The Shield Heroin of Shinzo
ESKK: So, I wanted to do this for a while now but never found the chance. So here we are the first crossover between Shinzo/Mushrambo and Rising of the Shield Hero. Its been years since I originally saw Shinzo but now, I think it's time to try it out. FYI I also had a similar idea with Escaflowne but decided against it. So, let's begin.
"Talking."
'Thinking.'
{Statues Magic}
"God/Devil being."
"Hyper Form Transformation."
[Attacks]
-Music Insert/Lyrics-
Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero, nor do I own Shinzo. Now that I said that the vultures called lawyers can stop circling around and get off my back about it.
(Start Entera the Ruined City)
Yakumo the last human being alive walked through the forest her eyes solemn and her body tired from her journey. A journey that seems to be a hopeless one now. A few months ago, Yakumo had lost everything her three friends and the purpose of her mission on this world. She was to be the last hope for the human race but knowing what she knew now made it hopeless. The Dark King had made sure she knew the truth that her journey was pointless.
Yakumo had been given a mission by her father before being put into suspended animation. When she awoken, she had to find Shinzo the last human refuge on the planet and save humanity. It was easier said than done but Yakumo persevered through it all. During her journey she met three of her closest friends the only few good Enterans willing to help her mission, Sago, Kutal, and… Mushra. They traveled, shared many happy memories, and shouldered each other's struggles.
It wasn't until the robot city that everything had changed. The Dark Generals who waged war against humanity had been close on her tail and she had to rely on those three to protect herself. But It wasn't until she faced with the final general that the truth came out. Facing the Dark King learning the truth of her people Yakumo learned she truly was the last human on Earth or Entera as it was called by the Enterans.
The last of the Generals had summoned the Dark King from the past and after a long battle resulting in the end of her friends Yakumo broke her pacifistic ways to end him. She had thought that by ending the Dark King she would have changed history because if the Dark King didn't exist in the past then the world would change.
But Yakumo was wrong.
No paradox now nothing time moves as a river going only in one direction. Changing the past did not change the future. For all intents and purposes Yakumo had simply created another timeline starting from the moment the Dark King had vanished. Her present her horrific present was her timeline she changed nothing. She just kept walking sometimes using Hakuba to carry her to her hopeless destination.
Yakumo had once tried to end it all when she was at her lowest. Hakuba had to stop her from such a path. Had to keep her locked in the pod constantly monitoring her in case she tried it again. Yakumo felt terrible for putting that much stress in her faithful companion. His programming dictated that he was to escort Yakumo to Shinzo but with no Shinzo to reach he was simply just her companion now.
"Yakumo?" Hakuba spoke as this drew the girls attention. "Are you well?" He asked as Yakumo saw him and saw how much damages he had to his body. Even when the Generals were dealt with Enterans hated humans and thus Hakuba was her only means of defense now, but he had limits. Even when Yakumo had to use the Encards of previous defeated foes Hakuba was outmatched and almost perished several times.
"Do you want the honest answer?" Yakumo asked as they stopped by what appeared to be an old library. "I… I can't not anymore." Yakumo said as she sat against the ruined wall despair clear to see on her face. Her psychic abilities had been their only other means of self defense but even she had a limit to it especially with her emotions. "Everyone and everything is gone… Shinzo is gone, my friends are gone." Yakumo listed off as she looked to Hakuba. She had to leave the Kittens as well as much as she cared for them neither she nor Hakuba were equipped to care for them.
"Yakumo." Hakuba began but was stopped by Yakumo.
"Don't Hakuba! Don't give me anymore false hope." Yakumo said as she was all out of hope. Hakuba moved close in case Yakumo devolves into another attempt at taking her own life. Only now did Yakumo truly know what it means to be alone in the world. She had no one, her father was gone, her friends were gone, and humanity was gone. Yakumo had nothing left to live for and no means to hope. Earth belonged to the Enterans now and Yakumo was just a relic of a long dead race.
"Perhaps we should rest for now." Hakuba said seeing that Yakumo needed time to rest her mind. Hakuba was programmed with every medical care Daigo could install including mental health. But that programming was designed with the intent of humanities survival in mind. Hakuba had limits and he knew that he could not care for Yakumo for long. If worse came to pass Hakuba feared Yakumo may actually succeed in her attempts at committing suicide. All he could do was watch and stop her, but he knew that his systems would start to degrade at this rate and when that happened nothing would stop Yakumo's downward spiral of despair.
(Later)
The sun was beginning to set as the last daughter of humanity sat by a fire she managed to make. IT helped her focus and these old books provided her with plenty of kindling. Hakuba had managed to find ingredients for Yakumo to make food but had to watch her like a hawk in case she tries to poison herself. It would not be the first time she had attempted to do so and Hakuba intended for it to be the last time as well.
Yakumo stirred the pot as she recalled Kutal and his cooking when he was around. The memories hurt but Yakumo had to persevere through it if so, her friends don't end up rolling in their graves. Food followed suit and Yakumo slowly ate her food the bags under her eyes showed how tired she was her depression being the source of what may be insomnia.
