BEN 10: RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO
CHAPTER 21: CAL MIRA ISLAND
The space around me is blank... nothing else exists here. Beyond the hyper-versal barrier of whatever material, I can see the countless stars and galaxies. And even universes.
The time outside the invulnerable barrier has been paused for a while now... Floating before me are two green faces. Bellicus, the Voice of Rage and Aggression. Serena, the voice of Love and Compassion.
And there stands me facing them. Ben Tennyson, the voice of Reason.
I am attending the Day 6 court or a casual gathering of the three personalities that are basically involved in the control room of the Universe's greatest power, or rather... one of the great powers in the Omniverse.
"Ahem, uh about reviving the dino-" Bellicus starts again.
"Denied!" The discussion is ended instantly by Serena.
It has been bugging me that the concepts of this world are probably affected by some unknown being. In our 31st discussion, Bellicus hinted at the existence of gods. He said the magic here was as good the garbage as Ledgerdomain magic but Serena disagreed with him.
And... yes... these two might also be affecting the world somehow... I'm definitely gonna give them some scolding.
"Guys, I have a question."
"Speak, Ben Tennyson," Serena allows.
"Is it you two who gave Aria and Filo the celestial blessing thingy?"
The question was indeed blunt.
Bellicus looks annoyed and then immediately answers. "Yeah, I mean, why not? If you accept us, we should also accept your friends. So we... are looking out for them."
"Bellicus! I thought it was a secret between us two," Serena scolds him.
"S-sorry, hah," he stutters.
I sigh, turning around to swipe the scene that's being shown on the pocket dimensions screen.
Inside this dimension, the screen projected by magic status in my vision completely disappears, and instead, the status is displayed next to the typical Alien X CCTV monitors. Well, I have to put it like that for better understanding...
The scene I chose is Aria and Filo sleeping together in a double bed, embracing each other beneath a thin sheet.
"Thanks," I whisper to the two other personalities.
"For what?" Bellicus asks.
"For looking after them. But... you guys should keep your profiles low."
The court periods of the three personalities of Alien X aren't boring at all.
Bellicus and Serena usually teach me about the Carnival Heroes world by discussing a variety of things... like... er, during the last gathering, they told me about some species of beastman including a Panda-like and a Lion-like. They explained how the demi-humans Therianthrope forms are similar to demi-humans themselves and beastmen. I was surprised to learn that the Shield Hero should also possess a skill that can enhance the "beast transformation" of demi-humans.
And what? Monsters can also transform into humans using magic? What the heck is that?
"Yeah, I warned Bellicus to not be so reckless but he thought to make a neutron star in the nearest galaxy."
Serena mumbles, staring intently at Bellicus who does nothing but scowl.
"I thought... the universe needed it," he argues.
"You didn't think how the gravity would affect the nearby asteroids and change their paths then... they would collide with small planets. And then the serial reaction-"
"Serena," I stop her. "You are overthinking too much."
She pouts. "I can't help but be worried about innocent lives losing."
"Grr, why are you thinking about those mortals?" Bellicus growls furiously and looks away from her.
I laugh at them as I turn around and cancel the time pause.
And after that, I leave the pocket dimension and revert to my human form.
My name is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, commonly known as Ben Tennyson, the Hero of Heroes... the Devil of the Shield, the Enemy of Women, the Hero of the Shield, the Lord of the Shield, etc. I got several titles in this world for good, none of them has ever earned me money though.
Oh, don't forget the Wielder of Omnitrix thing. Still cooler than "Vessel Wielder: Fan Hero" stuff, right? My other identity is a 40-year-old Tros Bennett, a traveling merchant who is also known as the Savior of the Heavenly Fowl.
Aria Brambila, the daughter of a noble, former honorable soldier that sides with me. Not bragging but there is some sort of rom-com story between her and me. Mastered sword. And rifles and pistols. Her weapon blasts plasma shots produced from this world's resources. Also my party member as well as my most trusted comrade.
Her usual disguise is Arian, a cold-hearted boy who possesses absurd marksman skills.
