Sonya learned a lot as the day wore on to evening and they had to make their way back to the castle to sleep in their rooms. She learned that her shield had an unlockable tree for other forms of shields. She also learned that the last shield hero had expanded a large portion of the rules for how to upgrade the shield but she would have to level up to do it. This world felt very game-ish. But that was how the world worked. She thought about the first upgrade path, which was absorbing items. It was very clear in the instructions that certain material would unlock certain shields. As well as items. She wasn't exactly familiar with this system. But she understood it at least. Somewhat. She'd get it when she started putting it into practice.
Sonya also discovered that Ishiku-san was a very perverted jerk. He pretended to be listening to the information she related to him about what she discovered from the help menu but the only thing he seemed to be interested in was her measurements. She wished she had a Spiked Shield so she could slap him with it. Another thing she discovered was that her normal strength did not effect the output of damage she could do, which infuriated her because a certain perverted jerk tried to feel her up while she was busy talking to Uta-san. She had hit him in the face as hard as she could, but it did nothing. So instead she grabbed his arms and kick him as hard as she could in the crouch. Twice. And then she stood with a foot on his man hood leaning over him to add even more pressure on to his family jewels. She wasn't going to neuter him but she was going to come close.
" Let me make this very clear to you. I might not be as strong as I was in my world but I will find a way to hurt you. And if you try this again I will rip those off and you can start to sit down when you need to pee. Do you understand me?" She said looking down at him. He looked back at her with hatred until she started to grind her foot down. Then he weakly nodded his head. She glared at him with disgust and anger as he writhed on the ground with his hands in between is legs.
"Don't screw around with me. In fact, if I catch you doing this to any other woman you'll pay dearly." She said and walked off, going to her room. She caught a glimpse of Arashi-san's frightened face. Uta-san looked up at her a little nervously. Sonya didn't care if she wasn't acting like she should. 'Lady like' went out the window in times like these. If someone wanted to grope her they should prepare to be in for a world of hurting. She wondered if she should have just used pressure points instead, but she figured her attack strength had been reduced so it probably wouldn't have worked. Like using a weapon.
She went to bed after eating and reading more of the help menu. She was still excited for the adventure that was about to begin.
The event she was waiting for could not come sooner. She was having breakfast but she paid little mind to it other than to fill her stomach. Soon they would meet the other adventurers who would be joining them to combat the Calamity. It couldn't come soon enough! Soon the King finally called them into the main hall. The table was not there. Instead he had them lined up facing the large doors. Beyond those large doors awaited men and women who would join them, fight along side them, laugh and cry and become close to them. Sonya fidgeted with her hair trying to prim herself up while Ishiku-san glared at her darkly before composing himself and looking forward. She figured his pride must have been hurting among other things.
Then the doors finally opened. Sixteen men and women in all walked in. They all looked like adventurers. Some looking like knights, others like rogues and rangers. A few looked more magically oriented and a couple carried guns. " Now adventures, choose your hero!" The king commanded. Sonya looked a little disappointed when she glanced back at the king. She thought they would at least get to talk to them, relay their strengths and weaknesses and come up with strategies and a very workable system. She forced a smile. She couldn't let this method phase her. They would just have to swing with it!
The next thing to happen surprised her. Divided evenly everyone should have a party of five including the hero. Even that not being the case and each party not being completely balanced number wise, no one decided to join her. At first this hurt. This made her feel like an outcast. But then she thought about it. This was okay. This gave her a chance to really be meticulous about who joined her. Maybe she could even help develop a few of her would be party member's skills. She knew she needed someone, but for now she could experiment by herself and figure out more about how the world worked. What she could do, what she couldn't do. And not be embarrassed about her failures due to her ignorance. She was already planning a strategy that would help her succeed. But she needed to also focus on the here and now.
She looked about her. The Spear hero's party had him and five others. Two men who looked like heavy armored knights while the three women in his party consisted of one mage and two ranger looking ladies. Sonya felt sorry for them. At first. Then she saw the wary look they gave him. They knew already.
The Sword hero's party was a the same. One male gun wielder, a knight, a spear-man, a female warrior clad in leather armor and a female mage. Then the Bow hero's party.
