I do not own or maintain any rights to Rising of The Shield Hero they belong to One Piece Books and Aneko Yusagi. I am just playing in their sandbox for a minute.

Chapter 2: The Spare

"Oh wow…"

I heard the sound of a group of people that were surprised at something as I came to. 'Okay so I am not dead' I thought to myself as I started to come around from being knocked out. 'What the hell happened to me? It wasn't chloroform no one pressed rag to my mouth, and where am I anyway I'm not in the bookstore anymore.' I continued trying to figure out where exactly I was. I noticed that I was laying with my back on the ground. I was sure that I wasn't in a hospital either. I took note of the fact that I was laying on a cold stone floor and that the air felt and tasted stale. 'I have to be somewhere underground. Was I attacked and kidnapped? Who moved me and where is Naofumi?' I worried has I became increasingly agitated.

I decided that it was best to end my ruse of remaining knocked-out on the floor of the chamber and got to my feet to look around. I spotted a gaggle of people wearing robe looking on in awe at a group that included myself, Naofumi, and three unknowns.

"What's all this?" One of the unknowns demanded.

I saw Naofumi look at the unknown that spoke up and quickly examine the rest of the chamber. He was right to do so, my hunch about being underground was right. The walls were a simple cut and mortared stone. I took stock that the floor was covered in a repeating pattern as well as the fact the room we were in also contained an altar. That we just so happened to be perched on. 'Well great we have been captured by a bunch of cultists, Just peachy now how am I going to get all five of us out of here?' I thought concernedly.

"Where are we?"

'Good question kid, but I doubt they will tell us.' I thought has one of the unknowns, who I just noticed was holding a sword asked while pointing it at the robed men. 'They are all armed, why would a cul…'

"Oh, heroes! Please save our world!"

"What?!" Naofumi and they unknowns shouted in unison.

"Excuse me but what do you mean by that?" I said slowly while stepping forward for the first time. The group of robed men stepped back in surprise as I came to stand next to Naofumi. He looked a little startled for a brief moment then leaned in to whisper to me.

"Williamson-sama what's going on?"

"I wish I knew kid, but I don't think that I am supposed to be here judging by their reaction," I responded quietly while just barley moving my hand to indicate the other group.

"Why are there five of them?"

"The legend…. four..."

"Cardinal Hero's…."

The robed men tried to whisper to each other, but their shock was making them talk loud enough I could hear some of what they wear saying to one another. After their brief and hushed whispering, one of the robed men stepped forward and spoke.

"There are many complications in this situation, but to offer a simple answer to your question, we have just completed an ancient ceremony and summoned you four… ahem… five heroes."

"Summoned?"

'Oh, so they are cultist, after all, they are just also on crack. Well isn't that nice of them' I thought sarcastically to myself. I leaned down slightly to whisper to Naofumi again.

"Naofumi I don't like the looks of this they seem harmless for now, regardless keep your head down but on a swivel," I instructed him softly. "It might be best to play along for now but think before you act."

"What makes you say that Williamson-sama?" He asked looking slightly concerned, but before I could reply the robed man moved to speak again.

"Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength," said the robed man, bowing very deeply to us.

"Look, I am more than willing to …." I began to say to the man has I was cut off by the three unknowns.

"I don't think so."
"Yeah, me neither."

"We can go back to our world, right? We'll talk about your problems after that."

'What is wrong with these three? Do they think this is some kind of tv show?' I put on my best I am going to end you glare and looked at the others trying to get them to pipe down. They must think that this is not real, that we are on some kind of show, they don't know just how dangerous these cultists can be if we upset them, armed or not I don't think we would stand a chance against that large of a group. Just then sword boy leveled his blade at the group and nearly yelled, "Don't you feel guilty for calling people into your world without their permission?"

"Besides," Interjected another young man with a bow, "even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you'll just send us back home, right? That just sounds like a job to me." He said whilst glaring at the robed man.

"I wonder how much you've considered our opinion on this. I wonder how it could be worth our while. Depending on how the conversation goes, keep in mind that we might end up being enemies of your world." A man around Naofumi's age said cockily while pointing a spear at the cultist.

'Oh. My. God… These idiots are going to get us whacked by a group of crack-smoking cultists' I thought putting a hand over my mouth to keep from yelling at them while looking at Naofumi's face and seeing his mouth hanging open.

"Yes, well, we would very much like you to speak with the king. He will discuss future compensation with you in the throne room."

One of the robed men, apparently their leader, lean against a very heavy-looking door until it opened at which point he pointed in the direction we were to go.

