knelt. That was normal, right? I bowed my head and presented myself to him, and heard a sort of murmur run through the rest of the assumed court. Was this not correct?
"So you are the Four Cardinal Heroes of legend?" The king's voice boomed throughout the room. "I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the king of Melromarc. Heroes, introduce yourselves." I glanced at the other three, who had remained standing. Didn't they have any semblance of respect for apparent royalty?
"My name is Yamato Tatami," the uniformed Japanese boy spoke up. He had messy brown hair and a youthful face. "I am seventeen, and a high-school student." He had in his hand a fanciful looking bow, though its design was still somehow simplistic.
"Jameson Lincoln," the black kid followed up the boy beside him, flourishing his blade in practiced movements that seemed far too showy for what was practical. "Nineteen years old, and unemployed."
"I'm Carlos Vargas, twenty-one," the guy in the red tank top continued. "I'm a dock worker." Finally, I rose to my feet.
"My name is Chri-"
"I see," the King interrupted me. "Yamato, Jameson and Carlos, was it?" Was I just snubbed? But I was the only one to show respect! I grit my teeth, keeping myself from lashing out. It wouldn't do to get on the bad side of a kingdom that could send me back. After all, they could get a different Shield Hero and I wouldn't have to deal with idiots like this. "My country, Melromarc, and the entire world are headed towards destruction." The old man was long winded and took a lot of time to get to the point, so I'll summarize it for you.
Apparently, the entire world is doomed to fall from an ancient prophecy from "Waves" that come in such. Unless the disasters that cause these Waves are eliminated, the world will be destroyed. Each country has a Dragon Hourglass that can foretell the appearance of these Waves. Just before we were summoned, the first Wave rolled through and nearly decimated the world. With just knights and adventurers, the world was barely able to survive on its own. That's why we heroes were summoned. From what's being predicted, it'll be less than a month until the next wave.
"We realized once we actually experienced one that only the Four Cardinal Heroes could counter the waves," the old man finished up his rant. "And so, we followed the legend and summoned you four."
"I guess you guys don't have much time to lose," I chuckled, nudging the taller young man beside me.
"You didn't just expect us to do this for free, did you?" Jameson, the black kid, spoke up after me. He shot me a dirty look.
"Of course not," another man, the vizier perhaps, spoke up, "once you repel all the Waves, we shall reward you handsomely."
"As long as we're getting something from this," Yamato huffed. "I refuse to be looked down on from you people."
"In that case, heroes, you should all check your statuses." I blinked in confusion. Status? Wait, was that the little thing in the bottom right of my vision that I couldn't get rid of? Maybe if I focus on it, then... Yikes! Immediately, I was bombarded by a screen that appeared before me, listing several of my stats and HP and other interesting things. Immediately, my gaze was drawn to my Attack and Defense stats. One and twenty-two, respectively. Yeah, that sounded about right.
"Looks like we're all level one," Yamato was the first to speak. "That's not very comforting if we're supposed to be fighting an apocalyptic event."
"Yeah."
"There's no way we can fight like this."
"As the Four Cardinal Heroes," the vizier spoke again, "you must all embark on your own adventures to grow stronger and upgrade the legendary weapons you have equipped."
"What no working together?" I glanced at him, waving my hand dismissively. "Is that against the rules or something?"
"By their very nature, the legendary weapons have a repelling force towards one another," the vizier explained. "To bring them together for too long will hinder their development. you must recruit and adventure separately to bring out their full potential." I scoffed. That sounded like bullshit to me, but apparently a screen popped up in my HUD telling me just that. This was completely ass-backwards. What kind of heroic system to save the world wouldn't let its strongest fighters work together? It was like they were trying to force us to fail.
The old king spoke once more, "The sun is about to set. Rest up tonight, and set forth tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties." Speaking of, actually.
"Your highness," I raised my voice as a young woman, a maid perhaps, came to collect us. All eyes were on me. "I haven't spoken much on the matter, but I'll have to decline this entire ordeal."
"What!?"
"Wait, can you do that?"
"What gives, dumbass!?"
The old man cleared his throat, an expression of shock clearly on his face. After regaining his composure, he responded, "Why might that be, Hero of the Shield?"
