A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2:

("Human/Speech")

("Thoughts")

(Attacks/Weapon names)

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

(Actions/POV)

(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)

(Narration & Everything else)

('Demonic Speech')

("Demonic Thoughts")

Hero And Fighter Chapter 13

Aegis Inn: Private Dining Room

5/31/0000: 1800

Third Person: Omni

"So this is the only adventurer that you could trust?" Naofumi asked while eating from his plate his party and the other pair are sitting inside the private room that was given to them

"Yep, I kept in mind that advice you gave me and kicked those two when all they could do was just praise me. She at least pointed out some logical issues I had." The adventurer just looked confused at the conversation between the heroes. She was not grasping what was being said between them.

"If you trust her then, It is not like we have much time to be picky now that the next wave is coming," Naofumi said with a sigh, Raphiatlia just patted his shoulder when he said that.

"So, who are your new companions?" Itsuki asked while looking intently at the two.

"Raphiatlia, I am Naofumi-Sama's sword."

"Senka, Milord's scout."

"So, how did you get into his party?" Itsuki asked with a curious tone. Naofumi already knew that if he went about this the wrong way, it could cause an irreparable hole in their relationship.

"As you probably know… I was unable to get party members the usual route. Especially after the rape accusation cementing that I am the demon of the state religion. So I had to go through a darker path." Itsuki looked surprised at the revelation that the nation's religion hated him, discriminating against him when he did no wrong.

"So I ended up getting slaves." Even Nowfumi himself felt a bit saddened by the fact he had to resort to it, even if he is probably the best person to do so. Itsuki's mind went blank at the admission from the young man infront of her. The word kept running through her head.

"Milord is probably the safest person to be around and to be a slave to." Senka was quick to snap her out of the downward spiral of sudden anger and accusations that would happen with the hero. Raphitalia just nodded in agreement.

"We were both sick, and Senka was at death's door if she hadn't gotten any food," Raphitalia added as well, both of them were in horrible condition. Even if the slaver were to try and help them… if they didn't sell then they would have just been left there to die, or even been used as food for monsters in order to recoup losses.

"I see…" Itsuki just sat there in thought.

"Do not blame him for getting slaves, instead, blame the ones who forced them into slavery." Despite being one of the physically youngest beings here, Melina spoke with wisdom from many life experiences. Itsuki just looked at the woman in front of her.

"Alright, that is enough of that… May I know your name?" Naofumi pushed the conversation in another direction with him needing to find out the name of their ally.

"Alina Silvist." Was her response, Naofumi could tell she was weirded out by the conversation with him, it was as if he was not like the person that was etched deep into her mind from another source.

"A good name, You probably know my title, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Naofumi Iwatani, The Current Shield Hero." Naofumi could feel the title gaining strengthened convictions behind it as if every action he had done was cementing the identity in his own mind.

"First off, I would like to thank you for actively helping Itsuki." Naofumi already had Itsuki as a precious person to him, despite not interacting as much as he would like. She looked confused at his gratitude.

"Does she know that information?" Naofumi asked Itsuki, snapping her from the thoughts of destroying slave rings. It took her a few seconds before she realized what he was asking about.

"She is the only person besides you who knows." She states with an embarrassed smile, it was surprising that she could hide her gender so well. Though stating that she wanted to wash alone was something a bit strange on the road.

"Thanks for at least being her girl friend," Naofumi stated with a tired smile. Itsuki looked surprised at his miswording of the situation, with a hint of an embarrassment of course.

"Don't word it like that!" Itsuki almost yelled out with Alina also blushing at the insinuation. It took Naofumi to realize the wording issue that he created. Taking the thoughts about him knowing that Itsuki is a girl.

"Sorry… bout that." Naofumi just rubbed the back of his head as all the other girls masked their amusement. Though the hardest to see it in would be Senka of course.

"But anyway, let's get to planning for the wave tomorrow. We are going to be suddenly teleported wherever it is." Naofumi got serious after all the small talk was done. The others immediately followed suit.

"Itsuki, by all the evidence that I have had, it will spawn in an area close to a town or village. I know you will immediately fight the wave boss." Naofumi looked directly at Itsuki, she is still young and would not think of everything that might happen.

"Despite everything, I will be helping the town first and foremost," Naofumi stated with a piercing gaze. He knew that she would forget the village. With the other two thinking it is a game, they would not be lending any help to the village at all.

"So should we-" Itsuki was about to ask something before Naofumi interrupted.

"No, you pay attention to the entire battlefield, you are to provide support after all. Alina, what do you proficient in?" Naofumi was sitting with a hand to his chin, despite the two most experienced on the battlefield not being him, he was still the one giving tactical decisions.