"Whatever."

"Fine"

"I don't think it really matters who we talk to, but whatever."

The three stooges complained as they left the room in the direction indicated. I made sure Naofumi was on my six as I followed them out. I noticed that the air outside the room felt much fresher as we walked down a hallway made of stone. I saw that we were coming up on a window and made sure to get a good look outside. What I saw made me stop so fast Naofumi walked into my back. The world outside that window was clearly not earth.

"Oh…. They aren't cultist, they told the truth…" I thought aloud as I looked at the stunned face of Naofumi has he too looked out the window. The world outside was gorgeous, to say the least, it looked like a picturesque medieval village with a town and gently rolling hillside just beyond. We gazed on in stunned silence for a moment longer before jogging down the hall to catch up with the others as they entered the throne room.

"Huh, so these kids are the…four…. holy…heroes?" A man who must have been the king stated had he toke stock that there was, in fact, five of us. He has leaned forward as he spoke, and it allowed him to look us all over. He stopped on me for a moment considering that I had no weapon or shield like Naofumi. He coughed gently into his hand and looked sternly at a man to his left in the gallery before straightening up in his throne and speaking again.

"My name is Aultcry Melromarc XXXII, and I rule these lands, Heroes show me your faces!"

Hearing this I snapped to best at attention I have ever done, head straight and forward, chest out, shoulder back, and stomach in. My Drill Sargent would be proud at how fast I got into form, and positively kill me for all the others at least Naofumi tried to replicate my stance. 'Gold star for the attempt kid.' I thought as I waited for the king to address the group once again.

"Now then, I shall begin with an explanation. This country-no, this whole world- is on the brink of destruction."

Well, that's unnerving I thought has the king explained. One of the others decided to speak up. "Well, I guess that makes sense, considering you'd call us from another world."

"Yeah, figures."

The king explained to us why we had been summoned like so. There is a great doomsday prophecy about this world, events called waves of calamity would wash over the world again and again until nothing remained. Before now the citizens of the land thought it was just a metaphor or an old wives tale but a month ago the sands of a device called the dragons hourglass began to fall and a region of this country was almost wiped off the map due to being hit by a wave of calamity.

The lands knights were barely able to hold out against the wave has it was. Apparently, they spawn monsters and demons from the very depths of the void when they appear. The waves also appear to get stronger has time goes on, so they figure the knights won't last long without the heroes to aid them.

It also seemed that there were only supposed to be four heroes summoned and going by that fact I did not have a legendary weapon I was the obvious man out. The weapons are supposed to translate the local language and hold valuable information to aid the heroes so the fact I could speak to and understand them tossed the gallery for a bit of a loop.

"All right," said one of the others. "I think I understand where you're coming from. But does that mean you are basically commanding us to help you?"

"Seems all fine and good…for you."

"I agree. All this sounds pretty self-centered to me. If your world is on the road to destruction, just let it burn. I don't see what it has to do with us."

'Oh, do shut up.' I thought has the young man finished speaking, I could tell by him trying and failing to hold in a giggle he thought this was the coolest thing since sliced bread. Naofumi looked like he was thinking carefully before he spoke.

"As they have said, we don't have a responsibility to help you. If we dedicate our time to bringing peace to your kingdom, do we get anything besides a 'thanks and see you later'? I mean, I guess what I really want to know is if there is a way for us to get home. Could you tell me anything about that?"

"Hmmm…" The king shot a glance to a vassal next to him. "Of course we are planning on compensating you all for your efforts."

All the boy's fist pumped at the idea of great rewards, even Naofumi looked slightly pleased with the idea.

"Naturally," continued the king, "I've made arrangements to support you financially and also to provide you with whatever you may require in thank for your effort on our behalf."

"Oh yeah? Cool. Well, as long as you'll promise us that, I don't think we'll have a problem."

"Don't think you've bought us off. As long as we aren't enemies, I'll help you out, though."

"Agreed."

"Me too."

'That does it as soon as I have some time with just the others one of these boys is gonna get a slap. At least Naofumi took my earlier comment about thinking before you act to heart and is trying to control himself!' Did these prancing show ponies want to piss-off the most powerful man in the whole country by acting like entitled pricks, I mean seriously did they not go to history class? No one kills more people than a monarch of olde with power unchecked!

"Very well then, heroes. Tell us your names."

I looked out of the corner of my eye at the line of people to my left and saw that it would go Sword Boy, Spear Gremlin, Bow Imp, myself, and finally, Naofumi who seemed to have a shield of all things welded to his arm. Sword Boy stepped forward and started speaking.

