Author's Note:As I said in the warnings at the start of the story, I'll be altering the system and a few other things within this story. In this chapter, you'll be seeing a few of those changes in action. So you know, I'll be adding skills and attributes points in this story, some of you might not like the idea and I'll say this, I understand. But, I want to add them to give Naofumi something to work towards and make him think where to place these points, not only that, but I wanted to make the world more like a game. I hope you enjoy the changes that I'll be adding to the story.
There's a slight crossover with Sword Arts Online in this chapter.
Chapter Two.
The Royal Summons!
Azeroth 20, Kingdom of Melromarc, Castle Town, Castle, Year 5th of January 740:
Before Naofumi could ask what the earth what this priest/mage was talking about, or why he felt disoriented and had problems remembering things, the guy with the sword called out, "So, are you guys going to tell us where we are?"
"Oh, honourable Heroes! Please, save our world!" asked a man in a black robe and gold trimmings, he had four other people behind him. Naofumi thought the man in front of them was some kind of High Priest or Mage, and those behind him were his followers.
"…Huh?"
They all replied in unison.
"What do you mean by that?" asked the bow guy.
"You must have many questions," one of the men in robes told them, "But time is short. You are the chosen Heroes, told in prophecy, summoned here by an ancient ritual to save our world Wave of Calamity."
"Summoned…?"
"Prophecy…?"
"Wave of Calamity…?"
Naofumi was confused, whilst he agreed with these three men, he felt that he knew this somehow, it felt strangely familiar somehow, like he only recently learned this somewhere. It was at the back of his mind, trying to get to the front. So deciding to say something he asked, "Whilst I agree with the three, I would also like to know something. Why is it that I feel disoriented? And why do I have problems recalling things?"
"Ah Sir Hero, that would be one of the side-effects of summoning you here." explained the Head Mage, "In the scrolls that tell us how to summon you, Heroes, it says that for the first few days or so you might feel disoriented, nauseous, and many other things, even have problems with memories and such. But it'll clear up within a few days."
Now that the mage mention it, the other three did feel a bit disoriented and nauseous, but they put it down to being reborn/summoned to this world. As they had no idea how long they were died for, for all they knew, they could have been dead for hundreds of years, before being summoned here. They had no idea what effects were for being brought back to life.
"Either way honourable Heroes, at the moment, this world is teetering on the edge of destruction. We pray for you, please, lend us your power!" the Head Mage begged the four Summoned Heroes.
"Man, so much talking."
"This sucks."
"Right?"
"Can we go now?"
The other three people summoned spoke up, interrupting Naofumi's efforts to smoothly progress the conversation. And not only that, to answer in such away.
Listening to people when they were talking to you was just basic manners!
As if they could hear Naofumi's silent rebuke, all three of them turned to face him.
…For some reason, they were smirking.
It almost seemed like they were enjoying themselves. Which they were, they were alive and kicking, something they thought would be impossible. They were going to get every advantage that they could out of this, not only that but if they were summoned moments before their deaths and were somehow healed, they might be able to be sent home alive and carry on with their old lives. If not, they would take whatever advantage they could to make their new lives her better than their old one.
But to Naofumi, if this was actually real and they had really been transported to another world… well, Naofumi would be lying if he said that it didn't feel like a dream come true. But that was all the more reason to pay attention, right?
"Don't you guys have any shame at all, suddenly dragging us here without our permission?" The guy with the sword - he looked to be in his late teens - brandished his weapon.
"Even if you send us home when the job is done, that's basically just using us as slave labour, you know?" the guy with the bow voiced his agreement with a glare.
"You get where we're coming from, right? Keep in mind that depending on your answer we might have to become your enemies." the swordsman told them coolly.
Naofumi could sympathize with what they were saying. It was their right to confirm their situation, and whether or not they would be rewarded for their efforts. Still, to raise their weapons like that… these guys had some serious balls. Somehow Naofumi was starting to feel outclassed. He began to wonder if his relaxed attitude was going to give trouble.
"P-Please, at least have an audience with the king before you do anything rash. You can discuss the details of your compensation there."
The Head Mage informed him, as two of the other mages opened a heavy-looking door, as the Head Mage gestured them inside.
"Well, I guess that's that."
"Seems like it."
"Though, talk is talk, even if it's a king."
With that Naofumi and the other three guys headed towards the exit. He followed behind them, so as not to be left behind. Compared to the darkroom that they started out in, the stone hallway was bright and lively.
…The air here smelled sweet. Naofumi wasn't really sure how else to describe it.
On top of that, the scenery they could see through the row of windows lining the walls was positively breathtaking. Clear blue sky, far as the eye could see, hung over a townscape straight from medieval Europe. Naofumi spotted some strange creatures, creatures that he thought were only from dreams, anime and games. However, they didn't have long to marvel at the spectacle before we were ushered through the hall into a large audience chamber.
"Oh? So these are the Cardinal Heroes?" A self-important old man asked as he looked down at them with an appraising gaze.
Naofumi couldn't put his finger on it, but something about him made the young black haired man uneasy. If he had to guess… it was his eyes. Whilst the man seemed to look at the other three with respect and interest. The old man gave him a look of disgust and loathing as if Naofumi was scum or something like he killed the old man's family or something. There's no way Naofumi could ever like somebody that looked at other people like that.
As Naofumi looked away from the man, he realized that they won't alone. There were many noble men and women, what shocked Naofumi was that when they looked at him they give him a hint of distrust and hatred, although when they saw that he saw this they quickly hide it as if nothing happened. The young man had no idea why this was, he had just been summoned to this world and so he had no idea why they would hate him already.
"I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. Raise your heads, Heroes." The king greeted them, his face looked like he had been through great hardship. That he lost hope in what was going on in his life. His tone was dry and rather focused, not like the mage from earlier.
Naofumi resisted the urge to point out that none of their heads was lowered. He wasn't an expert on the courtly manner, but at the very least Naofumi knew better than to talk back to a king.
