Second chapter! Wow, it's only been a couple of months but I'm looking back and I'm like, baby. Baby story. I hit 500 follows on Bubbling Up! and it's like… wow. Thank you everyone so much, for your continued support.

Anyways enough sappy sentimental shit, on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Worm, nor do I own Rising Of The Shield Hero. Thank you again Seerking, for letting me use your idea to make this story.

Chapter 2: DD? T'what is this?

Taylor Hebert

I picked at my burnt macaroni.

So, I had powers. Like, actual cool powers. Based off of video games?

And I was chosen, picked out to wield one of the 'Holy Weapons'.

First question was why? Second question was why me? My third question was what kind of debuffs I would have gotten if I chose any of the other Weapons.

My fourth question was why the hell dad didn't let me cook dinner.

The man couldn't boil a pot of water.

"Is it that bad?" Dad said, picking at his meatloaf.

I blinked, realising that for the better half of 3 minutes I had just been picking at my food.

"I mean, it's not not bad?" I offered. "Um, sorry. Lost in thought." I picked at my food some more. "Hey dad you used to play DD right?"

He perked up. "That's right."

"Um… yeah." I said awkwardly. "So… what would it mean if a character had a um, 43 END?"

"Well first of all it'd be CON not END." He rolled his eyes. "And it could mean one of two things. Either they're a very high level or they have a special status effect or skill. Probably something really powerful, like Celestial Blood or maybe an undead type thing, like a Dracolich."

I doubted it was either of that.

He sounded really into this, though.

Apparently I was a wielder of a Holy Weapon, whatever that was. And Parahuman is apparently a race. But did that really boost my stats so much?

"Why the question?"

"Oh uh…" What do I say? "I've been interested. You know, um, if you think about it it's a lot like capes, and you know, having powers." I bluffed.

"Parahuman powers are way different from DD stuff Taylor." He laughed. "Sometimes people don't even have powers in DD. You know, magic. There's only one person who could ever call himself a real life wizard and he's a loon."

Except, you know, when your power makes you a video game character or something. Then the questions make sense.

"What kind of build would be good for a um, tank?"

"You mean someone who plays the person who takes hits for the team?"

I nodded.

"I guess you could say that um, one kid, Shielder on New Wave, is a lot like a tank. It's all about soaking up damage."

"Cool." I muttered.

I didn't look forward to getting hit, if I was going cape.

Still, it made me curious.

We ate our food in relative silence after that, not sure what to say.

...

"Alright new day new me."

I made my shield bigger, and unclasped it from the chain of my necklace, fitting it over my arm.

[Passive Skills]This is the [Passive Skills] page, where you can see your passive skills.

[???]-!%%*

[Hero of the Holy Shield]- You are the Hero of the Holy Shield. Many before you have faced hardship and trial, and you were chosen to be this word's Shield. Because of 1@#*# and forces you cannot understand, this is your fate.

(Defense Value of equipped armor is quadrupled, 15 STR per LV, 15 END per LV, secret power [?] is locked, Shield is impervious to damage)

[Insight]-Your sharp wit and careful nature grant you a cautious intellect. Meaning you're more perceptive to anything that comes your way.

[Investigation]-Making deductions and looking for clues comes easier to you, because of your nature.

Deduce the location of objects and people, discern the appearance of wounds and determine the weakest point in a tunnel that could cause it to collapse. Research and asking questions has always ran in the family.

[Survival]-Avoiding danger and finding ways to get through it has been a crucial step in your life.

Whether you're following tracks, hunting wild game, guiding the people you care about through a tough situation, identifying signs of danger, predict the weather(with great accuracy), or avoiding quicksand and other natural hazards.

Like avoiding people on the street.

[Light to Medium Armour Proficiency] (Level: 1)-You can wear light to medium armor and look good with it on. Not much else.

Those all sounded quite nice, but was this something I had before my power or after?

After.

Oh cool. Damn, it would have been great to have [Survival] at Winslow.

I blinked.

It was probably the reason I had gotten the [Passive Skill]. Still, these all sounded pretty useful.

Except I didn't know what the heck that first skill was. Some kind of hidden thing I had to find out on my own, or something I wasn't meant to see.

Either way, I clicked on the next window.

