Chapter 2: Hero Introduction

Naufumi hit the ground hard. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

"Oooh..."

A voice full of admiration brought him back to my senses. As he settled down, a bunch of men wearing robes filled his view. They were looking past him and seemingly ignoring him entirely. "What?" Following the robed men's line of sight, Naofumi found three others who also seemed to have trouble grasping the situation. 'What on earth happened? Just a few seconds ago, I was at the store. Where am I now?' He restlessly checked my surroundings, and all that he found were brick walls in every direction.

The room was made out of bricks. Looking down, there was an altar and various geometric patterns that were painted with fluorescent paint. They looked like Alchemic circles from Full Metal Alchemist. The four of them stood on top of the altar.

Looking at his arm, Naofumi frowned. 'Why do I have a shield attached to me?' The shield fit perfectly and was strangely light. It took him seconds to connect his situation to the book he was just reading. 'Oh, god. This is actually happening. I became the Shield Hero.'

"Where is this place?" The guy with the sword gave into his anxiety and asked one of the robed men.

They responded in turn. "Ooh, Please brave heroes! Please somehow save this world!"

The four newcomers were shocked "WHAT!?" All of them said unanimously.

"What did you mean by that?" the teen with the sword continued.

"Many things have happened to our world. It is in grave danger. By tradition, we were able to summon you brave Heroes through an ancient spell."

"Summoned..." Naofumi muttered. 'So this is like the book.'

The robed men went on. "Brave Ones, please lend us your might." The robed man bowed deeply to them while saying so.

Before Naofumi could answer, the other three gave theirs.

"Well... This is a bit sudden-"

"What a pain."

"Is that so?"

"Can I just go back to my old world? I already heard this kind of story before."

'So much for brave heroes...' Naofumi thought. "Uh... Okay?" The other three were all glaring intensely at him now. 'You guys sound as if this is the easiest choice in the world! I don't want to know the consequences of refusing!' He gave them a half smile to ease the tension.

"Aren't you people guilty over summoning us without our consent?" The guy with the sword, who looked like a high school student, pointed his sword at the robed men. "For instance, we won't just fight for world peace and then return to our old world empty-handed, right?"

The guy with the bow scowled at the robed men's direction. "You guys don't seem to take much consideration into our own plans, do you? Depending on what you have to offer, we might end up becoming this world's enemy instead, got it?"

'Well, this is going south fast." Naofumi wouldn't lie. They all had lives back home, and now they were dragged here. They are new to this place, and they would need all the help they could get to adjust here.

"Well first, I'd like you all to have an audience with the king. We can discuss your reward then." The representative of the robed men opened the heavy looking door to guide us through.

"...Guess it can't be helped."

"Right."

"Duh, the guy we'll be meeting changes, but I bet the story's still the same." The macho bunch arrived at their own conclusions before following.

Naofumi hastily trailed behind them. They left the dark room and passed through a corridor made out of stone. To Naofumi, the atmosphere here could only be described as 'delicious.' Their breaths were taken away as we took a peek at the scene outside of the window. A town much like one from Medieval Europe could be seen in the horizon, . All too mesmerized by the townscape laid before them, they walked down the corridor and reached the audience chamber in no time flat.

"Hou, are these fellows the Ancient Heroes?" On the throne in the audience chamber sat an old man who began evaluating us when we arrived.

Naofumi doubted that the four of them would make a good first impression with the law of this land.

"I am the king of this country, Aultcray. The thirty-second ruler of Melromarc. Brave ones, please raise your heads."

'Uh... I wasn't even looking down, but okay..."

"Now then, let us explain our situation. This country, and moreover, this whole world is facing its demise."