Filo Tennyson. My daughter, yeah, remember, I've not got a wife yet, though. Descended from a race called Filolial but possesses higher intelligence among individuals of the same species. Can retain human form with a pair of white wings on her back. She calls me "Master", well sometimes she would call me "Father." I don't care, either way, she is my daughter and no less.
Uses wind magic. Next Filolial Queen in line. Absurdly strong. And fast.
Rex Salazar. The Orange Devil of the Claymore. Generator Rex. The Protector of Demi-humans. The Duke of Lurolona. Has the ability to manipulate nanites. Can transform the parts of his body into machines dubbed "builds."
Sided with the Shield Devil thus known as the Orange Devil due to his orange theme. Also is one of my most trusted comrades. And he took part in my party during two waves of catastrophe. Really reliable, trust me - you can employ him. (Not a recommendation letter, though."
Eclair Seaetto. The daughter of the late lord of Lurolona who also was Rex's master. A musclehead knight lady probably graduated from a knight academy. Yet trusted by the Queen herself to be even employed as the right-hand knight of Her Majesty.
Fought the slave traders and knights and chased after them to rescue the enslaved demi-humans but failed and was detained in the prison chamber of the castle. Rescued by the glorious me.
Melty Melromarc. The daughter of the Queen who likes to order me around. The Second Princess of the country I was summoned to. Uses water magic, I guess. Never was in my battles with me so I don't honestly know her battle capabilities.
Likes: filolials.
Alrighty, that's all. I'm not gonna reintroduce everyone in the story. Otherwise, the chapter today might be screwed up.
Back with the story,
The next day, I have to attend a special meeting again, though the attendants are only Andrea, Cheng Li, Ryuuji, Queen Melromarc, and me.
Basically, they requested me to report to them about the situation yesterday.
"What is a vessel wielder?"
The Queen stays silent. Prime Minister Andrea raises an eyebrow at my question and smiles, making eye contact with his advisor.
"A vessel wielder is the wielder of a vessel weapon. Different from carnival weapons, we don't need to summon heroes. The weapons themselves chose their wielders or so says the legend. I've not met a vessel wielder in years."
He steals a glance at Queen Mirellia and quickly averts his gaze.
The Queen also is awfully quiet. I feel she must know something about said weapons.
"But," he continues explaining. "You can regard them as your fellow heroes, too. If I may, to be frank, they are inferior to Sir Shield Hero."
This means... there should be vessel wielders in this world, too. Compared to what Glass said, there should be vessel heroes in both worlds - though it doesn't confirm whether the heroes of legendary weapons exist in another world.
I decided to not tell them about Glass, because I honestly don't know how they would react or deal with her.
"Thanks for explaining," I say to them, with a smile. I guess I can ask the Queen for more information, later.
Queen Mirellia invited me to her guesthouse so we visited there that evening.
The guesthouse is more like an embassy. I've never seen her working in the castle back in Melromarc, but I suppose she works anywhere convenient for her. Like, that time when I went to meet her in a tent, there were piles of documents in the background.
"I want you and your party to go to Cal Mira Island," the Queen orders.
"I refuse," I respond nonchalantly.
"Hmm?" She looks dumbfounded.
"You've been bossing me around for some time. Now it's time to refuse your orders!" I declare proudly.
Melty pinches my arm as an alarm.
"Huh? What is that?" I ask the second princess.
"No, wait till I finish, brave one. Cal Mira is a place where you can efficiently level up this time around," the Queen facepalms. "So I'm having you and your party go there and farm monsters. I know you are strong enough, no, you may be even stronger than enough. But the more lives you want to protect, the more powerful you need to be."
"Sorry. We will go," I answer with an awkward smile.
"How about that Rex kid?" She questions.
"Yeah, you should bring him there, too," Melty agrees. "Also take other heroes. Mother will prepare a ship for you guys."
"I can't thank you enough. But Rex's level is hitting a wall. He needs to ascend first."
"You can bring him to Shieldfreeden and do it," the Queen shakes her head gently. "That idiot of a husband caused too much trouble for you. And that old man... I am sure Malty was more or less involved in the Church case. I guess I will handle it later. Sorry to ask you but... as Melty says, please bring the other heroes to Cal Mira. Otherwise..."
"They will die in the next wave," Melty clarifies bluntly.