"I use the bow and spear." She replies to the sudden question from the other hero.

"Okay… How about this. You stay on the lookout for closer enemies and coordinate with Itsuki on stronger ones that would harm someone. But your main focus is on keeping enemies off of Itsuki, you don't have an infinite supply of arrows correct?" She nods, confirming the information.

"Use arrows sparingly as Itsuki has an infinite amount, use your spear a majority of the time." Naofumi finished his statement.

"Currently, my team is a bit too weak for the wave, you probably are of a higher level than all of us. So we will be working on protecting the town. Itsuki, finish as fast as possible and save enough portions of materials to unlock more equipment for both of us."

"Unlock equipment?" Itsuki asked the young man.

"Well, saving a portion will allow us to unlock Shields for me and Bows for you. All my shields were unlocked via that method." Itsuki looked stumped before bringing out the paper of his UI that he gave her weeks ago.

"Is that how you unlocked your shields? I just picked mine up from the shop with the weapon copy system…" Naofumi looked over in surprise, he had never known about that particular ability on his own and got the feeling that the Shield didn't know itself.

"Wait, you just picked up your first bows from the weapon's shop?" Naofumi asked for clarification, he was trying to look through the help menu.

"Yep, it really helped out. Though their rarity was low, it was good enough to start with in order to get monster materials to level up more." Naofumi motioned for her to stop, closing his eyes and thinking about the matter thoroughly.

"I never really tried to touch another's shield and I get the feeling that it wouldn't have worked for me as I was not actively thinking of doing so…" Naofumi spoke aloud his thoughts.

"When you first picked a bow up, did it just automatically unlock a bow? Or did you have to actively think about copying it?" Naofumi asked as he reopened his eyes.

"I was actively thinking of copying it like in Dimension Wave…" Naofumi felt that the statement was true enough to Itsuki's mind. He thought a few more moments before talking again.

"I would have never thought about copying a shield… and we don't have a way to test that right now… Did the other two copy weapons as well?" Naofumi asked, to which he got a nod for an answer. Naofumi thought for a second… are the legendary weapons actively deriving strengthening techniques from the user?

"About weapon rarity… What is the highest rarity Bow you have?" Naofumi was already thinking about his own shields… none of them had rarities. But from his experience in gacha games, at least the more balanced ones, rarities allowed the character or equipment to be stronger than the rest at a cost.

"Rare." Itsuki quickly said while switching bows, through the motes of light, a strange bow appeared. It was some sort of recurve bow with metal limbs and a string that glinted in the light of the room but in a darker tinge.

"My own shields do not have rarities listed, but I want to test something after we have talked about how to strengthen ourselves. Is there anything else that you do to make yourself stronger?" Naofumi put the thought aside for a moment and asked about what he really wanted to know.

"The only real thing that I can say is Job Levels." Naofumi just lifted a brow and leaned forward a bit, motioning for his former roommate to speak extensively about it.

"After absorbing monster parts, I get Job EXP to invest in an individual stat of mine." Naofumi felt a bit surprised at that and immediately thought of several things to ask. But one was needed in this discussion about tactics, he needed to know what Itsuki was capable of.

"What have you been investing in with your Job Levels?" Naofumi asked.

"I have been working on Accuracy and Damage," Itsuki said while pondering on her own about methods to strengthen herself.

"Alright then, That is all I will ask right now. Can I have a minute to try and experiment?" Naofumi asked the whole room this time, receiving consenting nods despite the confusion that they had.

Naofumi closed his eyes to the world… not even paying attention to the status magic he was under. He thought about Itsuki's words and started accepting them into himself. Tricking himself into believing that the shield had the same ability from the start.

"It's here." When he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed a bar, one reminiscent of Itsuki's stats screen. He did not see anything about the rarity stat that Itsuki was talking about… almost as he was missing something from the equation. Probably something another hero would fill into the puzzle.

"Want to hear my experiment?" Naofumi asked them with a happy smile, it would be extremely helpful for him now. Itsuki nodded.

"I was trying to imagine that your strengthening method was there in the shield but just hidden. It probably was in fact. But I did not hear hide or tale of it no matter where I looked. But now I have the Job Level bar you had in your UI."

"If the others have different straightening methods… well we could get stronger faster." Naofumi smiled gently at the young woman, it was an extreme help from her.

"You know about the Mastery bonus and the Signature Skills of our different equips?" Naofumi decided to not withhold his own information.

"I know about the Mastery Bonus… but what about the Signature skills?" Itsuki asked while leaning in herself in order to listen to his own explanation. It would seem that it was his own unique thing due to absorbing monster materials to unlock shields.

