For disclaimers and notes, see the first chapter.

CHAPTER 2

From what she could tell, come morning, she had been observed, but no one had tried to enter the room covertly. After a quick breakfast of bread and meat, the four of them asked about the castle armory, as the meeting with the king was still more than an hour away.

"We need to get strong as fast as possible, don't we?" Ren asked when the knight they asked hesitated at the request. "Copying the weapons in the armory won't hurt them in any way, and you'll still have them to use to defend the castle." The man conceded that this was all true and led them to the armory.

The Heroes spread out under the watchful eye of the frowning castle arms-master. Each of them copied several different types of the weapon they wielded. They had a surprising variety. Ren copied everything he found from the two-handed claymores that were mostly brute force weapons and required a lot of strength to use, to the thin rapiers that were designed for speed and flexibility in combat.

Itsuki copied long bows intended to be used at great distance, sturdy short bows that were, while not as useful or accurate at a distance were more powerful. He copied a crossbow and an arbalest as well. All well and good, Taylor allowed, but wondered what he would do if an enemy got close enough to use a sword.

Motoyasu copied short spears and long spears and even three different types of pole arms. He seemed pleased and a bit surprised that that had worked. Some of the things he copied were meant for throwing while others were close quarter weapons.

Suspecting she didn't have much time, she copied every shield they had, ranging from sturdy tower shields that gave as much as 3 defense to bucklers with spikes in the center that gave her an extra, much needed, attack point. Heater shields and kite shields were also present and each added a defense point or more. One of the spiked bucklers surprised her with a unique ability. [Spike Shield].

[Spike Shield]

+1 Def, +1 Atk

[Ability: Rebound] Attacks that fail against your defense stat harms the attacker. The greater the gap in stats in your favor, the more damage dealt.

She switched to one of the shields her phone had given her, as it wasn't quite mastered yet, meaning she had to keep the shield equipped to use a function that she hadn't mentioned to the others. [Analyze].

Each of the weapons and shields were well made and of good materials, although, she didn't recognize the leather used for some of the lighter ones. It apparently came from monsters, retained its toughness, and was far stronger than cowhide.

She got a surprise when she turned her shield on one of her fellow Heroes. It worked on people as well as objects. That would be useful. While it made her a bit uncomfortable to do so, Coil would have loved that ability, she checked each of them, ensuring they were who they claimed and that their levels were comparable to her own. No nasty surprises. Good.

The [Analyze] skill would come in very handy and made mastering that shield a priority. Leaving it in place, she approached the arms-master. There were other things she wanted to try.

"Do you have any training weapons or old tools you wouldn't mind losing?"

"Why d'ya ask?" The man seemed suspicious of her. "Ya can't use nothin' but that worthless shield."

"I can absorb things, though. I want to see what absorbing a different weapon type will do." The man hesitated. "Could save your life of the lives of your family if a wave hits the capital." The man couldn't argue that and brought her a badly chipped axe, an iron practice sword, an armorer's hammer that had a crack in the handle, and a bent pair of tongs. She absorbed all of them and examined the results.

[Axe shield]

+2 Atk, +1 Def, +1 MDef

That shield was round and had a sharpened edge for a quarter of its circumference that would likely be useful in close-quarter combat.

[Iron Sword Shield]

+1 Atk, +1 Def, +1 MDef

[Unique ability: Riposte] When blocking an attack, the enemy delivering the blow takes minor damage. Amount of damage dealt will increase with user's level.

This shield was an elongated triangle, that came to a sharp point at the bottom. She supposed that it could be useful for stabbing downed enemies.

[Hammer Shield]

+1 Def, +1 MDef

[Unique ability: repair] Damage done to armor regenerates slowly over time.

This one was a standard kite shield, solid, but with no real distinguishing features.

[Tong Shield]

+1 Def

[Unique ability: repair2] Damage done to armor regenerates at slightly improved speed over time.

Another round shield that was decently solid, but otherwise unremarkable in appearance. The repair functions would come in handy and she decided to make mastering it a secondary priority. After a moment's thought, she also asked the Arms-master for ash from the forge. The man looked confused, but shrugged and gave her some to feed to her shield.