She eventually finished eating though mainly because she suspected if she tried to starve herself Hakuba would force feed her. With a now empty bowl Yakumo put it down to be washed later as she made enough for herself alone. Yakumo leaned against a bookshelf as she looked to the sky through a hole in the ceiling. The Stars were once a comfort for Yakumo a reminder that she was still on Earth but now… they were a reminder that her history would be gone.
Even by some miracle Yakumo found a surviving human going the Adam and Eve approach would only force her fate on the offspring. Or even worse then that the resulting inbreeding that would follow would leave the last human child completely vulnerable to the Enterans. Curling up with her knees to her chest Yakumo wanted to cry but… she had no more tears to cry with. Looking around she pictured what this place used to look like, what it could have looked like if the war between the Humans and Enterans had never broken out. She imagined kids running about, students studying for exams, or even a few students coming to read a good book.
But those images hurt, and Yakumo slammed her hand against the bookshelf behind her causing the shelf to shake. What followed caught Yakumo by surprise as a book hit her on her head causing her a bit of pain. "Yakumo!" Hakuba cried out when he saw Yakumo get hurt.
"I'm fine." Yakumo said as she saw the book had slid down to her lap. Looking at it she saw that the book was in good condition surprisingly enough. Picking it up Yakumo saw that it was in very good condition in fact she would dare say it was like new. "The Four Cardinal Weapons." Yakumo read aloud as she found this book to be odd.
"What did you find, Yakumo?" Hakuba asked as he looked over to Yakumo.
"I think it's a light novel." Yakumo said recalling her childhood of finding such a thing. Opening the book Yakumo began to read to herself. "In order to save the world from the waves of apocalyptic catastrophe four heroes will be summoned from another world." Yakumo read as she found this to be comforting in a strange way.
"Intriguing." Hakuba said as he heard what Yakumo read.
"Seems so, according to this book each hero has one of four weapons, a sword, a bow, a spear, and a shield." Yakumo said as she then came to the image of a woman with red hair. "And I suppose this must be the antagonist." Yakumo said as something inside her told Yakumo this woman was clearly the villain here. "Though its interesting a book where there are four main protagonists." Yakumo said as she kept reading until she came upon a blank page.
"Was the book incomplete?" Hakuba asked when he also saw the blank page.
"No… this is something else." Yakumo said and soon enough the book began to glow.
"That does not seem normal." Hakuba said and in turn the entire area around the group began to glow bright. From the light the library seemingly began to rebuild itself with the glow. But as it rebuilt it was twenty times its normal size.
"What's going on!?" Yakumo asked fearing the worst.
"I do not know." Hakuba said as he moved close to protect Yakumo from what might be an Enteran attacking her. The two were close to each other and as Yakumo held on Hakuba the two began to freefall from their previous location to places unknown. For Yakumo however she felt that this may finally be it the moment her pain ends.
(Scene Break Unknown Location)
"Oh wow…" A voice called out causing Yakumo start to stir from her slumber.
As Yakumo regained consciousness, laying on what felt like stone, she heard the sound of someone marveling at something, as well as the sound of a couple of other people standing up. Quickly pushing herself up into a standing position, she took in the room around her, which looked a lot like a dungeon or basement in a medieval castle. On the floor which she just stood from was a geometric alchemical style circle like from old books she had found on her journey to Shinzo.
To her left stood three boys, looking to be high schoolers at the youngest or college aged at the oldest. What stood out to her was the fact that each of them was holding a different weapon.
The oldest looking one that stood closest to her was holding a spear. His long blonde hair tied up in a stylish ponytail, similar to but not as long as Kyoko's long red hair. He was wearing a rather nice-looking blazer over a simple pair of slacks and a V-neck t-shirt.
To his left was a slightly effeminate looking boy, with chin length black hair, wearing a black jacket and some jeans. He was holding a sword.
At the end was the youngest looking boy, wearing what looked like a high school uniform, with curly blonde short hair, holding a bow.
Looking down at herself, Yakumo saw that she was unharmed but also noted a new attachment on her body. On Yakumo's left arm was a simple looking shield with a softly glowing green jewel in the center. "What is going on?" Yakumo asked as she tried to figure out where she was.
"What's all this?" One of the boys next to Yakumo asked as she looked to them.
It seemed the others were just as confused as she was. "Where are we?" the sword boy asked some guys in robes in front of us.
"Oh heroes! Please save our world!" the one that seemed to be in charge begged, quickly kneeling, and bowing kowtow, touching his forehead to the floor, making Yakumo feel extremely uncomfortable at being shown such reverence. Yakumo was used to being hated or feared so this came off as strange. But she noticed something else… the boys they were dressed like humans from before she went to sleep… almost as if they were... no it can't be possible, were these boys also humans?
"WHAT?!" The three boys asked shocked at the words spoken.
"What is that supposed to mean?" The blonde spear wielder asked clearly finding this surprising.
"There are many complications in this situation, but to offer a simple answer to your question, we have just completed an ancient ceremony and summoned you four heroes." The man, priest Yakumo supposed, answered, raising his head to answer clearly, but not getting up from kowtow.
"Summoned?" Haruka was suddenly heard and thus all eyes went to him as he was hovering behind Yakumo.
The boys seemed to have taken noticed to the robot as well. "Wow is that a robot?!" The boy with a bow said surprised to see Hakuba hovering.
