A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero
Note 2:
("Human/Speech")
("Thoughts")
(Attacks/Weapon names)
(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)
(Actions/POV)
(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)
(Narration & Everything else)
('Inhuman Speach')
("Inhuman Thoughts")
Hero And Fighter Chapter 26
Ifrit Hotspring Inn: Private Men's Bath 15
6/21/0000: 1800
Third Person: Omni
"How are you doing little miss shadow?" Naofumi asked as the floating platter of alcoholic drinks float lazily on by, it was not like either of them would try to drink it, it would do nothing to him and she was a trained professional that wouldn't drink on the job unless needed, alcohol loosened tounges after all.
"I am doing well Sir Shield Hero." She states as the drink floated on by her, her serious tone and formal way of speaking showcasing her subservience. Naofumi took a quick glance to make sure that she was covered enough not to embarrass both of them to the one in the trees. She was indeed covered by a towel and the standard shadow mask that they use.
"Not to be rude, but what does the queen want?" Naofumi asked while leaning back into the rocks, she was here during a relaxation trip in the first place, so he was slightly annoyed, but not enough to totally discount her and be uncourteous, he was not ungrateful for the queen's interference. He motioned for her to be careful with her words.
"The queen has been delayed due to foreign dignitaries being outraged by the treatment of the shield hero." She states, making sure not to give too much away in the conversation that they would have, she knew that she would have to talk to him about the specifics at a later date.
"Right then… I will make sure to take care of the country for her… It is the least that I can do for her." He said, confirming his affiliations for the moment, all three people of the hot spring knew he was putting on airs to not reveal his full hand, but his words still heald quite the wight.
"I take my leave." She states before fading into the shadows of the night lit by lanterns around the males' Hot Springs, never once showing off her body to him. He could only sigh as he leaned back, waiting for both of the girls to leave, though he felt they kept their eyes on him constantly.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
Ifrit Hotspring Inn: Private Female's Bath 15
6/21/0000: 1800
"I want to go to Master…" Filo said while doing backstrokes in the hot water, very much the same as when she was in a stream. She had learned to be in her human form for activities such as these early on.
"No mixed bathing for you." Melina chuckled, back in her regular child-like form, she had been in her Treena transformation for the past week as they were dealing with persons not part of the group, she enjoyed being in that form sure, but there were such things as limits to her enjoyment.
"Well, I am going now!" She pouted as she got to the edge of the pool, Raphitalia quickly swam over to her and tried to keep the bird inside of the hot water. Melina broke out into laughter at the sight, all it has been lately was stress and a sense of fulfillment.
"Filo, No. You are not going to be bothering Naofumi-sama today!" She kept the girl within the water, not even thinking about how hard Filo could kick her off, though the bird herself didn't even acknowledge it as an option, harming her sister is something grave to her.
"Is this what you have to deal with daily?" Tia said in Eclair's head, currently only visible to the ones that occupied the mental space within the knight's head, she was sitting in the water as well, her long hair dipping into the water as she relaxed on the stones.
"Indeed." Eclair scratches her cheek as she said it though, tonight's entertainment consisted of Raphitalia and Filo acting like bickering sisters. Ellen nodded in agreement with her other self. It was quite a pleasant sight for Senka, who was just floating on the water without a care.
"So, how did he meet you?" Rino asked the knight. They both had learned the general events behind the other girls' inclusion into the party. But for each other, since Naofumi never really spoke about it in the first place, they did not know how the other came into the party, even with Eclair being there when Rino joined the party.
"Well, to be honest, it was quite a surprise to find him in front of the bars of my prison," Eclair said with a sigh, the only other person that truly knew besides herself and Naofumi was Melina, though the battlemage would not really talk about it either.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Lute Village
5/31/0000: 1700
"Hello, you must be Eclair…" Naofumi's gruff voice spoke through the bars and into the cell of the disgraced knight. The voice of the male caused her to press further into her legs, making sure not to take a look at him.
