"You're under arrest!"
"How could you do such a thing?"
"He barged into my room, completely drunk. 'The night is still young,' he said."
"I never did anything!"
"The punishment for attempted rape in Melromarc is death!"
"How does 30 silver sound?"
"If you can't fight, then I'll go back there and buy someone else."
"Who are you, really?"
"Just get out of here, Raphtalia!"
"Don't leave me!"
"I am your sword."
"Let's go, to Lute Village!"
"I challenge you to a duel, # $& %#!"
"Let her go!"
"You guys are just gonna ignore that!"
"Kill the Shield Devil!"
"He doesn't deserve to live!"
"This world,
"CAN BURN FOR ALL I CARE!"
Richter woke up in a cold sweat. His heart was banging out of his chest. Looking himself over, he saw goosebumps covering his arms. His legs were weak and his head hurt. He looked at his shield, staring at it. At the right angle, he could see his reflection. Tilting the shield, he saw a mirrored version of himself. He had black hair, and green eyes. Blinking and shaking his head, it returned to the light grey he was familiar with.
As he felt his legs regain strength, he realized he wasn't alone. Looking over to the other individual in the room, he saw Itskui looking up at him in confusion.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Ye-yeah, just a nightmare," Richter responded. If he was honest, he didn't even know what was happening.
All he saw were flashes of places he's never been, except for two. The hallway of a wooden building, the throne room, a dark place with dirt floors and cages, a weapons and armor shop, a campfire at night with a river nearby, a cave, a city, an open field overlooking a village, the place where they had the feast at, an arena, and finally a black void. There was nobody there, just the area itself.
But the voices.
They were in a slew of multiple conversations, but the ones he was able to understand were louder than anyone else's. He could identify most of the voices. The one who said that he was under arrest was a guard at the feast. The person who asked "how could you?" was Itskui. An unknown woman's voice told the story about him entering the room drunk. The person who said they didn't do anything was a mixture of Richter and someone else's voice. He couldn't identify the other man's voice. The one who announced the punishment for attempted rape was the King, but he sounded angry. He couldn't tell who asked if 30 silver was good, but the next one was his voice mixed with the mysterious man's voice.
The voice who asked who he was could be identified as a young female. The next one, about him telling someone named Raphtalia to get out of somewhere was Richter and the other guy's voice. The next two were the girl, Raphtalia, if he had to guess, yet the voice was slightly different for the second line. The next one who said they were going to Lute was his mixed up voice. The next one, who challenged someone to a duel, was Motoyasu. He couldn't tell who he challenged, since there was static, or white noise, that blocked out what he said. The next two were him, while the next two were an unknown female and male. The final one was Richter's, who sounded like he was screaming to the heavens.
Shaking his head out of the thought, he noticed Itsuki was looking at him in concern.
"Hey, I got a question," Richter said. Itsuki nodded. The grayed haired man sighed, "Do you see dreams as just dreams, or are they more like visions?" He asked.
"I can't really tell you, why?" Itsuki asked.
"Before I woke up the day I got summoned, I had a dream about a sword, a bow, a spear, and a shield. Before I woke up this morning, my nightmare showed me places I've never been, and I heard people I haven't heard before. Maybe it was a warning, or my fate. But, and I might be wrong here, but I think what happened was that I was accused of attempted rape," Richter said, sighing, "if I'm right, then I might need you in my corner. But if I'm wrong, then it was just a nightmare."
"Are you sure?" Itsuki asked.
"Not 100%, but my dreams have usually been correct, or at least somewhat accurate," Richter told him.
"Alright, I'll think about what you said. But don't think that you'll actually get away with doing it," Itsuki said.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Richter said, before chuckling. "Anyways, we should get moving."
"Right," Itsuki said, as they got up and brushed some of the wrinkles out of their clothes. As they exited the room, they noticed Motoyasu and Ren were already up. Motoyasu was twirling his spear, while Ren had his head down while he was leaning on a wall.
"There you guys are," the Spear Hero said.
"About time," Ren spoke, as he looked up.
"Heroes, I suppose you are ready?" A female voice asked from beyond the door.
"Yeah, we're on the way," Itsuki said, "we should get moving."
Leaving the room and following the woman, all while preventing Motoyasu from flirting with her, the Cardinal Heroes made their way to the throne room. In front of them were about 12 adventurers. Each wore different types of armor, but none really caught Richter's eye.
Except for one.
