Chapter 25
Truth & Revelation

Arthur and his party headed over to the cathedral to get their upgrades as the sun rises. As always, Filo is in her Filolial bird form as she pulls the cart. Arthur is sleeping in the back until Raphtalia tries to wake him up once they've stopped.

"Arthur? Arthur."

Arthur wakes up and sees Raphtalia smiling at him.

And Filo is in her little girl form as she jumps in the wagon, "Hey, we're here!"

"Good." Arthur makes a big yawn and stretches before they head in.

Once they get closer to the cathedral, Raphtalia notices a change at the front entrance.

"Whoa, look at that." she points at it. "They've changed it."

The front entrance not only has the symbol of the sword, spear and bow, but the shield too. They've added the shield for the new Four Heroes Church.

"The crest has all four heroes on it now."

Gwen giggles a little, "Well, this is now the Four Heroes Church, so they've got to add the Shield Heroes. And things will be different as it was before."

Raphtalia seems happy, "We can finally obtain our class upgrades now."

"Yay!" Filo cheers, "Upgrade! Upgrade!"

Arthur snickers a little, but he remembers something. If both Raphtalia and Filo go, they won't get their class upgrades because of the cowlick on Filo's head. Because of that, they won't get the class upgrades they want. So, Arthur has an idea.

They made it inside and they see two familiar faces while there. Akel and a demi-human mage is there to greet them.

"Greetings." Akel welcomes them, "Long time no see. The queen's entrusting the Dragon Hourglass to us. Come on, right this way!"

Akel and the female demi-human mage takes Arthur's party to the Dragon Hourglass room for the party to receive their upgrades.

"We will now begin! The class upgrade ritual!"

"Hold on!" Arthur stops them. "I think it would be a good idea if they get their upgrades seperatly rather than a group, if that is okay?"

"Of course! Who will be going first?"

Arthur looks at Raphtalia, "You're first, Raphtalia."

Raphtalia is a bit confuse on why is she going first rather than the entire party getting upgrades. "Um...okay..." but proceeds anyway.

Filo pouts as Raphtalia gets to go first.

She places her hand on it and it started to produce a golden glow which is followed by a heavenly glow from the top of the hourglass. Her body started to glow gold as well before a bright flash came and it was over. Raphtalia...actually got the class upgrade she wanted as she smiles and it is done glowing.

"I got the class I wanted!" Raphtalia is happy to receive her new class upgrade.

Then Arthur looks at Filo, "Okay Filo, you're next."

"'kay!" Filo walks up to the hourglass and the same thing happened. However...

Once that is done, she walks up to Arthur and gives him a hug.

"I'm guessing you didn't get the class upgrade you wanted, didn't you?"

Filo looks up at Arthur, "How did you know? Do you know what happened?"

"Yep. I knew it."

Gwen says, "So it was the cowlick."

"Huh?" Raphtalia doesn't understand what is going on, "What do you mean?"

Yet Gwen walks up to the hourglass, "Well, guess I could give it a try."

She places her hand on the hourglass and...nothing happens. No light show, no class upgrades, nothing. Yet Arthur received an error on his HUD saying that anyone that he summons cannot receive class upgrades.

"Well that sucks." both Arthur and Gwen say in unison.

After that, Arthur's party headed over to the castle to tell the queen about the particular problem with Filo. The queen is there on her throne and Melty is beside her. Filo looks down a little looks disappointed.

Queen Mirellai speaks with a fan covering the lower half of her face, "I'm sorry, but is there a problem with your class upgrades."

"Well..." Arthur speaks and explains the situation about Filo's class upgrade while Gwen and Arthur already figured out why Gwen's doesn't work.

"Well I have been told that it's possible for certain items that would effect the class upgrade process." She eyes at Filo, "Perhaps that's what happened to you."

"I bet it had to do with this cowlick Fitoria gave little Filo here." he flicks Filo's cowlick, much to her annoyance.

"HE-EY!"

Mirellia's eyes start to shine, "Fitoria? You mean the Filolial queen?"

Gwen goes, "Yup! The one and only."

Melty says to her mother, "I wish you could've been there to see her mother. She looked indescribably beautiful!"

