"The summoning worked!" Someone called out in surprise
"What?" A voice from beside Naofumi spoke, a hint of confusion in their voice.
Naofumi turned his head towards the person who had just spoken, spotting two other people just past the first person. Each of them seemed just as confused as Naofumi was.
One was short and blond. He wore a school uniform, and in his hands was a dagger with a green gem in its handle. The blade itself was a mixture of black and gold.
"Eh? Where are we?" Another blonde person asked. He was taller than the boy in the school uniform, wearing his hair in a ponytail, wearing a red unzipped jacket over his white shirt.
The final person was a raven haired boy, taller than the first boy who held the dagger, wearing blue. He wore a long sleeved jacket, with his hand pressed against his side as if it was hurting him.
Each of them held a similar object, the tall blondes being a hammer, and the raven haired boy's weapon seeming to be a claw which covered his hand.
Naofumi looked down at his own hands in curiosity. He had a set of gauntlets covering his hands, with a black and gold trim much like the other three weapons he had seen.
"Seven star heroes!" the same voice called out. "Thank you for answering our summons!"
"Where are we?" the person in the school uniform questioned immediately.
"Seven Star Heroes?" Naofumi questioned, though it was quiet enough to be ignored.
"Yeah, where did you take us?" The raven haired boy asked.
"Hey hey, I'm sure they have a good explanation for this!" The blonde with a ponytail spoke, giving the robed people before them a look.
"O-Of course we have a good reason!" He spoke quickly. "But his majesty wishes to be the one who explains it!" He added on at the last moment.
"Well, there's no point in keeping us here, is there?" The taller blonde spoke with a smile,
"Of course! Please, follow us!"
They were quickly taken from the room that they had been in before, and it gave Naofumi barely any time to think of what had happened. They were instead pushed through the doors and stood before a throne.
"So these are the summoned Seven Star Heroes?" The man on the throne asked. "They dont look like much. Then again, I suppose I didn't look like much when I first wielded the staff…" The king murmured the last part to himself before shaking his head. "My name is Aultcray Melromarc. introduce yourself, fellow Seven Star Heroes!"
The four looked between each other, an unasked question of who would go first being passed between them. That was quickly answered by the blonde with a ponytail.
"Of course. My name is Motoyasu Kitamura. 21 years old and I'm a college student!" He gave his hammer a few practice swings, a relaxed smile on his face.
"Itsuki Kawasumi, I'm 17 years old, also a highschool student." The blonde with the dagger spoke politely.
"Ren Amaki, 16 years old. Highschooler as well." Ren spoke quickly, giving a small nod of his head.
Naofumi mentally rearranged the ages in his mind. Itsuki honestly didn't seem like he was older than Ren, though he was basing it purely on height.
Seeing that it was his turn, Naofumi spoke up.
"Naofumi Iwatani. 20 years old, also a college student." He spoke politely, bowing slightly to the king.
The king seemed to look between the four of them before nodding his head. "I see. Motoyasu, Itsuki, Ren, Naofumi. Please, check your status and confirm that you are heroes."
"Status?" Motoyasu asked.
"Yeah, how do we see that?" Naofumi added on.
"It's in the corner of your vision. Just focus on it and it should pop up." Ren supplied the answer quickly, as if he already knew what was going on.
Naofumi did just that, and a new screen popped up.
Naofumi Iwatani
Class: Gauntlet Hero LV 1
Equipment: Small Gauntlets (Legendary Weapon) Other-World Clothes
Skills: None
Magic: None
There were a number of other things listed, but Naofumi opted to ignore them for the moment, instead choosing to listen to the others.
"Level 1, huh?" Motoyasu spoke with concern.
"Yeah… Will we actually be able to fight like this?" Itsuki voiced his own concerns.
"As long as we put in some effort, we should be fine." Ren spoke, cutting off any further conversation from the group.
"That is the attitude to have, heroes! As long as you put in the effort, then your growth will be limitless. However, to do so, you will need to journey and strengthen the legendary weapons you possess."