"I have a life back home," I spoke firmly. "I have a decent paying job, a home, and a girl who loves me and who I'm hoping to have a family with. Honestly, if you could just whip up somebody else to be your Shield Hero, that would be great. I kinda have a lot to lose here and not much of anything to gain."
There was a silence in the throne room. Were they upset I was turning them down? The old man closed his eyes solemnly. How melodramatic. "Believe me, Shield Hero," he started. "I would like nothing more than to send you back to your world and loved ones. However, the only way for any of the chosen heroes to leave this world is to complete the task set before them, or to meet their end." The hair at the back of my neck bristled. So I was stuck here?
"You're kidding me," I growled. "You brought me here against my will, and now you're telling me I can't leave!? How long is this entire thing gonna take!?"
"Hey, calm down," Yamato tried to grab my shoulder, but I brushed his hand aside. "Shield-"
"My name is Christian Finkle!" I snarled at him. "And I demand to know how long I'm going to be stuck here!"
"Hey, show a little respect," the spear wielding Carlos slammed the staff of his weapon against the floor. "He's a king, you know!"
I ignored him and glared at the old man, watching him take a long, drawn out breath before exhaling.
"Previous Wave events have lasted upwards of several years," he told me. I felt my heart shatter. "The least of which was around two years in length." Two years away from my home? away from my girlfriend? My despair quickly morphed into anger.
"You bastards!" I felt the other 'heroes' grab my arms and the collar of my t-shirt, dragging me back with them. "You utter fucks! I never wanted to be here!" As I was being dragged away, I thought I saw the barest hints of a smile on the old bastard's face.
It took some time for the others to calm me down, and I sat curled up on one end of the couches being provided in the room the other three had dragged me out from. My feet rested on the cushions, and my arms were wrapped around my legs as I stared off into space. This wasn't some kind of thing I could brute force my way through, especially not with a shield of all things. I couldn't ever grow strong enough to accelerate my way to the end, and the time limit was set in stone, separating each wave from the next. At minimum, I'd be here for two years? And that was if I was lucky, apparently. I groaned into my knees and closed my eyes. My old life was all but gone.
"Hey, stop being a damn pussy," Jameson kicked at my feet, looking down at me with his sword in hand. "So what if you left some stupid life behind, you're in a fantasy world where you can do anything! Even if you left your girl behind, the chick that brought us here was pretty hot, right? You can just get a new girl."
"I don't want a new girlfriend," I growled up at him. "My girlfriend is amazing and fun to be around. Nobody here could ever compare to her!" He rolled his eyes at me and glanced at the other guys.
"Tell this dumbass to lighten up," he motioned back towards me with his thumb. Yamato and Carlos were both sitting and relaxing in chairs of their own, completely at ease. "He's bringing down the mood of the game." I lifted my head at that.
"Game?"
"Yeah, this is exactly like the new MMO that came out, Emerald Online," Jameson looked back at me. I gave him a blank stare, making him take a step back and look towards the others. "You know, Emerald Online? It really blew up in the last month."
"This isn't some MMO, it's just like a console game that came out called Dimension Web," Yamato corrected. I think.
"Not even close," Carlso smirked as he spoke. "It's that new VRMMO called Brave Star Online."
"VR," I muttered aloud. "That's something that's been under development recently, but it's never really been taken this far. This is just like a PDF file I found for Dungeons and Dragons" We all gave each other blank looks. Ah, shit.
"Hey, what's the current meme of the year?"
"Who won World War Two?"
"Biggest disappointing video game of the year?"
"Worst girl?"
After a lot of questioning, it finally settled down. "Seems like we're all from different worlds completely," I sighed. "I was thinking just different time periods, but... Sheesh, there's really video games just like this in your worlds? Why not mine?" The other three traded glances. Why did I get the feeling I was being judged?
"Kinda figured it was just because you're the Shield Hero," Jameson spoke first.
"You too, huh?" Carlos chuckled. "I figured it was just me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned as I spoke, crossing my arms. Jameson took a step forward.
"Alrighty, looks like I'm gonna have to teach the noob the basics," he spoke condescendingly. I grit my teeth and kept my mouth shut. "No high-level gamers ever play the Shield class. It's the class for losers." My eyes narrowed, and I glanced at the other two.
"Sorry," Yamato offered me an apologetic smile. Carlos simply shrugged.
"That's bullshit," I growled. "The tank is arguably the most important positions in any videogame. Without it, no party has an anchor."
