Hey, guys, it's me. First time doing a story like this, so this should be fun. And just for the heck of it, every chapter name will have the word Shield in it.
Cause, you know; Shield Boi. Enjoy.
"Air Strike Shield!"
Naofumi Iwatani.
"Do it now, Raphtalia!"
A seemingly normal college otaku.
"Roger!"
Is the Cardinal Hero of the Shield.
Months ago, Naofumi, along three others, pulled from different time periods of Japan were summoned to Melromarc to combat the Waves Of Calamity. Each hero was tasked with learning all that they could about the world, to grow stronger so they may come together to help save this doomed world from ruin.
"Filo, Melty, behind me!"
However, The Shield Hero, with being outcast from the beginning sought to renounce the world he was roped into saving. If for any reason, he only wanted to return home to Japan and live his uneventful life.
In a way, Naofumi sees it as a curse more than any gift he could be given.
Currently, he, along with his companions were attempting to turn the tide of one of The Waves Of Calamity. Together as a group, this would be their actual first one with the closest thing to a full party.
"Raphtalia, retreat for now!" Naofumi commanded, his voice raspy from hours of combat, or to him, it might as well have been days with the rows of monsters not seeming to stop. After finishing beheading a rather large orge with her sword, the sword of Naofumi took refuge behind her master's trump card with her other party members. "Filo, on my mark, go for it!"
"No problem!" Filo responded with determination, swinging her arms back and as her white dress and long blonde hair billowed with the bit of wind magic she began to channel, ready to be unleashed at her master's utterance.
The situation was getting particularly more difficult then the party would have assumed. By Naofumi's count, 2 hours had to have passed, and if anything, the hero and his party would begin to falter, and that would bring about their demise.
''Damn,'' Naofumi cursed, gritting his teeth and steeling himself against the force of another charge against a undead's axe, the two metals of shield and sword vibrating back into his ears like a pair of needles. ''What the hell are the other 3 doing? Probably wasting time arguing about who has the better idea again,'' another clang and a quick beheading from Raphtailia ceased the sound long enough for him to get him and Filo in position. ''Change Shield! Now!'' Filo nodded and shouted at the top of her lungs, the force of her shouts literally kicking up small rocks and pieces of felled enemies away like a wave.
"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia uncovered her ears and see stood her ground in the event of a rouge enemy making their way to the party. "Should we go and see what the others are doing?"
"We can't!" Melty scolded, using her water magic to launch water blades from a sphere of water she conjured up, quickly dispatching any small fries that were fooling enough to get back up. "If we do that, our party is sure to fail, and then all of this-" Melty reached her hand into the water, quickly bringing her fingers out and thrusting forward to send water bullets ahead at a wild hog from her side. ''-will all be for nothing.''
"She's right," Naofumi thought. "Much as I hate to admit it, if we try helping the others, we may not live to be able to. . .damn, why does this life have to be so unfair?"
The monsters had gotten stronger since the last few waves, and bit by bit, it seemed to stretch on longer then the the bitch swooning over Motoyasu and her status as princess. Something had to be done, and to be done now or else all of his sufferage would be for nothing.
With this, like most times, he would come back and spite the so called Legendary Weapon that only prided itself on defense. Defense, while others, people gave enough of a damn to care about him in this broken world had to fight in his stead.
He vowed that at a moment's notice, if he could be the one to fight, he would.
Naofumi resolved himself for the moment as he needed to focus on finishing getting through this wave without injury. If anything said by Motoyasu could hold weight, then it wouldn't be long if him, Ren and Itsuki could handle the main boss, especially without his help as noted by Malty.
"Come on, Filo! Let's go!" Naofumi shouted, laying a hand on the girls shoulder as she nodded and transformed into a Filolial with a poof of smoke. Hopping on and clutching her feathers, he gestured to Melty and Raphtalia. "You guys, too! We'll take care of the boss, whether or not they realize they need help!"
The two girls nodded, hopping on Filo and holding on for dear life as she blasted off, swerving in between monsters trying to get over from the current village to a clearing where the boss was said to be.
"With all this fighting back to back, it doesn't seem like it'll ever stop!" Raphtalia said, her ears picking up a on a sound the others couldn't as she turned her head every which way.
Naofumi resolved himself not to think about it that way as not only would that be unfair, it also would delay him trying to get back to Japan and living the microlife he's built for himself, with his parent's help.
Filo turned around a collection of trees, the ground sloshing and crunching with sounds of bone and liquid. Further ahead, the party could see 4 figures fighting against one, though still appeared to be losing. A quick burst of light raced towards the figure only to be flicked back, knocking the person on their butt and knocking the bow from their hand.
