"O brave heroes please save our world!" the priest shouted as he looked to the summoned heroes, he looks at the sword, spear and bow wielder for a moment as a grin of pride appears in his face. when he looked at the shield hero however that grin quickly faded away as he saw an person that was more or less the size of a midget, he wore a type vibrant red armor that sharply contrasts the color of his dark gray body suit. He also wore a stylized helmet that features a distinct white trim that points upward, along with a flowing yellow scarf and thick black sunglasses that made him fit the mysterious dashing lone wolf archetype quite well. And the shield he carried in his body was different from how it was described in ancient text, it was almost as large as the boy's entire body and had a distinct shape to it that was reminiscent of a diamond or a egg, with thick red outlines in its edges while the main part was a pure white, in the front there was a opening for most likely for him to see through the shield when using it to block, and a green gem in the middle that seemed to glitter like a star with its magical energy
"Huh? What is this place? Who are you? What's going on?" Protoman said as he got up and looked at the summoners, pointing at them while holding his shield in a defense stance as he prepared for the worst
"You can forget it, I don't want to save your world or whatever" a voice called out grabbing Protoman's attention, it was a blond teen with a ponytail and red eyes, on one hand he held a long spear with a red jewel that seemed to glimmer under the dull rays of the sun that barely illuminated the room they were in.
"I also refuse myself" spoke another young blonde haired kid present there, he had a bow and used a school uniform of some high caliber institute
"You brought us here without our consent, don't you feel the least guilty about that?" One with a sword and black hair said as he pointed his weapon to the robed man as if to threaten them
"Not to mention, if you throw us out as soon as we restore peace we would've done all that work for nothing" the bow wielder added as he nodded along to what the kid with the sword had said
"How are you willing to accommodate us? depending on your answer, we may become your enemies" The spear wielder leapt at the opening the bow carrier made, now point his spear at the robed individuals.
"Oh, is that all? Of course, we will compensate you! You are the four cardinal heroes. It is only right that we reward you for what is to come..." The robed man felt relieved as if the fact that his supposed saviors demanding from them payment was a acceptable outcome
"Hey, I still have questions here, nobody has explained what is going on and what this problem you need help even is!" Protoman shouted as he looked at the summoners, the people's attention turned to look at the robot master, there was a brief silence before the spear wielder broke into laughter
"Dude, what are you wearing? You look like a kid's toy! And you're so short! Like a midget! Are you sure you can use a shield that big?" The spear wielder said in between happy giggles as he seemed like he couldn't take Protoman seriously due to his appearance, the robot master didn't bother reacting to it or replying back with his own rude words... For now, if the blonde didn't stop soon then he would know how hard a machine can be when pointing out flaws in appearance
"Is he cosplaying some character?" The bow carrier asked as he saw Protoman's "outfit" as some type of costume, it sort of reminisced of old manga characters like Astro boy with those big strange boots
"How old is he?" The sword bearer asked as he was assuming from Protoman's appearance that he was either a short teenager or a really tall child
"Well shield, the king of this great country is the one with the power and resources to reward you as well as answer any of the questions you four may have, not I. Please let me lead you to him, his majesty is most eager to meet you." The robed man said in a much more serious tone than he was before, very little if not no anger at all in his voice anymore. He motioned with his hands as he led them out of the room. There was a brief moment where all heroes were silent and looked at each other.
"I guess" the sword hero murmured, putting his sword down
"Well, we can at least see what they offer" The bow hero sounded like he thought the whole world should be grateful for his indifference.
"King or no, our demands will be high. No amount of talking will change that" the spear hero sounded like that stubbornness was a good thing.