"W-Well," Jameson seemed taken aback from my knowledge.
"Tanks in general offer aid and sustain to party compositions," I added, standing up. How stupid could these kids be? "Just because they aren't the ones racking up kills most often doesn't make their jobs any less important. You wouldn't fuck with your white mage, would you?"
"A-Ah... well," now Carlos and Yamato seemed to be stammering. "That's different."
"If your DPS dies, then you're fucked," I scolded them. "The only thing saving your asses is the tank. The Shield. Think back, how many times have you had to hide behind the shield in an MMO boss fight to heal up before going back into the fight?" That made them think. "Exactly." I crossed my arms and grabbed some nearby parchment and a small bottle of ink with a quill. "Look at this."
I wrote out the letters 'SP', 'SW', 'BW', and 'SH' in a formation against a 'Wave' of enemies. Up front was 'SW', behind that were 'SP' and 'SH', and behind those was 'BW'. "This is a classic battle formation. Simple stuff," I told them. "Your Sword DPS is up front taking on the majority of the mobs, and ideally the Shield Tank should be up there with him, but I prefer to remain versatile in case something happens. The Spear DPS is in the middle since it has the reach to go around the Sword and Shield, and the Bow DPS remains in the back for covering fire. All together we can work as a cohesive unit and with parties at our sides, we can become unstoppable."
I thought my words would make sense to them. I honestly did. But I forgot one crucial thing about wannabe hardcore gamers. They hate being told what to do, and they hated when someone was more skilled than them.
"Who the hell made you the leader, huh?" Carlos snapped first. "We don't need some noob's help to kill monsters. I've been doing stuff like this since I was a kid!"
"Unlike you, I've actually played games that fully immerse you," Yamato added. "I don't see you having any sort of authority over me."
"Lot of big talk coming from the weakest class," Jameson added last. "Just stay out of our ways and let us do the fighting, alright, pipsqueak?" My fists clenched. Right, I hadn't even cared to notice I was shorter than them despite being the oldest. Did these idiots really want to play hero so badly?
"Whatever," I growled and stormed towards the door. "I'm going to bed. I have an early day tomorrow." I slammed the door opened and forced my way down the halls. This late at night, hardly anyone was awake. My blood was boiling. I was far from home, had no way of going back, and was already being put down by my supposed teammates. I was better off without them. With whatever party members I'd get tomorrow, I'd become the strongest and show them that I wasn't someone to be looked down on or underestimated. I'd make it home quickly and rejoin my friends and girlfriend.
As I stormed off, I accidentally slammed against a young woman roaming the castle. My shoulder pushed into hers, and she began to fall to the floor. Instantly I reacted on instinct, moving around to catch her and hold her aloft. "Hm, excuse me," I let out a curt apology as I helped her to her feet. She was a pretty young woman with fiery red hair and sharp features. I looked her over to ensure she was uninjured. "Sorry." With that, I made to move on back to my room. I just wanted to go to bed.
Once there, I found it difficult to go to sleep. Insomnia was common for me since my body was naturally active and like to think and plan, but there was nothing that I really cared to plan or think of at the moment. Except...
My eyes moved towards the shield on my arm. I sat up in my comfy bed and tinkered with my status menu and shield. It was a basic small shield at the moment, offering a relatively hefty defense bonus. My meager attack stat offset it at one, however. That would be troubling. I could only hope it would improve with leveling. I made the assumption that since the shield didn't work well alongside other weapons, I probably wouldn't be allowed to use any kind of weapon. That seemed to match the cruel gimmick of not letting the four heroes party up together.
Added to it was a skill tree, which seemed to unlock further by letting the shield 'absorb' certain objects. Items and enemies, it seemed. Looking over the tree, I could see that certain buffs from individual shield skills could be made permanent by mastering whatever trees the skills came from. With that, I also assumed that I would be able to follow multiple trees at once and swap between the desired skills and shields as needed.
All of this I studied until the morning light, where a knock at my door made me realize I'd been up all night. "Lord Shield Hero," a light, feminine voice came from behind the door. "Breakfast has been made and is being served." I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Shit, I was going in tired.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." I groaned and took a deep breath, getting to my feet before heading to the door where a maid waited to lead me to the room I'd been the previous night.