"Monster?!" One of the men in robes gasped but Yakumo stepped in.
"Wait stop!" Yakumo cried out stopping any panic. "He's not a monster… he's a friend." Yakumo said assuring the men in robes that Hakuba was friendly.
"Wait that thing is yours?" The black-haired boy with the sword asked as he looked over to Yakumo.
"Yes." Yakumo said but she had to ask real, quick. "I'm sorry but are you three?" She began but was then cut off.
"Heroes… and Heroin." The man in robes spoke cutting in once he was certain Hakuba was not a threat. "Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength." he continued while she was thinking, lowering his head back down.
Yakumo seeing someone was in danger no, a world in danger a small part of her knew she had to step in. "Well, I'm not sure but." She began but was then cut off by the other three.
"I don't think so." The spear guy said suddenly as this surprised Yakumo.
"Yeah, me either." The Bow guy said as he agreed with the Spear holder.
"We can go back to our world, right? We'll talk about your problems after that." The sword wielder added as it was clear none of them felt inclined to help.
When the three other heroes interrupted her Yakumo had a red flag on them already. If the heroes had been herself with Musha, Kutal, and Sago they would no hesitate to aid this world.
"Besides." The boy with the bow interjected. "Even if we save you and bring peace to your world, you'll just send us back home, right? That just sounds like a job to me." He said as he glared at the priest. "I wonder how much you've considered our opinion on this. I wonder how it could be worth our while." He said showing himself to be a bit greedy with this. "Depending on how the conversation goes, keep in mind that we might end up enemies of your world." He said causing Yakumo to be reminded of the Dark King.
Seeming to realize what was being asked, the priest quickly scrambled back up to his feet. "Yes, well, we would very much like you to speak with the king. He will discuss future compensation with you in the throne room." He answered the two younger looking boys.
"Whatever."
"Fine."
"I don't think it really matters who we talk to, but whatever."
These three were definitely more outspoken than Yakumo was at the moment. Yakumo was reminded somewhat of her friends but something about these three did not sit well with her. Now while Yakumo can understand the need for compensation, she did not see a reason to be quite as rude.
Looking away from the boys, she turned to look back towards the priest that had summoned them. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the king now." He said, leaning against the heavy looking iron door to slowly push it open before pointing in the direction they needed to go. Yakumo followed with the three complaining companions behind her but as she did, she reached into her person where she held the three gems her friends had once wielded. Hakuba followed hovering close finding this all to be fascinating as he found that these were all humans like Yakumo actual humans.
After the incident in the past with a fake Human Hakuba had made note to identify anyone claiming to be human scanning them for any illusions. He did not want Yakumo to suffer like that again having her hopes raised only to have them dashed away by an enemy seeking to end Yakumo.
As they walked out of the relatively dark room into a well-lit stone hallway, Yakumo was surprised as she looked outside. It was there that Yakumo saw a medieval looking town below them and out towards the surrounding countryside. While it reminded her of Entera Yakumo also saw that it was different as if straight out of a storybook. Haruka had to wait outside of course but she knew he was nearby she he be needed. Besides Yakumo was surrounded by humans, the chances of her committing suicide were lessened.
(Later in the Throne Room)
They eventually arrived at the throne room and were standing in front of the King himself. "Huh, so these kids are the [Four Holy Heroes]?" The King asked as he looked upon the four. Yakumo noted something about this man. From her view he seemed to be an old man with his long gray hair, neatly trimmed beard, bright purple robes, and the golden crown upon his head. But when his eyes landed on her he looked at her like he had seen a ghost.
"Your majesty?" A random servant asked noting the kings current silence.
Seeing he was being stared at the old man regained himself. "My apologies." He said before getting right down to it. "I am the Kings Consort Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, and I rule these lands." Aultcray said as he had a slightly condescending tone to the heroes.
heroes, please identify yourselves." He asked and thus the sword guy spoke up.
"Ren Amaki, I'm a high school student and I'm 16 years old." Ren introduced as he looked to the group.
"I'm Motoyasu Kitamura. Twenty-one years old, and a college student." Motoyasu introduced as he walked up shouldering his spear.
"I'm suppose I'm up next. I'm Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm still in high school, and I'm seventeen years old." Itsuki introduced as Yakumo noted how those names sounded Japanese.
Seeing the eyes go to her Yakumo knew she had to introduce herself. "I'm Yakumo just… Yakumo and I'm 17-years old." Yakumo said introducing herself to the group.
"Well glad we can finally put a name to that pretty face." Motoyasu flirted as Yakumo didn't feel comfortable about that.
"Good, Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuko, and… Yakumo." Aultcray said speaking each of their names in a neutral tone. But he also seemed hesitant when saying Yakumo's name. " I believe I owe you all an explanation." Aultcray said and thus he began to give the group the information they needed.
"Our country is great peril and is headed down the path of destruction." He began and thus proceeded to tell the group of the problem they were having. He spoke of an ancient apocalyptic prophecy that had foretold of the "Waves of Catastrophe", which will bring destruction and chaos upon this world. During these "Waves", rampaging monsters will wreak havoc wherever they spawn. The first Wave had washed over this country not long before the Four Heroes were summoned. The adventurers and soldiers were able to fend off the first Wave, but the devastation and loss of life was not lost on any of the survivors. The Waves following after the first would increase in difficulty with each one passing. If Waves weren't stopped, the world will meet its end.
