Fastest Shield Alive

by Pezil the Brazilian Writer

Speed, an ever present factor in our lives comes in handy in all types of situations, but above all there is one man that can do the impossible when it comes to speed, the Flash. Now he is summoned into another world to fend off Waves of monsters, despite the limits put by the shield, Barry is willing to spend the rest of his days running to save as many people as possible

[Disclaimer: due to the large and ever changing comic lore since his inception, I opted to go with my own take of Barry Allen. Call it a clean slate if you will, so I hope everyone can understand that this version of the Flash isn't supposed to be an exact copy of a specific version of him from the comics or other media like the CW]

"Let's begin the summoning" a cloaked man with garments similar to a priest said as five other cloaked individuals came to the dark room with stone sculptures of a sword, a bow, a spear and finally a shield. each with a black gem engraved into each of them, they were placed inside a seal draw with chalk in the middle of the room

"We call upon you! heroes of legend! Warriors from lands beyond our own!aid us in our battle! Bring peace to our lands amidst the crisis that has fallen onto us!" the leader of the cloaked men began chatting while motioning his hands with a faint glow

"We call upon you to rid our realm of these Waves of Calamity! We beseech thee for guidance through these dark times! we ask of you, Legendary Heroes of lands beyond,come forth! come forth and bring us salvation!" The other cloaked men join in as the circle begins to shine stronger. The four weapons rose into the air as the seal on the ground began to shine with a white glow, the sword was the first to have it's gem change color as it started to glow blue, followed by the spear that had it's gem turn red, the third was the bow with the gem glowing in a bright green and lastly was the shield as it had the gem glow in multiple cracking orange lightning within before turning into a radiant yellow. the stone weapons began to crack as light came from inside them before the stone exploded as from the fading glow revealed weapons made of steel with black and gold details now stood with only the gems remaining like they were. As this happened the circle began to increase its intensifying as lightning channel across the tunnel of light that had become the summoning circle, shooting at random parts of the room but never hitting any of the cloaked individuals, settling down once it forms into one of the white human silhouettes that had begun to form, all the robed man grew a smile in their faces as they saw the silhouettes, but none had saw which of them had channeled the lightning towards their weapon.

"Yes! it's working!" the front priest said as the figures fall to the ground and their glow begins to stop

"The summoning was a success!" the robed priest was overjoyed by this prospect, they had been able to summon the four heroes without a single problem and this would mean great things for the country but more importantly the church, he wasn't sure if the lightning that had occurred throughout the summoning was common but it could only mean something good.

"O brave heroes please save our world!" the priest shouted as he looked at the summoned heroes, he looked at the sword, spear and bow wielder for a moment as a grin of pride appeared in his face, he did not so much give attention to the shield.

"What?" They all said in unison as they took notice of each other's presence. The spear hero had long blond hair that is held back in a ponytail with bangs hanging on the left side of his forehead and bright orange eyes bordering red, with a blue checkered shirt and black jeans. The sword hero had a black and yellow hoodie with a pair of white pants, that somewhat served to contrast his shoes. The bow hero had a green school uniform with a red tie, his clothing seemed to give off the appearance of a high grade student in an expensive school. Finally there was the shield hero who had a red jacket and a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and running black shoes along with a gold ring on his left hand that had a lightning detail to it.

This was Barry Allen, also known as the fastest man alive when he downs his uniform as The Flash! Right now he was confused, the circumstances of his arrival seemed like a mystery to him, he was checking some mail back home before everything burst into a flash of light and he regained consciousness in this dimly lit dungeon. Part of him wanted to run away due to the suspicious nature of the whole thing but also to gather some breathing room to understand this, but he found himself... Slowed down, he couldn't quite describe it but he felt like his speed had been repressed or outright stolen away, as it wasn't active when he thought of using it. This was worrying and he had to make sure his connection to the speed force wasn't completely taken away or cut out. For now he listened to the conversation that was unfolding

"What do you mean by that? Save your world? From what?" The youngest of the four in terms of appearance that also carried with him the bow said, Barry looked over and saw he was the only one that hadn't stood yet, so he got up to his feet.

"We are experiencing the attack of the Waves of Calamity, we need you heroes to save us from it" the priest replied to the hero, bowing his head down to their savior to show respect and to enforce how drastic it was.

'None of us have given him a positive response...' Barry pondered while looking at the other heroes, he was honestly unsure of what to actually respond. This was out of the ordinary for him, magical summonings and all that, but he was a hero first and foremost so he was obligated to help, plus working alongside these people seemed like the only way to get answers right now.