At the present, words of demise had once been prophesied. This world will be assaulted by waves of a calamity which will one day turn everything to ruin. To save the world, these waves must be repelled before they can be dispersed. This era marks the prophesied year, according to the words of demise. There exists a giant, ancient hourglass which continues to drip down ceaselessly. It has the ability to forecast when the waves will arrive and began its warning one month ago. According to the legends, each wave will come in roughly one-month intervals. Initially, the residents of this country didn't show much concern over the prophecy. However, the hourglass had completed its first turn and a wave of disaster occurred just as the words of demise foretold. A dimension crack appeared in this country, Melromarc, where hideous and brutal demons crept out in large quantities. Other adventurers and knights barely managed to repel them. However, the next incoming wave would be even more powerful. It seemed like the worst case scenario was about to occur. At this rate, the disaster won't be repelled. That was the basic outline of their situation.

During the King's speech, Naofumi realized that the legendary weapons translated languages for them. The other three heroes responded to the king.

"I understand your dilemma. But who gave you the right to summon us into doing manual labor for free?"

"That is one hell of a convenient story."

"... Even if that is the case, and this isn't me being selfish or anything, but if this world is going into ruin then let it be destroyed. This matter doesn't even concern us."

The person in front of me laughed loudly. Aren't you also secretly jumping for joy inside that heart of yours, dude?

"Not to be rude, but we aren't doing this for nothing, right?" Naofumi spoke. "I along with the others summoned here are essentially poor."

"Fumu..." The king sent his vassal a glance. "Of course, we planned on rewarding the Brave Ones fully for their efforts."

Including him, the Heroes made victory pose with a clenched fist. 'Jackpot! The first phase of negotiations complete.'

"I had already made arrangements to aid your cause with money. And surely, since the Brave Heroes will be protecting our world, housing is necessary. For that purpose, I have already prepared a fitting place for you Brave Ones to rest."

"Eh~ ... Those are all well and good promises then."

"Don't think that we can be tamed with only this much though. You'll have to continue giving your cooperation if you don't want us to turn rogue."

"... That's right."

"Thank you..." Naofumi glared at the backs of the other heroes. 'What was wrong with these guys? Turning rogue? That would send their entire army after you.' The immediate threat right now was him becoming the kingdom's enemy because of the others. 'Don't ruin this for us.'

"Well then, Heroes. Let us hear each of your names."

'This is just like the book I read. We have the sword, spear, bow, and shield.'

The Sword Hero stepped forward and began his self-introduction. "My name is Amaki Ren. Age 16, a high schooler." Hero of the Sword, Amaki Ren. A young high school student would best describe him. He seemed to have taken great care of his facial features. Although he was a bit short, only about 165cm. If this guy cross-dressed, no one would ever doubt that he was a girl. A perfect trap. His short-cut hair was a light brown color. Slated eyes and white skin somehow gave him a cool vibe. He looked like a slender swordsman.

"Okay, next up will be yours truly. My name's Kitamura Motoyasu. 21 this year, a university student." Hero of the Spear, Kitamura Motoyasu. First impressions: he looked like the carefree type yet gave off the vibe of a real man. His face was too refined even for a handsome guy. He seemed like an experienced playboy. He was sporting a ponytail: a hairstyle that didn't match a male, yet somehow it didn't look out of place for him. He had a caring older brother kind of feel.

"It's my turn next. My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. 17 right now, another high school student." Hero of the Bow, Kawasumi Itsuki. First impressions: a timid boy who enjoyed piano lessons. He seemed to lead a fleeting life yet also possessed a reliable, tenacious strength. His aura was quite vague and mysterious. A few curly hair strands made him look like he had a wavy perm hairstyle. He gave off the feeling of a docile younger brother. Everyone looked Japanese. It was surprising since this is another world.

'Whoops, it was my turn already.' "And lastly, I'm Iwatani Naofumi. Age 20, a university student." The king casually looked past me. A weird feeling shot through my spine. 'Was it something I said?'

"Fumu. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, huh?" the King thought.

'This is awkward...' "Excuse me, your highness. You forgot about me."

"Oh sorry, Naofumi-dono."

"I suppose compared to the others, I don't stand out much." He was feeling out of place here.

