This is a Full Metal Alchemist and Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfiction only.
My research was going well, I managed to gain even better control of my flames and the rate of expansion for the explosions. As I read the research once again to check, I began to feel that no matter how much research I do, in times of peace as we live in, none of it will be that useful.
At best it could be used to end forest fires and to burn plants to prepare the soil for the seeds for a new harvest in a new segment in a farm, but the flames my alchemy produces are not as gentle, this research is meant for combat, no civilian uses that I could think of. It was basically burning, roast, cremate, or cause something or someone to blow into pieces.
Well now that I said it, I could use it to cremate the dead and provide a less costly funeral, but thanks to the faith of our nation that is not likely to happen. I began to finish my paperwork as I put the final touches on my research, and I felt the presence of my friend brush up near me, I swear, if she had a body, she would be sitting on top of my desk.
'Oh, I wish I still had a body, don't think for a second I don't. The last body I had, well you daddy pretty much did as you just thought, he cremated me, the only difference is he did it while I was still alive. Come on, Roy, smile, I like it better when you smile.'
Ha, ha, very funny, "Look, I just finished some research that pretty much tells me my own research is worthless, how am I supposed to look happy when I find something like this? Years of my life and I find outside of combat my alchemy is useless."
Again I could feel her move and again I swear she is looking at me, 'You only got yourself to blame, I told you that Flame Alchemy would be impossible to be used outside of combat, your daddy never did. Why don't you focus on other alchemy? I even told you that if you could make a new body for me, well, I would certainly make it something that we both could enjoy.'
And pigs will fly, the last thing I need is another lecture from Truth about the sins of forcing myself upon his realm, mortals that dare to tread on the realm of god must pay a heavy price for their arrogance. It is bad enough that I spend hours each day basically flirting with the last emotional creation of a genocidal maniac that was either called a dwarf in a flask or liked to be called Father of all things.
"Sorry Lust, I guess you will simply need to find another fool to even try to do something as foolish as human transmutation. I had years worth of nightmares with Truth to never even consider it, no matter how pleasurable it may be."
She got up from my desk, and I could feel the cheerful attitude was now gone, 'Well, you may be right about this Lover Boy, and maybe I will do just that, maybe I spent too much time with you, maybe missing my company will motivate you to reconsider.'
It seems in the end Lust was one of those people that no matter how much time passes she will always remain the same, sure she has a nice voice, a sultry way to talk, and from what dad used to tell me she was a rather beautiful lady to look at, from about a hundred yards away.
He also did mention that every man that she had ever fallen to her, they literally fell to her, she could extend her fingers to make them be no better than ten lances, and she was deadly using them.
All in all, I am not going to make the same mistakes as my uncle and other people, I simply refuse to do human transmutation even if there was a chance of spending a very pleasurable evening with a particularly manipulative and deadly seductress.
As I finished reading the book that I was reading to try and get some inspiration for my research, something fell from the top of the bookcase, it was something I never even noticed before, since when do they keep fiction books in the Alchemy section of the library, I will have to talk to the personnel about this oversight.
I was looking for new ideas for research, and somehow I heard someone laughing as I looked at the book. "The chronicle of the four cardinal heroes, I hope this is not about the adventures of my uncles, mom, and dad, I heard those stories enough times I can't even forget it.
Well might as well begin reading this book, I might as well put my day off to good use especially since Lust pretty much seems to have given up on getting me to make her a new body for her to inhabit.
The book was actually a pretty entertaining read, the four cardinal heroes were for men who had special weapons, a spear, a bow, a sword, and a shield, wait for a second a shield is armor, not a weapon, oh well, each chapter was about the experiences of each, the princess looked like a backstabber, manipulative, sexy and the morals of a back alley prostitute.
I read about her first, why did they devote an entire chapter on how horrible this princess was, I got no clue, but it sure makes me feel like Lust would be a saint, by comparison, I pity the guy that falls in her clutches.
The guy that wielded the spear was an egomaniac, an absolute idiot, he seems to only make a decision with his pecker than his brain, the guy that wielded the sword was so antisocial he would fit in with the interrogation squad, but he had the personality of a chili pepper enema. To call him a loner would be stating the obvious, the word Emo for some reason was written right by his title.
The guy who had the bow was a hypocrite, wanted recognition without any work, and always pretended to be this hero for justice, Uncle Ed once told me about this guy named Father Cornello, he sure fits the description of this guy.
And they left the guy with the shield at the end, no more than ten pages it seems, I guess after reading so much of the stories through the other three it would be a little repetitive. It pretty much said in the first page that the shield hero was particularly kind to a species called demihumans, the second page dealt with the conflicts against a nation of stuck up idiots, that discriminated against anything not entirely human.
It seems the shield hero fought in several wars against this place called Melromarc, and since each hero was supposed to be summoned by a different nation by something called the treaty of the four, they rarely worked together.