"So these things aren't strong from the start?" Itsuki asked.
"It makes sense. What sort of game do you play where the weapon you start with is the strongest from the get-go?" Motoyasu asked him. "We might as well pick up some other weapons until these become strong enough."
It sounded like a good idea to Naofumi. He had gauntlets, and from his stat distribution, it seemed to lean more towards defense, though he could still attack if the need arose.
"We can figure that out later." Ren spoke, cutting off Naofumi's thoughts. "Right now, we should focus on strengthening ourselves, like the king asked us to."
They all nodded, agreeing with the raven haired boy before Motoyasu spoke up.
"So, are we going to form a party with all four of us?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, there are limitations for seven star heroes in who they can party with. Whilst it certainly would be better for the four of you to group up, interference between the weapons allows only for two seven star heroes to be together and gain experience."
As if to confirm it, a pop up appeared confirming what the king had just said.
Attention: the Vassal Weapons and their owners will experience adverse growth effects if three or more vassal weapons and their wielders are within a distance of each other.
"Well, that puts a hold on things…" Naofumi mumbled to himself.
At the very least, they could stick with one other person so they wouldn't be left to fend for themselves in a new world.
"Now… I'll explain why exactly you have been summoned heroes."
And he did. He told them about the hourglasses that told them of when the waves would strike. He told them of the devastation that the first wave caused, of the destroyed village of Lurolona. He spoke about how the waves grew stronger over time, and that whilst the Seven Star Heroes could help combat them, the Cardinal Heroes would be required to fully repel them.
"Then why didn't you summon the Cardinal Heroes?" Naofumi questioned.
He got similar questions from the other three, and the King rushed to answer them.
"My wife, the queen of Melromarc, is at Faubrey. There, they are talking about who will attempt to summon which hero. If all goes to plan, we should be able to summon the Spear Hero in a week's time at the earliest, provided nothing delays her. We are unsure of who will be aiming to summon the Bow and Sword, but it is likely that… Siltevelt," He almost spat the word out. "Will be attempting to summon their so-called 'god', the Shield Hero."
Naofumi was curious about the way the king spoke about Siltvelt, but did not question it. It was something he could learn about later.
"Regardless…Heroes, it has been a long day and you are undoubtedly tired from everything. Rooms have been prepared for you, as well as meals for later. I will be busy for the rest of the day, preparing stuff for your adventures to begin tomorrow. Namely, funding and one other thing you may find useful."
They all thanked the king before retiring to their rooms for the night.
"So." Motoyasu spoke, sitting down on the sofa. "This world seems pretty familiar right?"
"It does." Itsuki confirmed.
Ren didn't speak, but he did nod his head, agreeing with the other two.
"Not really?" Naofumi answered.
"Eh? Have you never played Emerald Online?" Motoyasu asked Naofumi in shock. "I mean, it was like one of the most popular games!"
"Emerald Online? Don't you mean Dimension wave?" Itsuki asked.
Before Ituski and Motoyasu could start arguing, Ren stepped in.
"Cut it out both of you. You're confusing Naofumi. It's just like Brave Star Online. The only thing different is the weapons. I don't remember Claws ever being a weapon in my game…" Ren trailed off at that, looking over his claws once again.
"Hey, now that you mention it, I don't remember a hammer being available to use in Emerald Online either!"
"I know there were daggers, but there was no class called Projectile hero in Dimension Wave." Itsuki spoke, looking at the weapon in his hand.
"Can we go back to the games for a moment?" Naofumi asked. "What did you mean by it being pretty similar?"
"Well, this is all like the beginning cutscene of Emerald Online. Speak about the hourglasses, tell us about the waves and how we have to go off and fight them!"
"I've never even heard of Emerald Online." Itsuki spoke. "It's gotta be some sort of minor game right? At least compared to Dimension Wave."