That was why the Four Cardinal Heroes have been summoned, to fight the Waves and protect this world and its inhabitants. When summoned, the Heroes bear these Legendary Weapons, the Sword, the Spear, the Bow, and the Shield respectively, just as Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki, and Yakumo had the Legendary Weapons already in their possession. The countries of this world had ancient artifacts called the Dragon Hourglasses, which predict the coming of each Wave. They would continue to turn and pile on sand until all this crisis was averted. The next Wave was due in less than a month from now. By the time Aultcray was finished, sun had begun to set.
"We underestimated the disaster the first Wave had wrought." he said solemnly to which the group all listened. "Now that we know of the potency of the Waves, we had no choice but to follow the ancient legend and summon the four of you to aid us and prevent more of these tragedies. We can no longer afford to waste any more time. On behalf of my people, I beg you, brave Heroes, help us counteract the Waves of Catastrophe by lending your strength." He asked and in turn Yakumo heard this and unknowingly the King was playing on Yakumo compassion to help those in need.
"If we can take out the Waves, you'll send us all home, right?" James asked causing the three heroes to go wide eyed to this.
"We will do our best in that regard." The arrogant looking prime minister said to which Yakumo was grateful. If she was being honest Yakumo wasn't sure she wanted to return to Entera. Shinzo no longer exists and hasn't existed since before she was forced into her deep sleep. More so she was a 5-year-old in a 17-year-old body upon awakening on Entera. She was naïve and innocent for most of her journey but when facing the Dark King… trauma and evil forced her to grow up fast. Robbed of her childhood Yakumo felt a bitterness for inside around her own suffering in life.
"Now hold on!" Ren called out slamming his sword to the ground. "Yakumo here doesn't speak for all of us, we're not going to go out of our way to save you all for free." Ren said causing Yakumo to look at Ren in shock.
"Of course, not once you repel all the waves, I can assure you we shall reward you most handsomely." The Prime Minister said as Motoyasu liked the sound of that.
"Yeah?" Motoyasu asked with a smirk on his face. "Well, it would seem we have no choice but to take you at your word." Motoyasu said but all the while Jun saw the shadows grow stronger not out of evil it showed her what she would assume is their true intentions.
"As long as you don't renounce, we'll work with you." Ren said in a cold tone. "But don't think for a moment that you can, tame us." Ren said showing he wasn't backing down.
"Exactly we won't put up with you looking down on us." Itsuki added and thus Shiro had his doubts, but Yakumo had her objections here.
"That was uncalled for you three." Yakumo said getting everyone's attention on her. "I get that they are asking a lot out of you, but you guys don't need to act rudely, demanding stuff every ten minutes!" Yakumo said scolding the three as to the King shock Itsuko, Ren, and Motoyasu actually looked a bit bashful when she said that.
"Uh sorry, Yakumo-chan." Motoyasu said as Yakumo ignored that chan part.
"If I can trust we have reached an agreeable arrangement I would ask you brave heroes to now check your status." Aultcray said and thus Shiro and his friends looked confused.
"Our what?" Yakumo asked as even Motoyasu and Itsuki looked confused about this.
"Are you guys dense?" Ren asked as he looked to the group. "It should have been the very first thing you noticed when you got here." Ren said as he looked to Itsuki and Motoyasu sounding like a major know it all. "Don't you see the icon in the lower right corner of your vision?" Ren asked and in turn everyone started to look to it.
"Oh, there it is." Yakumo said as she saw the mentioned statues screen appear.
{Yakumo
Class: Shield Hero LV 1
Equipment: [Small Shield] (legendary armament)
[Otherworldly Cloths]
Skills: none
Magic: / Telekinesis/
[Mana Manipulation]
[Barrier]}
"Only level 1 well that's really concerning isn't it." Itsuki said as Motoyasu had to think it over.
"Yeah, no kidding who can tell if we can even fight like this." Motoyasu said as he was concerned about this information.
"Pardon me." Yakumo spoke as she raised her hand like a student in a classroom. "What is this exactly?" Yakumo asked curious as to what she was looking at.
"It's called Status magic an ability exclusive to the heroes." The old advisor said as he looked over to Yakumo.
"So where do we go? What's the first step?" Ren asked as he looked to the Prime Minister.
"You must set out on an adventure to develop and upgrade these legendary weapons you have been equipped with." Aultcray said as he looked to the heroes.
"Strengthen them? You mean these things aren't strong right from the get-go?" Motoyasu said to the king's explanation.
"That is correct." The Advisor said as he began his explanation. "The summoned heroes must raise their legendary weapons by themselves. That is how they will grow strong, along with the heroes themselves." He explained which meant that they had to do this the hard way.
Motoyasu began to lazily spin his spear around, thinking out loud. "Why don't we just use different weapons while these are bulking up? Seems smart to me." Motoyasu said as he saw how natural the spear felt in hand.
