Hey everyone! Wow, so many views already and thank you for the reviews and encouragement! It means a lot! Now, I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero, but I DO own my OCs and plot twists. Any mistakes made in reference to the leveling up system are mine since I still haven't read a decent explanation of how it works (Pst, if you know one, please pm me the link!).

Now, on with our journey in another world!

Birds chirp cheerfully as Hazel yawns, stretching out the kinks in her back. She glares at the predawn sky and groans loudly.

"Ugh, might as well get up."

Dragging herself to her feet, Hazel goes to the river and splashes water in her face. Dripping, she stands and finds a relatively clear space near the river to practice. Taking a steady breath, Hazel starts with a basic kata focusing on lower blocks and stances. The next has the same footwork but focusing on middle block, meant to block strikes to the chest and ribs. Gradually she speeds up, muscles limber as she pushes on to high blocks, then a kick set and finally several combination katas.

Zoning out, Hazel focuses solely on the movement of her body and her positioning.

"Sloppy stances, sloppy techniques, sloppy martial arts! Never let yourself go sloppy, or it'll be the death of you!"

Hazel smiles as the training rant her sensei would yell at the malcontents comes to mind. Finishing her current kata, she takes a break, drinking water and eating Usapil meat for breakfast. As she finishes, the rattle of wheels catches her attention. Swearing, Hazel runs back inside the ruined tower and climbs the walls to the top to watch the road.

A carriage comes into view, pulled by- is that a dragon?! Gawking, Hazel stares star-struck at the legendary creature.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy moly shit! It's a dragon! A real, living, breathing dragon!

Hazel inwardly squees, trembling with excitement. Too quickly it rolls out of view, leaving Hazel behind in the watch tower, marveling the strangeness and wonder of this new world. Climbing back down, Hazel eyes the road and then the forest.

"… Damn, what now? I'm probably a persona non grata… Aaaaand I still know next to nothing. Except there's dragons!"

[Make contact with a Dragon Hourglass.]

Hazel blinks at the message.

"I mean, sure, except I have no clue where those are. Doesn't each country have one?"

[Correct.]

"Are you two going to tell me where I am, or why I can't be near the other heroes?"

[…]

Hazel glares at her Holy Weapons.

"Seriously? I can't know either of those very basic answers?"

[Processing request for location.]

Hazel perks up.

Finally! Some indicator of where I am!

[Location: 100 km away from nearest hero.]

"… Are you freaking kidding me?!" Hazel yells.

A large number of birds and monsters are disturbed by her sudden yell, the birds fleeing and the monsters edging closer.

[You are not pleased?]

"NO!"

[Why?]

"That only tells me I'm 100 kilometers away from another hero!"

[Request was granted within parameters given.]

"Ugh! Can you at least tell me what freaking country we're in?!"

[…]

"If I don't know what country we're in, then I can't apply what background info I have effectively! Which could be the difference between life and death!"

[Processing request for location.]

Hazel goes still, afraid to hope after the last result.

[Hero is currently located 27 km from the Shieldfreeden and Melromarc boarder.]

"… Wow, how did you do that?"

[Irrelevant.]

The message comes and Hazel blinks at the feeling of petulance oozing forth from the gauntlets.

"Uh… thanks?"

[Hero's gratitude is noted.]

The feeling of petulance vanishes and satisfaction replaces it. Hazel eyes them and makes a decision.

"You know… since you two talk and seem to do something similar to logical thinking, you probably should have names."

The gauntlets seem to perk up in interest.

[Hero intends to bequeath her Holy Weapons with identificatiers?]

Hazel laughs and scratches her head.

"I guess that's one way to phrase it… Hmm, let's see…"

Hazel thinks hard for a while, then snaps her fingers decisively.

"Okay, got it! Left gauntlet, you're now Knokene! Right gauntlet, you're Rysty!"

The gauntlets seem to take a moment to absorb the information, then the jewels start to glow brightly.

[Naming successful! Unlocked {Titles and Naming} tree for Rysty and Knokene! Would you like to add a Title?]

"Uh… what did I just do?" Hazel wonders aloud, sweating slightly as the message flashes insistently.

[Would you like to add a Title?] The gauntlets demand again, glowing brightly.