One female gun wielder, two male archers and three male knights with large shields. Sonya smiled awkwardly. Uta-san's party was mostly all male.
"This, is an unpleasant surprise." The king said aloud. Sonya turned and smiled to him.
" This is fine. I'll make due with myself." She said confidently. The king frowned even more. " I am sure you might Shield Hero and my apologies but..." He said then sighed and looked towards the other parties. " Each hero has their strengths and weaknesses. The Shield Hero in times before has proved to have the power that aided and strengthened his comrades as well as bravery to take blows that would otherwise kill them and nearly do so to him. He proved to be one of the most powerful of them. I am sure many of you are aware of this. So speak your minds? Why to you shun her?"
Sonya respected the King. He was a fair ruler, but he probably didn't feel it necessary to be discreet about the issue and forgo embarrassing her. It was because she was strange. Different. It was because she came off as mean and maybe even menacing. It was because people thought that she might be a demon. And some who had the courage to said so.
"Your majesty, I'll go with her." A blond woman who was the female warrior clad in leather armor said. Sonya frowned and turned to the king. Something about her felt sketchy. She didn't want to be alone with her. "Your majesty, I don't want anyone who is going to make me their second choice or go with me because they feel sorry for me. If I can make a request, the Dame from earlier that acted as our guide. Could you ask her if she would be interested in supervising me while I go about trying to strengthen myself and find members of my own party?" She confirmed her suspicion with the blond woman. She looked at her darkly as if Sonya had ruined her plans but then turned her face to one of being hurt.
Sonya gave the King her full attention trying to convey to him through her facial expression that she was trying to be careful. The King caught on and nodded. " I will ask Lady Dianna if she would consider the proposal. For now, I will distribute the monthly aid money." He said.
Five hundred to each of them. Sonya was given seven hundred initially but she quickly refused. She knew this would further make her a target. If anything she would become an even likelier target because she was being treated differently, preferentially. She simply said she wanted to be treated the same as the other heroes and that she would make due with what she had. When the others had left the king sat facing the Shield Hero with a hand holding his eyes.
" I am sorry that I am being so difficult and selfish. But I feel it is best if I take this path. To be honest, I don't trust that woman. She might have seemed to have had good intentions but I have been the butt end of a lot of bad jokes and being used many times before to know when someone is going to use me for their own interests. I'm not a naïve little girl. Not anymore." Sonya said kneeling.
The king looked at her with a frown. " That was my daughter you alienated..." The king said. "My daughter that you are speaking of."
Sonya nodded. " I do not wish to insult you or her but I haven't exactly lived the easiest life in my world. I trust my instincts, my wisdom and I have lived as independently as I could. I have found that the only person in that world I could truly rely on was myself. Even my own father threw me to the curve side with all his dept not too long ago. So please forgive me your majesty if I have offended you and if I come off rude. I'm just trying to protect myself." Sonya concluded knowing she might be ruining her reputation with her choices.
The king looked at her and shook his head. " Very well then." He said and waved for a page boy who looked at the Shield Hero with awe before coming and running to stand and bow before the king. "Go and give Lady Diana my request. If she accepts, please ask her to meet the Shield hero at the castle gate." He said and watched the boy bow again and leave.
The King looked at the gray clad maiden before him. A gray dress, a pale face, and black hair. A small shield clung to her arm and no one to really support her but herself in combat. What was she thinking? The King bid for her to rise and go. She did so and curtseyed. "Thank you very much your Majesty. I will do my very best to defend this world." She said and with that she left.
The cat knight came out from behind a banner that hid a secret passageway. " She's prudent. You have to at least give her that." Lady Diana said with a smile. " I think she would do well to adventure to Rock Valley." The king simply nodded. He looked worried. "If the past repeats itself again, the shield has blocked disaster from consuming this world. I think so to will it do so again." The cat knight reassured him before leaving.
With that Sonya smiled excitedly as she counted her five hundred worth of silver coins. In reality she had a hundred copper coins three gold coins and a hundred and ninety-nine silver. This equaled to five gold coins or five hundred silver. One hundred copper equaled one silver and a hundred silver equaled one gold. It was a common system in games. What worried her at first was how inflated the market might have been before she had gone shopping. But her fears had been laid to rest once she saw the prices.