She had short red hair, with beautiful green eyes. She had a white and purple outfit underneath a leather corset. On her hip was a sword in a sheathe.
She looked at the man with grey eyes and smiled. Richter smiled back, but felt an intense pain in his head that forced him to a knee. With a hand from Itsuki, he got back up. Rubbing his face, he felt blood trickling out of his nose. He quickly wiped it onto his sleeve.
"What is it?" The high school student asked.
"That woman, something about her," he said, nodding to the woman. "I think it might be the person, but I have no idea. I need to listen to her voice," he whispered to him.
"Is everything alright, Shield Hero?" The King asked.
"Yes sir, I just lost my balance. I'm still adjusting to this world," he lied. However, the king of Melormarc nodded, and took what the Shield said as the truth.
"Well, I guess we should hurry. Adventurers, please join up with the great heroes," he said, as the adventurers began to move.
"They're choosing, huh," Richter mused. After they had settled, he turned around. Behind him was … nobody. Looking at Motoyasu, he had four females, including the one girl who was a walking red flag for the Shield Hero. Ren had five party members, while Itskui had three.
'Given how the King's been treating me, I should've seen this coming,' Richter thought.
"Well, this was unexpected," the King said.
"Wow, the Shield Hero has nobody."
"He must have no charisma."
The Richter heard two people mutter, while an attendant whispered something in the ear of the King.
"I have just been informed of a rumor that had spread. Supposedly, the Shield Hero knows little of this world. According to the ancient legend, the summoned heroes are supposed to have a great deal of knowledge," The King explained.
"I knew I heard someone," the gray-haired man whispered.
"Someone must've been listening in our conversations," Ren said. "I'm used to running solo, so if you can't pull your weight, then go to Richter." Ren said to his group, who all scooted closer to the Sword Hero.
"If any of these lovely ladies would like to join you, then I won't stop them," Motoyasu said, as they scooted closer. Looking at Itsuki, Richter raised a hand.
"It's fine, Itsuki. I'll manage," the man said.
"Would you allow me to join your party, Shield Hero?" a female voice said. Instantly, Richter's eyes went wide.
It was her.
Looking at the source of the voice, it was the redhead from earlier. Richter felt a warm liquid leave his nose, but it stopped bleeding after a second. He covered it with his hand, wiping the blood onto his clothes.
Something urged him to say yes, but his mind knew better. Looking at her, he shook his head, "I appreciate it, but I'd rather not get between you and Motoyasu," he said, before leaning closer. "I saw him checking you out earlier," he whispered in her ear. It was a quick lie, but he knew from the party that Motoyasu was a sort of Casanova. He might've actually been checking her out and he just didn't see it.
"W-wait, really?" She asked, clearly not expecting such a comment.
"Yeah, I'm more perceptive than one may think," he told her.
"W-well, how will you manage without a party member?" she asked. She was making it clear she wanted to join him.
"I can come up with something. Worst case, I just have to pay some swords for hire. I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine," Richter reiterated.
"Alright. Well, thanks for at least telling me about the Spear Hero," she told him, before stepping back in line.
"Well, I suppose we will distribute the finds. The shield hero will receive 800 silvers to help form a party, while everyone else will be given 600," the King said, as four women walked in front of the four heroes, with a bag in each of their hands.
'He already had 200 extra in my bag,' Richter thought. 'If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is.' He took the bag and stored it in his jacket pocket.
"Now, brave heroes, go and save our world!" The king announced with vigor.
"Itskui, hold up a minute!"
The Bow Hero turned to see the shield bearer running to him. He smiled, before turning back to his party.
"Go on ahead, I'll be right behind you," he told the adventurers. They nodded, before going to the gate that led to the capital city. "What's up Richter?" he asked.
"Good, you heard me," he responded. "Anyways, you know that redhead I mentioned earlier?"
"It's her, isn't it?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Yeah. That's just fantastic," he said, muttering the last part.
"Well, maybe you can change how things will go," Itskui suggested. "What was the first thing you saw and heard when you started having the nightmare, or premonition?"
"It looked to be some kind of hallway. And I heard a guard say I was under arrest. Maybe the hallway was in some kind of inn. I'll try to see if my nosebleeds can actually lead to where I need to avoid,"Richter suggested. "Anyways, I don't need to hold you up. I just gotta snag some gear before I head outta the city."
"Okay, take care and change the future!" Itskui said, as he ran to his party. Richter followed, but ran straight into the city itself.
