BEN 10: RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO
CHAPTER 24: JUST A NORMAL DAY
Uh, yeah, I've been away for some time. Sorry about that, I'm just too busy to write, but I'm not abandoning the story. I haven't even watched the new season of Shield Hero TwT. But for your information, I'm not gonna wait half a year or the whole season to continue my story. I'm reading light novels.
The author's notes today are quite long. Please read patiently.
The punishment was decided by the Queen herself, and it was heavily based on a light novel. In LN, the Queen asked Naofumi what punishment she should heap on the Trash and Bitch. Naofumi said "Death."
Anyway, a new season of Rising of the Shield Hero has been released - I mean, episode 1 of the new season. I haven't watched it because I was too busy, but I have a glimpse of what will happen, thanks to the light novel.
I found out that anime didn't omit much from the light novels (in the case of Shield Hero.) In Arifureta, a lot of scenes were omitted in anime, so I found trouble writing the lore based on both anime and LN. So I'm gonna write this story based on Light Novel.
After the Queen has taken over the country again, everything becomes peaceful. Well, for some people, it was a bad ending. But I can't ask the Queen for more — I mean, she has already listened to me enough.
Otherwise, I'm gonna be bossed around in exchange for my requests. Nope, never. I am not a political person.
Aria insisted I took a rest for a week, otherwise, she would tie me up. She was so worried about my health even though I tried to explain to her that I am virtually immortal.
So one uneventful week came to me.
Anyway, Queen Mirellia invited me to visit her castle today, so I left Lurolona to have an audience with Her Majesty. I hope she doesn't want to order me around again.
"JETRAY!"
Ever since the incident in Cal Mira Islands, I've been thinking about how to handle the waves that will happen all over the world. There are waves we are notified of and we can handle them in time. But there are also the waves of the catastrophe, which we don't know are happening. The thought of something dangerous happening on the other side of the world can't really help — I can't put my mind at ease.
I shake off the thoughts that are flooding my mind, unfold my wings, and shoot into the sky at supersonic speeds.
Maybe… Rex and Aria are right.
After some minutes, I can see the castle town from the sky, thus I lose altitude in seconds and fly into an alley at imperceptible speeds and hastily cancel my transformation.
Now with my usual attire – green jacket, and all, I can proudly walk in the streets of the Capital since the dirt on my name is all cleaned, thanks to the Queen. If there's any reason I should be grateful to her, that is it.
As the great double door is opened for me, I enter the throne room where the Queen is sitting on the room, her first and second daughters on the right, and Duke Rex Salazar and Eclair Seaetto on the left of the throne. Dunno why, but her first daughter is still there. I don't feel so good about it. As strategic as the Queen is, she is also manipulative.
Most important of all, what, dude Rex? I didn't hear anything about this. If this is about rewarding me or something, you can just dismiss the idea since it is the least of my concerns.
"Sir Tennyson, thanks for coming today," the Queen welcomes.
But… wait, do I bow here? Pay respects? No, I've not done such things before her. AHHH, relax, me.
"No need, Your Majesty. I want to know the reason for summoning me to here today."
I have to sound formal… or not. Treating the Queen as if she were my friend for a long. Silly me.
"First, I want to discuss Lurolona. I heard from Duke Salazar that Lurolona was the independent region when the coup happened, and they took in refugees. But now the politics are settled, so I want Lurolona to be a more legitimate region."
I… can't quite comprehend what Queen Mirellia just said, but didn't she give us some important documents already?
"As… as you wish, Your Majesty."
"Hmm, I want to give some more territory to Lurolona and declare it as the first Demi-human town of Melromarc. It will also ease the situations between us and Siltvelt, even Shieldfreeden. Well, thanks to Sir Ben, the matter with Shieldfreeden has been settled."
"Not much of praiseworthy, Your Majesty."
"Don't be so modest. Anyway, most important of all, I want you, Sir Ben, to take the title of governor of Lurolona."
There is a moment of silence in the throne room.
I raise an eyebrow at Duke Salazar who has been looking at me with a satisfied smile.
"Excuse me?"
The Queen sighs. "I know that Duke Salazar has been protecting the village this whole time. But by having you as a governor, there won't be people who want to attack Lurolona anymore — because of your status as an honored hero and your overwhelming abilities. Oh, it doesn't mean Sir Rex is free of his responsibilities though. I know very well that you are busy thinking about how to defend the whole world against the waves. That's why I can't ask of you for more."
Hmm, even the Queen can be understanding at times… maybe I judged her wrong.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," I humbly answer her order.
The Queen smiles and nods at me. Then she raises her fan and points it at Eclair who is standing just next to the throne.
"The person here is the daughter of a late friend, Eclair Seaetto. An honored knight, uh, well, she can be a musclehead at times, though."
Unfit to her character, Eclair shows a slight embarrassment.
Yeah, I agree that she is a musclehead.
"Uh, yeah, but I am already acquainted with that person," I point out.
"I know. I want to inform you that I am having her teach the heroes… and perhaps, the new recruits, too. I understand that I can't have you always do the job on behalf of other heroes."