"Melty." she grabs her daughters wrist and begs Melty to tell her more, "Tell me more! I want to know everything about her!" Now she is acting like a curious child than a dignified queen.

"Well in her bird form, Fitoria was as big as the monster we were fighting. And some of her feathers were the color of the sky."

"Anything else?!" Mirellia sounds excitable and wants to know more.

"She had feathers on her head. Kinda like a crown and she let me ride on top of her! It was a dream come true!"

Mirellia takes an excitable gasp with her face all flustered before acting like she's hugging herself while being over the moon. "That sounds wonderful! I'm jealous of you. Truly! To ride the Filolial queen."

Gwen laughs a little, "Like mother like daughter."

Arthur breaks Mirellia's undignified state with a cough that almost sounded like a, "A-hem!"

Mirellia compose herself, "I'm sorry, excuse me."

"And about why you called us back is because of the banquet and it is about Cal Mira Island, or the Cal Mira Archipelago, right?"

Once again, the queen is surprised to hear what Arthur already knows. "Yes. But how do you know?"

"Let's just say that I have something to tell you and the other guys, but I hope you can keep up. Because it involves a lot of metaphysics and complicated science stuff."

"Basically, he wants to tell you guys about this world and how he knows a lot." Nephalem speaks.

Arthur looks at his shield, "Close. But yes."

Gwen looks away and mutters under her breath, "Hope they can cope with that."

"What was that?" Arthur looks at his sister.

"Nothing."

"I see." Mirellia sits back on her throne, "Very well. I would like to know your secret about how you manage to know things ahead of time. And don't worry about Malty- I mean, Bitch. The villagers already have her working in the fields and is ordered to do so for the next week. She'll be tired at night to do anything because of all the hard work."

"Sounds good." Then he looks at Raphtalia, "Oh, and Raphtalia?"

"Huh?"

"Please don't let Mald's words get to you. If he does piss you off, just knock him out."

"Um... Okay."

"I forget. Who was Mald again?" Gwen asks.

"The big guy with the mustache in Itsuki's party."

"Oooohhh. Dumb-dumb."

Arthur snorted because of Gwen's nickname for Mald. He does is best not to laugh. Same with Filo yet Raphtalia is covering Filo's mouth.

Later, it is the night of the banquet as musicians play on their bass violins and the room is a lit with bowl brazers and chandeliers. A lot of people are at attendance as they enjoy the food alongside the four parties of the heroes. Melty is sitting with Filo and Raphtalia at a table with a bowl full of fruit at the center. Gwen isn't there is because she is gonna be Arthur's translator for all the science stuff that Arthur is gonna say to Mirellia, Itsuki, Ren and Motoyasu. Melty and Filo are actually happy to be hanging out again.

Melty says to Filo, "I honestly never thought I would get to see you again so soon, but glad you're back, Filo."

"Me too, Mel."

Then a woman in a green mage hat with a red band on it, have short brown hair, green eyes, wearing a shirt (I think) with the torso part being green and the sleeves being white with a red ribbon on her collar comes over and asks Raphtalia, "Is it alright if I sit here?" This is Rino.

AN: Okay, before you guys say anything: Yes, this is the anime version of Rino. Not the light novel version, the anime version. I checked with anime planet and it says that girl IS Rino. Yet the light novel says she has long blonde hair and blue eyes. Oh well.

Raphtalia looks at the small woman and says, "Sure." with a little nod.

"Thank you." and Rino takes her seat. "I'm glad that Sir Shield Hero did something about Bitch."

"Huh?"

"Believe it or not, I'm actually a spy in service of her majesty to keep an eye on her daughter. Plus he warned me about Bitch selling me to slavery when I disagree with her."

"Arthur did that?"

"Yeah." Rino seems grateful that Arthur warned her, "If he ever needs any help, I'm willing to do so. So tell him that when you see him, okay?"

"Okay. But I can't believe that the first princess would do such a t-" Raphtalia stops and thinks about it for a moment, "Nevermind. I can see her doing that."

Meanwhile, the queen and the heroes are in a private room with around table and five chairs to discuss something as Gwen is standing right behind him.