Why would they even need to summon or conscript four people to be these heroes, as I turned the page hoping to find the answer I saw a blinding light, the entire room seemed to disappear and I was standing in a place I only heard in tales from people that almost died.
A man was standing near me and he had this shield, a small shield with a green gem right in the middle of the shield. "So am I to believe you are the shield hero from the book I was reading? Where am I? How did I get here and more importantly how do I leave?"
The man walked over to me and placed his hand, the arm that had the shield strapped to it, "You are wrong, young man, I am not the shield hero, we are. You do not need to worry my successor, I have come to share with you everything I know, you are going to a dark place to save innocent people that without you would surely die."
I felt a little dizzy as images appeared in my mind, more and more images, letters, languages, facts, recipes, too much, it was too much information too quickly, I could barely focus, finally, the amount of information must have been too much and everything went dark.
I felt the hard surface of a stone floor, and I tried to open my eyes and try to stand, "Oh, great cardinal heroes, we implore you, please save our world from the waves of calamity, you are our only hope."
Do they have to shout? Wait, cardinal heroes like the four in the book. I finally managed to open my eyes and stand up on my own, wait,a guy with a spear, a bow, and a sword? I looked at my arm, and sure enough, I had the same small shield from my dream. I was dressed in my uniform for some odd reason and I still had my ignition cloth gloves, then again I never go anywhere without them.
"Look you can beg, plead all you want, but we aren't doing anything without being properly rewarded. We need to speak to your leader, your prime minister or your king to see what we will get for our work." Boy, the spear guy sure has an ego, couldn't even bother hearing the details before jumping down someone's throat.
"Yea, we don't need you, you need us, and we don't do charity. If you try to rip us off we will turn from your potential saviors into your enemies." Sword wielder, check, loner, check, antisocial to a fault, check and check.
"We will not be used and discarded, you better hope that you are fair and just or you shall pay." Boy, these guys meet all the criteria for the other three heroes from my book. I rather stay quiet than end up making a scene like these fools, I will hear what they have to say before I decide what I should do.
Wait, the four heroes were summoned by a single nation, that is a violation of the treaty of the four, this means whatever nation summoned us, wait we were summoned to another world, why do I know this, they must be pretty desperate to summon all four of us the consequences of breaking the treaty was not written but I don't think it is something that is punished lightly.
"Yes, honorable heroes, our king wishes to see you as soon as possible. He will explain the situation and then you shall understand why you were summoned, he will also be able to negotiate your just rewards for the important work that you shall do for us, make no mistake, you shall receive your just rewards."
They sure have an inflated opinion of themselves, these are the kind of people that would last about a day in my state military, they sure as all hell don't fit the philosophy of an alchemist. I can also think that maybe deep down they are scared, I mean they just got transported to a new unknown world.
Truth knows if I had not been so well raised and trained by my folk, I probably would be screaming my head off, something along the lines of being abducted, or being taken against my will and being turned into a slave. All I know is that this building and the castle seem to fit medieval era construction.
Stone walls and floors, the staircases told me that the construction is hundreds of years old if not older, I looked out a window and I saw what you would expect, a town or small city with about the same level of development as the caste, I had no reason to chat with the other people, but they kept talking about some sort of game.
Do they honestly think this is a play? This situation couldn't be more real even if they tried to make us think otherwise, the air, the feel of the place screamed desperation, hate, and anger, I could practically smell it, it is either that or they simply have not developed good sewers. Cause something sure stinks.
We kept walking in the direction the people in the robes were guiding us. The throne room was massive, it almost felt like a ballroom. The king was sitting flanked by two elderly gentlemen who I am guessing were his advisors. The man had a rather well-kept beard, he was sure dressed in fine clothes, and the crown was an impressive piece of art.
"You arrived great and honorable heroes before we begin I do believe a brief introduction is necessary, My name is Aultcray Melromarch the thirty-second King of my beloved nation of Melromarch, now would you please introduce yourself, so we may know the names of our noble heroes?"
The spear wielder stepped forward, "Name is Motoyasu Kitamura, Age 21, Single, University Student." The guy using the sword stepped up right next to Motoyasu and looked at the king, "Ren Amaki, Age 16 High School Student." The next one was the one with the bow, "Itsuki Kawasumi, Age 17 High School Student."
Well, I was the last remaining so I decided to step up right next to Motoyasu, I was about to introduce myself when the king began to clap his hands. "It is an honor to meet you Sir Motoyasu, Sir Ren, and Sir Itsuki. Allow me to tell you why you have been summoned."
I am not going to pretend that this didn't bother me, I was not even given a chance to introduce myself and this told me I was not needed or wanted to be present, had the previous shield hero not appeared before me and shared all those things he once knew with me, I would be as lost as these other three guys.
Since I saw that was the case I decided that since I was not worth his time, I better leave and get ready for what I clearly knew I needed to do. I turned around and began to walk away from the other three heroes, or at least I tried. That is when several armed men surrounded me and drew their weapons, they each had a sword pointing at me.