"Hah? No way! I've never even heard a thing about this Dimension Wave. If anything, it's your game that is minor!" Motoyasu shouted back.
"From my point of view, both your games are pretty unknown. I haven't heard of either of them. Mines a VRMMO, so it's all everyone plays."
"VRMMO? Like virtual reality? Cut it out man! You know tech like that is far from being a reality." Motoyasu spoke with a frown.
"Yeah! Everyone knows Dimension Wave is a console game!"
"Huh? Emerald Online is a pc game! It's on Beam for crying out loud!"
"What outdated things are you using? Did you live in the middle of nowhere?" Ren asked in shock.
Soon enough, the entire thing devolved into an argument between the three, whilst Naofumi thought it over.
"Wait a moment!" Naofumi called out after a few moments. "Are you all sure you've never heard of any of eachothers games?"
"Yeah, I'm fairly certain." Ren spoke. "I consider myself well versed in the history of games, and I can say I've never heard of Dimension Wave or Emerald Online."
Naofumi nodded his head at that, a frown on his face. "What about you two, Motoyasu? Itsuki?" He prompted.
They both gave the same response, and Naofumi nodded once more.
"Well, there's no way all three of you are lying, right?" He questioned out loud, more to himself than the others.
"Why don't we just start with some common sense questions, to make sure we are all on the right page."
The three other heroes agreed to it, and soon enough they came to an answer.
"So we are all from different versions of japan!?" Motoyasu questioned, leaning back.
"I guess so." Naofumi answered him. "It would make sense why I never heard of any of your games. For reference, I've played things like Odin Online, and Fantasy Moon Online."
"Yep, never heard of those." Motoyasu answered immediately.
"Huh. Guess it's now sinking in." Itsuki spoke with a nod. "I mean, I can't see how we could be from the same place, especially with all the different answers."
"That's fair. I wonder if the ways to power up our weapons are the same as Emerald Online." Motoyasu voiced out loud.
"If it's going to be like anything, then it will be Dimension Wave." Itsuki spoke with a frown.
"Strengthening our weapons?" Naofumi questioned.
"My bad. I forgot you didn't play any of our games. If you look in your help menu, it should tell you how to improve your weapon." Motoyasu explained quickly.
Naofumi thanked him, and quickly moved towards his help menu. He skimmed through it with the intent to check over it again at a later point before stopping on his method
The method was called Skill Reinforcement. It allowed him to gain points as he leveled up that he could allocate to skills when he unlocked them, making them stronger, up to a rank of X. He could also remove them after 24 hours had passed.
"Yeah, it's right here." Naofumi spoke.
The other three all voiced similar answers, but didn't seem happy.
"What's wrong?" Naofumi asked them.
"Just a different way of powering up my weapon. It's nothing like Emerald Online…" Motoyasu spoke.
"Same here." Ren spoke. "Nothing like the system from Brave Star Online…"
Itsuki didn't say anything, but Naofumi could tell he was annoyed with what he was reading.
"Well, I don't know about that, but my method seems pretty decent. It's definitely going to give my skills some punch…"
Naofumi looked at the other three. Ren was the only one agreeing with him, whilst Motoyasu and Itsuki looked confused.
"You all have Skill Reinforcement, right?" Naofumi decided to clarify.
"Huh?" Was the response he got from Motoyasu. Itsuki remained silent.
"Skill Reinforcement? I've got Skill Mastery." Ren spoke up, staring at Naofumi oddly.
"You've got stuff related to skills? I've got something called Weapon Synthesis."
Itsuki remained silent until Motoyasu spoke directly to him.
"What about you, Itsuki? What's your method?"
"...It's lame." He spoke with a frustrated sigh. "It's called 'Reinforcement through Money'. It lets you absorb money and it says it interfaces with other methods to either bolster their effects, or prevent failure, but I don't have any other methods! I've checked before you tell me to go looking again! This would have been so much easier if it had the same ways to strengthen your weapon as Dimension Wave…"
They all thought about it, trying to think of a solution for Itsuki's problem, but it was Ren who figured it out.
