"Wh-what happened," I muttered to myself as I rubbed my head and when I opened my carmine coloured eyes, I was in what appeared to be a dark room with several lit torches and wax candles, somehow giving off a cold and detached feeling.
I then felt some weight in my left which was a spear that was a white colour with golden details, a ruby red gem that radiates power and is surrounded by a dark steel blade. All in all, a fine-looking spear.
"Oh, great heroes, please save our world." I heard a voice pleading. I then turned around to see what I presumed to be a priest with several knights by his side.
"Now I'm sure you have several questions about this, but in short. You four are the chosen cardinal heroes chosen to save our world from the waves of calamity." The priest continued, giving me little time to convey what he is saying.
"Wait, what?" I heard a voice beside me, so I turned around to see a black-haired man with bright green eyes, and with a face of a Japanese man, wearing a green hoodie, and had a bright silver shield with a green gem on his right forearm that radiated power, like my spear.
Before I could speak out my mind, someone already beaded me to the punch.
"You can't honestly expect us to just help you? You have summoned us without any warning, and you tell us to risk our lives." The speaker was another black-haired Japanese man with cold blue eyes and was wearing a blue collared jacket with a black turtleneck underneath. He was also wielding a weapon, although it was a white sword with two blue gems and gold detailing.
"And even if you send us home when the job is done, that's basically just using us as slave labour, you know?" A soft-spoken voice continued on from the sword-wielding boy which belonged to a pale blond kid with a perm hairstyle and was wearing a green blazer with a white dress shirt underneath. He was also wielding a weapon, a white bow with an amber gem in front of the handle and gold highlights.
Wow, it's almost like there is a theme for the weapons.
The priest spoke up once more with a small twitch in his eye. "Rest assured heroes! You will be properly compensated for both your time here and when you return home."
Once the priest finished speaking to us four, I turned my head to the blonde-haired kid and the blue-eyed man, while giving off one of my infamous glares.
"Oi, amadán," I called out to the sword-wielding boy and blonde-haired kid who looked at me with a curious glance. "I know that we have been summoned without our permission, but we need to hear the people out and see what we can do to help these people out of this predicament. And like what the priest has said, we will be compensated for our efforts." I finished off giving the two kids a serious look.
The sword boy gave a quiet scoff and replied with "Fine, but my demands won't change." and the blonde-haired kid nodding with a glare.
"Yeah, Yeah, whatever you say, dipshit," I muttered while rolling my eyes at the sword-wielding brat.
And like that, the three heroes and I moved along with the priest out of the basement. We were led to a magnificent castle with stone walls, and the air reminds me of the countryside back home.
As I put my hands into my slack pockets, I felt a tap on my shoulder, only to see the shield-bearer. I just raised an eyebrow as he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner.
"Sorry about that, it's just I'm surprised that your Japanese is quite good." He said causing me to give him a look.
I know I get most of my looks from my dad, but really?
"And how did you come to that conclusion; may I ask?" I snarked to the hoodie-wearing boy, causing him to look alarmed and raised his hands in a defensive manner.
"Sorry about that! I didn't mean to come of like that! It's just that you look like a businessman from another county." He explained, gesturing to my dark suit and red dress-shirt that I was wearing.
"Of course. Just so you know for future reference, I'm from Ireland and have lived in Kyoto for a while." I explained to the shield bearer, causing him to nod.
"That explains the accent. From my end, you have a Kansai dialect." He stated.
I just nodded my head as the two of us followed the priest and the other two boys.
As I looked around, the buildings definitely reminded me of the castles I sometimes explored with Kiera and her boyfriend.
Heh, good times.
-Time Skip-
When we finally reached the audience chamber of the castle, we were greeted by an old man with long, grey hair and goatee, a gold crown on his head and expensive-looking robes.
"Greetings heroes, and welcome to our kingdom of Melromarc. I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. I would like to know your names please" the king introduced himself.
And one by one, almost like clockwork, all four of us introduced ourselves.
"My name is Ren Amaki, age 16 and I'm a high schooler." the sword boy introduced himself as he moved the blade of his weapon into his open palm in an attempt to look cool.
"I guess I'm up next. My name is Itsuki Kawasumi, I'm still in high school and I am 17 years old." the blonde-haired kid spoke up with confidence while giving a bow to the king.
"Anyways, names Thomas Anders, I'm 21, and I'm both a freelancer and a university student," I announced, giving a smirk, and cracking my knuckles, resulting in an echo throughout the area.
"Ah, that just leaves me then. I'm Naofumi Iwatani, and I'm a 20-year-old university student." The shield-wielding boy introduced himself while rubbing the back of his head.
What a coincidence, three out of four heroes are from Japan, although my mother was Japanese, but does that really count?
Eh, who gives a shit about race, as long as we get the work done.
"Hmmm, I see. Ren, Itsuki and Thomas, eh?" the King continued, while blatantly ignoring Iwatani.
While I do find that a bit odd, factoring in the king's age, it shouldn't be a surprise he might occasionally forget something like a name or what.
That or the king is secretly a massive cunt. Either works.
"Ah, king. You kind of forgot about me." Iwatani replied albeit somewhat nervously. Then again, if the king were like anyone from the magistrates' court, I would be an absolute fucking train wreck.
"Oh, my. My sincerest apologies...Naofumi." Was all the king said, and it did sound like the king had something crawl up his ass and died, considering he was polite to Amaki, Kawasumi and myself, but didn't when it came to Iwatani?
Fucking weird, let me tell ya.
