It was a new day, as Ben sat down in the middle of Melromarc forest, he activated the watch and selected the icon for lambda for a specific reason before slamming the watch's core down
"You called?" Lambda asked as she appeared from the flash of pink light, as Ben leaned his head towards her
"Hey, uhh... Can you unlock the watch?" Ben asked, as Lambda turned her head to the side in confusion
"Like, remove it from you? Because I don't know how to do that" Lambda said as she truly didn't know how to remove the watch from its current user, which was weird since she knew practically anything, but information about the watch was barren as she only knew what all the other summons knew, the basic function and directives, almost like it was intentional
"No, no! I meant more like hack it or make it work in a certain way" Ben clarified as he would never want to take the watch away, sure it was weird having the watch glued to him all the time but considering how useful it was and it was were all his new friends reside? Lived? Slept? He was still unsure about that
"Hum... I could try, but why may I ask?" She asked simply out of curiosity as she could totally understand why her user would want to hack the watch, though for what end she did not know
"I just... I want to know if there's a way to let you and the others stay out of the watch for longer or even let more than one out at any moment" Ben explained as that was bugging him ever since his talk with Zs'Skayr yesterday, the thought he was keeping the aliens inside the watch as prisoners and only taking them out when it was convenient really irked him the wrong way, it made his skin shiver. So finding a way to make that not be the case would be a priority if possible, something as simple as allowing the aliens to come out of the watch on their own would already be a win in his book
"That would be nice and helpful. Alright I'll try my best" Lambda said as it would drastically improve their situation in battle if they didn't have to worry about a time limit or could jump a opponent from ten different angles,
"My knowledge of the watch is very limited compared to everything else, but simple deduction skills lead me to believe it should have a way to activate certain functions" she said as she climbed up to Ben's shoulder before placing a finger to her chin
"We have two options, either through voice commands or input codes, the voice commands probably only work with the creator of the watch's voice, so that's out" Lambda explained as she had a hunch that voice commands wouldn't be useful, even if Ben was the user voice commands were usually only registered for the original creator of the device as a triumph card against someone stealing it or using it for malicious intent "That leaves the codes, but how do we input it?"
"I don't know, turn the core that pops out left and right?" Ben suggested as it felt like the only way to input a traditional game cheat code into the watch which was what he thought was what Lambda meant by code
"That's... A solid theory! Let's try by using the best algorithm for deciphering anything, the Galvan algorithm" she said as she jumped to Ben's arm with the watch and pressed it, causing the dial to pop out as she took a hold of it with her two hands
"Left, right, right, left..." Lambda began to input a long series of right and left turns until the watch made a sound
"Voice mail function activated. Allows users to receive voice mails from others." A digital voice said as the hourglass symbol of the watch beeped along it
"That's... Not it, let me try another! Right, right, right, left, right..." Lambda input another long string of code until the watch beeps again
"Song playlist, download songs from the net to play at your leisure" the watch's digital voice says as that garnered two reactions, Lambda was disappointed while Ben was ecstatic
"Cool! We can have music for when we roll up to battle!" Ben said as he could imagine how cool they look coming into a big battle as some wicked good rock music or heavy metal song played as they descended onto the battlefield
"If there's an internet connection in this place..." Lambda said sarcastically as this place clearly had no connection to pull from, otherwise they would be more advanced "Arg, this is harder than I thought"
"Let's try this instead. 45 degrees turn to the left, 80 degrees turn to the right, 160 degrees turn to..."
