Hey everyone!
This story is currently in the process of having some chapters rewritten, so for a little bit it'll be on hiatus as they get updated. Either way, strap in for the ride and I hope you enjoy it.
Also, chapters 1 and 2 have been combined for better readability and for more consistent chapter length. Critical information that was incorrect the first time around has been fixed.
If you're a previous reader who's re-reading everything to see what's different, try to spot what I've changed.
Go on, I dare ya.
Naofumi regained consciousness with a pounding headache. 'What just happened?', he wondered as he slowly opened his heavy eyelids. He was brought out of his thoughts by a robed man speaking unusually loudly.
"-we implore you O' Great Heroes! Please use the power within your legendary weapons to defend this world!" The robed man continued to plead, almost as if giving a sermon. The young college student finally sat up, realizing he was laying on the ground. He also found that he was not alone - three other young men were also sitting next to him, all holding their heads and looking about.
As the men stood on their shaky feet, one of the men near him spoke up. "You can't honestly expect us to just help you. You summoned us from our own world without any warning and you tell us to risk our lives? For all we know, you'll abandon us as soon as we save your world. I'm going to need some kind of insurance before I agree to anything."
He was a young man, maybe high-school aged, with dark hair, sharp eyes, and an athletic looking build. Naofumi figured he exercised regularly back in his own world, but his thoughts were put on hold as he noticed the blade in the man's hand.
Looking around, he noticed all of the men near him had some kind of weapon. The shortest of the group, a boy with medium-length blond hair and a strikingly feminine face, was gripping the grip of a bow. The last and most distinct of their little squad was a fairly tall man with long, blond hair in a ponytail and was holding a long spear.
Remembering the story he had been reading before he lost consciousness, Naofumi realized that it could only mean one thing.
'He called us heroes, didn't he? What's going on?' He looked down to see a small gleaming shield affixed to his forearm. It almost seemed to be attached to his arm despite not having any straps or handles.
"Rest assured heroes! You will be properly compensated both during your time here and when you return to your worlds." The robed man couldn't quite hide the twitch of his eye as he spoke. It wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't expecting the Great Heroes to be so defensive.
The blond boy finally spoke. "Very well then; I will hear you out at least. Saving the world can't possibly be that difficult for someone like me." Naofumi noticed the pride in his voice and scowled a bit, both at the boy and at himself for not feeling anywhere near as comfortable as the others seemed to be.
The four men were led through a magnificent castle. Along the way, they stopped at a window overlooking the city. The view was absolutely incredible, like something out of a fairy tale. However, they were rushed by the priests and didn't get much of a chance to admire the scenery.
They eventually arrived at some kind of throne room. On it, sat an old man in gaudy looking robes and a crown upon his head.
"Great Heroes! I welcome you to our great kingdom of Melromarc. I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. I wish to know the names of our saviors, so please, introduce yourselves!" He sat in his throne strongly, giving off an air of both superiority and authority.
The men began to introduce themselves.
The dark haired man is Amaki Ren, a 16 year old high school student.
The short boy is Kawasumi Itsuki, a 17 year old high school student.
The taller man is Motoyasu Kitamura, a 21 year old university student.
"My name -"
"Ren, Ituski, and Motoyasu right?" The king spoke over Naofumi, cutting him off. Irritated by being left out he continued. "King, you're forgetting about me."
"Oh, my apologies. Please introduce yourself, Shield Hero." The king said without a single shred of remorse. His tone made it obvious that he had no interest in the final hero's name. But why?
'He didn't even ask for my name afterward? What an asshole!' thought Naofumi with a barely noticeable scowl. Clearing his throat, he took a step forward to introduce himself.
"I'm Iwatani Naofumi, 20 years old and a university student as well." He said. He took note that the King's eyes were closed and he almost seemed to be ignoring him completely.
'Strange...What's with this guy?'
"Anyway, let me explain our current situation to you." The king remarked, opening his eyes to look at the Heroes. He reiterated what the robed men had said, but with slightly more detail.
The world was under assault by a phenomenon known as 'the waves'. They're large rifts in the sky that appear and spawn increasingly difficult and destructive monsters. How they function or how to truly stop them was unknown, but surviving a wave involved defeating a 'boss monster'. These were typically much stronger than the average opponent, and required a coordinated effort to take down. If left unchecked this single monster alone could cause similar damage to the rest of the wave monsters.
The legends said that the waves could be stopped by the four holy heroes, and that the world would be at peace. There weren't very many details on how they were supposed to stop the waves, however.
