The inn was quiet when we arrived. Made sense, it was early in the day, still two hours until noon, and despite the rain, others had to continue to go about their business. Spear and his group had probably already taken their leave of the place to go have some fun, either hunting monsters, or just to go to their rooms to wait out the rain before they left the castle town for green pastures.

The innkeeper was happy to see me, at first, but then noticed the three behind me, and had a look on his face that spoke volumes about what he thought of them, and my association with them. I assuage his concerns the way all such things are, I paid upfront for the room we were in for the next three days, plus a 20% gratuity. He might have his own biases, but money spoke far louder than any of them.

I then had Lucia and the three follow me upstairs, noticing the limp the wolf walked with. It wasn't severe, not yet, but I could tell he was growing a nice infection on a cut just above his…I'm gonna say foot, just because paw sounds racist somehow. Regardless, he wasn't in the best of shape, and the other two were not quite good either. The fox really did have a bad tooth, looked nasty so I know it had to hurt, and the hyena was simply smaller looking than the others, with a feeling of illness to him.

Once we were inside, I motioned for them to sit on the floor, as I made sure the door was bolted shut, and then proceeded to inspect them. Their bodies were slightly mangey, nothing terrible yet, but it would grow worse unless dealt with. Muscle definition was light too. You could tell the wolf had used to be strong, but was not quite there anymore, and would take time to get back to peak. The fox too, his legs were finely sculpted at one point, but had lost some of that.

"Very well then. Let us begin our relationship as I mean to take us on. My name is Bard Bowman, I am the chosen Wielder of the Bow in this world. May I ask your names, gentlemen," I said, trying to sound pleasant now that we were away from the Slave Trader. I hadn't wanted to show sympathy then, his kind rarely sold to those who might free their charges, it wasn't good for business to have 'merchandise' running loose after all, especially if he might scoop them up again and be accused of stealing them back.

The words did seem to take them a moment to process, and I looked over some more stats for them, before quickly flicking my sheet over towards my skill menu. My new Bow form was blinking at me, ready to be pulled out, something I hadn't done yet thanks to the morning's events. I scrolled to the other side, and then into the skills section, slowly finding the one I wanted, and making sure it was something I could grab.

"My name is Strong, he is Fast, and he is Shadow," said the wolf at last, pointing to the fox, and then the hyena for the other names as I focused back at them. Interestingly, the moment he gave those names, the Beastman A, B, and C in my hud were replaced by them, as if the interface hadn't known them until they'd been given, despite all the things it DID know about them, like point of origin, which gave a name that I assumed was for the village they'd come from.

"I…apologize if this is insensitive, but are those your real names? Or are they want someone called you after you were enslaved?" I asked, and the wolf actually managed to crack a smile, briefly.

"They are the names we chose back in our home. We would have chosen others, had we been selected to leave to deal with humans and demi-humans," he explained, his expression growing darker.

"When the attack came, when a horde of skeletons, animated or created by the Wave destroyed our village, we were forced to flee. Until such time as we return, we will hold onto these names, for our people," he declared, and I nodded. Simple enough. The names were basic because they didn't need more back home, and they kept them because of pride. Probably the only scrap of that they could find in those cages.

"Very well then, Strong. Next quest, are the manacles required for the Slave Seal to work, or can they be removed?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"The Crests bind us to you, Owner. The manacles are for the comfort of mind of those of your people who do trust you will not order us to attack them," he said, and I nodded.

"Do they cause you pain?" I asked, and he nodded.

"It is not much, but I know they are uncomfortable for myself and my brothers," he admitted.

"Very well then, if you wish, I give you permission to remove them. If you cannot on your own, I will find a way to do so," I commanded, and instantly that brought eyes on me, the three brothers…still not sure if that was by blood or simply in arms, but I'd ask that later, regardless they seemed confused by the order. Meanwhile Lucia, who had been sitting at the table by the window, got up and walked towards me, crouching down.

"Are you sure? They're Beastmen, those bindings are required in a lot of places we might need to go. Like noble houses, or the castle here in this city," she 'whispered' quite loudly into my ear. I turned to her.

"I don't care what others think. If they are uncomfortable for my new party members, they are unnecessary. If need be, I will take the blame for their actions," I assured her, and that only seemed to make her more nervous, as the three, seeing that I wasn't going to immediately reverse the order were already pulling the pins from their shackles, the iron bands falling to the wooden floor with dull thunks.

The moment they were off, the three looked…relieved would probably be the right word, they were rubbing at wrists and ankles, where fur had been pushed down, or even worn off in one place. The cut on the wolf's leg was actually made worse by it, apparently, and he was sighing in relief, as he blew on the old wound, obviously trying to get some feeling into the part of his body again.

"Now then, we are going to be adventuring, mostly fighting monsters. Are the three of you prepared for that? I would not want to take you into a battle until you're properly ready," I asked, and the three seemed to ignore me for a while, as Lucia, looking at them, stalked back to her chair, and they luxuriated in their newfound freedom(of movement). I let them have their moment, then Fast, the fox, finally turning to me.

