Chapter updated as of 12/08/2023
Literally just wanted to rewrite these chapters because i thought i could do better. Oh, and also to change one of my Vassal weapons, only real major change that will happen in this story, as I don't plan on changing anything else.
Still think its bad after the rewrite? Well feel free to shout at me in the discord for the MWP project: discord.g g/yYUK6 gV3
The young man let out a small sigh, holding the small bag with both hands as he walked out of the store.
The young man in question was a fairly thin, pale-skinned man. He had shoulder-length, unkempt black hair, except for the tips, which were a light blue color. His eyes also sported a similar shade of blue.
He turned around to look at the store, shaking his head as he did so.
Jeez, I know I do this for fun, but I still can't believe it's so expensive for all of this stuff. You'd think I would get some sort of discount for shopping there for a couple of years. Hell, the owners even know me on a first-name basis! Yet, they still refuse to give any sort of discount!
Despite those thoughts, the young man still had a smile plastered on his face. This was due to one simple fact. Anything he bought from there was assured to be of high quality. He would know after all, considering he had used many of their fabrics to make himself scarves and the likes before.
He looked into the bag, checking over the fabrics for a moment. He had gotten a decent amount of them. Enough so that when they had shown him the total price at the checkout, he had cringed at just how much it had cost. Hopefully, Sheryl would be able to pay him for this commission immediately, and not drag it out like she had last time.
Kurose let his hand slide along the fabrics, enjoying the feeling of them against his hand for a moment before shifting them to the side, pulling out a little box from inside the bag. It was something he had been given by the cashier when he had bought everything. They had been doing a special gift for anyone who spent over a certain amount.
That had confused him a bit, considering they had never done anything like that before, but he wasn't one to reject free stuff. It was, as the name implied, free stuff. Who would turn that down?
Making sure to be careful, he transferred the bag onto his arm, letting it balance there for a moment as he held the box. Slowly he opened it up.
The first thing he saw was a green gem elevated in the center and he had to admire the color. He wasn't the best at telling what the gem was, but if had to hazard a guess, it was most likely an emerald from what he could tell, but then again, he could be wrong. Looking at it more carefully, he saw the chain. A reflective silver that seemed to shine in the sunlight. He also noticed the silver border around the gem, the contrasting silver helping the gem's color shine slightly more.
He slowly took it out of the box, holding it by the gem. The silver, interlocking chains dropped as he lifted the necklace out of the box. A smile slowly grew on his face as he looked at it, the gem seeming to shine in the sunlight.
He always enjoyed seeing accessories once they were completed. Seeing how they shined after all the care and passion that was put into the accessory. He let his thoughts wander for a moment, thinking about some of the accessories he had at home, doing his best to think of what would look good with the necklace he was currently wearing.
Kurose shook his head, focusing back on the necklace held in his hands. The chain was a bit small for him to wear personally, but he would certainly be able to find a good place to store it in his room. Maybe one of those mannequin heads he had? They could always do with some more jewelry. Then again, he could always try to find someone to add more links to it. He liked the look of the necklace after all…
Even as he thought about it, he wasn't aware that he was beginning to cross the road, but the feeling of someone grabbing his shoulders was enough to snap him out of it.
"Huh? Let go of m-" Panic began to rise in Kurose as someone grabbed him, and he began to shout, only to shut his mouth as he saw who had grabbed him. "Oh, it's you Sheryl." As he realized who it was, he felt his panic begin to fade, turning to face Sheryl."Don't just grab me like that!"
"Yeah, it's me," Sheryl spoke. "What are you so distracted by that you can't even tell the lights are green? You would have been walking into traffic Kurose!" Sheryl spoke, shaking him slightly.
"Hey! I'm…" Kurose did not respond for a few moments, trying to think of what to say in response. "I would have been fine… Probably. I've always been lucky, you know that."
"Yeah, yeah. I know you're lucky. But that doesn't mean you should rely on it!" She spoke, beginning to tap her foot on the floor.
"Your luck is going to run out someday, you hear? It's probably going to end up with you dying horribly or something just as unfortunate happening." She spoke, rolling her eyes.
"Either that or anything bad that should happen to you will be reflected onto others you care about."
"Oh wow, thanks, Sheryl," Kurose replied sarcastically. "Such a nice thing to say to your friend, isn't it? And I was going to make you such a lovely scarf later." Kurose shook his head as if lamenting the loss of the scarf already.