'Do we just fight them until they stop? No, that would be far too simple.' Naofumi thought to himself with a hand on his chin in thought. 'There has to be more to it than that, otherwise the previous heroes would have done it already. That's assuming we aren't the first group of heroes to be summoned. They're really not giving us a lot of information to work with here.'
He spared a glance at the other heroes who stood besides him. All of them held stoic faces that barely seemed surprised at the lack of real information about the situation. Feeling a little out of place, Naofumi fidgeted slightly.
"I understand, but don't think for a second that I'm doing this for free. I expect something in return after being brought here without any warning." Ren said confidently. It was as if this whole situation was completely normal for him.
A hunch-backed, grey-haired man with a sharp nose spoke up. "Of course, you will be compensated accordingly after the waves are eradicated." He was obviously one of the King's aides, and the crooked smile he gave did nothing to ease Naofumi's initial impression of the royalty.
"Well as long as you promise, it's fine by me." Motoyasu said flippantly. He didn't seem to be taking this whole situation seriously. Either that, or he was just extremely easygoing. Naofumi wished he could borrow some of that personality so he wouldn't stick out so much.
"That's right. As long as you're being fair, I see no reason to object." Itsuki mentioned, stepping forward slightly.
The King continued. "Wonderful. Now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, I want you all to review your current status."
Naofumi looked back to the King, confused. 'Status? Does he mean like our equipment?' He thought, looking down at his shield in confusion. 'But this thing is pretty much all that I have...'
"Uh, am I the only one who has no idea what that means?" Motoyasu spoke up, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I'm quite confused, myself." Itsuki said.
Ren groaned, as if this entire situation was cumbersome. "You mean you haven't seen it yet? Check the lower corner of your vision. Do you see the little icon there? Focus on it, and that'll bring up your status menu." He seemed very comfortable with this strange situation, even more so than the others. It was almost as if he'd done this before.
After a moment of searching, Naofumi noticed a small icon in the corner of his peripheral vision. He focused on it and immediately a screen popped up in his vision, startling him. It showed all kinds of information, from HP,MP and SP, to things like levels and stats. Curiously, everything was translated into Japanese for him.
It even showed the equipment he had currently in his possession, which was fairly limited.
Otherworldly Clothes
Small Shield
His clothing gave absolutely no bonuses whatsoever, and the Small Shield was pretty skewed in one direction. Although it gave a decent amount of defense, at least for someone at level 1, it gave absolutely no bonuses to his attack stat.
'How am I supposed to do anything with such a pathetic attack stat!? I doubt I would do very much damage with it being in the single digits.' Naofumi thought with his brow furrowed in concern. Without an attack stat, he couldn't fight anything. If he couldn't fight anything, how would he gain experience and level up?
'I need to find a sword or something to use with this shield.' he finally concluded. 'Not that I know how to use one, but you just swing it a certain way and it hurts things, right?'
"You will all be forming separate parties to go on your adventures." Naofumi was shaken from his thoughts by the King's aide.
"Why do we have to be separate? Wouldn't it be smarter to stick together?" It was Itsuki that asked the question, and it was a valid one. 'Strength in numbers' wasn't a famous saying for nothing.
"The Four Cardinal Weapons are unusual in that they prevent the heroes from gaining experience points if they're too close together. Because of this restriction, it's important that you go to different areas to become stronger before the next wave strikes."
Naofumi narrowed his eyes. "That seems like a pretty odd restriction. Is there a reason for it?" he asked, but the aide ignored him.
"I dunno. That's a little weird to me, too." Motoyasu said, scratching his cheek before shrugging. "But if there's nothing we can do about it, we may as well get used to it."
Suddenly, a message popped up in Naofumi's vision.
WARNING: The legendary weapons cannot function properly in close proximity to each other for long periods of time. It is strongly recommended to split up until absolutely necessary to avoid wasted potential.
It was odd for a message like that to just appear out of nowhere, but it seemed to verify what the aide claimed. Deciding to think more on it later, Naofumi looked back at his status menu. Seeing a bunch of his stats, his eyes naturally roamed to the highest and lowest numbers to identify his overall strengths and weaknesses.
'Hmm...My defense isn't bad, and my HP and MP aren't anything to scoff at either. However, that low attack stat is going to be a serious problem if I can't get my hands on something else. Even a pointy stick would do more damage than this, but it's probably because a shield isn't exactly built for offense.'
