Malty S Melromarc, the first princess of Melromarc, the girl does not look like much now but she soon will be the driving force behind the saver of this world. 'Poor girl, in time you will be needed to dig the blade you dug in my shield's back and use it on your father instead. That is if you truly want the crown that is. It's high time I tested you, I would not want to waste my time on a lost cause.'
Malty woke up from her slumber in a cold sweat, recently she has been having constant night terrors of a distant future that she would by any means avoid. "Not again." She rubbed her scalp in frustration. The most recent and reoccurring dream was of her and her father in chains at the gallows in the capital, she saw anger and disappointment in her mother's eyes, the eyes that she did not care for and tried her best to avoid to the point that she would follow any instructions her queen mother had to the letter, but that was a story for another time. Right now she sat in her bed gasping for breath, scrambling to undo the string of her nightgown to inspect the space right below her collar bone sighing in relief when she did not see a slave crest there.
"I feel bad for you girl." Malty's eyes landed on a pale woman with platinum blonde hair in a full set of armor that she had not seen before. "To be haunted by a future that is no longer yours."
"Wha... Who are you? How did you enter my chambers?" She asked the strange warrior. It was a valid one at that as she was deep in the countryside and the woman would have had to go through several guards and servants before coming anywhere close to her bedside.
The woman laughed as she palmed through a book reading as if having a care was a foreign concept. She looked up at the princess giving her a beautiful smile as if her face with those golden brown eyes were an ethereal presence, a beauty that can not belong to an accomplished warrior, but they do she could tell. "You will have your day to find the information you require of me from the champion of my choosing, the one who bears the shield on his back. Utter the name of the celestial of wisdom, part of those who your kind call god, speak the name Athena to him and all will be revealed to you, girl."
Malty wanted to laugh, she wanted to call her guard on this crazy individual but something stopped her. The words that will soon change her life. "If I believe that, and I don't. Why are you in my chambers? How do you see my torment? And why am I being shown... Those delusions?"
"Quite simple little princess, the world of dreams is a world of memory, you are shown what has transpired, or in your case what will." The self-proclaimed goddess laughed at that. "You are being tested as the shield's sword, as well as your greatest weapon in raising the crown onto your head." Malty looked skeptical but did not raise her voice, which was noticed. "Tell me girl, what governs a country?"
This question seemed to the girl to be a trick of some kind, but she answered regardless. "A strong leader?"
"Interesting, but not the answer I am looking for. The strength of the leader can only succeed on the strength of the people around them. Those with the strength to lead do not rely on their own strength alone, as it is that they do not fully trust in the strength of others. It is a battle of will and those who are destined to lead do not seek it out of the right, but are chosen to do so by their peers or the luck of the draw. Tell me princess from what you have seen, which of the champions did you notice had the most promise in that regard?" The goddess continued the line of questioning.
Malty thought back to her nightmares trying to find an answer to that question, her answer came back with two, the sword and the shield, but the sword had intelligence but did not have the trust required in his companions to build a case for him. Then her mind went to the shield, a man that she and this world tainted with their schemes. He had the trust required, he was able to use and grow his strengths to better himself and those around him even in his darkest hour. "The Shield."
Again the goddess was tickled by her amusement, it seemed as if the girl was not to answer in the way she did. "I wasn't expecting that, though you are correct in your assumptions you are missing one other." Malty thought back but was sure she had all four pegged, but the goddess produced a bangle from her armor passing it to Malty, which the girl nearly dropped. "He is not the one who will sit the throne little one nor does he want to, but that is the job of the fifth, a resident of this world." The goddess finished as the princess examined the jewelry sensing a powerful magic from it
The red and gold accessory got the girl's attention as soon as it was caught. "Wait, does that mean that I am the fifth hero?"
"Again not quite, you unlike them are not restricted in your talent. You are not the champion of man, you are something greater. You will sit with those who were chosen by the celestial and not by man. And this..." She pointed at the bangle. "Is your test." the goddess spoke with finality. "Take what little time you have until the champions of man are required to master it, then do what is required of you, and after you have done that take the reward you see fit."