This could cause a headache for me, you know, little girl?
And so.
"Now we will depart for Lurolona. Thanks for everything."
I say goodbye to the Prime Minister and his gang.
"Don't mention it," Andrea says with a smile.
Then I turn around and transform into "UPGRADE!" causing the people around and the knights to gasp in awe.
"Is it... Sir Shield's transformation magic that Otto talked about in the report?" Cheng Li says out of astonishment.
"I'd expect no less from Lord of the Shield," Ryuuji compliments.
"Well, yeah. This is magic," my electro-techno voice escapes the nanites of my body.
It's so convenient in this world that I can explain something people can't understand... with "It's magic."
I convert my body into a liquid state and fuse it with the carriage. This time, I upgrade it into an air vehicle with wings and more powerful engines. A black shield with green circuits lies on the snout of the plane.
"Wow... wow.. what kinda technology is this?" Andrea asks enthusiastically.
"Something... that can fly. Now excuse us. Aria, Filo, Melty, come on in, we don't have much time."
I open the door of the front revealing the luxurious insides.
My party and Melty quickly walk in and then I close the door firmly.
"Here we... fly!"
And so the winged carriage begins to fly and travel at high speed towards the village of Lurolona.
"That is... one heck of magic," Ryuuji comments, his jaw-dropping.
Some hours later, we successfully lands in the village.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ben. What have you done there?"
As usual, Rex flies to the landing site with his Boogie Pack.
"My first time upgrading a carriage into something... that can fly. I showed off this thing in Shieldfreeden, tee-hee."
Aria jumps down the trunk and kicks the carriage that is fused with me.
"Ouch, why would you do that!?"
She doesn't answer and quietly walks into the village.
Filo carries Melty as a big bird and jumps down.
Filo threatens me. "Shall I kick you too?"
"No, just go with your aunt," I say weakly. "I have some business with Rex here."
"Ok, Master," and so the two kids run off to keep up with their aunt (?).
"So..." Rex stares at the backs of the kids. "What's the business you said?"
"Ascension," I reply, canceling my transformation. "My party and other hero parties are gonna train in a place called Cal Mira."
"Cal Mira? Oh, I know about that island. Cal Mira Archipelago. So? What's with ascension?"
"I will bring you to Shieldfreeden... eh... this evening. I came to know some connections there," I shrug.
"Uh... ok, thanks, dude. For now, you should take a rest. We will have Rifana prepare lunch for you guys."
"Thanks."
And so we are back in Lurolona.
"Eh, I want to travel with Sir Ben, too!" Rifana mumbles, staring at me who is eating meat in an awkward way.
"Don't worry, polygamy is a thing here," Rex pats my shoulder for some reason. Dude, you are annoying me!
"Grr!" I growl at him. "She is a child, you know. It's sexual harassment!"
"Relax there, relax, hahaha," Rex fools around and walks away from me... and... Eclair punches him in the guts with a scowl on her face.
Motoyasu and Itsuki are also looking at me... weirdly. Uh...
"Hey, you two should also ready your... things. We will depart tomorrow," I warn them.
"You should take some rest, seriously..." Rifana says, hugging my arm. "You were traveling for too long and those people in Shieldfreeden worked you good! You seriously need to relax!"
Her voice sounds like a scolding mom.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," I sigh.
Aria grabs the weasel kid and takes her away from me.
Today's lunchtime is chaotic... but it feels somewhat natural. Though... the first princess is awfully quiet.
What will happen in the next few days? I don't know the answer... nor do I want to foresee. I have a feeling that a big event will probably happen this week.
Yeah, this world keeps entertaining me... endlessly. And I love adventurous vibes.
That evening.
A Boogie Pack Rex and I as Jetray flew above the lands of Melromarc and entered the territory of Shieldfreeden. I personally offered Rex to piggie-back him on Jetray and bring him to Shieldfreeden but he denied the offer,... out of pride.
"So this is the Church of the Shield, huh? You must be so famous around," he says, floating above the capital. He takes off his goggles for a good look at the cathedral building.
The sun hasn't set yet. We land right before the cathedral and walk-in.
As soon as the nuns recognize me, they call their Priest.
