The morning had come quickly. Steve and the other heroes had eaten some breakfast, before being summoned by the king and making their way to the Throne Room. There, they were met with twelve people standing in front of the throne.

"We've gathered these brave warriors who will fight the waves with you Legendary Heroes," Aultcray had announced to the four, who walked up to the row of people.

So these are the people that are joining us? They look strong enough. Steve thought to himself, looking across the lineup of people. He panned across the row, as they all looked at him with slight disgust in their gazes. It looked like they were really fond of him. Then he saw a red-haired woman around his age. She was attractive and smiled at him, which he returned with a simple wave.

"Now, Brave Warriors! Choose your hero!" Aultcray had told the twelve as they started their walk.

Hmm. So they're the ones choosing, Steve thought to himself as the warriors walked past. A few moments had passed, and when Steve looked behind …

"So … Nobody at all?"

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this," the King had remarked.

"No volunteers? He must have zero charisma," The Pointy-Nosed man had followed.

A man had come up to Aultcray and whispered into his ear. From what Steve had seen, the King had smiled for a second before speaking once more.

"So, there have been rumors."

"What? Did something happen?" Motoyasu had asked the king.

"Rumors of the Shield Hero's ignorance have spread across town. Legend says that the heroes come with a firm understanding of our lands. They do not seem to think that he fits that criteria.

"What do you mean? I understand the basics of this world very well," Steve told them, defiant of the rumor now brought to light.

"I think someone was eavesdropping on our talk last night," Motoyasu whispered to Steve.

"Seriously?" He whispered back, shocked. But why would they stay only for that part? What was the point? But maybe …

A few moments had passed before Steve had spoken up, but he didn't seem as broken up about it like the others in the room may have thought. "I shall be fine, Your Majesty. I'll be able to recruit warriors as I go along, right?"

"Y-Yes you shall. But wouldn't someone like to be at your side during your adventure?"

"No need. I'm at Level 15, right? I should be fine starting out, shouldn't I?"

"I-I suppose so. Then I shall pass out the funds I've set aside for you four." Four men and women had grabbed sacks of money and handed them to the four. "Each hero shall receive a payment each month. For today, Lord Rogers' payment shall be higher than the others. So use this money to buy equipment and food for you all."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Now then, Heroes! Set forth on your journeys!"

After leaving the castle, Steve and the others said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. After that, Steve walked across town, seeing a gate to the outside. Walking through, he was met with the lush, green fields outside of Melromarc. He continued to walk and made it a fair distance outside of town.

"Huh. It looks pretty nice out he- Huh?" Steve noticed a glowing red marker above the grass. Then there were two. Now three. Then, they jumped out, revealing themselves to be strange orange balls.

"RAWR!"

Unfortunately for them, their time was cut short, as Steve punched the first one in mid-air, doing the same for the second and third. It only earned him 1 EXP for each, but it wasn't a big deal. He looked to his side and saw Ren slashing at Balloons left and right. It seemed that he had a solid understanding of his weapon.

"Guess I should start using mine a bit more, shouldn't I?" Steve had asked himself, placing his shield on his left arm. A few more Ball Things jumped out at Steve, only to be met with the star on his Shield.

Later in the day, Steve had picked up some strange orange material left behind from the Ball Things. It felt rubbery and stretchy. Weird. Then, he saw a glowing mix of colors from his shield.

"Huh. So this must be how I upgrade my Shield. Certain materials and all that," Steve told himself. His Shield absorbed the material, showing a screen stating that he had gathered a piece required to unlock an "Orange Small Shield."

"Not bad for my first day of adventuring. I should get something to eat. Then turn in later. It's not too far from town now, isn't it?"

"Yo, Rogers!" Motoyasu called out, sitting with his team full of girls.

"Oh! Hey there, Motoyasu," Steve greeted the Spear Hero. "How was your first day of adventuring?"

"Not too bad if I say so myself," Motoyasu responded. "Though I had Myne and the others having my back, so it wasn't a big deal."

"Myne?" Steve had asked.

"My Party Member. You saw her along with the lineup, didn't you?" Motoyasu had motioned for Myne to rise from the table. She waved to Steve as he remembered the red-haired girl from before.

Oh yeah. The girl that waved at me, the Shield Hero, had remembered.

"By the way, did you go out there without any armor?" Motoyasu had asked. "Even if the monsters are weak, you wouldn't want to mess up your clothes."