"Looks like Itsuki's struggling," Naofumi commented as The Bow Hero scrambled to his feet, his pale blonde hair caked with dirt and face littered with tiny scars. Growling and sitting at the ground, he grabbed his weapon and put further distance between the attacker. Yellow wisps of magic surrounded him as his bowl glowed and brought an arrow to life.
The wind whipping, the strain of drawing the bowstring all the way back and the throbbing pain in his legs didn't matter. He had to make the shot. Or they may all die. "Tempest Arrow!" Itsuki shouted with all his might, the sound of a whip crack following as he slid back a tad, the recoil slowly pushing him back on his back once again.
Behind him, another figure dashed forward, manuevering like a serpent before leaving for the sky, spinning incredibly fast before sending a blue wave of energy along the same path as Itsuki's attack "Tempest Slash!" Rin pronounced, landing on the other side of the attacker, his hair frazzled and side of his head slowly bleeding as he breathed heavily, hacking, spitting and sword hand shaking before dropping to the ground, his body following.
"Even The Sword Hero is down!" Melty said, suprised, looking to see where the-
"-Tempest Thrust!" Motoyasu followed after Rin, vaulting over him and thrusting his spear with a surprisingly accurate throw as it zoomed through the skies and contacted the assailant in a fantastic display of magic and explosions. "Did. . .did we get her?"
Melty and Raphtalia peered on, watching the cloud of smoke slowly reveal to see a woman, standing still and chuckling. A wave of her hand violently dispersed the smoke and revealed more of the woman's features. "You most certainly did not 'get' me as you three think," the woman chided, unfurling a set of fans and opening them.
Naofumi and Filo frowned and felt a twinge of annoyance while Raphtalia felt some anger. "Glass," the three of them said at the same time.
"Hello, again, Shield Hero Naofumi," Glass's cold calculating red eyes peered at his party, almost hidden by her silky black hair. "I trust you've gotten stronger since last we met? Because these so called 'Heros' and their companions-" Glass gestured to the boys and Malty as she held her hands up in fear. "-are not nowhere near to even besting me at my weakest."
"I've noticed," Naofumi summoned his regular shield. After everyone got off her, Filo transformed back into a girl, banging together her reinforced magical gauntlets as she took a boxer's stance. "We all have gotten stronger, so this shouldn't be boring."
Glass watched on with a curious eye. How much stronger could he have become in a short period of time? Seeing his other two party members draw her new sword and the other summon spheres of water around her that turned into daggers, she smirked as this would be a good fight, with promise.
"Then let us begin the true battle of this Wave Of Calamity," Glass angled her fans to be thrown. "And we will find out who is the strongest here."
"We just need to kill time until The Wave ends," Naofumi whispered to his party, making sure his footing was secure.
"But won't she just keep coming back?" Melty asked, looking to The Shield for an answer. "We should take care of her now if we have the chance." Naofumi rolled his eyes at her. Even for a princess, she still was lacking wherever it came to tatics.
"Just follow my lead, and we should get out of this alive," Naofumi said, slowly walking forward, his shield held with both hands at chest level. Raphtalia and Filo was not confused however and immediately followed after, sticking close to him. Melty shook her head and did the same, being in the middle of Filo and Raphtalia. From here, she could only see the back of Naofumi. How broad it looked, even under his armour. His shoulders were relaxed and his walk was calm but consistent. "When you get the signal, hit her with what you have and protect yourselves. . . she'll mostly be after me."
"Huh?"
"Master's right, Mel!" Filo happily said. "That'll be our chance to hit her in the butt!"
"Filo, no," Raphtalia scolded, thwacking the girl on the on the back with her hand. "Focus, otherwise we'll mess up things for Master Naofumi."
Filo pouted and hmmped, continuing to keep pace walking. "Fine.~"
Naofumi was getting closer to Glass as she also mirrored the party's approach, now it was only a few feet between them.
She still had that same small grin on her face while Naofumi had a focused neutral expression. At any moment, something could change.
This would be different then with The Soul Eater.
There's more of a chance of death.
Be the Shield.
"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi chanted quickly, the effect instantly sending the armament at the fan wielder, while Filo and Raphtalia split off and took positions on either side of Glass.
"Hmmph," Glass said. "Trivi-ooommph!" Glass felt. Not only surprised, but. . .a little hurt as well. She went sliding back a bit, closing her eyes for a brief second before opening them to see a dual attack planned for her left and right sides. The bird and demi-human no doubt. Sighing as she was lied to about a good fight, she would just run the pair into each other and focus on Naofumi.
Or so she thought as she met nothing but air with her fans.
"Oh? Illusion magic, Shield Hero? Admirable if not anything," Glass smirked, dashing towards the hero. "Wherever those two are matters not to me, only having your head on a platter."
"Well go ahead and try it," Naofumi said, staying planted. "Let's see if you really can do something substantial.''