"We can work all that out later on." Ren said as he got everyone focused. "Right now, we should focus on improving ourselves, just like the king asked us to do." Ren added knowing that it could not be helped.
"Are we going to form a party? The four of us?" Motoyasu asked as this left Yakumo confused on the term. Why would they celebrate they had not won anything yet?
"Wait just a moment, heroes." The king interrupted, just as all the heroes were getting ready to leave together. "The four of you should set out separately to recruit your own companions." He said which got the group worried for a bit as well as a little confused.
"Why is that?" Itsuki asked concern in his voice.
"According to the legends," the king began to explain as the four heroes paid apt attention. "The legendary weapons you possess will interfere with one another should you form a party." Aultcray said as this information was cause for concern. "Both your weapons and yourselves can only grow when you are apart from one another." Aultcray explained which meant that they had to work separately from each other.
"So, if we stay together, we won't level up?" Yakumo decided to ask for an explanation. In response to her question, a window like the status magic filled her vision, from the sounds the other three made, they received the same notification.
{Attention: The Legendary Armaments and their owners will experience adverse effects if they fight together.
Caution: it is preferable that the heroes remain separated when possible.}
Yakumo was surprised by the alert but while looking over the message she noticed off to the side, while the original shield icon was a bit larger, a few smaller circles had appeared over it, at the top was one with a question mark, it was brighter than all the others, and next to it was a yellow exclamation point inside of a triangle.
"I guess it's true then," Motoyasu muttered feeling a bit upset by this.
"So, you think we should try to form our own parties?" Ren asked, finding this to be concerning.
"I will attempt to secure travel companions for you all." The King said assuring that he will do what he can to aid them. "Regardless, evening draws near. Heroes, you should rest for the night and prepare for departure on the morrow." Aultcray said offering the four a place to rest for the evening. "In the meantime, I will find companions from the village below." The king explained in response to Ren's question. All the heroes chimed in some words of thanks before being lead away for a meal. While this happened Yakumo could not help but noticed how the King seemed to be… sad somehow.
(Later)
The four heroes were led to a bed chamber from the throne room by a maid. Before any of the heroes could make a comment about how inappropriate it was, the maid turned and bowed to Yakumo. "This bed chamber is where Lord Amaki, Lord Kitamura and Lord Kawasumi will be sleeping." The maid said with a small bow.
"We servants ask you, Lady Yakumo, to please rest here with the other heroes until dinner while we prepare a separate bed chamber for you and worry now your stead will be well cared for in the stables." The Maid added as Yakumo stood there for a bit.
Yakumo looked slightly uncomfortable at the subservience being shown to her but knew that it was something she would likely have to get used to being a Holy Hero. "Thank you I appreciate it." Yakumo said with a kind smile to the maid.
The maid bowed a bit deeper, almost flustered over Yakumo's kindness. "Thank you for understanding, Lady Yakumo." The Maid said before continuing where she left off. "I shall come to you after dinner to escort you to your bed chamber." She began before directing her attention to Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuko. "If the Lords would like, I can ask another servant to escort you back here?" the maid asked the others after standing back up.
"Uh, yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." Motoyasu answered her as that would be very helpful.
Bowing once more, this time to all the heroes, the maid turned and left, leaving the four to enter the room. All of them gave various expressions of shock at the ornate room and extravagant decorations, while each of them moved to sit on a separate bed. They each began to inspect their weapons before reading over various parts of the [Status Menu]. Yakumo was glad to see her hunch of there being a [Help Menu] was correct.
According to what she was reading, the [Legendary Armaments] required no maintenance at all. This made the weapons exceptionally useful for Yakumo's use. The material of the weapons would also react and adapt to the level of the hero. There was also a feature of the weapons that was apparently called the [Weapon Book, a screen like her [Status] that kept a list of all of the unlocked forms that were available for the weapon to transform into. The [Help Menu] opened up while she was looking at her [Weapon Book, wondering how to unlock the seemingly endless amount of forms.
{Weapon Book:
A compendium of forms unlocked by the user for [Weapon Transformation]. New forms are unlocked through [Absorption] and [Weapon Copy].}
'[Weapon Transformation]? [Absorption]? [Weapon Copy]?' Yakumo thought to herself curious about it all. As she focused on these highlighted words, new windows expanded from each of the words, the original window still open.
{Weapon Transformation:
Weapons can transform into different forms that grant new equipment bonuses including stats, skills, and abilities. Additionally, with enough experience or prerequisites, the user may permanently retain the equip bonuses even if they switch transformations.
Note: some bonuses remain exclusive to a specific form.}
{Absorption:
Weapons can absorb loot such as items and materials to unlock new variations of the [Legendary Armament] and may equip said variations if they meet the prerequisites. These prerequisites are typically previous variations unlocked or a specific level or skill requirement. Absorbed loot is not consumed and is put into [Storage] for later use by the user, even if used to unlock a new variation.}
{Weapon Copy:
The user can copy weapons of a similar class to the [Legendary Armament] that they encounter and store them for later access in the [Weapon Book]. Equip bonuses may still require materials to unlock.}
Yakumo quickly processed the information before zoning in on a word that made her heart speed up slightly. '[Storage]?Is that one of my shield's powers?' Yakumo wondered before with a bit of hesitancy, she pulled up the information window for [Storage].