Naofumi's first impression of this man was not the most pleasant. The king kept looking at Naofumi, as if he was lower than him and that the other three were just above him. Whilst Naofumi could understand that the king might look down at them for being basically commoners, the looks that he was giving him was more intense, he wasn't afraid of showing his feelings for Naofumi, although the other three didn't seem to notice it. More likely they were caught in the moment, so wasn't bothered about the other heroes with them. Naofumi had no idea why the king would be like this towards him, they had never met before today.
"Now, I shall explain the current situation. This country - nay, the very world - is on the path to ruin."
The king went on to tell them that they were summoned because of a great calamity that happened about a month ago, where monsters appeared from the sky and killed many people. They were reminded of a prophecy, about this, how neither their normal soldiers nor normal adventurers would be unable to stop the disaster that came to their land.
The story was of an existence of a prophecy, it spoke of wave after wave of calamity which would beset their lands, where should it not be stopped, would take over the world, one land at a time. The prophecy called the waves the Waves of Calamity, where their only hope was from four legendary heroes who were summoned from other worlds to save their world
At first, they weren't sure if the prophecy was true or not. However, they truly believed that prophecy had finally come when the ancient Dragon's Hourglass that stood still for the last two centuries since the last Waves of Calamity begun to run once more.
According to legend, the Dragon's Hourglass was supposed to serve as a warning system for the Wave of Calamity. At first, the people had written it off as mere superstition. However, disaster struck the instant the final grain of sand fell, just as the legend said.
A dimensional fissure appeared over Melromarc, and a vast horde of monsters spilled out from within. Though the country's knights and adventurers just barely managed to subdue most of them, the next wave was expected to be even stronger. There was no way they would be able to stop the calamity a second time. And so, the leaders of the country decided to enact the ancient summoning of the Legendary Heroes, in hopes that they might be saved.
On an unrelated note, the heroes' ability to communicate with the people of this world was apparently a boon granted by the legendary weapons they all held.
"Uh-huh. So, you expect us to just work for free, then?"
"That sure is convenient for you."
"…It really is selfish, you know. Dragging us into a problem that doesn't have anything to do with us."
Naofumi had to admit, judging from the way they were smiling earlier, they obviously weren't really upset. So why were they speaking so brazenly? It was probably time for me to speak up and smooth things over.
"That's right! You can't expect us to work for free, right?" the one with spear told the king, "Say, if we were to fight in these waves you speak off, what guarantee do we have that you won't simply send us off with our hands empty after we beat it? Nobody would take a risk like that unrewarded."
Naofumi, although a bit startled by the sudden aggression of his fellow heroes, he had to agree to their line of thought. Being an economics student, one thing that had been engraved in his mind was that, "Nothing is free, everything has a price." While his kinder and trusting heart told him to help regardless, his mind called out details of his trip here so far.
Shiny armour, fancifully dressed individuals, pompous attitude. These details didn't point to a distressed nation being attacked.
He shifted into a more defensive position, holding his shield in front of his vitals. The precaution was never enough. And as much as he hated to admit it, there was something in the pit of his stomach to be careful of this king. That he should not be trusted fully.
"Urk…"
The king shot a glance toward one of his retainers.
"Let me introduce myself, I am Hikaru, the royal Minister." explained the Minister, "Now you should not worry Sir Heroes, you'll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. It would bring utmost shame upon our nation to not reward their saviours. Of course, you'll receive rewards, glory and fame. We ask that you trust in our word and fight the waves." The king nodded in agreement as many of the nobles around them also nodding and lightly clapping to the Minister's words.
Naofumi couldn't help but notice the many pieces of jewellery adorning the king's hands as he continued speaking, explaining the reason behind the hero summoning.
The four of them clenched their fists excitedly. All right! That was more like it.
"Besides that, we could also prepare discretionary funds to support you on your journey." explained the king, "It's a small price to pay to ensure your cooperation in saving our world."
"Oh? Well, as long as you make it a promise…"
"Don't think that means you own us, though. We're just cooperating for as long as you stay on our good side."
"…That's right."
"Yeah."
'Geez, again with the condescending attitude.' Naofumi thought to himself, wondering if these three so-called heroes were fools or just delusional. Making an enemy of this country was the absolute worst thing they could do right now. If that happened, the little progress they were able to make in this negotiation so far would totally fall apart!
"Now then, Heroes. Tell me your names." the king ordered them.
That's when Naofumi realized why most of this felt so familiar, as some of his memories returned to him. All of this was just like the book that he had been reading earlier. Sword, spear, bow, and shield. It couldn't be a coincidence that the weapons were the same. As unbelievable as it seemed, could they have somehow ended up in the world of that book…?
While he was wrapped up in my own thoughts, the others began their introductions.
"My name is Ren Amaki, age sixteen. I'm a high-schooler."
He stood roughly 165cm, with delicate, sincere features. In fact, Naofumi felt that he was so pretty you might even mistake him for a girl if he dressed up in drag. With his long-slitted eyes and light skin, he was the very image of a cool, slender swordsman. He had sky blue eyes that people dream about having, he had black hair that flew down to his shoulder blades. He had white complexion and red lips. The innocently bewitching gaze from his eyes, framed by long eyelashes, along with the skin and lips, if he didn't know better, Naofumi would have believed Ren was a female.
"I'll go next, then. The name's Motoyasu Kitamura, college student, twenty-one."
Naofumi believed that he was an easygoing older-brother type.
Though his features were more traditional, he was easily on par with Ren in the looks department. If you told Naofumi he'd dated two girls at the same time before, it wouldn't surprise him at all. Even his hair was chic, tied back into a long ponytail. It was a feminine cut, but somehow he made it work. All in all, he seemed like a helpful and reliable guy.
"Oh, me now? My name is Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm a seventeen-year-old high-school student."
A mature youth with the air of a pianist.
There was a fragility about him, yet at the same time an unshakable strength. Honestly, it was hard to get a read on him. He had nice hair, though: wavy, with a bit of a perm. He seemed nice enough, for the quiet, little-brother type.
Naofumi couldn't help but be a little thankful everybody was Japanese - not that he had anything against foreigners, mind you, it just would have been a little shocking to see one here. Although, part of him wondered how he was able to understand everyone seeing how this was a different world. Was it possible that these weapons, or in his case armour, allowed them to understand each other?