His thoughts were once more interrupted by the aide. "Don't worry too much about that though, for we're preparing suitable companions for you as we speak. You should all rest and relax in one of the rooms. We will have you ready to go first thing tomorrow morning." The older man finished speaking and immediately a beautiful brunette woman in a flowing dress approached.
"I will take you all to your room. Please follow me." She spoke politely, bowing politely before turning and walking into a hallway.
After a few minutes of navigating the halls of the castle, we were led to a room with four beds where we would be staying the night together. It was fairly large, with a table and chairs for us to sit and chat amongst ourselves. The furnishings were beyond extravagant, obviously made for esteemed guests of the nobility.
"They treat us pretty well for being heroes. That girl that escorted us was pretty cute! And did you see her rack!?" Motoyasu's carefree voice resounded through the room as he plopped down in a chair, spinning it backwards and resting his arms on the back rest.
Naofumi sweatdropped. 'His priorities are obviously more focused on saving girls from their virginities than saving the world from destruction.' he thought, sitting down on another chair
"This world is a lot like Emerald Online. It's like a game and has similar systems, don't you think?" Motoyasu said, looking at the rest of us for confirmation. However, he only received confused looks.
"What are you talking about? It's like Dimension Wave, which is a console game." Itsuki interjected, joining us at the table.
"A console? How outdated is your hardware?" Ren said, crossing his arms as he sat down as well. "Everybody plays VRMMO's these days, and this world is identical to Brave Star Online."
"What the heck is a VRMMO?" Motoyasu said with widened eyes. "You mean like those things in sci-fi movies where you literally become your character and all that? Does it have a helmet and everything?"
The black haired boy nodded. "Basically, yes. Have none of you ever seen one? It's pretty standard these days."
"Are you sure about that?" Naofumi asked. "I thought VRMMO's were like, the type of thing you would read in a manga or something. That sounds super high-tech."
"I've never heard of it either, to be honest." Itsuki admitted.
Motoyasu stood from his place on the bed. "Wells let's agree on something. Everyone knows what an RPG is right?" Everyone agreed, with slight variations on the details.
"Just to be sure, we're all from Japan right?" the blond man asked, and we all nodded. "Who's the current prime minister?" He questioned. Immediately, all four men gave a response that was different than the others.
"Okay...what's the name of a popular j-pop band?"
Again, their answers were completely different. More questions about Japan's history or pop culture were asked, but each one ended with each man giving an answer that contradicted the others. In fact, none of them recognized any of the answers at all.
"I can't believe it. I would have thought we were just from different regions, but it turns out we're from completely different worlds." Naofumi sighed as he slumped into the couch. "Why does it feel like you guys know all about how this works?"
The three gave Naofumi looks of pity. "I don't know how to tell you this, but maybe it has something to do with you being chosen as the shield hero." Motoyasu said. "Everyone knows that shielders are the least experienced player in the game."
"Why do you say that?" the dark haired man asked. "I've played online RPGs before, and defenders are just as important as anyone else."
"I disagree. This world is identical to a game I've played before. Even the setting is the same." Ren said with a shake of his head. "Other classes get such a high attack stat in the late game that shielders can't keep up. Your class is defensive, but other classes can do the same thing even better if someone is skilled."
Itsuki nodded. "He's right. I don't know how to tell you this, but the shielder is a complete noob class. It's only used by people who aren't skilled at the game. Most of the time, other classes can defend just as well if not better than shielders can as long as you know what you're doing."
Naofumi groaned. 'Are they serious!? It's just my luck to get stuck in the crappy class!'
He had always played as either a shielder or a support class in his games. He wasn't much of a glory seeker who wanted to deal as much damage as possible, instead opting for supporting his guildmates and helping them accomplish great deeds. There were times when he dabbled into damage-dealing classes, but his experience in that was severely limited.
Whenever he wasn't assisting his online friends, he was focusing on making money. It was always his goal to make as much capital as possible in the game, so that he could afford the top-tier equipment or materials for him and his guild members. Because of this, most of his experience was actually in dealing with other people rather than the mechanics of the game.
"Whatever. Even if I'm mainly a support-type, I'll figure something out. If I'm lucky, I can find a really fancy weapon that'll make up for my low attack stat." Naofumi said.
"Speaking of which, what is your attack stat Naofumi? We're all level 1, so ours aren't extremely high either." Itsuki questioned, tilting his head slightly, almost like a dog.
Naofumi hummed in thought before responding. "My defense is pretty high, nearly in the triple digits, but my attack is in the single digits..." he trailed off with a frown.