[Ash shield]

+1 Def, +1 Stealth

[Unique ability: Smoke screen] Produces localized smoke screen that blinds enemies while leaving your vision clear. Duration: Ten seconds. Time will increase with level.

Overall, she was pleased with the additions. Asking for raw ore or scrap metal got her a few pieces of low-quality ore that he had no use for. They gave her additional defense, but little else. After a moment's thought, she suggested that the other Heroes do the same. They might be off to a rocky start, but there would likely come a point where her life would depend on their abilities. They were fairly pleased with the results of ash and ore, but they had their doubts about absorbing other types of weapons.

"You should absorb a shield each, at least," she said. "If your stats are as badly slanted as mine," she knew they were, "you've got decent attack points, but your defense is in the toilet."

The arms-master quickly agreed to her idea and brought the other Heroes much finer equipment and materials than he had offered her. This didn't terribly surprise her. The talk she had overheard through her bugs indicated that the shield was not well-liked in Melromarc, though the reasons had not been mentioned. By the time they were finished, they had to rush a bit to make their meeting with the king.

The king had apparently been informed of their trip to the armory, and he did not look pleased, sparing Taylor a brief glare to which she did not react, sinking her growing irritation with the man into her swarm. She knew he hated her, or at least her shield, for some reason, but this was not the time to address that.

"I have gathered the best adventurers available for you. Each will choose which Hero they wish to work with." The group of men and women approached without hesitation, apparently having made their decisions.

Motoyasu gained five party members, all women. Ren gained four, and Itsuki gained the last five. No one approached Taylor.

"Hmm. I hadn't foreseen this," the king admitted. "With no ability to attack, it will be difficult for you to level up." He considered. One of his advisors approached him, and there was a brief, whispered, conversation. "I see." He sat back. "I've just been made aware of a disturbing rumor. It is said that the Heroes would arrive with a firm understanding of our lands, but the Shield Hero arrived woefully ignorant. Word of this has spread through the town."

I wonder how that happened? Taylor groused internally, sinking her irritation into her swarm, yet again. Would the king deliberately sabotage her, endangering the success of their unwanted mission, just to spite someone he had never met? It seemed unlikely. That meant that there had to be more to it. As before, she said nothing, merely observing and taking in information as best she could.

"Perhaps," one of his advisors offered, stepping forward. "We could increase the initial amount of money provided to her."

"Agreed," the king seemed happy with the idea. "Perhaps she can find some beggars or criminals willing to work for her." He cleared his throat. "Very well, then. The Shield Hero will receive 1,000 silvers. The other three will receive 400 silvers each."

Taylor suspected she could change the minds of some of the adventurers, but only by revealing the truth about her fellow Heroes' view of this world and its people. She knew that she wouldn't want to work for someone that didn't see her as a person so much as a disposable tool. She'd never had a choice with the various PRT directors or Cauldron, and she'd hated being viewed as expendable. Revealing the others' beliefs to the court and the adventurers, however, would undercut the other three and reduce the people's much needed confidence in them. She would still need these three onside when they started fighting the waves. She stayed silent, and accepted the additional coin.

A red-headed woman in Motoyasu's party raised her hand and stepped forward.

"It hardly seems fair that the Shield Hero should be all alone. I'd like to join her party." She gave Taylor the same smile that Emma had once used to try to convince Taylor she regretted the choices she'd made and wanted to be friends again. It had been the setup to an especially mean-spirited prank.

"Myne? Are you sure?" Motoyasu asked. "She could use the help, but I'd be sorry to lose you."

"No." Taylor spoke firmly, after she used [Analyze] on the woman. Princess Malty Melromarc? Why was she going by Myne? "I don't really feel qualified to look after royalty. I'm sure you can take care of yourself, princess Malty," she added before Malty could object, "but I'd still feel obliged to take extra care to keep you safe, and I don't want to be distracted like that."

"How did you know?" she demanded, even as Motoyasu gave the revealed princess a confused look.

"I'm a soldier, specialized in scouting and gathering information. It wasn't hard." The statement was true but misleading. When she didn't provide further explanation, the king glared at her, as did his daughter, but Taylor didn't offer any additional information. Making these two even more irritated with her was likely counter-productive, but someone giving off the same vibes as her former friend was likely best avoided. She saw a couple of the adventurers eye her speculatively, but none left their party.

