CH.1 A Whole New World!
"ALRIGHT, I'LL SEE Y'ALL TOMORROW!" A young man shouted with a southern twang, running away from his friend's house and into the nearby forest where he lived, this boy's name was Jebodiah Daughtry Mann, or as most people called him 'Jeb' he had just finished hanging out with his friends who lived in the nearby town, Jeb used to live but after the unfortunate deaths of both his parents, his father Hank passed from cancer when Jeb was 7 and his mother Rachel from an overdose when Jeb was 13, now with nowhere to live and none caring enough to take in the unfortunate 19-year-old southerner, Jeb had taken up resident in a nearby forest, now scouring the woodlands for any kind of bugs and critters to add to his collection.
Jeb had then stumbled across a rather rare sight, it was a Stag Beetle, and a big one at that! Jeb, net in hand crept up to the tree the beetle had found respite on and swung his net and caught the bug, checking his snares for a potential meal and snagging a large rabbit, Jeb quickly rushed to the nearby river to dig around a nearby rockface, pushing some leaves out of his way Jeb had made it back to the closest thing he'd had to a home for over 6 years, it was a small but livable grotto that provided him with everything he'd need to survive, water from the ceiling and river, food from the rabbits and occasional hog or deer that fell into his traps, and shelter from the grotto itself. Setting the now dead beetle in a display case next to his other trophies and his dinner on a spit and over the campfire he'd set up, Jeb had sat down on his cot and then began to browse his options for entertainment that night, Jeb grabbed a book from his bookshelf and holding it with two hands, smiling at it as it was the next volume of the book his father loved to read before his passing, just before starting to read it Jeb noticed another book one he'd never seen before, reaching out for it as he scratched his head in confusion Jeb read this book's title.
"'Records of the Holy Capture Tools.' What an odd name, I don't remember ever pickin' this one up. Might as well check it out, I suppose." Jeb read the short book stating that it was a fairly generic Isekai novel where the only unique thing about it was its choice of weapons, the gist of it was a hero using capture tools was summoned from another world to save the world the book took place in. Highlighting some details about the five major races the Humans, Giants, Seraphim, Sirens, and Pheltins. The first two being fairly obvious and easily understood as to what they looked like, the book explains a little bit more about the later three races, Seraphim being a type of bird-like people with beaks, four wings, and a knack for blessings, Sirens just being mermaids, and the Pheltins being a smaller race of insect-like people. Next turning to the page about the other characters being the 'Scimitar Hero' where it spoke of them being persuasive, powerful, and fiercely loyal to those they believe to be their friends, almost like a shadow to its caster, and how they'd stop at nothing to eliminate anything they perceived a threat. 'So kinda like a rouge, I suppose.'
The book went on about the 'Bottle Hero' a mad scientist type who'd go on to make medicines and poisons as they so desired and test them on themselves and any near enough subjects before going on to bring miracles and pestilence where ever they went. 'Miracles and pestilence huh..? They sure do sound like one helluva quack doctor.' shortly after Jeb lists off a few more characters like a bratty tyrant child, an unnatural seraphim with red wings, and a kind blind holy man, Jeb finally turned to the page about the books namesake, the 'Hero of the Capture Tools' . . . 'It's . . . blank? Why's it blank? Did the author even finish the damn thing before he pub- !' Before Jeb could finish that thought he was swallowed by a blinding light, after an indescribable feeling Jeb awoke in a room surrounded by a group of really tired-looking people, they looked like they'd been forced to work a 9 to 5 corporate office job 24/7 with no days off, unpaid over time, and a dickhead boss. Honestly, he felt bad for these strangers who probably kidnapped him. "Uhmm... Ya'll ok? You look pretty beat." One of the exhausted robed figures stood up but only for a moment as they quickly fell to the ground again, begging on hands and knees the stranger said in a shaky and drained voice. "Please merciful hero save our world." before falling to the ground unconscious.