'…Crap, was it my turn already?' thought Naofumi.
"Oh, sorry. Guess I'm last. The name's Naofumi -."
"Hmm. Lord Ren, Lord Motoyasu, and Lord Itsuki is that right?" the king asked kindly as if Naofumi didn't say anything.
Naofumi raised his hand, making the king look his way.
"Forgive me, eh, your majesty, but you seemed to have skipped me." Naofumi informed the king firm but politely, not wanting to get on the king's bad side more than he already seemed to be. By the look on Ren's face, he gained some respect from the young man for sticking up for himself. Although up to 'till now, the king seemed to relax as he spoke, losing the look of contempt that he had for Naofumi.
A quick exchange of eyes happened. Naofumi second-guessed himself, but he swore he saw the contempt inside Aultocray's eyes return as the king looked over him. Naofumi felt a chill run down his spine when the king did so. Naofumi had no idea why the king gave him such a look, he only got to this world and so didn't have time to do something that would piss the king off.
"Oh, my. My sincerest apologies… Shield Hero." But the young man knew he wasn't.
This old guy was unbelievable. It was already glaringly apparent to Naofumi that he was the odd man out here, but he didn't have to rub it in like that!
"Right, I'm Iwatani Naofumi, Twenty-years-old, I'm also a college student." It seemed that only Naofumi found this situation awkward, seeing as the other three were waiting for him to finish his piece.
"Now, if everybody could please confirm their status?" the king asked them all.
"Huh?" three of the four heroes asked in shock.
Status? What the heck was a status!?
"Umm… how do we do that, exactly?" Itsuki timidly asked the king for help. But, at least he seemed to have some inkling of what they were talking about. Naofumi was completely lost!
"What, you guys didn't notice it the moment you got here?" Ren seemed genuinely shocked that they could be so ignorant. The smug, know-it-all look on his face was totally irritating.
"There's a sort of icon in your peripheral vision, right?"
Eh? He was right. Naofumi found it strange that he hadn't noticed it before, but there really was a strange mark floating there. Maybe, unless you knew what was going on or someone pointing it, certain things can't be done or seen. That lead to the question of how was Ren able to see it first and not the others.
"Just focus your consciousness on that."
Focus his consciousness? Naofumi still didn't really get it, but he tried it out anyway. What harm would it do, the worst thing that could happen is that nothing happened.
…Ping! The icon suddenly expanded into a browser-like window that filled his entire field of vision and having a quick look he saw this.
Name:
Naofumi Iwatani
Class:
Legendary Shield Hero
Legendary Equipment:
Small Shield (Legendary Weapon)
Legendary Weapon Skill(s):
Absorption:
A small crystal on the shield that absorbs plants, animal parts and other items into the shield, to unlock new shields and abilities for the Shield Hero.
Magic Resistance - Low:
This skill allows the person to defend against low to medium non-elemental magic attacks, such as sleep and fear.
Physical Endurance - Low:
This skill allows the person not to feel physical pain from low to medium level monsters.
There were other icons that he could look at, but Naofumi didn't have the time to look at it fully. But he had to admit the skills that he got so far seem decent enough. Either way, this wasn't what interested our young hero, no, it was this 'status bar' in front of him that interested him. It was just like something out of one of the games that he played back home!
"I'm only level one? What a pain in the ass." Ren said with a sigh.
"Yeah, can we really fight like this?" asked Motoyasu, worried that he couldn't fight as well as he wanted.
"Uh… more importantly, what the heck is this?" asked Itsuki.
"Do you not have status magic in your world, Heroes? Here, it is something that anybody can use." one of the men in robes informed them all.
"No kidding?" Naofumi asked in shock.
Apparently the ability to quantify and observe their actual physical parameters was considered normal in this world.
"Anyway, what should we do from here on out?" asked Motoyasu, "Being such a low level is making me uneasy."
"We would like to ask of you four that you strengthen your Legendary Weapons before the next Wave of Calamity." explained Minister Hikaru, "The fate of our world rides on your shoulders, oh noble heroes."
"Strengthen our weapons?" Naofumi asked in shock, "They're legendary, right? Shouldn't they be strong from the start?"
"I am simply relating the contents of the legend." the Minister told the Shield Hero, "It is written that the summoned Heroes will grow and strengthen their legendary weapons."
"Again with the legends. So can we at least use something else until these things are strong enough to be useful?" Motoyasu spoke up, twirling his spear absentmindedly. He had a point. After all, Naofumi's so-called 'weapon' wasn't even a weapon, it was a shield. Obviously he would need something else to survive.
"We can worry about that later. For now, we should just focus on getting stronger as they asked." this came from Ran.
Being summoned as a Hero in another world…
Naofumi was overflowing with things he wanted to try. I mean, come on. There was no way that any young man wouldn't be fired up in a situation like this! The others must have felt the same way, Naofumi was sure of it.
"Well then, should the four of us party up?"
"Wait just a moment, Heroes."
"Hmm?"
The Minister stopped them as they were preparing to head out on their journey.
"The four of you are to gather companions individually, then set off on your own separate journeys." the Minister informed the four Cardinal Heroes.
"Oh? And why is that?" asked Ren.
"It's quite simple. According to legend, the weapons you carry naturally repel each other. Should you operate together as a group, you will do nothing but impede each other's growth." The Minister informed them.
"I'm not sure I get it, but basically you're saying we can't get strong unless we work alone?" Naofumi asked confused and a bit worried about this. As if he wasn't able to use a weapon or find companions to help him fight, he would have problems levelling up.
Part of him thought that he was making this up so that each hero would have to work with those of this world instead of with each other. However, that thought was put to rest when some sort of help message suddenly appeared over his shield.
Caution!
Working together with your fellow legendary weapon holders will be detrimental to your progress.
Please try to operate separately as much as possible. Otherwise, EXP gain shall be halted.
"Looks like it's the real deal…" Naofumi told his fellow heroes.
What was with this game-like explanation, though? It was like they had really fallen into the world of a game. At any rate, it was nice to know that the legendary weapons came with a user's manual. Naofumi would have to make time to read through it all later.