The city was a lively place, full of people of all ages and heights. Richter began to freak out at the sight of so many people he didn't know, but he calmed his nerves. He saw a door open and heard a familiar voice, which prompted him to duck into a nearby alleyway and listen.
"That armor looks great on you, Sir Motoyasu," he heard the redhead say.
"Thanks, Myne. Now, why don't we get to killing some monsters!" The shield heard the spear say, as his party walked away.
'So her name's Myne. Good to know,' he thought, before looking at the store they had just left. Opening the door, he felt his heart sink.
It was the armory shop from his nightmare.
"Well, I didn't expect to get another customer so soon!" He heard a man say. Snapping himself back to reality, Richter looked to the man. He had a bald head and brown eyes, alongside a beard. He was wearing white clothes, with a blacksmith's apron on. He was taller and more built than the Shield Hero.
"Y-yeah, I saw the Spear Hero leave here, so I'd figure it would be a great place to look," he explained, quickly wiping the blood from his nose. Luckily, the shopkeeper didn't seem to notice.
"Ha, well I can tell you've got a great eye," he said, raising his hand. "Erhard."
"Richter Castellanos, the Shield Hero," he said, grabbing him in a firm handshake. "But you can call me Richter."
"Alright. Well, what're you in the market for?" he asked, letting go of the hand.
"Weapons and armor," he told him.
"So just armor," Erhard said.
"Wait, what?"
"Well, when your spear buddy came in here, he tried to pick up this sword," he said, indicating at the sword that was planted in the wall, "when he did, it shocked him and it went flying. If you wanna try, be my guest."
"What's the harm in trying?" Richter asked, as he wrapped his hand around the sword. Instantly, he felt an electric charge against his skin, that burned and sent his hand recoiling back. "Okay, that's the harm in trying," he whispered, nursing his hand. A notification appeared on his HUD.
Warning: Legendary Weapon Violation
Cardinal Heroes are restricted to only using the Legendary Weapons.
"So, I guess I could use some armor. Anything you got that's light?" He asked.
"Really? I thought you would've wanted something that can take some punches, to keep protecting your party for longer," Erhard said.
"Well, I would, but I don't have a party to defend," he told him, shaking his head. "Nobody chose me, so I just decided to run solo. At the very least, I got some extra silver out of it."
"Yeah, I heard about the rumor of you being a dud, but not having anybody sounds a bit rough," Erhard told him.
"Well, there was someone who wanted to join, but I refused their company," he said.
"Why would you do that if you only had a shield?" Realizing his mistake, Richter cursed at himself.
"If I tell you, do you promise to not tell anyone else?" Erhard nodded. "Alright, well this may sound crazy, but I need you to follow me on this..." Richter began, before explaining his situation.
"... and all I can gather is that I need to find this girl, Raphtalia, for some reason. But for right now, avoiding Myne is my best chance at preventing the trial," Richter told the blacksmith.
"And you're trusting everything on some dream?" Erhard said, making Richter nod.
"I've trusted weaker things and people, and they usually didn't let me down," Richter said, "I probably should get going, so let's spend some coin."
"Now you're talking. You said you needed light armor?" Erhard said, as he went into the storage room and pulled out a leather tunic. It was brown, short sleeved and it had a belt around the midsection. He tossed it to the Shield Hero, who caught it. Removing his olive drab jacket, he slipped the tunic on. It was nonrestrictive, and, thankfully, provided some defense.
Light Leather Tunic: +5 Def
"Now we're cooking with gas," Richter said. "How much?"
"Going price is 80, but if you take 85, then I'll give you an old adventuring bag at a discount," Erhard said.
"Deal," he said, as he reached into his coin bag. There were some gold coins alongside a lot of silver coins. "So in this world, 100 silver equals 1 gold?" Richter asked.
"Figured that out on your own?" He asked.
"Yeah, I was just guessing, but yeah," he said, as he handed the shopkeeper 1 gold coin and he got 15 silver coins back. He tossed him a leather rucksack. It was sewn together, and had a few buckles and straps on it.
"Pleasure doing business with ya," he said, as he counted his coin. Richter folded his jacket up, and placed it in the rucksack, alongside his money. He then threw it over his shoulder.
"Likewise, Erhard. If I ever need armor or weapons, I know where to find ya," Richter said, as he waved away. He saw the exit of the capitol, so he began making his way to it.
