By the time they all reached level 15 Sonya has found that her subordinates REALLY ate a hole in her wallet if she didn't make them hunt and fish. Siorradh and Sioc's bodies were now matured to that of teenagers. Sioc still had a bit of room to grow, while Siorradh had grown up rather tall and was working on filling out.

She was about as tall as Sonya was while Sioc only came to her nose, minus his ears. The two both proved very early to be very loyal and compliant to Sonya, but they fought like cats and dogs. Literally. Siorradh was swift, agile and cunning. Sioc was not. But he was strong and had a great deal of stamina. He was also very honest. In fact, Sioc could easily out run Siorradh in a distance race. But as was her nature, she was faster in shorter bursts.

Sonya had them both beat on stamina, strength, and cunning. Her logic helped her earn a reputation for being able to solve problems very quickly, while her strength helped give her comrades cover when they needed to regroup and take down whatever monster they where commissioned to slay. Although some of these Sonya refused to slay. Namely a Dragon that she instead had a pleasant conversation with before trying to smooth things over with the villagers before returning the commission fees. Or a problematic Philorial Queen who just wanted to retire... And was very hungry.

Sonya did not want to fight the Hero of the Carriage anyways. But Sonya didn't bother reporting who she was. Only that the problem was solved after a long and tiresome effort of trying to negotiate with the two queens who stubbornly refused to co-operate. She instead solved the problem by tricking the successor of the current Queen of all Philorials that there was an awesome place with wonderful fruit in a far away island while the current Queen of all Philorials was told that her successor needed to go on a quest of self discovery and would also need to think it all over.

Sonya didn't like lying but she was sure this would solve the issue for a while. What she didn't know was that she would keep the two away from each other for the next five hundred years.

It was two days from the next Calamity and Sonya had unsealed and mastered a countless number of shields. The ones she was most partial to now was the Rope Shield, the Pipe Shield, the Soap Stone Shield, and The Wall Tower Shield. Each shield gave her different abilities. The Rope shield allowed her to use an ability called Air Strike, which allowed her to place a shield in front of her and at a certain angle and distance. It wasn't exactly large but it did have its uses. Then there was the pipe shield, which gave her a skill called 'Shield Prison'. The skill allowed her to trap or protect an individual with a prison made of shields and chains. It could only take so much wailing on though, but it lasted about a minute.

What bothered her was when she finally got the Wall Tower Shield, which was due to a new skill she recently unlocked called, 'Weapon Copy.' Each shield in the main 'Copy Series' had to be mastered a different way from the first she unsealed. Apparently through use since they operated through efficiency levels, which were now applied to all shields she had previously mastered. And apparently each level mastered gave her a bigger bonus similar to when she first masters a shield... Which meant she needed to train and practice with each shield... But it was the different stats that appeared in her profile that worried her. Poise, which was a stat gained through armor. Her armor surprisingly gave her a little versus what she expected, which was none at all.

She had fifty Poise under her stats. Each of her shields had a varying stability stat. The larger and heavier, the more stability. But also the more stamina they drained. Which was another thing. Her stamina was now in a measurable bar. She was happy to say it was very large compared to her subordinates, and regenerated at a quick rate when she rested compared to her SP which was drained by her skills. Her MP didn't really matter since she didn't use magic yet. Her resistance was rather high. Having absorbed and mastered the Fire Plant shield and Charcoal shield, she had a decent fire resistance. She worried about the magic and lightning resistances as well as various other elemental stats which she couldn't read yet because they were unavailable.

Then there was her bleed, poison, toxic and curse resistances. All but poison and bleeding were low or nonexistent while bleeding was high and her poison was about average. Her physical resistance to damage was something she could boast about. It was VERY high. Her attack was very meager, and her strength and dexterity was high. Her magically oriented knowledge was low. She wondered why it was specific or a measurement at all next to her attunement which was a 1.

In all, what made her worry was because it all looked all too familiar despite the complexities they added. She remembered all too well where she saw them too. And it made her giddy and nervous as she read what her most recent favorite shield to use was. The Wall Tower Shield allowed her to use a skill called, 'Shield Wall'. The skill allowed non-legendary shields to 'lock' together with the Legendary shield to pool armor stats and shield stats. Specifically, defense 50% plus each shield's base defense and resistances, Stability 75% increase plus each shield's base stat, and poise was increased 50% plus each armor's full set base poise stat.

It made logical sense as complicated as it might sound. Each shield combined allowed to combined each person's stat and increased by a percentage plus the pool of stats because each person was supporting one another. There was a downside as well. It didn't pool stamina. Which meant if one person failed, their shield could easily be knocked aside or not be of use. Then that stat increase would be cut by who ever fell. This also made sense. Because that shield would no longer support the others. So Sonya was always the one to take the brunt of the force. She had the most stamina.

Two days till the next Calamity. And the thing that weighed down on her mind was what happened during the last calamity. Neither Sioc or Siorradh could answer because they were hid away in the cellars of their homes. What they did know was very few people survived.