"So then, we need to gather companions, I guess?" Ran asked/stated.
"On the contrary, we will gather companions for you - the best of the best, have no worries." This came from the king himself, "However, the day grows late. For now, rest yourselves and gather your strength. Your journey begins tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks."
Leaving behind words of gratitude, we relocated to the guest quarters prepared for us by the king.
o0OoO0o
Once they arrived in the guest quarters, the four heroes sprawled out on the extravagant bedrooms that had been prepared for them, before they gathered in the common room to study the Help Menu for our weapons. At some point, the sun completely disappeared below the horizon, but Naofumi was so absorbed in reading that he didn't even notice.
On the plus side though, Naofumi was able to find out a lot of useful information. Apparently, the legendary weapons were almighty tools that didn't require maintenance. On top of that, if their owner diligently levelled up and fused materials into it, new forms would unlock, which were recorded in something called the 'Weapon Book.' That sounded interesting, so Naofumi decided to try pulling it up.
SWOOSH!
The screen that appeared was filled with icons that extended well beyond its borders, all marked as "Locked".
'Amazing…'
It looked like he could develop his legendary weapon through various branching paths. It was just like a skill tree from many of the games that he used to playback in his world when he used to play them most of the time. And in order to learn skills, he needed to unlock the power sleeping in the shield?
"Man, this is just like a game, don't you think?" Naofumi spoke up suddenly, but the others weren't really paying attention. They were probably looking through the Help Menu too.
"What are you talking about? This isn't just 'like' a game, it is a game. I'm pretty sure I've played it before." Motoyasu boasted.
"I agree, although the setting is rather cliché, but I guess it has its charm." Itsuki let out as he looked at his bow.
"Right? The plot is somewhat similar to Emerald Online." Motoyasu was also eyeing his spear, doing a few basic thrusts to test the weapon.
"What are you talking about? This is just like a VRMMO I used to play." Ren also did some experimental swings with his sword.
Naofumi was feeling a bit lost here, seeing as he never heard about such things. He was an otaku alright, but he was pretty sure something like VRMMO was only in experimental stages. At the moment, from what he could remember was that VR games only recently came out in their world, likes of Doom 3 VR and Fallout 4.
But even then there are a few problems, mainly there's nobody, or if there is some sort of body, it's normally only the hands and maybe the wrists, other than that nobody at all. Sure he knew that because the developers didn't have the game technology, but he knew because of this, a VRMMO would be impossible outside of manga, anime and a plot within a video game.
"You all must be confusing this with something totally different. This is one of those A.I manipulated games that came out recently on the consoles, Odin Online and Fantasy Moon Online." Itsuki, Naofumi's last light, was also speaking nonsense.
He released a sigh, not one of these games he knew of, he was beginning to wonder if they cam from the same world. Sure that should be impossible, but at the same time, so was summoning someone from another world. So if they could summon people from a different world, why not from alternate worlds?
"Naofumi!" Motoyasu and Itsuki came to Naofumi, the spear holding blonde calling out to him. "Tell him that I am right! You also played Emerald Online, right? It's super-famous" The duo came close to stepping inside his personal space, ushering him to agree with one of them.
"Look, I have no idea of what you guys are talking about. Whilst I've been out of gaming for a few years with college and work, none of my friends either mentioned anything about Emerald Online, no VRMMO, and no Odin Online and Fantasy Moon Online, or anything like that, you know? And my friends are a big fan of gaming, so they would have told me if any of those games were out." The trio of Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu looked at him weirdly. "I guess that the closest thing you would find related to that would be WoW or some recently created MOBA right? In the first place, VR only recently came out in the last few years with a few games, nowhere near ready for MMO, as they have a lot of work to sort out before they are ready to do that." Ren raised his brows at Naofumi's words.
Itsuki raised his hand.
"Umm… everybody, what game world do you think this is, exactly?"
"Bravestar Online."
"Emerald Online."
"I didn't even know there was a game like this."
Whilst Naofumi certainly thought this world seemed game-ish, it didn't remind him of any game in particular.
"I see. By the way, to me, it looks like the world of Dimension Wave, a console game."
For some reason, none of them had ever heard of any of the others' games.
"Wait, wait, we can sort this out." Motoyasu touched his hand to his forehead and tried to get a grip on the situation.
"Ren, according to you this is a VRMMO, right?"
"That's right." Ren admitted.
"And Itsuki and Naofumi, you understand what he means by that?" asked Motoyasu, trying to figure out what is going on.
"It's a term I've seen in science fiction games before, yeah." Itsuki told them.
"I've read a few light novels and manga about them. I even heard about a few games that have a plot around it," admitted Naofumi.
"Okay, same here." admitted Motoyasu, before asked Ren, "Then, Ren. This 'Bravestar Online' you mentioned, it's a VRMMO?"
"Yeah, I used to play it all the time." Ren told the older man, "The way this world works really resembles the systems it uses."
Based on what Ren was saying, he came from a world where the technology to dive into virtual realities was commonplace. Something that they were only driving into in Naofumi's world.
"So, do any of the games we've mentioned exist in your world's past?" asked Itsuki.
Ren shook his head. "I consider myself something of a gaming history buff, and I've never heard of any of them. Are you sure they're famous?"
Motoyasu and Naofumi both nodded. If he really was an expert on online games, it would be strange for him to have such a glaring gap in his knowledge. And while it was possible that the problem was on our side, you'd think at least one of them would be able to name a game that was actually popular.
"Then, how about a question based on common knowledge? Like, the name of the current Prime Minister, for example." This came from Naofumi, he wanted to see if his suspicions were right about them all coming from a different Earth.
"Ah!"
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"Okay, all together now…"
*gulp*
"Yuta Masato."
"Yawara Koutarou."
"Kodaka Enichi."
"Ichifuji Shigeno."
"…"
Nothing. Naofumi didn't even recognize any of the names from history class, this just began to confirm his suspicions.
After that, they compared various topics ranging from popular net slang to famous websites, but the result was always the same. They couldn't seem to agree on anything, not only that, but they all came from a different year.