XXXXX
As the three guys and I stepped back into the throne room, before us stood a line of people who were likely to be our party members. So, we'd be picking our own party from those twelve, huh? Interesting.
I noticed a flash of red hair, and spotted the girl I'd run into the night before. Her eyes met mine, and she gave me a cheery smile. I couldn't help the frown on my face. Why was she here last night? Also, what was with the friendliness? Everyone else so far had treated me like I was sick or something. Something smelled rotten.
"We have gathered brave warriors who will fight the Waves with you legendary heroes," the old bastard spoke, his eyes narrowed in on me. I sent him a sneer for good measure, my heart starting to race at the sight of him. Not in the good way, either. "Now, our future champions! Time to begin your journey!" At his words, the adventurers began to move towards us. They were going to choose!? That's messed up! Why was everything in this damn kingdom so ass backwards!? I felt my eye twitch as a few people moved past me, and it took some willpower not to flinch. I didn't like strangers getting too close to me. After taking a few breaths, I turned to confirm what I'd already suspected.
Nobody stood behind me. I counted them in my head. Yamato had four. Jameson had three; all girls, because of course. Lastly, Carlos had five with him. This was... pissing me off. Not only was I stuck here against my will with no way home... I tsked to myself. Nothing was adding up or going my way. My best friend always joked that my luck was either amazing or absolutely shitty, and I was getting the shit side here.
"I must say, that even I was not expecting this," the old bastard spoke up. "It appears that rumors have been floating around the people. Legend speaks that our Heroes would come to us with a firm understanding of our lands. It appears that the people believe his is ignorant of such information."
"Someone must have been eavesdropping on us," Carlos whispered to me. You think!? As if I wasn't already being put down! I know I don't know much about the specifics of this place, but still...!
"Carlos, surely you can ask one or two of yours to volunteer to help me," I insisted, giving him a firm look. "After all, a hero of your caliber surely doesn't need five extra hands in his way on the battlefield."
"Well..." his eyes gazed back towards his volunteers, and they all scooched closer to him. My frown deepened. I glanced at Yamato.
"No from you as well, hm?" My voice was low. He offered me another apologetic smile.
"I feel that forcing the issue wouldn't be wise for morale," he defended himself. That made sense, but...
"Tch, fine," I growled and crossed my arms. "I won't need any of your help. I'll make due on my own!" With a huff, I faced forwards once more, ignoring the hand of the red haired girl that was raised. I didn't want her help. I could get by on my own.
"Still, it's not fair to have the weakest class get shafted," Carlos spoke up. "Your majesty, can't Christian be compensated somehow?" Well, at least he wasn't a total bastard.
"I suppose we'll have to do so," the old man agreed slowly. "Lord Christian, you will have to recruit your own party members in which case," he stated. I nodded firmly. As if I didn't already know that. "Every month, we shall provide each hero with the funds they require. This time, Lord Christian's amount will be higher." He motioned to the side, and four servants brought forward sacks of money. "Here are your initial war chests. Please accept them. Lord Christian will receive eight-hundred silver coins, while the rest of our heroes will receive six-hundred. Use this to procure all necessary equipment and set forth on your journey."
"Yes sir!"
After the entire ceremony, we were escorted out of the castle and onto the main road that led from the castle to the outer walls. "Hey, Christian," Carlos called to me from behind, his party already making their way up to the road. "I know we had some disagreements last night, but good luck, alright?" I closed my eyes and sighed.
"I guess we do have to work together," I admitted aloud. "But I'm still not happy to be here. Let's get our job done quickly so I can go home."
"Right, right," Jameson followed up next. "Just don't get your panties in a knot, alright? Have some fun while you're here!" I held back a frown. "Good luck, alright? You'll live."
"Whatever," I responded to him. "Good luck you three. Don't die like idiots."
"Hey, we're the heroes!" Carlos laughed, "There's no way we can fail!" With that, the three wannabe heroes marched off ahead of me. The one girl with red hair gave me a smile as she moved past me. What was her game? Something was off about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
I sighed and shook my head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. The first thing I should do was... shit, I was tired. But I couldn't sleep yet. I at least wanted to level up before the day ended. I guess finding some armor and someone as a party member would be my first priorities.
My search led me to a fairly well-put together building that had an emblem of an anvil on the sign. A smithy, or at least a shop that sold weapons and armor. Upon walking in, I was met by a tall, well built man with a decently trimmed beard and bald head.