"What do you want?" There was a few seconds of silence before she spoke. Her voice was calm, emotionless even, as she spoke up loud enough for him to hear. Naofumi leaned on the wall opposite of the bars, taking care not to make any huge amounts of loud noises.
"Considering that you were one of the ones that were to be my companions, I would say actually doing damage to opponents." Naofumi sarcastically responded, at that sentence, she immediately looked to her left, right at the young man leaning on the wall. He did not look like a stereotypical hero at all… but it was not like she was the most common of knights either.
"..." They both fell silent as they felt something link them… though to Naofumi, he felt something similar the first time that he had seen Melina at the summoning of heroes. The thing that made him notice her plight… even when he was in a situation that he shouldn't have been in.
Cough "Right, so your Eclair Seaetoo right?" Naofumi felt that the silence and staring would not get them anywhere, coughing into his hand to disrupt it. With his words, she also snapped out of the slight daze that both of hersleves were in. Though Ellen quickly clasped her hands in prayer as she kneeled and stabbed the tip of her imaginary blade into the ground.
"Yes. And you must be the Legendary Shield Hero…" She said while standing up, holding her right arm as she did so, she still felt the missing weight of not having a sword on her belt… though not being in armor was not helping in that matter, it just didn't feel comfortable… though that was not saying much when she was a knight's daughter, who lived in luxury for a good portion of her life.
"Bah, if we are going to be party members, It would be best to call me Naofumi or your own nickname… it is not like they use it alone…" Naofumi said, he already had 3 different ways the girls addressed him… though Melina switched so often, he wondered just where she found all those nicknames.
"Right…" She just thought for a second… though nothing came to mind at the moment. Though Ellen decided to say Father at this moment, causing her to blush slightly at what she thought was a sudden suggestion for what to call him. She was silent for a significant amount of time to both of them.
"But I failed you." She responds, getting a handle on her embarrassment, she had not talked to a male her age in quite a while when not in a formal context. It was not like she knew how to manage and converse with others, she was just a knight after all.
"You did not fail me… someone conspired to doom both of us." He states, he knew that if he had not foiled the plans, that she would be in a far worse position than now, the world would have lost two vital components for its continued survival.
"But if you really want to try and make up for something that I won't blame you for…" Naofumi offered his hand to her, walking close to the bars, far enough so that she would be able to reach through the bars and hold his hand for this moment.
"..." She was silent once more, still kneeling as she looked up at that hand, even with his clothes being modeled after a bandit king's, he looked every bit of royalty to her at that moment.
"I offer my blade to you… If that is what you would allow, Sir." She states, standing up to take only a few steps before kneeling, this time infront of him and holding his hand through the bars. Naofumi went with the flow as she followed the proper instructions that were pounded into her head from birth and the word and example of Ellen.
"Fight for me and this world. Stand Eclair Seaetto, for our fates have intertwined." Naofumi spoke these words without any input from his conscious mind, it was as if the shield was directing him in the conversation between them. A quick flash of the screen in his vision told him something strange.
"Oath confirmed, Binding Subordinate" A feminine voice spoke to both of their minds, it was distinct in lacking emotions to anyone unfamiliar to the shield. To Naofumi though, he could hear a bit of emotion behind those words. With every word the legendary weapon spoke, Naofumi could hear a slight rise in emotion.
"What even was that…" Naofumi said after the voice faded, in the corner of his own vision was the same list of people in his party, and as he expected from her giving that oath, her name was listed there, but it instead had a shield behind a sword compared to the chains representing Raphtalia and Filo's status to him. It was similar to the one he had with Melina.
"Why is that in the corner of my vision…" She said, suddenly standing while moving her head around and shifting her eyes. Even closing her eyes did not make the status icon disappear. Right below her name was Naofumi, then three other names she didn't know.
"I can actually interact with it… fun" Ellen said while somehow clicking it in Eclair's sight, showcasing several boxes with nothing on it, tapping it twice, and bringing open Naofumi's status screen. Thankfully for her purity, Naofumi wore his full clothes on screen.