'I'm willing to help in whatever way I can... but I don't remember how I even got here, not to mention I have a shield on me right now, that I never saw before...' He thought while looking over the shield in his arm, it wasn't really a weapon nor did he think much could be done with it. But it was legendary after all so it must be good and he was needed to fight off monsters, but as he tried to remove it he found that it was stuck, likely bound by magic of some form. Despite wanting to go home and make sense of how he was summoned as in one second he was looking over some notes and the other he was here, Barry decided to be the first to agree on saving this new world

"Alright I'll lend you the shield, I just hope we can have some answers for this whole thing, Okay?" Barry said in a somewhat informal way but he kept his neutral composure by crossing his arms. The robed man was slightly relieved by this, but for some reason a few of the other robed men seemed like they did not like that.

"Wait? Your weapon is a shield? Dude, that's not even a weapon, that's armor." The blond spoke loudly. It sounded like he felt pity for him more than trying to insult him, but the slight giggle made it look like he thought it was funny.

"You can forget it" the black teen responded, on one hand he held his sword with the jewel seemingly glimmering under the dull rays of the sun that barely illuminated the room they were in.

"I also refuse myself" spoke the other young blonde haired kid wielder of the bow

"Yeah you two might have the right idea, hey take me back to my world now!" The spear hero demanded in a aggressive way to their summoners

"P-Please! Our world teeters on the edge of collapse!" The robed man argued letting just enough anger slip to let Barry know he was probably very angry, but just hiding it because he was likely disappointed at the answer of the heroes even though Barry agreed to help

"You brought us here without our consent, don't you feel the least guilty about that?" The one with a sword and black hair said, 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 with an entitled look.

"How willing are you going to accommodate our requests?" The spear wielder asked, rather convinced in a way. Barry was ready to put an arm between the two and disrupt this situation but the priest leader had a look of relief on his face for some reason

"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..." His tone was off, Barry didn't know why but something in the way he was speaking was weird, granted he was in another world as far as he knew but that still didn't explain the gesture of these people.

"However I cannot make you these promises. The king of this great country is the one with the power and resources to reward you, 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 as he seemed satisfied for now

"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. For his part Barry looked at the robed man who had done the talking and gave him a sympathetic look, which the robed man seemed to receive... Begrudgingly? How did he cause a bad impression when the others were threatening him a minute ago.

They all began following the robed man down hallways and upstairs, this place was huge. As they continued up the stairs, he eventually saw a long row of windows showing off the capital city. Barry was surprised. While the architecture was simple, the scope of this city was surprising. Nothing he hadn't seen before but it certainly felt more fantastical than England or the rest of Europe he had seen, either he had been forcefully brought to another time or the lost likely case of an alternative Earth.

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" 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 four cardinal heroes!" A guard from the other side shouted. As they entered, they eyed the large room. There were many more people here than Barry thought there would be, but it would make sense considering the occasion. Obviously, there would be knights to guard the king. He looked at them. all men of tall and strong build and all wearing armor from head to toe... No. a few were women, so it wasn't completely generic then. Yet despite their armor and build they didn't give him the impression of being very strong, at least not to him.

Were they stronger than himself? Obviously not, he was amongst the Justice League and these knights were just... not as impressive as he'd imagined they should be. He expected them to have red capes and gold armor, helmets that completely obscured their facial features and some incredibly detailed swords but instead it was the most basic knight look possible despite a few seeming more intimidating. Weird that some seemed radically weaker than others, yet stood side by side like that. He was probably being too judgmental, he can't expect every world to be a spectacular flare from the normal, if there was a normal for a speedster.

Then Barry eyed the unexpected audience. They all seemed very rich with layered extravagant clothing paired with more jewelry than would seem practical... not that jewelry was practical in the first place. Oddest of all is that they seemed to go from happy to upset very quickly, whispering to each other blocking their mouths with their hands or fans. He assumed these were nobles. Meaning this country had local lords who governed provinces or states that collected taxes and handled more local issues while giving some tax to the royalty as well as providing military support. Barry might have gotten a few things wrong considering the difference in worlds, but this was close to the truth and he could tell.

Finally, his eyes rested on the king. He definitely looked the part. Wearing finer clothes than the nobles, large rings upon each finger, a bulky thick crown atop his head. Yeah, this was almost stereotypical. He looked very stressed, but hid it well in front of the heroes. He was also quite old by the looks of things... maybe even overweight? He couldn't know if he was wrong on his assumption, not that he'd known anyway. The king just didn't feel fit to rule at such a desperate occasion and the larger throne by his side would indicate a queen, she either passed away or was not available in the moment.