"So, what's going on?" Itsuki asks.

"What's so important that we're missing out on the party?" Motoyasu is curious as well.

"It must be important if all of us are here." Ren states.

'Seems that these guys are getting along better than I thought.' Arthur notices, 'Just hope my explanation won't bring in any disastrous results.'

'You and me both, pal.' Nephalem communicates via telepathy, 'Maybe the gifts you made will bring their spirits back up.'

Back at the party, Filo is already stuffing her face with a slice of pie as Raphtalia and Rino have some girl talk.

"By the way," Rino speaks, "did he told you what kind of worl-"

SLAM! Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a porcelain bottle getting slammed on the table. And guess what: It's Mald...and he's drunk.

"Ha! Look at the filthy demi!" Mald is being rude towards Raphtalia, "So that's why my wine taste bad."

Raphtalia gets up, gives a hard chop on Mald's neck, and he is knocked out before Raphtalia sits back down. Well, Arthur did say to knock him out, so she did.

"Anyway, you were saying?"

Then the party continues before two men take Mald out. Where to you might be asking. Probably the stables where he belongs. Tee-hee.

Mirellia then talks to the heroes, "I'd like to being with-"

"Hold on." Motoyasu interrupts, "There is something I would like to ask Arthur. It's been bugging me since we got here."

Arthur says, "Well first, Cal Mira Island is activating. In other words, a serious XP boost bonus."

Itsuki gasp when he heard that.

"Are you serious?" Ren is shocked to hear that.

"That means it will generate a bonus field, doesn't it."

"See?" Motoyasu points at Arthur, "How does he know that? Ever since we got here, he knows almost practically everything that has happen before it happens and knows what we're gonna say before we say it. How does he do that?"

Ren thinks about it for a moment, "Actually, now I'm more curious about that."

"Yeah." Itsuki does a nod before looking at Arthur, "How do you do that? Does being a mutant also give you psychic powers or something?"

"Actually, no. But I do have somethings to tell you guys before the big reveal. Did you guys know that you get double the XP when you craft stuff by hand rather than relying on the system?"

"I didn't know that." Itsuki didn't know about that trick.

Ren thinks about it, "Sounds like I need to make stuff by hand in order to get the XP to get stronger."

"Hmm." Motoyasu seems interested, "Maybe the girls will like me more if I was more skillful with my hands."

"And get this! If you do so, the effects of potions and medicines will be of greater quality than you would normally make with the system. Like a low quality potion will be above the quality that it is supposed to be. Although, I did use a potion enhancement skill for greater results."

"Seriously?!" the three say.

"Definitely. Now, let's talk about how I know so much."

Gwen has her eyes starring to the right as she goes, 'Here we go.'

Back in the dining hall, Rishia apologizes for Mald's behavior along with another female companion of Itsuki with the blonde hair (which I cannot find her name).

Filo says, "The big dumb guy had it comin'."

"Filo!" Raphtalia covers Filo's mouth before saying to Rishia, "I do apologize for Filo as well."

The blonde hair girl says, "It's fine. He really is a dumb guy."

Rishia panically gasp, "You shouldn't say that!"

"Rishia, you really need to learn to come out of that shell of yours." She looks at Raphtalia, "Anyway, what're you and the Shield Hero gonna do when the Waves are over?"

"Huh?!" That question came out of the blue. Raphtalia tries to think about it, "I don't know. We never really thought that far ahead. But..." Raphtalia claps her hands together, "I just hope that Arthur stays."

Rino says, "But judging by the world he told you and you told me, he may not want to go back if its that bad."

Back in the meeting room, the three heroes are dumbfounded and the queen is just as confused.

Motoyasu goes, "So let me get this straight: We are actually fictional characters in one universe while real here and... Ow!" Motoyasu has both his hands on his head, "My brain hurts! Ow ow ow ow!"

"Multiversal theory." Ren says as he tries to process. "A theory about parallel universes co-exist in different dimensional planes."

"Wow." Itsuki also tries to process everything, "I can't believe that we're fictional characters from an anime in your world."

"I told Fitoria the same thing and she did not take it well."