"..." Proto man just kept quiet before giving a simple nod. They followed the robed man through corridors and flights of stairs, when they reached the window, the four stopped to look at the outside view, seeing the town bellow filled with active, Protoman looked in slight awe of the sight, everything was so like the history books described of a medieval times, which worried the robot master to no end, as he could only wonder how the heck would he repair himself if he got damage, this world or kingdom didn't seem to have the tools needed for repairing his complex mechanisms, and there was no way he could just replace damage limbs for wooden ones no matter how impressive the craftsmanship
"Hey, we have to continue" the teen with the sword said as he caught Protoman's attention, they quietly stared at each other before Blues followed him. As the four heroes and their guide approached a set of large doors leading to the largest section of the castle, they all knew what was ahead. The robed man turned to them. "Beyond this door lies our king, please try to show some respect" Once again that was said as a plea not an order. As the doors opened and they began to enter, a booming voice announced them
"Now entering the cardinal heroes!" a voice from the other side called out as the large doors of the throne room opened and the four entered as they were analysing the place
"So... these are the summoned legendary heroes?" the voice of an older man speaks, catching the attention of the four heroes as they looked at the direction of the throne
"Very well... I'm king Aultcray Melromarc XXXI" The king was donned in robes of cream and navy blue with detailing and trim of gold. Over that was an elegant cloak of a rich purple, his grey hair reached down to his shoulders with a trimmed grey beard, each of his fingers except for the pointer fingers was a gold ring with only the right index finger sporting a gem, purple in color. Upon his head was a gold crown with a lone purple gem in the center of it.
"Now, could the heroes please name yourselves." He spoke while looking at them from his throne, his tone was very dominant and commanding as a king of a nation would have. The first was Proto man as he took a few steps forward, he looked at the king for a moment, his eyes meeting the king's cold and intense gaze, but the robot didn't flinch at such a thing
"You can call me... Blues" Protoman simply responded, the other heroes questioned his name but they chalked it up to roleplaying, plus, Ren thought it was a pretty cool introduction
"I am Amaki Ren, age 16, a high schooler" the sword hero said next as he held his sword with his left hand.
"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, 21 years old, college student" The spear hero went next. Taking a step forward and placing his spear on his shoulders
"Guess I'm next, huh? Kawasume Itsuki, 17, high schooler as well" The bow hero went next as he raised his bow to inspect the object
"Uhm... Anyways, My country of Melromarc is in grave danger of a threat known as the waves." the king began explaining what the waves were. They could happen anywhere at any time, lasting for multiple hours or until the boss is killed. During that time monsters would continue to pour out of the wave and even after it stopped, any monster already here would remain until slain
"The waves are said to become stronger over time. They last longer, the wave bosses and all under them will be stronger. There are even written accounts of waves with more than one wave boss...It is best to summon you now, when the waves are weak to give you time to strengthen yourselves to stay ahead of the waves' growing threat" the king finished his explanation with a heavy sigh
"Strengthen ourselves? Are we not legendary heroes? are these not legendary weapons?" Ren spoke as he lifted the sword he held to his chest, Protoman observed the shield in his arm more carefully, it looked exactly like the shield he always used with the exception of the gem in the middle that was surprisingly shiny, but the robot was left perplexed as his sensors didn't pick anything up but... he could feel some strange energy coming from within, he didn't understand what power that was, with the only way he could describe was that it was like the warmth of a living being that was described to him by doctor Light, which was impossible for him to feel something like that
"You see heroes, each weapon has its own strengthening method. It gains strength alongside you all as they are one with your bodies and souls, they are as strong as you will let it be, it is your responsibility as the bearers of the sacred weapons to help them grow into their true potencial as to one day they may be able to rip the sea in half and turn mountains into dust," the king clarified as that made the heroes look at their weapons more inquisitively at the thought of doing such feats. Protoman thought's lingered on what the king mentioned about the weapon being attached to both body and soul, he could understand the logic of being connected to his body, but soul? He didn't have that, he was a robot, a machine, not a living being, he couldn't have such thing
"As for you yourselves, could you activate your status magic?" The king asked, pulling the heroes away from analysing their weapons to just look at him in confusion once again with the exception of the sword hero
"What? Status magic?" Motoyasu asked as he scratched the side of his head, Itsuki and Protoman wondered the same thing. But Ren seemed annoyed as he apparently had already activated his status
"You guys are serious? It should have been the first you would notice, there's an icon in the corner of your vision, focus on it and a menu should appear" Ren said as he looked at his fellow heroes dumbfounded by their ignorance in a manner that should have been obvious. The three heroes followed his instructions, finding the icon and focusing on it, causing a digital screen to appear in their vision
[Name: Blues/Protoman/Break-man]
[Titles: the original robot master, the renegade prototype, first son of Light]
[Race: Robot]
[Class: Shield Hero, Robot master]
[Equipment]
[Legendary shield - Proto form (locked)] [otherworldly armor] [otherworldly scarf] [otherworldly sunglasses]