When Dianna finally arrived they opted to go to the weapons store. It had the highest quality of wares and was run by and old man and woman. Apparently they were siblings who had long since had their own children and grand children and decided to run their father's store together. Sonya looked at some of the wares noting the prices. Some of the wares were insanely expensive. Others seemed rather odd. She really didn't know what to think other than that she should probably stick with the basics.
"Is there anything I can help you with lass?" The lady who helped run the store asked. Sonya nodded. " I'm looking for armor for myself. I was here yesterday looking at prices. I have come to buy now." Sonya said confidently. " I'm looking for more of the raw hide based armor. Maybe with a little bit of metal plating, but I want to be light and flexible." The woman looked towards the man both smiling. They had a customer that really knew what she wanted.
" And what would your budget be lass?" The man asked as his sister went ahead and looked for some measuring tape and something to write information down on. Apparently she was very well versed in fitting armor.
It made sense that they had to measure her since armor didn't exactly work well in small, medium, and large standardization. It had to fit snug. Or as snugly as they could make it. Sonya chose rawhide because it was hard, nearly as durable as wearing iron armor without the weight, but it was rigid. Unlike metal, it could not be reforged or hammered back into shape. Once a hole was poked through, the damaged section of armor needed to be replaced altogether. But it was light and tough stuff.
"About two and a half gold. I can't use a weapon so I'm looking at the best armor I can use for now. The store owners paused. " Then regular boiled armor is out of the question. You aren't exactly in dragon or drake territory but... Lets see now. Yes this should do well. The armor is made from chimera hide. It should serve you well. The stuff is tougher then raw cow or bear hide and is in your price range." The man said while his sister scowled. " It is no where near as good as Barbarian armor or Turtle armor. But someone starting off shouldn't have to come back for naught but repairs." The lady said. " I hope you will consider coming back to us for business." Sonya smiled and nodded. She liked these people already. They really seemed like friendly reliable professionals.
The man sighed. " I would think Black Chimera hide would work better for her. Matches her hair anyways." He said as he went into the back.
"Are you going senile? Obviously gray dyed fits her fancy better! Look at her dress? Does this not say she is a warrior of the stone?" The lady retorted.
Sonya smiled a little taken back as they continued to bicker and banter about what armor fit her better. They then went on to argue about whether they should throw pauldrons into the mix. Lady Dianna simply laughed.
"You better stop them before they charge you more then you bargained for." She said as a playful warning. Sonya sighed. " I'd like a cloak to go along with it. Something that doesn't stain too well. But I mean it, my budget is two and a half gold. And if I'm not mistaken the chimera hide is two gold for its weight in market..." The two siblings stopped and considered her. For a few minutes. A few long minutes that made her feel awkward.
" Two and a half gold coins and five silver for a total of the full armor set, its under armor, cloak, and a decent pair of traveling boots." The store lady said. Sonya cocked her head. " Two gold and forty five silver it is." She said.
The man coughed. "Two gold and Sixty silver." He said gruffly.
"Two hundred and Thirty silver." Sonya said.
The old woman scowled. "Three gold coins." She said sternly.
Sonya raised an eyebrow. " Two and a forty-ninth gold coins and no higher or I'm going to go find an armorer else where." She said.
The two siblings looked at each other and relented. They were not going to get more then her stated budget.
And so Sonya walked out with a pack that now contained her gray dress and some medical herbs, a set of dark gray chimera lamellar armor, a green cloak, some reinforced leather gloves with chimera rawhide on the back and a comfortable set of traveling boots on her feet. The chimera hide armor formed into a piece that covered her torso with lamellar while her lower half was protected by a skirt and greaves. Her arms were only protected by vambraces and her gloves. But she had her shield that would protect the rest of her. She thought about a helmet but nothing felt right. She would forgo one for now and maybe look for a hat later. For now it was off to the nearby fields for leveling.
" Shield Hero-sama, would it not be wise for us to be in one party?" The cat knight offered sending her a request.
Sonya nodded. "I wasn't exactly sure how me being a hero places me in the social ladder but please just call me Lady Brint." Sonya said as she accepted the invitation.