Motoyasu has his arms crossed, "But that does explain a lot. I mean, a lot, a lot."

Mirellia is still confuse, "I apologize, but can you please explain everything again? What's an anime? Who's Naofumi Iwatani again? Are you saying that we may not have free will at all?"

Arthur face palms and sighs, "This is gonna take a while. At this rate, I may not give these guys the cheat sheets before we depart."

"Cheat sheets?" Motoyasu asks.

"Allow me. Been waiting to get rid of these things. I find them hard to comprehend." Nephalem speaks as three egg-like pods come out of the shield.

These pods are blue in coloration like a robin's egg, have a black mid-section that have some tiny sapphire blue glows to it.

"Thanks, Nephalem." Arthur takes the devices and place them at the center of the table.

"You're welcome. Just glad to be rid of them. I'm not saying I'm a technophobe, but those things have so much crap that I cannot keep up."

Arthur looks at the three, "These, are my new and improve data pods."

"Data pods?" the three asks.

"Remember the bandolier I had when we got here?"

They think about it for a moment while Gwen tries to make things simpler for Mirellia.

"Oh yeah." Itsuki remembers, "You had a bandolier full of those things."

"I used them to collect every single game, video, document and all sorts of data to ensure mankind's greatest gifts, such as knowledge and entertainment, will never go to waste."

Ren realizes what they do and just snatches one, "I'll take it!" Motoyasu and Itsuki glare at him, "Just to, you know, try to learn new stuff. Since the Waves are getting stronger, we have to level-up faster and gain new skills. As of this point on, this will be a life or death situation, not a game."

Itsuki sighs, "Guess I'm gonna have to take one as well." Itsuki takes his and loads it into his bow.

"Guess I'll try it, too." Motoyasu takes his and adds it to his spear.

Once they loaded them up, they get a huge, and I mean, HUGE selection of skills, spells, new types of weapons, weapon customization, practically everything that Arthur gain they can do it too.

Motoyasu has his spear turn into the Serpent Spear Dragunes from Tales of Vesperia, "Nice!"

Itsuki's bow becomes that of the Nightingale Bow from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, "Now this I like!"

Ren sword transforms into Rebellion from Devil May Cry, "Now this is a sword."

Then Arthur goes into further details of The Rising of the Shield Hero and tells them about the events that would happen. He talks about everything that is about to happen and is gonna happen despite some hiccups he encountered. And I mean EVERYTHING.

Later that night, Arthur and his party are their guest quarters for the night as Melty and Filo sleep in the same bed in Melty's room. Meanwhile, Gwen, Arthur and Raphtalia are sitting on the side of the bed and sigh after an exhausting day.

Gwen asks Raphtalia, "Is Filo with Melty right now?"

"She is. She wanted to sleep in Melty's room tonight. Those two have gotten awfully close. Haven't they?"

"They sure have." Arthur seems to be glad to say that as he looks up at the ceiling.

Yet Gwen pokes at Arthur's cheek, "And you just have to tell them everything about the series, haven't you?" She pokes harder, "How do we know that the events in the anime may not be the same as the events here?" Then pokes harder, "And do you know how hard it is to simplify things? Especially to someone in a medieval fantasy setting with no concept of science?!" She rapidly pokes him harder and faster while going, "Grrrr!"

"Okay! OW!" Arthur jumps out of the bed and tries to keep away from Gwen's reach, "I get it! You don't have to be mean, Sissy."

Then Gwen gets madder, "I told you not to call me Sissy, Arty!"

"And I keep telling you not to call me Arty, Sissy!"

Both of them grit their teeth as they are up in each other's faces as they argue at the same time.

"Sissy, Sissy, Sissy, Sissy, Sissy!"
"Arty, Arty, Arty, Arty, Arty!"

Then Raphtalia steps in and break up the fight, "Alright! That's enough you two! Time to go to bed! We got a big day tomorrow!"

The next morning, Arthur and his party are about to say their goodbyes to Melty and Mirellia as they are outside the castle.

"I'm guessing the other guys left already because we slept in?" Arthur asks the queen.

"I'm afraid so. They left earlier this morning. The ship you're taking is docked in a harbor far from here. You should be on your way, Sir Arthur."