Pope Alacritas comes to meet us.
"I am the High Priest, Hillary Alacritas. It's an honor to meet an acquaintance of Sir Shield Hero."
"Likewise. I am Rex Salazar," Rex introduces himself.
"He is the duke of Lurolona," I whisper to Pope Alacritas. Lurolona is like a paradise for demi-humans in Melromarc... though we've only got about thirty residents.
The Pope suddenly bows his head before me. "Thanks for protecting my family!"
"Excuse me?"
"The town you defended during the wave is my native town. So... I can't thank you enough."
I can somehow feel that his words are genuine.
"It's okay, I am a hero after all," I pull him up. "Please help my friend here, too."
He nods. "Then, Sir Salazar, please follow me."
I decided to not tag along... so I sit on a nearby bench and take a good rest.
Since I was summoned to this world, every day was fun... I guess. One thing or another always happened daily, keeping me from boredom. And I've been traveling endlessly... it is... relaxing.
Though I can travel from one place to another in seconds, I prefer traveling like that. Slow and steady... but I feel uneasy for Filo and Aria, too. They have to keep up with me. Especially Filo... who draws the carriage in long journeys. And Aria... I have to praise her. She reminds me of ten-year-old Gwen who kept up with my absurd powers during the villain fights and... saved my ass from time to time.
Nah... I am too busy to think about my love life, really. I wasn't that busy when I dated Julie. Yeah, she could be annoying, unlike Aria who silently follows my orders. Or even unlike Ester whose personality is cheerful and who had good chemistry with me. Even Kai could be annoying at times. I don't really have a personal preference in love life... I just want to play along with the flow. Hah, it's more fun that way, trust me.
"Hey, dude, I picked up a celestial blessing, hah!"
Rex's voice snaps me out of my romantic thoughts.
"Oh, it's... great, yeah."
Rex raises his eyebrows. "You've been dazing off a lot. What are you thinking about?"
"Er… stuff? I guess."
"Love stuff?" he says nonchalantly.
"Nooo… let's go back," it's already dark outside.
"I know you wouldn't like polygamy but please CONSIDER SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN DREAMING TO MARRY YOU TOO!" he shouts with joy at me.
"Oh, shut up!" I yell back at him. "She is a child."
"The laws work differently with demi-humans," for some reason, he is actively arguing in the matter.
I roll my eyes as I transform into Big Chill under the mask and leap onto the roof of the cathedral.
But yeah, he is right. It seems unfair for Rifana... but I just... hate such things. I am even considering Aria as a love interest.
If I chose Aria... someone's dream would be crushed?
Polygamy isn't something I even consider... it's just... sick. But I can't blame the people. It's a thing...
Thanks to the freaky moth face of mine, my emotions aren't shown to Rex. But Rex is still giggling. I ignore his teasing and shoot into the sky.
Next day. At the harbor town.
I don't know how the Queen's representative personnel got away from the knights of Melromarc who were operating under the command of the believers' party.
I heard that the other heroes and their parties had already left for the harbor. So we ate our breakfast quickly and soon got to the harbor.
We also brought Melty as she would like to train her aqua magic.
"It's good we don't suffer from motion sickness..."
I laugh dryly glancing at the three legendary heroes who are suffering from seasickness. Motoyasu leans against the wall and sits uncomfortably. Malty is trying to help him but nothing happens. He then gets up from sitting and throws up into the sea.
Man, it's gonna make me vomit, too.
Itsuki and Ren are no less.
"Ha... Tenny... son... it's... nice... you don't... feel-" Itsuki can't talk anymore and gets up to vomit into the sea.
Ren looks better than those two, but... uh, sorry, he just threw up. I take my words back.
When we walk into our chamber, there are a young man and girl in the room.
The young man is tall and has red hair, red eyes, and a well-built body. He has some weapon stuffed into the sheath on the back of his waist. He also has a shoulder guard on the right shoulder and a black ink tattoo on the exposed left shoulder.
The young woman is a beautiful lady with light blue hair and light blue eyes. She wears a leather headband.
"Oh, hey are you in this room?" The young man asks.
"Er, yes. We are," Rex answers and quickly sits in the corner.