Oh, nice. They are trying to lessen the burden on me.
"Thanks," I mutter.
"You are welcome. Now it comes to the third topic, are you marrying Melty–"
"No," I answer without a hint of hesitation in my voice.
But still, I can't look at the little blue-haired girl, so I lock my eyes on the Queen who opens her fan and covers her face, taking a break from the awkward moment.
Rex giggles and Eclair, for some reason, stares daggers at me.
Perhaps, as always, she hates the way I speak to the Queen with an attitude.
"Ah, okay, I understand your… uh, conditions. Morals, I mean."
The Queen always understands that… sounds like she has achieved Omniscience.
"The final issue…"
Now come to think of it — the Queen has been saying topics about the people next to her,... Rex, Eclair, and Melty.
Holy… that means it's Malty's turn now. I am pretty sure I don't want anything to do with Malty Melromarc. Not that I hate her. She will give me nothing but problems, and just being with her will cause me nothing but trouble.
"I know my first– Ahem, my former first daughter caused problems for you. If you are kind enough to have as… your slave, uh, until she pays off the debt she has."
Well… I hate to have a slave but, this isn't my place to say – I am the one who asks Her Highness to lower their punishment. I can't request unreasonable… like freeing Myne from her slave status.
A human becoming slave means losing human rights. That's a cool move Queen Mirellia could think of since she probably liked my self-righteousness.
"Uh, could you give me some time to think about it?"
"Mm, hmm, take the time you need to, Sir Ben. Let's dismiss the meeting today."
Finally, I can disappear from their sight.
Leaving Her Majesty and her two daughters in the throne room, Rex, Eclair, and I exit the hall.
"Man, you didn't tell me," I complain.
Rex laughs. "You've been so busy with… making stuff."
I work for a good portion of my timetable to make "stuff" – tools, and weapons I need to save the "entire" world. It's like… a little kid under 4 years of age desperately trying to defend the world from unseen threats… after seeing Power Rangers for the first time.
Rex is different from me. He protects what he "wants" to, and he protects what he "can." He actually dislikes the idea of me pushing myself for the sake of the abovementioned "unknown" threats. He would warn me to relax every now and then.
He just has a rather carefree attitude, but for me, as far as the saying "Great Power comes with Great Responsibility" goes, I can't rest my mind at ease.
So I started producing sensors. Ones that I will attach to the magical hourglasses around the wall. And I will connect them to a network, and the heroes registered to the network will all be contacted. And perhaps I will assign only a group of enough heroes suited to the job — um, I will have to pay them, too.
It would take quite a tone to invest in this, but I am somewhat motivated. Can't sleep at night so I would go to the workshop and work myself to create the necessary equipment.
Rex thinks I am being childish – while my intention is good and all, my methods are a bit too much, or so he said. He said that my behavior would definitely affect the technology levels of this world. As someone from a technologically advanced universe, I rely on tech a lot. It's not exaggerating to say. For someone with a low affinity for magic, I can only take pride in my ability to make good use of high-level science.
I come to a conclusion…
"Rex, Eclair, please go without me. I remember something to tell the Queen…"
The duo is confused. "Uh, Ok…" "Yea…"
I don't explain further to them. I turn around and walk back to the throne room.
Thankfully, the Queen and the princesses are still there.
"Uh, yeah, I have decided, Your Majesty."
"Decided on what? Are you marrying Melty?"
I rub the back of my neck as I avert my gaze from the trio.
"I am taking Malty as a slave… uh, yes, until she pays off all the debt of course."
The Queen smiles — and I receive her signals.
I made an office in my house in Lurolona. Ever since Lurolona becomes public, we've got several visitors, merchants, and most importantly refugees. And having me as a governor has a lot of benefits… practically.
In my office, we've got four desks and a table in the center. The biggest desk is my work table. And Malty sits at one of the tables as she works through the piles of documents.
"You are one heck of a slave driver, seriously," Aria comments. Should I take that literally since Malty is my slave?
Aria and Rex were also forced to work through no fewer documents. Malty and Rex fill out the names and other information to each of the personal forms of demi-humans who take refugees in Lurolona. And Aria checks the information, then, at last, I approve it.
"Haha, yeah, you are working us that eagerly. You are scaring me, dude."
Rex agrees with Aria's statement.
"Seems that you didn't work that much when you were the duke of this village, right?" Aria nonchalantly points out, dealing a million damage to Rex who cringes at her comment.
"Uh, haha, right," he lowers his gaze as his pen begins to move on the sheets of paper again. "Sadly, Eclair and I didn't really work that much."
"He's just overdoing it," Malty criticizes me.
"Maybe I am…" I reply, feeling annoyed and confused. It is even more head-aching to do financial management. The budget arranged to buy and set free the demi-human slaves isn't much. Seems that I'm gonna have to make some more crystals to cheat money. Well, the Queen has even more work to do than us all combined. So I wouldn't worry.
"Oh, speaking of which–" I remember that the second princess is paying us a visit today. "– has Melty–"
*slam* The door is slammed open and a certain blue-haired girl enters.