The king handed over the money he had promised with bad grace and they left the castle. Recalling that most RPGs gave their players an inventory, she began searching for it. At first, she found nothing, but the menu suddenly grew an option that she was sure hadn't been there earlier.

Now that's what I call a cheat code, Taylor thought, considering the options this opened up for her. Looking through the newly expanded help screen got her instructions on using her inventory, and she quickly made the large sack of coins vanish. She had things to buy and didn't want to have to deal with thieves.

She had requested a guide to show her around the town, after discovering that none of the four Heroes could read the local language. The man, a minor official of some sort named Gurin, was polite enough, but clearly wasn't happy with his assignment. As they walked, Taylor made a point of having one of the more interesting flying insects approach them and fly directly in front of her guide's face. Gurin looked alarmed and hastily ducked to one side. Taylor had it make another pass at him and raised her shield in the thing's path, causing it to run into her shield so she could absorb it.

"What…?" the man looked confused.

"I used the shield to absorb it. Hmm."

[Needlewing shield]

+1 Def, +2 Poison resistance, +2 Agility +1 Spatial awareness

"Not bad."

"Needlewing," the man said, looking relieved. "Their stings are very painful, even fatal sometimes. Nests, when discovered in the town are routinely destroyed. I'll inform the guard later." Gurin was somewhat friendlier after that.

He showed her to the town's best blacksmith and weapons maker and introduced her to Erhard. If the smith was surprised to see a female Hero, he didn't show it. Instead, he welcomed her to his shop and asked how he could help. Gurin excused himself for a moment and left the shop.

"I need armor. I can't use other weapons, but depending on what you have, I may find something that would benefit the shield." The costume she wore was capable stopping knives and provided some protection against small caliber arms, but she had no desire to test it against arrows, swords, maces, or the teeth and claws of whatever monsters she was expected to fight.

"Benefit the shield?" he asked, confused.

She explained her shield's ability to copy other shields and absorb materials of different types, and how she had benefited from the absorption of an iron practice blade and an old axe.

"Weird, but useful," he nodded. "Not sure how I'd feel about you absorbing some of my swords in the hopes of getting a benefit, but I certainly won't stop you from spending money here." He thought for a moment. "You might be better off defeating some bandits and absorbing their weapons, though. Would be cheaper."

"That would work," she agreed. "As to copying shields, you won't lose anything, but you should be paid for the work you put into making them. I'll offer one silver for every two shields I copy. It's pure profit for you."

Erhard frowned thoughtfully, perhaps considering asking for more, but decided against it.

"Okay. Go ahead."

She looked around the shop, noting several interesting shields. She copied each one she saw and handed over a total of five silvers. None of them offered unique abilities, but they did increase her overall defense. She then got Erhard's advice for armor. She purchased a mix of chainmail and leather that split the difference between protection and mobility. The chainmail shirt and coif, leather boots, and leather gauntlets allowed her to move even as she was reasonably well-protected. The bonuses that the hammer and tong shields gave her would help keep them in good repair.

She asked about tools and weapons he didn't mind losing and for five silvers, purchased a set of older tools that he had recently replaced with newer equipment. She absorbed them and gained greatly improved armor and gear repair speed. He then offered a couple of daggers that the former owner wouldn't be needing, as he had been eaten by something while on a job for the Adventurer's Guild.

Erhard couldn't sell the man's gear, as it seemed the adventurer in question had a nasty reputation. There was a story there, Taylor was sure, but she wasn't particularly interested. Attempting to pick up the daggers to absorb them, she got a shock that felt like a mild taser discharge. Erhard offered to set them on the shield himself, but she asked him to wait.

"I want to try something."

Gurin reentered the shop, having made a brief report to the person he had known was following them. Taylor glanced up at his entrance, and then, went back to concentrating. The bugs she'd planted on the man had allowed her to overhear the conversation he had had with the unseen woman. I wonder if it's the same one from yesterday? Shaking off the thought, Taylor focused on her task.

She had been able to use a knife and fork at dinner the previous night and at breakfast. Either of those could have been used as a weapon, but neither of them had shocked her. That indicated that intent was the trigger for the effect. Concentrating on using the knives before her as fodder for her shield, just materials, rather than weapons, she reached for them again. This time, she successfully picked up and absorbed the daggers.