Raphtalia charged forward, swinging her sword in an arc to stop her enemy's advance and almost cutting Glass within an inch of her hair, forcing her to dodge left, right into a fist by Filo that was blocked by her fan, but the demi-human did not relent, unsheathing a small dagger in a reverse grip and leaping forward, meeting the other fan in Glass's hand as the pair took turns trying to break through her guard with sparks flying everywhere. ''Ha!'' Filo was able to land a solid hit on Glass as an Air Strike Shield struck her in the head at the right second, sending her stumbling back.
''You seem to have a decent-''
''-Second Shield!'' another green armament appeared as a wall right behind the Fan Hero, making her tense. ''Now, Melty!''
''Ars Tzuvait Aquashot!'' a wave of orbs of water launched forward at high speeds, causing Glass to unfurl her fans and block the onslaught, allowing Filo to deliver a brutal gut punch that rocked Glass back to the shield, and from that point, a wild torrent of punches and kicks, putting Glass on the defensive with every clang and thump from gauntlet and fan.
"Shouldn't we try and help?'' Rin asked, managing to stand and look upon Naofumi and his party fighting off Glass with better luck then the three of them barely managed to present an actual threat to her. ''What if we don't get the reward we were promised?''
''I mean, that is true, but we should still get it anyways, even if we don't end helping him,'' Itsuki said, returning his bow to his back and clenching one of his arms.
''True, let Naofumi handle it and make our lives easier,'' Motoyasu said, backing away and observing with a very patient eye. ''How much longer of the wave you think we have?''
''Doesn't matter!'' Princess Malty proclaimed, nursing a particularity bad cut near her left eye. ''We should retreat and let the Devil handle fighting his own kind; we should get prepare to go back and inform the king of what's happened here.''
''This doesn't seem right, I hope the Shield Hero will be ok.'' Rishia thought as she moved with her party away from the danger, advancing and going through any monsters that came across their way as they fled to head back to Melromarc. She knew this was wrong, leaving the Shield Hero behind to deal with enemies way behind any of the other 3 Cardinal Heroes respectfully. She actually held no real doubt of Naofumi winning, but it still sparked a flame of worry within her as she watched Filo and Raphtalia with the help of Princess Malty to hold back the Fan Hero as Naofumi was preparing to unleash a fearsome attack with his Cursed Shield equipped. ''Fight well Naofumi-san.''
''-Born from my flesh,'' Naofumi chanted, his eyes strained and hands shaking as he focused on his target became more difficult as each second passed. ''Become an offering to the gods as you howl in pain!. . .Blood Sacrifice!'' the purple hue surrounding his shield slowly dissipated and traveled throughout his body as he maintained his strong and unmovable stance as blood spurted from his body in all directions. His pained grunt and twitching eyes did little to deter him as he continued to hold a great amount of focus on the summoning.
Filo and Raphtalia backed away from Glass as quick as the pair could after seeing the blood from Naofumi slowly spread towards their way, both knowing what was bound to happen in a few seconds. Melty still continued her onslaught, providing covering fire for the pair.
''What are you up to this time, Shield?" Glass asked, the ground rumbling a tad. She prepared her fans for another attack, the ground suddenly began to rumble and crack, bringing a smile to the Shield Hero's face and a look of worry to paint itself across Glass's face. Another few moments passed as the blood seeped into the cracks and a wickedly shaped bear trap spring from the ground, ensnaring Glass.
The feeling of the metal around her threatening to impale and bind her did little to deter her from attempting to win this battle with the Shield Hero, though it did provide with enough of a distraction.
''Y-Y-You won't get away with this, you damn Shield!'' Glass shouted, baring her teeth as she used her fans to try and protect herself, though as she failed to notice the demi-human and Filolial maneuver around the bear trap. Twisting and turning around, the more that it began to constrict and tighten. The situation began to look less in her favor, and more of that for the Shield, and that was something that seriously urked Glass. Attempting to use her fans to destroy the trap, Glass's vison began to be eaten up by black, and the rattling and dinging of chains began to increase.
''A little bit more, and we're home free.'' Naofumi thought, holding his Cursed Shield steady and firm on one leg as more of the magic and blood ebbed from him. He was surprised he did not end up passing out at the shock of the ritual taking a monumental toll on his body.
The sky around them began to lighten some, and the monsters began to weaken in their assault. Naofumi felt a small amount of relief at the sight of the fight beginning to wane. Forcing himself a little bit more, the jaws of the trap shut closed in the blink of an eye, the sound of metal grinding against metal and the shout of pain coming from Glass provided some hope that she was seriously injured or on the brink of death.