"You just summoned me by my name, right?"
"What a coincidence," I mutter, pushing the piles of financial reports to the side. "What are you doing here today? Just asking, I'm not gonna escort you around the village."
"That's OK!" She gives me a thumb-up. "I am here to help you guys. I will wander around the village and offer my help to needy people! I will try to understand demi-humans more so that I can build a proper bridge between humans and demi-humans!"
Oh, man, seeing her motivated and eager… for the first time in my life, I suspected if I were a pedo after all. Heck, not.
"I wanna live long to see the future of the world…" I mutter under my breath as she continues to explain her future plans.
Workshop
I am working on a large number of detecting devices that will be attached to the dragon hourglass. They will detect the amount of magic sand in the lowest room and send it to the "receiver X" (I named it, btw) that will calculate the remaining time before the next wave based on the amount of sand.
If I succeed in creating there, they will be a great help.
"What are you making again?"
Rex leans forward and takes a closer look at the gadgets.
"Sensors and stuff."
"Tell me when you need help. And don't let your heroship become a burden for yourself."
As Rex leaves the room, I'm left with confusion.
"Sir Ben!" This time the one who enters the room is Melty.
"Hmm, what's the matter, Melty?"
"We've got guests. They want to see you."
When I follow Melty to the outside, I immediately recognize some of the guests.
One is a grandma who is carrying a green-haired girl over her shoulder. She looks like she is much older than me… but at the same time, her style screams "I am 18."
The other is a familiar pharmacist from Castle Town.
"Release me! Please put me down."
The girl screams as she struggles to escape the grandma's hands, but I guess that grandma is too much for her.
"Oh, welcome from my… village. Uh,..."
It is awkward. Finally, the old woman puts the girl down on the ground.
"I saved her from the lake in the forest because she was drowning."
"I wasn't drowning!" The girl denies it. "I was… just…"
"Haha, you are too young to die yet, kid," the old woman laughs.
"Uh," I look at the girl. "Who are you supposed to be?"
The pharmacist folds his arms. "She said she was fired from Bow Hero's Party. Uh, don't worry about her condition. I forced her— I mean, I gave her some medicine so she will be fine."
"Thanks," I say thanks to the pharmacist on her behalf.
Fired from Itsuki's party, huh?
I look up at the old woman who is staring off into the village with her hands on her hips — I recognize her well. I witnessed her defending her village with amazing martial art moves. Uh… for a mere streetfighter, it was impressive.
"Um, I am Rishia Ivyred," the green-haired girl introduces herself.
"Oh, I am Ben Tennyson. Anyway, you guys must have come a long way. Take a good rest, okay?"
The pharmacist looks worried. "I don't think we're that tired… compared to you. You've got… awful eye bags."
Oh, I didn't even notice them myself.
"Is… is that so?"
The old woman nudges my shoulders — I feel like my legs are digging into the ground.
"Yes, young man. Oh, I should address you as "Duke Tennyson." Anyway, you should also take proper rest. Don't worry about us."
"Uh…" I shoot a glance at Melty. She returns an assuring smile and a nod. "OK, I guess I should. Haha…"
And so I have to take a break from my work.
AHH, I forgot to ask them the reason why they came to Lurolona… But before I could think anymore about it, I fell asleep. Seems that my exhaustion has taken over me.
"Sir Ben! Sir Ben! Wake up!"
Before I can open my eyes, the first sound I can recognize is Melty voice waking me up.
"O-oh… what again?"
I sit up from lying on the sofa, half-asleep, as I struggle to open my eyes.
"Mother called for the heroes to the assembly."
"What assembly *yawns*? Let me sleep for 5 more minutes."
I lean back and my hands search for the pillow— I mean, the soft armrest of the sofa.
"Uh… five minutes, okay…"
TOO EASY! I can hear Melty's footsteps heading away from me.
Azmuth's holographic figure suddenly appears on my screen.
"Ben Tennyson, I suppose something's wrong."
"Again… what? What happened?"
He points to the empty corner of the screen. "The timer that shows the time remaining before the next wave disappeared."
"Hmm? What? All the waves are gone? We are finally free?" I say it out loud.
"No, it's not that. Something else. Beyond my reach."
Perhaps did the queen summon me for that matter? Now my eyes are wide-opened.
"Alright, I better go now." I quickly get up from the sofa and change into my work uniform — the green jacket with the number "10" logo on it.
After flying toward the capital alone, I found out that other heroes had already gathered their party members in the palace. I was out of place… like a fool. Man, I wish I tried to hear more from Melty.
I take a glance at Itsuki's party before following the other heroes into the meeting room. I haven't heard about Rishia's story yet.
Around the table, there are about five seats and the queen has already occupied one. The other heroes select their seats as they see fit… and my position somehow becomes next to the queen.
"Very well, let us begin the meeting of the heroes. I, Mirellia Q. Melromarc, will moderate the discussion."
"Discussion, eh?" (Motoyasu)
"About the power-up methods and items," the Queen continues. "Heroes need to share information among them to strengthen their abilities."