The cat knight tilted her head to the side before nodding. " Very well then Lady Brint." Lady Dianna said as they began to walk out to the fields. It didn't take too long before they met their first monster.
A Orange Balloon. And aptly named because it looked just as such. It had sharp teeth and red eyes. "Careful Shield hero, they are weak put they are very aggressive." The neko knight warned. Sonya nodded but charged forward with her shield raised so she would plow straight into to round little monster. It bounced away looking as if it took little or no damage. Sonya was not perturbed. She charged it again this time slamming her body and weight into it. It didn't pop but was pinned down instead. She tried using the pointed part of her shield but it bounced off.
It took her five minutes of trying to kill it before she gained a meager amount of experience points after it popped. She sighed. Well at least she could kill them. " Lady Brint, maybe it would be more productive if I attack and you defend?" Lady Dianna offered.
Sonya looked back to her. She must look like a fool, but she was only learning what she could and couldn't do. She noted that the shield seemed to react to the scraps of rubber left behind from the Orange Balloon. She held the scraps closer to the gem in the center and the scraps were absorbed. There was a message that said she unlocked the small balloon shield series and needed more material to master the orange balloon shield which would give her bonus defense once mastered, even if she wasn't using it.
" Lets wait till mid afternoon before we switch strategies. I still have some things I would like to try. I know they might not work, but I want to exhaust them first." She said. She understood she wasn't exactly being the most reasonable of people but the knight nodded her head understandingly.
She sat on a rock and waited. Sonya looked at the cat knight for a moment, then the rock she was sitting on. If the shield absorbed certain materials then...
She went up to the large rock and grabbed a piece of flint. The shield reacted. It opened up the rock series. Flint shield had a one attack bonus and a skill, Shield Rush.
" Lady Dianna, would you mind if I use that rock for a moment? I have a plan." She said with an evil grin as another orange balloon appeared. Sonya batted it away trying to position it between her and the large rock that Lady Dianna got down from. Sonya concentrated on the Flint Shield. Her shield changed into a round stone gray small shield. A message chimed that the skill was now available. It had a very fast cool down and required little SP. "Shield Rush!" Sonya yelled out and felt her momentum increase as she plowed into the balloon and forced it into the rock.
The satisfied noise of it popping came to her ears. " That's what I wanted to see! " She said smiling. She figured that the shield might not allow her any real attack. But if you were in between a rock and a wall that was slamming into you, you would be squished.
The cat knight looked surprised. " Impressive Lady Brint. I didn't know your attack power was so much. The new shield's form must have..." She trailed off when Sonya began to shake her head.
" No, it only offered me a little attack. The real damage was from the monster being shoved into another object. I guess I borrowed the rock's attack power." She said as she began to collect flint to master the shield. She had to level up before she could master the balloon shields but it was good to get the requirements ready for that.
" Lets switch to your strategy for the time being." Sonya said. The other woman nodded and with that they began to kill Orange and some Yellow Balloons.
The end of the day's progress was that Sonya gained four levels, mastered the Flint, Yellow and Orange Balloon shield and learned that Lady Dianna was a Lv: 35 Knight. The flint shield offered her a +1 attack bonus and her one and only skill. The two balloon shields she mastered offered her +1 defense each. They also learned that Sonya's defense was so high that the balloons were harmless to her... Which made them easier to kill when Sonya held them still.
They decided to eat dinner at a tavern and sleep at an INN. Sonya made sure the door was barred and she hid the last gold coin in the blouse of her night gown she had bought on their way back and now wore to bed. She felt like she could have trusted Dianna but didn't know how bad the thieves were or how lax the security. And then there was that blond girl. She might try to scheme something.
" Good night Lady Dianna." Sonya said as she pulled the covers over her. " Good night Lady Brint." She said blowing out the candle she had been using and going to sleep in her own clothes, but holding her sword in scabbard close to her as she slept. Sonya quickly found out that her shield absorbed her pillow and became a convenient pillow shield. It had no bonuses other then a one +1/4th HP, MP, SP regeneration. This also meant Sonya would have to pay the nice inn keeper man for his loss of a pillow.