"Ah, welcome," he greeted me. "What can I help you with, valued customer?"
"I need armor, and to see if I can get a weapon," I told him, raising up my shield. "I'm sure you can tell why."
"Hm, the legendary shield, huh? So you're the dud?" Damn rumors. How'd they spread so fast!?
"Whatever, old man," I sighed. "So I need armor somewhat light but good on the defensive side. Also, I want to experiment with some spare materials you might have laying around. Maybe some iron, steel, whatever you have that would be used to make a shield."
"Experiment, hm?" the man moved around his counter to look for some things for me. "Well, I hope you're willing to pay up. Even being a Legendary Hero and all, I still have a business to run."
"I'd say my budget is around three-hundred silver," I hoped some specifications might narrow it down. He nodded approvingly.
"Ahh, that definitely helps," he seemed relieved that I knew what I was doing. "Well, let's see what I have in terms of armor." It took about an hour, but I finally settled on a set of chainmail covered in leather wrappings. It was a dull brown color, but it would work well enough until I could get something custom made. Going through all of this was bringing out my gamer side, and if I was going to be stuck here then I would make sure to make a name for myself. More notoriety would mean things would be easier for me. The best way to do that was to dress to be remembered.
As for raw materials, the man, Erhard, definitely provided as he brought out bars of iron, steel, silvered steel, and magic steel from the back. "Very nice," I had to compliment him. "This will be interesting if it works." The armor itself was one-hundred and fifty silvers, so I decided to stick with just the iron and steel ingots for now to use as fodder for my shield, unlocking a few subcategories and some permanent defensive buffs. "Most excellent."
"Well, I gotta say that's one weird shield," Erhard commented as the steel was being absorbed. "I can't say I've seen anything quite like it. Mind if I gave it a look over?"
"I'd prefer you not poke around with it," I told him before a smile crossed my face. "Maybe it'll eat you, too. We wouldn't want that." I slapped twenty-five silvers onto the counter for the ingots, leaving me with six-hundred and twenty-five left. "Hey, I may just end up coming back here. You know your stuff and are a pretty friendly guy."
"Well, if you end up being a repeat customer I might just have to reward that loyalty," he shot back at me with a grin. "Come by any time, you hear?" I waved him off as I left the store, glancing towards the walls that lined the city. Well, off to level up.
XXXXX
The day was long and exhausting. Having missed out on an entire night's sleep was also not helping. As evening came, I'd been awake for at least twenty-eight hours straight. The only thing that concerned me, as I fed my shield the remnants of the orange balloons I'd fought, was that the girl from earlier and last night, Myne apparently, had tried to join my party several times. She claimed that Jameson had suggested she join me, but a quick fact check revealed that she'd snuck off on her own. She was instantly on my danger radar. She was up to something, and if the brief look in her eyes she had when I'd revealed her said anything, it was nothing good.
Now, sat at a local tavern, I ate ravenously since I hadn't eaten since the morning before we left to train. Jameson and Yamato were already present, with Yamato speaking happily with his party, while Jameson was putting on some sort of bravado as he drank and made merry. I sat alone, simply watching it all unfold. I refrained from alcohol due to my already tired state, and watched carefully as Myne tried to grab my attention. I was already past her tricks, and paid her little mind. After all, I was already spoken for and she oozed of trouble and seduction.
After a while, I decided to count my coins and place them somewhere safe. Maybe behind my shield? As I did so, I counted out how many I was stashing away. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. Now it was getting uncomfortable. Twenty it was. I hummed and moved up towards my room. Sleep was now on my mind. It would be another long day of training tomorrow, and I could feel myself starting to drift.
As I closed the door to my room, I heard Yamato and Jameson coming up as well. My eyes moved to my status screen. No, I had to get some rest. Hopefully my insomnia wouldn't act up again. As I laid in bed, seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. It was still dark out when my body woke me up. Damn. I would never get back to sleep once I was awake. Still, some sleep was better than none. I got up and moved towards my door, opening it as I came face-to-face with Carlos. "You're up early," I commented. He yawned and nodded slowly.
"Up late," he corrected me. "I decided to get some last minute training in last night. What, you too lazy to keep going, Shield Hero?"