"My name is Ren Amaki. I am 16 years old and a high school student."

'So, his name is Ren, He doesn't look like much. No scars and clean white skin. His hair is black and cut short plus he is a little on the short side at about 5'4" if I had to guess. Jesus if he cross-dressed, I would believe him to be a woman.' I thought while looking at Ren, this is bad he is too young to be tossed into what might as well be a war.

"All right, I'll go next. My name is Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm 21 and a college student."

'So, the gremlin is called Motoyasu, well at least he is a full adult. He is a bit taller than Ren with long blond hair pulled into a ponytail, He looks like a bit of a play-boy, but that ponytail is going to get him hurt in any combat vs. another person.' I was starting to become slightly anxious myself about this summoning thing, all the others might have well as been toddlers. I realized with a shock that they tried to summon warriors and the only qualified individual in the room was myself and I wasn't even supposed to be here.

"Okay, my turn. I'm Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm 17 and still in high school."

'Sonnofa, He is even shorter than Ren by an inch or two, At least he is almost 18. He too had longer than average blond hair but at least his was lose and not pulled into some kind of grip for the enemy. Overall, he looked too soft has an individual, like he had never done an honest day's work in his life.' I might as well give my introduction now I thought has I stepped forward to give my speech.

"My name is Sergeant First Class Richard James Williamson, I am 31 years old, a college graduate, and have served five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. SIR!" I said giving a salute to the king and shifting into a parade rest while speaking loudly and clearly. I noticed that the first three jumped at the level of volume that I spoke at and seemed to see me for the first time, they looked minorly put out. Most likely it was because of the stark difference between me and them. Being that I stand at a tall 6'4" or 200cm with close-cut dirty blonde hair, a well-toned body and silver eyes so sharp they could pierce the side of an Abrams. It looked like the king was taken aback at my introduction compared to the rest of the boys and that he was going to speak before Naofumi started his intro.

"I guess I'm last. My name is Naofumi Iwatani. I'm 20 years old and a college student."

The king looked down at all of us slightly condescendingly.

"Now then. Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki, And Williamson, correct?"

"Your Grace, you've forgotten me," Naofumi spoke up softly attempting to be polite.

"Ah yes, pardon me, Mr. Naofumi. Now then heroes, please confirm your status and give yourselves an objective evaluation."

"Huh?" Naofumi gasped.

"Excuse me, but how are we supposed to evaluate ourselves?" asked Itsuki

Ren sighed loudly and spoke condescendingly "You mean to say that you haven't figured it out yet? Didn't you realize it the moment you arrived here? I mean, haven't you noticed any weird icons hanging out in your peripheral vision?"

"Huh?" Naofumi squeaked.

"Just focus your you mind on that icon," Ren explained.

I did as Ren instructed and a screen hit my vision like a pop-up.

SFC, Richard Williamson

Class: Unknown Hero LV. 21

Equipment: Boot Knife (Excellent)

Otherworld Clothes

Skills: Leadership (Passive), Perception (Passive), Military Training (Passive)

Magic: None

'Well that's new, wait a minute I could learn magic? This is hurting my brain to think about it. I was dragged into some kind of parallel world with magic and dragons. Just what the hell is going on?' My mind was running a million miles an hour as I looked over my status screen. It would be so easy to believe that I was dragged into some kind of video game it wasn't even funny god knows what the others are thinking.

"Level 1 . . . That makes me nervous."

"Good point. At this rate who knows if we'll even be able to fight at all?"

"What is all this?"

"Do these things not exist in your world, heroes? You are experiencing status magic. Everyone in this world can use it."

"Really?"

"And what are we supposed to do? These numbers seem awfully low." Ren inquired of the king.

"Wait a minute what do you mean by low? I heard Naofumi say he was at level one, but surely you all can't be that low?" I asked Ren

"No, I am at level one as well."

"We are too." Itsuki and Motoyasu stated together.

"I don't understand how that is possible I am already level 21 with skills relevant to those that I learned in our world, like my military career."

"WHAT!" They all shouted at me, even the king seemed to become pensive at my proclamation.

"Mr. Williamson while I am unsure has to the reason why you are not at level one it confirms a suspicion of mine, that you are not one of the cardinal heroes. I believe you were summoned with the heroes due to your mannerisms and clothing, but your case is completely unique as we have never had five be summoned before. In simpler words, I believe you to be an extra." The king announced sitting regally in his throne. "Has, for now, I would ask that you let me deliver some important information to the four cardinal heroes. We will address this matter later on when we may talk privately about your unique circumstance." He continued, stirring even more hushed and fast whispers from the gallery.