"Custom Outfit selection: playboy bunny suit unlocked. Would you like to select this as the default outfit setting?" Ben was confused by what a playboy bunny should be or look like, meanwhile Lambda had her entire face turn hot pink in sheer embarrassment at the thought of having to wear that type of suit, specially as her primary outfit so everyone could see her in such a shameful dress
"Say no! Say no! Say no!" She screamed into Ben's ears as loud as she could so the boy would understand clearly with no room for mistake
"No?..." Ben said confused as the watch symbol stopped glowing, as Lambda let out a big sigh of relief
"Oh thank goodness, that would be so embarrassing... Maybe we can try this later, I have to think of more possible codes" Lambda said as she laid off from Ben's arm and into the grass to lay her body, as she began to think about the codes, shivering at the thought of the watch having more codes for... "Unique" outfits
"In the meantime, could you clarify me on that shield, it intrigues me how it can be so technologically advanced" She said as she picked her head up and pointed at the shield in Ben's other arm, that thing was living rent free on her noggin for a bit now as its curious workings intrigued her as to how it worked
"It's magical"
"Pft, magic is a simpleton's excuse for science they don't understand" Lambda replied as the concept of magic was just a form people like Ben used to justify something beyond their comprehension, but she knew better as though the shield could pass as magical, it had to be some sort of highly advanced technology from perhaps a being of a higher dimensional plane, its ability to change and transform into new forms from absorbing materials, the fact it somehow connected and synchronized with a level 12 tech like the chaquetrix and could rewrite Ben's DNA to cause a hybridization without causing health troubles was just of the few proof that this was technology, one that she had much to learn about
"Alright, I'll open the status screen" Ben said as he opened the status window by looking at the icon, Lambda hopped back up to his shoulder and hung on to it
"I don't see anything" Lambda replied as she looked at Ben slightly annoyed, though she assumed it wasn't the boy's fault and more how the shield systems worked
'There has to be a way to share this right?' Ben thought as it had to be a way, specially since this a magical legendary shield or a highly advanced piece of metal, he thought for a moment before starting to speak
"Uhm... Show status screen to Lambda please?" Ben said half wondering if that would work, the status screen did a little ping as it glowed for a bit before Lambda gasped
"Oh, I see it! It works on voice commands!" The Galvan girl said joyfully as Ben smiled proudly, as both began to look at the status window, Ben went to the tab about his party members and himself, just to be surprised once he saw his level
"Whoa! I'm level 27? When did that happen?" He asked curiously, he knew he was awesome but it should have taken longer to get to the double digits
"Maybe it was all the grinding you did the day before?" Lambda replied as she did know Ben had gone to raise levels with at least one of the other summons of the watch, making some quick math she deduced that it was possible, difficult and possibly grueling but with a kineceleran it was more than possible
"But I didn't get any notification of going up a level" Ben said as he was surely to have received a notification or a warning once he raised to a new level, specially to a high number like twenty. His attention was grabbed by something else however
"Huh? Why is Z listed here?" Ben said while pointing to the ghostly woman icon that was bellowed, Lambda was also there but her icon was slightly different, he wondered why only Zs'Skayr was appearing here while the other eight heroines he could summon weren't
"Z?" The Galvan girl asked as she didn't know who that was, , but Lambda knew everyone of the current unlocked selection who was in the watch except for this one. Looking at the icon it was clear that she was a ectonurite, one of the few species in the galaxy that had very little documented history or anatomy studies due to living in that dangerous Anur system
"She's another summon from the watch, but different from your icon, it doesn't have that hourglass trickling down and it's a different color" Ben points out as Zs'Skayr icon was a deep rich purple with some pink detailing while Lambda's was fully pink with other details being different shades of the color, and Lambda had a hourglass close to her icon that was spinning in slow intervals of ten seconds
"It also seems like she is a higher level than you, she's at 45 instead of 27 like me" Lambda replied as she points to her and the ghost's level, while the Galvan's level was colored a Phosphorescent pink and had a icon similar to the shield on the side, Z's level was higher and was grey and had no symbol to accompany it
"I don't think we will get answers for this soon, so let's move on to other things" Lambda said as she would have to come up with a theory on what this was and meant, but her limited knowledge on the ghostly alien and the shield would prove her biggest challenges in such manner, she looked at the other tabs before pointing at one "What's this enhancement tap?"