"Yeah, I just woke up," I sighed. "I was up all the night before so I needed to get some shuteye tonight. What time is it?"
"Sun went down a few hours ago," he told me. "You probably only slept for a couple of hours." I cursed under my breath. "Where you going, man?"
"I'm gonna take some time out for the nightly grind," I told him. "See if I can figure out what else I can do to upgrade this shield. I got a lot of stuff today so I'm probably going to go around town and see what else I can find."
"Well, good luck to you, man," Carlos patted me on the shoulder. "Don't stay up too late, we can't have our weakest link falling behind." He laughed and moved on, and I hid my grit teeth. Was he being condescending, or just joking? It was hard to tell with them. I sighed and moved towards the exit of the tavern, taking my time and walking at a leisurely pace.
As I roamed the streets of the city, I found myself absorbing some smaller items into my shield. Apparently rocks and wood counted as items that could be absorbed, alongside piping units. I must have spent an hour or two on the streets before I headed back towards my tavern room at first light. However, just as I returned, I was met by the royal knights.
"You're the Shield Hero, right?" they asked me. I cocked my head in confusion. Before I could answer, a scroll was being held out to me. "The king has ordered a summons for you. You're coming with us!" Before I could react, I was being grabbed by the arms and forced into a carriage.
"Hey, what gives!?" I growled and clenched my fists, banging on the wooden panel they closed behind me. "Hey! Let me out, you bastards! What the fuck is going on!?" It took time, but I was led through the castle and forced onto the ground before the king, the other guys, and a court including Myne. Myne hid herself behind Jameson, and I made to stand but stopped as several spears were aimed towards me. "What the fuck is going on, you old bastard!? And you!" I growled at the girl. "What the hell is-"
"SILENCE!" The old bastard's voice commanded the room, and he glanced at the woman cowering behind Jameson. "Dear adventurer Myne," he started. "It pains me to ask this of you, but will you recount your testimony for us?" I glared at her, Jameson holding out his sword in front of her as if to protect her from me. Carlos... I glanced at Carlos, and he seemed to be conflicted.
"Th-The Shield Hero barged into my room drunk and pinned me down," she cried out.
"That lying bitch!"
"He said, "The night is still young," and tore my clothes off! I somehow escaped and ran to Sir Jameson, who happened to be staying in the same inn, and asked him for help!"
"I did no such thing!" I snarled, grabbing onto the spears that prevented me from strangling her. "I'd never touch anyone so vile and disgusting! Jameson, you don't honestly believe this shit, do you!?"
"If she didn't ask me to wait until dawn to call the knights, I would have sliced you open that moment!" Jameson shouted back at me.
"Bullshit, I went straight to bed and was out all last night when I woke up!" I combatted. "I'm innocent! Why would I ever touch her when I insisted yesterday you keep your eye on her!"
"You're a liar and a cheat!" Jameson shot back. "You're just jealous that nobody wanted to be your party member, and thought taking it out on a girl like Myne would make you feel better, you scumbag!"
"I demand proof!" my hands were clenched into fists. Why couldn't anything go my way!? Why was I suffering so much!? My eyes twitched as some knight held up a piece of lingerie.
"We found this laying on the bed of the Shield Hero's room," he stated. Myne pressed herself further into Jameson's shoulder and cried out with the sound of a violated woman.
"You animal!"
"That's utter shit!" I snarled. "I left in the middle of the night last night! Carlos, tell them!" I looked to my only reliable witness, desperate to prove my innocence. No way I'd touch someone besides my girlfriend! There was no way! As Carlos looked away, I felt my heart break once more.
"I didn't see you last night, man," his voice was quiet, but I heard it as if he were shouting. That traitorous... My eyes met his. His gaze pleaded me not to bring him into this. My fists clenched. That cowardly bastard. I'm being committed of a crime I didn't commit, and you're worried about saving your own damn skin!? What is this shit!? Why me!? What did I do!?
So that was her game. The entire thing was a setup. She tried to volunteer to help me, but I foiled her plan time and time again. However, she must have buttered up Jameson just right to get him hanging off her finger. Look at them, with his arm wrapped comfortingly around the poor damsel in distress. A white knight if I've ever seen one. Disgusting. I bet she would have stolen my things if I hadn't gotten up last night, as well.