[Inventory] - [4 x Energy Tank; 1 x Weapon Tank; 29 x Energy pellets; 17 x Weapon capsule]
[Level: 1 - Experience Points needed to reach the next level: 20 points ]
[Health: 100]
[Magical Power: 40]
[Skill Power: 40]
[Special weapon Energy: 100%]
[Stamina: Unlimited]
[Attack potency: 10]
[Buster power output: 45]
[Physical Strength: 25 ]
[Magic capability/potential: 40]
[Physical Defense: 60]
[Magical Defense: 40]
[Agility: 25]
[Robot master Weapons copied: Set1: Gemini Laser, Search Snake, Spark Shock, Top Spin, Hard knuckle, Magnet Missile, Shadow Blade, Needle Cannon;
(Locked! Level requirement: 20) Set 2: Knight Crusher, Silver Tomahawk, Centaur Flash, Blizzard attack, Flame Blast, Yamato Spear, Plant Barrier, Wind Storm;]
'What is all this stuff?' Protoman wondered as he looked through the status screen, it seemed like very advanced tech, a holographic screen that was being projected inside his mind, but it wasn't like his scanners and sensors, it seemed incredibly familiar to the technology of his world but also very alien. Further more, there seemed to be multiple features that related solely to the shield in his arm 'What is this shield?'
"Yeah I think I got this, but surely you don't expect us to do this free right?" Itsuki said as he shot a look of defiance towards the king, pulling the other heroes attention back from their status screen to the current moment
"Of course, you will be rewarded handsomely and not just at the end, but after every wave we will reward you heroes. Every step of the way." A short man by the side of the throne said, probably the king's advisor
"Well There's four of us, so we just need to form a group, right?" Motoyasu suggested what seemed like the logical conclusion, since the four of them were summoned here together it only made sense that they would be a team, before the other three could say anything, they were cut off
"Excuse me, but that won't do at all." the advisor said before explaining it better "Due to the unique qualities of the holy weapons, none of you can gain experience while near one another."
[WARNING: The four holy weapons dampen one another's growth while within close quarters of about 1 kilometer. Distance advised whenever possible in case of wanting to gain Experience Points to reach new levels]
"Well that seems highly inconvenient, no? Why would the weapons have such restrictions if they are supposed to fight together?" Protoman asked out loud that question mostly to himself as he observed the shield in his arm again, although none of the other three heroes seemed to be actually bothered by this, as if they rather not be a team, Protoman also preferred to be alone but it was the principle of the matter at hand that bothered him
"Untrue shield, You must form parties of adventurers separately. Gather strength then fight the waves together" The king responded to the group, grabbing back their attention as they looked at him
"And although you four won't gain levels from the waves, the monsters from the waves can still be of use, you should see this within your status magic, but it is said that the holy weapons can feed upon the fallen to gain new powers and forms" he said as another notification window appeared in the heroes views
[WARNING: The legendary weapons can absorb objects to unlock new forms, new forms provide stat increases, as well as abilities. Fully mastering a weapon form provides its bonuses permanently and allows most skills to be used with another weapon form in use]
"Heroes you can ask us questions all day; however, your status magic should be a great aid. Please refer to it tonight." The king motioned to several servants dressed in typical maid outfits
"For now, please rest and adjust to these trying circumstances. Tomorrow I will introduce you to adventures who have agreed to aid you in your difficult quest. Between your status magic and seasoned adventures by your side, most questions you have will be answered soon enough" The king explained to them. The servants motioned to the heroes to follow, they were first taken to a dining hall, where they ate some of the local cuisine. After dinner, they were escorted to a private room where they would pass the night, after they entered and the maid accompanying them had gone out the four heroes were to themselves,
"Guess you get special treatment when you're heroes, huh? Did you see how sexy our maid was? Her bosom was so big!" Motoyasu said as he lazily spread himself at a armchair, the other heroes felt that the spear hero was a bit improper for pointing out such detail
"And although our dinner had quite a different taste, it was quite delicious" Itsuki commented as he tried to move subjects, as he remembered the many unique dishes they all ate with the exception of Protoman that didn't eat anything due to not needing to consume food because he was a robot
"That's probably monster ingredients for you" Ren spoke in his usual cold demeanor, the sword wielder looked at Protoman who was just standing still while looking at one of the corners of the rooms, it felt weird that he was kinda of embarrassed that both him and the robot were playing the lone wolf type and the sword hero didn't know how to feel about it
"Yeah never thought I was gonna get sent to a videogame world" Motoyasu said as he laid back further in the armchair as the other two heroes nodded in agreement to him, which made Protoman curious at what the young man had said
"Video Game? What are you guys on about? This isn't a game" Protoman said as he found that a nonsensical comparison, sure, the status screen could be confused for a game screen but that was it, since he was a machine he didn't feel anything but the other heroes summoned alongside him were humans, they must have felt the wind on their skin, the rays of sunlight on their eyes, the weight of their steps or of the weapons they held in their hands, heck, they just ate dinner and were discussing its taste a few moments ago! There was no way they thought this was a game
"Uh, yes it is! This place is identical to a game I played and mastered, the weapons, the exposition speech the king gave us, the status magic, everything is practically one to one to how it was in the game!" Motoyasu said he slightly got up from the armchair before leaning back down with a confident smile "Ergo, we're in the game!"