Ben looked and selected that tab, opening it to see a bunch of question marks and blurred out stuff, with the exception of one method
[Unique strengthening method] (unlocked upon link with Chaquetrix tool): [Molecular break down: when absorbing something new into the shield, have the option of immediately gaining a shield based on what was absorbed or have the shield breakdown the absorbed item for a period of time to see if it is able to unlock more shields from it by analyzing its components, has a chance of failing if it doesn't have enough material to work with]
Ben was glad for this one, it meant that he didn't have to dissect creatures for new weapon forms, he already despised the idea of having to slice open a dead body from his time in science classes during school and he was sure that the monsters of this place were going to have even grosser intestines, so not having to deal with that to unlock new shields was a win on his end
"Wow, a built in molecular breaker and analyzer? This truly is high tech" Lambda said as she got more and more curious on this shield, it was definitely level 12 technology or possibly even higher, and that made her curious brain more delighted to be able to learn more
"Well then why is only one of them available but the others are all blurred out?" Ben asked as that part didn't make sense to him, why was the shield missing those other methods?
"Maybe you have to unlock them somehow?" Lambda suggested and Ben thought about it, this world wasn't a video game but since the shield at the very least seemed to work like a video game, it must have a system of unlocks or cheats that were related to specific methods of discovering them, it made some sense to him considering that he had unlocked his only strengthening method through the watch which might mean he would have to find other ways of unlocking the rest
"Well in any case, we can test its functions and capabilities by seeking out some stuff to absorb, we will have to seek better ways to find rare materials and grow stronger" Lambda said as they would need to find better methods of growing stronger, she doubted this forest had anything new to give them and the monsters were too weak for Ben and the others
"Like?" Ben asked as the Galvan girl jumped down to the ground and began to walk in circles with a hand to her chin
"Looking for areas with stronger monsters would be a good start, logically the stronger the monsters the more experience they should drop and the shield forms unlocked from them could be good" Lambda laid out her plan for Ben, she didn't exactly know how this world worked but she could deduced that more far away from civilization would have more hostile and stronger monsters, perhaps going close to the ocean would be a good idea "And we need money to finance better gear, tools, places to sleep and of course, food"
"We can just ask the king for more-"
"Benjamin, that's a stupid idea, we can't go back to his Majesty every time we need cash" Lambda replied as that was such a dumb idea, treating the king as some sort of piggy bank would most likely not fly and he might even take offense to it, thus souring any form of working relationship they had with the center head of the country
"We will have to find ways to generate profit on our own, considering the medieval ages were in. We could sell pelts and bodies from defeated monsters and do odd jobs like deliveries, maybe something with medicine?" Lambda said as she thought on how to make money, not knowing how hard or easy it would be in a alternative world that was a few behind the technology level that she would like, she wish she could use a 3D printer or laser cutter to make so many glorious tech
"Oh! Usually, there's a place in settings like this where people can get jobs to slay monsters and turn it in for a reward" Ben points out as in most fantasy media he saw, mostly video games, there was a place that gave out missions in turn for profit, and although this place was no game it was still a fantasy world that certainly would have something like that
"A mercenary den? It could work... Let's go ask around" Lambda said as although a place like that could be filled with danger, its rewards could make the risk well worth it, plus Ben was well protected with his shield and the other heroines in the watch, so he would just to look out for the manipulators
"As for money... I have a scheme brewing but we need Crystal for that..." The Galvan girl said as she shrugged her hands together with quite the sneaky and mischievous grin as she thought on how to possibly exploit the local market
After walking around town, Ben went inside a shop that had an anvil and hammer in a wooden board, seeing a bunch of weapons and armor on display through the window as he entered to enact Lambda's scheme, though the Galvan girl wouldn't be joining him since her ten minutes were up
"Welcome to my shop, what is that you need little man?" A bald man with a beard and scar on the side of his head asked from the counter as he saw Ben enter