"We don't need equipment, if that's what you're asking. If you want to know how we are in battle, we were adequate to the task until the Waves came," he said, and I nodded.

"So you fight with your bare hands, and need no armor?" I asked, and Strong, the wolf nodded.

"We can use them, if it is your wish, but Beastmen do not require such tools if we are given time to prepare properly," he said the last with a smirk, as he held out his hand, showing me the claws, nice sharp ones, if somewhat trimmed down, on the ends of his fingers, and the smirk revealed fangs in his mouth that looked like they could probably have bitten through his manacles if he'd wanted to.

"Very well then. Let's move onto diet. You have fangs, are you obligate carnivores, or can you eat other things as well?" This brought the three up short for a moment, and it seemed it angered Strong, but he held back his tongue, as he shook his head.

"We are adapted to eating meat, if that's what you're asking, but we are not animals. We do not eat it raw, anymore than you do, and can, if needed, survive off certain kinds of plant life," he offered, and I nodded.

"Good, I will ask your preferences on preparation later…mind that does bring me up to if anyone in this room can cook. I lived in a situation in my old world where that wasn't a skill I needed myself," I informed the room, and Lucia, seemingly happy to be included in the conversation for the first time, spoke up first.

"I'm an adventurer, Bard, we wouldn't be able to do our jobs if we couldn't survive on our own for a few weeks," she offered.

"I was one of the cooks in the village, before they needed me for other reasons as well, Master," added the fox.

"Excellent, now, you are injured, all three of you require treatment, and I'll ask you to brace yourselves, I've been told this pinches," I informed them as I got up, and then brought up my left arm, aiming my Bow at them. The bolt inside it changed from a yellow bolt of light into a green one with little droplets of light falling off it, before I shot three times, hitting each of them square in the chest, making Strong grunt, Fast yelp, and knocking the taciturn hyena, Shadow, over.

All three of them slowly recovered, but it was Strong who noticed the change first, as he felt a tingle, and looked at his leg. The cut, which had been running down the inside and was partially infected, was vanishing. It looked awesome, as sparkles seemed to rise from his fur, the wound, which I noticed only now had some wet bits to it, absolutely gross, was sealing up, leaving not a sign of it behind.

Fast noticed next, as he opened his jaws, and some of the same sparkles fell from his lips, before floating upwards, and you could actually see his teeth both repairing a damaged one in the back, and righting themselves. Heck, one missing fang in the front was actually regrowing before our eyes, something that made him place a finger on it, before pulling it back with a small 'ow'.

Shadow had sparkles rising from his whole body, and I actually saw…something come from his skin. I had no idea what that meant, but in the corner of my vision, the odd color of his MP bar faded, so I could only guess it had something to do with that. When he opened his mouth, sparkles came from it too, and I could see his own teeth were being repaired, as he let it slowly stream out.

When it was done, the three of them had nearly doubled their maximum HP values, as the various debuffs faded from them, though they were still empty of said HP, with a warning about needing to be properly nourished now. That was going to be next on my list, and I was about to rise up, when Shadow, who was still staring at himself in awe made a weird gesture, holding his hands together as he intertwined his fingers.

The next moment, the room went dark, and when it came back, he was nowhere to be seen, myself and Lucia leaping to our feet, and quickly looking around. She had her staff in her hand, the metallic rod crackling with power for a moment as she readied a spell, and I had my own arm up, swiveling about, but luckily before either of us were about to attack, Strong stood up and held up his hands.

"Peace, Master, peace. Shadow, reveal yourself," he said quickly, and the hyena was suddenly back where he had been, looking at himself in awe still, not even having risen, or possibly even seen that Lucia and I had been about to do something.

"I apologize, Master. Shadow he is…there is no word for it in the human tongue," he began, and I pointed at the still ignoring me hyena on the ground.

"He's a ninja!" I cried out, and that got several raised eyebrows…whatever, the three Beastmen looked at me strangely.

"He is, Master. How do you know that word? No human knows of the ways of the Shadows," he asks, and I take a moment to calm myself. It wouldn't do to be overexcited or shocked, not in front of my party. But still, a NINJA?! This was a fantasy setting about Tolkien level, with monsters and stuff. Ninja shouldn't be within five genres of this setting.

"I…my world has something similar, in our fiction only. They are people who walk in the darkness, to protect those who walk in the light," I said, trying to regain my composure as I look down at the hyena, who is still looking at his hands, and even goes to make another handsign, but Fast stops him, placing his hands over his, and then pointing to me when he's got his attention.

That got a reaction, as the hyena, looking up at me, suddenly falls onto his hands and knees, and crawls the distance between us. I was…kind of shocked he wasn't making any noises, but then realized that he hadn't. I hadn't heard a noise from him and as he stood there, slowly going up and down, I looked to Strong, who was very much concerned looking down at the hyena.