They all nodded in acceptance. "That's to be expected, since you technically don't have a real weapon at all right now." Itsuki replied. "Once you get a sword or something to go with it, it should go up to a reasonable level."
"Agreed. That should be your first priority. Even if it isn't a legendary weapon like ours, it's better than nothing. Your shield should keep you pretty safe, especially early on." Ren said.
Motoyasu stretched his arms above his head. "Luckily, we're all getting companions in the morning to work with us. That takes a bit of the stress off our backs."
Naofumi looked at his right arm, where the Shield rested. The gem inside was a deep green color, but momentarily flashed a deep blue and reverted back. 'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?' he thought, trying to convince himself that he wasn't losing his mind.
"Hey, what colors are the gems in your weapons?" he asked, turning to them. They all raised their eyebrows, but Motoyasu especially looked appalled.
"Are you colorblind? The gems are obviously different based on which weapon it is. That's how they're supposed to be." the blond said, tapping the crimson gem in his spear with his finger.
"But I swear mine just changed from green to blue for a moment."
"Don't be ridiculous." Itsuki said. "The light probably just hit it the wrong way and you thought it was blue."
Naofumi sighed and shrugged. "Alright...whatever, I guess."
"Anyway, let's all head to bed. They didn't say when we would be up tomorrow, and who knows if time is kept the same way here as it does back home." Itsuki said, standing from his seat and stretching. He walked to one of the four beds before laying down on top. "I suppose I'll see you all in the morning. Try to keep it down if you're staying up late."
Ren and Motoyasu soon did the same, leaving Naofumi to lay on his own bed.
'Let's take a look at the help menu. Maybe that'll give me a few pointers on what to do from here.' he thought to himself, opening up the menu and perusing its contents.
After a few minutes, he sighed. 'What the hell? There's barely anything here. Just the basics on how to unlock new shields and some general info that explains what's already in my menu.' Any information about the environment, their mission to stop the waves, or pretty much anything else was missing.
He sighed. 'I guess I'll have to ask plenty of questions tomorrow when I get my party members. Hopefully they'll be able to explain a lot of the stuff that I need to know. If not, I could be in trouble.'
Naofumi looked back at the shield attached to his right arm, examining the weapon with curious eyes. 'What's your story, anyway? All the king said was 'legends say this' and 'legends say that', but that doesn't tell me anything about you or why I was the one chosen to do this stuff. If I'm being honest, you probably picked the wrong guy.' The shield flashed red, as if expressing its displeasure at him.
Shocked, he wondered to himself if the shield itself was alive and sentient, and very shortly after, the gem in the center of Shield switched to a gleaming blue color.
'So you really are alive. Are the other weapons alive too?' he asked, curious. The shield turned blue once more, answering his question. 'But why choose me? Compared to the others, I have absolutely no idea what this place is.' The shield flashed a blazing crimson color for just a moment, then settled into a dark shade of blue.
'Can you teach me how to fight? I'll probably need a lot of help at the beginning.' The Shield slowly turned a dark shade of red. 'Why not?' It turned an even darker shade of red, nearly black now. 'Seriously!? You're kidding me! You're just going to throw me into an unfamiliar place with no help and expect me to survive!?' he thought angrily.
After asking several more questions and receiving no response, Naofumi assumed the Shield was ignoring him now. 'Fine, be that way. Stupid Shield.'
He flinched as a jolt of electricity ran up his right arm. 'Jeez, you don't have to zap me.'
Assuming that he wouldn't receive any more answers tonight, he decided to lean back and close his eyes. Laying down in bed, the events of the day finally caught up to him and he dozed off until the next morning.
King Melromarc sat upon his throne once more, dressed in royal robes similar to the ones he wore the day before.
He looked down upon the four Heroes that stood before him. Each and every one of them looked more comfortable than they had the day before. This included the shield hero, much to his surprise. According to his maids, Naofumi was the least knowledgeable about the world.
That worked fine for him. This country didn't even need the shield hero in the first place.
"Good morning heroes! As promised, I have taken the liberty of assembling the greatest adventurers in our country." He waved his hand in a wide arc, as if showcasing merchandise at a store. "Swordsmen, archers, mages, healers, and many more are available to you."
Naofumi scanned the large group of about fifteen adventurers standing in front of them. All of them appeared to be seasoned fighters and stood with confidence. Their equipment appeared to be decent, but without any other examples for comparison, he could only assume whether they were exceptional or not.
The swordsmen and swordswomen stood straight up. Some had their arms crossed and others had a hand on their hip. No matter how you looked at it, they all seemed to be ready to draw their swords at a moment's notice.