[Twin dagger shield]

+1 Def, +2 Agility, +1 Poison resistance

[Unique ability: Dual Wielding] Use two shields at once (locked until higher level).

"Useful." She frowned a bit at one of the bonuses. "Did this guy happen to have a habit of poisoning his weapons?"

"One of the reasons he wasn't popular," Erhard allowed. "Why?"

"Got a 1-poison resistance out of that. It seemed likely." Taylor noticed the way her guide was looking at her in confusion, and raised an eyebrow.

Gurin didn't ask about the knives, and she wondered if he knew about the limitation. She took a little more time looking over the shop and purchased a pair of armored gauntlets that doubled as knuckledusters. The shield didn't object as they were technically armor, so she put them in storage for later use.

After that, a trip to the hourglass was in order, as she'd been told all the Heroes needed to register with it. She saw no reason to put off the visit. On arriving, she discovered it was housed in the cathedral of a gothic looking building called the Three Heroes Church. The Shield was the only one of the cardinal weapons that was missing. Somehow, this didn't surprise her.

"Would you kindly explain why the Shield Hero is so hated around here?" She looked to her guide. The man looked uncomfortable, and said it was not a matter he was at liberty to speak about.

Taylor wondered at the orders the man had been given and the reasons for them. It would be best to get her answers from others that didn't share the hatred the king had for the Shield and anyone associated with it. Still, she might get some interesting answers from Guerin and whoever ran the church.

"Why is the king willing to harm his people just to spite someone he's never met?" The man frowned at this, but didn't answer. Taylor proceeded into the church. She quickly found the hourglass and approached it. A woman in what seemed to be the local equivalent of a nun's habit approached her.

"Can I help y-?" She broke off upon seeing the shield on Taylor's arm and her expression hardened. "Shield Hero. Why are you here?"

"I came to register with the hourglass."

"Of course," the woman nodded. "There is a small fee for use of the hourglass, 25 silvers." Taylor looked at her steadily, wondering how far she would push this.

"You want to charge me to register with the hourglass? Pay you for the privilege of defending you and your country?"

"I do not make the rules," the woman replied evenly.

"Very true," the voice of an older man intruded, "you don't." The woman spun to face the speaker and then immediately dropped to one knee.

"Your Holiness."

Taylor turned to see a man who looked to be in his early 60s dressed in expensive and very likely, ceremonial robes. He gave the nun a disappointed look and nodded to one of the nuns accompanying him. The woman who had attempted to con Taylor was quickly led away, and the man paid no further attention to the matter.

"Greetings, Shield Hero. I am Pope Biscus T. Balmus, head of the Three Heroes Church. You wish to register with the hourglass, yes?"

"That's right. The wave is in less than a month. No point in delaying."

"Commendable forethought. The others haven't been here yet. There is no charge, of course." He told her how to proceed and she quickly registered.

"Thank you for your kind assistance," Taylor said. The very nature of the place, the 'Three Heroes Church' made her wary, but at the same time, the meeting provided an opportunity. She addressed the man politely. "May I ask a question of your holiness? You seem the one most likely to know."

"If I can," he answered affably.

"I was summoned to this world less than 24 hours ago, and yet everyone I encounter seems to expect the worst of me simply because I was bonded to the Shield. I can only assume the Shield has an unpleasant history and anyone summoned to use it would be smeared by association, but no one will tell me what led to this."

The pope considered. "That is a complicated question. Centuries ago, a past Shield Hero did a great disservice to all of humankind. That betrayal has repercussions even to this day, repercussions that cost king Aultcray, personally, more than any should need to bear."

"I see." She chose her next words carefully. "I've no wish to belittle the king's loss, but what does any of that have to do with me? I'm from another world, and I wasn't involved in any problems that Shield Hero caused."

OOOOOOOOOO

Balmus considered her words. While, from anyone else, those would be reasonable points, this was the Shield Devil. Clearly, any well-reasoned argument from her would be merely a ploy to make them drop their guard. No matter how polite or well-spoken she was, the Shield Hero was not to be trusted. It had been a source of consternation in human supremacist nations like Melromarc, and in the church especially, that a Shield Hero was essential to driving back the waves. It was one of those unpleasant facts of life one just had to deal with. He considered a moment before giving her the most truthful and unhelpful answer he could.