"Oh shush you. You know you'd make it either way." She said, and Kurose couldn't deny her. If he wasn't going to make it for her, he would have probably made it for himself. "Plus you still haven't answered my question. What's got you so distracted? Thinking about a girl or something?" She asked teasingly, leaning down to him.
"What? No! You know I don't even go outside enough to talk to others! Anyways…" Kurose cleared his throat, staring back at her. "I was checking the fabrics I got were fine to be used for your scarf. Though, if you want to keep teasing me…" He trailed off, and he could see Sheryl's eyes widen.
"Okay, Okay! I'm sorry for teasing you! Please don't stop making me scarves!" She begged.
"Alright. Since you asked so politely, I suppose I'll get your scarf done soon."
Sheryl pumped her fist into the air happily, a grin on her face before speaking once more.
"What are you holding Kurose? It looks pretty…" She stared at his hand for a moment, and Kurose let her look.
"It's a necklace I got. It does look nice, doesn't it?" He spoke with a smile. Kurose knew he could trust Sheryl to see the beauty in things like this.
"Ooh, let me have a closer look!" With that, she snatched the necklace out of his hand, letting it dangle from her hand. Kurose could only sigh.
"It really does look nice. What's your plan for it? Are you just going to keep it in your room, with all those other beautiful amulets and necklaces?"
"I'm not sure," Kurose admitted. "I mean, it does look nice, I honestly think it looks nicer than most of the other accessories I have, just because of how simple, yet eye-catching it is. So… I was thinking of getting a few more links added to it so I can actually wear it, you know?".
Sheryl would let out a gasp of mock surprise. "You actually want to wear one of your accessories? Instead of keeping them all locked up in your room, gathering dust? My oh my, are you actually feeling alright Kurose?" She asked with faux concern.
Kurose felt himself getting slightly annoyed as she mentioned his accessories gathering dust. "Of course I'm alright!" he snapped back. "And you know they don't collect dust! I clean them constantly! As if I would let them get dirty!" He spoke with a hint of pride in his voice.
If there was anything he cared more about than his scarf-making, it would be the cleanliness of his accessories.
"Okay, okay, I'll admit, I probably shouldn't have poked fun at your necklaces and that. I know how much you treasure them, that's on me. But still, why are you deciding to wear this one? What makes it so different?"
Kurose thought about it for a moment. He… honestly didn't know. It just felt like it was calling out to him, asking him to wear it. It felt like it should be with him. Not left to stay in his room for the rest of its days.
"I'm not really sure. I just felt like it." He spoke slowly. As if he was going to say he felt like it was calling out to him to her face. She would probably make fun of him for it.
"That's fair enough, I suppose. But I do have one last question. Just how much did this cost? I was thinking of getting one myself."
Kurose suddenly looked away, not really wanting to answer the question, but he knew if he didn't, She would just keep pestering him until he finally caved in.
"I… Well, you know, the necklace itself didn't cost anything…" Kurose spoke slowly.
"What, you're telling me you got this for free?" She spoke in disbelief.
"Well, kind of? I got it with all the fabrics and all that."
"Alright, how much did the fabrics cost?"
Kurose looked down at the floor, speaking quietly.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the cars and everything driving by."
"It cost… It cost somewhere around 200 for all this fabric…"
Sheryl's face paled at that, and she looked at him in horror.
"Jeez Kurose! just how do you even support yourself with that part-time job? How can you justify spending that much on this?"
"Well, it's not like I really go out much, do I? Plus, I eat very little amounts of food, so I'm fine on like two meals a day. Maybe one if I push it." He spoke calmly, shrugging his shoulders.
Sheryl's look of horror only seemed to increase as she stared at him. "Kurose…" She put her hands on his shoulder, looking into his eyes as she continued to speak.
"I knew it was bad, but only eating two meals a day? You better start sorting yourself out, or I'll drag you out of your house, and make sure you start eating better! And stop spending so much on this stuff!"
"I can't do that!" Kurose cried out. "I have other clients besides you as well, you know? I can't just cancel on them, that would give me a bad reputation! Plus, it's good money."
Sheryl would simply sigh, shaking her head as she took her hands off his shoulders. "Fine, but at least make sure you are eating three good, healthy, meals a day. Alright?"