"It looks like not only are we all from totally different Japans but different years." Naofumi said thoughtfully, hardly able to believe it.
"Yeah. No matter how you look at it there's no way we all came from the same world." said Motoyasu.
"Still, fantasy worlds are one thing, but who'd have thought that alternate Japans exist too?" Ren asked thought.
"Well, there's still the possibility that we came from the same world but different eras, but with so many inconsistencies it's seeming less and less likely." admitted Itsuki.
Being gathered here together like this was strange. Really strange. That said, the fact that they were all otaku probably didn't mean anything.
"Based on the way things have been going, I'd wager all of us ended up here under different circumstances, too."
"That seems likely. I can't say I'm really interested in small talk, but I suppose we should at least consolidate our information." Ren told them.
Ren started telling his story. From the way he was talking, he clearly wanted us to think he was cool.
"I was walking my best friend home because of a curfew, seeing how there was a murderer back in my Japan." Ren began his story, "But on the way to my friend's home, we had to go down an alleyway to get there. Sadly our luck wasn't with us as we came face to face with the killer. He tried to kill my friend, but somehow though, I was able to knock the killer out, but not before he stabbed me a few times. He must have hit something fighter, as I bleed out and died."
…He kept absentmindedly rubbing his side as he told his story.
Naofumi had to admit that his death, if he did die, was a horrible one, dying to save his friend. If he was going to die, he would at least hope he died by saving someone he cared about. Although Naofumi had to admit that he felt that the young man in front of him was hiding something. But he knew that it wasn't his place to say anything.
"Or I thought that I died," Ren informed them, unsure about it himself, "as the next thing I knew, I was here."
"So you saved your best friend, huh? That's pretty awesome." Naofumi told him, trying to be nice.
He laughed off Naofumi's compliment with an affected air of coolness. But, that was fine.
"I'll go next." Motoyasu lightheartedly gestured toward himself. "Before I came here, I had a lot of girlfriends, you know?"
"I figured as much," Naofumi admitted to the Spear Hero. His 'reliable older brother' schtick must have been like catnip to girls.
"And so, because of that…"
"…you were two or three-timing them and got stabbed, right?"
Ren's question was obviously sarcastic. However, Motoyasu just blinked his eyes in surprise and nodded, "Something like that." Motoyasu told them, as he shuddered at the memory of what happened, as he muttered to himself mainly, "…Women are scary."
"Goddamn!" Naofumi muttered to himself; while part of him was jealous that Motoyasu was such a ladies man and able to get so many women, he was also angry at him too, so he flipped the other hero the bird behind his back. Whilst he was all for an open relationship, he wasn't all too happen about cheating on your partner. He also felt that there was something more to it, sure two-timing for bad enough if the women didn't know about it, but to be killed over it. No, Naofumi suspected that there was more to it. Unless the woman was a crazy bitch who hated two timers.
…But wait, wasn't dying the reason he was summoned here in the first place? Naofumi didn't have time to ponder it, though, since Itsuki was already talking, hand clasped to his chest.
"As for me, I was crossing the street on the way home from cram school, when a dump truck came barreling around the curve at full speed. After that…"
"…"
In all likelihood, he had been run over by the truck. What a terrible way to die. Out of the three other heroes, Naofumi felt sorry for Itsuki the most, to be killed like that for no reason didn't seem right. But as Naofumi thought about the story's told so far about how they got here, he realized his story was a little out of place here.
"Uh… do I absolutely, positively have to tell mine?" Naofumi asked uneasily, not wanting to be the odd person out about this.
"Of course! Everybody else did, after all." Motoyasu told as the others agreed with him.
"Oh. Right. Well, if you insist… but I warn you it's nothing like your stories though. In fact, it is very boring." Naofumi warned them. "You see, I was at the library when a strange book dropped from one of the bookshelves there, it was a book that I had never seen before. Naturally, I picked it up and started reading it, and before I knew it I was here."
"…"
Naofumi saw the icy stares that they give him, he didn't understand it. Did he need to have a tragic history to be accepted or something? The others started whispering to each other just out of earshot.
"But… that guy… shield…"
"Of course… right?"
"Yeah…"
Naofumi couldn't quite make out everything, but he knew that for whatever reason, they were looking down on him. Naofumi knew he needed to change the topic, and quick.
"So, everybody! It seems like you're already familiar with this world's rul- I mean, systems?"
"Yup."
"That's right."
"More or less."
Damn, Naofumi was the only novice here. He never knew that taking time out of gaming to work and college would one day bite him in the ass like this. Although, who would have thought that he would one day be transported to another world. This totally sucked.
"I-I see. Then, do you think you could give me some pointers?" asked Naofumi, "Since I've been out of gaming for a while, I don't know if my world has games with systems like this."
"Why don't you play games?" asked Motoyasu, who with Itsuki were smiling at him, whilst Ren was glaring at the Shield Hero for some reason.
"Well in my world, apart from going to college, I also work part-time to get the things that I like." explained Naofumi, "Things like anime, manga and porn." The last part Naofumi said with a red face, admitting to the last part, but part of him didn't want them to look down on him. "My life had a few problems and I was only getting things into order and I was planning to get back into gaming but got sucked into this world before I could."
Motoyasu and Itsuki give nods of understanding and the glare Ren was giving him lessened a bit.
"Don't worry, your good buddy Motoyasu is here to tell you how it is." Motoyasu walked up to Naofumi and draped his arm across his shoulders. But for some reason, Naofumi felt something was off the way Motoyasu was looking at him, it was really suspicious.
"Don't take this personal, but in Emerald Online, the Shielder - surprise, surprise - use shields as its main weapon." explained Motoyasu.
"Okay." Naofumi at this, wanting to learn more about the shield abilities.
"But the problem is that Shield Bearers were bottom tier trash!" Motoyasu informed the young man with a smirk, "Sure their initial defence is high and all, which is nice, but as you progress through the game it starts to get overwhelmed by the ridiculous amount of damage the enemies can dish out. From what I can remember, there were no high-levelled shield users. Hell, a shield isn't even a weapon, it's more like a protective gear." Itsuki nodded along with Motoyasu's words. Ren was merely letting the situation play out, content on staying neutral. But he did see some advantages of having a Shielder in a party though.