{Storage:
An interface available to the user through the [Legendary Armament]. Items placed in front of the weapons jewel and willed into being absorbed will be placed into an internal pocket dimension. While there is no limit on the actual internal storage, the [Legendary Armament] is only capable of absorbing or dispensing a maximum of one cubic meter at a time. If an item placed into storage has a corresponding weapon variation, it will be unlocked if prerequisites are met. The item will not be destroyed. }
Yakumo then pulled out one of her Encards as she kept a few on her just in case she needed to bargain for her life. Taking a dive Yakumo fed the card into the shield and thus caused a new notification to show up.
{Enteran Shield conditions met.}
{Companion Shield I, conditions met.}
Yakumo eyes widened slightly, "Ah!" Yakumo was heard with a small, startled sound came from her lips, surprised that a shield was apparently unlocked from an Encard as well as not expecting a pop up suddenly. Glancing down at the now blinking [Weapon Book] icon, she focused on it, and a new window popped up.
{Enteran Shield
-Abilities Locked- Equip Bonus: Defense 3, Bonus ability: Shield can now take on the powers of Enterans-}
{Companion Shield I
-Abilities Locked- Equip Bonus: Companion Growth Up (small)}
Yakumo stared at the two windows that popped up curiously. The information made some kind of sense even if she had never played video games before. The only thing she was unsure on was what 'Companion Growth Up (small)' was.
"Hey Yakumo-chan! Did you just unlock a new shield?!" Motoyasu exclaimed, jolting out of bed and startling Yakumo out of her focus. When she started paying attention to the three other heroes, she saw that all of them were staring at her in surprise.
"I think I did." Yakumo admitted as she was surprised by what had just happened.
"How did you unlock a new shield already?" Ren questioned her surprised by what had happened.
"Can you show it to us?" Itsuki followed up as he was also curious and wanted to get on the fast track of leveling up.
Yakumo looked between all of them, unsure on how exactly to change to either of the new shields. So, as she's quickly learning to do, she checked through her [Help Menu, and found her answer fairly quickly.
{Changing the Weapon and Unlocking [Abilities]
Changing the weapon refers to changing the form of your currently equipped [Legendary Armament]. If you hold your hand over the weapon and think of the name of the weapon you wish it to become, the weapon will change into the desired form.
[Abilities] can be unlocked by simply using the equipped weapon a certain amount. Once unlocked, the equip bonus will be applied to the owner at all times.
[Equip Bonuses]
[Equip Bonuses] are imbued abilities that can be used while a certain weapon is equipped. So, if a weapon has the [Air Strike Bash] ability, that ability can be used as long as that weapon is equipped. If a weapon has an equip bonus of "attack 3," the user's attack stat will increase by three while the weapon is equipped.}
Making the required gesture, Yakumo changed her shield into the Enteran Shield. With a small sound of rushing wind and a flash of light, her previous pentagon shaped Small Shield changed into a disk-based shield with the same design as the Encards. She also saw slots on it to insert the Encards into the Shield for use. This made Yakumo somewhat bitter because if she had this back on Entera… then her friends would still be alive.
"It says it's called the 'Enteran Shield,' I unlocked it by letting the shield absorb the Encards I brought with me from where I was summoned." Yakumo admitted as she looked at the cards in her hand.
"Encard?" Ren asked as he found that curious. "I don't recall anything like that in Bravestar Online." Ren admitted as he found this to be curious.
"Brave Star Online?" Motoyasu began with a tone of confusion. "Don't you mean Emerald Online, Ren?" Motoyasu asked as he never heard of this Bravestar Online.
"You're both wrong, this world is obviously Dimension Wave." Itsuki cut in as well before Ren could answer.
"Sorry but what are those?" Yakumo spoke as she looked to the three guys.
"Uh Video Games duh." Motoyasu said and thus noted something off about Yakumo mainly how she dressed. No one in his world dresses like that and judging by Itsuki and Ren they were the same.
"Don't you have something like that?" Itsuki asked also curious about this.
"No there hasn't been anything like that for a long time." Yakumo said before she went and asked. "How do you guys have those things… unless." Yakumo trailed off realizing she had nearly gotten her hopes up.
"Unless what?" Ren asked curious as to what Yakumo was thinking.
"What if all of us are from a different variation of Earth, maybe even from different times." Yakumo said showing she was her fathers daughter. "That would explain the different titles for your games. As well as why nothing else matches up." Yakumo said as it was the only viable theory they had.
Itsuki and Motoyasu nodded at her very possible explanation. After all, they already could confirm multiple worlds exist, they only had to look around to verify that. Ren though, crossed his arms and gave her a questioning look.
"If that's the case, then why do you have a weapon that none of us know about?" Ren began as he was skeptical. "And on that note, does that shield have any skills or anything useful like that?" he asked her as Yakumo thought it over.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you… my world isn't like yours." Yakumo trailed off as the guys looked to each other. "We might have had the technology for a game like Bravestar but now it's a relic of a past civilization." Yakumo said which got the guys worried.
"Wait past civilization?" Itsuko asked shocked at what he heard.