"Just call me, Arthur. I never liked fancy titles."

But Gwen says, "How about next time you call him Arty?"

"HEY!" Arthur yells at Gwen, "I told you not to call me that! Sissy!"

Then Gwen gets mad at Arthur, "And I told you not to call me Sissy!"

Raphtalia just smack both of them on the head, "That's enough."

Arthur rubs the back of his head, "Right. Sorry. Guess we should get goin'."

"'kay." the three girls say.

"I wish you luck." Mirellia says to Arthur and his party.

"Thanks." As Arthur turns around and about to leave, Melty speaks.

"Arthur!"

He stops to see what Melty wants as she approaches.

"You better work hard out there and level-up a whole bunch."

Arthur gives the thumbs-up, "Got it!"

Filo waves goodbye as they all leave and head out for Cal Mira.

Mirellia stands by Melty's side, "And here I was thinking that you'll go with them."

"No. Not my place. Besides, I have my own job to do." Melty has matured during her adventures and is willing to take responsibility for the throne one day which makes her mother proud.

Yet despite that, Mirellia can't get over the fact that this world will meet its doom at the hands of the goddess responsible for the Waves of Calamity just so she can get more power. She looks up at the sky and hopes that the worst will never come, thanks to Arthur's knowledge about what the future may hold. Truth be told, she was shocked to hear about those events from the anime just as much as the other heroes. With the new knowledge they now posses, she hopes that the heroes will work together despite the horrors they will have to face. Motoyasu has already unlocked the Wrath Series after he told them and hopes the other heroes won't fall to any of the seven sins that they did fall under. Such as lust, pride and greed.

Over at Erhard's shop, Arthur gives the man a huge sack and drops it on the counter.

"Here you go."

"Uh?" Erhard is confuse on what or why Arthur is giving him a large sack that made a metallic noise. "What is this for?"

"For payment for all your help. There's all sorts of metals you can use now to create better gear and equipment. There's platinum, titanium, coltan, and a bunch of other stuff for you to use."

"Did you say platinum and titanium?" Erhard sounded surprised, "Those metals are harder to come by. And you're giving me all these?"

"That, and also payment for what I'm gonna do."

"Do what?"

Arthur approaches a square-shaped shield made from meteorite ore and picks it up.

"What're you doing?"

Arthur uses the |Weapon Copy| ability and his shield morphed into the same shield.

"Whoa!" Erhard is now more surprised than ever. "If you do that, you'll run me out of business!" But he looks back at the sack, "But you did pay in full, so... Go ahead!"

Raphtalia slides over to Arthur's side, "How in the world did you do that?"

Filo slides over to Arthur's other side, "That's amazing!"

Filo, Raphtalia and Gwen run all over the shop and find every shield they can find for Arthur to use his |Weapon Copy|. Erhard looks in his sack and see entire ingots worth of all the metals that Arthur paid with. There are even gold-colored dragon scales that are worth a massive fortune. There are even other metals like Australium from Team Fortress 2, ebony from The Elder Scrolls, elementium from Warcraft and dragonite from Guild Wars 2. Erhard starts to get all sorts of ideas on how to use these metals.

After that, Arthur and his party headed over to Raphtalia's home village so she can say goodbye to them one more time. The village is still in ruins and suffer from very little decay. She is now kneeling over at the memorial with a bouquet of flowers placed at the base. She, Rifana and Keel are praying to them as Van, Filo, Gwen and Arthur wait as the sun sets and the gulls continue to make their noises. I would like to say singing, but...no.

"Mother. Father." Raphtalia says, "I'm sorry for taking so long."

Arthur looks over at the village, 'Man. This place is even worse in person. Yet I do feel...nostalgic. Reminds me of the old ruins I used to see back home. All empty and decay with little to no hope of being rebuilt to their former glories. But not here.' He clenches his fists tightly, 'Once my business is done in Cal Mira, like Naofumi, I will rebuild this place. Just like what Matthew did.' He looks up at the sky, 'Although... I wonder if he and the other villagers realize I'm gone.'