The princess put the Bangle on feeling a wild sense of power from it. A screen popped up in front of her face as surprise filled it. "What is this?" The goddess looked on amused. Malty had seen her stats page before through a magic that she had a hard time learning and gave up on, but this, this was different. There was never this matched detail but when she looked over her attributes and level her face went wide. She had increased her level to almost double what it was, she couldn't help but crack a smile, she had just started increasing her level and she was now a level eight. Her eyes moved to her attributes and her eyes nearly shot off her skull. "This can't be right..." Her Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom were nearly maxed out. She could not believe that but when she reached the final one, her Charisma, she found that it was at the max of what this world will allow and she had the option if she met the requirement to push past the limitation of the numbers on her stats screen. She is hoping this is not some illusion brought about by her delusion. "You're really a goddess after all."
"Did you not believe me child of man?" The warrior goddess closed her book, scoffing. "It's no matter, now that I have done what I came for I will take my leave." She got up leaving the book on the chair she was sitting on.
"Wait just like that? You are just going to leave like that?" the princess looked at the goddess pleadingly. "What am I supposed to do from now on?"
The goddess smiled before disappearing entirely from the room, much to the princess' chagrin. "I believe in your intelligence, you will find your way."
(...)
Malty was on the cusp of her fifteenth year as she was laying in the training yard of her mother's royal guard. She had a good book and the chick of a Filolial nesting on her lightly armored chest. It has been three years since she had seen the goddess that had changed her life forever. She had been using her time ever since to prepare herself for the Heroes' arrival, especially her shield. With the help of the items that goddess left behind she was able to increase her level much quicker than she was able to before and all of her stats were at the max that her level range allowed, many of those attributes were far beyond the limit of those even several levels above her. She could not help but smile at the level twenty-seven that topped her stats page.
That amount of pride however came with disappointment at the glass ceiling that her name and rank provided her. That fact remained of her talents to be able to come this far without following the adventurer's path was downright unthinkable. Most of the time she did not spend on her studies and the mission that certain goddess had given her making the shield's life easier than it should have been was spent here with this godforsaken bird at home on her chest plate lazing around doing not much of note either reading the goddess' everchanging book on the shield's world or watching as the men trained, and sometimes like in the situation that she found herself at the moment she had newbies to the queen's armed forces being a bother. "Filo you mind getting off for a second, mama has some business to attend to." She spoke as she put her book to the side, scratching the bird's head to wake it up as she slumbered. Her eyes met a man at least five years her senior who made a beeline at her for whatever reason. Yarning was the bird that left her chest with a chirp of protest waiting for her to sit crossed-legged before taking the princess' lap as a perch. "I spoil you too much." She spoke gently to the fowl as her hand smoothed the artificial cow lick the feather on its head created.
"What do we have here, children the likes of you shouldn't be here." A man with dirty blonde hair with the border of his dark brown irises glowing red spoke, as if his eyes were taking measurements as he looked her over. "With that pitiful level, you are just a waste of space."
Malty looked around and noticed the training knights stopped and started to watch the princess being insulted in their presence, none, however, jumped in to interfere with what was a great offense to the crown, some failed to hide their amusement, and the commanding officers that had shown themselves all had looks of genuine terror aimed at the pair. If he was courting her he would at least be dismissed with haste, but he had to challenge her and her abilities, that was a mistake he will regret for the rest of his miserable life. The officers of her majesty the Queen knew full well what the little girl was capable of from the very moment that she entered this training ground for the very first time. Many looked at her despite her status as a mascot of the Queen's Guard, so much so that she was beloved and revered by almost all the soldiers here for her accomplishments in her training. They knew what situations like this meant for everyone involved, and someone would egg her on, without fail. "Yo, Lady Mein. Are you going to let him talk to you like that?" Just like that the dice on this poor soul had been cast.
"Lady Mein?" The blonde asked himself. 'Was this some noble's brat?' That could be the case he looked her over. She had the beauty of one but he did not recognize the name. He examined the redhead princess look him over without the faintest to who the girl might be. Though his senior seemed confident in her ability, the fact that a level four was aloud here dressed as a warrior and nursing some fat Filolial chick rubbed him the wrong way, so he would not relent.