"Skills only available with a specific weapon equipped. Shield Of Blessings I." Naofumi swiftly changed his shield into the white and cold one.

"This is a shield that I got from absorbing Low-Grade Holy Water. It has Light Healing Magic Affinity Up as its mastery skill. Its Signature is Holy Water Creation I." For someone who had bows and only really relied on the equipment's rarity, it was surprising that lower rarity bows had effects like that. Naofumi demonstrated it by holding a cup of water, it glowed brightly for a second.

"Here." Naofumi gave the glass of water over, having Itsuki examine it. She quickly noted that It is Low-Grade Holy Water. She quickly put it into her bow. Naofumi could tell that she is reading the description of the new bow that she received, how she never thought of it was a bit surprising to Naofumi.

"Now imagine it if you would," Naofumi stated while guiding her through the process. He noted that the others were completely silent, more than a little confused at what they were talking about… making Naofumi think about what the previous heroes had done to strengthen their own weapons.

Itsuki grabbed her own cup of water and converted it into holy water. She passed it to him in order to verify before Naofumi thought for a moment, he had two members of his party that knew how Holy water was made. Or one he knew and the other he suspected.

"Here, can you confirm?" Naofumi also brought out another cup of water and converted it himself, passing them to Senka and Melina. Despite Melina being a mage, she had more than enough knowledge about Holy water from her companion priests.

"It is holy water." Senka stated while testing it using her own method. Melina took a few more seconds observing it before saying anything.

"It is not the holy water that I am used to." Melina reported while placing both of the cups down onto the table.

"Senka, do you know how holy water is made in the church?" He asked while looking directly at her, he already knew that Melina would not know how the church made the holy water of her world.

"Several days of prayer in order to get low-grade holy water. Though they could do it with any amount of water that can be contained in a holy vessel." Naofumi thought for a moment, a holy vessel could be the size of several large stock pots used in commercial kitchens.

_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_

"It is almost time." Naofumi looked at his timer as it slowly dropped in numbers, almost reaching zero in the next few moments. They had already prepared everything for the fight, at least all they could. A flash of light obscured everyone's vision as the wave began.

Forest

6/1/0000: 1500

"Check to see if there are any villages in the vicinity." Naofumi said quickly as the blinding light died down. But something brought itself to his attention, something from his pockets.

"Connection to the Multiverse confirmed. The user is located away from home dimension designation, recording current coordinates. Sending a call to the administrator of the User's home dimension." A female voice spoke out from his pocket, one he hadn't heard of besides the starting days of having it.

Word Count: ~2500 Words

Date Completed: 12/21/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter… I have no idea if I can keep with the single-day updates. (Especially when I have to do scholarship work in order to afford college.) But I will try and get to it in my free time.

Review Cove:

FFN:

Arraia: Magnificent

Excellent work

will naofumi get another shade?

naofumi will create a dragon or something close?

Reply: Why thank you. As for shade, I think you mean shadow, not in Naofumi's party, though Melty's shadow will have quite the interactions with Naofumi's shadow. As for pets… it's up in the air really. I don't know myself right now.

(On chapter 4)

Re Lovely Lover: The tigress isnt there. Wow. I really thought she would be.

Reply: You are talking about Atla right? It wouldn't make sense for her to be in Melomarc at the moment.

AO3

Robbie2413: Thus we continue along following the canon of the shield hero. Question on a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you think you will derail the storyline of season 1 of Rising of The Shield Hero (ROTSH)? I know you have already derailed the trial.

Reply: Well it will be a derail of 2-5 by the end of season 1. Mainly because a majority of it happened outside of Naofumi's control. The church fight will still happen due to the church actively hating him… just weaker due to (Spoiler) Senka creating another faction within the church who has actual common sense. So large events will still happen… just the details are different.

Karoma: Pfft shot down good job Senka

Why does Spear jerk still keep her around even he isn't that dense he respects loyalty even if he's a bit dull

I wonder are all of the other party members in this? Wouldn't they know about sharing exp? Is there a bigger plot than just our green boi or am I just reading into things?

Reply: I like writing Senka, kuuderes are quite inline with my own day to day deposition.

As for Malty being in Motoyasu's party? Well he was the only hero that the King could reasonably convince to allow her into. He is much less trusting of her when compared to his party members… who Naofumi will have to speak with later on.

As for exp sharing I was going to put:

The other heroes' party members all but face palmed at their forgetfulness. The heroes were so confident that they thought they already knew but did not use that ability.

But didn't due to not fitting in well. It is still canon however.