"Is Melty gonna be okay, Master?" Filo asks. Yes, Melty got her own reserved room in the ship.
"She will be fine. Don't worry," I pat her blond hair.
"Wow, it's a girl with wings... she must be an angel," the girl compliments.
"Thank you so much, Ma'am," Filo says.
"Since we all are going to Cal Mira... I am L'Arc Berg. And this here is Therese," the young man introduces himself and his partner.
"I am Therese Alexanderite," the girl introduces herself with a smile.
These two seem to be friendly. No loss to befriend them, huh?
"Yeah, nice to meet you, er... La... La'Arc and Therese," I greeted.
"Master! Filo couldn't understand what she said! Is she from a foreign country?" (Filo)
"Yeah, I've been wondering for a while, too," Rex agrees.
Oh, yeah. I have the universal translator so I didn't notice at all.
The duo looks surprised and then the boy says. "Therese."
He faces his back towards the girl who seemingly touches the red core of his weapon in the sheath and pulls out some sorta red energy that flies together with her hand. As she holds her hand in front of her neck, the transparent red energy ball flows into her body... Magic, huh?
"My apologies, do you understand me now?"
Sorry yah, I feel no differences.
"Yes! Filo can understand now!" The heavenly fowl says enthusiastically. Rex and Aria nod in agreement.
"Allow me to introduce myself again. I'm Therese Alexanderite," she repeats.
"I am Rex Salazar." (Rex)
"Aria," Aria says quietly and nonchalantly with her eyes showing no interest in the conversation.
"Filo is called Filo!" Her enthusiasm didn't decline.
"Yea, nice to meet you. And you, shield kid?"
"I am Ben Tennyson," I declare proudly, pointing at myself with my thumb, "the Hero of the Shield," holding up my forearm to show my small shield.
"Ben Tennyson?" L'Arc looks at his partner before both burst out laughing. "Dude, if you're gonna use an alias, at least don't pick the Shield Hero's name!"
"Hmm?" I feel dumbfounded. Then I realize that they are misunderstanding me. "I am serious."
The boy laughs at me again.
"You're laughing too much, L'Arc," Therese warns him before turning at me to scold. "But I agree that you should use a different alias."
"But he is the shield hero," Aria says with a monotonous voice.
"Hmm. You see, the Shield Hero is one evil scumbag. He indulges in scams, blackmail and he is totally the enemy of all women. He even has friends in high places who execute whoever ends up on his bad side. Like that Orange Devil! Shield Hero is a devil in human clothing."
This time, it's Rex who bursts out laughing.
"Dude, you hear that? Enemy of all women he said! I must reconsider Rifana and your marriage."
Aria glares at him and punches in his guts.
"Master is evil?" Filo wonders out loud.
"Don't bash your own father," I whisper to her.
"I know we've only just met," Berg says. "But I can tell. You're nothing like that scumbag, kiddo."
"See, Mr. Orange Devil," I laugh dryly at Rex who is pressing his stomach.
"I know she wanna send me to hospital, grr…" he mumbles.
"Well," L'Arc continues. "You guys seem to be good friends. And it's fine if you wanna hide your name. Nice to meet you, Shield Kiddo."
"Yeah, glad to see you. You must be as funny as me," I whisper the last part under my breath.
"Are you headed for Cal Mira to level up too?" Asks the blue-haired big sister.
"Yes, we are," Rex answers.
"That's right!" (Filo)
"Oh, wanna team up then?" the boy offers. "A bigger party would make things more efficient."
"Team up with you two? Why not?" I respond positively.
Aria pinches my side. When I look at her, she shakes her head in disagreement.
But the conversation is interrupted with a voice that calls out for us four.
"Ben Tennyson and his party, please come to the deck."
A man escorts us four to the deck where the other three heroes are.
"Hmm? Four legendary heroes have to greet them together?"
"Them" refers to the crew of the ship.
"It'd really pump up the crew to have the legendary heroes speak to them," the escort states.
"It's nice to be popular, dude," Rex nudges my shoulder. "Brace yourself."
But… wait a minute, all the other heroes are suffering from seasickness and unable to even stand up at the moment, aren't they? How will they speak to the crew, huh?