"Let us just say, you have a lot to live down. It might not be fair, but then, sadly, life is not fair."

OOOOOOOOOO

"Thank you for telling me." Taylor made two additional purchases while at the church and walked away. The man hadn't told her much, but at least she knew more than she had before. She wondered how influenced by his religion the man truly was. Hopefully, she'd have answers soon. She carefully considered his words as she left. He hadn't told her anything that she hadn't deduced for herself, but if other Shield Heroes had been treated the way she was being treated, she could only assume that some had decided to live down to their tormentors' expectations. Since the world continued to spin, though, they had obviously done their jobs in the end and fought back the waves. The original offense, whatever it was, almost didn't matter, as the church seemed to have made distrust of the Shield Hero religious doctrine. It clearly mattered to the king, though, as his hatred for the Shield bordered on the pathological.

Reluctantly, Taylor concluded that she was no better off, in terms of information that might lead to a solution than she had been before she went to the church. Putting it out of her mind for the moment, she focused on her purchases.

Once out of sight of the church, she applied the holy water she had bought to her shield. The resulting shield gave her a small increase in defense and magic defense and repulsed undead creatures to a small degree. The bible she fed to the shield gave her slightly better defense against undead and dark magic.

[Holy shield]

+ Def, +2 MDef, +1 Dark magic resistance

[Unique ability: Undead repulsion] Repels undead to a small degree.

[Holy shield II]

+1 Def, +2 MDef, +1 Dark magic resistance

[Unique ability: Undead repulsion] Repels undead to a higher degree.

With that business out of the way, she asked about magic. There was, it seemed, a magic shop run by an old witch not far from the church, and her guide led her there. Taylor wanted to know about this world's magic and how it was directed. The first step, she knew, would be learning to read the local language.

She walked into the shop and looked around while old woman behind the counter dealt with another customer. There were boxes, jars, and sacks of strange substances. Most of them, she couldn't guess at. She saw oddly shaped talismans and crystals, and she saw books. It was these that drew her attention.

She picked a randomly chosen volume off a shelf and flipped through it, noting the strange letters and their arrangement. Although the characters were unfamiliar, they were grouped and arranged as text in her own language. Letters formed words that, judging by the inconsistent lengths of the lines, were to be read from top to bottom, like Japanese. As she glanced over the unfamiliar letters, she sent a few bugs in the shop to investigate various substances.

A sack on the shelf across the shop from her contained crushed leaves that held a strong odor that the bug found unpleasant to be too close to. A bit of spilled liquid on a shelf behind the shopkeeper proved poisonous to the fly that landed in it. There were too many unanswered questions for the moment. When the customer left, Taylor approached the old woman.

"Hello." She introduced herself and explained her current needs.

"You want to know about magic, but you can't read our language? That is a problem. I can set you up with a few things that will help, but it will be up to you to learn. Do you know your affinity?"

"Affinity? No. I'm not sure what that is."

"Really?" The old witch cast a sharp look at her guide. "Why summon her and give her the task of defending us if you're only going to hamper her? Have you even given her one of the orbs you purchased from me?"

The man shifted uncomfortably.

"What do these orbs do?" Taylor asked.

"They contain the knowledge of a basic spell. Not much, really, but it would give you a feel for using magic. They're meant to be a foundation to build on, but too many just use them to learn things quickly without putting any work in. That's not the way to do it."

The man fidgeted again.

"I'd rather learn magic the right way then, without shortcuts. First, I need to learn how to read, though. Any suggestions on how to start?"

The witch thought a moment. "Usually, those who bother to learn to read are taught by their parents or hired tutors. You might be able to hire someone to teach you. I heard that the king gave the Heroes money."

"Possible." Taylor considered the options. There was an additional barrier. The Shield translated spoken words for her, which was quite helpful, but she could tell by watching the movements of the locals' mouths that the sounds she heard did not match the shape. This would make learning the language more difficult. Hiring a tutor would be the most efficient way to do it, but there was an issue.

"I suspect anyone who would be willing to teach me would charge more than I have due to my status."

"Oh. That Shield Devil nonsense?" The witch shook her head. "If they were going to do this again, why even summon you?"