[Active Skills]

[Holy Shield Form Change] (Level: MAX)

[Holy Shield Absorption] (Level: MAX)

[A Shielder's Mind And Body] (Level: MAX)

Active skills are skills that need to be activated. Your Shield is your weapon. It can evolve and grow, change and twist. Collect and absorb material. Due to #*#! Shield Heroes can now wield weapons besides the Shield.

Well… no descriptions? What the heck did that tell me? That I needed to experiment?

Probably.

I sighed wearily, nearly springing up out of my bed as I heard heavy footsteps down the hall.

Quickly I took off my shield and shrunk it down to necklace size, which I then quickly attached it to.

A nock on my door.

"Come in!" I breathed a sigh of relief, heart racing.

I really needed to find like an abandoned warehouse or something. Jesus christ.

My dad opened my door, and I flashed him my best smile.

"Hey Little Owl." He was holding a box. "I brought some stuff out of the basement earlier. It's all my old DD stuff."

I blinked.

"Um…"

He shrugged. "I know you were interested, and I thought I'd give you my things so you can learn. Once you read the rule book though everything makes a lot more sense, and it's honestly less than you think. Unless you want to be a Dungeon Master."

"Alright." I agreed, moving to take the stuff. "So um, what would you say is a good character?"

Dad grinned, looking more happy than I had seen in weeks. "In my opinion, to make a good character you need three aspects."

"Three aspects." I repeated.

"Utility. How much you contribute to your party while the adventure isn't underway. Charisma. As in, how likeable your character is. And how powerful your character is."

He put the box on my bed, opening it. Boards, dice and books greeted my eyes.

"A good DD player balances all three of them, but it's likely that people are going to want efficient powerhouses, and useless comic relief characters. Just remember that."

"Er, okay." I grinned uneasily. "I'll look at one of the books, promise. And um, I might actually head out to the library later."

He beamed. "Sounds good. Make sure to study hard. I'm not letting you take online classes. I'm sure Arcadia will be better, alright?

"Alright."

He nodded, walking out of my room and closing the door behind him.

I flopped on my bed, bemoaning my existence.

I mean, I had to read a book now. This is the happiest I had seen him in years. I couldn't not read a book.

I put back on my shield.

And thought about what the [Active Skills] meant.

My eyes glossed across the room, running what I knew over and over again in my head.

Until it clicked.

I grabbed a dead leaf from my windowsill, before trying to stuff it in the gem of my shield.

And surprisingly it worked.

In a flash of green light the leaf was absorbed into my shield, and a few pop ups popped up in its place.

Along with a new shield form.

A sleek green shield not much bigger than my original, with curves and grooves like a leaf, tinted yellow.

[Leaf Shield (Small)] (Locked)

Attack: 3

Defense: 10

[Equipped Active Skill]- [Leaf Storm] (LV: 1)

Creates a flurry of leaves that briefly obscures your position outside of a certain distance. Temporarily disorients enemies within the storm.

[Passive Skill Acquired]-[Plant Collection 1]

Allows you to quickly and readily pick out different kinds of plants and flowers. Are able to conduct adequate herbology.

Well freaking rad.

Wait-did I just acquire a sub power-

Congratulations! You figured out [Holy Shield Form Change] and [Holy Shield Absorption]!

If you didn't completely understand, [Holy Shield Absorption] allows you to convert any organic and inorganic material to be used for power. From plants, to the scales of dragons. [Holy Shield Form Change] transforms the Shield into a shield based off of the type of material you put into it.

Wait wait wait. Hold the phone. Metaphorical phone, because I in fact disliked phones.

What the heck? I could absorb material and become stronger?

That was… honestly better than my Captain America idea.

Now if only I had a costume….

I sighed, waving off a notification, not bothering to look at it.

I needed ideas. Ideas and resources. Which meant I had to get out of the house, and into the world.

"Dad I'm leaving!"

I heard him rustle downstairs. "Olay Taylor! Take your pepper spray!"

"Got it!"

I got ready, glancing at the box full of DD stuff.

I left with a book in my hand, embarrassedly, hiding it under my arm.

Chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed Dad Tutorial, I had to take an energy drink to stay awake.

Besides me rambling, I'm really glad you guys liked the first chapter, and I'm hoping I can really put in some time tomorrow to make the next chapter a really good one. Bye everyone!