"I am level… 30?" She questioned the number, she knew that she did not experience much combat with even monsters, not to mention humans either. She felt that her level was somewhere in the mid-twenties, but it was surprising to see not just her level, but a progress bar right under her name, along with two other bars.
"...Why do I have Status Magic?" Naofumi was confused at the fallen noble girl as she sat cross-legged on the floor, not even a cloud of dust being kicked up in the process and questioning herself. It was an unprecedented thing, even in the context that involved the Legendary Heroes.
"... the only real things that could have influenced it are you Ellen, and Sir Naofumi." She said to the audience of two, one being herself and the confused Naofumi who perked up at hearing the name Ellen.
"Now that I think of it… you look a lot like Ellen," Naofumi said while rubbing his chin, though it did nothing to snap Eclair out of her thoughts, though it did get the attention of Ellen, though she herself could not see due to sharing the senses of her alternative self.
"Right then… No sense in leaving you here when you are already in my party." Naofumi said with a sigh, he passed the thought quickly through his mind, getting it back on track of what he needed to do today and in particular right now.
"Eclair, get up, we are leaving." Naofumi immediately noticed her still contemplating the meaning of having status magic on par with the heroes. She was not a hero, and definitely not a legendary hero.
"Hai." She stood up in attention when he spoke, back straight and a focused stare directed at him. To Naofumi, it was a little bit unnerving, though it was nothing when in comparison to Senka's stoic gaze.
"But Sir Naofumi… How will you get me out?" She knew that he would not bend the bars to just get her free, it would leave even more material for the king to use against him. Naofumi just smiled while spinning a set of keys on his index finger.
"Senka got this for me." He remarked with a smile, it was surprising how well Sekna could feign emotions when all he really knew was her regular stoic self. Why she did not do so when she was being mistreated as a slave was the question.
"I am guessing that Senka is one of your party members?" While she heard quite a bit due to loose-lipped guards, it was not very much about the supposed shield demon… well anything that had any truth behind it.
"Indeed." He confirmed while placing finding the right key to the lock, keeping an even pace, otherwise, he would just fumble and cost them even more precious time.
"You are now free." He said as the door swung open, he was betting that the guard was still knocked out, though they framed like he just fell asleep at his post, it would still be strange for him to witness the Shield Hero and a prisoner escaping.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
Ifrit Hotspring Inn: Private Female's Bath 15
6/21/0000: 1800
"That explains it," Rino said, though a lot of the story was abridged by Eclair to save face, it did not sound good to have another person talking inside of your head besides telepathy. That, and the still unsolved mysteries, she knew that Rino would not be staying in their party.
"Though, how did it go with the other girls?" Eclair sighed, it was indeed a situation that got Melina laughing. She was quite surprised at the mage transforming to her child self right infront of her. But in all, despite being another girl that Naofumi recruited, the girls that did have an attraction to him did not kick up too much of a fuss after hearing her situation.
"Well… probably not the worst integration into the party… especially now that those two are far more active in pursuing Sir Naofumi," Eclair said with a sigh, the pair had started splashing each other.
Number Of Words: ~2500
Date Completed: 6/19/2021
Note: Sorry this took such a long time from the rest, I have had a lot of stuff keeping me busy for June, and this is the only chance I have to be home for the rest of the month and leary July. But, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Review Cove:
FFN:
Drcaus: Naofumi harem
Female slayer
Knight
Priestess
Response: Well, if that is what you think it would be… but I am a fan of developing something larger.
Guest: So Eclair is a female knight, more specifically, a dragon knight? It makes sense considering her hair and being a knight. With her on Naofumi's side, he would have an army of powerful dragons and, if possible, Gaelion. The only downside is trying to break up a fight with Filolials and Dragons because they are more important things than their rivalry.