The archers and stealthy types stood lazily about, almost not paying attention to anything going on. But if you looked closely, all of them were searching the room for anything amiss.
The mages actions were varied, with some mouthing chants to themselves silently and others simply standing there.
One woman in particular stood out to him due to her deep red hair color. His eyes were drawn to her because she was beyond beautiful. She and Naofumi locked eyes and she winked at him, causing him to blush.
'Maybe this is my chance! I may not have had much luck with women, but maybe I'll have a better shot since I'm a hero!' he quickly thought, forcing himself to look away. 'I mean...nobody said I couldn't get a girlfriend while I'm here, right?'
As he refocused his attention on the remainder of his possible companions, the King continued his speech.
"However, this may work a bit differently than you're expecting. You don't get to choose your own companions. They get to choose who they are willing to follow." The king waved his hand again, and the adventurers began to walk toward the heroes.
After a moment, all of them had taken a place in a line behind their hero of choice. Motoyasu's group consisted entirely of pretty women, Ren had a good variety of followers, and Itsuki had a small group for himself who looked capable.
Naofumi whipped around and noticed that nobody was standing behind him. "Huh!?" he exclaimed in shock. Nobody wanted to help him!? Not a single person!?
'Wait, this is totally unfair!'
"Hey wait a second! Nobody is willing to be in my group!?" he asked. However, all of the adventurers averted their eyes. "Seriously? I've just got a shield! How am I supposed to handle everything on my own!?"
"Since it appears nobody wishes to follow the shield hero, he will be provided additional funding to procure his party members on his own. As for the rest of you Heroes, are you satisfied with this arrangement?" They nodded, but Itsuki decided to interject.
"Yes, that seems fair."
"I don't see a problem with it." Ren said.
"I'm sure you'll find companions out there, Naofumi! Don't worry too much!" Motoyasu said with an easygoing smile.
"Shield hero, you will be provided a total of 800 silvers as compensation from the kingdom. Since you will need to find suitable companions to aid you on your journey as well as outfit them with appropriate equipment, you should find this amount more than satisfactory. The other three heroes shall receive 500 silvers instead."
Naofumi was stunned. Based on his first impressions, he didn't expect the King to give him any sort of compensation whatsoever, let alone nearly doubling the money he was to receive.
"Actually, your Majesty, I would like to aid the Shield Hero!" A cheery voice rang throughout the throne room. Naofumi turned to his side to see the red haired woman smiling at him. He fought back the blush that tried to resurface. 'Too close! She's even hotter up close!'
"Wait, are you sure?" Motoyasu asked.
"Yes! I couldn't possibly leave him all by himself, so I've changed my mind."
"Is that so?" The King looked at the woman with intrigue. "If that is what you wish. Shield hero, do you accept her as your companion?"
"Sure. I'm sure you already know, but I'm Naofumi Iwatani. It's great to be working with you." He reached out his hand for a handshake. He was unsure if that was a custom in this world as well, but he decided to go for it.
She quickly grasped his hand with her own and shook it rather gently. 'She has soft hands for an adventurer.' Naofumi thought idly. He would have thought it strange that a swordswoman like her would have such soft hands rather than calloused, rough ones, but his mind and heart were both racing from her proximity.
"My name is Myne Sophia. I hope we get along!" she said cheerfully, releasing his hand and standing behind him.
The King stood. "Now that everything is out of the way, you can begin your adventures! Best of luck to you, heroes!"
The heroes quickly got acquainted with their companions before departing the castle.
"Shield hero, we should go straight to the fields to start training so we can level up! There are lots of low level monsters there that should be easy for someone like me to take care of." Myne said excitedly. Naofumi nodded with a smile, assuming that he needed to fight weak monsters to both level up and learn how to actually defend himself in combat.
"Dammit, this is hard! These things don't hurt at all but they're too fast for me to punch them!" Naofumi grunted with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
He and Myne were standing in an open field near the capital. It was home to balloons: small spherical monsters with sharp teeth and a nasty habit of latching on to people and refusing to let go.
Naofumi tried to catch his breath while several balloons decided to gnaw on his limbs. He didn't feel anything besides a small pressure on his body, so he completely ignored them. His HP wasn't decreasing either, so they were effectively harmless to him.
"Your defense stat is high enough to not take damage from their attacks, so they're perfect practice! You need to learn to anticipate their attacks and defend yourself from them. Focus less on killing them and more on not getting hit." Myne instructed. She stood under the shade of a large tree, mindlessly eating a fruit from its branches.