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything. I get distracted and all that, you know?"
Sheryl kept shaking her head as if exasperated by him.
The pair slowly began to walk as the light turned red, with Sheryl deciding to change the conversation.
"So, what's your plan when you get home?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know, maybe I'll start on your scarf? Might as well get it done sooner tha-'' His words died in his throat as he seemed to trip up on something, his face hitting the floor.
Luckily, or unluckily for him, that was not enough to do Kurose in.
Sheryl leaned down, extending a hand out to help him up, doing her best not to laugh. Kurose reached out to take her hand before pausing, hearing the sound of a car starting to move. Turning his head slightly, he saw the car slowly beginning to move onto the zebra crossing, to where he was currently laying.
He tried to push himself up, even as Sheryl stumbled away.
Yet, he wasn't fast enough, much to his shock and confusion. He felt the car wheel driving over his leg, a gasp of pain escaping him as he experienced this new brand of pain. He could hear the car's other wheel getting closer to his head, his eyes wide open, even as Sheryl called out his name.
"Kurose!"
That was the last thing he heard as the world turned black.
—
Kurose let out a small groan as he pushed himself up from the floor.
Man, that was a pretty vivid dream. Wonder why I'm on the floor…
He could smell… something burning, which already had him on alert. He hadn't left anything out that could be burning, right?
"Accessory Hero! We thank you for answering our call!" Kurose turned to look at the voice, noticing three people cloaked in rather dark shades of blue. They all had a covering over their mouths, which just confused Kurose more. What were they doing here? Where even was here?
He asked as much. "W-Whats going on? Why are you here? Where is here?" Even as he asked these questions, Kurose could feel the panic start to build up inside him.
The person in the middle, who Kurose assumed had spoken before, turned to the other two beside him.
"Go put out the Charmes. We do not wish for the kickback from the destruction of one, especially with the Accessory hero having been summoned. I will explain the situation to him myself."
The two people beside the man bowed, quickly moving around him. He noticed that there seemed to be some sort of thread around him, with several smaller circles of thread inside of them, with quite a few of them emitting smoke. He tried to see what was producing the smoke, but it was dark enough to the point that it was blocking his vision.
Kurose instead decided to focus on the man who had spoken, asking his questions again.
"Where am I? And who are you?" Kurose asked, the panic still building inside of him.
He stood up shakily, his hands forming into fists as he looked at the masked man. The masked man simply tilted his head before speaking calmly.
"You truly have no knowledge about anything here?" The man asked, a small hint of shock entering his voice.
"Of course I don't! How am I supposed to know anything about any of this? If anything, this looks more like a cult ritual!" Kurose spoke out.
The man still had yet to explain where he was, or what they were doing here. Kurose felt his hands tremble slightly.
"I see. Then I will explain it as easily as I can." The man spoke quickly, as if in a rush. "We appealed to the Holy Accessory to summon a hero who could save our world. That hero is you, young man. You have been chosen to save our world from the calamities that currently seek to destroy us."
Kurose could only stare at the man in shock, his hands falling to his side as he processed what had just been said.
That sounds like something you'd hear out of a bad RPG! Is this some sort of prank or something? Are there cameras recording my reaction to all of this?
Kurose looked around, blinking rapidly as he tried to catch sight of any cameras. If there were any, he failed to spot them.
Deciding to play it safe, Kurose spoke up. "This is… some sort of joke, right? I mean, there's no chance I would even be qualified to be a hero. I'm just a shut-in who only goes out to pick up supplies for my hobby, or to go to my job. Whatever this Holy Accessory or whatever you said it was, it obviously made a mistake in summoning me." Kurose stated plainly. "Could you get it to send me back?"
The man seemed concerned, at least that's what Kurose thought he could tell. He could only really see the man's eyes, and that made it a bit more difficult to figure out what he was thinking.
"There is no way for us to send you back, hero. The Holy Accessory has never made a mistake before, so it is extremely unlikely that it made a mistake this time."
Kurose shook his head in response to that. "There's always a first time for everything. So just send me back, alright? I have stuff I need to work on, and I'm sure you can find a better person to face those calamities you spoke about."
The man seemed to look at him for a moment longer before speaking carefully.
"Hero… may I ask what happened prior to you being summoned? If you do that, then it should help you decide whether or not this is a joke, as you put it."