"That's a very dangerous mentality to have. Believing everything is a game or simulation can end badly" Protoman stated, believing life was a game was dangerous, although, he was kind of hoping the spear hero would try to prove him wrong by jumping of a window to his death, just so to be sure "What will you do about the consequences of such mentality?"
"It is less that we think there are no consequences and more of... A sense of security, I also played a game identical to this place and knew tons about it, so I'm secure in the knowledge from the game to carry me here" Itsuki explained in a better way than Motoyasu, the bow hero believed more or less on the video game angle but he couldn't deny the similarities to his game, and if everything was practically the same then he would have a great advantage since he knew Dimensional Web like the back of his hand
"Same, until this place proves to be too different from my game for my knowledge of that game's world to be unreliable, I see no reason to not trust what I already know" Ren added as they had to use the knowledge they had to their fullest as that could let them become very strong really quick, and allow them to not worry much
"And what if that information is wrong? What then? What if you trust this game knowledge and it fails you in a crucial moment? It could end in disaster!" Protoman pointed at in a fit at what the others had said, believing something from a leisure game to help you survive in a life or death scenario, one thing would be if they actually played some type of survival game to teach them about managing resources but even that is limited in how applicable it is to reality
"You should be more concerned about yourself, midget. Being the shield and all that" Motoyasu argued as he pointed at the shield, as if that was the be all and end all of the conversation
"What's wrong with the shield exactly? Smarty-pants" Protoman asked as he looked at the shield then at the spear wielder to see what genius reply he had
"It's the worst weapon out of the four of us, complete turd when it comes to attacking and damaging opponents!" Motoyasu said as he emphasized how weak the shield supposedly was, getting just a scoff from Protoman
"Yes, in my game it was too weak to hurt most monsters, by the late game it was the definition of useless in defeating and killing any mobs" Itsuki added as Ren nodded along in agreement, that genuinely made Protoman mad that they were once again using games to justify just, but he was betting that these three had not been in a real scuffle before
"Heh, clearly you three never saw or felt how it is to have a shield bashing your body like a battering ram" Protoman replied with a smirk as he was really going to violate the rules of robotics to prove how wrong these three were, but he contained himself
"Look, I hate relying on others, but even I know that the world can't be saved by just a single person, especially if they don't take things seriously by seeing all of it as a game" Protoman said as he saw how the world would be ended or dominated by Wily if it wasn't for the of MegaMan, doctor Light, Roll and even Rush. Teamwork, honest to god good teamwork was invaluable in any situation, especially ones of such scale such as world ending threats "If I have to be a support, be it on the front lines or the sidelines... I will still do my part to save the day"
What he said seemed to make the heroes reflect a little bit, perhaps they were taking his words to heart to give up the charade but Motoyasu shook his head before glaring at the robot master
"You're trying to make us sound bad when you don't know anything about how this world works. Power is truly all that matters in the end of the day, and you have none" Motoyasu said as if that invalidated Protoman's point, with the two other heroes nodding in somewhat agreement with the spear hero
"That way of seeing things will bring you three to a bitter end" Protoman coldly replied as the three other heroes looked at him only to be met by the pitch black darkness of his shades and the freezing truth in his face "I think I had enough chatting for today, good night" Protoman said as he lifted himself from his chair and walked away, exiting the room and entering one of the different rooms available in the hallway, he turned to look at the night sky through the window, until his sensors picked up a thing
As a highly advanced robot that was later further upgraded to be a weapon by Willy, Protoman was outfitted with tons of different sensors to give him a edge against his opponents, like knowing how many people were present in a certain radius of him so he can take on multiple adversaries, and unfortunately for however it was that was spying him, they entered that radius.
Protoman walked to the open balcony and with his robotic legs, jumped high as he climbed to the rooftops of the castle, he stood there for a moment waiting as his hand had turned into his trusty Proto buster.
"[Gemini laser]" He said as he shot behind himself a thin blue laser that just barely hit as it struck something or more correctly, someone. A veil of bended light broke apart to reveal someone in a full body ninja suit in a very dark tone of purple with small silver details
"Now that your camouflage is gone, care to answer some questions of my? Who are you? Why were you watching me? Who do you work for?" Protoman asked the mysterious shadow that had its only response being that of staying silent before it attempted to escape
"Oh no, you don't! [Search Snake]!" Protoman shouted as he shoot three mechanical green snakes from his buster arm as they slithered across the roof after their target, as Protoman himself gave pursue while firing shots from his buster. The shadow did its best to avoid the energy shots from the original robot master but with its attention focus on Protoman, it failed to avoid one of the Search Snake's bite at their heels, causing them to lose balance momentarily
"[Needle Cannon]!" Protoman shouted as he fired three sharp metallic needles at the shadow that narrowly dodges by doing a flimsy somersault, the ninja tried as a response to throw three pellets at Protoman, who responded by lifting his shield to block it in the case they were explosive, which he was half right as when the pellets hit his shield, they exploded in bursts of thick gray smoke
"Smoke bomb? Poor choice" Protoman said as that hardly would give the shadow a advantage, his optical sensors might be compromised but he still had his other to rely on, it was his audio systems that recognized a weighty footstep to his left as he turned to tackle the shadow, but he found nothing as the smoke disappeared, he looked around for the ninja with both his eyes and sensors, catching a glance of a dark blur jumping through the castle roofs and jumping over the brick wall separating the castle from the city
"Tsk, coward" the original robot master said as he turned to leave, before seeing the metal needles from the Needle Cannon he shot earlier, remembering what the king said about the weapons absorption powers, he decided to test it by carefully picking a needle and inserting it in the gem of the shield, as the gem glowed and the needle dematerialized in a green glow
[Iron Needle shield] (unlocked)!
Plus 20% Resistance to spikes
"That's nifty, those things are a pain to deal with" Protoman said as if there was something he hated, it was spikes, he despised those things with a burning passion. Although that did open new possibilities, if the shield could absorb that and give something that useful, what else could it give him? He immediately remembered the items he had in his inventory, those could help him avoid him stacking damages to his armor shell and systems from attacks and keep his energy to use his variable weapons system. And in the case of the weapons, what could they give? He had to find out now
[Energy Tank shield]
Plus 25 health
[Skill: Health Restore: once per day, activate this skill to instantly heal all of your health]
[Weapon Tank shield]
Plus 25 skill points
[Skill: Weapon refill: once per day, activate this skill to instantly refill all of your special weapon energy bar]
[Energy pellets shield]
Plus 10 health
[Passive ability: enemies will occasionally drop energy pellets that restore health when consumed (small)]
[Weapon capsule shield]
Plus 10 skill points
[Passive ability: enemies will occasionally drop weapon capsule that restore weapon energy when picked up (small)]
[Shadow Blade shield]
Plus 10 dark resistance
[Skill: the shield turns into a giant shuriken that can be thrown and that returns to you after a few seconds]
[Search Snake shield]
Plus 5 poison resistance, plus 10 biting resistance
[Passive ability: Improved tracking of living beings (medium)]
[Magnet Missile shield]
5 lightning resistance
[Skill: Magnetize your opponent if you strike them three times with a physical blow]
"Heh, not bad, not bad at all" Protoman said as he looked at the shields he unlocked and equipping the [energy tank shield], which was much smaller than his base shield form and resembled the blue tank of oil with a big "E" stamped on it, so it could master by tomorrow morning, he returned to the guest room he would stay the night and waited, anticipating the shadow ninja to return to strike again with reinforcements perhaps, he kept waiting and waiting until the sun rose, perhaps the ninja spying him was a coward or found best to await a new opportunity to come and strike.
Protoman sighed and decided to collected his thoughts, today him and the other three summoned heroes would get teammates to accompany them, he was not a fan of the idea, he rather be alone and rely on himself than trust in a stranger, specially after discovering that someone was spying on him last night, if anything that meant he was a danger to anyone that decided to be his partner, he was probably better off getting out of here
But there was the question about currency, surely the king would give them some money to start of their adventure, but that wasn't a requirement for someone like him that didn't need to eat, sleep, drink, need clothes, use bathrooms and many other things. He could honestly just live in the wilderness and be fine, he was doing that already back in his original world
With his mind made, he went to the balcony and climbed to the rooftops of the castle until he got close to the wall, taking a mighty leap that was boosted by [Top Spin] so he could go further, landing on the wall, he quickly slid down from it into the streets, moving swiftly to get to a alleyway before anyone noticed his presence. A easy task considering that it was very early in the morning with the sun barely in the horizon, people were still in bed
He moved through the streets and shadows, realizing quickly how he would stick out like a cargo ship in a traffic jam with how he looked, the bright red of his armor and his yellow scarf were sure to grab attention, and call him paranoid but after last night, he rather avoid being seen too much by everyone. He looked around for a disguise, seeing a piece of brown cloth that was covering a stack of wood in a carriage stationed there, he grabbed it, placed his shield behind his back and wrapped around himself the cloth to cover his body and head with a hood
He made his way to come across the outer wall of the city, since there in the surrounding wilderness would he find monsters to fight and become stronger, that was the objective right now, become stronger to fight against the waves of calamity to save the world, simple. He was aimlessly going through the place as it seemed that the streets started to fill with people and shops began to open, he passed through a sort of plaza with a big fountain in the center, he looked at it and the ornamented statue of a angel that served as the center piece, as it pointed at a direction with its hand, when he looked at were the angel statue pointed, he saw a enormous cathedral in a short distance from him, it was like the statue was, not suggesting or asking, but demanding that anyone that saw her went to the cathedral immediately
Protoman would ignore such thing, he was not religious since he was a machine and he saw no point in going to church, but it was like... Something within him was pleading weakly at the back of his electronic mind to go there and take a look, he turned his face to look at his back covered by the cloth, was this the shield's doing? Did it want him to go there? If so, why?
He shook his head before looking at the cathedral, it was worth at least checking the place, as it seemed like a landmark of the town besides the castle, he walked to there, and there was absolutely no one in the front doors
'No guards to monitor the doors? Then again it's a church, not a treasure vault' he thought as he entered, the place was empty, surprisingly so, had he truly come in a bad time? Was everyone still asleep even though the day had started rising?
He walked the halls aimlessly, the sound of his footsteps being his only company as he reached a strange area, it had an enormous hourglass in the center that seemed to move on its own, having gold details and casing in the bottom, with blue sand falling from the top that sparkled like stars in the night sky. Protoman looked in a strange awe, as he approached the hourglass almost in a trance as he reached out a hand to touch the glass container of the mythical sand.
As soon as he touched the hourglass, the sand inside began to glow so brightly that it illuminated the entire room and threatened to burn his vision scanners if he didn't close his eyes or wasn't wearing sunglasses, then the light show ended just as quick as it started, Protoman staying there in place for a minute trying to understand what happened until noticing something new on his vision
[Wave countdown: 3 weeks, 4 days, 12 hours, 26 minutes and 57 seconds...]
"A timer?" Protoman mumbled as he observed the seconds counting down, was this how the people of this world knew to prepare before the calamity hit? That certainly would be handy, knowing how much time one had to prepare and strengthen oneself for such event. Suddenly, he heard footsteps fast approaching where he was
"Who's there?! Who's using the hourglass?!" A nun holding up a broom shouted as she looked around the hourglass area for anyone only to find it empty, she scratched the side of her head, she was sure that the cathedral was just illuminated by the hourglass activation but no one was there to perform a class ceremony. She left the room thinking that maybe the hourglass shined on its own since no one knew the true nature of its magic
As she left, Protoman peaked from behind a pillar, part of him felt silly for hiding from what seemed like just a nun cleaning the place up in preparation for the day but who knows? Maybe that broom had a hidden blade, he left shortly after as he noticed the streets fill with people, morning was starting
He eventually arrived at the city gates and passes through the guards there mostly unnoticed thanks to his short size, as he looked at the long green fields and the nearby forest. He took off his makeshift coat and placed it in his inventory, getting the shield off his back and into his hand as he looked for a target to fight
Some tall grass began shaking as his sensors picked up four physical forms in movement as a group of four spherical creatures with sharp teeth and rubber looking skin pounced out from the grass. One shot each from his blaster and they popped, rubbery scraps falling to the ground
4 exp
A notification appeared in his vision before quickly closing, that was the thing he needed to get stronger, gained from slaying foes. He walked up to the remains of the monsters and analyzed it before absorbing into the shield
[Balloon shield] - plus 2 defense
"... Are these things man-made? No way actual rubber balloon creatures are just born naturally" Protoman stated before he equipped the Iron Needle shield and went to look for more adversaries to fight
It was night as Protoman was roaming the forest, the evening went quickly as he found no threats from the local monsters, though he was left puzzled on how a sentient egg yolk monster was a thing. He settled for homing his sensors to detect any unseen target, that whole ordeal with the shadowy figure spying him was eating his mind and he could swear he felt like he was being watched at times
Morning arrived shortly as he saw the sun beginning to rise, after changing the shield into a more compact form, he decided to hit the town to find some tip on were more powerful monsters and resources were. Donning his makeshift coat that covered the most of him, he entered the city as he could see that people were seemingly more tensed up and gossiping then yesterday, The news of the summoning heroes must have reminded them that a apocalypse was happening so it made sense that they were filled with some worries.
He asked around some people and they all guided him to a adventurers guild, though it would be called a mercenary missionar center in the modern times he came from because that was what this adventurers were, people who would work odd jobs that mostly involved body guarding, monster extermination (and allegedly assassinations) for money. He quickly registered under the adventurers name Break-man and went to look at the quest board where missions were posted
"Did you hear about the trial of the shield hero?" Someone commented to another adventurer. That caught his attention more than the quests at display
"Excuse me, what's this about the shield hero? He was trialed?" Protoman asked as he approached a pair of men chatting on a table
"Just returned from a quest I reckon?" A bearded adventurer said, assuming Protoman was unaware because he just returned from traveling "Yeah man, it's the talk of the town on how the shield hero raped his companion"
"What happened?" Protoman asked as he knew that this was some lie, not by the man's part since he was clearly being sincere but not only did Protoman have no companion, he must definitely couldn't perform the act considering he lacked a very crucial feature for that and that it was impossible for him to have a sexual libido
"So basically, the heroes got their parties to accompany them, and the shield hero got this one red head. The two went to spend the night in a inn and the shield got drunk off his ass and raped her, she was able to escape since was pretty weak and tell the guards" the man explained the story he heard being spread around by both the common folk and the official representatives of the crown "He was trialed, he would have gotten the death sentence but since the world needs him to stop the Waves, the king let him go but now everyone knows how much of ass he is"
"They should have at the very least cut off his junk, that would have teach that demi-human loving fuck" another person from across the room commented, his nose red from how drunk he was, especially considering the morning had just started
"Well... Thanks for informing me, I'll kick his butt if I see him, do you know what he looks like?" Protoman asked to know how much people knew, wondering if his appearance was know and if he should change it immediately
"Don't know, the descriptions only said that he was using weird armor, red and grey I think. Some say he's short as a midget or child but that might just be exaggeration to humiliate him" the man said as he felt those descriptions were just a way of ridiculing a rapist, no way a hero would be a midget, not even the shield
"Hmm, okay then" Protoman said as he went and walked out of the guild after grabbing three quests from the board, making sure he was not noticed
He wondered if this was the doing of whoever that shadow figure he fought was, perhaps it was a organization that had the king under their thumb or he was a part of. Though he had to question why he was targeted, he hadn't revealed his interaction with that ninja to no one for reasons like this, was this their way to get back at him from finding them out? Turning the whole country and most likely those three buffoons that call themselves heroes against him?
'Have to get new clothing to cover my armor shell' Protoman said as he placed his glasses and helmet in his inventory, that should help him not get recognized since no one knew his true face 'But I need money for that' He walked off to go and complete the quests, determined to solve this mystery
[Author's Notes]
Really loved the Archie run of Megaman, shame it was cancelled because protoman was my favorite character. For those wondering Proto man can use his Proto Blaster because it's part of his arm and deals 1 damage per shot, but charging shots and robot master weapons/abilities are seen by the system as a skill instead. I was originally going to give him more robot master abilities but some were really broken so this is his list of abilities I have set on:
Proto Buster: A powerful arm cannon like the Mega Buster. Proto Man can charge energy to make the shot stronger.
Proto Shield: A strong shield that can deflect most attacks, he also dashes while holding it, using it as a battering ram.
Proto Strike: A powerful short range charge shot used by Proto Man in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.
Big Bang Strike: An energy blast of tremendous power. This attack is very dangerous to Proto Man, however, as it severely drains his energy. It's was used in Mega Man & Bass to destroy King's strong shield.
Variable Weapon System: Proto Man can copy Special Weapons from other robots and use them to his own advantage.
Abilities he has copied:
Gemini Laser: shoots a blue energy beam that reacts to the opponent's thoughts, and it reflects when it hits substances that do not have thoughts, like walls
Spark Shock: Its system generates an energy ball that can short-circuit electronic components, temporarily paralyzing enemies. However, it is not effective against enemies with insulated coating.
Search Snake: releases snake-like missiles that crawl across floors and up and down walls (but not across ceilings). Up to three snakes can be onscreen at the same time. The snakes can track prey quite effectively
Magnet Missile: a magnet-shaped missile that tracks its target with a magnetic force.
Hard Knuckle: When utilized, fires a slow but powerful fist. Can be utilized without having to launch the fist, diminishing the slowness but decreasing range
Needle Cannon: It is a rapid fire weapon that fires needles that slightly alternate heights. Up to three needles can be used at the same time.
Shadow Blade: It is a large hira shuriken that can be thrown to attack. Is coated with a special, deadly liquid that is capable of deranging the functions of mechanisms and people. Only one can be thrown at a time, and it has a relatively short range. However, the blade boomerangs back to where it was thrown from
Top Spin: It is a system that integrates offense and defense by rotating one's body at high speed
Blizzard Attack: When used, four snowflakes will materialize behind him and be released in the direction he is facing— two straight forward, one diagonally upward, and one diagonally downward. Because the snowflakes appear from behind, it can hit enemies behind him before firing.
Centaur Flash: When used, causes a flash of light in a specific pattern and frequency that "stops" the brain of any who see it, freezing them in place for about 10 seconds. It only stops living things and some machines, not projectiles or things that can't be affected by its flash
Flame Blast: can slam the arm cannon on the ground and release fire which then comes up as pillars of flame in random spots. The pillars rise from the ground twice and contacting them will damage. Can also be shoot out as a fireball at a low arc. If it hits a wall or the ground, it creates a pillar of flame. Flame Blast can be used underwater and can also melt ice walls. Up to three fireballs can be present on the screen at a time.
Knight Crusher: shoots a big and heavy spiked ball that moves straightforward until a certain distance. Up to two balls can be used at the same time. If it hits a shielded enemy from below or behind, the Crusher will destroy it.
Plant Barrier: It is a barrier of condensed energy shaped like flower petals that spins around the user and protects him from some attacks
Silver Tomahawk: sends a fast tomahawk that drops low at first, and then spirals upward. Possesses strong penetration and attack power, and moves in an upward-curving arc
Wind Storm: sends out a grey tornado that creeps along the floor. Up to three tornadoes can be used at the same time. The tornadoes disappear when they hit an solid obstacle attached to the ground. Enemies hit by it are sent flying up into the air
Yamato Spear: fires small spearheads forward at a high speed at two slightly different heights. The spearheads are able to pierce through shields