"It says it interfaces with other methods, right?" He asked Itsuki for confirmation. "So there must be a way to share methods between people. It's the only way that sort of method could be useful." Ren spoke.
A few moments later, a small smirk grew on Ren's face. "Itsuki, I have your method in my menu."
"Huh? How!? Do you have Motoyasu or Naofumi's methods?" Itsuki questioned quickly.
Ren shook his head. "I don't. I'm not sure why." He admitted.
"Maybe it's because Itsuki explained how his method worked?" Naofumi offered, even as he checked his own menu. Just as he expected, it was there.
Motoyasu nodded his head at that. "Yeah, that definitely seems like it! Maybe it's some sort of hidden system?" He suggested.
"Maybe, but why make it so difficult to see? It seems like the Projectile would have an advantage in that case, being able to know methods are sharable off the bat." Naofumi spoke with a frown.
"No idea." Motoyasu spoke with a shrug. "How about we explain what each of our methods do, and then go from there?"
"Sure, I propose Naofumi goes first." Itsuki spoke, having calmed down slightly.
Seeing no reason not to, Naofumi did.
"Right. Well, as I said. My method is called Skill Reinforcement. Every time you level up, you gain points you can assign to a skill. This goes up to a maximum of X, and after 24 hours have passed, you can take away the points and give them to another skill if you want."
The other three all checked their own menus, confirming that they had Skill Reinforcement in their menus.
"I'll go next." Ren offered. "Like I said, mine is Skill Mastery. The more you use a skill, the more it levels up. This can give it new effects, such as using less SP, cooldown reduction and other effects."
After confirming they all had it, Motoyasu was the last to go.
"Right. Mine is called Weapon Synthesis. It allows the signature equip effect of a weapon form to be transferred to another weapon form. Each weapon form has a limited amount of charges and slots, and once all the charges have been used, the weapon form is locked again until you absorb that material. It says it can even unlock new weapon forms if done correctly."
Naofumi was most interested in that. The possibilities of it seemed endless. Being able to create your own weapon with specific bonuses seemed powerful. He would be able to create gauntlets for specific battles if he knew of them ahead of time, which was a pretty powerful thing. And even if he didnt, he could still create a decent weapon form with a little bit of everything.
"So, if we have methods, then surely the… what did the king call them?" He thought it over for a moment before continuing. "Cardinal heroes! They should have a method as well, right?" Motoyasu pointed out once they had all confirmed the existence of the methods in their menus.
"Probably? I mean, the king put more emphasis on the cardinal heroes, so they probably have a stronger method than ours." Naofumi pondered.
"Or more of them maybe." Ren suggested.
"That's true. But we are gonna have to wait a week minimum before this Spear Hero is even summoned." Itsuki spoke with a frown.
"We could always split up." Ren suggested. "I mean, there's the two seven star weapon limit per party, so if two of us go to Faubrey, who seems likely to summon a hero-"
"Why are they likely to summon a hero?" Motoyasu asked him.
Ren gave him an annoyed look, but still answered.
"If they are holding the conference, then they must be one of, if not the strongest nation around. So how does that sound?"
"It's fine by me, but I want to be one of the people who goes to Faubrey. If I remember, they have some decent projectile weapons at the very least."
"That's fine by me. I wanted to go there originally." Ren spoke with a simple nod.
"Well, I guess that leaves you with me then." Motoyasu spoke, giving Naofumi a smile.
"Guess so." He responded in kind. "Hopefully we will do fine."
"We are gonna do more than fine! We are gonna get super strong, I remember all the best locations for leveling! Plus, we will get the method from the Spear Hero when he is summoned, then we will be cruising by for the rest of the waves!" He declared.
As Motoyasu and Naofumi continued to speak, Ren and Itsuki left, likely to go to their own rooms.