"I wanted to see how much worth this crystal is" Ben said as he laid down on the wooden counter a crystal shard as long as his index finger, it was from Crystal the Petrosapian, as Lambda wanted to see how much worth a material from another world would be in this economy
"Mhm... I'm not a jeweler but I do work with a lot of materials like this, though I never seen this one before" the blacksmith said as he picked the shard up and gave it a quick glance before picking from his pocket a small monocle and placing it in his right eye and closing his left one, the monocle lenses glowed magically for a bit
"This has some incredible resistance, probably the hardest mineral I have seen in my life" the blacksmith said impressed as the information he got from the magical inspection was unlike any thing he had encountered in terms of sheer durability for something of this size, though it was odd that it was classified as a organic product even though it was a mineral
"So how much are we talking about? Is it worth a bunch of coins or gold?" Ben asked with eyes filled with gleam and glow, since it was so tough and unique, it had to be extremely valuable, or at least that's what he hoped for
"Hold your horses son, this might be tough but it isn't worth much more than that" the blacksmith said as he looked at a now confused Ben
"It has zero magical resonance, the thing that actually makes crystals desirable in the first place, which is incredible in itself because every crystal has at least some magical resonance" the blacksmith finished explaining, a crystal with no magical resonance is a rare find but not exactly a valuable one, plus jewelers would be able to pick up a lot more nuances about this shards worth but would come to a similar conclusion, and something he omitted from the boy was that the crystal wasn't even pretty, it didn't had those visual characteristics that gemstone are judge on like lustre, brilliance, dispersion, refraction and scintillation in any remarkable scale
"Ah man... Then how about weapons or armor made from it?" Ben asked as that was part of Lambda's scheme, as the durability of the material would certainly make it desirable for armor
"Huh... They would be tough but wouldn't reduce magical damage or be able to be enchanted, still I guess it would be worth something" the blacksmith said as he thought about the matter as he looked at the crystal again, it was pretty resistant but without improvements from enchantments it wouldn't be able to become stronger or cause elemental damage, and the ability to deal with magic attacks is a must for high tier armor
"So, how much would this be?" Ben pointed to the set of a sword and shield made of the crystalline material that Crystal had made as in case the crystal shard wasn't that much valuable due to its size as he pulled it out of his inventory when the blacksmith wasn't looking
"... How the heck did you forge these?" The blacksmith asked as he picked the sword up. It wasn't too detailed and it has some rough edges but this was still an impressive work considering this was likely sculpted from such a hard material
"Natural rock formation, it was already like this when I mine it" Ben lied and the blacksmith didn't believe it even for a moment, though he wanted to question the boy about this and where did he take these things out from, he had a feeling the boy wouldn't have the answer or was reluctant to tell for whatever reason, so he didn't press it further
"... I'm going to do it for 1200 silver, is that good for you?" The blacksmith offered as that was probably the best price he could buy for it do to the problem the material had, still, it wasn't a bad set of items for someone who only cared for physical damage. He handed over Ben a small bag filled with coins
"Sweet! Oh, do you know where the place to get quests is?" Ben asked, taking advantage that he was already speaking to a local to see if they had the place he was looking for
"The adventurers guild? Sure. It is around the southern part of town, a big monster head decorating the building, can't miss it" the blacksmith said before looking at Ben "But if you are thinking of adventuring, I recommend you wait until you're older, boy"
"Ha! As if" Ben said confidently, he could handle fighting monsters, probably without the alien watch or shield, though he might have just been overconfident
"Alright mister adventurer, if you ever need armor, just come here then" the blacksmith said as he laughed, he really liked this kid's energy, reminded him of his young days adventuring
"Thanks mister" Ben said as he waved goodbye and walked out of the shop, but not before the blacksmith could see the legendary shield in his back
'That shield on his back... Could it be? Poor fella, he has a hard road ahead for him' the blacksmith thought saddened, knowing how rough this country would treat him, heck, he was surprised the kid was alive and hasn't been killed by some fanatic church mob. He sighed, hoping the best for the kid