Nodding his head, Naofumi got back to work first by throwing the attached balloons off of himself and swinging his fist at them. Though he managed to hit them, they would often bounce off his fist like a rubber ball before flying around a bit and charging him once more.
After multiple hours of training and only two balloons killed, the pair withdrew to the city to rest. Myne insisted they stop by a blacksmith to purchase themselves better gear, and Naofumi found himself unable to deny her since she looked so pretty when she smiled.
A bell on the door rang as it was opened.
"Welcome to my shop! The name's Elhart, and I'm the blacksmith here. What can I do for ya?" A large, burly man stood behind the counter. He was bearded and bald, with a vertical scar down his left temple. All around the shop were weapons of different shapes and sizes. Off to the side, Naofumi spotted a variety of clothing and armors.
Not responding immediately, a soft hand landed on Naofumi's shoulder. "We should get you some armor to increase your defense even higher! Since I'll be doing most of the damage, I'll also need a better weapon to make up for the fact that you can't do much right now. You can get a basic weapon to start with, but you should make sure you're able to protect the two of us without getting hurt. There's no reason to buy an expensive weapon right off the bat if you'll outgrow it within days."
Naofumi nodded dumbly, suddenly uncomfortable with her hand on his shoulder and her face so close to his own. Her logic was sound, but he wasn't entirely sure how much he should spend on his one and only companion. With 800 silvers to work with, he needed to make it last. Spending too much at once would stunt his growth later on if he couldn't afford an upgrade to his equipment.
That didn't even factor in the cost of food or lodging. His experience as a guildmaster didn't have to factor those things into the budget because it wasn't this realistic!
"Mr. Elhart, we're going to need some armor for both of us and some weapons. He needs something that he can get used to, and I need an improvement on my current blade. It's not bad, but I'm sure someone with your expertise could do much better." Myne leaned slightly on the counter, pressing her assets together in an attempt to make herself seem even more attractive.
The man just blinked. If he was even slightly affected by her attempts at persuasion, he didn't show it. "Alright, let me take a look at your sword first. In the meantime, take a look around at the armor I have on display. You might find something that fits both your size and your budget." Disappointed that he didn't react the way she intended, Myne handed her blade to the blacksmith and proceeded to drag the hero towards the armor section of the shop.
Minutes later, the two of them had chosen their armor. Myne had opted for a battle chestplate and Naofumi had gone with a simple leather jerkin. Naofumi was still unsure of what weapon to choose. 'There are so many options...But if I'm going to have a shield, I may as well use something that I can hold in one hand.' he thought sagely.
Spotting a table with some basic looking swords on it, Naofumi reached down to grasp the hilt of one. As his hand wrapped around the handle, a large jolt of electricity ran through his right arm. He recoiled in shock as the weapon fell from his hand.
"What was that!? Are you trying to rob my store, kid!?" Elhart had come returned from the back of the shop with hands on his hips. Naofumi raised his hands in a placating manner.
"N-no not at all! I tried to pick up one of your swords to see what it felt like, but it flew right out of my hand!"
Not buying the excuse, Elhart scoffed. "Well let's see you do it again. Then I'll know if you're lying to me, boy." Not wanting to aggravate the large, scarred man any further, Naofumi reached for the blade again.
Only to have an even bigger shock run through his arm.
"Agh!" he cried out, grabbing his right arm with his left in an attempt to dull the pain. "Dammit! What's happening?" A message appeared in Naofumi's vision.
WARNING: Heroes cannot wield any weapons other than their legendary weapon.
'So that means I can't use any weapon besides my shield? A shield hardly does much for offense!' he thought to himself before noticing that the gem in the middle of his shield was deep red. 'But why would you keep me from using a weapon? I get that a shield is supposed to defend, but that's awfully one-dimensional don't you think?'
It didn't respond, and he rolled his eyes at it.
"So I guess you weren't lying after all. That's a unique looking shield you got there, so I kinda assumed you were the shield hero. Mind if I take a look at it for a moment?" Elhart asked.
After getting confirmation, he proceeded to take a very close look at the Holy Shield with a magnifying glass. His eyes glowed a bright yellow for a few moments before receding back to their usual brown.
Finally, he sighed and shrugged. "I can't get anything out of it. Even with my appraisal skill being as high as it is, all I can tell is that it's one hell of a shield." Elhart laughed.