The king then cleared his throat loudly to silence the gallery before addressing us once again. "Heroes your levels may be low, but that is why you will need to go on a journey to further polish your abilities and to strengthen the legendary weapons you possess."

"Strengthen them? You mean these things aren't strong right from the get-go?" Motoyasu whined.

"That is correct. The summoned heroes must raise their legendary weapons by themselves. That is how they will grow strong."

Motoyasu spun his spear like it wasn't a razor-sharp weapon and asked the king "Why don't we just use different weapons while these ones are bulking up? Seems smart to me."

Ren quickly jumped in to keep things moving "We can work all that out later on. Right now, we should focus on improving ourselves, just like the king has asked us to do."

'Well that was unexpected it seems at least Ren and Naofumi are trying to think of this place as something other than a game. This could be a good sign if Itsuki is also going to take this seriously they might have a chance, but Motoyasu might be a lost cause he is not practicing proper weapons control at all and keeps trying to discreetly ogle the ladies of the court. They still seem far to eager to jump into the fray they need a hard reality check.' I thought trying to consider the odds for all of the others.

"Are we going to form a party? The four of us?"

"Wait just a moment, heroes."

"Hm?"

'Why did the king stop them? They have much better odds if they stay together.'

"The four of you should set out separately to recruit your own companions."

"Why is that?"

"According to the legends," He started, "the legendary weapons you posses will interfere with one another should you form a party. Both your weapons and yourselves can only grow when you are apart from one another."

"I don't really understand all that, but if we stay together, we can't level up, right?" Itsuki chimed in after a moment of thought.

The four heroes seemed to reopen their status screen again and look at something I couldn't see on mine.

"I guess it's true then…." One of them confirmed under their breath.

'What is going on in this world? It is almost like the universe wants the heroes to think this is little more than a game. This is not going to help any of them they need proper training in how to weld their weapons and intense mental fortitude to take on this task without extreme risk to their mental health if they cannot come to terms with however much like a game this world seems that it is clearly not they are going to be injured or worse!'

"Do you think we should try to form our owns parties?" Ren asked the king.

"I will attempt to secure travel companions for you all. Regardless, the evening draws near. Heroes, you should rest for the night and prepare for departure on the morrow. In the meantime, I will find companions for you from the village below."

"Thank you very much."

"Thanks."

The five of us turned to leave when the king called out to me. "Mr. Williamson if you would stay behind for a moment."

Naofumi turned to look at me but I subtly gestured that he should follow the others before turning to walk infront of the king.

"This court is adjourned, vacate the throne room!" The king announced to the gallery after a moment. All the ladies and gentlemen in attendance quickly rose and exited the room chattering excitedly to one another. Once the room was cleared, he gestured to the guards to exit and guard the entrances to the room.

"We may speak freely now." The king said slightly slumping a little in his chair.

"My liege, I am at your service," I stated going to parade rest.

"Mr. Williamson this is an unexpected and surprising turn of events, there has never been a fifth hero before in history, but you are not a hero, are you? The heroes are all marked by one of four legendary weapons being the Sword, Spear, Bow, and Shield."

'Why did he put that kind of tone on shield, could he have a problem with the shield hero?' I thought without moving my face.

"To my knowledge sire, I am indeed not one of the four heroes you attempted to summon. The only equipment that showed up on my status screen was my clothing and a concealed boot-knife I already possessed."

"This is troubling news." The king said stroking his beard and looking lost in thought. "What did the class section of your status screen state you are? It might provide some more information."

"It stated that I am an 'Unknown Hero'. The description was left blank, however, Sire." I explained to the king.

"It seems my earlier assumption was correct, that you are for all intents and purposes, a spare hero," The king seemed to look me up and down for a moment before continuing "Mr. Williamson you may rejoin the others, the guard at the door will show you where to go."

"At once, your majesty," I said respectfully has I threw a salute and briskly left the throne room. 'Great so now I am The Spare Hero.' I thought with a snort as I went to find the others.

Hey, hey look at that! That's two down and about a million to go! I am going to try and get to a point where I can have a chapter posted about once a week, but I don't know I my job will allow it yet. A special thanks to Dr. Gale and kristova03 for their reviews they are a great motivation to keep going! If you spot an error feel free to point it out or make a suggestion, I am doing this not only for fun but to improve my writing ability as well. -Sobe Out.

Edited on 23-12-19: Spelling and grammar