As the four heroes made it to the spot their guide showed them, the king began his speech.

"Ah so these are to be our heroes..." The king glanced at them for a moment, seemingly analysing the four. Judging their appearance and likely character from the little details their bodies gave away "I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the King of this glorious country of Melromarc"

"Now can the heroes name themselves?" he said in a booming voice that filled the room with much authority. Nothing like the robed man who seemed to only be able to plead and beg when talking to the heroes.

"I'm Amaki Ren, 16 years old, high schooler" the sword hero said as he held his sword with both hands. He was notable for the fact of being the only one amongst the four summoned heroes to not have blonde hair and for being the youngest.

"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, 21, college student" the spear hero said next as he laid his weapon over his shoulder. Taking a step forward and placing his thumb to his heart as if doing a flashy pose to impress them.

"Guess I'm next, huh? Kawasume Itsuki, 17, also in high school" the bow wielder spoke before he raised his bow and began inspecting it, likely due to never using one before his arrival in this world

Barry was thinking of the odds of all three being japanese considering their name and appearance, although it was more likely that he was the anomaly in this case as the only American and the only one over thirty. In any case it was his time to present himself

"My name is Bar-"

"Hmm, I see. Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki" The king had completely ignored him. This was weird considering he was also a legendary hero, was he... Was he too slow to answer it? Embarrassing thought aside, he would have to catch the attention of the king to announce himself properly

"Excuse me, Aultcray was it? You've skipped over me" Barry said as he didn't want to get glossed over, but he also didn't try to come off as arrogant as the other three heroes. The King looked at him for a single instant before looking elsewhere, which just made Barry think that once again he had somehow left a bad impression that Barry himself was unsure of how.

"Ah forgive me..." Barry felt weird. It wasn't that the king had looked away, but that in the moment that he looked at Barry, he noticed that was the only instant the king was looking at him. Almost like the king was pretending he wasn't there.

"Barry Allen, 30 years old, Forensic scientist of Central City Police" Barry decided to drop anything unnecessary like the other heroes did, it did catch some form of reaction from nobles or knights, likely due to them not knowing what a scientist much less a forensic one was.

"Good" the king did a very small nod before turning his attention back to the three other heroes. Which made Barry a bit frustrated by how the king was treating him, he expected a little bit of respect since he was also a legendary hero and all... Was the king biased? What else could explain it, unless he was judged the worst out of the four heroes in some contest in the few moments he arrived, why else would he be treated like this?

"Now my country of Melromarc is in grave danger of a threat known as the waves." The king prepared to explain the situation of the Waves of calamity which he gave a description of. 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. All the heroes listen respectfully, Barry out of politeness and genuine interest, the other three due to possibly not knowing all the details about the wave, otherwise they seemed bored by the whole thing. They were told that the first wave had already occurred, apparently the local guards and adventurers at the time were enough to stop that wave. Before any of the heroes could speak the king knew what they were going to ask.

"As to why we were able to defend from that wave, but now we feel we need to summon you... 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" he gave a glance to the other three which Barry was starting to get irritated about.

"Strengthen ourselves? Are we not legendary heroes? are these not legendary weapons?" Ren spoke, which seemed off to Barry. No one starts overwhelmingly powerful, maybe Superman but even he had to learn how to control his powers and wasn't without his weakness. Even the Flash had humble beginnings, he didn't start as a immaculate professional hero

"Ah, yes. You are legendary heroes and those weapons are the 4 greatest weapons in this world..., but not right now" The king responded as they all looked at him confused, Barry included.

"Each weapon has its own strengthening method. It gains strength alongside the legendary heroes, as for you yourselves, could you activate your status magic?" the king asked, with three out of the four heroes staring at him with confusion, however Ren immediately had activated his menu

"Um what? status?" Motoyasu breathed, Barry was just as confused but he didn't want to show, at this Ren sighed heavily

"It's simple, it's your menu. Either touch the menu icon or focus on it, should be at the corner of your eye" Ren explained, seemly bothered by having to tell them that like it was basic knowledge. Both Motoyasu and Barry found their menu icon right after that tip, and with slight embarrassment Itsuki came in as the last. All four grew silent once they saw their stats

[Name: Bartholomew Henry Allen]

[Class: Shield Hero, Speedster]

[Equipment: Legendary shield (locked), otherworldly clothes, otherworldly ring, otherworldly uniform (compressed)]

[Health Points: 150]

[Magic Points: 40]

[Soul Points: 40]

[Attack: 1]

[Magical Potency: 11]

[Defense: 17]

[Magical Defense: 17]

[Agility: recalculating...]