''Master Naofumi!'' Raphtalia came to her master's side, along with Filo and Melty. Naofumi was in pretty bad shape, and almost couldn't stand, and had already lost a lot of blood. The situation seemed grim if nothing else, and the lack of the other 3 heroes only told of their cowardice and desire to run back to King Altcruay and inform him of 'their' victory in the Waves of Calamity.
Naofumi grew tired of the back and forth; the lies, the putdowns, being treated like the worst human being ever, and everything else.
He was angry.
From the first day that he was sent to Melromarc, he felt that, without a doubt; God was not on the teen's side as he was the odd man out, destined to be the black sheep, and he was given a weapon that everyone hated, and by extension, him. He was merely an oktaku in Japan, living his life to the best degree that he could when everything was against him from the moment he picked up that book in that library.
A warmth was spread throughout his body at the very, very small moments of his life in this world that was filled with some happiness; namely, Raphtalia, Filo and Melty even though she was relatively new and connected to the royal family. In each individual case, he has demonstrated compassion, strength, and courage when it came to the three. With Filo, he initially was a tad surprised of how quickly she grew, and even more when she fully grew into a Filolial Queen, and that only served to increase his protective instinct of his new family member.
''The Cursed Shield.'' Naofumi thought, referring back to when he had snapped when he was certain that Zombie Dragon had eaten Filo. His rage that day was incomparable to anything else he had ever experienced since being in this new world. He only had nothing but pure hatred for everything around him; he wanted the world to burn in brimstone and ash, for the people who wronged him to suffer the worst death imaginable, and for all of the pain that he felt to come to a stop.
He wanted to feel nothing, and everything at the same time.
With Melty, he was skeptical at first because of her status, and that only made for a somewhat rocky start as she joined his party through all the turmoil, as well as the attempt on her life by her own sister. That, in itself, made for an even stronger connection as he, Filo and Raphtailia helped to defend her and themselves. He wouldn't openly admit it anytime soon, but he was somewhat fond of Melty, despite his rough attitude. He now understood why she and Filo got along so well, and he found comfort in that by caring for her the same as Filo.
''Malty.'' Naofumi fumed in his mind, wanting nothing more. . .then to see her perish.
And there was possibly the most important person in his life and the one who gave him the biggest reason for living; Raphtaila.
From that fateful day when he was talking to the slave trader, and looking for someone to fight for him, he happened to come by the cage with her in it, and it would be possibly the best choice he had made since being here. She always was the one to comfort him, to care for him, be his sword and fight for him, and be pretty much everything to him and to an even bigger extent that he did notice from the very beginning would be the romantic and intimate love that she had for Naofumi, and while he did not intend to seem offputting or neglect her feelings, it merely was-''
''Naofumi, something's going on!'' Melty announced, looking around to see that the bear trap thrashing about before disappearing in a shimmer of gold light that punched through to the sky, as well as the Cursed Shield beginning to glow its ominous purple again, causing Naofumi to howl in pain. The light blinding the party made their appraisal of the situation that much more difficult.
The feeling of pain and the thought of what would come after was something that Naofumi worried about. He could barely think straight with all of his entire body on the brink of shutting down on him only made everything even worse. The sound around him began to deafen, and then after a moment of silence, a voice called out to him.
''Hero. . .I call upon you; come and be the salvation of our world gripped in the choke of corruption!''
Darkness. It was a constant thing for Naofumi to experience that he really did not think much of it. He began to hear voices again; whispers here and there speaking some kind of different tongue as he could not make sense of what was being said.
Or maybe the blood loss was making him hallucinate.
Before he could try and say anything, Naofumi could feel his mouth open and some kind of liquid pour into his mouth, and slowly his injuries began to wane. From what he was able to gather, it was more than likely a potion administered by Raphtalia. He sure was glad that he could rely on her when it came to the things that he could not handle. After giving the potion a few moments, Naofumi did still have some residual aching, but nowhere near as bad as it was before the potion, and allowed him to open his eyes and look upon his party members altogether, but something was indeed off.
''Where the hell are we?'' Naofumi asked, his body beginning to tense and his shield changing back to his regular one. The cold, hard cobblestone floor told him of not being on the battlefield anymore. The group was in a room that was small in nature and had only one way in and out A faint light shone in front of him, the sound of someone walking filled everyone's ears, Filo, Melty, and Raphtalia all tensing the same as Naofumi.
''Oh, my; this is where the spell ended up putting you, I am so sorry for the inconvenience!'' an old voice called out, a figure showing through the sliver of light. Something was off. The silhouette was too small and. . .animal like.
''Who are you?'' Ratphtaila asked, reaching for her sword. ''What happened to The Wave Of Calamity?''
The figure laughed and walked closer into the room, Filo and Melty tensing the same as their party member.
''I apologize; from what it seems the battle there ended. As for my name; I am Starswirl The Bearded, and Equestria needs your help.''