"To ensure no one else did," Taylor answered promptly, noting the way her guide stiffened at her words. Thought so. "They wouldn't want another, possibly hostile, nation summoning me and trying to turn me against Melromarc. That's also why they're trying to keep me as weak as possible, regardless of what it might mean for the people they want me to protect."

"Politics." She made a face. "With the waves going on? What idiocy."

"There's an old saying on my world," Taylor offered, glancing at her guide. "Only a fool fights in a burning house."

"I have no say in the matter," the man said, somewhat irritably. "If you wish to learn to read, there are options, but it should not interfere with your preparations for the waves."

"You make it sound as if gaining the power to deal with the waves isn't part of that process," the witch sniffed. She shook her head and looked at Taylor. "I might know someone who can help, but convincing them won't be easy." She considered for a moment, and then gave a brief rundown on the doctrine of the Three Heroes' Church. Basically, the Shield's wielder was regarded as an enemy of the people and vilified by the church, the king and anyone that hoped to have their favor.

"A faithful believer wouldn't help you, but there are plenty that don't accept their teachings. Some of those might help."

She reached behind the counter and drew out a crystal ball set in an elaborate base. "Let's start by determining your affinity." She had Taylor place her hands on the crystal. It glowed for a moment as the witch studied the results. "A strong Earth affinity and a secondary wind affinity. Interesting. There's also something else there I can't quite identify. Hmm."

Setting aside her curiosity, the old woman selected some basic spell books appropriate to her affinity and a sheet of paper on which she wrote the alphabet, sounding out each letter. Taylor wrote corresponding letters in English next to each with phonetic spelling.

"Thank you. This'll be a good start," Taylor nodded. She paid for the basic spell books and gave the witch an additional 30 silvers for her help. She asked about basic herbs and reagents. She had no immediate interest in alchemy or potion making, but she saw the potential. At the very least, feeding some things to her shield might gain interesting results. The witch considered her request and sold her a piece of crystal that would absorb ambient magical energy. It had many uses, and Taylor could see the utility in it. She also bought some potion making equipment that the witch had recently replaced, and a few herbs used for healing potions.

The potion making equipment got her several shields that increased the efficacy of any potion she made. The herbs gave her a shield that would heal any injuries she got over time and added a bit to her potion making. The crystal was the real prize, though.

[Crystal Ore shield]

+1 Def, +4 MDef, +1 Lightning resistance

[Unique ability: Spell Absorption] Absorbs offensive magic which increases MDef by one point per spell blocked (locked until higher level).

"That will definitely be useful."

Thanking the witch for her help, she next asked her guide about grinding spots outside of town. He directed her to the main gate and a field only a mile from the city walls before, happily, returning to his proper duties.

Happy to be rid of him, she headed for the field he had mentioned, getting clarification from the gate guards. Once out of sight, she began sampling the local insects and absorbing them. She hadn't been at this long, and hadn't gained anything of note when she noticed someone approaching stealthily. That person was keeping a discrete distance and spying on her. Taylor continued to absorb insects, but she was more careful about it, using one of the larger shields to bat away a swarm of biting flies that increased her agility and spatial awareness once absorbed.

Whoever it was seemed content to watch her for the time being, but it did hamper her ability to use her power. She deliberately walked through a spider web, absorbing the strands and the spider.

[Spider shield]

+1 Def, +2 Poison resistance, +1 Agility

[Sticky thread shield]

+1 Def, +1 MDef

[Unique ability: Sticky] Increases the drag coefficient of the shield's surface, causing objects, including enemy weapons, to stick to it.

On arriving at the field in question, she found it teeming with weird looking creatures that looked like angry balloons. [Analyze] confirmed that they were called balloons, and that they were very weak. Basically, they were air-filled bladders and it was not entirely clear how they moved.

"Weird, but okay." She threw a rock at one to draw its attention, earning herself a small shock since she'd used it as a weapon. She ignored the pain as she'd suffered far worse, and got to grinding. The one struck had veered toward her and she used the [Sticky thread shield] to catch it. It wasn't strong enough to pull away. She slammed the trapped monster against a tree. It took several blows, as the thing was surprisingly tough, but it finally burst and she gained…

"One EXP? You've got to be kidding." She absorbed the remains and looked at the results.