They all stared at their stats, but Barry was pondering the 1 attack because it seemed to be a handicap, but his speed was being reworked into a form that the shield registered, would explain why he couldn't use it because the shield was still coming with it's own interpretation, so once it was done he should get it back. Considering how the system was like a video game he tried to work with that type of logic, the agility would have to be like 999 because of his speed

"This is worse than I thought..." Ren was thinking out loud, not linking how low his stats were

"I know right? Level 1?" Motoyasu was losing motivation, being level 1 meant they would have to grind up a bunch which could either be fun!... or a tedious process that could take hours.

"This will be a lot of work and we've confirmed no rewards still..." Itsuki spoke as he looked at the king while raising a eyebrow, if they were to do this then they would have to be rewarded handsomely

"Yeah, that's right! Do you expect us to do this for free? Surely not?" Motoyasu was sounding more disrespectful the more he spoke, Barry could somewhat understand wanting a reward but he wouldn't be asking about it every time, they were supposed to be heroes after all.

"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 man to the king's right side using a purple robe responded as he took a step forward. The three other heroes looked at themselves proudly as if they attained some sort of victory. Barry was still figuring out what to do with his stats

"Don't think this can tame us" Ren said in an arrogant manner, Barry was beginning to think these three either didn't know how to act in front of royalty or thought very highly of themselves to the point of seeing everyone as stepping stone

"We can't have you looking down on us" Itsuki joined in, with Motoyasu nodding as well. Barry was ready to facepalm. These idiots were pushing their luck and his along with it. The king seemed unfazed by this oddly enough, Barry was also finding it harder and harder to read the room, sometimes someone would look angry or happy and switch between them for seemingly no reason. There had to be something else going on or he was just terrible at noticing poker faces.

"Well even if we are level 1, there are 4 of us. If we form a team-"

"Excuse me, but that won't do at all." The man beside the king spoke up and Barry was cut off, he seemed like the most generic sniveling noble in any of those telenovelas trying to be the next Shakespeare.

"Due to the unique qualities of the holy weapons, none of you can gain experience while near one another." The man explained and a new notification appeared to the four heroes

[The four holy weapons dampen one another's power while within close quarters. Distance advised whenever possible]

Barry was now annoyed, if they are meant to work together how come they can't be near each other? Was each supposed to protect one of the Cardinal directions and that's why they are cardinal heroes? They weren't doing a good at explaining anything in particular here.

"You must form parties separately. Gather strength then fight the threat of the Waves together" the king said in his serious tone. Barry had another question, in fact he had many questions, but at this point he was expecting himself to be cut off mid sentence.

"Would that not mean that we won't receive any experience during waves?" Ren asked, sounding a little firmer, Barry assumed he asked his question so firmly as not to be cut off like he was, were they seeing this too? or was he just being paranoid? Whatever the case he was making a good question as they need to gather EXP to fight the Waves but not gaining it during the Wave sounds like a drawback more than anything, it would be were the strongest monster would be right?

"Unfortunately, yes... the waves will have numerous enemies that you can't receive experience for slaying, but you can harvest your prey to still gain power" the king said very vaguely, the four weren't sure what he meant by harvesting prey for power

"Could you elaborate." Barry asked, he was still very curious about so many things and yet he felt like he should be careful, asking very little questions at a time in fear of being cut off again. But considering he was stuck with this magical shield, it was best to know everything about it as soon as possible.

"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" saying this, another notification appeared to the heroes

[The cardinal shield can absorb objects to unlock new forms, new forms provide stat increases, as well as abilities. Fully mastering a shield provides its bonuses permanently and allows most skills to be used with another shield form in use]

'Not just prey, but 'objects' as a whole? Should I just try shoving everything into it? What is the limit here?' Flash pondered, he thought it should be more detailed but expecting magic from another world to work like what he wanted was a dumb thing to start with, but if there was no limitation to what he could absorb... did that mean he had unlimited potential to grow stronger? He didn't really need that much help considering his speed, but maybe more physical strength could come in handy

"Heroes you can ask us questions all day; however, your status magic should be a great aid. Please refer to it tonight. 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 motioned to several servants as he finished. The servants motioned to the heroes to follow. With Barry noticing that only they left. all the nobles, knights, and the king were still sitting in their places, best he could guess is that they'll hold court of something below or of no interest to the heroes.

