I let out a groan as I opened my carmine eyes, seeing the light-coloured ceiling and rays of the morning sun beaming into my room.

"Ugh, what the hell did I have last night…" I muttered out, slurring my speech a bit as I wiped my eyes of any goop as I heard the creaking of my door entered my ears. I let out another groan as a few brown locks fell over my shoulders and left eye.

"Come in." I spoke out, with the door opening with an auburn-haired girl coming into my room, wearing a traditional maid outfit and had some clothing in her arms.

"Good morning, Thomas." She greeted me as I moved myself out of the comforts with the covers falling from my torso, showing my muscular body from fights and my golden cross.

My crimson orbs narrow as I took in her appearance, and she looks like Ciela, which is weird, as I thought that Ciela was a Liberian.

"Ciela, is that you?" I questioned as she nodded her head as she went to the table and placed the neatly folded clothing, which consisted of a dark suit and red dress-shirt.

…Wait, wasn't that what I was wearing when I first got here?

As if she knew what I was thinking, I got an answer from the auburn-haired maid.

"Thomas, I took the liberty of cleaning your clothing, along with polishing your shoes. I hope that is alright." She said as I nodded as another yawn escaped my mouth as I stretched my shoulders and arms.

"Yeah, that's alright. Also, is there any place where I can wash up?" I asked Ciela as she nodded her head as she walked over to a door and opened it, revealing a stone bath.

It reminds me of the public bathhouses back in Kyoto, that's for sure. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

"I see. Thanks for showing me, Ciela." I thanked the auburn-haired lady as she nodded as I moved from laying to sitting onto the soft covers, my brown hair falling past my shoulders while Ciela headed into the bathroom, presumably to get the water started as I looked up to the ceiling with my tired eyes.

Well…this is weird. I'm more used to doing most of my morning routine by myself or speaking either of my parents in the morning after doing said routine and considering that Kiera is currently visiting a few friends back in Japan before she started planning for university.

I find it ironic I died on December 24th, with Christmas the day after and my mother's birthday on December 28th.

As another yawn escaped my mouth while brushing a lock of hair behind my ear, a small cough brought my attention to see Ciela standing in front of me, a soft look on her face.

"Excuse me for being slightly rude, but your bath is ready, Thomas. And I took the liberty of placing your clothing across from the bath once you're done." She said, getting a nod from me as I walked over to the stone bath and stripped my remaining layers off, then entering the hot water as I felt my tiredness melting away.

Ah, man. This feels good. Hot baths always do it for me, especially when it wakes me up.

While soaking, my mind began wondering about the specifics about this world, considering that the king has stated that the Waves have appeared across the world, but the four heroes have been summoned to Melromarc. Would that mean that there are sets of heroes for each country, or is there something else going on?

I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking of this shit first thing in the morning, after all.

I then began washing myself of the sweat and grime from the night prior and sleeping, and before long, I was fully clean.

When I stepped out of the bath and dried myself, I noticed a gleam from the window for a brief second as a crow went past, my crimson orbs widen for a brief second before I shook my head.

"The hell was that?" I muttered as I slipped on my slacks and steel-tipped shoes and exited the bathroom, towel around my shoulders while drying my brown hair and my upper body.

Once I was finished drying myself, I buttoned up my dress-shirt with my blazer draped over my right wrist, made sure my spear was firmly on my back, before heading to the front door.

When I poked my head through the wooden door, I saw the auburn-haired lady doing a trick with a thin blade, reminiscent of the one my mother had, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade disappeared.

"Ah, Thomas. I take it you're ready to head to the dining room?" Ciela asked me as I nod my head, shoving my hands into my slack pockets.

"Excuse me, Thomas. Do you mind if you tell me what your old world was like?" the maid suddenly asked, causing me to mull it over.

'Now, what should I talk about?' I thought for a minute.

"I was born and raised in Ireland, but also visited Japan quite a bit, and I was raised by both of my parents and younger sister." I began, piquing the interest of Ciela as we walked down the corridor.

"My father is an Irishman that works for Fortress Construction as an advisor for Mr. Calvert, while my mother is a Japanese woman that works part-time for a pharmaceutical company. As for my younger sister, she is currently in Japan for a holiday before she begins university." I added on, getting a nod from the maid.

When the two of us arrived at the dining hall, I saw the shield-bearer sitting by himself, to my surprise.

"Yo, Iwatani." I greeted as I headed towards him, his head spinning up in surprise as his emerald orbs landed onto my crimson orbs.

"Morning to you too, Thomas." He greeted back as I took a seat in front of him, my blazer hanging off the chair as I rolled up the sleeves of my dress-shirt.

"Do you think that the shield is the worst weapon, Thomas?" Iwatani asked me, while I had a look of irritation, which somewhat quieted the shield-bearer.

Shield? Bad weapon? What a fucking joke.

"Look Iwatani, I don't know who said that, but they need to get their head out of their ass. In history, the shield was commonly used by warriors for deflecting attacks and protecting yourself, and in MMOs, your main tasks at the tank is to block or deflect hits and do aggro management, ensuring that your group continues to live." I explained, getting a nod from the younger hero.

Afterwards, the two of us began talking about our respective games in our worlds, Final Fantasy and Fantasy Moon Online, and how we each ran our respective builds.

Iwatani always did tank builds with magic, while I often did a physical built with buffs and heavy armour.

As any Matador veteran would say in their infinite wisdom; "use buffs you fucking retard."

Their words, not mine.

"Thomas, do you think your build is similar to the ones you used to run?" Iwatani asked me as I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"I'll check my stats now," I said as I opened my menu and took a peek at what my stats looked like at level 1.

Well…looks like magic is out of the picture as that stat is a lowly 1, but my defence is roughly average, HP and MP are roughly the same, but the kicker is that my attack and speed is even, showing a near accurate picture of my character I played as.

I then told my co-worker about my stats, and he responded in kind, and his build was a fairly standard tank with some magical capabilities, but he doesn't know what magic he can wield.

We then discussed some typical shit ranging from games to music choices, and after a while, we were joined by the other two heroes.

Amaki sat by Iwatani as Kawasumi sat next to me, and no one was pissed about seating arrangements. The four of us began discussing what could possibly happen as the chefs were busy making a breakfast worthy for the heroes.

Amaki's words, not mine.

-TimeSkip-

Once we were done, the four of us were brought to the audience chamber once more, with roughly twelve people lined up in front of us, presumably adventures that will follow us.

"Welcome, heroes." The king greeted us with a warm smile as the four of us bowed our heads in respect before looking up at him.

"As promised, we have gathered companions to follow you on your journey. They are all eager to make your acquaintance." The king said as I took a closer look at the people the king had summoned for us.

With the exception of two people, none of the adventures sparked an interest within my crimson orbs as I glazed over them.

The first person to pique my interest was a young man that had neck-length black hair, amber eyes, and Asian features. He was wearing simple black priest vestments, knee-high leather riding boots, a pair of brown fingerless gloves and a golden cross on a length of brown rope. At his waist was a longsword held within a simplistic sheath. He looked innocent, but there was something within his eyes that escaped me.

The second person that caught my interest was a young woman, possibly my age or younger, with shoulder-length violet hair with a few locks braided together near her left ear, blue eyes that remind me of a reptile or a dragon, somewhat pointed ears, a pretty simple witches' outfit with a gold outline. Connected to her waist, there was a collapsed staff, which is quite cool.

"Now, future heroes of this country. Choose the one you wish to serve." The king ordered, and the twelve individuals briskly moving to their desired hero.

It seems that Lady Luck has decided to side with me as the young priest and the young woman had come over to me, smiles on their faces.

When everyone selected the hero that they want to serve, I saw who went were.

Hmm…let's see…Amaki has about six people following him, Kawasumi has about four while I had about two… and that leaves Iwatani with…zero?

Hang on, how the fuck?

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty!" Iwatani yells out in defiance to the king as the older man looked confused as to what happened.

You would think that at least one person would join the shield-bearer, right?

"H-Hrm. To be frank, I never imagined something like this could happen." The king admitted to Iwatani who's face dropped a bit more.

A robed man went up to the king and whispered something to him and the king gained a grim look on his elderly face.

"I see. So, there was that kind of rumour..." the king said as the Iwatani looked interested while I had something to say and piqued my interest as well.

"Yo, king. Did something happen?" I asked as I tied up my hair into a ponytail, a few bangs fell across my left eye.

"Apparently, a rumour has been circulating around the castle that out of all the Heroes, the Shield Hero is the least acquainted with the ways of our world." The king admitted to us as Iwatani's face expressed shock while mine showed confusion.

"What!?" Iwatani yells out as I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming up.

Christ, as much as I liked my fellow hero, can he shut up for a minute or two. Or is that too hard?

I felt a grasp on my shoulder, when I turned, it was the young priest giving me a concerned look and the violet-haired woman doing the same.

"is there anything we can do for you, sir spear hero?" the priest asked with concern laced within his words, both the priest and young woman giving me concerned looks.

"Don't worry, it's a small tic when I feel like a problem is going to arise," I explained while giving a small gesture of the hand, with the duo nodding at my words.

"If you aren't well or have something to say, then don't be afraid to ask, as I will listen to all your problems and try to assist you." The priest spoke.

I nodded my head.

"Well, thanks Mr…?" I asked with the duo giving their names.

"My name is Louis Kaine, and I'm a simple servant of God." The now named Louis answered me.

"As for me, my name is Melia, Melia Logos." The violet-haired woman answered me as well.

"Alrighty then. My name is Thomas Anders, the spear hero." I replied giving a small smirk, causing Louis to smile and Melia to blush slightly.

"C'mon on, Ren! You've got six followers; can't you spare one or two?" I heard Iwatani speaking to Amaki who shook his head.

Is that still going on?

"Well, I can't say I'm a fan of the company. I'll leave behind anybody that doesn't think they can keep up with me." Amaki spoke out coldly with his followers nodded, not budging an inch.

Wow, these folks have quite a bit of spine.

"What about you, Thomas? Don't you think this is too cruel!?" Iwatani shouted at me while I tried to think of a response that would satisfy Iwatani.

"Sorry Iwatani, but…It's not really my call to do that." I apologised to Iwatani who looked like he just witnessed a homeless man raping his favourite pet dog that had both stage 4 cancer and no limbs while singing Christmas Carols and wearing a leather dominatrix outfit clearly designed for an older buxom women that he found at the back of a fetish club.

…Jesus Christ, no wonder Adam thought I had psychopathy when he overheard the jokes I was telling Sam and Max. like, holy shit.

"I do think it would be best if we each had three followers, but...forcing them into it against their will would be terrible for morale," Kawasumi answered Iwatani whose despair grew as people nodded at the bow hero's reasonable words.

Any more despair, I would think a green-haired hipster would show up, declaring some sort of shit.

"Then, I have to set off on my journey alone!?" Iwatani yelled out as his despair took a whole new level.

When I thought that Iwatani had lost all hope, a hand rose up from Amaki's group.

"My Lord, I will travel with the Shield Hero." Spoke a redhead with emerald eyes with childish features and was wearing brown leather armour and a simple sword by her hip.

Despite her admittedly good looks, I had a feeling that I shouldn't trust her.

"Oh? Are you sure?" the king asked the redhead with her answering, "Yes" in a bland tone as she walked towards Iwatani's non-existent group, effectively making it a duo.

A smile made its way onto my face as I saw the shield-bearer's face lit up in joy.

"Are there any others willing to go to Naofumi's side?" the king asked everyone, and no one moved an inch.

Only one brave soul, then?

The king breathed a sigh of regret as he focused on the four of us and our new companions.

"Very well. Naofumi, from this point on you, are to scout suitable companions on your own and bolster your ranks. Because of these decidedly unique circumstances, I will make a special exception just this once and increase your aid for the month over that of the other Heroes." He finally said as Iwatani broke out of his despair.

He must feel like a happy lad, then.

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty!" Iwatani spoke out with passion as the happiness within his voice overpowered the despair within.

"Then, I shall distribute the funds." The king also announced, and with a wave of his hands, we were presented with brown moneybags, with Iwatani's being slightly larger than the rest.

"I hereby bequeath 800 silver coins to Naofumi, and 600 silver coins to the other Heroes. Use it to equip yourselves, and then begin your journey!" the king spoke out.

"Yes!" the other three heroes spoke out with passion as I gave a slight smirk and nodded my head towards the king, who acknowledged my presence with a nod of his own.

After that final speech from the king, everyone started to go their own ways as I stretched my muscles above my head before turning my attention to the duo that joined my party.

"So, since I'm guessing you two are locals, is there any place we should stop at?" I asked as Melia nodded her head.

"I know a place that sells base lairs for armour and a few other stores that sell some beginning equipment and other supplies." Melia's soft voice echoed throughout the audience chamber, causing me to nod.

She has a nice voice.

"That sounds like a solid plan Melia. Thanks." I praised Melia who nodded as we turned to the back and started to walk out of the audience chamber.

As we were leaving, I saw another crow went passed, and all I saw was a crimson orb peering into me.

It then just flew by without a care in the world.

I shrugged my shoulders as I walked along, hands within my slack pockets with my new companions following me.

A/N: and that is my third chapter for this story.
And we've been introduced to Thomas' second-and third-party members, Louis Kaine and Melia Logos.
Louis is based on Shirou Kotomine from fate/Apocrypha while Melia is based on a younger Medea from fate/stay night.
And I will see ya when I next update.

So, Chao.

This chapter has been edited.