Power-up, huh… thanks to Partner, I've got to know a lot of power-up things, but I never was really interested in it. But I figure that my knowledge will be a great help to other cardinal heroes.
"Partner… give me information on power-up."
Partner's holographic figure shows up. "You can read them conveniently on the "Help" page… anyway, I've got no choice, huh…"
"Sorry…"
Uh, for the three heroes, here are what they mentioned:
Ren's personal opinion
— Strength is basically determined by your level.
Mastery — using the same weapon would improve your proficiency with it.
Energy transfer — when you finished using a weapon, you could reset its mastery level and release the amount of energy you had invested in it. Finally, any items that you had absorbed into the weapon could also be turned into energy. Increasing rarity: by imbuing a weapon with energy, you can increase its rarity level. This tends to increase the weapon's abilities.
Motoyasu's personal opinion —
Everything is based on your weapon. The most important thing is spirit enchantment, and the original stats of your weapon are not very important. All you need is enough strength and experience to use the weapon.
Smelting — you can power up a piece of equipment using ores. There is a chance of failure. Spirit enchantment: pieces of monsters' souls, or items, that have been absorbed into a weapon can be used to imbue the weapon with special powers. This has no chance of failure—maybe.
Status enchantment — stats can also be increased in the same way.
Itsuki's opinion —
A weapon's rarity is the most important thing. The enchantments are just an extra boost. When you have something rare, it makes more sense to call it a rare weapon.
Power up — the power of a weapon can be raised by equipping it with certain ores. This never fails.
Item enchantment —
items that have been absorbed into a weapon can be turned into energy, and that can be used to raise the percentage of various stats. Success is based on probability, and therefore there is a chance of failure.
Job level — you can increase your stats by using the energy contained in absorbed monsters or items.
"So what do you think, Partner?"
Partner raises his gaze. "The correct question is: What does Ben Tennyson think about that? I believe I don't have a say in it."
As a window pops up, Partner vanishes. "Don't know…" I mutter as I quickly scan the information Partner provided. "Hmm, seems that they just have different opinions or something like that. Ah, it's sad all their ideas about "strength" are based on games they played."
"What say you, Sir Ben?" Her Majesty calls out.
"Well, we should consider all those factors they mentioned," I tilt my head in confusion. "Sorry, but… you know, I am…"
I don't really rely on the cardinal weapon therefore I don't understand much. Maybe I can give them an opinion based on the data I have gathered — but I guess I will give it a pass.
VRMMO, MMO, or RPG… whatever, I wasn't good at them anyway.
"Yeah," Motoyasu looks disappointed. "He's already overpowered… he wouldn't care about growing strength."
I can't deny it… seriously.
"Good to be you," Itsuki grumps. Ren merely narrows his eyes and then averts his gaze.
"Sorry," I don't know why I am apologizing to them. When I open the "Shield List," I notice a blue circular pop-up in the center of the screen. "Hmm… how strange."
*Rings* A phone ring suddenly escapes the Omnitrix… it must be someone whom I handed the communication discs. I look up at the Queen and the heroes.
"Uh, it seems someone calls me. Please allow me to–"
"Ok, do what you need to," Her Majesty allows. So I raise the Omnitrix to the torso level and tap the blinking faceplate — a holographic screen pops up.
"Ben!" It is Rex shouting my name at the disc. "So many monsters suddenly appeared in the village. We need back-up!"
"Monsters?" The Queen stands up with a shocked face. "Sir Ben! We can continue the meeting later. Please go help them!"
"O-oh… okay… Rex, I am coming so please wait for me. Partner, unlock Deejay Emcee at once. Command code — ****"
Lurolona today is truly chaotic. If not for the shadows of the Queen who alerted duke Rex, they wouldn't have been able to save the lives in time. Rex had set off the ground, flying through the air to and fro by his Boogie Pack as he sliced the "Bat Monsters" with his big fat sword. Aria, with her two pistols, started attacking the air force of the monsters. Thankfully, they also got a Hengen Musou martial art master today.
"Zweit Tornado!"
With the spell chanted, Filo created devastating gales to destroy the monsters. The civilians had been evacuated to the center of the village. The Lurolona's defense forces and the Queen's shadows cooperated and tried to defend all the sides of the village, but still not enough.
"Rex!" Aria yelled at the flying orange devil as with her excellent gun skills, she exterminated a large number of monsters in a short time.
Rex descended his attitude and shouted back. "I know."
He hastily called the shield hero. "Ben! So many monsters suddenly appeared in the village. We need back-up!"
"Destroyer Move: Machine Gun Bullets," Aria said the name out loud as she pushed the two pistols back into the sheath and brought out the rifle from her back. Continuously — she fired a series of plasma bullets at the monsters, eliminating the front three rows of them.
A kid was out in the fields, vulnerable to the bat monsters. The monsters descended to the kid… they almost got him. At the time, a savior appeared.
The old woman with her head all grey leaped into the air, spinning and kicking the nearest monster — one kick and the monster was down.
"Are you okay, kid? YAH!" She let out a battle cry and threw a series of punches and kicks at the swarm of monsters, slaying a large number of them, much to the surprise of the kick.