"It's fine. Not much happened on the fields. Just some orange ball things, nothing more."

"If you say so. Anyways, do you want to eat some dinner with us? We can talk some more about the mechanics here. Whaddya say?"

"Nah. I'm just having a nice, small dinner, and then I'm heading to sleep."

"Alright then. Suit yourself."

After that, Steve did as he had previously said. Nice, small dinner. Then he headed up to his room. But there was one thing he wanted to try first.

"Otherworld Clothes" Stored in Inventory

"Great. Now I won't have to carry everything since my Shield holds it all for me," Steve remarked at the new "Inventory System" he was now putting into use. He placed his sack of silvers in his shield as well. His inventory all set for tomorrow, he laid on his bed, hands behind his head.

"I wonder … How can I get back home …?"

…

…

…

…

…

"-ogers!"

…

…

"Rogers!"

…

…

"Rogers!"

"GAH!" Steve had awoken with a sudden fright. He could hear a voice in his head … but whose? There wasn't any time to worry about that now. The second day of adventure was starting. Perhaps he would move out further in the country. Steve mulled these options over while putting his clothes on. Once he stepped out of his room and walked downstairs, murmurs were heard as people all over the room stared at him. Why, though? His questions would soon be answered, as a man dressed in armor stormed in, eyes widening as he saw the Shield Hero.

"There you are!" He exclaimed, stomping over to the teenager. "Shield Hero! You are hereby arrested by me, on the behalf of King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, under the suspicion of sexual assault!"

" … Excuse me, but what have I done wrong, again?" Steve asked, confused by the crime he was being accused of.

"Sexual Assault! Come with me, Shield Hero! Or I'll have to take you by force!"

Not wanting to start any conflict, especially in such a public place, Steve followed along, being met by multiple knights outside.

Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?

Steve walked through the doors of the throne room and was met with the looks of several people. Mixes of despair, anger, hatred, and disappointment in their gazes.

"Your Majesty. What seems to be the problem?" Steve had asked, walking up to the throne, but was stopped by two guards, crossing their halberds in front of him.

Aultcray gritted his teeth, eyes full of rage. "You really expect me to believe that? To believe that you are ignorant of what you've done?"

"Excuse me?"

"DON'T ACT AS IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER! BASTARD!" Motoyasu yelled, furious at the American. "Playing the innocent act? You're despicable!"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't remember anything from last night. Especially what you seem to be accusing me of." Steve knew that he was answering honestly, but nothing seemed to be getting across to them.

"L-Last night …" Myne had begun, whimpering in the Spear Hero's arms. "The Shield Hero had burst through my room, smelling of alcohol, and tried to strip me down! He nearly raped me!"

"What?!" Steve had shouted in pure shock.

"I had run away to Sir Motoyasu's room. He took me to the castle and sent guards out to arrest the Shield Hero. I'm so glad that they did!"

"What do you mean?! I don't drink! I can't even get drunk!" Steve had tried to explain. "I slept all night, last night! Believe me!"

"SILENCE, FILTH!" Aultcray shouted in anger.

Steve had seen Ren and Itsuki behind Motoyasu. They were talking amongst themselves and took occasional glances at Steve. Even if they were short, they seem to be empty of hatred, and more full of skepticism.

"Everyone, I'm no rapist. You've got to believe me. Not some girl that you all barely know!" Steve had tried to explain, but no one believed him. Not in the slightest.

"Fine. Then, if you don't want me here, send me back home. Get yourself a new 'Shield Hero' then." The decision was met with disdain, most people in the crowds above choosing to call Steve a coward and a villain.

"Tch! As much as I wish we could send this disgrace of a Hero back to his world," Aultcray had explained, "I'm afraid that we have no way of doing that right now. And even if we could … All of the Heroes … Would need to die."

A collective gasp was heard from the Three Heroes, and Steve had started to ask another question.

"So, what are you gonna do to me now? Throw in one of your dungeons and let me out only to fight the waves?"

"No. Count yourself lucky you won't be jailed immediately, Shield Hero," Aultcray had told the American, "But, even if you will be allowed to roam free, the entire country shall know of what happened today."

After being (quite literally) kicked out of the castle, Steve had to roam around town for a while. He also remembered what Motoyasu had told him yesterday. This world had armor, so it might be best to buy some, given that he was still on his own. So, after a rather long walk to the nearest armor shop, Steve had entered and was met with a well-built man. He was a few inches taller than him, about six feet, and he was pretty muscular. Perhaps he was a warrior as well.