"Its… complicated." Yakumo said not wanting to talk about it. "But for my theory I think that maybe the games were based on this world, possibly even made by a past hero that returned to your world." Yakumo said as she sat there glancing at her shield. "If that is the case then maybe the maker did not know it existed." She said as it would make sense. "Or if we go with the idea that the games in your worlds were placed there somehow by this world, then it is possible that it and many other things were not included in the game due to technological limitations." Yakumo added surprising even herself with how she deduced that.
"Well, it's a good a theory as any." Itsuko said conceding what Yakumo had said.
Yakumo then glanced down towards her [Status Menu] and seeing an icon that looked like an open treasure chest was glowing. Opening it, she saw the words [Item Menu] up at the top. The only item shown was lit up white, had a simple drawing of a card to the side and the name "Encard". She curiously tried to open it, when she did a new window popped up, and in the background, she noticed the item in the menu dim to a light gray, and the treasure chest icon close and dim to match the others. She guessed a new item would be lit up, letting her know it was new to her shield at a glance.
{Enteran Encard Quality: Rare, the remains of a defeated Enteran
Dispense? [Yes] / [No]}
She knew from her [Help Menu] that she should be able to pull out items from her shield, even if they were used to unlock a new shield. Selecting the [Yes] button, the jewel on her shield let out the same soft green light that it had when it absorbed the Encard before the same Encard seemed to fall out of the jewel, Yakumo making sure to quickly catch it.
"Wait a second! Yakumo, that's the same ribbon you just absorbed?!" Motoyasu cried out when he saw the card. "How was it not consumed?!" Motoyasu exclaimed, pointing at her and the ribbon in shock which caused Yakumo to look at him confused.
"What do you mean Motoyasu?" Yakumo asked in confusion. "My [Help Menu] said that absorbed items are not consumed even if they unlock a new shield." She said which caused Motoyasu to blink in surprise before he seemed to space out, apparently going through his own menu, the other two apparently doing the same thing.
"Ah!" Motoyasu made a sound of surprise, jerking slightly. "The menu just glitched but now it's saying the same thing little Yakumo just said!"
"What do you mean? My menu doesn't say that at all!" Ren scowled at Motoyasu, wanting to call him a liar. Itsuki nodded in agreement.
"Well at first, mine didn't say that." Motoyasu began to explain to the others. "But then I thought 'I just saw Yakumo-chan pull out the same card she just used. She has no reason to lie to us. I believe in Yakumo-chan.' Then all of a sudden, like I said, my menu seemed to glitch out for a moment before it was added, and a notification flag popped up next to my help icon." Motoyasu explained as everyone heard what he said. "So, I think you have to believe it first." Motoyasu said and this in turn got everyone thinking.
Yakumo flicked her eyes between the Spear and Sword Heroes, wondering if they really did have different information in their menus. She also wondered if it was influenced by something as simple as belief. Itsuki made a soft sound of surprise before Ren gave a sigh and looked again, jerking slightly for a moment before glaring at the menu in front of him. Apparently, it was true.
"So not only is there more weapons in this world than the games we know, but now our [Help Menus] are apparently incomplete too?" Ren said with a scowl on his face. "Now I feel like I'm coming out of a beta period and the devs have changed everything because they're assholes." Ren said with a frustrated sigh. "I think that Yakumo is gonna have the easiest time because she doesn't have to relearn everything." Ren said as Yakumo tilted her head to the side in confusion, not quite getting what he was talking about. She was even more confused as she saw that Motoyasu and Itsuki were nodding along, eyes closed, and arms crossed with serious looks on their faces.
"Hey earlier you said that if your world had tech VRMMORPG it was a relic of the past." Ren said as he was curious. "What do you mean by that?" Ren asked as he wanted to know more.
"Wait VRMMORPG dude that's only in anime." Motoyasu said as this got Ren upset.
"What are you talking about VRMMORPG's have been mainstream for over a decade now." Ren said finding it odd that Motoyasu didn't know that. "Wait, do you mean to tell me that your worlds don't have VR?" Ren asked as he sounded shocked. VR must have been a simple fact of life in his world if his shock was so deep rooted.
Motoyasu and Itsuki looked back and forth between Yakumo and Ren. "Do your worlds have [Innate Abilities]? Like my [Accuracy] ability? Or something like [Poison Negation] or [Deadly Aim]?" Itsuki asked which caused the other three heroes looked at him in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Motoyasu asked as Yakumo only new abilities like that belonging to Enterans.
Itsuki scowled slightly but then got to explaining. "About 25 years ago, scientists discovered that a decent amount of people had various abilities, roughly 20% of the population, which made them seem like natural prodigies or sometimes freaks of nature depending on the ability." Itsuki began the explanation to the three. "My [Accuracy] ability ensures that as long as I have a clear line of sight, I will always hit my target." Itsuki said explaining his own ability to the trio. "[Deadly Aim] is the advanced version of [Accuracy] and guarantees a hit even without a clear line of sight." Itsuko explained and thus Motoyasu was looking a bit jealous.
"Most abilities manifest in childhood and whenever someone develops an ability, they're sent to a special school to train the ability." Itsuki said as he continued the explanation. "All abilities are given a rank from E to A, and the topmost abilities are given an S ranking, but those are exceptionally rare." Itsuko said and was shown to be winding down on his lecture. "Roughly a dozen confirmed S rank ability users exist out of 9 billion people." He finished and in turn all of the heroes looked between each other.