They were taken into a banquet room full of food for them to eat, it was good for otherworldly cooking and they were also taken to a sleeping chamber where the four would pass the night, chatting with the three other 'heroes' wasn't really a great time but from the subsequent conversation they found out that each came from a different Earth, Ren was from a more futuristic version that had technologically developed faster by about 100 years, Itsuki came from a world where special schools were made to teach people about ESPER which he didn't went into detail about, Motoyasu's world... Didn't have a single World War, that was the only change it seemed to have. Barry tried to explain his world by starting with Central City, Ren and Motoyasu laughed at his story saying he was lying or exaggerating, Itsuki also agreed but entertained the idea of the Rogues and of a superhero like the Flash if super powers were real, his response indicates something and he might actually have powers of his own, but Barry couldn't confirm or deny it from just that.

They also mocked him for having the shield, according to them it was the worst weapon amongst the four due to not having offensive capabilities, a fair argument considering the impression of the Waves they received from the king, but he pointed out that strength and attack are nothing without speed, no matter how strong you throw a punch it won't matter if someone can punch faster than you and reacts to your own punch just as fast. The three seemed to agree in different levels on that opinion, but it was overall unanimously accepted by them that speed was in fact important.

As the three young heroes sleep, Barry looks at his hand. Concentrating on it as hard as he could for minutes before taking a deep breath, staring at it with even more effort as it starts to shake, before becoming a blur of itself as it vibrates rapidly. With a smile on his face, Barry takes out the costume from his ring and dresses up in it with lightning speed.

Running down the castle as he builds up speed to leave the large capital city within minutes or even seconds, weird how he was needing to build up speed like this but it wasn't a bother as he ran over the moat surrounding the castle

"Quick run back home, talk to Iris, tell her I'm okay. Get an excuse for an extended vacation that I most certainly won't get, tell the league about this and maybe get some magical help. Ask Wally to fill in for me while I deal with this whole Wave of Catastrophe." Flash said as went outside of the city's wall and was now in the open field, increasing his speed even more as it now broke the sound barrier, and then again and again. He closed his eyes to focus on his home, on his Earth and just as his about to break the dimensional barrier... Purple lighting envelopes him in agonizing pain as the shield's gem shines in the same color, his focus broken and so is his balance as the scarlet speedster is sent tumbling through the ground rolling. Getting up with a painful grunt he looked at the purple lighting lingering in the shield confused before a notification appeared

[Rule Violation!]

[The legendary shield and its wielder are not allowed to leave the current world they reside without permission of a higher being]

"What? Was that your doing? I was going to come back, I just wanted-" another notification appeared, interrupting Barry

[To stop any future attempts of the hero leaving its chosen world, speed is being lowered to avoid any further attempt. Any speed surpassing the limit will be punished by consumption of SP, then MP and lastly HP]

This shield... It was a ball and chain in disguise, it didn't want him to leave this world without permission from a higher being he didn't even know could be contacted much less existed, it was taking away his speed and making him a less effective hero in the process. His expression quickly shows the disdain that Barry had at the moment, picking the shield and actually throwing it away before it reappeared on his arm seconds later. He thought of what to do now and decided to run back to the castle, as he began moving Barry could tell he was slower than before. Which made the run back feel slow when it didn't seem that way for anyone other than a speedster, felt more like he was driving a car.

Returning to the sleeping chamber he and the other heroes were in, he took off the costume and laid in bed thinking. The shield, Barry would need to use it more now that his speed was drastically cut, why would a legendary weapon designed to protect the world limit its hero of possessing the power he had? Was it's objective of staying in this world so important that it overwrote anything else? Questions for when he found something that could actually answer, right now he went to sleep bothered with the entire situation

In the morning a maid came into the room to wake up the heroes for the so awaited formation of their adventuring parties, hopefully that would make up for his speed being cut off, if anything he could use help from a magic user to try taking away the restrictions put by the shield. They are breakfast As they made their way back to that large throne room from yesterday, they all seemed to want to slow down a bit. Being slingshot from one place to another with no deviation was starting to get to them, but their freedom to take on this new world as heroes of legend was less than an hour away. Barry wondered who was slowing down in annoyance and who was slowing down due to anxiousness. Even for himself, he had no answer as that little discovery last night also got him more bumped out, he would have to worry with limited resources here.

As the large doors caved to their presence, the light of the formidable room invaded them in turn. The room seemed vastly different. There were only a few nobles in attendance now, making the already large room feel even larger. The four heroes came to rest in the same places they stood, but a day ago. The king seemed in better spirits today than the day prior, at least Flash thought so. The king spoke with a voice that would have been well enough without the now mostly empty room to echo to further enhance it.