So there was only one person she could start asking that she knew may know about what went on with another nation. The King. She felt stupid at first that she didn't ask around but no one seemed to know or be willing to answer her. So she needed to go to the one person she knew who would. Who had to.

Sonya waited at the gate to the castle while the guards made her wait until the page they sent could give her request for audience, and come back with an answer. She asked them personally about the calamity, and all they could say was that it took a lot of lives, and that the next would happen in Melromarc. Sonya sighed while Siorradh sat next to her and Sioc was forced to sit on the sneg-koshka's other side looking concerned.

" Well it was worth a shot." She said calmly. Sioc finally growled and elbowed Siorradh, who tried to stop him from getting up. Sioc knelt down in front of Sonya.

" Sonya-San, please. Why are you so worried? What is it that is bothering you?" He asked, his ears flat and face filled with concern.

Sonya sighed. " Here is as best a place as any I guess. I fear that what this calamity is similar if not identical to the world of a game I once played. I very grim and bleak world with nightmarish creatures and enemies of the likes you would not wish to dream. A game I played that my character... My puppet died over and over countless times for me to learn how to defeat these enemies and navigate this deadly world. A world that although I loved to play in because of its unforgiving nature and the challenge it presented, I do not want to come to life..."

She looked at the guards with an apologetic gaze as they listened. " And that is why I must see the King. To confirm whether my fears are groundless or true." She said calmly. Siorradh leaned back after shooting Sioc a glare that said she would get him.

" So why do you also sound excited?" The snow cat girl asked.

Sonya laughed. It wasn't something she could hide. " Most characters in the story of that world are unhinged. Most players are either extremely patient, persistent, or become slightly eccentric. I will leave you to guess the category I belong in." She said almost jokingly. " I grew to love that world. It was a challenge that the faint of heart would not take up. Not even if it was just a game where you lost nothing in real life but the time you play it. Because that game was oh so frustrating. A challenge that's best reward was success and moving forward. That's hook is the struggle in a hellish world. Uncovering a mystery that is so vaguely present."

Sonya leaned back against the wall and laughed before hugging herself while she began to shutter in a mix of mirth and dread. " And that world I hope does not come to be in this one. Because as much as I would have loved to have completed the quest. To see it to its end... I know that if that quest became real, I would only get one chance. I would only get to live and die once. Or, if that is not the case. I would be stuck in a cycle where I would be slowly driven mad. And it wouldn't just be a game I could walk away from when I got frustrated or had to go back to my regular life. It would be a prison called Hell. In the guise of a place called Lordran."

The weight of her words weighed down upon those present. She stood up and smiled. " Well, if it is the case, there is a few things to lighten things up. I know how to complete the quest and deal with most of the enemies. And that world has a LOT of exploits. So this world has a much better chance to fight back if that world does come to say hello." She said cheerfully.

Sioc stared at her. He wasn't sure whether to shake his head, laugh, smile, feel afraid. He just stared at her unsure. Siorradh simply shrugged her shoulders. " Whatever happens, I'll just stab whatever in the back before it tries to get to you." The younger girl said as she placed a hand on her dagger.

Sioc stood up and nodded. " And I'll stand with you and drive through the heart of whatever charges towards you with ill intent!" Sioc said with determination. Sonya laughed and patted the two both on the head.

" Thank you. Both of you two. But really, stop trying to out do each other." She said and looked at the two awkwardly when they finally had a look of agreement shared on their faces. "Nope!" The Volki boy and Sneg-Koshka Girl said in unison.

Sonya sighed in exasperation. She sighed then giggled.

It wasn't much longer when the page boy finally arrived to announce that the king would see them. Sonya patted the little nui boy on the head before he ran off. Sioc glared after him while Siorradh simply grinned at Sioc's annoyance. They soon arrived in the audience hall where the King sat on his throne looking with a frown at the empty throne next to his. He sighed before turning his gaze to the woman who stood before hims giving him a curtsey while her subordinates bowed. "So, Lady Brint. What may I ask is the reason you seek audience with me?" The king asked as he leaned forward with his hands resting on his cane.

Sonya sighed. " I want to confirm something. But to do that I must ask you about the first calamity that struck a northern nation." She said and sat down when the king ordered his servants to get them stools.

The king frowned as he recalled the report. " A fissure opened up and from what witnesses described, great big stone dragons entered our world from them. They seemed invulnerable to just about anything even our strongest warriors could attack them with. But it was discovered in a last ditch effort to ward them off that they are weak to lightning. The quickly were brought down one after another to shatter upon the land and become dust and scales. But not before they reck the havoc they did. They destroyed an entire nation alone. These great stone dragons. And now, with such a fissure readying to open itself upon this nation." The king said and looked at Sonya with concern. " Do you know something I do not?"

Sonya looked down at her hands. Then to her Vambrace Shield she wore for convenience. " Only if these dragons breathed fire and pure, elementaless magic. And if these dragons were taller than any castle, were vulnerable to lightning and dark magic. I may know something that is both terrible news, but has some ray of hope to it." She said.

