Purple lightning and smoke materialized out of nowhere as the mages of the three heroes completed their ritual. Seconds later, after a massive explosion that sent the mages flying, fog and lightning settled down as four individuals appeared suddenly, looking confused and disoriented.
"We did it! The summoning worked!". The priest called as four young men appeared out of thin air.
"I am Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, King of Melromarc".
The four young men looked at the old King in confusion, their gazes wandering throughout the church and inspecting every single corner of the huge hall.
"Uhm... and what in the heck just happened?", asked the young man with a spear attached to his back.
"And the better question is why are we here?", asked the one with a Bow.
"All very good questions and i will answer all of them, but first, i need to know your names", said the King.
"Nuh uh", replied the man with the sword sheathed on his belt. "This ain't how we play. You Will answer out questions, then we will consider answering yours. By the way, when we're speaking of questions, why did we get weapons and this guy didn't?", he added while pointing to the black haired man on his right.
Aultcray sighed and massaged his temples, "Fine, as you wish". With that Aultcray began explaining him, his family and Melromarc.
"And the 4 humble men are the 4 legendary heroes, who will bring peace to this world once again". Aultcray stood there with his arms spread wide, hoping everything was received well by the heroes.
The one with the Spear chewed on his lip before looking up at Aultcray. "So you're telling us, that we have to risk our lives, to not only level up, but also fight in these...", he thought about for a second on how to pronounce it, "Waves of Calamity? You have to be kidding me, right? Because there is no way in hell we are doing this!".
Aultcray was left standing in shock. "You old hag summoned us here to fight your lame ass war? In return for what?", asked the one with the sword.
Aultcray was torn out of his stupor by the question, "There will be a great reward. You will get big amounts of Experience points and money from killing these monsters".
The heroes eyes widened after the latest information hit home.
The guy with the spear coughed into his fist and recomposed himself as he straightened his stature, "Well then, if there are rewards like this involved, we can't just leave y'all to die here", he stated smugly.
The two with the Sword and Bow nodded dramatically as the fourth, the seemingly unarmed man just shook his head. He noticed that the King's face twisted into rage as his landed on him.
"Now state your names and Hero role", ordered the king.
"Motoyasu Kitamura is the name, from the looks of it, the Spear hero", introduced the first guy while playing with his long blonde way in a seductive way, looking at the various women and maids standing around them, "I am 21 years old and single", he finished with a wink, emitting several giggles from the aforementioned women and maids.
"The name's Itsuki Kawasumi, i'm the Bow Hero, 17 years old and seeing forward to kick some ass". Aultcray nodded approvingly.
"I am Ren Amaki", began the Sword hero, his emotionless and cold tone taking everyone aback. "16 years old and the Sword hero", King Aultcray just kept staring at Ren before he was shaken awake by one of his advisors.
"Uhh, yes, perfect. Now let's-"
"Uh, Mr King i think you forgot someone", chimed in the black haired guy on the far left.
Aultcray's face turned into Anger again before a sheepish smile crossed his face, "Yes, sorry my bad. Please tell us who you are", he said through gritted teeth.
"The name is Naofumi Iwatani, i am uhh... the shield hero? I guess", he said confused, inspecting the odd object attached to his forearm.
Before the King could continue the massive wooden doors suddenly bursted open. All eyes, including the eyes of the heroes turned to the door where a figure in M81 Woodland camo pants and a dark green sweater, above the seater he wore a Chest-rig packed with various attachments and pouches. On his left side was a Military grade Radio in a pouch. On his head a baseball-cap and a headset.
Guards standing next to the door immediately pointed their weapons at him. "I'd recommend you not to boys", he said nonchalantly as he eyed the tips of the spears and swords.
One of the guards eyed the King with a confused face expression, waiting for an Order. The king was confused by himself.
"Alright fuckers, who the hell is Aultcray?", asked the unknown man.
Multiple eyes immediately turned to the King, the latter jumping at the sudden stares.
"Are you old asshole Aultcray?", asked the man again, now pointing a finger directly at Aultcray.
"Y...yes", the king squeaked out. The people around them switched their gazes between the intruder and their King, watching the conversation go on.
"A... Are you a H... hero?", asked Aultcray, shaken by the man's unknown appearance. Never did he see these clothes or patterns.
"Hero? Me? Fuck no", replied the man, "I landed like two miles from here in a forest... which may or may not is burning right now", he explained while rubbing the back of his neck.
"What? You burned down the forest in the north?!", yelled out the King, outraged.