"I guess I can tell you? I mean, it's just a joke right, so there is no harm in telling you. That's right, this is just a joke..." He spoke the last part to himself quietly. For what reason, he didn't know why.
After wracking his mind for a moment, trying to remember what he had done before waking up in this odd place, he began to speak slowly.
"Right, well I had just come out of the fabric store and was on my way home. Sheryl scared me, we spoke about some stuff, then I tripped… and the car…" Kurose trailed off, staring beyond the man in front of him. The man in question simply stared at him in concern.
Kurose's face started to pale as he realized that it was not in fact a prank. That he had in fact died, and that he had been apparently summoned to another world.
"...O-Oh, I… I died, didn't I?" He spoke in a small voice. He still didn't want to believe it, but everything was in front of him.
"I really died, didn't I? I… I left my parents alone… I probably gave Sheryl some sort of trauma…"
Tears began to well in his eyes as he continued to speak. "All because I couldn't actually pay attention to where I was walking."
He let out a long, shaky breath before he slumped back down to the floor, tears flowing down his face.
He felt something weigh down on his heart as if the realization that he had died and been summoned had affected something.
I'm alone in this world… aren't I? He thought numbly.
The two men who had been sent to collect the smoking objects returned to the man's side. He took the small discs in his hand, nodding his head as he looked at them, before turning back to focus on Kurose.
"Accessory Hero." The man spoke softly, staring at Kurose. "I understand this is all a shock to you. If you did in fact die as you were summoned, I can only express my grief at you having lost your life at such a young age."
Kurose slowly wiped away his tears, looking up at the man in question, even as he continued to speak.
"However, just because your life in your original world has come to an end, it does not mean that you should give up and fall into despair. The Holy Accessory chose you to be its wielder. Not anyone else. The Holy Accessory chose to give you a second chance at life as its wielder. I believe you should take the opportunity with everything you have. You spoke of being what you called a shut-in in your previous life, correct?" He asked
Kurose nodded, and the man continued to speak. "Then do what you could not achieve in your previous life. Achieve your dreams, for nothing will be beyond your grasp, so long as you wield the Holy Accessory."
Kurose looked up to him. He was right. If this Holy Accessory, whatever it was, had chosen him willingly, if it had given him a second chance at life, he would live his life to the fullest, or as fully as he could. He would do his best to fulfill the role he was given. But first, he had one question to ask.
"I… Thank you, for the speech. But, what did you mean by calamities? Why was I summoned?" He asked in a small voice.
"That will all be answered later, Accessory Hero. For now, it is best if we get you to your accommodation for the time being. So please stand Hero."
Kurose slowly stood up. There were tears still in his eyes, but no one commented on it. The two who had been sent to pick up the smoking objects opened the door, and the leader motioned for Kurose to follow.
—
Kurose followed the robed man throughout the halls of… wherever they were. The two who had been tasked with picking up those discs trailing behind the pair. They whispered to each other, and Kurose could feel them staring at his back as they continued to walk.
As the group of four continued walking down the hallway, there seemed to be paintings as far as Kurose could see. They all seemed to have the same person on them, just showing them at different stages in their life, along with what looked to be a smaller version of the older person in the painting.
Was it supposed to be some sort of artistic expression? Or was it actually a family that just had super weird genes that made the child look like an almost clone of the parent? As Kurose looked closer at the paintings, he noticed small differences, a small spot on their face, a difference in eye color, different worn accessories, and other features that helped him tell that they were slightly different people.
He also noticed the small writing underneath each painting, but try as he might, Kurose just couldn't grasp what was written. Was it a different language? But if that was the case, wouldn't that also mean they have a different spoken language? How was Kurose even able to understand them? It was making his head hurt, so he stopped thinking about it for now.
Kurose instead decided to ask a question to the man beside him.
"Hey, so um… where are we exactly?" Kurose asked nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
He still had not gotten used to the fact that he was in another world. It felt surreal to him. Then again, it had only been… if he had to guess, 10 minutes since he had been summoned? If anyone got used to it this fast, they would be the strange one, at least that was Kurose's thought process
"Ah, I forgot that you would not know where we are. You currently stand in the proud country of Ortensca. It has trained heroes for generations, and so long as it stands, we will continue to train heroes." He spoke, a hint of pride seeping into his voice.