As if I didn't have trouble enough being hated by this kingdom's people, I have to go through this!? Stripped of my home and any way back, being looked down on and hated, what did I do to ever deserve this!? I had everything I ever wanted back home! I hate this world! I hate its people! Everything here is so fucked up! I'm trapped here with no way to escape!
"So what, are you gonna kill me or something, you bastards!?" I screamed at them. The old bastard growled at me.
"Scum or not, you're still a hero, one of the only beings who can fight the Waves. But news of your crime is already spreading among the people." That fucker. Did he spread those first rumors about when I first got here, too!? "That is your punishment. Don't think you'll ever get to lead a decent life in this country."
"Fuck you and your mothers!" I felt heat rise in my body, anger coursing through my veins. "I'm out of here!"
"Hey, wait a second!" Jameson was on me as I turned to leave, grabbing my arm.
"I'm the weakest one, right?" I snarled at him, glaring him down. "I don't have a second to waste." With those words, I shot Carlos one last glare. He wouldn't meet my eyes, the cowardly bastard. Anger and hatred filled my body. As I walked through the parting crowds, I wondered how my life could have ever gotten so low.
"Hey, shield kid!" I felt a familiar man grab me and slam me against a nearby wall, fist raised. I sneered at him. "I heard what you did to that girl. I ought to beat you to a pulp for that!"
"Tch, you're against me too, huh?" I felt the grip on my collar loosen at those words, and his muscles relaxed. I glared at him. "What? I thought you were gonna beat me up."
"I changed my mind," he sighed as he spoke. I brushed off my armor.
"Good," I grunted. "You were going to die." He glanced over me and shook his head.
"Just don't die, kid."
"Whatever," I moved away from him and headed for the gates. I had some anger to vent. What a bastard. He even thought I was guilty. What a waste of breath. Outside the walls I fought day and night, hoping to finally get that coveted level up. With that, my attack stat should increase and things would become a little easier. However, I was let down because as soon as I hit level two, my attack was still set at one.
Exhausted, I decided to sell off the extra balloon skins I had to whomever I could. I'd already gained enough to upgrade my shield and some pocket change wouldn't be a bad idea. I still had the same amount as the night before, but I knew it wouldn't last forever. "How much are these worth?"
"Well, by my count I'm estimating about twenty skins... How does one copper for the whole batch sound?"
"You offered that man one copper for every two," I snarled. The smug face of this merchant oaf was pissing me off.
"Did I? you must understand, sir. I have a- urk!" I growled and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him face to face with me.
"All I'm looking for is a fair market price," I snarled at him. "Or do you have a personal vendetta against me? I can make things VERY personal if you like," I grinned as evilly as I could. "A thriving man such as yourself must have some very lively family. It would be a shame to have some accident happen over measly coppers, wouldn't it?"
"Y-You're bluffing!" I traced the one edge of my basic shield against his cheek.
"You know, despite how dull this edge is, I'm sure it would be agonizing to be stabbed with it again and again," I added. "'Daddy, why did you do this? Why couldn't you have given the scary hero man just a few coppers?'. How shameful."
"F-Fine! Just don't hurt my family! Th-The goods and money are without sin, no matter how much I'd love to refuse!" I released him, and he scrambled to grab the money he owed me.
"Good boy," I smirked. "Feel free to tell your friends about me. Any trader who tries to give me an unfair price might find themselves at the bad end of a little familial accident." He set the ten copper in my outstretched hand. "I hope we have plenty more business together."
As I continued my days, I found myself experimenting more and more with my shield and its absorption qualities. Not only that, but the abilities each shield granted me. For example, the Leaf Shield allowed me to improve the qualities of certain plants. Having seen a couple herbs in the window of an apothecary earlier, I decided to grab as many of these improved herbs as I could to sell off that evening. Despite my standing, it seemed as if raw quality still bought favor over any lies that had been spread about me, and I fetched a decent price for them.
It was that evening, though, that my life and luck would seem to turn for something of the better.
"Tch, tasteless," I gingerly swallowed the food on my plate. It was filling, yes, but had no taste whatsoever. Like wet cardboard. I sat hunched over my meal, sighing to myself.
"Hey, great shield Hero. We'll join your party!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Thank your lucky stars, right?" I snarled and stood up aggressively, turning and glaring at the idiots who'd dared approach me.