Arrived on the deck. Ren and Itsuki look like half of their lifetime are reduced. They look 20 years older than they really are. Motoyasu can't vomit more but leans on the wall with his face ready for another throwup.
Malty and other adventurers can't do anything to help but stare at them hopelessly.
"How are you okay, Tennyson?" Itsuki says weakly.
"That overpowered magic again?" Asks the old man Ren Amaki before he throws up again.
Look, I am also struggling to hold back my laugh.
"Ha… HAHAHA! Hehehe Keke…" again… Rex bursts out laughing, pointing at the poor heroes.
"Hey, Rex, haha… no, stop, dude," I beg him to stop making fun of the heroes.
"Er, sorry, I can't just…"
"Stop it…" Motoyasu finally speaks up. "Don't laugh at me… you… are making me… want to… vomit again…"
He looks even older than my father.
"Please don't be so loud," Itsuki begs. "You are making me nauseous."
Aw… they are hopeless. Alright, I'm gonna speak to the crew on my own.
A big stumbling flying fish suddenly lands right on Motoyasu. We all look at the other fish that seemingly jumps out of the sea onto the deck.
But the culprit wasn't the fish itself.
It is Filo in her filolial form who leaps into the air and kicks the trunk of the fish to direct its way onto the deck, forcing Malty and the adventurers to dodge.
The filolial Filo waves her hand at me, her body suspended in the sea.
"Master, we're having grilled fish for dinner!"
"Wow, look! My daughter can swim!" I shouted.
"That's your first response?" Itsuki says weakly, tilting his head to see me.
"This fish stench…" Ren mutters before vomiting again.
"Hey, shield kiddo!" It is L'Arc. And his partner Therese next to him. "Huh? What's with them?" He asks, looking at the poor heroes. Therese also stares at them with questioning eyes.
"Oh… they are just seasick," I respond, laughing.
"That aside, Therese has got something to ask of you."
"Uh… Tennyson, can you craft jewels?"
"Huh, nope. I can't. I can shape the crystals with… magic, though," I bluff about the crystallokinesis of Diamondhead indirectly.
"Please look at the materials, and decide."
No, you can't just force a task on me like that!
She thrusts a pocket into my arms.
I switch on the ID Mask and convert my DNA into a petrosapien's.
I open the pocket and take out a red rough crystal. My natural abilities kick in and the density of the crystal is guessed in no time.
The natural instincts of Diamondhead sense that this crystal is close to ruby, but not completely the same. Not even similar in natural structure but the composition is debatable. But for someone who has mined and sold tons of crystals, it's weird that I have never seen this type. Probably… it is extremely rare or the chunks don't exist in Melromarc.
"How is it?" Therese asks.
"Interesting," I say, rubbing my silicon chin. "But nothing I can handle."
"Then please do!" She says, smiling.
"Good for you, Therese. I am counting on you, Shield kiddo," L'Arc nudges my shoulder. "Oh, the sea's getting rougher. Looks like a storm's brewing."
Thankfully, he is distracted and fails to notice that he patted a crystalline surface.
"Really?" Sorry, but Diamondhead isn't specialized in storms and reading the sea and wind.
"Yeah, the crew are saying we're in for a hard night."
The poor heroes look up at L'Arc in horror.
What L'Arc said is true. Our ship faces a storm later…
In a hall inside the trunk of the ship.
Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki ask me to do something about the trembling ship.
"Alright, don't be scared. I am here…" I assure the fellow heroes as I scroll the dial of the Omnitrix and then press the core down.
"GRAVATTACK!"
The next day, we arrived at the Cal Mira harbor.
"Finally! We are here!" (Rex)
"Cal Mira! It's hot here! The sun's blazing!" (Filo)
"Yeah, but look, they are pathetic," Aria comments bluntly, pointing at Motoyasu holding his spear, lying on a carrier lifted by Malty and his teammate.
"Th-this isn't what it looks like. There's a reason..." he says weakly.
They definitely had a rough time. Even though I tried to hold the whole ship with my gravikinesis, they couldn't recover from seasickness. It was hopeless, indeed.
A pale man in a dark blue suit and two foreign-looking people approach us.