"Grandma! You are amazing!"
"So you're okay…" she gave him a smile and a thumbs-up and grabbed him before escaping from the monsters.
"Damn… they are so many…" Rex cursed as he swung the big fat sword again and again at the swarm of monsters.
"He should have got here already," Aria nonchalantly said as she coldly murdered all the monsters surrounding Rex with astonishing precision.
"There is no end to them! High Quick!" Filo charged at the monsters again.
The outskirts of Lurolona were all overwhelmed by the "bat" monsters.
And then…
"HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA! HA!" A white/ green bulky figure showed up in the air. "NUCLEAR WINNER!"
Half of the monster army was reduced to dust.
After all the smokes had blown away, there stood me afloat mid-air as I overlooked the village from above. Then I would fly toward the "blue knight-lady."
"Good job holding them back… uh, ahem, Blonde Gunner Girl."
"Why, thank you," she lowered her rifle and looked up at me with unimpressed eyes. "How are you gonna slack off? Go, go fight off the monsters."
"Of course!" I ran off from her and approached an exhausted Rex Salazar. "Have a good day, Mr. Orange Jacket."
"Not a good timing, Sir. I'd suggest you don't call me that."
"My bad," I replied and then fired a concentrated explosive ball at the swarm of bat monsters.
Black, and bat-like. They all had tortoise-like shells on their backs. I wondered how they could fly with such heavy trunks.
MAGIC! Of course, the best explanation for something that can't be elaborated further anymore.
"Oh man," Rex muttered, his eyes widened. "Sometimes, I envy you."
Again, about half of the monsters had been reduced to ash again.
"This is highly dangerous nuclear power that shouldn't be used in fights, Orange Jacket Boy. I'd suggest you do not envy me."
"Such an unfair argument…" he rolled his eyes as he blocked a bat monster with his sword. "Anyway, you'd want to help those two."
I scanned the field Rex pointed at and recognized three figures: Two of them – the old lady and Filo were defending a demi-human kid.
"Oh, uh… have fun with them. I'm going," I parted ways with the former duke of Lurolona.
"I. AM. NOT. HAVING FUN!" I literally ignore his growls and flew up to the trio.
"GRAVATTACK! I will cover you guys, run! Run into the village.
As a large rocky figure, I blocked the path of the monsters.
"I am not retreating yet," the old lady leaped over me and delivered kicks and blows to the monsters. "You can escort the kid into the village, Bird Girl."
"Filo's name is Filo!" Filo, in her filolial form, grumped before picking the child up onto her back. "Hold onto me! Let's GO!"
She started running into the village.
I held out my hands and manipulated the gravitational force, creating a gravitational field around the monsters.
"I am sure you'd want to retreat now," I warned the old lady who then performed a backflip and landed beside me.
Oh… it was a gore sight… I mean, the monsters were crushed by a powerful gravitational field.
"This should do the job," I pressed the Omnitrix insignia on my waist to restore my human form.
The outskirts of Lurolona were filled with hundreds of monster corpses. Rex, Aria, and Filo also came to meet up with me and the old lady… who were still out in the fields.
"What kind of monsters are these?" Rex murmured as he picked up the remains of a monster with his sword. I took it with my bare hands to my shield to analyze the remains.
FAMILIAR SHIELD UNLOCKED.
"Familiar's shield…"
"What do you see?" Rex asked.
"Hmm… there isn't anything else strange about them. But seeing them this many but not in a wave of catastrophe is… something's off. And… Familiar's shield…"
"Oh," Rex seemed to have grasped an idea. "Familiars are, like, servants, right? I just remembered that I read about them in some book."
"Servants… I don't understand. Oh, I see. They must be —"
"Wait, you were in the middle of a meeting, right?" Rex said.
"Oops, uh, let's discuss this later. Please take care of the clean-up, guys. I am leaving."
"Excuse me, sir."
"Huh?"
Someone called to me… so I turned in the direction the voice came from.
About 2 meters away from us, someone in dark robes stood on the field. From their voice, they must be a woman.
"You . . . you possess the shield of the holy weapons, do you not?"
The woman pulled back the hood to reveal her face. She was one heck of a beauty. She possessed an unrivaled pretty figure… I stood there in silence as I couldn't help staring at her.
"O-oh… yes, I do…" I responded to her question, raising my right hand to where the shield was attached to.
Her beauty had a hint of royalty and mystery to it… but I decided to not think about it. The longer I watched her, the more bewitching her beauty was.
She looked like an Asian young girl… looked like 17. Well, I couldn't judge it yet. Her hair and eyes were colored different kinds of brown.
She suddenly approached me, clasped my hand, and bowed to me. She looked like someone who needed help.
"Please. I beg you. You must destroy me."
"Huh?"
In what way!? I was taken aback.
"As I am now, I cannot complete my task. So . . . So I beg one who possesses a holy weapon to help me!"
As she was talking, the jewel in the center of my shield suddenly flashed.
"Uh… what is happening?" I was confused.
"Sir Ben!" Aria aimed one of her pistols at the girl with a cold expression. "I sense she must be dangerous."