Response: Technically, Eclair is all the of the Knights yet none of them at the same time. It is a little inspiration that I took from the Knight's backstory of having multiple versions of herself and synchronizing with a parallel self. (And well, Eclair already had the hair of the Knight) Eclair is trying to synchronize with the knights, but each one takes a specific condition to unlock, much less synchronize with. Think of her as one of the more experienced knights that could have synchronized with the Knight on Ariad. As for the dragon hatred from the filorial side, well, Tia's dragons have no idea since Ariad has no filorial's to have this relationship with.
Demonicrebel: (On chapter 14) I honestly have no idea what just happened. Everything was going pretty good and then all of a sudden a random dude from another game/anime/one of your fanfics shows up out of nowhere. Like this is just weird. I thought Naofumi came from a normal world with Dungeon Fighter Online as a game, now you tell me he is friends with a dude that can just travel across dimensions. LIKE WHAT! where the hell did this come from. this upends everything in this world. like why is Naofumi just casually friends with a dude that is strong enough to help in the Wave but he is just a normal dude. HOW DOES ANY OF THIS WORK? WHY WOULD NAUFUMI JUST BE A NORMAL DUDE IF HE COMES FROM A WORLD LIKE THAT? I honestly don't know why you randomly decided to add this stuff in because it just undermines the world that you've built. I understood having people from other games show up in ROTSH world, I even get that they legitimately came from another universe that was game and Naofumi had knowledge of that game. But now it is just a mess. Good job on everything else so far and I gonna keep reading and hopefully this rarely shows up again cause it just seems kinda like you wanna throw in your other protag from another fanfic like "look at my awesome character guys", especially since the only indication of this stuff being apart of your world is the use of Des in earlier chapters where, since there was no explanation, i just assumed was a guy naofumi knew who played video games. Again, honestly the story has been great so far and this is my only criticism due to it feeling so forced, unnecessary and detrimental to the logic of the world you created. Have a great one.
Response: First off, I would like to note that Naofumi having a phone that functions in the parallel world would be strange when you really think about it. The phone that he has on him from the start is far more high-tech than that time period should have, especially the memory sticks inside of his backpack having such a high capacity.
I always intended for all my fanfictions to be connected, and all of them can be since every last one of them save for The Hase Jager (Yet) has had transportation between universes. (Something that is very obvious from my first, now abandoned, fic)
In fact, Shield Hero works with crossing universes in canon already. I, from the start of Hero And Fighter, have intended for Desmond to show up in some capacity. Desmond Howard, as of current, is the only character of mine that can transport between universes willingly, though he himself can't. There is a reason why I said mentioned Okina and Yukari, both of them being the ones who can transport him to a very limited degree.
And in my fics, I like giving reasons why canon did not play out. The variable that changed Naofumi's world was Desmond influencing the games market, otherwise, DFO would not have existed in Naofumi's world, in my mind at the very least. I never thought of including Desmond as a token cameo of another story's protagonist, he will be important, and his actions and creations are important, but he can only really be in Raphatalia's world during Waves anyway. Will there be a build-up as to the reasons why he is doing these things? Yes. Yes, there will, it will take a little while though.
Ao3:
Phara_mine: So the dragon and filorial in the same party sibling rivalry/hatred is coming and I like it.
This flashback with Eclair was confusing the best way I'm able to imagine it is typical angel and demon talk on your shoulders from cartoons.
Now what queen wants or is this shadow just wanted to sneak peak on our shielder?
All ships already, not bad. And here's me building the bare minimum for daily tasks and then getting the rest at the last day of the event.
Response: Yeah, it is going to be a good dynamic to work with.
Yeah, that is why I decided to Tia, Lightbringers and Dragon Knights just look to have that dynamic to me.
The shadow is tasked with observing Naofumi constantly… though it is not like she is complaining about it.
Yeah, I have been lucky for all my events in getting ships.
Roxxaneloll: I'm really getting into the story even the this is the first chapter I think i'm bad with memory TvT
Response: Glad you enjoy it.