Kurose filed that information away to be asked about later. He had mentioned heroes. Not singular, but plural. That meant there were other heroes. Were they summoned like he was? Were there potentially other people from his world? The thought alleviated some of the loneliness he felt earlier.
"I see… you said something about calamities in this world, right? And that I'm supposed to help stand against them? How do I even do that?"
The man before him chuckled. "My, you certainly do ask a lot of questions, young one. Worry not about these matters for now. There is still a good amount of time before the calamity strikes again from what we have gathered. We will be sending someone who is more versed in these matters to help you understand your role here better. We would have you meet with our King to explain these matters, but he is currently out of the country on matters relating to the calamity."
Kurose nodded at that, even as his thoughts lingered on what the robed man had said. He would be getting assistance from someone who knew more about these calamities that they had been speaking of. To Kurose that was reassuring.
Even as the group of four continued walking, Kurose couldn't help but notice a pair of soldiers walk by, seeming to nod their heads at the man beside him, who seemed to wave them away.
Kurose looked the guards over, noticing they seemed to be carrying both swords and shields. The shield held an image on it, a scarf with a hole in the center. He noticed small writing in the center of the shield, with what looked to be a disc similar to the one the two men behind him had been carrying. Before he could ask about it, his attention was quickly drawn from the writing imprinted on the shield, as his eyes caught on their scarves.
They almost seemed to glow, and they entranced him. He wanted to meet whoever made that scarf. He wanted, no he needed to learn what they had done to make it glow like that! He stood, entranced as the guards walked past, neither of them paying attention to him.
Kurose rushed to quickly catch up to the man, falling into step beside him, even as a thought occurred to him.
I… never got his name did I? I have just been referring to him as man. I should probably fix that.
Kurose continued to keep shooting looks at the man, and it didn't take long before he seemed to notice.
"Is there something wrong, Accessory Hero?"
"Well… It's just that I never really got your name?" Kurose answered nervously.
"Ah, my apologies. My name is Karuk." He spoke simply.
"Well then, it's… it's nice to meet you, Karuk.." Kurose spoke. Another question popped into his head as he greeted him properly.
"I have a question, about those soldiers that walked past, if you wouldn't mind answering?"
"Of course, Accessory Hero. Feel free to ask, though I should say that we are close to your accommodation for the night."
Kurose nodded as he spoke. "Can I ask why they had a scarf imprinted onto their shields? I've never seen anything like that before."
"Ah, if you have not seen anything similar to that, then it is understandable why you would be confused. That was the royal family's insignia. If I remember correctly, the royal family are descendants of a previous Accessory hero, and that insignia is supposed to be the scarf that the hero's weapon was never changed from."
"A scarf, huh?" Kurose certainly couldn't feel, nor see a scarf on him. Even as he was about to speak up, asking if he was supposed to have a scarf or something, Karuk spoke up once more.
"We have arrived at your room, Sir Hero. As mentioned previously, we will be sending someone to answer your questions as soon as we can."
"Thank you," Kurose said, opening the door. "Will I be seeing you again?" He asked curiously.
"I do not know. I have many other matters to attend to, but if time allows for it, I would be glad to talk to you some more. Live well, young Accessory hero. And may the world bless you."
The man bowed, his two companions following his example, before he began to move away. Kurose watched as they left before slowly closing the door.
—
Kurose sat on the bed that was provided to him. After thinking for a moment, he decided to check his pockets, wondering if there was anything in them. If he recalled correctly, he should have put both his phone and wallet in there when he exited the store.
Yet, no matter how far he dug into his pockets or turned them inside out, nothing came from them, and it left him confused.
I was certain I left them there! Was I wrong? Did I lose my phone and wallet after being summoned?
The more Kurose thought about it, the more confused he got. From what he could tell, the only things he had on him after his summoning was the clothes on his back. Not the bag of fabrics, not his phone or wallet, not even the box that had contained the necklace.
I suppose it doesn't matter currently. It's not likely this place would have any sort of signal, and I wouldn't be able to use my card anywhere here. He thought with a sigh.
It still irked him slightly though, that he had spent all that money on those fabrics, and he wasn't ever going to be able to use them.
Kurose tried not to shove the thoughts from his mind, electing to focus on something else. For example, the crushing loneliness he was feeling. He didn't know where it came from, but it had started when he had fully realized he had been summoned. It had lifted slightly when the mention of other heroes had appeared, but it was still there.