She looked at my hand the other girl was holding… and grit her teeth.
"Ah!" I quickly retracted my hand as I also sensed a murderous aura from Aria. Man… who is dangerous now?
"You should elaborate clearly, young lady," the old woman stepped in.
"I…" the robed girl lowered her gaze in silence. Then she pointed to the sky. "I'm up there. Please stop me."
"Huh… What do you mean?" (me)
Since she caused my shield to flash… she wasn't an ordinary girl, I supposed.
When I redirected my attention from the sky to her, she had already gone… vanished. Without a hint of her left behind.
"What was that…" Rex muttered… looking shocked. "I thought I didn't believe in ghosts, haha… now I have to."
"Nooo! Don't lose your wits, Rex!" I jokingly said — but my eyes were still examining the place she once was.
What is she… actually?
"By chance… Do you not know about other legendary heroes?"
The queen's question caused the three heroes to flinch. True, they didn't hear anything like that. They looked at each other… then shook their heads.
"Hmm, let's discuss other legendary weapons when Sir Ben comes back."
Just after I set off, the heroes brought up the heroes from another world – Glass, L'Arc, and Therese. They heard about them from me who had encountered them in real combat. The three heroes didn't witness the otherworldly heroes through their own eyes though.
Among the three otherworldly heroes, Glass and L'Arc who used a Fan and a Scythe for weapons mostly interested Ituski, Ren, and Motoyasu. According to me, Glass and L'Arc also seemed to have long-term experience and versatile skills despite their bizarre weapons. Gamers would just think Scythes were just third-rate weapons used by insignificant background characters. And fans… they weren't sure how a fan could be used as a weapon.
With a flash of green light, I show up in the meeting room in front of the round table, grasping the attention of Her Majesty and the three heroes.
"We're sorry, but we progressed a bit with our meeting," the Queen apologized.
"Oh, that's okay."
"What really happened?" Ren asks.
"I don't know exactly, but an army of hundreds of monsters suddenly showed up near the village. There were bat monsters with tortoise shells… ah, how absurd."
"Tortoise shells…" the Queen covers her face with the fan. "Let's talk about it later. First, we should discuss the matter we've been talking about."
"Uh, okay," something's off, but better not to pry in.
"Regarding the other legendary weapons —"
Queen Melromarc begins to explain about the heroes other than us, who are also gifted with legendary weapons of their own — the seven stars heroes. I am guessing they are called seven stars because they're seven in number… simply.
"The most famous legend in these lands involves the four holy heroes, but there is another famous legend about the seven stars heroes."
"Seven stars heroes?"
"Yes. Just like the four holy heroes, there are seven other heroes that each carries a special legendary weapon."
The former King – Aultcray and the Church of Three Heroes made many problems for the Queen and her country, Melromarc. But indeed the nation abandoned any attempt to claim partial ownership over the seven stars heroes long ago.
The other heroes thought the seven stars heroes were also summoned to this world — but the queen denied it.
NOT every hero of the seven stars comes from another world. A normal adventurer or a normal weapon wielder can somehow become a member of seven stars. Thus they were only looked up to as normal adventurers.
To SUMMON such a hero, a weapon is used in the process. Even if the ceremony fails, everyone can use that weapon until a chosen one appears.
BUT the seven stars weapons aren't the same as our cardinal weapons. They exclude sword, spear, bow, or shield.
I am seeing Rex becoming a seven star CLAYMORE hero, ha. I don't know if a claymore counts… because it is literally a big fat SWORD.
Seven stars weapons according to the Queen — the staff, hammer, projectile weapons, gauntlets, claws, ax, and the whip.
Unfortunately, scythe and fan aren't included.
"The 'projectile weapons' one sounds a little vague," Itsuki said, raising his hand.
"Is it?"
"Do you know what sort of weapon it actually is?"
"Yes. In the legends, it is a throwing knife, a small sword, a kunai, a small ax, etc. The weapon can turn into any small, throwable weapon."
Oh, precision speaks.
"What's the difference between the gauntlet and the claws? Aren't those kinda the same thing?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking that too."
Ren and Motoyasu asked the question.
"I honestly don't understand it very well myself."
"Ahem," I fake a cough. "If you're finished, I want you to answer what is happening, Her Majesty."
The Queen raises her brows, taken aback. But she then gives me a nod.
"I can understand you are angry about the attack of monsters on your territory."
"Nah, I'm not exactly angry," I sweatdropped. "I just wanna know the truth."
And I assumed she knew about the "bat" monsters.
"How could they be appearing over such a wide area?" She says.
The queen knit her eyebrows and fell to thinking. After a minute, she spoke again.
"If the same thing is happening in so many different places at once, it must be safe to assume that something unprecedented and strange is afoot."
"Like the waves?" Itsuki asks.
"Perhaps. And yet..."
Yet… I noticed that it was different from how the waves used to happen. No, even stronger than the waves of calamity.
"Familiars…"
"What do you mean, Sir Ben?"
"When I analyzed the remains, it was scanned that they were familiars that served a master, dunno who."