Naofumi felt a little pissed off, but he could understand the blonde. When you heard weapon, you didn't exactly picture 'Shield' in your mind; that, however, didn't mean he was taking this sort of talk towards him without firing some heat back.
"Wasn't it ever fixed in an update?" asked Naofumi, hoping that this was the case so that there was some hope at this. Surely they must have balanced it at some point. As he didn't like that Motoyasu was basically calling Naofumi a born loser!
"Nah, it was terrible and barely anybody played it, so they never bothered." Motoyasu informed the twenty-year-old, "Last I heard, they had decided to just get rid of it altogether."
"Wasn't there any class advancement!?"
"Sure, but the whole line sucked."
"What about class switching?"
"Sorry, but it wasn't that kind of game."
Geez, if all of this was true, Naofumi had been stuck with a tough class. He looked down at his shield gloomily. Did it really hold such a dismal future?
"Wait, what about you guys?" asked Naofumi, as he turned to Ren and Itsuki in desperation, "There were no such games in my world." But his hope was killed as they quickly averted their eyes.
"Sorry…"
"It's the same in my world, too…"
'Eh!? So I really got screwed over?' thought Naofumi, out of all the items he could get, he would have gotten the worst one of them all.
But then he remembered something, this was real and not like a game that these guys believe it is and so like real life, as long as you know how to use it, anything can become a weapon. So he said to them, "You're talking about it like this is a game, but this is real life now, in which case anything can be a weapon, you know! I mean, even a spear or a sword can be used as a shield if the need arises."
The three others paused, Motoyasu even assuming a pensive pose. Truly enough, you could block and defend with their weapons, but that just proved their practicality. Come on, for god's sake, it was a shield. What could it do? It's not like it can attack and defeat monsters. That's why they created weapons for.
"Besides that, these are Legendary Weapons right! So the possibilities are endless. Maybe I can find a shield that has a high attack." Naofumi said, standing up and going out to the veranda. He leaned on the marble railing, watching the city. New possibilities, wonders and adventures were just waiting for him out there, he just needed to grab them and work hard. Sure, it seemed like he had stumbled upon a setback, but maybe he could equip a sword and focus on developing his attack.
Motoyasu and Itsuki believed that Naofumi deluding himself, thinking that there was no way for him to get stronger, that they would be and always be stronger than someone who is a Shield User. They believed that there was very little you can do with a shield, that Naofumi wouldn't be able to get stronger than them.
Ren had other thoughts, he had to admire the young man, he was just like him, people believing that he was weak and powerless for one reason or another.The young man, like him, was planning to fight against his fate in this new world, to become better than whatever else thought of him. Would Naofumi be able to do what he had been trying to do all of his life and become someone better than what others thought of him? He didn't know, with all his talk, Ren wasn't sure one way or another and until he saw otherwise, he would side with Motoyasu and Itsuki.
So whilst the Shield Hero was outside, they started talking about amongst themselves, thinking that this was just a game.
"So what's the terrain like do you think?" asked Motoyasu.
"From the little I have seen, the names seem to be different, but otherwise it's essentially the same." Ren told the other two Heroes "Which means there's a good chance the monster distributions are the same, too."
"Since each weapon's hunting ground is slightly different, we should avoid going to the same areas." Itsuki told them.
"Yeah, that's probably the most efficient way to do it." admitted Motoyasu.
Their eyes were sparkling. Naofumi could tell they were thinking something along the lines of, 'Wow, we really hit the jackpot as far as abilities go, didn't we?'
That's right. They were strong and Naofumi wasn't. But Naofumi wasn't too bothered about this, as there were still plenty of roads available to him. If he was weak, then he just needed to rely on companions. Even somebody like Naofumi could get stronger by fighting in a party.
"Hehe… what am I worrying about? It's not every day you get a chance to see another world! I'm sure things will work out somehow." Naofumi told himself, he knew he couldn't let everybody's looks of pity get to him. He just needed to trade out this shield for a proper weapon, and he would be good to go.
"All right! I can do this!" Naofumi pumped himself up.
Than realizing something, Naofumi asked the other three heroes as he came in, "Listen, guys, how are you going to handle all this? You all believe this is some sort of game world, where game rules apply. But what if that isn't the case."
"What do you mean?" asked Ren.
"What if, whilst the world has powers like gaming the 'status bar' and abilities from the game, what if everything else is like our world." Naofumi tried to explain his thoughts, "People live and die and our actions have consequences."
Naofumi saw that the other heroes had a thoughtful look at this, wondering if what he said had some merit to it. But that line of thought was forgotten when there was a knock on the door as someone called out, "Honorable Heroes, we have prepared a meal for you."
Oh? Apparently it was time to eat dinner.
They opened the door, and an attendant escorted them to the knight corps' dining hall. It was like a scene from a fantasy movie. Rows of tables were packed with food, like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"Everybody, please help yourselves to whatever you like."
"Seriously? We have to eat at the same time as the knights?" Ren grumbled under his breath.
Naofumi still couldn't believe that the Sword Hero was complaining when the Knights seemed to have gone through the trouble of preparing them a feast. What a jackass.
"No." The attendant shook his head.
"After you've had your fill, the food here will be used at your introduction."
Hmm? As Naofumi took a closer look at the dining hall, that's when he realized that the boisterous throngs of people filling the room were all cooks. 'So this was what they called 'preferential treatment,' huh?' Naofumi thought to himself the night before, the plan was that they intended to introduce the Heroes to the knights when they finished eating.
"Well then, let's eat!"
And so, they indulged in the cuisine of another world. Naofumi had to admit that some of the food that they were eating seemed a bit bland for his tastes, but nothing he couldn't eat. Though, a lot of it was bizarre. There was even one dish that looked like an omelette but tasted exactly like an orange!
"I have to admit Ren, when I think about it, I realize why you were able to see the icon first before the rest of us." Naofumi started up a conversation to a meal which was quiet.
"What are you talking about?" asked Motoyasu.