Would they even want to work together with him? From his limited knowledge, which was mainly gathered from online chat forums, he had seen some people talking about a situation like this. Some hero who was hated in the country they were summoned to and none of the other heroes would work with him.
What if it was like that for him? But then again, why would they even summon him in the first place, if that was the case? He let himself relax slightly, shaking those thoughts off, even as he leaned back, letting himself rest fully on the bed.
As he did that, he caught sight of something small in the corner of his vision. His eyes wandered over to it, and Kurose saw three small dots.
"What is-" He was cut off as a screen seemed to pop up, filled with information
Name: Kurose Amiya
Role: Accessory Hero (Level 1)
Equipment: Starter Necklace, Otherworldly Clothes.
Skills: None
Magic: None
Kurose studied it for a moment. There also seemed to be a bunch of numbers beneath the text, and Kurose quickly read through them. Reading through the numbers, he discovered they were attributed to stats, such as Strength, Magic Attack, Agility, and the like. The basis of any RPG.
It seemed as if his stats were best aligned to be dealing with magic, along with a healthy dose of speed. Was he meant to be a mage in fights? It confused him slightly, and with a sigh, he exited the menu, leaning back.
Unknown to Kurose, during his time looking at his menu, a person had entered his room, staring at him as he seemed to gaze off into what they assumed to be nothingness.
"Sir Hero? Are you ok?" The person in question asked, tilting their head slightly.
Kurose jumped, not having expected the voice. "Hah? Who are you?" Kurose quickly asked.
"My apologies for surprising you, Accessory Hero. My name is Amarita. I am to be your guide whilst you stay here, as well as being the one to answer any questions that you may have."
Now that he was paying attention to her, he could hear a slightly feminine tone in her voice. Looking closely, Kurose could also see that she had a hood, as well as a mask covering her face, with the exception of her eyes. Was that something everyone did in this world?
"I see. It's nice to meet you, Amarita." Kurose spoke politely. "You can call me Kurose if you want."
"Nonsense." She replied immediately. "I would not deign to call one of the heroes by their name. Not unless it is absolutely required of me."
Kurose nodded his head slowly. "Alright…" He spoke nervously. "I… have quite a few questions, if you don't mind me asking them?"
"That is fine, Accessory hero. That is the reason I am here, after all." Kurose couldn't see, but from the way, her eyes seemed to move slightly, he could make out that she was smiling.
"Right. I just checked… whatever those three dots in the corner of my vision are, and it says my role is Accessory hero? Karuk called me that as well, but I still don't know what that means."
"I see. It is good that you have figured out how your status works, and I am glad to hear that your role is Accessory Hero. There have been… issues in the past, with another being summoned during the ritual."
Another person being summoned? Why would that cause issues? Kurose looked at Amarita, who seemed to have a pained expression, so he left it for now.
"Is there supposed to be an item or something that shows I am the Accessory Hero? Or am I just supposed to tell people it says Accessory Hero as my role?" He asked curiously.
"Yes. From what the books have told me, the past Accessory Heroes have all had a small necklace around their necks to signify that they are the summoned hero."
Kurose looked down, noticing familiar, silver interlocking chains around his neck. He moved his hand to hold the chain gently, lifting it up, and revealing the familiar green gem from before he had been summoned.
How had he not felt the necklace around his neck? Even as he lifted it up, he got his answer. It seemed to weigh almost nothing.
"Huh… So that's why I got this for free?" Kurose spoke to himself quietly. "Was it trying to tell me I was being summoned or something?"
"What is the matter, Accessory Hero?" Amarita asked, slightly concerned.
"Sorry, it's just… I have seen this before. I got it after leaving a shop before I was summoned."
She seemed to think on it for a moment, her eyes shutting before she spoke."You did? That… is curious. I cannot recall any past Accessory Hero having said anything about this happening before."
He nodded his head. "So, this is what signifies me as the Accessory Hero right?" Upon receiving a nod from Amarita, he continued. "How am I supposed to fight with an accessory?" Kurose asked a confused tone to his voice.
Amarita looked to be having doubts of her own, but she continued on. "It depends. Again, I have only studied information about the heroes from the books, so my information may be incomplete. However, from what they say, Accessory heroes have typically fought with magic in the past, usually through the assistance of Charmes. Some have also claimed to be able to support their allies with the weapon itself."