"Yo, calm down old man, it was an accident. Anyways, the name's Linux, I ain't no hero nor any other shit like that. I am a Wizard. Y'all can call me the America Wizard".
"America... wizard?", chimed in Motoyasu, eying Linux. The latter threw him a dangerous glare. "Have a problem with that Blondie?", asked Linux.
"You're american? Pff, fuckikg yanks, always up to something, you're probably-", began Motoyasu. He never finished his sentence though since in the middle of it, he stared down a 9mm barrel of a Glock-17.
"I dare you, end that sentence", threatened Linux as his face turned Cold. Motoyasu froze in fear, his mouth agape.
"Fucking thought so", Linux spat out and turned back to King Aultcray. His Pistol dematerializing into nothingness as his arm lowered.
"Now King whatever your name is, keep going with your... thing here", he ordered with a wave of his hand.
"Well then...", the King began.
Linux on the other hand, completely ignored the King and kept going on his own thing. Opening the menu, he checked his quests. Written in yellow letters and marked as main Mission was the quest to partner up with one of the Heroes. The problem with that was, he had to pick the right hero or the Quest will not be completed and he wouldn't get his reward.
"Time to pick your party revered Heroes", said King Aultcray with his booming voice, shaking Linux out of his entranced state.
Eying all the Heroes closely, Linux noticed that many mages and Knights lined up behind the Heroes of the Spear, Bow and Sword. Not a single sole went to the Shield Hero.
"Interesting...", murmured Linux, "I think this is him", he added.
"No one wants to go with the Shield hero? Well that's a Shame... then i-", began Aultcray but Linux chimed in and Cut him off mid sentence.
"I'll go", Linux said, raising his hand. Aultcray sat there with his mouth agape, not knowing what to say or do.
"You... you can't", began Aultcray, trying his best to find any excuse to not let Linux be Naofumi's party member.
"And why is that? Mind telling me?". All the people spun their heads violently, following the flow of this conversation which is constantly heating up more.
Linux walked up to Naofumi and gave him a solid tap on the shoulder, "I got you my guy". King Aultcray couldn't believe his eyes, his authority was undermined in front of the whole city.
"It's okay, I'll go with them", said a stunningly beautiful woman with red heart and a revealing dress.
Aultcray's face lit up, something that did not went unnoticed by Linux. Aultcray felt Linux' gaze upon him and put up his facade again.
Linux leaned close to Naofumi, "If i were you, i'd not take her", said Linux, in his signature smug tone. Naofumi just looked at him with a look that practically screamed look at her!
"Yes, please accompany me", said Naofumi, absolutely lovestruck.
Aultcray sighed and clapped once, getting the attention of the people inside the church. "Alright, seems like everyone's happy with their parties. Let's get going. All heroes will get a starting capital of 500 silver coins. Since the Shield hero has the lowest amount of party members, he will get 700".
Linux perked up at the last statement. "700 where the rest got 500? There's something absolutely wrong here", he thought to himself.
Once outside of the Church, the red head, now known as Malty, immediately jumped on Naofumi, asking questions like where they should go now or what they should do. Naofumi just laughed, holding the red hed in his arms. All the while Linux stood there, shaking his head.
"Yo, shield guy", Linux called out to Naofumi, the latter was to occupied with Malty to Answer the American. Linux sighed and shook his head again. "Shield guy!", Linux Yelled out, pulling both Malty and Naofumi out of their little game.
"What do you want?", Naofumi spat out, still holding onto Malty's hand.
"You know what, nothing, go do your thing with her", Linux said and walked off.
Meanwhile Naofumi and Malty are walking hand in hand towards some forge Malty had mentioned. On the way Naofumi told her about his life in his world and how dull and boring it was. Malty made several comments about it and agreed with him, only serving in him trusting her more and more.
Linux was going on with his own quest on finding the informant for the ID code.
"Station this is Observer, can you tell me where or what i have to look for?", he asked, looking around and trying to find any abnormalities.
"Observer this is Station, negative on your last. No intel until we have your ID code. Over".
"Shit...", Linux murmured. Just seconds later he perked up as he saw a familiar looking face looking back at him. A bald man with a thick black beard and a scar stretching from his cheek bone back to his jawbone.
The bald man nodded towards an alley as he himself walked inside. Linux, not wasting any time, immediately followed him.
Linux walked into the Alleyway, clear of any eying pedestrians he went deeper into the alley. Not liking the quietness he produced his starter Pistol, holding it in a low-ready position.