"Let's see, a big monster head as decoration? check! Adventurer's guild here I come" Ben said as he went to inside the large building that had a massive dragon head on the outside, seeing the place as he went to the counter where a very bored receptionist was tapping away at her desk "Hi, I would like to apply here to be an adventurer and go on some monster ass kicking missions"
"Sorry kid, maybe when you're older" the woman said as she made a hand motion to shush the boy away
"Maybe this will change your mind?" Ben said as he took the shield out from his back and showed her, as maybe seeing he was one of the heroes here to save the world would convince her to let him become an adventurer
"Ohh... You're the shield, I thought the thing about you being a kid was just... Nevermind" the receptionist brushed aside that last part, it was honestly surprising for a summoned hero to be a child, and since it was the shield, she just thought it was the king or church bad mouthing him as they usually do
"What's your adventurer's name going to be? We prefer to use those instead of the real ones" the bored receptionist said while picking a pencil and a piece of paper as it was the house rules to not use real names due to more than one or five adventurers being mercenaries for hire that may or may not have been involved in shady stuff. Ben thought about before his eyes landed on the watch in his wrist and getting an idea
"... Ultra Ben and the hero squad!" Ben said while lifting up his arm with the chaquetrix, it was only fair he also included his alien summons as they were a team after all, the receptionist wrote it down without much care
"Uhm, just grab a quest from the board and fulfill it, and go back here to prove you completed the mission to receive your reward" she explained while pointing to the board in question, Ben went and looked at the quests available, he couldn't read anything on it but some had images, so he just grabbed those and walked out
The watch beeped, symbolizing that it was recharged and ready, Ben selected a heroine and slammed down the dial after it popped out as in big flash of pink, fragrance was there
"Hey Fragrance" Ben casually greeted her as people on the street looked shocked and then disgusted at the bug woman that appeared from thin air in an explosion of light
"What is it Ben? Are we going to hunt down monsters? Beat down criminals? Or are you ready for flying lessons?" Fragrance asked as she looked around with her eye stalks, seeing that they were in an urban setting discarded the hunting possibility
"I was thinking of just going on a walk and maybe grab some food" Ben said as the insect woman was surprised by that revelation
"Oh!... Then why did you summon me?" She asked, he wasn't in danger or in need of her assistance so she wondered why he summoned her if not to fulfill those functions
"Because I wanted to hang out with a friend, now come, I saw a stand selling what I think is barbecue!" Ben said as he picked her hand and walked out while pulling her along, Fragrance was surprised but not displeased as a smile quickly formed on her face, to be called and treated as a friend was something new to her and the others inside the watch, but she was liking the idea of hanging out just for fun with their leader
[Author's Notes]
Just a bit of a intermediary chapter as preparation for the wave
Ben's level is high because of a shadow Ghostfreak killed during chapter one, though it is not higher due to Zs'Skayr leeching off most of those levels
The Molecular break down strengthening method is just so I don't have to write Ben dissecting all the creatures he comes across to gain shields. I personally don't think that part of a 10 year old Ben's development has to be him learning to skin and gut out his defeated foes, so I gave him this.
Also, I have to ask about the Shield's strengthening methods, we know three of them while one is unknown but from what I can understand, each hero has a different strengthening methods because of the different games they played, but Naofumi hadn't any because he never played a game like this and seemed more like a book/manga otaku than a video game one. Does that mean that if we put a character from a game with some type of way to strengthen your character, we could use that? Like the upgrade system from Fallout or Skyrim?
Due to Zs'Skayr's unique situation of being trapped in the watch, he/she is counted as an actual party member to Ben by the system unlike the others that simply temporarily exist and then cease being. Which means that unlike the others that have levels scale to Ben's current level, Zs'Skayr retains any level he gains and in fact maintains a great bulk of it while Ben gains less (example: Zs'Skayr kills something, Ben only gains 30% of exp from that kill instead of the same amount being shared between them)