"Charmes? Can you explain what they are a bit more to me?" He asked.
He had heard Karuk mention them in the room he had been summoned in, but he held no idea what these Charmes actually were.
"Unfortunately, that is not my place to do so." She spoke, lowering her head. "That will be left up to your magic teacher, which you will be meeting in the afternoon tomorrow. I apologize for not being able to answer your question this time."
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Kurose spoke, slightly distracted. He was already going to be learning magic? Would he be able to shoot fireballs? Maybe even cause a small earthquake? All these ideas filled up his head, and he started smiling.
"May I ask what else you wished to know, Accessory Hero?"
"Oh, um yeah." That quickly snapped Kurose out of his daydreaming. "Kurak said that this place, Or…Orte…" He trailed off and Amarita corrected him.
"Ortensca?"
"Yes, that's it! He said that Ortensca has trained Heroes for generations. Does that mean I'm not the only hero?"
"You would be correct, Accessory Hero. There are two other weapons that exist to serve the Holy Accessory. The first of these is the Lesser Dagger. Its wielder was only recently chosen, and has recently traveled to us from Dajero after facing the calamity there."
"Why is it called the Lesser Dagger?" Kurose asked before she could continue.
She looked up at him for a moment before speaking. "That is because whilst they are still strong in their own rights, they are limited by what they can do. They and their wielders can still grow strong, stronger than the average person, but the Holy Accessory has multiple things over them. For example, your weapon may transform into a variety of different accessories, whilst the dagger can only remain as a dagger."
"I see. That does make sense, but how did they even start to be called Holy and Lesser weapons?"
"That, I'm afraid, is something that I am unsure of. Anything relating to the creation of the Lesser or Holy weapons seems to have disappeared, and there is only one person who may even know of that information in the first place, but actually reaching the Dwarven king would be… difficult, to say the least…" She let out a sigh at that before continuing. "But we are getting off track. The other Lesser weapon would be the Lesser Jewelry tools."
"Jewelry tools? Like, every single type of thing used to make jewelry?" Kurose asked for Clarification
Amarita nodded her head. "Yes, it includes everything used to make jewelry."
"Jeez, that's… a lot of things. But you said before that the one thing the Holy Accessory has over the lesser weapons is its wide variety of options, right? Doesn't that have just as many options?"
"Whilst it is true that the Jewelry tools have access to a wide variety of tools, it has never reached the same amount of forms that the Accessory could take."
Kurose nodded his head. There were more Accessory options than there were tools for making jewelry with, he supposed
"I see… But what's to stop him from just… picking up a sword or something? What's to stop me from doing it?"
"Well, we aren't sure, but past heroes tried to explain it as violating the rules of the weapon."
"What? You're telling me that I just can't use anything else? That's ridiculous!" He complained.
"We do not know why the holy and lesser weapons impose these restrictions. I suppose one would have to ask the weapons themself if it were even possible to do so."
"Are the Accessory and lesser weapons alive?" He asked in confusion.
"We are not sure. They are certainly not alive in the same vein as us, able to move about of their own will, but they have to have some form of sentience, considering they can respond to our summons for a new hero, or even choose their wielders."
"I… yeah, now that I think about it, Karuk did say they appealed to the weapon to summon its wielder…" Kurose let out a sigh at that. "This world is just getting more and more confusing."
"Be that as it may, I can promise you that once you have spent some time here, everything will start to make sense."
"I hope so. I really do. But anyways, you said the Dagger hero is here, right? So where is the Jewelry tools hero?"
"Currently, the Jewelry tools Hero is to the east, managing his kingdom, Palinfa," Amarita explained.
"What? He has his own country?" Kurose spoke, shocked at that information.
"Indeed, he was chosen by the Lesser Jewelry tools during… events… a few years back."
Kurose saw how she seemed to pause as she said events, and it made him curious, but before he could ask about it, Amarita continued to speak.
"However, The Dagger Hero has been here for the past week. If it is fine with you, I would like you to meet with her tomorrow."
"Oh, sure, I guess? But I still have another question, if you don't mind."
"Of course, go ahead," Amarita spoke, and Kurose did.
"I keep hearing you talk about these calamities. You said the Dagger hero managed to deal with one before coming here, and I was told by Kurak that I was supposed to stand against these calamities. Just what are they?"