"… What happens if I say yes?" Hazel asks slowly, uneasy.

[Rysty and Knokene will become more proficient at tasks associated with Title.]

"… That's good?" Hazel hazards, trying to understand the logic.

[Yes. Long term, bonuses will accrue, though certain Titles will be Locked by other Titles selected."

"Okay… So, are we talking Titles like 'your Highness' or more like 'you Thief'?"

Hazel questions Knokene and Rysty.

[The second example is closest.] They confirm.

"…" Hazel sighs, rubbing the back of her head.

"Okay, what are my Title options?"

The gauntlets shimmer and Hazel gets the feeling Rysty and Knokene are discussing her silently.

[Title options currently available:]

[Renegade Hero- +15 for Agility and gains (Locked) skill Lie Detection. Locks access to Hero of Propriety.]

[Monster Slayer- +15 for Collecting and gains 10% damage bonus against low level Monsters.]

[Martial Artist- +10 for Agility and Stamina, with (Locked) skill Ki Mastery.]

[Hero may select one Title.]

Hazel stares at her options and murmurs,

"This… is really difficult."

Elsewhere, around the same time…

There is a silent war under the cover of darkness as two factions compete to find the 'False Hero'. On one side are the combined forces of the King and the Church of the Three Heroes, feverish to end this potential threat. The other opponent is the forces of the Queen, determined to protect the Fifth Hero the way they did not protect Naofumi.

Both sides are deadly in dealing with their enemy, leaving anonymous corpses in back alleys or on rooftops. The Queen's Shadow grits her teeth as a knife wings past her head- yet another pursuer aiming to end her. Swiftly, she twists and throws a small knife at the enemy Shadow, forcing them to slow. Using the momentary distraction, she snaps out smoke bomb and throws it at the enemy's feet, blinding them.

Jumping onto the roof, the agent of the Queen races through the capital city, aiming for the city gates in the distance. A flicker in a window was her only warning as an arrow slams into her shoulder, throwing her from the roof onto a pile of garbage below.

Too well trained to swear, the Shadow breaks the arrow shaft and runs for the alley exit, eyes casing the street and roofs. After running for a few blocks, the Shadow rests against a wall, considering her options. The roofs are out while there are archers poised to assassinate mysterious Shadows. Briefly she considers eliminating the archer and shakes her head. Too much risk and there is no guarantee there is only one archer.

That leaves the streets and the sewers; both have pros and cons.

Streets leave her more vulnerable, but there is also a chance her fellow Shadows will be able to help her. There are more opportunities to hide and sneak out the city in plain sight at street level. Sewers are more concealed, but dangerous with the former 'pet' down there and reinforcements unlikely to reach her if something goes wrong. The plus being most people wouldn't think to go down there since it stinks so much.

Wrapping her wound, the Shadow weights her options and makes a decision.

Using her disguise belt, the Shadow makes herself appear to be a beggar woman, bundled up for the night. The benefits of the disguise hide the arrow in her shoulder and give her a great excuse to be hiding in an alleyway. Hours pass and the sun rises, waking the capital. The Shadow squints and shuffles towards the entrance to the alleyway, moving carefully with the foot traffic.

Slowly, she makes her way to the city gates, occasionally stopping and begging for money. For the most part she is ignored, which works just fine for her. Nearer to the gates, she slides into an alley and makes sure she is well hidden. Gritting her teeth, she quickly pulls out the arrow and swallows a health potion, healing the wound. After checking her arm for stiffness or sore muscles, the Shadow changes her disguise again to that of a mercenary.

Confident, she exits the capital and pushes herself to cover lost ground, maintaining her disguise until well out of sight of the city.

Please let me make it in time! The Shadow prays, moving fast and using her skill [Detect Presence] as she runs through the woods.

Okay, that's the end of this chapter! I promise there will be a fateful meeting between Hazel and someone else in the next segment, but first I want to put this question to you the readers.
What Title do you think Hazel should choose?
I am very interested to hear the results and I have potential paths for all three options, but I myself have a lot of difficulty choosing one at this point in time. So help me choose!

Also, if you have questions or tips, I am happy to hear them! Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to support this story!