"You're the guy?", came a voice from Linux' left. He immediately spun around, pointing his gun at the unlocked voice. Realizing it's the bald man, he sighed and lowered his gun again. "Fucking hell... it's you", said Linux, out of breath, "Who are you?", Linux added quickly after.
"The name's Erhard, i'm the best blacksmith in town. And on top of that i'm your informant. You're searching for something, right?".
Linux' eyes widened, he never would have expected someone like Erhard to be his informant, or even working with the guys on the Radio.
"Here, take this", said Erhard, pushing a piece of Paper into Linux' hands, effectively throwing him out of his thoughts.
"Uhh... thanks...", Linux replied, still not fully comprehending what's happening right now.
"Oh... and i have a favor for you. Do you mind?", asked Erhard, just before he was about to leave.
Linux inspected the paper and read the insides, it was a bunch of numbers and letters. Moments later Linux looked up at Erhard and nodded at the latter's question. "What ever it is", replied Linux.
"Alright, the boy you're with, the Shield hero. Keep an eye on that lad. The King and this Malty are bloody arseholes. I'm pretty darn sure they're planning something right now". Erhard had a sincere expression on his face, waiting for Linux to respond.
"You see, he's head over heels for that girl and I can't really say that i'm fond of him just ignoring me like he did earlier. So why should I protect him?", asked Linux while he stowed the paper away in a Pouch on his chest-rig.
"Look, i know he's probably difficult to handle for the moment. The only thing you need to do is let him fall on his ass. Once he realized he's in trouble you can swoop in and save him. Then he'll listen". Erhard's instructions were clear and made sense to Linux. After all the man was his Informant so Linux owed him this much.
"Alright brother, you got it", Replied Linux as he stretched his hand out for Erhard to take it. The Blacksmith took it gratefully and shook it.
Suddenly his eyes widened and he shoved Linux back a couple of paces. "The hell?!", Linux asked, confused by Erhard's actions.
"I have Guests", was the only reply the Blacksmith gave as he snapped his fingers and disappeared into nothingness.
"Holy fuck...", exclaimed Linux. Taken aback he slowly stood up and produced the paper again after calming down a little.
Pressing the PTT Linux opened the channel to the other guys on the radio, "Station this is Observer, I got the ID code", stated Linux.
"Observer this is Station, copy that. Give us the Code".
"Uhh, 1-2-9-2-A-7-9-9-Z-Y, Over".
"Observer this is Station, negative Copy. Say again".
"Huh? The hell?", Linux said to himself. He turned the paper around to search for further clues. To his luck he found more text. On the back side was written to say the Code in the special Alphabet.
"Special Alphabet... the fuck?. Maybe they mean the Nato... Station this is Observer, One-Two-Niner-two-Alpha-Seven-Niner-Niner-Zulu-Yankee, How Copy?".
Some seconds went by without a reply. Suddenly the radio crackled up and Linux' HUD lit up with some achievements.
"Observer this is Station, ID code is valid, i say again, ID code is Valid. You're now free to call any and all Fire and Air support as long as you got it Unlocked. Over and out".
"Copy that Station, thanks".
Linux closed the Channel to Station again and opened his Menu, looking at all the achievements he got. He didn't have to look long since a golden glowing number five was in the middle of the upper half of his screen, indicating he reached Level five. "What? I jumped four levels with the first quest? Damn... I'm still a traveler though", he thought to himself, shocked at the sudden XP boost.
Upon that, he immediately opened the Tac-Terminal he had equipped to his left wrist. He had saved all the spells and summons from the book, so that he wouldn't have to pull out his book for every little spell.
"Yes! I got it!! MAGUS DUMPUS!", he yelled, getting odd stares from people passing by.
Naofumi and Malty had entered the Forge where Erhard was already waiting for them. "Greetings there Blacksmith", said Naofumi with a puffed out chest. The action emitted a giggle from Malty.
"Oh, the Legendary Shield Hero", replied Erhard, his muscular arms crossed in front of his Chest, a constant warm smile lighting his face up.
"She told me you're the best Blacksmith in town". Erhard forced a smile, knowing to well what would happen after the following night.
"She isn't wrong Lad", replied Erhard, his booming voice reverberating throughout the forge. "You need it, I got it. And if not I'll make it".
"I need a sword for the beautiful lady here and each a set of Armor for both of us". Naofumi's innocent and love struck expression made it significantly harder to not jump over the counter and start to bash Malty's face in. But Erhard had to be strong, for the sake of the boy and everyone else in their world.