Leaving the gated area, he found himself in an open field. Making his way to the top of a hill, he saw Ren fighting against orange blobs. With one swing of his blade, they fell. Crouching behind a tree, he watched the Sword Hero take the fragment and place them on the gem in his sword. The fragment got absorbed, as he nodded, and continued to hunt.
'Did his sword just eat that monste-' Richter stopped thinking as he heard growling coming from behind him. Turning and raising his shield, he blocked an attack. It came from what could only be described as an evil orange balloon. It had sharp teeth and devilish eyes. He focused and saw its name.
Orange Balloon Lv: 1
'Only level one? Good,' Richter thought, as he slammed his shield down on it. It bounced like a basketball, before jumping at him. He slipped past it and elbowed it in the back of the 'head'. Before it could recover, he raised his shield and slammed it on the balloon, forcing it to pop.
EXP +3
Richter saw as he stood back up. 'I'd figure they wouldn't be worth much, but only three?' Richter asked, but shook his head. 'Time and place for everything, now is neither,' he told himself, before grabbing the fragments and looking at his shield. Specifically, the gem. 'Let's see if it works,' Richter thought as he placed the fragment on the crystal. The green crystal shined, before absorbing the balloon fragment.
New Shield Unlocked
Orange Balloon Shield
Passive: +1 Defense
Active: None
'It's got a passive ability, yet no active. So, some shields require me to equip them, somehow, in order for me to use their active skill,' Richter guessed, before he heard the bushes around him shake. Turning around, he saw three more orange balloons jump out at him. Knowing he couldn't block them all, he rolled to the left. Looking up, he only saw two. Shaking his head, he raised his shield.
Orange Balloon Lv: 1
Orange Balloon Lv: 2
He attacked the weaker balloon first, by bashing it with his shield. It sent the monster away, while the other one tried to bite him. He let it jump at him, and then he dodged. Bounding into a tree, the balloon found itself stuck between a giant tree, and a metal shield. Richter pushed it into the tree, crushing it. Turning around, he saw the Level 1 rush in to avenge it's comrade.
With a kick, Richter sent it away again. He had to find that other balloon. That's when he heard nibbling. Looking to his left, he saw the orange balloon. It was a level 2. He didn't even feel it hit him, and, according to his stationary health bar, it didn't even hurt. He grabbed it off of him, before an idea came up. He placed the balloon on his right hand, while the weaker balloon finally managed to come back. It jumped at him, but Richter could tell it was scared to do so. It probably thought Richter would kick it again. Instead, Richter gave his left fist to it, which it bit down on.
With a smile at his new boxing gloves, he went to the tree and began to punch it. The punches bounced back when he hit the mighty plant, but then he felt a burning pain. It became intense, as he had to rip the balloons off with his teeth. Looking at his hands, he saw electricity.
Warning: Legendary Weapon Violation
"Are you kidding me?" Richter asked. He couldn't even do that? Sighing, he took the balloon fragments. 8 in total.
EXP +13
'At least I'm one step closer to leveling up,' Richter thought, as he heard bushes rustling behind him. Turning, he saw about 8 orange balloons. 'Time for another step.'
It wasn't too late.
The sun had already begun to set by the time Richter finished grinding out for levels. He managed to make it to level 2, and got a decent boost to his stats.
… except his attack.
That was still at one. He was a bit tired, but hunger override that. He found himself in front of a tavern, or an inn. Entering the room, his first intention was to get a room and settle down.
"Ah, welcome, great Shield Hero," the innkeeper said. He was an older man, mid 40s if Richter had to guess, with black hair and brown eyes. He had a clean face. "I suppose you're here for a room?"
"You suppose correctly. How much?" He asked. To the shield bearer's surprise, he shook his head.
"A young lady already paid for your room," the innkeeper said. That was the first red flag. "Sir, are you alright?" He asked, "You appear to be bleeding."
"Huh?" He asked as he touched his face. Nosebleed. Red flag number two. "Oh, it's nothing. Let's go and see this room," Richter said.
"Follow me," the older man said, as he climbed up a flight of stairs. They reached a hallway, with about eight rooms. Richter stopped.
The third and final red flag.
"Here's your room," the innkeeper said, showing a room, "and your key." He handed the Shield Hero a bronze key. "Please enjoy your stay." With that, the innkeeper left to attend his post.
Richter looked back to the stairwell. "I gotta get out of here," he whispered. Dashing downstairs, he was about to leave, but he was stopped by the innkeeper.