In the brief moment of silence that followed this plea, Jeb took a more careful examination of the hooded figures. All of the were fairly short, the tallest among them still looked to be about a foot shorter than himself and their robes only had two armholes, the height thing he could vaguely understand but only two armholes? Did whatever cult they worshipped only accept cripples? Jeb had many questions and no answers seemed to present themselves, Jeb going to scratch an itch on his nose felt something course and limp in his hand, turning to see what it was he took note of the long rope in his hand that had ended in a knot at the end. 'A Lasso..?' His thoughts were quickly disturbed by the sound of wood on stone. *CLACK* *CLACK* *CLACK* This sound repeated a few more times before a hunched over, smiling, middle-aged man, with a cane and some very pope-like clothes approached and in a winded voice said after getting on his hands and knees to beg just like his presumed colleague "Please, mighty hero we beg of thee, save our world, save our people!" Jeb quickly entering a state of panic rushed over to the holy man with poor posture and said as he helped him to his feet "Nonono! You don't need to beg, just please tell me what's going on!?" The old man now standing again thanks to Jeb, opened his eyes to reveal they were completely blank, the thought of this cult or church hiring exclusively the disabled was only turning out to be more and more true.
Only the old man's milky eyes began to glow a faint blue as the winded holy man smiled softly saying "I see..." Looking only slightly more tired but far more hopeful he stood on his own and using his cane tapped the ground before finding Jeb's foot wave in a beckoning motion and turned to the exit saying "Now kind hero, I'm sure you have many questions so please follow me, I will answer what I can but you must meet with the... Queen of this nation..." Taking note of how the Queen part was said with some hesitation Jeb benched the thought for the moment and quickly tried to verify his theory. "So does this church of yours hire exclusively cripples or something? Cause you're clearly blind and everyone I've seen so far is missing arms and is short, what's up with that?" The holy man turned to look at Jeb confusion on his face until his eyes glowed blue again. "I see..." said the blind man, his face clearly shocked at the abnormal sight before him. "Ah... no we don't exclusively hire disabled people in our faith, you just seem to have an extra set of arms. Is this normal in your world?"
"Yeah, everyone has four arms, so everyone here only has two? How bizarre... well anyways what's going on, where am I, and what's this about Queens and Heroes?" Jeb asked confused as to what was happening. "I can see why you'd be so confused, while the situation with our queen would be best shown not told, the same doesn't apply to your status as the Holy Hero of the Capture Tools, you see, you have been summoned from the 'Heroes World' and brought here to fight off the 'Waves of Calamity' you will not be alone in this endeavor as you will have the aid of your Vassals and any additional party members, in addition to funding from this queendom and any other nations you will pass throughout your journey here." Jeb nodded along in understanding as he kept pace with the old man before he came to an abrupt stop just before a pair of large well-adorned doors.
"Her Majesty is just beyond this door, I'd advise not making any sudden movements or loud noises." The priestly man took another moment to turn towards Jeb, eyes once a dull white now shimmering with an azure glow. "Especially with your... visage, her grace scares quite easily and is not so forgiving to those she finds 'Not cute' as she would say it." Jeb looked confused at this statement and acknowledged the old man's words, watching as two uncomfortable-looking guards in gaudy pink armor opened the door and looked towards the holy man with trepidation, Jeb stepped into the large room where he saw a sight that would unnerve just about anyone 13 years or older. The royal hall was covered in many flashy colors that you'd find in the room of a young girl with countless stuffed animals and toys strewn across the hall, quite frankly it was an eye sore to the highest degree. Jeb looking slightly up at the throne that sat atop a small staircase at the end of the hall took note of a small child with pink and green hair styled in twin drills and a massive crown adorning her head looking at him with a touch of surprise, the girl squeezing her stuffed toy shouted in a bratty manner. "HEY, WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY THRONE ROOM, HUH!? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM, AND WHAT'S WITH YOUR DUMB FACE AND CREEPY ARMS!"