"Oh. So you're the Shield Hero that I've been hearing about?" He asked, in a mix of curiosity and intimidation (more so on his side). "Raping some girl you didn't even know? I oughta teach you a thing or two."

"I told them I'm innocent. No one believed me. The last thing I need is to get another person on my case," Steve had told the man behind the counter. "So, could I get some armor?"

The man had stared at Steve for a few moments before looking away and speaking with a more relaxed tone. "Yeah, sure. What are you looking for?"

Well, that was a tone shift, Steve had thought, a bit shocked by his change in demeanor. "Just some basic armor. Nothing too bulky, though. I need to move out there."

"Hmm … You seem bigger than those other Heroes. So I think I got what you need," He told the Shield Hero, before heading to the back of the shop. He came back soon after, holding a crate filled with silver armor. "Should be too hard to put together. Try it on," He told the American.

It had been some silver shoulder pads, elbow and knee pads, shin guards, and a chestplate. It fit the teen quite nicely. "Great! Not too bulky, and kind of basic. I'll take it."

"Perfect! Just 350 Silvers, please," the Shopkeep had told the Shield Hero. Steve had pulled out his sack of silvers and handed it over, for the man to take the required amount.

"Thanks, kid. The name's Erhard if I didn't tell you already. Pleasure doing business with you."

"The pleasure's all mine, Erhard."

Back on the fields outside Melromarc, Steve had been seeking out newer monsters, bigger and better than the basic balloons. But not by much.

"A 'Pill Rabbit'? Alright," Steve had told himself, before throwing his Shield at the monster. It knocked the Rabbit back by a few, but then Steve had slammed it down, before jumping onto it with his Shield. It had lost all of its health, so while Steve had been victorious, it came at a cost.

"Dammit! Blood. Now I wish that I stuck with the Balloons." He then inserted the remains of the monster into his Shield and went to find the nearest pond to clean the blood off.

Now returning to Castle Town, Steve had walked along the road to find an inn. Eventually reaching one and entering, there was a bit of conflict.

"So, is this our great and noble Shield Hero, sitting all on his lonesome?" A hoodlum had asked.

"What do you want?" Steve had asked, bothered by their presence.

"Oh, don't be like that, Sir Hero! All we want to do is accompany you," another hoodlum had joined.

Steve had turned his head to see the men behind him, now growing to three people. "You serious?"

"Of course! Hey! Whaddya say we head off on an adventure right now?" The first one had asked, his duplicitous nature obviously showing. "All the best monsters come out at night! That means we should get a move on, shouldn't we?"

It didn't take long for Steve to be led outside by the men. But, instead of being taken out to the fields, they stood in a dim-lit alleyway.

"Wow. You must be dumber than I thought, falling for an obvious trick like that. So if we're done playing around, gimme your silvers!"

"Now if you said that in there, this would've been easier. For you guys at least," The Shield Hero told the men standing with him.

"What are you talking about? Just hand over the - GURK!" The man was interrupted by the Red, White, and Blue Shield striking him in the stomach, knocking him down to the ground.

"Tch! Damn Punk! Get over he - AHH!" The second was thrown to a wall. Two down, one to -

"Screw this!" the last one had said, running away from the American.

"Huh. That was easier than I thought. Guess those guys were weaker than I thought," Steve had started talking to no one in particular. He was about to walk away, before hearing a few faint coughs from behind. Could it have been one of the punks he beat up? Couldn't be. It sounded like it was further back.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Steve had started to walk further into the alleyway, stopping once he saw a pair of small feet. And as he walked some more, he was met with the sight … of a small girl.

A/N: Yo! This is Author-Kun here. This chapter may not be the best. I'm not good at describing fight scenes and just pieces of filler in general. Also, the fact that I didn't have Steve team up with Myne may seem like an immediate letdown. If anything, some parts of this chapter felt kind of forced. So for that, my apologies. Now I'm going to respond to Reviews.

the mysterious Mr.E: Glad to see that you like the story so far!

zaeva and HackerEX: You guys are right! This Steve is from Avengers Academy. I chose him because I wanted Steve to be a teenager like the other three Heroes.

PureSalty101: I just searched up some of the candidates for 2016's Election. Just went random with the others.

Also, the reason that Bucky is in the "Characters" part of the Description is because of something that I have planned for around the beginning of the "Second Wave" Arc, for anyone that wanted to know. See you guys for the next chapter! Bye!