"Sir, we need you to return the key if you plan on leaving," he said. Richter gladly handed the key over, before leaving the inn.
Richter ran as far as he could from the inn, while keeping an eye out for Itsuki. For all he knew, Itsuki might still be in the city, so he could try to get to him and inform of the development. However, after ten minutes of looking around, he couldn't find the Bow Hero.
"Shit, I gotta find somewhere to sleep," Richter said, as he noticed Erhard's shop. It looked to be open. "Maybe he knows a place," he said, before opening the door.
Luckily, nobody was as the Shield Hero looked around. That's when he noticed a shield on the ground. It was a wooden shield, with a red symbol painted on the front. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Grabbing the shield, he prepared for an electric shock. Instead, he received a notification.
Would you like to copy this weapon?
Yes/No
Shrugging, Richter picked yes. He then received a notification.
Deku Shield
Passive: +8 Defense, Forest Tracking Lv 1
Active: Forest Stealth Lv 1
"An active ability?"Richter asked. He raised his own shield, concentrating. "Deku Shield!" he said, as his shield glowed, and morphed into a copy of the Deku Shield he was holding. The one difference was the green gem his shield had in the middle.
"What's going on?" He heard Erhard ask, which made the Shield Hero flinch and throw the shield in the air. Quickly catching it, his eyes locked with the shopkeeper.
"Uhh, hi?" Richter said, raising his hand.
"Richter, right? What're you doing here?" The owner of the weapons shop asked. "Also you're bleeding."
"I am?" Richter asked, before he felt it touch his lips. "Goddammit," he swore, as he wiped it up. "I swear, I'm gonna bleed out just from these premonitions before any monsters get to me," Richter muttered, as he finished drying the blood. "Anyways, I'm here because the inn I was planning on staying at is filled with red flags, so I was hoping you knew a place,"Richter explained.
"Ah, same place as your dream?" Erhard asked. Richter just nodded. "Well, I normally don't do this, but first, I just gotta ask," he began, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SHIELD?!"
Jumping back in surprise, Richter almost dropped the shield again. He placed it on the shelf. "I just picked up this shield because I thought I recognized it, then I got the notification to copy it, so I figured why not. After copying it, I saw it had an active ability, which I'm pretty sure means that I need the shield equipped in order to use it, so I thought saying the name would be enough to summon it, and it turns out it was," Richter explained quickly.
"Is the shield itself damaged?" He asked.
"Shouldn't be," the Shield Hero said, looking it over. It looked just like how it did when he picked it up earlier. "Nope, it's fine."
"Good. That's supposedly an extremely rare shield, so I'm trying to figure out if I should sell or keep it," Erhard explained, "So you're saying you copied the shield?"
"Apparently. Here," he said, as he moved his shield arm to the shopkeeper.
"Hmm. Besides the gem, it's basically a copy of that wooden shield," Erhard said, as he let go of his arm. "Well, thanks for showing me something new, at least."
"So, you know of a place to stay?" Richter asked.
"I've got an empty guest room, if you don't mind sleeping there. If you're really gonna be accused of that crime, then it might be best if you stay here. I got some good connections with the guards and the royal family, so my word should be more valuable," Erhard explained.
"Thanks. How much?" Richter asked.
"Two silver for staying, three for insurance," Erhard explained, as Richter handed over five silver. As he counted, he walked to the front door and locked it. He then went to the back and motioned Richter to follow. The Shield Hero guessed that the shop also doubled as his home. He only hoped that Erhard had some food.
Richter could understand why Erhard didn't cook that well. He lived alone, so he didn't have anyone to impress.
But BY GOD did Erhard not know how to cook.
Richter was so lucky he knew how to prepare a meal. After he showed off his cooking prowess, they ate and Richter was shown to the guest bedroom. It was a queen sized bed, with a single window and a nightstand.
"It ain't much, but here," Erhard said. "Don't make too much noise, and if you gotta go to that trial, you better wake me up and tell me. Don't worry, I'll vouch for you."
"Thanks. And get some rest. I got a feeling tomorrow's gonna be hell," Richter told him. The old man went to bed, leaving Richter on his own. The young hero laid down on the bed, as he mentally prepared himself for the events of tomorrow.
Hey everyone, and welcome back to The Rise of the Time Controller. Due to quarantine, I've managed to get some of the next few chapters done. However, I am still proofreading them, just to make sure they are good enough to be published.
Thank you for reading, and stay safe.