"How about for 2 copper coins!" The kid across the counter stated, flicking two coins between each finger like he's doing a magic trick.
"It was funny the first time, this time it's just annoying." The protagonist stated.
"Aww..." They said walking away.
'Honestly, you can't even buy an apple for 2 copper let alone 1. Who does that kid think he is?'
You may be wondering, "Hey! What's going on here?"
So here's the story:
Weeks Earlier
"I have completed the ritual!" A man cried to the heavens.
The area around him was rusty and quite dark. It looked as if it were just somebody's basement. Several other men and women standing in a half circle in front of him passed out from exhaustion. He expected that for some sort of ritual, they'd be wearing dark robes and a fancy golden sheen lacing their clothes. It seemed like he was wrong. They appeared to be normal medieval townsfolk with only one of them wearing anything related to magic.
"Welcome, Cardinal Hero!" The one in the blue magical robe stated.
He spied the people behind the robed one carry the passed out ones out of the room.
"Cardinal what? Like the bird, or..." The protagonist asked.
"Nonono!" He waved a finger back and forth. "You're one of the heroes! Spear- No that's not you... Shield? No... Sword?"
He felt around his pockets.
"No swords in my pants."
"Bow? You have to have a bow somewhere." Desperation seemed to be the only emotion showed in the man's voice.
He checked his pockets again.
"No bow in my pants."
"Well what are you?! Did we just summon some random guy?!"
He checked his pockets again. He felt something this time, but it wasn't an object, but his own hand had something wrong with it.
"I got a weird jewel in the center of my hand."
In his palm was a strange jewel embedded in his skin.
"The... HAND HERO?!"
Timeskip
"A new hero ya' say...?" The village elder asked their local magician.
The robed man from earlier replied, "Yes, he was unlike any before."
"Well, a hero's a hero. Bring 'im in." The old man stated, shooing the robed one away from his desk.
A few minutes pass and the man of the hour approached the elder's desk. The room seemed underwhelming compared to what it seemed like outside, it looked like a sturdy stone based wood cottage, but on the inside it had flipped tables and... dried blood stains everywhere? He should probably ask about that at a later point. He was more scared about why he was here in the middle of nowhere then why there was a supposed brawl in the mayor's office.
"Don't mind the blood, a zombie hoard attacked last week and lost ma' leg!"
The elder leaned back in his chair and placed his peg leg on the desk.
"That's..." Concerning, disgusting, sorry to hear about. "Nice..."
'That hoard thing was just a metaphor, right?'
"As ya' know, ye aren't supposed to be here, eh?"
"I'm not in where I thought I was last, a bustling city block." He honestly was just trying to read a newspaper and then he just passed out.
"Must be a lot different from yer 'ome, 'aint it?"
'Can't tell what his accent is supposed to be...'
"Yeah... I've seen trees in the parks I've passed, or maybe out of a plane, but I've never actually seen a countryside."
"Well 'at's just perfect!" He then broke out into a short laugh. It was abruptly stopped a second later. "I want you to help defend our village." He dropped the accent.
"Wha-?"
"Well, let me start over. My name is Alanor, and that robed gentleman that escorted you in was Bosco. He was an ex-member of the church and one of their most powerful mages. He decided to quit his job and settle down here in our small village to help the little people. But a few days ago a hoard of undead had attacked our village, causing us to hold onto our last straws. However, the religious prick said he remembered the spell for summoning the Cardinal Heroes!"
"Cardinal Heroes?"
"You are a hero, young hero! Maybe not one of the other four, but a hero nonetheless!"
"Cardinal Hero... I feel like I've heard those words before..."
'Wait... This isn't an anime, is it?'
"So when we had the chance to summon one to help us by the time the hoard comes back, we scooped up all our magically gifted civilians and swishity shwoody, you're now here!"
'Ohhhhhhh noooooooo... This is that one anime where... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...' He internally groaned.
"So, please! Save our village from destruction!"
"...Sure. It'll be fun."
"Yes!" Everyone else in the room released a breath.
Timeskip
'How do I use this darn thing?'
He was wandering around the bumpy plains flailing around his right hand hoping the gem in it would do something.
"ALAKAZAM!" He shouted suddenly, causing the animals around him to get startled and run away. "Dang."
A round orange balloon came up behind him while he was sulking and bit into his ankle. He flinched in pain, though it didn't cause any major damage. It had felt as if he just got a prick of a needle on his ankle. He looked down in less fear compared to a few seconds earlier and used his other foot to pop it like an actual balloon. Remnants of the monster laid on the grassy floor, and he remembered something from the show. He picked up the pieces and dropped them into his hand.
Orange Hand
+1 Defense, +1 Attack
Haha hand go boing
'That's way worse then my original hand... But it does prove I can consume things.' He perks up. 'I got an idea.'
And so, the protagonist spent an entire afternoon grabbing literally anything around him and shoving it into his hand.
Dirt Hand
"What do you have there Brian?"
"It's a cup of dirt..."
Mud Hand
+1 M-Defense
Equip Bonus: Slight Stealth
Dirt but wet
Grass Hand
+Slight Stealth
Equip Bonus: Immunity to grass related allergens
Are the weeds gone yet?