"Ah, I see. I did forget to tell you about them. My apologies Accessory Hero. These calamities that we have spoken about are disasters that seem to affect our world for a period of time before suddenly stopping. These are what we have dubbed the Waves of Calamity. They are akin to a natural disaster, spitting monsters into our world which, if left unchecked, could cause immeasurable damage."
"But where do I come into this? In fact, where do all the heroes come into this?" Kurose questioned.
As far as he could tell, of the three weapons wielded by heroes, only one was an actual weapon, with the Jewelry kit being able to technically be a weapon. The only way he could see the jewelry tools being viable as a weapon is being a handsaw, or in his limited knowledge of jewelry making, a bench hammer. But that still left the question of how he was supposed to fight!
"That is what I am unsure of. All we know is that long ago in the past, three heroes, wielding all of the weapons I spoke about previously, appeared from nowhere, managing to shut down the waves for the time being. They were celebrated as heroes, protectors of our world, but as all people do, they passed away. Only two of the three weapons remained, the Lesser Dagger, which buried itself in a stone after its wielder's death, and the Lesser Jewelry tools followed similarly, hiding away in the dwarven empire."
Kurose listened to the story, entranced as she spoke.
"As time passed, others were chosen to be wielders of the Lesser weapons, but the Holy Accessory itself did not appear to choose another wielder. It was as if it had disappeared from the world entirely, and everyone thought it to be the case. It was not until the next set of waves that the Holy Accessory reappeared. From what the books have said, it was a shock as the Accessory Hero was summoned before the Dragon Hourglass here in Ortensca. The cycle repeated itself, with the three heroes managing to repel the waves, but during the time, the magicians managed to figure out a way to summon a hero, if the weapon accepted the call."
"So, all of the weapons can be summoned heroes, like me?" Kurose asked.
"They all can, yes. But the Lesser weapons have more lax restrictions on who wields them. It can either be someone summoned like you, or it can be an inhabitant of this world. As of now, both the Lesser Dagger and Lesser Jewelry tools are people who were born here, and not summoned."
Kurose let a frown appear on his face. He had been hoping that one of the other heroes was someone from his world, but it seemed as if it was too good to be true. He quickly wiped the frown off his face, asking another question.
"So, the Holy Accessory cant be wielded by someone from this world?"
"No, it cannot. It seems to only accept a summoned hero, for reasons unknown to us." Amarita spoke.
"I see. You said these calamities have already started, right?"
"Yes. So far, there has only been one, and that has been in the country of Dajero. That was the one that the Lesser Dagger chose its wielder in. Though, from reports, we have also heard that the Jewelry tools Hero was present as well, though he seemed to disappear quickly."
"I see. How can we tell how long there is until the next Calamity strikes?"
"For us regular people, we have to estimate based on how much sand is left in the Dragon Hourglass. But for you heroes, you can register to the Dragon Hourglass, and it will give you a more accurate countdown of when the wave is set to occur. It will also take you to the location of the wave, along with any party members you may have."
"So, will I be given my own group to adventure with?" Kurose asked curiously.
Amarita seemed to pause at that, thinking it over. "Unfortunately…" She began to speak. "We do not have permission from the King to give you party members. The only thing he told us to do was summon you, get you an understanding of what you were to accomplish here, and strengthen you in any way possible."
Kurose nodded his head at that, but Amarita continued to speak. "However, Heroes are technically above any King. If you managed to persuade the Dagger hero to join your party, it would not be seen as us giving you a party member, but instead, the Dagger hero joining you of her own volition."
Kurose nodded along, the gears turning in his head as he understood what she was saying. "I see… I have one last question if that's fine?"
"Of course."
"Great. Has the Dagger hero been told of how important it is to work with the other heroes?"
"She has indeed. She has already expressed her intent on wanting to meet with you when you were summoned. We had to explain to her that you may be overwhelmed and that it could potentially be dangerous."
Kurose remembered that Karuk had said something about the kickback from something. Was that the dangerous thing they were talking about? Or something else?
"I think I have answered enough of your questions for now. I will be taking my leave if that is alright with you?" Amarita spoke, taking Kurose out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yeah. That's fine. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Kurose asked hesitantly.
"Indeed you will. I will speak to you once you have awoken, Accessory hero."
With another bow, Amarita left the room