"Hey, Raphtalia." Keel speaks with a determine look in her face.

Raphtalia stops and looks at Keel.

"Let's make sure the village goes back to how it used to be."

Raphtalia nods, "Yeah."

Rifana says with the same determine look, "And I'm gonna make a flag. A flag that will help unite us all and bring peace to our home."

"Of course."

Van says in his thoughts, 'There must be more. Survivors just like these three scattered throughout the world. I'm sure there are many of them. I only wish I knew how to help.'

Arthur walks alone in the ruined village while also keeping an eye out for a very certain someone as he walks up a set of stairs. He sees the old church building, or something like that (sorry, forgot what it was supposed to be), as he stares at it.

He starts counting down, "Three...two...one."

"Hey!" a male's voice calls out to him.

"Right on cue." he looks and sees L'Arc and Therese on the road.

Therese is sitting down as L'Arc approaches Arthur.

"Do, uh... Do you live around here?" L'Arc asks.

"No." he replies, "Just helping a friend seeing her parent's grave."

"I see. Sorry about that." He looks at the village, "Sad sight, huh? Whole place is nothing but rubble. Bet it's the same where you're from, kiddo."

Arthur looks at the same direction, "Believe me, where I'm from is much worse."

"Seriously?" L'Arc looks back at Arthur, "Damn. Guess it must be rough on a kiddo like you. Judging by your appearance, you must've went through something brutal. I mean, your eyes aren't exactly considered normal. No offense, kiddo."

"None taken. Well," Arthur walks back to his party, "see ya at Cal Mira, L'Arc Berg."

"See ya, kiddo." After Arthur walks a few feet away, he goes, "Hang on a moment. How did that kid know my name?"

Theresa walks up to L'Arc, "I don't know. But he seems to be giving off some kind of vibe. Something that's..."

"Something that's?"

"Nevermind. We should be going." Theresa walks off.

"Good idea." As L'Arc starts to walk, he stops midway, "Although, he did say he's going to Cal Mira. Maybe I might get a chance to see him again."

Afterwards, Arthur and his party say their goodbyes to the villagers before leaving with Rifana and Keel waving at them.

"Ready to go?" Arthur asks Raphtalia.

"Yeah. I think I am ready. I got to tell mom and dad that I'm doing okay."

"That's good."

The next day, they arrive at the harbor where their ship is at. They made it with the other heroes waiting for them. The three look at Arthur and seem unsure. After he told them about future events and everything that took place in the anime, they're not exactly as proud of themselves or full of themselves as they were. With everything Arthur had told them, they are much more wary about themselves and their attitudes. Ren promise himself that he would avoid being greedy about having XP all to himself and let his companions help out with the fighting. Letting them level-up as much as they could in order to make sure they survive. Motoyasu is trying to control his libido, despite he has unlocked the Wrath Series, to ensure that he wouldn't try to bring any harm to Filo. But instead will try to make his harem of Filolial girls...which...make some sense? Itsuki decides to put his bravado aside for the greater good and tries to do things more carefully and give things more thought so he won't make the same mistake he did with the northern village and keeps his pride in check.

As they get on-board, there is a bit of a problem.

"W-We're terribly sorry, sir." one of the crew members apologizes to Arthur as they walk through the halls of the ship, "We thought we had a private room prepared for you, but...the other heroes got here early and they...took over pretty much every cabin."

"I guess that serves us right for being late even though I told them that we were going to your home to pay respect."

Gwen sighs, "Guess something won't change as much as we hoped."

"That doesn't bode well." Raphtalia states.

The crew member stops at one of the doors, "Sorry, but you'll have to share your cabin with other passengers."

"It's fine." Arthur nods, "I think I have an idea on who they are."

So if you guys guessed it, it's L'Arc and Theresa. No surprise.

L'Arc says to Arthur, "Oh, hey kiddo. We meet again." and grins at him.

AN: Hey everyone! Okay, do to my nutty work schedule, I'm just gonna post chapters when they're done which means it will be random. Sorry for the inconvenience but I hope you understand. Anyways, stay healthy and stay safe out there. Good luck. ...Actually, saying "good luck" means bad luck, so, break a leg.