I was hoping the other heroes, who played games that had similar settings like this world, could come up with an answer to what they actually were… but they weren't that reliable.
"Similar reports are coming in from our neighboring countries." (Queen)
The queen opened a map and indicated all the places where the monsters had been spotted.
"They are moving from east to west."
Moving from east to west. Now come to think of it, that mysterious girl told me something about destroying her. Hmm... these two things might be connected... be I chose to not reveal them to the others.
"There must be more to it..." I mutter under my breath.
I returned to Lurolona right after the meeting to carry on the investigations. I don't think I should judge the situation just yet. Something doesn't feel right.
Hmm... I transformed into Jetray and shot off the castle.
As I almost descended to the ground, the holographic figure of Partner showed up.
"What's up, Partner?"
"According to my analysis, some of the villagers were injected with something... that isn't included in the data."
"What do you mean?"
Partner opened a map on the screen and three red dots appeared. It was a map of Lurolona. I recognized one of the marked places. The Village Clinic.
"I should visit there."
Partner nodded and disappeared from my sight. I lowered my altitude and flew toward the village clinic.
After I entered the clinic, the second Raphtalia and Rifana caught sight of me, they ran at me full speed, looking anxious.
"You two, what happened?"
"Sir Ben! Please help Keel! He's in pain!" Rifana begs.
"Please." (Raphtalia)
What happened to Keel? I scan the whole room and notice Keel in the corner.
Keel lay on a bed, writhing in pain as a nurse applied a salve to a huge burn on his back.
Oh… awful. Something must have happened. I walk toward her bed.
"Keel?"
"Oh… Sir Ben, I'm sorry. I can't welcome you properly."
I smile at her. "Oh, I am returning home, why should I need to be welcome? That aside, are you okay?"
"Y . . . Yeah. It really hurts, but I'm not going to die or anything."
"What happened?!"
"I saw one of the monsters flying by. I thought that if there was only one, maybe I could handle it..."
Um, I can't really blame her. If she wanna fight monsters, I should ask Grandma to teach her some martial arts. For now… her recovery is our priority.
"If you want to fight monsters, how about I ask Grandma Grilaroc to teach you Hengen Musou?"
"Um, really?"
I am delighted to see her excited. "Yes, for now, you should focus on your recovery. Please endure for some time, I will heal you."
At the time, the old lady enters the clinic. "Your kids are amazingly courageous, Sir Ben."
"Not my kids, grandma."
When I examine the wound, it is deeper than I thought. It looks like there is something buried under his skin.
"Hey, Keel, what did the monster do to you?"
This can't be good.
"Huh? It shot me with its heat beam. Then I fell over and the monster came and landed on my back. Rex and the others showed up and saved me right after that."
No, I don't think it's simply a heat beam. I mean, the heat beam will just burn the outer layers of the skin first. But… this wound…
"Partner, please analyze her wound."
Partner shows up. "According to the analysis of his cells around the wound, he must have been injected with monster eggs into him."
"What do you mean!? Please explain quickly in 20 words."
"I DID EXPLAIN IN 20 WORDS! Anyway, we should remove the eggs. Otherwise, he will either die or mutate. We shouldn't waste any more time."
"Uh, okay… DEEJAY EMCEE!" Right after transforming into a pugnavore, I look down at Keel. "Brace yourself, I'm gonna secrete unnecessary energy out of your body."
"Um, what?"
Until she can realize what is happening, I place my green palm on her wound and start grasping onto the life energy of the eggs.
"Damn it…" I change the form of energy and teleport the remains of eggs to the outside.
"Please don't touch it," I warn the people in the room as I put the remains on a table. "I shall examine it more after this. Uh, nurse, please give her a potion. Everything will be alright."
I detransform, take a bag out of the inventory, and put the things I just removed from Keel's body into it.
"I can see some interesting stuff, but it's a shame you have removed the energy from it," Partner says.
"Oh, my bad."
Filo suddenly runs into the clinic. "Master!"
"What happened, Filo?" Damn, I can't get a rest, huh…
"I just saw one of those monsters come out of a different monster's body! I saw it!"
Hmm… oh, it must be the monster egg Partner said hatching— hold on, I must see it!
Now it connects the dots and solves the mystery on my mind. "How did the number of monsters become that many?" The answer is that—
They must inject their eggs into other beings like monsters… and wait, that means… considering how Keel was injected with eggs, humans and demi-humans, who have similar genetic materials, must also be affected by monster eggs.
So when the eggs mature, they turn into monsters and make their way out of– AHHH! Just imagining it is one heck of a gore sight.
But if monsters come out of the dead monsters… it means we must destroy the corpses as well, before the eggs inside them hatch.
"Grandma, Filo! Please tell Rex and Aria to gather every workable person in the village and burn all the monster corpses. Of course, we will have to collect the corpses first — but Rex will order as he sees fit."
"Leave it to me, Master!" "Ok, Sir Ben."
When I look back at Keel, she is lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Seems that her pain has vanished and she is feeling better.
"Please take care of him," I bribe the nurse and then walk out of the clinic.