After the introductions, the king had explained why us four where summoned and it all boils down to a prophecy about the world's complete destruction by the waves of calamity and the four cardinal heroes being summoned to stop those waves. Another interesting fact about the waves is that they worked in monthly intervals, so we had just under a month to get ready for the next one.
Well, all four of us definitely had our work cut out for us but sounds like an experience like no other.
"Now, if everybody could please confirm their statuses?" Huh? What does the king mean by 'Statuses'? it sounded like something from Final Fantasy or Yakuza Online.
"Umm... how do we do that, exactly?" Kawasumi asked in a timid tone to the king and before the king could reply, Amaki had decided to reply to the question that both Kawasumi and I were having.
"What, you guys didn't notice it the moment you got here?" Amaki seemed genuinely shocked that we didn't notice it before, but after having a look in my vision, I saw a small icon on the lower right corner of my vision.
"Hay, Amaki. Are you perhaps talking about the small icon in the lower corner of your vision?" I questioned the sword hero with him nodding his head and replying with "Yeah, that one. Just focus on it."
I did what Amaki recommended and focused on the icon and then my vision looked exactly like a status screen from an RPG like Final Fantasy.
Thomas I. Anders
D.O.B: 26/03/98
Class: Spear Hero Lv. 1
Equipment: Legendary Spear (Sealed), Stylish Suit
Skill(s): Martial Arts
Magic: None
Huh, that's quite neat, and 'martial Arts'?
Must've been my fighting capabilities from all the brawls I got into or my incomplete training with my mother's side of the family.
From the gasps of the other heroes, probably just unlocked the main menu. After taking a quick browse again, I saw something that was somewhat worrying, and I guess the others have seen the main issue.
"So, we are all level 1 then?" I spoke out with the other heroes nodding.
"Being at such a low level makes me uneasy." Kawasumi voiced out his opinion while biting his nails with the other two heroes voicing out their opinions about the issue.
"Hey, it's better than having nothing at all." I commented, getting some nods from the younger heroes.
The king then spoke up after seeing Kawasumi's confusion.
"Ah, about that. We would like you four to go on a journey to strengthen your weapons and polish your skills with said weapons." Was all he said.
So, standard Isekai shit at this point?
I then leaned my spear into the crook of my elbow while placing my hands into my slack pockets and looking at the king directly.
"So, how do you suppose we do that? Oh, wise king?" I asked, eyeing the members infront of us.
The king sighed before looking me in the eye.
"Unfortunately, I do not know. All I am doing is simply relating the contents of the legend. It is written that 'the summoned heroes will grow stronger and strengthen their weapons,'" the king explained to us.
I just clicked my tongue before placing a firm grip onto the legendary spear, feeling a sense of comfort from the weapon.
"Talk about a pain in the ass problem. But we'll persevere onwards." I commented, getting a few nods from both the heroes and a few of the nobles.
"Well then, I guess then we need to focus on getting stronger for the waves since we only have a month until the next one and if what the king said is to be true, it's going to be worse than the last one." I added on as I straighten out to my full height of 185 cm.
'Well then, should all four of us party up until we get stronger." Iwatani proposed to Amaki, Kawasumi and I.
"Just wait a minute, heroes." I heard a voice and what I assume to be some sort of minister for the king before us four heroes could have the possibility of teaming up. "The four of you are to are to get companions individually and separate, then set off on your own separate journeys."
Hmm, odd.
"Oh, and why is that?" Kawasumi questioned the minister who shook his head, like a parent to their child.
"It's quite simple. According to legend, the weapons you carry naturally repel each other. Should you operate together as a group, you will do nothing but impede each other's growth." The minister clarified for us.
How in Gods name does that work? And why?
"So, what you are basically saying is that we can't get stronger if we are together?" I questioned the minister who nods at my question.
That is so fucking specific, but I've seen weirder, like the Gondawara clan in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Then a pop-up appeared in my vision.
Caution!
Working together with your fellow legendary weapon holders will be detrimental to your progress. Please try to operate separately as much as possible.
"well, it looks like it's the real deal," I commented, rubbing my temples, specifically my left temple, with my fingers.
"So then, we need to gather companions, I guess?" Iwatani gave his two cents.
With trying to recruit allies, I wouldn't mind with forming pacts with monsters or demons, though with humans I might be a bit iffy about it, I can put up with it and hopefully make good friends out of who I party up.
"On the contrary, we will gather companions for you - the best of the best, have no worries. However, the day grows late. For now, rest yourselves and gather your strength. Your journey begins tomorrow." The minister spoke out.
"Thank you" Kawasumi gave his thanks
"Yeah, thanks for the help, wise king." I gave my thanks as I put one of my hands into my slack pocket while having my spear leaning on my shoulder.
A girl with brown hair in a pixie-cut came up, dressed like a maid, and spoke to us.
"We have arranged some rooms for the four heroes to use. Allow me to take you four there." The maid said as she began to lead us to our new arrangements.
"Thanks for the explanation, king," I stated as I followed after the maid, with the other three following behind me.
So, let's see what this world has in store for me.
Authors note: so, this is my fanfic for one of my favourite light novels turned anime; The rising of the shield hero. Now, I'm mostly going to stick to canon with a few changes here and there, mainly because Thomas replaces Motoyasu Kitamura from the original works.
And also, Malty won't get involved with Thomas as I already have his party planned out.
Also, if you see any common spelling mistakes or bad gaps of quality, just let me know as I can't improve myself, but try to keep it constructive.
So, anyway, see ya in the next update of this story.
Edit: This chapter has been edited.