"Go fuck yourselves," I stormed past them, shoving them aside as I moved along. I made my way to the dark streets, moving further until I was sure I'd lost the morons or they gave up. "Fucking hell."
I spat on the ground and slammed my hand against a wall. "Damn it! I have the defense, but I can't fight for shit! And because of that, I can't kill monsters!" My eye twitched. "If I can't kill monsters, then that means I won't get any EXP. Which means I won't level up to improve my attack! It's a neverending loop of uselessness! Fuck!" I punched the fall and choked back a sob. How ridiculous! I could only improve my support abilities, but that was useless in any actual fight!
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a very odd voice called out. I snarled and turned away from it. "Someone so down on their luck, needing help."
"Fuck off."
"Lucky for you, I have just what you need." A man shorter than myself waddled up to me, cane in hand and dressed like a performing ringmaster. His face was pudgy, and a pair of tinted glasses hid his eyes from me.
"What, you want to offer cowardly party members? Get out of my sight," I clenched my fists.
"Party members? How useless. What I'm offering is much more... convenient," the man told me. I glanced at him. His smile was eerie.
"You have ten seconds."
"Interested, are we?"
"Seven seconds."
"That look in your eyes is just the kind I love," he said. What, he liked being glared at with the raging hatred of a thousand whatevers? I wondered if I crushed his head, would his body have a neck? "You're every bit the man the rumors said you were."
"You know who I am, then."
"Of course, Shield Hero. If my offer interests you, then come and follow me." He waddled away, and part of me told myself that I shouldn't go. It was only going to lead to trouble. And yet... he was right. I had no other options, and despite my rage, that anger wouldn't make me any stronger as far as I knew. We moved through the back streets to a large circus tent. "Ah, here we are." He invited me in, and like a fool, I entered.
"So, what are you offering, weirdo?" I looked around. Boxes and crates as far as the eye could see. No...
"Isn't it obvious, my boy? I sell slaves!" He sounded way too excited to be remotely sane.
"No way..."
"Yes way!" I looked down at the man and frowned.
"And what makes you think I even want a slave?" He took his cane and began to draw a circle on the ground.
"The fact that they cannot lie or betray their master," he said it so simply. My eyes widened. No lies? "They're set under the effects of a curse. A strong, seal-based curse that can take their very lives."
"This curse... it also makes them do what you want, I assume?" I felt dirty just thinking about it, but the possibilities... Were also endless. This... could be what I needed.
"Of course," he grinned even more at me. "I knew I had you hooked. You have everything it takes to make a wonderful patron!" As I looked around, he led me through crates and boxes of caged people and... not people.
"Those aren't monsters, are they?"
"Well, not completely," his tone never changed.
"Go on. I don't know much about this world." He didn't miss a beat. So, the rumors about me really didn't effect him. Either that, or he was good at hiding it.
"Creatures that look human but aren't are called demi-humans. They're mostly used in manual labor or as servants," as he spoke, I made mental notes of the creatures around me. they all looked like shit, and none of them were very strong looking. well, some were, but how well could I control them? "Beastmen are demi-humans whose appearance leans more toward the animal side. They're used as bodyguards or as participants in death matches that are gambled on."
"Is that so?"
"It is," he continued. "However, they both are one in the same to most people around here, especially us humans. Since demi-humans are thought to be closer to monsters, life would be hard for them in this country, which practices human supremacy. As such, they're treated as slaves." How disgusting. And yet here it was, free for my exploitation. As I looked around, I heard the soft coughing of what sounded like a child. I took a deep, unpleasant, breath, and tried to ignore it. the coughing continued, and I finally gave in to my curiosity.
My legs wandered over towards the nearby cage, and I lifted the tarp to see inside of it. Inside, on her knees, sat a disheveled, skinny, and bloody girl with short animal ears on her head, and a frizzed up tail. She looked at me with broken, unblinking eyes. Her hair, what should have been a lovely chestnut colored, was dirty and knotted. I felt my blood run cold as I gazed upon her.
A/N: Yes, yes, I know it's a new story, but I've been mulling this over for some time now. It's another one of those "I'll update when I feel" types, so we'll see how it goes! I hope you enjoyed it! I wanted to make Christian a very open character here; he's easily angered and quick to violence, as well as makes his assumptions quickly and decisively. I'm hoping to have it stray from canon events as the story goes on.