Jeb only looked on with strained eyes and a perpetual look of dumbfoundedness on his face, the old man walk forward before bowing slightly at the brat and saying "There is no cause for alarm my que-" The old man was almost immediately interrupted by the punk as she shouted with annoyance "HEY! I DIDN'T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK NOW DID I ZEPH!" The old man now named Zeph looked on unfazed if a little resigned. "No my queen, bu-" Zeph was immediately interrupted by the mannerless crotch goblin again as she whined "HEY OLD MAN! YOU'D BETTER EXPLAIN THIS TO ME RIGHT NOW OR ILL HAVE YOU EXCOMM- … excommu-..." The bratty queen was now struggling with something, but before the sassy child's head could pop into deep thought she was clearly incapable of processing, the priest stepped in and corrected her. "Excommunicated." the punk then said "Yeah excommunica- HEY I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP WITH THAT AT ALL! YOU OLD FOOL!" Zeph only looked at the queen blanker than normal saying with no shortage of irritation that the brat failed to perceive, "Need I remind you of your grace, I am the Pope you can't excommunicate me."
The bite-sized royal then had several tick marks form on her head as she shouted indignantly pointing to the crown that didn't even fit on her head. "I AM THE QUEEN AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT! YOU GOT THAT OLD MAN!" The brat's royal tirade against the pope carried on for another few minutes as she finally settled down she turned to look at Jeb and said with her mind-numbingly petulant tone "HEY YOU! STUPID OCTOPUS WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU HEAR!" Jeb quite fed up with the brat's yelling remembered the words of the pope and settled down just enough to not take off his belt and throttle the brat and said. "I'm Jebodiah Daughtry Mann, 19 years old and apparently also the Hero of the Capture Tools." Jeb said this holding up his rope for everyone in the room to see, now blushing with embarrassment at shouting at the one person in all of existence capable of saving her world said in a much quieter but equally sassy tone "Oh..." after clearing her throat and squeezing her plushie the queen with a faint rosy tint on her cheeks then said with some new-found attitude " Well than... I am Queen Tiamont J. Folimere XVI of the Folimere Queendom! You got that stupid octopus hero!" Jeb sighed tiredly at the brat's endless whining and just nodded.
"Good! Now you will follow her!" Tiamont pointed at a random maid who was cleaning a vase with the images of the previous king and queen, who at the recognition of the current queen jumped back in a panic. "YOU! TAKE THE HERO TO HIS ROOM GOT IT!" The maid shaking in her dress nodded franticly and grabbed Jeb by the arm and practically carried him to his room how fast she ran. Jeb resting on his bed and staring mindlessly at the ceiling contemplating what the hell kinda fever dream he'd been having was alerted by the sound of knocking on his door, opening it revealed a tired-looking Zeph who smiled at Jeb and entered the room "Good afternoon Holy Hero, I'm sure you must still be quite confused about the situation. Queen Tiamont didn't exactly explain your situation well or at all... So I'm here to correct that mistake, might you have any questions?"
Jeb taking a moment to think decided on a few questions "Yeah I've got a few, first off what's going on with that sassy child?" This question made Zeph grimace slightly "Well you see, Queen Tiamont is the last remaining member of the Folimere dynasty, Folimere being the nation we are in now and the strongest in the world, ruling over nearly half the world directly. And having quite the influence everywhere else except for a few small island nations to the north of here. Being the queen of the strongest nation, Queen Tiamont has control over the world's largest army, but being so young and... troubled. Maintaining order during such a crisis has become impossible and rebellions have started everywhere. before her reign the previous queen, Queen Tiamont J. Folimere XV, was doing everything she could while trying to keep order throughout the world, however, the stress of this and the impending calamity weighed heavily on her majesty and she quickly fell ill passing only weeks ago." Zeph took a moment's pause as a few tears fell from his empty eyes.