"Sure thing", began Erhard and gestured to the far left side of his shop where a neatly stacked rack full of swords stood, "over there are the swords", Erhard spun around and gestured to a bunch of armor stands at the far right of the room, "and on this side you have the Armor. Take a look".
Naofumi nodded gratefully and went off to inspect everything.
Erhard noticed Malty's face turning into a sickening grin once un s while. Before he could say or do anything though, the two came up to the counter with a very expensive sword and some armor sets.
"That'll be all", said Naofumi and dropped the armor on the Counter. Erhard took a good look and made up his mind.
"That'll be 300 silver coins in total". Without skipping a beat the Shield Hero handed over a Satchel full of Silver coins.
Erhard peaked inside, weighing the satchel. After his brief inspection, Erhard gave a nod of acknowledgment and his signature warm smile, "Great! Have a nice day you two".
Linux sat on the counter at a Tavern, drinking away his Beer. The place wasn't really packed , people going on their business, others talking to each other and the waiters and waitresses doing their jobs.
"Young lady, another one please", called Linux as he held his empty glass into the air. The waitress, a red haired beauty came up to him with a warm smile and took the glass from him.
"Right away sir", she replied curtly and took off into the kitchen.
The door suddenly opened, all faces turned to the loud bang, curious on who just entered. People had their jaws agape as Ren, Itsuki and their respective Parties entered. Ren's cold blue eyes landed on Linux' brown ones. Both of them engaging in a staring contest.
The customers in the Tavern looked in anticipation as the Hero of the Sword and some unkown guy glared at each other. The whole situation being interrupted by the Waitress as she shoved the glass of beer into Linux' hand.
Realising she messed up something she immediately apologized to Linux. "I'm so sorry Sir. I wasn't looking and and...", she tripped over her own words, trying to form a coherent sentence.
Linux put an Hand on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly, making her stop in mid sentence, "It's okay, you ain't at fault here", he said reassuringly. The waitress smiled and nodded gratefully, a sigh escaping her lips.
"By the way, what's your name?", he asked, his hand still on her shoulder. She blushed madly and tried her best to look him in the eyes. "L... Lynn", she said out shyly.
"Lynn huh... beautiful name, i'm Linux. Nice to meet you Lynn". Linux outstretched his hand for her to take it. Lynn inspected the hand for half a minute before deciding to take it.
They shook hands, their eyes locked into each other. No one said anything, both of them locked in their own train of thoughts, when suddenly both of them where shaken out of it as two individuals entered the Tavern, laughing and chatting loudly.
Linux immediately recognized the two as Noafumi and Malty, as the two walked passed him he noticed Malty giving a evil grin towards Motoyasu. The Spear Hero sat at the neighboring table to the other two Heroes with his own Party. Linux immediately knew there was something really wrong about all of this situation. But remembering Erhards words, Linux stopped himself from trying anything now. Only once shit hit's the fan would he interfere, and something in his stomach told him that this would happen soon.
Lynn already left Linux' table to attend to other guests. Linux used his lone time at the counter to explore his new spells and Fire Support options he unlocked with the Level up. The Tac-Terminal was useful in the heat of the battle but it wasn't really good for reading longer periods of times. So he pulled his book out of the backpack and opened it on the Counter at Chapter one.
"Alrighty...", he murmured as he read the various spells. "Fire ball, i got that one already", he said to himself as he remembered the still burning Forest. He flicked to the next chapter, to the complicated Summoning spells.
"I got the Mag dump spell, then there is the...", he froze in place when he read the new spell, "Trench Broom", he whispered to himself, picturing an M1897 appearing out of thin air and slam-firing 6 double-ought-buckshot shells into a group of opponents.
A grin spread over his face as he imagined himself casting the spell in a dire situation and turning the tide of a battle.
His grin disappeared as he felt a hand suddenly land on his shoulder. Not a second later he had his Pistol in his hand and ready to use as he looked up to see the person overstepping his personal space. His posture relaxed again as he recognized the red Head smiling at him.
"You again Lynn?", he asked with a sly smile.
"You looked pretty lonely over here, so i came by to give you some company", she explained while playing with her long red hair. A smirk spreading over her lips, "May I?", she gestured to the empty barstool next to Linux.
"Uh... sure, nothing against some company", he replied, padding the seat.
A/N:
I'm sorry for the long wait you guys. Life has been a bitch lately. I try to post on a regular basis from now on. Emphasis on TRY