"Thank you for answering my summons brave heroes! Yesterday I promised that I'd provide you with talented and experienced adventures, allies willing to face the waves beside you and help answer any questions you will no doubt have in this world you now find yourselves in. I would now like to show you that as king I stand by my promises. Enter!" As the doors behind the kind on both sides opened and several people filed into the room, forming a line in front of the king. the four looked at them for a moment, eyeing anyone they found interesting.

"Are we going to choose them or will they choose us?" Itsuki asked as depending on which answer, they could have very different team builds that could change how they would have to fight, hopefully he would get someone that can stay in the front line due to his position as an archer. The king said it would be the latter and suddenly, a invisible tension formed across the heroes if the king's expression was anything to go by

"Now! Our future champions! It is time to start your journey!" The king exclaimed and the adventurers made their way to the heroes of their choice, Barry began thinking of possible combinations.

'There are 12 of them so we each get 3 but it is possible for one to get 4 or 2 if th-' Barry was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed a lot of people looking his way but moving elsewhere, going for the other heroes. He realized in a second that no one stood with him, which was odd for sure as he didn't make a bad impression yesterday, as far as he knew anyway "Uh... Is there a reason for this particular outcome?"

"Are we going to choose them or will they choose us?" Itsuki asked as depending on which answer, they could have very different team builds that could change how they would have to fight, hopefully he would get someone that can stay in the front line due to his position as an archer. The king said it would be the latter and suddenly, a invisible tension formed across the heroes if the king's expression was anything to go by

"I see, so there are rumors" he said seemly content with this confirmation, not that any of the heroes noticed. Barry was confused, how did rumors of him already begin spreading and how could they lead to this outcome of none of the gathered adventurers joining him, he briefly thought if someone somehow saw him put up the costume and speed out, but that would only make him the most popular choice right?

"There seems to be rumors of the shield hero possessing a lack of knowledge of our world, it is said that heroes come equipped with this knowledge but the shield hasn't displayed any" the king spoke and the heroes looked at each other briefly, Ren whispered to Itsuki how someone was spying on them last night, there was no other way such a rumor could have spread otherwise.

"If that's all I can just hit up the royal library and get all the knowledge I need, I'll be done in a snap" It would be a good way to pass the evening, knowledge is power and considering how little he knew of this place, better to study as much as he could before getting into action.

"Even if you're enthusiastic about reading I think it's going to take a long time for you to even learn our language" the king responded as he was sure a hero from another, no matter how intelligent he may think they are, would still need more than a day to truly understand what there is to know in Melromarc, besides it wouldn't be good to have a hero being too curious and specially the shield hero.

"I'm a fast learner" Barry's response seemed to get under the king's nerve, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say but at the same time Aultcray seemed to tolerate the other heroes so why would he be different? Was there a grudge here he wasn't aware of or did the king just not-

"If it will help, I can join the shield hero's party" a voice spoke, it was one of the members of Motoyasu's party, a beautiful red-hair with lush green eyes, wearing what seemed like Leather armor atop a white and purple dress. She turned to Motoyasu while giving him a soft smile "If that's okay with you, spear hero?"

"Of course" Motoyasu responded, he was sad to lose the prettiest girl at his party, much more to a weirdo. But a true gentleman wouldn't deprive a woman of doing what she thinks is right due to her kind heart to take pity for a loser.

"Pleasure to meet you Shield hero, my name is Myne Sophia" she said as she put a hand out to greet him, Barry shook her hand back

"Well then shield hero, you will have to form a party for yourselves, to help with this you will receive a little more money for your journey right now" the king said as the maids came in to deliver bags of silver coins to the heroes with Barry having 800 while the others got 600, the king gave them his farewells as they eat h went their separate ways

"We should probably go to the fields to fight some monsters for you to increase your level, but let's get you some armor, to put your defense up" Myne suggested as they walked the streets, looking cheerful and trusting.

"Sorry but bulky armor isn't my thing, unless it's pretty flexible. Besides I already have my own costume" What he said was confusing to Myne for a bit before she was in another location in a flash of speed and lightning

"H-how... We're did that-You were standing right there and then... Wait are we already in the fields?" Myne was at a loss of words as everything happened so fast, they were suddenly in the fields and the shield hero seemed to have a new suit on himself that just came out of nowhere

"I'll tell you more later, for now just tell me what are the monsters around here" Barry responds, if she were to be his traveling companion he would have to tell her more about himself, but that could be for later as the scarlet speedster was ready to see what this world had to offer in terms of monsters

"Well... Those are the weakest ones around the area, they are only a danger to children" she pointed at a group of orange balls that seemed to have faces drawn on it, pathetic to say the least but she did say they were the lowest of the low here.

