Hey, guys! MaxRenRez here, and I'm finally back with a new story that isn't complete horseshit! This one is based off of Rising of the Shield Hero,with a few new characters thrown in here and there. Because I was feeling uncreative, one of the characters in question is Max Syrus, a law student studying psychology on the side. The occasional reference to various media will be thrown in here and there, with very prominent references to Code Vein mixed in. See if you can catch the other references packed into the story!
Chapter One- Yet Another Alternate World Story?The chill of the air around him seemed to rip directly through his clothing as Max readjusted his coat for what felt like the hundredth time. It was remarkably cold today for reasons that he never could understand. In his hometown, they often joked that Cedar Springs, North Carolina was the only place in America with weather bipolar enough to experience all four seasons in one week. This week was particularly frigid, and had frozen pipes all over the state without much regard for the owners of the property they were attached to. Not that he really cared, though. He always liked the cold weather a little more than the heat, anyways. There was only so much clothing you could take off before it bordered on exhibitionism, after all.
Anyways, getting back on track.
Max wasn't exactly walking through this place with the intent to wander. Today was payday, but he also had a day off from law school, and he'd finished his Psychology homework, so he decided to treat himself a little. A lovely Hibachi restaurant called Seppari was his destination. He remembered coming here with his dad a few years back, so this place always stuck with him. It was expensive, but the food was worth it. It was one of those places where they cooked the food on a grill in front of you, and more often than not, you'd leave full and satisfied. So now, here he sat, awaiting the arrival of the chef that he'd known as Anthony.
It was odd. Usually, this place would have more than a few people waiting for food. Unlike now, where he and a dead-eyed janitor in the corner were the only ones that were in the dining area. At the very least, he expected to see a waitress or something asking for a drink. He waited patiently, but still, nobody came. He kicked his legs back and forth, then winced when they hit something hard that was sticking out farther than the counter was supposed to be. Upon further inspection, it was a book. A heavy one at that, given a thick leather cover with a smooth finish. The title of the book was one that he had never heard of, especially since there was no synopsis on the back or in the inner cover to explain what this was about.
"Legends of the Cardinal Heroes and Vassal Wielders? What is this, some kind of fantasy novel?" Upon skimming through the pages, it was initially shown as a dossier for the various heroes throughout the history of whatever this world was. The heroes of the Sword, the Spear, the Bow, and the Shield were the Cardinal Heroes, all wielding legendary weapons unlike anything else in the world. Alongside them, though a little less popular, there were the Vassal Wielders. They also had powerful weapons, but these grew alongside their user and changed according to their wishes at times. Unfortunately, due to the non-heroic natures of their origin, they were overshadowed more often than not by the main four, and had to work their way up from the bottom. Their main task was always to assist the Cardinal Heroes in their quests.
It began telling their tales of grandeur, telling of the monsters they've slain or the people they've met, the quests they've completed… everything. Max found himself absorbed in the book, if not to humor himself for just a little bit. He learned that the Shield was oftentimes shunned by the other heroes for seeming weak, and would enlist the aid of with a species known as demi-humans in order to level himself up. As an interesting side effect, he had a complete immunity to alcohol and most status effects. He was beginning to think that this world was a lot like that of a video game when suddenly the pages went blank. They just cut off, as if the person had stopped writing in the middle. He checked the rest of the pages, but they were blank as well. When he went back to the Vassal Wielder section, his thoughts slammed to a screeching halt. "What the…?"
The book fell from his fingers as he realized that there was a new addition to the book that was previously in his hands.
It was his own face, under the guise of being something known as the Veil Hero. He quickly pulled the book back into his grasp, reading over the abilities of the Veil Hero and what he could do. The Veil didn't have the ability to use any weapons or equip any armor, as the veil he wore served as both. The people in various kingdoms often shunned this hero due to his level of violence, as this hero's main and most effective method of strengthening himself was consuming the flesh of monsters… and eating it raw, of all things!
"Why the hell am I in this thing?! This doesn't make sense!" He spoke out loud, then took another look around the dining area. He was alone now. When he looked back at the book, it was shining. "Ok, it's time to wake up now! Come on, Max! Get ahold of yourself!" As the dim shine grew to be a brilliant glow, he found his thoughts once again moving to a crawl as he blacked out.
Several voices were heard inside his head after this, but he recognized none of them.
"Where the hell is this thing taking him?"
"Dunno. This might as well be an anime, dude! Maybe we're going to another world!"
"As long as I can relax, I don't care where we're going."
"Quiet, you three. He may hear us. He is not quite ready for that yet."
"It will not be too much longer before he is, ******. We must be ready."
When he finally came to, he was falling, but thankfully not very far. Didn't stop it from hurting, though. His head and back into the floor, groaning heavily as he did so. "Ngh…. damn… anyone get the number on that truck?" His ears were ringing, but it didn't stop him from hearing something that caused his head to whip around on his shoulders.