"You have some major balls, recruit." The man was taken aback by her comment. "You are stupid enough to not know your station, you came and insulted your betters unprompted and with no regard for the truth of your situation." The girl's green eyes had the same red glow at the edge of her irises as he did. 'He is not even half my level, what a waste of time, I guess I will have to make this quick.' She thought, staring the man down. To the surprise of many the red and gold bangle on her left wrist had its gemstone glow and produced a blade in its sheath, a reproduction she commissioned not too long ago a make that only her(a) hero and the soldiers that frequent this training ground would recognize. Some of the guards quickly recognized her sword and burst into a round of cheers, Malty looked over to them and gave them a dazzling smile. 'I guess I have to give these boys a show.'
The recruit watched as the sword appeared out of thin air, a weapon in which was a design he had never seen before. Then the cheers happened and he slowly realized what he was dealing with. It was the first time he saw the item box magic being used, as well as the look in her stunning green eyes as she used the same talent as him, the ability to read others' stats without using magic. There was no way that this girl was a level four. 'Crap.' He thought as he was locked into that encounter.
Malty caught the sword before it hit the ground still in that seated position. The bird on her lap took one look at the sword then at him letting out angry chirps directed at the rookie before reluctantly getting off the princess not happy with losing its perch. "Uh-oh, looks like he even pissed off the little lady." One bystander said.
Another chimed in. "Shouldn't have done that." Everyone was keenly aware of the princess' affection for the bird, and the fact that she had already prepared her blade gave everyone pause, the recruit was a Deadman walking.
Malty brought the blade in front of her as if displaying it the light blue hilt and guard of a katana, and the matching gloss painted wooden sheathe shined in the sunlight. With a click the blade was partly exposed when Malty switched her grip. Only a few people had seen it before and she was proud of it, after reading about the middle age of the next heroes' world, well her hero's world she admired how the first of its kind was made and the craftsmanship needed for a world without the support of magic to produce it with brittle and rare material. So she had it commissioned with the rarest of their ores mithril bonded with silver and iron compounds in tribute, materials that were hunted down by a party of queen's guard soldiers, to be exact the ones that cheered its appearance. Malty had gone as far as to name it Stone of the Moon in their language in reference to a sword said to require a god's will to use. She unsheathes the sword it giving a fate blue glow.
The princess stood with the sword's container in the strong grip of her left hand, it in her right. She walked slowly to the man that had insulted her with a neutral expression on her face. "Why don't you say we have a little duel to see who out of the two of us is not required to be here, and let's make this interesting. A little wager will do..." As the words left her mouth the yard went dead silent. "You are easy on the eyes so I will offer you this." She spoke, placing the tip of the blade under his chin. "My hand or my virtue, it's for you to decide which and if I win." She slid the katana across the poor man's neck. "Your future is mine to do as I please." The gravity of the situation dawned on everyone in attendance, of course, all but the recruit knew exactly who this teen was and if she was offering what she did... Then, the recruit wasn't going to be on this plain for much longer. Malty clicked her tongue as the sword was parried before it could complete its motion. "Gustav..." The princess called the name of her offender in clear warning looking up at a heavy-set man who towered over the both of them sheathing a rapier while at the same time separating the pair with his body.
"Forgive me my lady, but you have made your point. He will be punished for this, and I will make sure that he won't repeat the same mistake again." Gustav said, lowering himself to a single knee, all the while bowing his head to her.
Malty considered this for a moment, and after some time she sighed sheathing her blade, it is clipped to a holster at her side in the same instance. "Be sure you do, I will talk to my mother about your hiring practices." The girl talked to the man not at all looking at the one she proposed the duel to. "You may stand." She said spinning on her heels returning to her book and Filolial.
For the first time since the wagers were uttered the crowd of men breathed a sigh of relief returning to their previous dealings before the confrontation. Gustav got up motioning for the recruit to leave the area, speaking briefly. "You are lucky that the young lady has softened after her first time with us or I would have my head at the gallows right next to yours for even daring to save your life."
"Do I want to know who she really is?"
The man escorting him out of the training grounds smiled as at the same time a woman in all black head to toe and a white expressionless mask appeared in front of Malty out of what most would believe nowhere before she could get back to Filo and her book. "The queen requests your presence, princess." The recruit grew white as a sheet hearing that.