Myne looked on with interest, but was more focused on the weapon that the blacksmith had laid on the counter before walking over. "Mr. Elhart, this weapon looks fantastic! How much will it cost?" She said, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Hmm, for you guys I'll give you a package deal. Since you're buying that weapon along with some armor, I'll give it all to you for 400 silvers." He said with his hand against his chin, thinking.
Myne appeared disappointed and sighed. "Our budget was around 300 silvers. Could you go any lower?" She pleaded with the older man, but he stood firm.
"I'm afraid 400 silvers is already pushing it. That sword alone is probably worth somewhere around 250 silvers by itself, and that breastplate is about 150 silvers as well. I'm practically handing the jerkin over for free at this point. Take it or leave it." He stood his ground against the young woman, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
Myne barely looked at Naofumi before responding. "Fine, I guess we'll have to adjust our budget elsewhere. Come on, shield hero! Let's get some dinner at the tavern!" She practically dragged him out of the store with their new equipment.
Noticing that she barely paid attention to his lack of a weapon, Naofumi was growing suspicious. She didn't choose him immediately, yet was willing to help him. She taught him the basics on defending himself, but was more interested in using his allotted funds to shop for herself rather than the good of the party.
'Something about this doesn't seem right. I get that she's more used to this world than I am, but it feels like I'm just being told what to do.' Naofumi thought warily. He kept his eyes on the red haired woman but found it difficult to stay mad at her for any period of time. Even if her mannerisms kept him on edge, she was the closest thing he had to a guide in this unfamiliar world.
Arriving at the inn, the pair sat down at an unoccupied table to grab a meal and relax.
"This was a great first day, shield hero! We got some new equipment, defeated some monsters and learned some basics on fighting. Now we get to celebrate with a nice drink and some good food." Myne waved down a server.
Naofumi had no idea how to read this world's language, so he had to defer to Myne's recommendation on what to eat. After they ordered, the redhead requested a bottle of fine wine. Within minutes, the server returned with a bottle of dark wine and two glasses.
Not even thanking the waitress, Myne poured a glass of wine for herself and one for Naofumi. He looked around, still amazed at the activity within the tavern. Servers bustled back and forth, bringing food and drinks to customers. Rowdy drunks stood in the corners and near the doorway, heckling passersby and especially the pretty women. Some shady individuals stood in the dark corners of the room, shrouded by dark clothing and hoods to conceal their identities.
He was brought out of his sightseeing when the glass of wine was pushed closer to his end of the table by Myne. He looked at the glass and back to the beautiful red haired woman. "Oh sorry, I'm a bit distracted. There's a lot going on here. But yeah, today wasn't too bad for the first day. I can see why it should be defended from the waves. It's a beautiful town, and I can only imagine what the rest of the world looks like."
Myne giggled at his child-like innocence. "The country of Melromarc is quite beautiful. What say you and I have a toast to a long lasting partnership?" She raised her glass, intending for him to clink it with his own.
"Sorry but...I don't drink." Naofumi slid the glass back toward the center of the table. Myne's face fell immediately and he regretted putting it so bluntly, but he had his reasons.
"You know, most men would never in their lifetime refuse a drink from a woman. Come on, it's just one bottle. It's not going to hurt you." However, the hero shook his head.
"I understand, but I have personal reasons why I don't drink anymore. It's just not my thing." In reality, it was impossible for him to get drunk. He wasn't sure if he was born with some immunity to alcohol or if his tolerance was just absurdly high, but no matter how much he drank he never felt a thing.
After a while, he swore off drinking entirely. It was a huge waste of money and time, and half of the time the liquor didn't even taste good.
The two settled into a companionable silence, exchanging a few words about the world and people nearby. Soon enough, their food arrived and Naofumi placed his hands together with his silverware while saying "Thank you for the food".
Myne looked at him with curiosity. He dove into his meal with gusto, and his eyes lit up as he chewed. Swallowing his first bite, he exclaimed "This is incredible! Is all the food in this world this delicious!?" She laughed at his excitement. If nothing else, it was contagious.
"Not everything tastes this good, but this is pretty standard here. The taverns in the capital keep the quality of their food fairly high." she answered, slowly eating her own meal.
After several minutes, both of them had finished their meals and it was beginning to get dark.
"I just, um, wanted to say thanks for joining me. I don't know what I would have done all by myself. I probably would have gotten lost getting out of the castle." Naofumi laughed while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Myne giggled and placed her hand on his arm affectionately.
"It's no problem! I'll always be here for you, shield sero." Her eyes were practically closed from how much she was smiling, and Naofumi got that itch the back of his head again. 'For some reason, that just sounds...odd. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I wouldn't expect someone I just met to pledge their loyalty for any long period of time.'