"Wait… I thought there were only supposed to be four of us?"
As his head turned around several times to get a read on his location, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets with how wide they were. "What in the name of… Where the hell am I?" The area he had been transported to looked like a full on castle, like the ones you'd see in medieval textbooks or fantasy games. A group of people in robes were seen at the forefront of the room, and in the back, several different adventurers in honest-to-god armor. Every single one of them looked just as confused as he did. Beside him, four people in clothing similar to his own, much to his confusion. "Ok, can someone fill me in? I feel like this is the most confusing thing that's happened to me in a long time."
Evidently, he had been summoned into this alternate world for the sake of helping the four Cardinal Heroes in their quest to stop the Waves of Catastrophe, whatever those were. Although the summoning ritual hadn't intended to summon him, some outside factor had thrown him into the mix as well, leading to where he was now, a strange piece of clothing attached to his shoulder and his head aching as if he'd been slammed with a steamroller. "Ok, then… if this is some kind of dream, wake me up when it's over. Because I am nowhere near high enough for this to be a hallucination, and I'm fairly certain I didn't develop insanity during the fall. Ergo, this has to be a dream of some kind."
A blond boy with a spear walked over to him and slapped him on the back, jarring him and ending his little scientific tirade. "Come on, man! Wake up? You're in another world! You should be able to recognize that, right? What's your name? You gotta tell us something about yourself, dude. Otherwise, we can't really work together, you know?" The pain in his back only worsened with the slap. The one in question had introduced himself as Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero.
"Max Syrus, 21. I'm studying law and psychology." He stood, cracking his back somewhat painfully. Some of the adventurers in the back winced as he did so, as the sound was loud enough to echo. "Guess all that doesn't really have any place here, though…" As his eyes scanned the crowd, he noted adventurers of different body types, genders, apparent skill sets, and personalities. No two people in the room were truly alike.
"Regardless of that fact, it's important to have something that you're good at." The one with the sword spoke. He'd introduced himself as Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero. he had a very calm and collected personality, and even reminded Max of the standard anime protagonist. "It might help you here in some way or another. Any skill is a useful skill depending on how you use it."
"Well said, Ren." The next was named Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero. Max wasn't quite sure why, but something about this kid didn't really sit well with him. He had never been a huge fan of the bow and arrow, and he wasn't really a fan of the Robin Hood vibe this guy was giving off. "It might not do much in a game world, but who knows? You could probably use that to predict attacks or something!" Max's face adopted a deadpan expression after that, but any thought he had was interrupted by a faint voice in the back of his mind saying, Right. Like that's gonna happen. This isn't a superhero story, kid. Before he had the chance to focus on that, the last of the four spoke up.
"Well, if you're here to help, I guess another set of hands couldn't hurt." This one was named Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero. "Not sure what your weapon is, but as long as you're on our side, everything should be fine, right?" Max looked down at his wrist, which had a weird black bandage wrapping around it from the strange clothing now on his shoulder. On his left wrist, seemingly embedded in his flesh, there was a deep red gem the size of a walnut. He scratched it a few times, but after realizing it wouldn't be able to come loose, he left it alone.
"Apparently, I'm something called the Veil Hero. Not exactly sure what that'll entail, but I guess I'll just roll with it for now."
Several minutes of exposition later, since the readers most likely have seen everything by now, staring intently into the gem in his wrist. Everyone had pointed out what looked like a game screen within their fields of vision, which he found rather easily. He hadn't played any games like this before, but the system this was based on seemed pretty similar to that of Ark: Survival Evolved. For the most part, he tuned out the majority of what was happening around him as he learned the ins and outs of this system, eventually finding himself entirely alone in the room where the Cardinal Heroes had been mere moments ago.
In the fields outside the castle, where many adventurers start, he spent his day fighting balloon creatures that had various colors to them. They weren't that difficult to kill, especially since anyone with even a hint of fighting knowledge can beat something as simple as a balloon. He wasn't the most seasoned fighter, but his dad was a member of the US Army, and had taught him basic combat. The gem in his wrist served as a sort of inventory system alongside a management system, and made his current adventuring thing significantly easier. That being said, he found himself hitting a wall at some point, since he had no idea how to use his Veil.
This meant that until he figured out how to use it, he'd be left behind by the other heroes. This was not something he was looking forward to. He began scanning his help screen in his spare time, reading up on his weapon as much as he could. Even during the night, when he was supposed to be sleeping. He was interrupted that same night when he heard a commotion from the hallway. Upon investigation, he found that it was due to Naofumi being escorted somewhere by the guards. A single thought passed through his mind as he viewed this spectacle.
"I have a bad feeling about this."