Chapter 4 – Party Members
The next morning, after finishing a scrumptious breakfast, the four of us were anxiously awaiting the king's calling. I was excited to finally acquire some members to add to my party, and then we could go adventuring and explore this new world! Of course, the king was probably still asleep, and nobody would probably do anything this early in the morning, but we were all eager to have some good old fashioned F.U.N.
Three hours passed, and nothing happened. As we sat around, fidgeting with our legendary weapons, a court scribe respectfully trotted up to us.
"The King is requesting your audience. Please, follow me to the throne room."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the four of us sprinted down the hall, through a few corridors, around a corner or two, and bolted towards the throne room. Two guards courteously bowed and swung open the door, right in time before Motoyasu would probably blast the door open with his sheer momentum.
What lay before our eyes were a group of twelve strangers, who looked like a group of people who were late to the renaissance fair. Some were clad in armor, some wore plain leather plates, and some had no armor whatsoever.
I motioned to the others to bow towards the king, respectfully awaiting his announcement.
"As we discussed the day before, I have searched far and wide for companions to join your parties." The king spoke in an authoritative manner. "Only the best of the best answered the call, and here they are to assist you on your journeys."
Seeing the people standing before me, they seemed like they were a pretty big deal. At this point, any help would be greatly appreciated, considering the only thing I had was the clothes on my back, that were apparently "Other-Worldly". Even better, there were 12 of them and 4 of us, just enough for three of them to join each of our parties with nobody left over
"Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the Legendary Hero with whom you will travel with."
They got to pick who they would travel with? Now that was odd. I'd never heard about that before. That's like playing Pokémon and not being able to pick your own starter. Well, whatever. Beggars can't be choosers, so I hope I'd get lucky and team up with some powerful allies. Please, tall guy with armor, join my team!
The adventurers walked abreast towards us, and I stood tall hoping to attract a few. I towered above the other heroes at the height of 6 foot 2, so that wasn't very hard. After quickly crossing the room, they lined up single file behind their intended hero.
Ren got five people.
Motoyasu got four people.
I got three people. Meh, not the best, but it's doable.
At least I wasn't Naofumi. What horrible luck he had.
Naofumi stood there, all alone. Absolutely nobody picked him.
Why though? I didn't see anything wrong with Naofumi. If anything, due to his status as a shielder, he would need party members more than either of us since he can't attack himself!
"King," Naofumi cried. "How c-could I not have a single companion! How is this fair!"
"Well, I wasn't quite anticipating something like this to occur." The king calmly replied.
"He's not very popular, I would assume." A man dressed in a purple tunic spoke, probably the minister of the country. "It seems that rumors have emerged indicating that you are incompetent and do not know much about our world?"
"What?" Naofumi said in disbelief. "How could that be?"
That made no sense whatsoever. We'd only been here for a day! Maybe somebody overheard our conversation last night and spread it across the city? That would make some sort of sense since Ren knew the most about the situation, then Motoyasu, then me, then Naofumi, and we all got followers accordingly. That probably wasn't the case, though. Who knows?
Hearing enough, I decided to step up. I truly felt bad for Naofumi, and I let my kindness get the better of me. I really didn't want to say this, but maybe if I stood up for him the king would respect me for my generosity? That didn't seem to be the case though, since the king seemed to dislike Naofumi, for whatever reason.
"Naofumi, do you want one of my companions?"
Naofumi's emerald-green eyes shone with the brightness of a thousand suns.
"Really? You'd really give me one of your companions?"
"Sure thing!" I replied. "Usually, when I play games, I don't like having large parties, so three people including myself would be more than enough. Besides, too many people would only bog me down, anyways."
In most games, experience point penalties incurred when too many people were in a party. Having three people would most likely benefit my development. Who knew how slow it would take Ren and Motoyasu to develop with their gargantuan groups? Maybe if I got rid of one person, it would end up helping me out!
"Thanks so much, bro! I'll never forget this."
I turned to my group.
"Which one of you would be willing to join the Shield Hero's party?"
Not a single person budged. Since they picked me, anyways, that wasn't much of a surprise.
"I'll ask again, which one of you would be willing to join the Shield Hero's party?"
Still, no one moved. They really didn't want to leave me.
"Welp, it seems you're out of luck." I sighed in an empathetic tone. "I tried my best, but no one would join you."
"I see. Thanks for your effort. Ren! Give me one of your five!" Naofumi pleaded.
"I'm more of a loner, so if you can't cut it, I'll leave you behind."
"What does that have to do with anything!"
Despite those cold words by Ren, none of his followers left him. What, do they have a thing for the sword hero or something? I seem to sense a pattern here, though that may just be a baseless conjecture.
"Motoyasu! Isn't this super unfair?"
"Well, about that…it isn't my decision to make."
Everybody could tell that something was a bit off about Motoyasu' s party. There was not a single man in it. Man, his womanizing really caught up to him. Does he have super pheromones built into his body? That must be the case.