Standing alone in the fields of Lurolona. In front of me is an army of monsters that look like yeti… but have tortoise shells on their backs. According to analysis, they are also familiars of a certain someone yet I can't still figure out who is that "someone."
Each yeti monster is about two and a half meters tall — about as tall as Filo's filolial form. Its entire body is covered in fur.
"Solo leveling again, I love it."
As the yeti monsters start running at me, I raise the Omnitrix to my torso and tap the faceplate.
"FOUR ARMS! I'm gonna love it!"
After a flash of green light, I take the form of a red-skinned alien with four eyes (literally. I don't wear glasses) and four arms. My bulky and tall body grants me a high eye line.
I grab the first monster to arrive in front of me and throw him at the other monsters. Then I charge at them — and start kicking and punching randomly at the yetis.
I throw the upper half of my tetramand shield at another group of monsters —
Air Strike Shield + Heatblast Shield!
Suddenly, torrents of flames are produced by the lava shield and burn the dozens of yetis… while most are killed, the rest are forced to run in the opposite direction.
"Oops… I need to burn their corpses, too. I guess this also works fine, ha."
I smack the Omnitrix symbol to assume the form of another alien. "NRG!"
This time, I become a humanoid oven-like alien— no, I mean, my true body is a radioactive energy lifeform inside an oven-like containment suit, of course. The suit has three slits on the helmet for me to see the outside.
Taste… this! I fire a powerful energy beam through the slits at the yeti monsters. On the surface, it looks as if I am firing "heat vision," but not really — I can just produce radioactive heat beams from any part of my body. Not necessarily from my eyes, I can just retract my hands from the sleeves and then shoot a heat beam from my hands through the slits.
"Partner…" I murmur as I'm not satisfied just by firing beams like this. "Can you please remove the suit?"
"Are you sure?" Partner is sitting on a holographic chair as he watches the monsters being destroyed.
"Yes! I will maintain my own radiations."
"Good answer," Partner snaps his fingers… and with a flash of green light, the containment suit vanishes entirely — in fact, it is just Omnitrix retracting its technical extensions – revealing my fiery, radioactive figure to the outside.
"Behold, monsters! I am gonna crush– burn you all!"
As I hold out both my hands and concentrate radioactive energy in my palms, a beam is unleashed, aimed at the monsters. I fly to and fro through the air as I fire heat beams at the random monsters while making sure they are completely combusted and devoured by heat and flames.
This can get a little boring… but still satisfying. All the monsters are burned to ash in the torrents of flames… but I'm gonna have to take responsibility for making the fields radioactive later.
"I have to absorb the excess energy in the field… and then neutralize the radiations."
BONUS EPISODE
Fictional News Reporter: Ben Tennyson's Omnitrix, regardless of the version, has a trait of time-out/ energy recharge. But Ben 2040 from Ben 10: Rising of the Shield Hero doesn't seem to suffer from such problems.
So the readers might want to know the truth behind the dismissal of "time-out," so let us welcome the Author, Chris Chronos onto the stage!
Author: Great, nice to meet ya. Yeah, I am fine, thank you. I appreciate you for inviting me to such a great variety show… yet not a weekly program. Let's get down to the questioning session and be quick. I have to write more chapters after this.
F.N. Reporter: I understand. Could you please reveal the truth behind… uh, something I just mentioned? Sorry, I've got a bad memory.
Author: That's a serious question but no one really asks. I'm kind of embarrassed — the author himself has to make a bonus chapter with his appearance as a character. Anyway, the question is… does Ben have that exact same problem as Ben Prime? And if not, elaborate on the reason.
F.N. Reporter: Yes, something like that. Dunno, I must go to the hospital after this, I guess.
Author: I hope you'll get better. The real reason behind that was… Partner. You know who it is — the holographic character with… Azmuth-like features. It shares many similarities with Azmuth.
Speaking of Azmuth, in the prime world, he told our protagonist, Ben Tennyson, that he would give him the master control access when Ben became 18. BUT what if… Does Ben get into a situation where Master Control is seriously needed?
This is where Partner comes in. Partner is like training to use Master Control. It's a high-spec AI. So having Partner in the Omnitrix is… uh, while not the same, similar to having access to Master Control.
F.N. Reporter: That still didn't explain the energy recharge.
Author: I personally believe that an Omnitrix of any version (created by Azmuth) contains enormous energy… enough to blow up a good chunk of the universe… or create the universe. Yes, the Omnitrix can create an all-new universe.
Having Partner is like having master control — Ben gets access to the enormous energy source without restrictions since the Omnitrix allows Ben to use it.
F.N. Reporter: Oh… it's amazing.
END OF CHAPTER (24).
I'm gonna be busy this month but I'll try my best to update as soon as possible. My priorities this month are BROSH and BOWDG.
What do you think of the main heroine "Aria Brambila?" I want to hear the opinions of the readers. When I rewrite the chapters, I plan to change Aria's former personality and backstory a bit.
It's funny how each of my fanfics showed Ben Tennyson saving a blonde girl, lol.
Thanks for reading and writing reviews.
Christopher Paradox Chronos.