"About the Status Magic Icon," explained Naofumi, "he was the first to notice it and knew what it was. I realized it was because of his time in VR."
"How do you figure that?" asked Itsuki.
"Well for the rest of us, when we play games, we do so in front of a scene, but for Ren, he is within the game so sees things differently." explained Naofumi, as he thought about what he knew about VR gaming, "So having a status scene or any sort of scene in your face all the time would be hard for Ren, so they would need to deal with it another way. In my world, the basic way that they deal with it is with a controller, allowing the player to open the status bar whatever they need open whenever they wanted."
Motoyasu and Itsuki had to admit seeing how most of the information that they on VR was from their games, this did make some sense. As for Ren, he was impressed at the knowledge that Naofumi had for VR. For someone who admitted that he hadn't been in gaming for a while, the second oldest of the group knew more than the two that gamed a lot more than Naofumi.
"In the past, it was the same, we had machines known as FullDive that was designed by a company called Argus." explained Ren, "We would wear an outfit which would allow us to move and make most actions within the game, the only time we would need to use a keypad was to allow us to open our status scene and such. But because we were moving about, we needed a gaming pod to make sure that we don't hurt ourselves. That was until Kayaba Akihiko, a development director create the second generation of the FullDive, the NerveGear, which came out last month in my world.
"The NerveGear was better than the first generation, as whilst you still needed to wear an outfit, you no longer needed a gaming pod." explained Ren, smiled at the fact of this, as he often hurt himself in the gaming pod. "The difference is with the helmet, as there's a device at the back of it that sends fake signals to the five senses of the user. Not only does the device capable of inducing fake sensory signals, but it can also block every movement command from the brain to the body, preventing the player from moving their body while in FullDive to avoid injuries. The devices are also capable of blocking sensory information from the body to the brain, thus, while using it, the player is completely insensate to the physical world."
"So how do you open your inventory and status scene?" asked Motoyasu.
"With our mind of course." Ren told them simply, as if it was the most basic thing in the world, for him though, it was, "Whilst in the game, we push a button in the game that opens the scenes that we needed. With some games, we can subconsciously use magic as long as the skills were selected to be used."
The three other heroes had to admit that they wished that their world had this VR system, as it would give them a gaming experience that they could only dream of.
As they were thinking of the possibilities of a NerveGear, Naofumi decided to ask the three for some tips to get stronger. "Guys, there's something I would like to ask you three. I was wondering if there are any tips I could get stronger, or be more useful to my team tomorrow? As you know, I haven't been gaming for a while, and with being a Shielder, I won't be much help in the early stages until I get stronger, which I want to do as soon as possible. So I was wondering if any of you could help me out with a few tips."
Motoyasu and Itsuki didn't seem to want to help, maybe because he was the Shielder and they didn't think that anything that any tips they give him would make him any stronger. But Ren had a thoughtful look on his face as if he had other things on his mind that he was trying to work out. But after a few moments, Ren said, "Listen, whilst I admit any tips that we might give might not work for him, wouldn't it be better to give him any tips we might have. They might be a chance that these tips might actually help him and in turn, help us when we face a powerful wave. Not only that but our tips might be able to help each other."
"Whilst this world as the system of a gaming world, I don't know if it'll be anything like the games that I play in my world. So until I know for sure, I can't really give you any real tips." Motoyasu informed the other heroes, "But even if that is the case, the tip I'll give you is the one I'm going to be trying out and that's to try and copy other spears, but you, you would need to copy shields."
"Copying shields?" Naofumi asked confused, "How would that help me?"
Motoyasu and Itsuki looked like this was the stupidest thing ever said by the looks that they were giving him, whilst Ren couldn't believe what Naofumi said either, he seemed to be more understanding. "Motoyasu, it is possible that in Naofumi's world, they didn't have such an ability in their games as they did in ours. Let me explain it to him and if I am wrong, you can correct me." Ren told Motoyasu.
"Sure, I have no problems with that." Motoyasu agreed with the idea, not wanting to deal with someone he thought was an idiot.
"Okay Naofumi, by the looks of things, the game system in mine, Motoyasu and Itsuki worlds seem to be the same for this." Ren told the twenty-year-old, "Or at least for this part at least. Now, in Bravestar Online, we had an ability that depending on the class of weapon you may use, you can copy the same type of weapons to gain better stats and gain power-ups. For me, I often played as a swordsman, so I would copy swords to gave me better attack points and sometimes better skills. So as a Shielder, apart from some more defence stats, you may gain some counter-attacks to help you."
"Oh I see," Naofumi said simply, as he understood what Ren was telling him, "so copying shields might be useful for me."
"Yeah it might," admitted Motoyasu, "although, as I said, I don't know how this worlds system works yet, so it is possible it might not work." Whilst he believed that it might work, he didn't want Naofumi to gain these skills, as whilst it might be handy for Naofumi, Motoyasu believed that in the long run, it would be nothing but trouble for the rest of them. As there was just so many counters could do for a Shielder, the rest of the work would be down to the fighters to protect the damn Shielder instead of fighting the monsters and bosses, it was best if Naofumi didn't even try. So he would stay away from the fights and they don't have to protect him and work on the real reason they were there, to defeat the Waves.
Naofumi was happy to hear this if getting a weapon doesn't pan out, he can work on getting better shields from the shops. He was glad that he asked for tips, otherwise, he could be in trouble.
"Well I think I'll go next," Ren told them, "my tip is about monster drops."
"Monster drops? Are you sure they'll work the same way as in games?" asked Naofumi, "I don't think that when we defeat monsters, they would drop items and money like they would in games."
"I'm with Naofumi with this one," Motoyasu agreed with the Shield Hero on this, "whilst we're in a gaming world, I believe that there might be a few things that won't be the same as in the games we play. Almost everything yes, but I don't think that monsters drop items when defeated would be one of them."