"My name is Habenburg. I govern the Cal Mira Archipelago. I'm here to take you Four Cardinal Heroes to your inn–"
His eyes widen when he sees Ren on the carrier embracing his sword, muttering "U-ugh... I feel sick."
"Or, Sewell, that was the plan," looks like he's gonna fix schedules. "But I suppose I'll have to take just you there first, Shield Hero."
He then talks about the Cal Mira Archipelago and a glimpse of it's history to us.
The Cal Mira Archipelago is a group of small islands bunched together. It's a popular tourist destination, partly due to a legend that the heroes of the past trained here.
Considering how people worship the heroes, it isn't that much of a surprise.
And since the activation has brought the adventurers here in great numbers, certain ground rules have been put in place.
He brought us to the center of the island and left us alone for his own business.
The rules say... "It's okay to travel between islands by boat. Try to kill as many monsters as possible. Avoid barging into other adventurers' battles to steal their prey."
"Sounds good to me," I comment, reading the rules.
At the center of the Cal Mira, there sits a statue of the original inhabitants who developed these islands... And an epitaph left by a Cardinal Hero.
"It's magical writing, huh? Give me a minute."
Partner, how to deal with this?
Yeah, if I feel helpless, I can just ask my Partner.
The holographic Azmuth appears on my screen.
"Uh... Ok, Tennyson. I found a spell here in the list. Place your hand on the tablet and after me. As the source of your power, ..."
"As the source of your power."
"The shield hero orders you."
"The shield hero orders you."
"Decipher this message and energize my target."
"Decipher this message and energize my target."
"Zweit Aura. And place that hand over your daughter," and he disappears.
"Zweit Aura. And place that hand– aw, man."
I swiftly place my hand on Filo's head. My hand suddenly transfers green energy into Filo's body.
"Oh, Filo feels more powerful now."
Filo leaps into the air super-high, even higher than the height of the statue.
"Wow, dude, where did you learn that spell?" Rex says.
"It's shield hero exclusive, I suppose," Aria whispers.
Filo lands on the ground before us perfectly.
"Nailed it!"
It's the power that a hero of the past left, huh? So the legend Habenburg said is true.
"Hey, shield kiddo!" A familiar voice calls out for me from behind.s
It is L'Arc. And next to him is his partner, Therese.
"Filo sure got some height on that. It helped us find you guys," L'Arc says, making Filo giggle. "But man, why'd you get off the boat without saying goodbye? That's so cold."
Yeah, so cold… oops, I totally forgot about them. Why did I forget about this beautiful Therese who appointed a commission… well, you could forget L'Arc though.
I put on a sorry smile. "My bad…"
"Will you team up with us? You never said you would so…"
I look back at Aria, feeling uneasy. But I don't find any reason to refuse.
"Let's team up then!"
"But it will have to wait," Therese says. "We both just got here so we have to get our bearings, first."
"OK, we will just wait for your return here."
"No, you should go farm on the island, first. Don't waste your time."
"Er… he got a point," Rex agrees.
"Then let's go farming monsters!" (Filo)
"Do your best until we party up, kiddo," L'Arc says. And then both of them walk away from us.
Aria pouts and stomps for unknown reasons but I choose to ignore her for the time being.
L'Arc and Therese both seem to be quite experienced.
It won't hurt teaming up with them, I suppose.
This is it for Chapter 21.
The previous chapter was published real fast because it didn't really contain materials. And the story arc was my own creation so it was fast. Also, I am fully recovered, energetic enough to write a chapter in days.
Though, I have to announce that after this chapter I will have to delay the later chapters for a while because of an upcoming project (unrelated to the fanfictions). I just got a job to submit manuscripts to editors or else they're gonna kill me :3
There exist Anime characters who possess absurd abilities and overpowered Shonen protagonists. I believe there will be no issue with Ben being a typical overpowered character in this story.
Personally, I'd like to write a Creative Ben version (similar to 2005 Ben who gets wrong aliens and improvises a way to beat the villain nonetheless) but I chose to write an overpowered version.
I couldn't use "line breaks" because of the software. Please put up with this chapter…
Christopher Paradox Chronos