Rock Hand
+3 Defense, +2 Attack
Stoned
Flower Hand
+1 Attack, +1 Charm
Equip Bonus: More appreciation of nature's beauty
Smells nice
Rain Water Hand
+1 M-Attack
Equip Bonus: Unable to get wet from rain
It's raining, it's pouring
Small Blue Mushroom Hand
+1 M-Attack, +1 M-Defense
Equip Bonus: When hit, the enemy becomes dizzy for 1-3 seconds (Does not work on bosses)
Now you're such a 'fun guy' to hang around
Oak Hand
+3 Attack, +2 Defense
Equip Bonus: Able to produce an oak plank every 1 hour passed, Heat Spells do 1.5x more damage
Woodpecker's wet dream
Leaf Hand
+1 M-Attack
Equip Bonus: Any plant within a radius of 10 meters has it's growth sped up by 2x, Heat Spells do 2x more damage
"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees."
Air Hand
+1 M-Attack
Equip Bonus: Able to bless you and anything you're carrying with ghost-like properties, much like the wind (Unable to attack in this form)
Someone thought it a bright idea to consume something he couldn't see and now we're here
Now, it seemed having an extra bit of attack on a hand that you cannot attack when selected on was useless, but he found out that those +attack and defense stats weren't just for that one hand. Apparently this system wasn't exactly like the one in the anime. Apparently I'm in some sort of fanfiction-like gamer system.
Name: Jonathan Johnathan
Don't judge the name my parents gave me.
Title: The Hand Hero
Age: 24
Race: Human
Level: 2
Hp: 55/55
Mp: 15/15
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Magic Attack: 9
Magic Defense: 7
Speed: 6
Charm: 2
Luck: 15
Feelings of You: This is yourself, you dumbo
Earlier, when he first opened this page, he acquired some new abilities from discovering it.
[Observe]
You are able to gain basic information out of people lower level then you. If the one being observed is half the level you are or lower, you get to reveal all of their stats instead of just their remaining Hp, Title and Name.
Currently that was the only thing in the ability tab, apart from jogging.
Wait, why did he have 2 charm? Didn't he gain 1 charm from the flower shield? Did that mean he was really ugly in his past life?
Later in Town
"It's my ball!" A kid shouted to his side.
"But I want to play with it more!" A different kid said.
He walked over to the brats causing the commotion and decided to butt in.
"What's going on?" He asked.
The two were startled by his appearance. The first one seemed to be wearing some cut and bloodied bandages over his arms and the second wasn't wearing a shirt.
"What's it to you?!" The second one retorted in a violent tone.
"I wanted to see if I could help. Pass on my wisdom maybe." He said scratching the back of his head, smiling awkwardly.
'I really am out of depth...'
The first one spoke up before the other, "It's my turn with my ball and he won't give it back!"
"You've played with it way longer!" The other snapped. "I just wanted more time!"
"Oi oi! Calm down kids." He started. "Kid." He said the the first. "What's your name?"
"James!"
He looked to the other.
"Jeffery..." He pouted before he needed to ask.
"Alright James and Jeff, how about nobody gets the ball?"
They both seemed appalled by the idea.
"NEVER!" They both yelled.
He was taken back by their sudden change. "Why not? Wouldn't just getting rid of the reason you're fighting over be the best decision?"
"Because I want it!" The Jeffery said.
"Because it's mine!" James replied.
"Hm..." He thought. "When you bring your own ball to a game and then you start to have less points then the other team, do you take the ball away from them or do you continue playing?" He explained to James. But just as Jeffery was about to rub it in the other's face. "But in another case, if you hog the ball away from everyone else you'll just be seen as greedy." He picked up the ball. "Why can't you play a game you have to play together in instead of it separately. Then, everyone is at fault and winning at the same time."
The two of them looked at each other as he gave back the back to James, and they turned and ran off. As he was about to leave, he received a message.
+1 Charm for solving the problem
Oh.
Timeskip, a Few Days
He spent his time both going out of the village leveling up and grabbing a bunch of miscellaneous items.
+3 Levels
Lantern Hand
+1 M-Attack
Equip Bonus: Produces light from every surface of skin, the palms of your hand are like a spotlight
"You light up my world like nobody else!"
Spider Webbing Hand
+1 M-Defense
Equip Bonus: Giant Spider webs are no longer sticky
Not quite Spider Man
Money Hand
+Unlocks Infinite Money Storage
Contained Currency: 20 Silver
Money Money Money
Herb Hand
+Recipe of Lesser Medicine
Equip bonus: Healing items heal 5% more
Give me your best potions
Paper Hand
Equip Bonus: When you are hit by an attack, the attacker gains a paper cut on a random area of the body, 20% less defense
Strong like paper
Meat Hand
+10 Hp, +1 Defense
I know your normal hand is made of meat, but that's not the point
Silver Dagger Hand
+4 Attack
Equip Bonus: When slicing blindly, your attacks will hit true on an enemy within range
This guy managed to not get maimed with 10 easy steps! Werewolves hate him!
Level: 5
Hp: 80/80
Mp: 30/30
Attack: 22
Defense: 19
Magic Attack: 16
Magic Defense: 14
Speed: 12
Charm: 6
Luck: 18
Money: 20 Silver
He was a little scared on why there were giant spider webs in the middle of an open plains but that was for a later date.
"Oh, great hero!" The elder yelled limping over to him.
"Yes?" He asked.
"The hoard has returned!"