"I would suggest splitting our companions evenly, with us getting three each." I consoled. "But, lamentably, it seems none of our partners will budge, and no amount of pleading will change that. I wish you the best of luck, Naofumi."
The other two quickly nodded in agreement. At least I cared, but they sure didn't.
"Does this mean that I have to set off on my journey alone? How is that supposed to work! I can't attack! I have only a shield! What gives! Hey! Listen to me! Don't ignore me! Ahhhhhhh!"
As Naofumi began to ramble in anger, a pretty redhead walked up to him.
"Sir, I could serve the Shield Hero." One of Motoyasu's women volunteered, raising her hand up high.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am definitely sure."
Strange. Why didn't she head over the first time Naofumi asked? Maybe she was just making up her mind, that's all. Nothing to be worried about.
"Will anyone else volunteer and join Naofumi's party?" The king questioned.
…
Not a single person moved a muscle. It seemed that Naofumi would be stuck with one party member.
"Well," the king spoke. "This is unfortunate. You will have to recruit others to travel alongside you. Each month, you will be provided with funds for your journeys. Due to his unfortunate circumstances, Naofumi will receive 800 silver, while the rest of you heroes will receive 600 silver."
Four men trotted out, and bowed respectfully towards us, bags of coins in their hands. I bowed in return, graciously accepting the money in the process.
"Your Majesty," I bowed. "We greatly appreciate your generosity. Words alone cannot express our gratitude."
Hey, don't call me a shameless bootlicker! I just want to be polite, alright? Being respectful towards your superiors is how the medieval world operated, anyways. I didn't want to end up on a guillotine of some kind, though that would make no sense since they needed me to defend their country for them.
"There is no need to thank me." The king quickly responded. "It was the least I could do to assist you heroes. Now, let the journey commence!"
Turning around, I walked through the castle and headed towards the entrance, my three companions in tow. The other heroes followed suit, and quickly exited the audience chamber. As soon as we were out, we began making our introductions.
"I'll start!" The blonde women exclaimed. "My name is Eda! Nice to meet you, bow hero!"
"I'll go next." A deep, baritone voice emanated. "My name is Rojeel. Pleased to meet you."
"Well, guess it's my turn." The magenta haired man donning a cloak spoke up. "My name is Welst, and I really love learning about mythology!"
"Nice to meet you all," I introduced myself as I shook their hands. "My name is Satoshi Sera, and I'm 24 years old. Without further ado, let us head into town and purchase some supplies."
"Naofumi," I turned to the shield hero, "Would you and your companion there like to go shopping with us?"
"R-Right! Sure thing!"
"Alright then!" I exclaimed as I pointed towards the sprawling city. "Let's head out!"
Our parties crossed the drawbridge connecting the castle to the town. Without a doubt, this world and my world were nothing alike.
The scenery really blew me away! It looked like a medieval city straight out of a fairy tale, but with some crucial differences. There were cobblestone roads, merchants lining the roads and neatly lined up brick houses, like usual, but there were unusual beast hauling carts around, and people performing magic in booths around the road. There were wooden signs with writing on them that I couldn't read. That might be an issue in the foreseeable future.
"Naofumi," I said. "I think that we should buy some supplies, maybe get you a set of chainmail, and then go grab a bite to eat."
"Sounds good!" Naofumi replied.
We proceeded to wander through the town, the delicious smell of exotic foods wafting into our noses. Our companions guided us the entire way and told us more about the city. After a short while, we saw what appeared to be a blacksmith's shop sitting on the street corner.
"This is a good store." Naofumi's companion indicated. "We can get some good gear from here."
I took a quick look at the shop through the open door. There were countless weapons of different types hanging from the walls and sets of armor and other supplies for adventurers. However, there were no firearms or stuff of the sort. This really was a medieval world, huh.
"Let's head in."
The lot of us squeezed through the doors of the shop, only to be encountered by a tall, muscular man wearing a blacksmith apron.
"Welcome to my humble shop," the weapon shop owner said, "How may I serve you today?"
"Hello," I asserted as to appear more experienced, and not get scammed out of my money, "I am just here to browse your selection of high-quality equipment. I've heard that your merchandise is of unparalleled quality."
I wasn't true about the latter, but hopefully it was true.
"You have good taste." The shop owner said. "Go ahead."
My party began browsing the shelves, sorting through rows and rows of weapons, while I went to look at the different sets of armor that were available. One advantage of my legendary bow was that I didn't have to buy any weapons for myself, which saved money.
After conversing with the shop owner, Naofumi and his companion followed the shop owner as he began demonstrating his merchandise.
I stood next to the armor section and periodically shot a glance at what they were doing, while pondering which armor set to purchase. If I didn't like any of them, I could always buy a set somewhere else. Not like there was only one blacksmith in the whole city, right?
TWANG!
Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched sound, as if somebody was scratching a blackboard with their nails.
What happened?
As I immediately turned around, an iron sword flew out of Naofumi's hand and directly into the ground, only a foot away from me. Frightful for my life, I quickly scurried back and pretended like I was browsing the armor pieces like nothing had happened.
Close call.
Strange, does this confirm that we can only equip one weapon?
Another "twang" ensued as Naofumi tried to pick up the sword lodged in the floor.
Unable to hold back my curiosity, I walked up to them and asked: "Can I also have a try?"
"Sure." The shop owner answered in bewilderment. "Man, I'd never seen something like that before. These guys are something special."
"Well, here we go. Wish me the best of luck, guys!"
An electric shock ran up my arm as I jolted backwards. I felt like I had just been electrocuted! Ouch!
An error message appeared within my field of vision.
Legendary Weapon specification: a weapon besides the Legendary Weapon was held, breaking the rule.
I guess I would be stuck with this bow for the rest of my journey then.
That wasn't too bad, I was never a DPS player anyways. Besides, not being near the front lines meant that I had a smaller chance of getting myself killed.
"Same thing happened to you, Satoshi?"
"If we're both thinking about the same thing, then yes."
Quite disappointed that I would be forever limited to one kind of weapon, I continued looking at the armor section.
A few minutes had passed, and Naofumi ended up purchasing a set of chainmail armor. I also bought a light breastplate with leather straps for 50 silver. It wasn't of the highest quality, but I was planning to pawn it as soon as I got something stronger. How nice of the shop owner to also throw in some inner-wear along with it as well.
As we walked out of the store, I delivered a proposal to Naofumi.
"Do you want to go buy some rations, hit the pharmacy, and then go test out our new gear?"
"I don't need any more supplies right now, but I'm more than willing to go out grinding for EXP! Just let me return to the castle and rest for a bit. See you out in the fields in two hours!"
"Aight, bet!
Thus, my party parted ways with Naofumi's.
After walking around town and hitting up a pharmacy and a general store, purchasing some useful items along the way, we returned to the castle with a wheelbarrow full of items and a lighter wallet. My party members were also huffing and puffing as they hauled the rest of the items behind me.
Immediately after setting our stuff down in our room, I grabbed my group and dragged them out of the castle, through the busy streets and onto the mossy cobblestone paths branching out from the town. They were actually quite excited about this, eager to experience firsthand a hero's combat ability.
There, I found Naofumi desperately trying to kill a single round monster, but without avail.
"Excuse me," I whispered to Welst, "What is that thing he's trying to kill?"
"Oh, that?" Welst replied. "That's just an orange balloon, the easiest monster to kill in the whole world."
I drew my bow, aimed it at one of the balloons, and released.
POP!
After killing it, I walked towards its carcass. As soon as I got close enough, my bow began to make a strange noise, unlike anything I'd heard before. Afterwards, the bow absorbed the dead balloon into its gemstone, located near the center of the thing.
Orange Balloon acquired.
Strangely enough, I didn't gain any EXP. Guess the weapon was right. I really couldn't gain any EXP while being next to another legendary hero, huh.
I decided to back up and kill another balloon. Still no EXP.
I rinsed and repeated until I was about a kilometer away from Naofumi and his companion, who he told me was named Myne. This time, after shooting a balloon, I finally gained some EXP.
PHEEWWWW!
I drew my bowstring and shot another balloon. My EXP bar went up again.
Without further ado, my group and I started systemically eradicating every balloon in sight. Arrow after arrow, the supply practically endless due to my MP.
Level up.
Level up.
Level up.
Level up.
This repeated a few more times.
After a short while, I was already at level 9. Ren and I were eliminating multiple balloons at once, the man also being about a kilometer away from me to negate the weapons' "no EXP in close proximity "clause, while poor Naofumi had barely managed to kill one.
I walked up to Naofumi, who was feeling quite down due to his lackluster combat abilities.
"Oi, Naofumi, guess you're not having very good luck with these balloons."
"Sadly, yeah." Naofumi sulked. "My shield gives me super high defense, but in return my attack is abysmal."
Feeling bad for the guy, I pulled Naofumi to the side, trying to cheer him up.
"Naofumi, do you want to get up super early tomorrow morning and come out here to grind even more? I'll help you out, so that you won't fall too far behind the other heroes. Though, I have to remind you, we have to be at least a kilometer away or else we won't gain any experience."
"That'd be great!" Naofumi exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "Thank you so much for your help! Though, are you sure you want to go leveling in the middle of the night?"
"Well, if we wake up at say, two hours after midnight, there'll be nobody else out there, so we'd have way more monsters to ourselves and we can get you leveled up quicker." I responded. "Well, better go back to the castle and get some rest. Come here at the exact time I just said, and don't bring anyone with you. It will just be bro bonding time for the two of us!"
After that, we all decided to call it a day and began walking back to Castle Town, the nation's capital.