"I guess I expected more? Well I suppose we should start off with the weakest" Barry stretched his arms and in an instant was there amongst the balloons, Malty was only able to see a red streak and a few yellow sparks before he had gone out of her sight, it was kind of scary how fast he was... At least she was scared of him possessing such speed, this was not something she was told the shield could do

In a minute the group of Balloons were dealt with, although Barry knew this was only the case thanks to his speed force. It took a good amount of punches to kill them, it might have taken him 15 minutes to pop a singular one if he had done it in normal speed, this 1 attack limitation was hard but considering he could punch them before they could react, it shouldn't be too much of a problem against weak opponents but bigger and tougher monsters might be a hassle.

Picking up the scrap he absorbed it to the shield as the king had instructed them, the [balloon shield] was pathetic but once again that was to be expected from the weakest monster around, considering his had the time and speed, Barry used it to fight different types of enemies to see how long it took for them to go down. While collecting scrap he saw Ren fighting his own horde of balloons close by, kid had skill from what he could see and Flash assumed he had some fencing experience.

"I think we are done here, the monsters aren't too much. If you want we can go see a blacksmith like you mentioned, you know any good one?" There wasn't really a point to keep fighting these things, they gave low experience and he could use his time for something else, he was already level 5 so leveling up wasn't a worry for Barry at the moment. Going to see how armor works might be a better use if his time today

"Yeah, there is a place called Erhard's anvil from what-" once again she was moved in a incredible speed, but it was slower than before as she felt herself being lifted up and carry by Flash this time. When they stopped moving Myne felt like she should vomit from that experience but she only had trouble standing for a second before regaining her posture, they enter the shop

"Welcome to my... Interesting suit you got there, came to put some iron on top or just replace the suit" the owner asked as he hasn't seen someone wear anything like that, the suit looked like it was well made just by looking at the details but considering how thin it looked, the man probably came in to put armor on top

"Really going to depend on how flexible these armors are, suit may be skin tight but doesn't restrain my movement and that's my main priority" Barry explained to the blacksmith, the speed force helped any clothes he wore to withstand most of the speeds he went at but if this world was full of magical monsters and he would have to fight invasions from another dimension, it was best to find some extra padding when it came to defense just in case

"Okay, there is leather and chainmail in stock. You can give them a try, changing rooms is by-" in a red dash Barry came and went from the changing room with different pieces of armor and clothing offered in the store saying how a particular suit was either not really his style, or was too strict, was actually women's clothing, was too big, just embarrassing or not good for running. In about two minutes he was done seeing the armor and the Blacksmith was flabbergasted

"... What was that? You just move like a, was that lightning flying around?" He asked, utterly confused by what had happened and by the speed it all went by, who was this guy? How could he move so fast like that?

"Speed force, think of it as its own separate form of magic. And don't worry, that lightning is mostly harmless" explaining the speed force in it's entirety to a person from a world in medieval times would be too complex as he would need to lay down the basic concepts of physics before even starting on the speed force, so telling it was it's own separate type of magic felt more appropriate

"I expected something more magical out of these armors, that changed to fit the user but I guess that was too much of an expectation" Barry was kind of disappointed but maybe their magic didn't work like that, it was very similar to a video game and he knew that it was very strict considering how it limited his speed. So maybe the magic here just wasn't capable of doing that

"Well if that's what you really want, you need magic silk to make magic clothing, it will fit you no matter what and can even regenerate if given proper enchantments." Despite the confusion he gave his advice to the scarlet speedster, while armor can't really adjust itself to the user, magic silk had that property and more while being able to transform with the user in some cases

"And where can I get that?" Barry asked as that would be really good to have, if he can mix his suit with this type of material then he wouldn't need to worry about maintenance for a while, plus it was a interesting thing to learn more about and made him wonder just how many people have access to this form of clothing

"There's a friend of mine that runs a shop, east side of town with a blue roof and-" in a flash Both the shield hero and his companion were gone from the store while the blacksmith was explaining, so he could just assume he went to look for the store right away

"What an odd guy" he said before going back to work, at least the scarlet speedster had put everything he wore back in its place once he was done trying them. The visit to the magic shop went smoothly, Barry even got to see his magic affinity for free as he had support and healing which seemed to be the basic ones for any shield hero, the witch that owned the place also picked up lightning affinity but it was different from anything she ever saw but Barry gave her the explanation of the speed force being a different form of magic, she was intrigued to learn more but quickly lost interest when the scientific part was brought in

Afterwards they went into an inn as the night began to come down

"You... Eat a lot" Myne comments as the amount of food he had ordered just for himself was most of their budget, he promised to make it back by the morning and Myne was certain he could steal all that money back if he wasn't such a good guy, if she had that speed she wouldn't even pay for things, she would just take it and they would be none the wiser

"When you run as much as I do with my speed, you need a lot of energy" He told her in between bites, she was honestly more surprised of how much he was able to scarf down than how disgusting it was, he basically ate just like a Filolian would

"Would you like a beer to wash all of that down?" She offered him a drink, the intention was for him to drink it and let the sleep potion blend in the beer to knock him out cold for the night

"Not really, if you can't get drunk then what's the point?" Being a speedster meant having such a fast metabolism that any form of alcohol wouldn't be able to intoxicate the body as it would be digested too fast, it would require something like a super concentrated beer to really take any effect

"We should go to bed, there's a long day ahead of tomorrow" Myne said hiding a defeated tone, her original plan had basically failed and now she would need to come up with something now to incriminate the shield, Barry went ahead to his room with speed as Myne follows behind him normal. Both didn't notice a hooded figure that was also in the bar, one that had a particularly malicious smile as it looked at the first princess in particular

[Author's notes]

Leave a review or comment as it really helps the fanfic, as long as it is related to the contents of the story.

So my flash knowledge comes from the DCAU justice league cartoons, the animated DC movies and the CW show. In terms of Flash comics... Only read the 2010 run before flashpoint and annuals from subsequent runs, it was difficult to find anything other than Batman and Superman comics in my home town growing up which made it harder to get into other characters later on (one of the main reasons why I haven't wrote a Wonder Woman x shield hero story, I just don't know enough to write a good version of it)

Not to mention how... Restrictive comic book characters can be when writing them, like I can't just pick one specific version of the character if I have to choose between multiple runs and adaptations of one character. Do I chose Flash from the silver age or the 2010's version of him? Do I use the cartoon appearances as a base or put CW'S Flash into it despite dropping the show in season 7? They're is so much to worry about that the safest option is to make a amalgam of the character that is base on my own knowledge of the character rather than using one version as a base, it's what I did for the Batman fanfic and it was much easier than the Superman fanfic due to that reason (also because Shield hero's narrative breaks like a twig the moment a character can fly, seriously the story is railroaded like crazy at times)

Him revealing his speed to Myne and using it so casually in this setting might be weird to some, but Flash to me was always a more carefree type of guy and a secret identity in shield hero wouldn't matter for most characters as the usual reasons to keep them hidden aren't a thing in the Isekai setting, plus I don't think he would hold back on using it before the trial happens as that would be the only case I see him using a secret identity, but I don't think Barry on the first day would hide his identity as the Flash, especially to a future companion. Will this come back to bite him? I don't really see it, no matter what people would learn of his powers through the course of the first season anyway, like it wouldn't take much for them to really both are the same person because he can't really hide the shield when wearing his suit

I limited his speed, so that the story doesn't implode on itself. Flash is very overpowered and that doesn't mean you can't write good stories with him, but considering the setting of the shield hero world and its villains... Flash would need to be a lot slower if anything would pose a threat or challenge, the shield limiting his speed as a way to stop him from traveling through worlds without permission made sense considering shield hero lore. As to how fast he is now that his speed has been limited? He can move faster than a race car without any drawbacks and can perceive things like attacks at half their normal speed, but moving faster will result in SP, MP and even HP to be drained the faster he goes. The only way to balance out the Flash in a RPG style system, I don't have extensive know on the character so suggestions on how I should handle his speed are appreciated. I want him to feel like the Flash but without destroying the narrative

Please tell me what you thought of the characterization in this chapter and what possible improvements can be made, one thing set is that Flash just like Batman and Superman will be against slavery so party members are going to be handled differently. Your support is necessary for the fanfic to continue, so if you want more, please comment about as much as possible so I can get enough feedback to get a reason to work on it, long comments are appreciated to understand as much as possible of what you want because just a "good chapter, please make more" doesn't really help in the creative process

Going to leave it as a One-shot, have other things to work on and if I have to continue writing this then I'll do it if it reaches... 150 follows, a high bar but I think it's just around the sweet spot. If you're reading up to here, I really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed the story

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are next on the list for me to try writing, but I have mentioned their problems before so I will try brainstorming more for them, likely they will be One-Shots just like this one.

If this gets an next chapter, it would be the trial and I already have something teased in the ending for that. Probably obvious what it is but I had to try making it vague, anyways try to guess what Barry is going to be trialled for and how