"And my brother, the king quickly followed. With the death of the queen, King Rhungarr passed away from stress-related illness..." Wiping more tears from his face Zeph carried on with his recollections, "Now that Queen Tiamont is in charge things have only gotten worse, rebellions and revolts are popping up in just about every province, and the young queen is far too inexperienced to rule a nation of such size. Now the only thing keeping the royal family in power is you, as it was by Queen Tiamont's request we summoned you." Jeb sat there with a face of shock 'You mean that twerp basically answers to me!?' "Ok... that leads me to my second question, what's up with all this 'Hero' stuff?" "As the Hero of the Capture Tools it is your chosen duty to fend off the Waves of Calamity, so please come tomorrow make haste towards the grand cathedral and register at the dragon hourglass, The Bottle Hero will be waiting for you there. And she will explain more in-depth, so do prepare the first wave will be upon us soon."
While listening to Zeph talking Jeb noticed something peculiar. 'Huh? What's this circle about?' Jeb focused on the icon and jumped back in surprise.
Jebodiah Daughtry Mann
Class: Capture Tools Hero Lv. 1
Equipment: Novice Rope (Legendary Weapon) Otherworldly Clothes
HP - 108
SP - 96
MP - 52
ATK - 26
DEF - 3
DEX - 31
M. ATK - 19
M. DEF - 4
"Oh is something the matter Sir Hero? You look surprised." 'So what's this supposed to be? My stats or something? Well, they ain't all that bad, except for my DEF. I'm lacking in that department quite a bit.' "Huh? Oh Nah, it's all good, just that there's this weird screen in front of me, it appeared when I looked at some strange icon to the bottom right of me." Jeb scratched his head and lightly chuckled "Ah! You must be talking about your status magic! It's a unique power exclusive to heroes, good to see you've already found it." 'Status? Level? What the hell!? Hmm... how am I even supposed to go about getting stronger. It can't be as simple as killing right?' As Jeb thought this he received a notification from his weapon.
[Power Up Methods]
Core - Body Modification
Method 1 - Skill Rank
Method 2 - Monster Hunter
Method 3 - Microtransaction Stat Boost
After reading over the effects of the strengthening methods Jeb was interrupted from thought by knocking on the door *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* Someone was knocking on the door so Jeb got up and opened it, there stood a maid shaking nervously and red in the face "E-Excuse me Sir Hero b-but the Q-Queen is calling for you, dinner is ready so if you could p-please follow me." Jeb turned to Zeph who only stood up and began following the sound of the maid's voice, his cane tapping the ground every other second. Eventually, they made their way to a large dining room table where in a lavish chair with an impractical amount of cushions and plushies sat the brat who called herself queen. "Hey stupid octopus hero, sit down and eat! The royal chefs worked hard to make this food so you'd better be grateful!" Jeb grit his teeth at the name that brat called him and sat down opposite of the queen and began to eat what looked like a grilled fish fillet, taking a bite of the fish Jeb immediately noticed that the fish tasted nothing like fish, but rather it tasted like coffee. This discovery shocked him and in his surprise he dropped his fork, reaching for it Jeb noticed how the fork was next to his rope, as he grabbed the fork he took note of how the gem on his rope began to glow as his hand neared, Jeb taking part of the fish off his fork brought it to the gem, the ropes gem quickly absorbed the fish and Jeb received a second notification.
[New Capture Tool Unlocked!]
Cerrado Carp Fishing Net Unlocked!
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: + 4 DEX, SP Up (Small), (Skill) [Energizer]
Equip Effects: + Fishing Prof. (Small)
Checking his Capture Tool list Jeb found himself mildly frustrated at the fact he couldn't use the net immediately so he benched the thought of the new weapon form and finished his dinner, though not without a great deal of irritation courtesy of the bratty queen. Eventually, Jeb returned to his room and went to sleep awaiting the adventures that would surely come tomorrow.
A/N - Welcome to my second fic! It's called 'Entanglement of the Capture Tools' and is very heavily inspired by the [Many Worlds Project.]
if you hadn't picked up on it already Jeb doesn't have what most people would call a normal body plan, standing in at 7'4 and 260lbs with four arms Jeb is an above-average looking man in his world, with such a build being the norm for most people. My reasoning for this is that in the infinite multiverse where worlds with superpowers, magic, and gods, a world where the average person is a foot and a half taller and has an extra set of limbs shouldn't be all that surprising.