"I…you must understand, Master, he was injured in the attack on our village. His teacher, she and he both tried to defend with us, tried to buy those who were not fighters time, and to do so, they did something that, I think, was forbidden. She did not survive, and he has not been able to work his art since," he explained, and I tried to nod sagely, but my only thought was he'd probably burned himself out, or tried to absorb the Wave energy from the monsters, but without being an Adventurer or Hero, it had injured him in some way.

"I see. Does this mean he'll be able to speak now?" I asked, and Strong shook his head.

"He…they do not speak, save to pass their art from master to student. It is to prevent their power from being abused," he added, and I nodded again, placing my hand on the hyena's shoulder, helping him up. I'd heard about all I figured I would, and soon, I requested a maid who reacted somewhat badly at first on seeing my new party members, but took the request for food from me, especially after I slipped her a sliver for her trouble.

It took some time for them to make the requested dishes, which luckily were all known things, and while we waited, I let the three talk amongst themselves, while Lucia did something with her staff, and I observed my stat sheet. That healing skill, (Cleansing Arrow), had improved my new companions a good deal, removing many of the negative status conditions listed on their character bios.

It did not remove it all, however, and I would be needing to work with them to get them back into shape. That said, it had also cost me almost half of my stamina firing just those three, something that seemed...well bad. I needed to get stronger, if I wanted to do more good in this world, and I resolved to do that silently, as there was a knock at the door, and our food was brought in by some of the staff…none of which looked pleased to see the Beastmen, but silver coins all around meant they made no comment beyond that.

"Eat, drink, and be merry, comrades. When this storm breaks, and I mean the minute it does, we're going out to hunt," I tell the group, getting some enthusiastic nods from the Beastmen, and Lucia looking at them with some concern. When the time came, many hours later, we would leave the castle town, and pass the fields where the others had been hunting balloons, Shield failing at doing that, as far as I could tell, which served him right, as we continued on deeper into the forest.

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(Author's (Self Indulgent) Note):

Hello, thank you for getting to the end of the first seven chapters of this one, which, for those coming in later, I posted these over the course of a single week. I hope you're enjoying reading the start of the adventures of our good Bow Hero, but as I've been questioned on it a bit, I'm going to answer some questions here in the open, so everyone knows both a bit of where this is going, and just as importantly, where it's coming from.

I'm an anime watcher, dubbed at that…please send me your hatemail, it only makes me stronger!...anyway, I'm the sort of guy who slept on this series because of the popularity that came thanks to that first episode's climax. I will not repeat it here, you know what event I'm referring to with that particular statement.

However! Because of that, I'm coming at the systems of the 'game' world(yes it's a real place in the fiction, but you know what I mean) from that perspective, and compared to the Light Novel, Web Novel, or even the Manga, there's a lot left undefined. Worse, Word of God is used to fill in gaps even those sources don't, as are supplementary material like Reprise of the Spear Hero.

I am NOT ignoring those completely. While I don't have an easy way to read over them compared to watching the anime, I have done some research on them, including both finding some online bits, and reading the wiki, and know in a general sense how the systems wind up working within their world, though, to be blunt, the details vary based off which source you talk about, even some whole character bits are different in fact(Case in point, Bitch is a Dark Souls 2 villain in one version, in the others she's just a bitch)

Thus, there are differences with what I'm doing here, as I'm starting with the system from the anime, and even then, I'm altering a few things from it that would be too easy to exploit for someone who does…well what this guy was doing for fun in that first chapter.

That's the biggest difference between him and the other 3 gamers in the setting. Itsuki was mostly a completionist, who does everything, but rarely thinks about the gameplay, Motoyasu was a social networker, who does what he does to impress people around him, and Ren was Kirito, who got by without knowing the system by virtue of it being an VR system that was more about personal skill.

Now, that being said, put our guy into a system with penalties, buffs, and status effects like baseline Shield Hero, and he'd break it in a few hours. The party mechanic alone offers so many tantalizing possibilities and exploits that it's not even funny, even with the nebulous EXP Down Mechanic which is only directly canon in one of the four versions of this story. And that's before you get into things like being in a hero's party buffs stats, and weapon mastery mechanics that basically encourage constantly switching forms and gathering of resources.

Basically what I'm saying is, I'm going to nail down HOW everything works in a bit more detail than even canon as I go along, and even mess with the features as they keep moving forward so that you get a functional society from these bits, rather than a world of adventure. The basics will be the same, but details have been changed to keep the power gamer from suddenly showing up to a boss fight with a level of 500+, and starting the battle with attack and speed stats so high that they are at the point where they use buildings as melee weapons.

I hope that those of you who've gotten this far will continue to allow me to play with these fun toys, and that you continue to enjoy this adventure. Thank you for the indulgence, dear reader.)