"I don't believe that either," admitted Ren, "I often thought that if the monster disappears right away, you would lose many useful things, like meat, skin, fur and such. In most games that I played, you would only get so much from the animal/monster that was defeated. But in Bravestar Online, they allow the animal/monster to stay around for a while so that the player can harvest the parts they want and over time the monster would disappear. Not only that, but we can absorb some of the parts into our weapons, where it'll give us loot depending on the animal/monster it is. It could be more meat and fur, or it could be weapons, potions and such. So, if the monsters here don't disappear, I'll be doing trying out the loot system from Bravestar Online, you lot should try as well."
Now Naofumi and the others found this bit of information useful, as it would give them more ways to gain money in this world. So that they could buy new weapons and armour, not only for themselves but for their companions. They all agreed that they would try this out.
"My final tip is this, try and see if you can create items with your weapons once you gain or learn recipes." explained Ren, "As in Bravestar Online, it was possible for me to create things with my weapons once I learnt or gain a recipe somehow, either someone give it to me as a reward or I brought it, or I learned it by cooking a meal for myself without a recipe, same with making weapons, medicine and such."
Naofumi found this useful, as this was a second way he could make money, to help him in the future. The other two wasn't too sure, sure it was useful, but they weren't the kind of people to make things, they found it easier and faster to buy things from the shops.
"So what about you Itsuki , do you have any tips I could use?" asked Naofumi.
"Not really no," admitted Itsuki, "I don't know what I can or cannot do here, so it is best for me to wait to see what I can do before giving put tips. All I can say is level up as fast as possible, so that you can get the rare and unique items sooner. Not only that, but if you work on levelling up sooner, you would be able to get the better skills much sooner, instead of dealing with the weaker skills."
Whilst Ren and Motoyasu nodded in agreement with Itsuki, for some reason Naofumi felt differently. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that whilst most of the weaker abilities that they could gain were useless there are some that could be useful. Like say he had a Rope Shield, to other people that could be considered as an unless skill, what use could you have for such a shield? But Naofumi could already think of a way it could be useful, he could tie up parts of a monsters body, legs and arms, so that if he couldn't defeat it, his companions could do so much easier with the monster tied up.
Thinking of this, Naofumi said to them, "I disagree about levelling up too fast and missing out of some skills because they seem useless. Think about a light skill, other than lighting up your path it can be useless otherwise, but if you can make it brighter, you could blind the monster so that it hard for it to attack you and allow you to put in some attacks."
"Seems like too much work," The Spear informed the Shield Hero, with the Bow Hero nodding in agreement, "I would prefer levelling and getting the more powerful skills. It would be faster and easier to do than wasting a lot of time dealing with the weaker skills."
"I have to agree with Motoyasu," Itsuki agreed the eldest of them, "why should we waste time working on weak skills to make them stronger, when stronger abilities will help in the long run."
Naofumi wasn't going to argre over this, as he knew each person does things differently, so he didn't want to fight over this. But he could see that Ren didn't agree with the two and that he had a thoughtful look on his face, he expected that the younger male was thinking over what he was saying and rethinking a few things.
Seeing how it was getting late, the four of them decided to turn in for the night and so they went to the common room that the king give them for the night.
o0OoO0o
As the four returned to the common room, asked Motoyasu, "Do you think they've got a bath here?"
Naofumi was wondering about this himself, as he would have like a bath too.
"It's a medieval setting, so chances are they have outdoor wash tubs or an old fashioned Roman hot baths." Ren informed the group.
"I'm sure they'd prepare one for us if we asked." this came from Itsuki.
"Eh, that's okay. It's just one day, after all." This came from Naofumi, who didn't want to have a bath outside nor want to bother the servant to get the hot water for the bath if he could help it. At least not at this time of the night anyway.
"That's true. Anyway, I'm tired, and we've got a big day tomorrow, so I'm gonna go ahead and hit the hay." This came from Motoyasu. It was something they all agreed with, it has been a long day, so they followed Motoyasu's lead and went to bed too.
As Naofumi went to his bedroom, he saw that his bag was there and thought about looking in the bag to see if he could find something to help him with his memories. However with a yawn he decided against it, he would have a look tomorrow, it's not like what he was forgetting was all that important. What could possibly go wrong with not trying to remember something for one night. It's not like his life would go to hell for not doing so. So, with that in mind, Naofumi went to bed and tried to sleep for the night.
To be Continued!
Author's Note: Here ends the next chapter of Shield Demon, I hoped that you enjoyed and the changes that I have made so far. I have decided to write a few more chapters of this story, until Naofumi is blamed for rape, before I start another chapter of my other stories. I am getting into this story and getting the reviews, so I'll be sticking to this story for a little while longer.
Now before I leave you to give me some feedback, I would like your help with two things in this chapter, along with the help with the shield ideas from the past chapters. Would like it if someone could explain the following strengthening methods and how each work, as at least I have no idea how a rarity of an item could change anything. Not only would I like you to explain the following strengthening methods, I would like it if you could come up with ideas for strengthening methods that Naofumi himself could come up with. Please explain as simple as possible, to make it easier for me to understand.
Ren.
Level dependence.
Proficiency: The more the same weapon is used, the more the power increases.
Energy Grant: Hidden power can be unlocked by using energy granted from resetting the weapon's skill proficiency. Additionally, items absorbed into the weapon can be converted into energy.
Rarity Increase: By using energy, it is possible to increase the weapon's rarity. Overall ability will improve.
Motoyasu.
Everything is decided by his weapon. The weapon's original strength doesn't matter much, everything relies on Spirit Enchants. The necessary stats are needed to wield though.
Tempering: Equipment can be strengthened by with the use of ore.
Spirit Enchant: By giving a weapon the fragment of a demon's soul to absorb, special powers can be granted.
Status Enchant: Stats can be increased.
Itsuki.
Everything is decided by bonuses granted by a weapon's rarity.
Reinforcing: A weapon's power can increase by using a specific type of ore.
Item Enchant: Items absorbed into the weapon provides energy that has a chance to increase the weapon's attack percentage.
Job Level: Stats can be boosted up by absorbing items acquired from specific demons.
I'm planning to use the idea from Shall I show you a True Shield? By: Ryujin Maou where Naofumi gets a former shadow of the Queen. But what I want to know does the following words mean and when should I use them?
Degojaru
Degojaruga
Degojaruka
Degojaruyo
Gojaru