"Now then, everyone please confirm your own status. As a matter of fact, I would like you all to visually check for yourselves."

"Eh?" questioned them all

'Status!?" Naofumi thought.

"How do I go about seeing this?" Itsuki timidly asked for the king's guidance.

"We're new here, so could you elaborate on that?" Naofumi asked.

"The hell, man. You guys didn't even notice that much after coming to this world?" Ren was utterly shocked by his colleagues' ignorance.

Naofumi frowned. 'There's no need to be rude about it.' "What do you mean?"

"Well whatever, do you see that icon in the corner of your vision?"

"Eh?" When Ren said that, Naofumi noticed a weird, dim icon along the edge of my vision.

"Focus your mind on it and you'll see."

*Ping* And as it lights lit up silently, a browser with bigger icons similar to a PC's popped into his view.

Iwatani Naofumi

Occupation: Hero of the Shield

Level: 1

Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon), Other-worldly Clothes

Skill: None

Magic: None

There was a bunch of other data but he saved it for later. This was the 'Status'. It was strangely like a game. "Level 1 huh... this doesn't look very reassuring."

"Right, I don't even know if it's possible to fight like this," replied Ren

"That's exactly what I meant."

The King gave a confused look. "Tools like these don't exist in the Brave Ones' world? Status magic can be used by everyone in this world, helping to improve ourselves."

Motoyasu nodded. "Is that so?"

The real body's prowess was represented by numerical values and could be naturally raised through these numbers.

"So then, what should we do now? Our current values seem rather troubling," asked Itsuki.

Aultcray laughed. "From now on, you Brave Heroes will need to venture forth so that you may hone and strengthen both yourselves as well as your legendary weapons."

"Strengthen? Does that mean that our starting equipment isn't strong enough?" questioned Ren.

The king nodded. "Yes, the legendary weapon of each summoned Hero has their own special method of enchantment. By doing so they can become very powerful."

"Legend this, legend that. It's fine not to change weapons as long as it can function properly as a weapon, no?" Motoyasu whirled his spear around while commenting.

'True. Technically, mine is a shield, so I should be able to increase my defense over time.'

"That doesn't matter right now, so we can leave it for later. More importantly, what we need is to improve our own abilities, right?" asked Itsuki.

For Naofumi, this was both a dream and a nightmare. He became a Hero summoned to a parallel world. It was a dream filled with exciting adventures that will never cease and a nightmare that he would never see his home or loved ones again. Naofumi shook his head. He needed to focus if he was going to succeed.

Ren nodded. "So are we going to form a party with the four of us?"

The king interrupted them. "Brave Heroes, please hold for a moment."

They were confused. "Huh?"

"Each of you Brave Heroes will need to recruit your own companions and begin your adventures separately."

Motoyasu raised a brow. "And the reason for that is?"

The king coughed. "Yes. According to legend, it's said that the legendary weapons will reject one another should you Brave Heroes band together, interfering with the growth of both the owners and the weapons."

Ren tried to understand it in game terms. "So according to the rules, we can't gain experience if the legendary weapons are in the same party?"

Naofumi blanched. "I really thought we would team up together..."

Everyone shared a glance with one another. Suddenly, some sort of help message had appeared in their vision.

Attention!

The Legendary weapons and their owners will experience adverse effects if they fight together.

Caution:

It is preferable the heroes remain separated when possible.

"Looks like it's the real deal..." sighed Ren.

It seemed like they have entered a completely game-like world. 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.

"Improving ourselves and recruiting comrades. Which should be done first, I wonder?" questioned Itsuki.

Aultcray interrupted them once more. "Please allow me the honor of preparing your comrades. At any rate, the sun is already beginning to set. Brave Ones, please take your time and rest for the day. You may depart for your journey tomorrow. During that time I shall make arrangements and scout for talented individuals who can accompany you on your destiny."

They each expressed their thanks, and the king, having decided their course for today, prepared their guest room for them to rest.

If any of you have any thoughts, please leave it in a review.