"What the hell?" Motoyasu cried with a scowl on his face as he crossed his arms with a huff. "Am I the only one from a normal, non anime world? What a rip off." Motoyasu said as he did not like it. "The only remotely anime-esque thing to happen to me was waking up here in this world after getting stabbed by a couple of girls I was dating." He said and thus all three of them glared at Motoyasu.
"Well, if you were cheating on them, then it's only right that you received Justice." Itsuki said as Yakumo agreed with that.
Motoyasu turned and scowled at him. "Oh really? And can I ask what led to you waking up here? I'm going to guess you died too?" Motoyasu challenged as he glared at Itsuki.
Itsuki shrugged in response, still scowling at him. "I would believe it's possible." Itsuki said as he figured that was what happened to them. "The last thing I remember was crossing the road on my way home from prep school when a dump truck came around the corner at full speed." Itsuki said recalling how he died. "Next thing I knew I was waking up on the altar with you three." He said before turning to look at the Sword Hero. "What about you Ren? What happened to you?" Itsuki asked curious as to how Ren died.
Looking between Motoyasu and Itsuki, Ren decided to humor him. "I got caught up in a murder case on my way home from school." Ren began as went for context. "It was the talk of the town at the time." He added before moving on. "I was with a good friend of mine and then I remember a guy jumping out at him." Ren said recalling what had happened. "I pushed my friend out of the way and got stabbed instead but I managed to knock him out with my bokken from kendo practice." Ren said as Yakumo had to respect Ren for what he did. "The last thing I remember was the criminal getting arrested and everything going dark." He explained, rubbing his side softly as he spoke no doubt the spot, he got stabbed in.
"So, what about you, Yakumo-can how did you die?" Motoyasu asked and thus Yakumo looked down.
"It… involves Ren's earlier question." Yakumo said as this got the group curious. "See in my world… I'm the last living human on the planet." She admitted much to the guys shock.
"Your joking." Motoyasu gasped when he heard this.
"No… my father was a scientist and he helped create a new lifeform called Enterans to help make mankind's lives easier." She said but then Itsuki saw where this was going.
"But the Enterans rebelled." Itsuki said as he had seen this story before.
"Yes, my father put me to sleep for over 500 years and when I woke up left me a mission to find the last human haven on Earth or Entera as its called now… Shinzo." Yakumo said and in turn this got the guys worried.
"Wait but you said you were the last living human on Earth… does that mean Shinzo was in space or." Itsuki trailed off but Yakumo turned her head.
"No… Shinzo was already destroyed by the time I woke up." Yakumo said and thus the guys were shocked by this. "The Enterans leader the Dark King made sure of that before he tried to come after me." Yakumo said and thus the group got curious.
"Why did he come after you?" Ren asked as they listened to her story.
"I'm not entirely sure… but from what I gather it was to make sure the extermination stuck and to make sure he was the only one with the power he had… apparently, he and I shared a power from the stars." Yakumo explained and thus Itsuki growled to this.
"When I woke up… I met three friendly Enterans and together we began to travel to Shinzo though at the time we didn't know it was destroyed." Yakumo said recalling who they were. "All we knew was that Shinzo was to the west, so we travelled west." Yakumo said and thus Motoyasu saw a similar story.
"The Journey to the West." Motoyasu said as he had heard the story when he was a kid.
"So, what happened to the Dark King?" Itsuki asked worried that if Yakumo returned, he's hunt her again.
"Gone… my friends sacrificed themselves to help me end him when he came to finish what he started." Yakumo said recalling how cruel the Dark King was and how his cruelty made Yakumo embrace her vengeful self in order to save the kittens traveling with them. "I travelled for several more months before I finally find the ground zero of where Shinzo was supposed to be." Yakumo said and thus it was clear why she went there.
"Hey easy you don't have to keep talking if it hurts that bad." Motoyasu said knowing Yakumo was dealing with trauma.
"About a month later… I tried to end it all, but Hakuba stopped me every time." Yakumo said showing she had tried to end her own life isolation and depression as well as being surrounded by enemies took its toll on the girl. "Humanity was already extinct so no use after that." Yakumo said as humans were a social species and with no one else for that depression followed.
Before they could continue on with their conversation, there was a knock on the door. Yakumo wiped away her tears before she walked over to the door.
"Good evening, Lady Yakumo." The maid began as she looked towards Yakumo. "I have been sent to retrieve you and the other heroes and escort you all to the dining hall." She said making it clear where they were going. "Following dinner, I will show you to the bed chamber that has been prepared for you." The maid said as Yakumo nodded. Dinner and sleep sounded good she didn't like thinking about what happened to Mushra, Sago, and Kutal.
Yet through the entire night Yakumo could not help but miss the friends that she had lost.
(TBC)
ESKK: This is the first chapter of the first Shinzo story in years. I hope you all will enjoy it and join me next time for the next chapter. Due mind the tags though miracles can happen to anyone. So, until then be sure to leave reviews as I once more say to everyone ja-ne.