Deciding it was time to think alone for a bit, Naofumi retired to his room for the night a bit early. He told Myne that he wanted to be up fairly early to start his next day. He also said he would make it up to her for not having a drink with her on their first day.
As he walked away, he didn't notice her smile shift into a dark smirk.
Naofumi shut the door to his room quietly. Despite the amount of noise coming from the tavern downstairs, he still didn't want to disturb any of the other guests.
He began to mutter to himself. "Alright, I understand a little about fighting but not much. I didn't even gain a level today because I was too busy trying to block balloons. Unless I kill one, I don't get any experience points." He mumbled dejectedly. "Am I really expected to just defend? I get that I have Myne to fight for me, but it just feels...wrong. I'd feel much more comfortable having a weapon at least."
A small jolt from his right arm was the only response.
'You really don't like me talking about that, do you?' The gem glowed blue in affirmation. 'Why can we not use any weapons other than the holy weapons? There's got to be a reason why, otherwise it just sounds like an excuse to screw me over.' The gem faded from blue to a dull grey. Uncertain of what to make of that response, Naofumi mentally asked another question.
'Are all the other weapons this restrictive, or just you?'
He immediately received a massive shock that made him cry out in pain. The gemstone burned a bright red that outshined the evening sun coming through the window. After a few moments, the electricity faded and he shook off the feeling of needles in his hand.
'Okay...That doesn't really answer my question, but I'm going to assume the answer is yes.' The gem faded back to its usual green. 'Note to self, don't piss off legendary weapons.'
Deciding it was time to sleep, Naofumi removed his leather jerkin and placed it on the chair beside his bed. He stripped down to his outerwear to sleep in, but not before folding his other clothes neatly into his pack, which he had purchased at a nearby general store.
Finally, he took the pouch which contained his coins and split the amount into many small groups. After totalling them up, he counted 380 silvers remaining. 'That's less than half of my money gone in a single day. I better be a lot more stingy with my money from now on. I can't afford to go bankrupt in a few weeks of being in this world.'
He took the stacks of coins and hid them underneath his pillow. Call it paranoia, but if someone came in to rob him while he was asleep, he wanted to make sure he wasn't doomed. He was a heavy sleeper, after all. His brother, Jun, was able to sneak into his room and play an otome game without him noticing on more than one occasion.
Deciding to test his shield's ability to absorb things, he dropped a silver coin into it. It vanished in an instant, and he saw that a currency counter appeared in his inventory menu. Wanting to make sure he could retrieve it when necessary, he mentally asked for the money to be withdrawn. In an instant, the silver coin reappeared in his hand as if it had never left.
'Huh...may as well put it all in there just to be safe. I doubt anyone can steal it from me like this. I wonder how it works, though. Is it like...a special dimension in my pocket? Is there a limit to how much I can hold in there?' he thought to himself before shrugging. 'Oh well. I doubt I have enough stuff on me to fill it up anyway.'
Peddler's Shield: conditions met
A message appeared in his vision, telling him he'd unlocked a new shield somehow. Looking in his menu, a new tab appeared labeled Shields. When he pulled it up, a massive web of interconnected circles showed up. They all connected in some way to the Small Shield, which was the default shield in the very center.
Each circle had an empty nameplate for the shield and nearly all of them were colored grey with a lock on them, indicating that he had not unlocked them yet. Only two were a different color. Small Shield, the one he currently had equipped, and Peddler's Shield, the new one he must have picked up by absorbing the silver coins.
Focusing on the Peddler's Shield circle, nothing happened at first. However, he tried simply thinking the name of the shield. Suddenly, the shield on his arm glowed before being replaced with a metal vambrace. It looked less like a shield and more like a metal covering for one's forearm. It was much more subtle than his Small Shield, which could come in handy if he ever needed to go undercover.
Going back to his menu and taking another look at the Peddler's Shield, he saw something written below the shield's name.
Peddler's Shield: ability locked
Equip Bonus: defense 2
It appeared to just be a passive increase to his defense stat, which would be helpful if he unlocked a ton of shields early on. Later, though, it would probably stop being quite as effective compared to upgrading existing shields.
Assuming he even could. There was nothing in his help menu related to upgrading what he already had, so he wasn't even sure if that was possible. He made a mental note to ask the other heroes the next time he saw them.
Exhausted from a full day of adventuring and overthinking his situation over and over, Naofumi drifted off to sleep.
Who knew being a hero felt like such a job?