It is getting a bit late… Naofumi thought to himself. He just couldn't sleep due to a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
"Well, I don't know about you, but…" Naofumi scratched the back of his head before speaking. "Well, I'm kinda excited, you know? It's a whole new world and all that…"
"Well, even if this place isn't exactly like Emerald Online, I still have plenty of tips and tricks to give you, so don't worry about it." Motoyasu replied easily.
That actually gave Naofumi some peace of mind, and he felt himself relax slightly.
"Well, I'm gonna head to bed." Motoyasu spoke with a yawn. "Gotta be prepared for tomorrow."
"Wait!" Naofumi called out. "Before that, I want to actually discuss our plans for tomorrow?" He asked nervously.
Motoyasu gave him a look, but nodded. "Sure, what are you thinking?" He asked.
"Well, there's already been one wave right?" He asked, earning a nod from the hammer hero.
"Well, if we go there, there's probably some stuff left over from the wave. And if that's the case, then we could probably get a decent weapon form with some stuff to use for synthesis." He pointed out.
"You're not wrong about the decent weapon forms part, but why are you so focused on synthesis?" Motoyasu asked him curiously. "I mean, as far as I can tell, it may be pretty deep, but it's still kind of just…looks bad?"
Naofumi looked at him. "Why do you think it's bad?" He asked with a frown.
"It's just…" Motoyasu let out a sigh, tapping his fingers against his leg. "If each weapon has a charge and it locks after they are all expended, it means you are gonna miss out on weapon forms entirely once you have used them up! Some of them you won't be able to unlock again because they came from wave bosses!"
Naofumi lowered his head at that. Motoyasu had a valid point, but he was still focusing only on the likely stronger equip effects, not the general uses of weapon synthesis.
"That's true, but that's why the wave boss ones will be treated as a rarity for weapons you know you are gonna use for a while. There's plenty of other uses for Synthesis as well. I mean, what if there's an easy to get equip effect which I can slap onto every weapon I use? What if there's some equip effects which, whenever I block something with my gauntlets, it applies a ton of debuffs to an enemy? For you, it would probably be whenever you hit something with your hammer."
Motoyasu seemed to think about it for a moment, nodding his head. "I see where you are coming from, but I'm still not sure about it…" He spoke with a frown.
"Well, what about the creating new weapon forms part? I mean, imagine we are planning on fighting a dragon! You could probably mix together a bunch of dragon related equip effects to create a specific anti dragon hammer. Sure, we aren't going to be fighting with knowledge of everything beforehand, but if you just keep mixing, then you will definitely get some good weapons!"
Motoyasu thought it over some more. "Alright, alright. I get where you are coming from. Though right now, I still think that Skill Rank and Mastery are the best methods for us. There's no harm in trying out synthesis I guess. We can go to… Lurolona, I think the king said? Provided it's not too far away."
Naofumi gave Motoyasu a smile. "Thanks Motoyasu."
"Hey, it's fine! You're curious about a new system, and with everything you said… you've got me interested in it as well. Might as well try to make the best weapon we can right. And even if it isn't that good, it's still good to experiment with!" Motoyasu spoke, returning Naofumis smile with one of his own.
"But we should probably go to bed. Gotta make sure we get enough sleep for tomorrow. We start our journey after all."
"Ah, yeah you're right." Naofumi responded, standing up from his seat. "I guess I'll see you in the morning."
With another smile, Motoyasu waved him off, and headed towards his room.
Woo, chapter one of a new fic. Had this idea for a while, but have been more focused on my other story, but now that I have got a decent amount of the planning done, I'm more confident in actually writing it.
Four methods off the start, I guess that's just the benefit of having the projectiles method which interfaces with other methods. Kind of hard to reject the idea of methods being shareable with that.
On the topic of methods, some of them are their literal translations. (In this case, Skill Rank being Skill Reinforcement and so on.)
I am not going to give myself a consistent update schedule for this fic, it's kinda just something I want going on in the background. That's all I believe, until next time, whenever that is.