[Air Strike Shield]

+1 MDef

[Ability: Air Shield] Create a directional barrier based on your Def and Mdef.

"That'll come in handy." She set about grinding on her own, killing more balloons and a few other things that came along. One of the creatures she encountered, some kind of angry rabbit, gave her an enhanced drop rate for monsters. When she stopped to rest, she absorbed insects she drew to her under cover of the tall grass as well as different types of plants in the area. The plants, especially the mushrooms and a couple of different types of mould, had surprising bonuses, increasing her potion making skills and increasing the efficacy of any potions she made. She knew precisely where the spy was and had a fair idea of what she could and couldn't see. Most of the bugs gave her nothing special, but two different kinds of large beetle gave her 2 def each and a point toward agility and improved spatial awareness. A butterfly she absorbed gave her a small surprise.

[Butterfly Shield]

+1 Def, +1 Paralysis resistance

When it was time to rest, she retreated a bit from the field and sat on a fallen tree to catch her breath. While doing so, she absently picked up a stick and fed it to the shield.

[Wood shield]

+1 Def

[Ability: Scrounge] When collecting materials, find 3% more.

She hadn't really expected anything, but was pleasantly surprised. She managed to get a slightly better rate by adding in other things she considered to be 'material' such as twigs and dry grass that would be useful for starting a campfire.

While doing this, she picked up on a large quadruped of some sort stealthily approaching her through the grass. Moving as casually as she could, she put a large boulder between herself and the creature, tracking it as it stalked her. It did not change the pace of its approach, so she knew it didn't suspect her of noticing it. After a moment, it moved, and she turned to face the creature that had leaped to the top of the boulder. The thing looked like a cross between a great Dane and an iguana. The teeth were long, sharp, and the canines dripped something that was likely a potent venom. Realizing that it had been spotted, it prepared to attack. Large and decidedly aggressive, she had decided within seconds of detecting it that fighting the thing directly would likely not end well. She switched to her [Needlewing Shield] for the bonuses in agility and spatial awareness it gave her and charged. Instead of attacking the monster, though, she struck the boulder with her shield.

The monster's perch abruptly vanished and dropped it into a surprisingly deep hole. That hole, having nothing in the way of structural integrity, promptly collapsed, even as the creature tried to jump out. Taylor herself only just managed to get clear.

[Boulder shield]

+3 Def

[Ability: Immovable] Activating this ability quadruples your weight until ability is released. (You will not feel the extra weight.)

That, she decided, was an unexpected bonus. Switching to her [Iron Sword Shield] she used the point to dig down a few inches, until she found the outstretched paw of the beast. That was all she needed. On absorbing the beast's corpse, she got a pleasant surprise. It was, like the [Iron Sword Shield], an elongated triangle, but it had the stylized face of a wolf. The moderately sharp fangs protruded slightly either side of the point shield.

[Venomwolf Shield]

+1 Def, +2 Atk, +1 Poison resistance.

[Ability: Venom Strike] Causing an injury with the shield that draws blood will inflict poison damage on an enemy equal to your attack power.

Deciding that this was a good one to prioritize, given her abysmal attack stat, she rested for a bit longer and then headed back to the field for more level grinding.

For most of the time, she used her [Iron sword shield]. Doing so increased the damage she could deal and helped her to master it. Once she had that and the [Axe shield] mastered, she'd be able to make much better use of the [Venomwolf Shield]. According to her help screen, once mastered, the effect of each of the shields would be available to her no matter which shield she currently had equipped.

After spending the rest of the day training and finally making it to level 2, she returned to the city to find an inn. The other Heroes were already there, celebrating the results of their training. Motoyasu saw her come in and called her over.

"Hey, Taylor. How did you do today?" He seemed genuinely interested, but the other two smirked, anticipating the answer.

"Gained fifteen new shields with some interesting unique abilities and reached level 2."

"Just level 2?" Ren scoffed. "I'm at level 5."

"How much of that work did you actually do yourself?" Taylor asked, slightly annoyed at the condescending boast. "Your party likely did most of the killing and EXP is shared among you." She remembered something from one of Sparky's unwanted lectures on game mechanics. "Sounds like power leveling. You gain levels, but you don't really learn anything since you're not doing it yourself."

Motoyasu snorted at this as Ren scowled. