Sonya woke up groggily. She was on a cold hard surface that was glowing underneath. She tried to cover her head with her arm but instead, smacked herself with metal object clinging to her arm. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" She whined as she sat up and looked around her. She was sitting on some kind of a magic altar thing that looked like what witches used to summon evil spirits and demons. And people were standing on it staring down at her. She felt her face and realized she had been drooling in her sleep so she took out a handkerchief and wiped it away before stuffing it in her bag.
She stood up and looked at everyone. They all looked in her direction with a, 'Are you serious?' expression. "What? I was asleep! ... Okay, okay, I snore! But not loudly! And who can help if they drool in their sleep!?" She said nervously playing with her hair as she glanced down at the small shield clinging to her arm. It wouldn't come off. But it was small and very light at least. She noticed that it was whitish-gray and had a green gem in the center.
"Your a woman." Said a guy with a spear. Sonya gasped mockingly. " WOW! You noticed? And you are Captain Obvious aren't you? When do we set sail to the island of-" She was cut off by an older man who was just beginning to turn gray and was wearing a crown and expensive robes.
"Ahem! Excuse me Shield Hero, but I have ordered for you and your counterparts to be summoned here... Although not all of you at once. But such an event can not be helped. Please follow me to the throne room where we will explain the situation in more detail." He said and walked through a door and down a hallway. Sonya sighed. There was a short haired blond guy with a sword who walked out first following the king and a tall man with a spear and spiky red hair who followed beside a short black haired boy who almost looked like a girl with his hair tied back in a pony tail. He carried a bow. Sonya followed behind some robed guys who looked like mages. They seemed to be nervous.
Soon she came to a chamber that had two thrones and a table with wooden chairs. The thrones were on a dais while the table stood horizontally in front of the throne with four chairs behind it and platters of food. The tables and chairs were set so the king apparently would be facing them. "Please, have a seat Heroes and feel free to eat while I explain the situation." He said as he sat in his throne and placed his hands on a cane that he leaned on slightly.
The other three guys sat down while Sonya sat at the end. She scooted her chair a bit away from the table so she could place a cloth napkin on her lap. "Thank you for the food!" She called out after clapping her hands in a little prayer like fashion. This earned her a look from the three young men who apparently were all Japanese. They very well could have been from her neighborhood. She was using a pair of chopsticks that had been provided instead of the fork and knife that seemed very foreign to her. The whole European theme seemed ruined by the chopsticks she ate with, but they were there, and she was more comfortable using them.
"Did anyone teach you that it is rude to stare?" She asked knowing what they were thinking. It was because she was a 'foreigner'. She had spent most of her life in Japan and she had been use to being looked at funny. And treated differently. She was used to being treated like an outsider. A foreigner. Gaijin. Even though she was raised in Japan most of her life.
Even though on a daily basis she had acted like any respectable Japanese bred woman would. But she had grown tired of it. Especially when things turned sour for her recently. She turned away from them and looked about. The king seemed content to let the four of them eat while he listened to a mumbled report from a page boy. If she had to guess, this must have been somewhere around the resonance era.
Sonya looked at the chopsticks and wondered. The food was... Odd. There was eggs that tasted like oranges! But otherwise it was all just fine. But why chopsticks? Not that she minded. It was just on her mind. She then looked at the shield on her left arm after a while. She would worry about it later. It was stuck to her anyways. Eventually they finished their plates and the food was taken away. So much for the king explaining things while they ate. Oh, well. He was busy with some important report.
" Ahem. Heroes, I am sure you are wondering why you have been gathered here. Most of you already know that there is a calamity on its way. To be more specific, one such event has already come and gone."
The other three gave him a blank look. Something clicked in and Sonya nodded. The king made no comment as he continued.
"Repelling it was far from easy. And many lives were lost. Many people were taken away. Heroes. I am Edward Melromark the XLVI. I am the current Hero of The Cane and am responsible for your summons from the other worlds. I must ask that each of you go on a journey to gather strength in both yourselves and your weapons. Legends foretell that each legendary weapon of the four heroes conflict and impede each other, so your journeys must be separate with other adventures and not with other heroes of weapons of the divine four. You will be compensated and rewarded for your services. Also aid finances will be given monthly."
The king rose from his throne and waved for them all to rise. " Please introduce yourselves Heroes." He said calmly with a warm smile. The sword guy was first. He was the short haired blond guy who was stood about average height. He would probably be considered very attractive. Brown eyes and a smug look on his face. She seen that a dozen times.
" I'm Akai Arashi. I'm twenty-one and a university student." He said bowing and sitting down when the king waved for him to take his seat again. The spiky red head's turn. He looked like a delinquent. His button up shirt was open to expose his bare chest. She guessed he was trying to show off a well defined body to 'the ladies' or try to intimidate any possible rivals. He looked like a slob to her though.
" My name is Shimo Ishiku. I'm nineteen and in between schools." He said sitting back down without being indicated. Girly bow boy was next.
" I'm Yuki Uta. I'm eighteen and I just graduated high school." She said giving a curtsey. 'Holy crap, she's a girl! It didn't help that she was wearing such baggy clothes!' Sonya thought trying to keep a straight face. She took note on how slim she was, but perhaps she was rather strong. She wasn't bad looking either. Probably had a lot of boys hit on her. Uta was wearing something like cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt with a jacket that was open at the front.
Sonya stood up when Yuki sat down. " I'm Sonya Birinte. I'm twenty-four and a university student." She said giving a curtsey with her dress and sitting down after being indicated. The king looked at them all with amusement. Arashi and Ishiku both seemed surprised when Yuki spoke up. She must have stayed silent the entire time Sonya had slept! And then their reaction when they found out Sonya was their senpai! Sonya grinned.
The King sat back down and looked as if he was lost in thought for a moment. " I would like for you all to review your statuses please." The king said when he finally spoke up. Ishiku and Arashi looked puzzled. Uta looked like she was reading something invisible to everyone else. Sonya shrugged. She looked around an noticed something just in the corner of her vision. She focused on that out of curiosity and it expanded. This startled her. 'Is this like some kind of game world?' She asked then sighed. It was an easy to digest profile of her physical status. She noted that she leaned heavily on defense, had decent agility and a good value of hit points. Her attack was barely there, rather meager at best. Almost non-existent. Like 1 Atk. What? She frowned. She should have at least a small amount of attack. 5 or even 10 atk? Maybe it was because of the shield itself?
"What do you mean by status your Majesty?" Arashi-San asked. Sonya raised her hand. "Look at the corner of your vision. Probably the bottom right corner of your peripheral vision. Focus on that." Sonya said and sighed as she started examining the rest of her stats. No skills, plain gray otherworldly dress, no magic or spells. Small shield, Legendary. She glared at it. ' You better at least be able to upgrade with SOME attack points. Or turn into a pierce shield. I get that your a weapon so let me use you to bash stuff to death!' She mentally said towards the shield. She didn't expect an answer, but instead a help menu appeared.
The king stood up once more. " Heroes, it has been pleasant. Now that introductions are over I would like to inform you that adventurers who volunteered to accompany you will arrive tomorrow to introduce themselves and choose whom of you they will follow. Until then you are dismissed and free to go about where you wish. If you wish to leave the castle and explore the city for the day please speak with one of the guards so that my one of my trusted retainers will accompany you. Thank you for your time." The king said and gave them a nod that they may go while he beckoned for a scribe to present him with the news he brought.
Sonya looked at the three other heroes. A female knight walked up to them. " For the time being I will be your guide." She said. Sonya raised an eyebrow. She had cat ears... And a tail! Sonya followed her and the other heroes fell closely behind. She frowned when she saw Ishiku-san trying to grab her tail and blocked his hand with her shield by pretending to stumble a little. She could hear Arashi-san snicker and Uta-san suppress a giggle. Ishiku simply glared at her.
They arrived at two bedrooms they would be staying in. " These will be your rooms for the night. Men will be across from the women. " The female knight said pointing to which rooms they belonged to. Ishiku scoffed and went into the men's room to claim his bed. The knight frowned at him all the while. " I would like to see the city if that is okay."Arashi-san said. Uta-san looked towards Sonya wondering what they should do. Sonya just simply smiled. " Not like exploring wouldn't hurt." Sonya said simply. The female knight smiled.
" I would be happy to accompany the three of you. If Spear hero wishes to also come..." She said trailing off with intentional distaste at the end towards the idea. "Nah, I'm crashing in here for the day." He said and shut the door. The female knight sighed in relief. She probably didn't want to deal with a perverted miscreant. Apparently, she had saw his tail grabbing attempt.
Sonya thought back. She didn't really take the chance to stop and look at her surroundings. The walls around her were old and made of stone. The ceiling above however, was newer. It made sense. Because they probably had to replace everything above every so often. Or they expanded. Why was she thinking about this again?
"Excuse me Senpai? Where will we be going to next?" Uta-san asked. Sonya blinked and looked at the younger lady who had spoken. Her group, apparently was looking towards her as if for some form of leadership or direction. " To the markets then!" Sonya chimed happily. She looked towards the female knight to show the way. Arashi-san looked at Sonya as if she was odd. "We don't have any money senpai." The young man stated.
Sonya simply grinned. " Would you rather wait till you have money to buy things you need without knowing the market price, or would you rather already have a good idea what the prices in the market are?" She asked simply. " Think of it this way. If you ask around and take notes you will get to see how much the price fluctuates and see through obvious scams and rip offs. It is obvious that if a merchant knows you don't have money they don't have any reason to raise the prices." Sonya looked at them all. "If you look expensive, they'll try to make things a bit more expensive." They were all wide eyed.
" Price hunting. When you live in poverty you tend to learn how to find the best quality items for the lowest prices available." She said a little proudly. The female knight nodded at her logic. " Let's get going then." the dame said and started to guide them along their way. " I take it you played in the market for Emerald Squire a lot?" Arashi-san asked. Sonya looked at him wondering what he was talking about.
" No, I never herd of such a game. What is it about?" She asked. Arashi-san looked at her amazed.
" Then Wind-sword Online?" Uta-san asked her. " It is a lot like this world. It is a VRMMO." Sonya shook her head.
"The king said something about worlds... I guess we all are from different worlds.. Or at least I am." She said once she thought about it for a moment. The other two heroes nodded at the idea while they exited the castle gate.
"What games did you play then?" Arashi-san asked her. Sonya giggled.
" Oh, I was in love with a game that's famous quote is, 'Prepare to die!' And you do that quite a lot. You play as an undead, but your not exactly a rotting bag of flesh... It is more like your body is withering away... Anyway, You die a lot in that game and you get brought back to a save point. However you loose a currency you collect from killing enemies that also doubles as experience points. Because you are undead, you don't ever truly die due to a curse, but it is implied that other undead are the same but are slowly being driven insane until they become what is called Hollow. With that, they attack and kill anything not hollow, even other undead." Sonya said happily. " You are forced to learn and analyze everything. From an opponent's move sets, to environment. Etc. Etc. A really hard core game. Especially when you loose all your exp and an item that allows you to become human again."
Uta-san looked at the shield hero impressed. " Wow! That game sounds really dark!" She said a little nervously. Sony laughed.
" It is! It is incredibly dark and dreary and the humor in it... Like, every character just about is laughing at the end of their dialogue. It is rather creepy." Sonya said. "But yeah. It is dark and sad. The difficulty is determined by the weapon you use and how you play. A lot of people who beat it turn around and play it with harder play throughs. Some just go with no armor or weapons."
Arashi-san looked at her. It was the female knight who turned to ask Sonya the question. " If that is true, then what weapon did you use?" The cat dame asked.
Sonya grinned. "I think the second or third hardest weapon to fight with. The shield. Going bare handed is the hardest obviously." Sonya answered.
Arashi-san simply shook his head. Uta-san simply looked at the legendary shield on Sonya's arm. " From my understanding the legendary shield has very little attack. This had been true for the last shield hero. How is it that a shield could be used the way you did?" The dame asked. Sonya shrugged. " It is the only weapon that let me attack while still defending. I simply charged into stuff and every now and again dodged and bashed. It takes longer then most other weapons but it is actually rather practical. You are tanking the damage, sometimes negating it all together and waiting for an opportunity to strike. I mean, some shields had higher attack points then others but, I guess none of them really compared to weapons that were in the same class or had the same amount of upgrades."
The other two heroes simply looked skeptical. Sonya simply shrugged. " That's how the game was made. You can use anything available to beat the game. Even nothing. But how you do it determines how easy it is for you." Sonya said and paused once they arrived at the market.
The rest of the day was exploring prices. Sonya quickly learned that she couldn't use another weapon with her shield. This didn't exactly phase her. What surprised her was how well stocked the stores were. Then again, this was real life and they were in a capital city. So it made sense. She related this information to her juniors and instead looked at armor. Eventually she had enough and decided to take a seat at a table to a tavern so she could read her help menu. Tomorrow the real adventure would begin.