The king looked at her with annoyance but continued to be patient with the shield hero. She was requesting knowledge. But she made it clear. If she was right, it meant a looming doom and a ray of hope. " That is the case." The King said clearly and slowly.

Sonya closed her eyes feeling regretful for saying what she must to the king of a nation that had treated her so well. Of a world she was beginning to love dearly. " Then if what I fear is coming is, in fact what is coming... This world is one I am very familiar with. And is a world of the likes that is brimming with creatures of pain, death and destruction. Giants and a world so convoluted that time lost its meaning and just about everything there is already insane." She said simply as she stood up. And curtseyed. The king stood up with anger.

" Then what is the ray of hope?" He demanded.

Sonya smiled sadly. "I'm very familiar with that hellish world."

The king sat down looking lost for words but waved for her to have a seat. " Please explain yourself." He asked politely. And so Sonya did. She explained that the dragons that invaded this world were called the Everlasting Dragons. Because it was thought that they were immortal and could not die. And that was the case, because the king confirmed that the scales were in fact still very much alive but could not act on anything themselves. The consciousness of the dragons themselves had been destroyed.

Next Sonya explained the story of the game she played and how it lead up to the beginning before she started the quest. She explained how there were god like beings of a fire like 'soul' called the First Flame. She explained that in the story of this world how these lords destroyed the dragons. She also explained how their power began to wane. How they placed a curse on some of the living humans that would cause them to become 'undead.' Beings who could not truly die and were caught in cycle of death and rebirth that drove them mad little by little. Some faster than others. And how the hero of this story was an undead that was called the 'chosen undead' was in fact an undead like many others that persisted through the many interlocking worlds that each undead were apart of. And that the hero of the story was simply the one who succeeded where the rest failed.

She explained some of the horrors of the world and ended with what began her suspicions. The king was quite for a moment, as if reading something invisible in front of him before he gave a grim nod. " On a good note, that world called Lordran is an easily exploitable one. As powerful at each enemy is, they all have their weaknesses." She said simply.

The king sighed. " I fear it is not going to be as easy as you think... But I hope you are right. Pass this information to the other Heroes and begin planning." He ordered. Sonya nodded but lingered after she was dismissed.

" Your majesty, do you know exactly where the fissure will occur?" Sonya asked. The King looked at her and beckoned her forward as he had a page retrieve a map of Melromark. " In the general area, here." He pointed. It was a wide area.

Sonya nodded and looked the man in the eyes. " Please. Can I beg that the soldiers and knights stationed in that area be ordered to do what is necessary if things turn out for the worse?" She asked calmly. The king looked at her with a very serious expression.

" Which is, to be clear?" The king asked. Sonya smiled sadly.

" Quarantine and investigate the area. Make sure the people are not cursed or affected in any way. If they are... Separate them. Have them tasked with fighting the Calamities to come maybe. If this curse I know does afflict them... They could become powerful allies... And just as equally powerful enemies if they loose themselves to madness. I don't exactly know how to stop such a curse... But... I know what it does. And I only have an idea of what can be done." She answered leaving the king to ponder over what she said.

Sioc and Siorradh looked at her with blank expressions. Once she was far enough from the castle she hugged them both close to her. And she cried. She was scared, worried, angry and sad. And she felt like a monster now, more than ever. She hugged them tightly and cried as she fell to her knees. It hurt so much, the pain that grew. The fear of the madness that was coming. The Calamity. She didn't care about the fact that people were staring. People were whispering. She cried.

But of the few things that were comforting, the greatest were the two that were hugging her back.


And things turn really Dark. Punny, and bad. I know. I just had to!

I made this Fan Fiction into a cross over between 'Rise Of The Shield Hero' and 'Dark Souls' because of Sonya and how unique of a character she is turning out for me. She is this woman who grew up with a complicated and troubled past and became a nerd. A person who was confident in herself. But she is still human.

She gets pulled into this world and like Noafumi, she is a bit different from the others. Like Naofumi unfortunate things happen and she has to work around them. A bit eccentric in ways, like Naofumi. But She is wise in her own way and she really does just roll with things with out really blaming her hardships on the world she is in. She understands what her actions will do and prepares for the consequences. She didn't have everything just handed to her all the time. How she is very different from Naofumi I wanted to make very clear to my readers not just by her stats and abilities... But as the person that she is.

But then there is Dark Souls. I imagine her and her love for this game, and how often she leans her video game logic onto this game. How she fights outside of what her world taught her and how she can not accept being powerless. How she persists against adversity that seems sooo frustratingly impossible. She is very different from Naofumi in her stubbornness.

But than I came to the realization that she needed a real adversity. One that wasn't copying and pasting ROTSH. One that she and I were familiar with. The kingdom of Lordran. And I wanted this chapter to start off like it had a bit of that feel goodness there. I wanted to have the previous chapters hint at the possibility of things being off. And then as this chapter goes on the bombshell starts to fall and you get that heavy realization that things are really turning bad. Bad in a way that someone who plays Dark Souls can only imagine if they imagined living in that world. Or that world coming to theirs.

And here is where I wanted to take this story. Where Sonya is who she is. The New Shield Hero. And a human being.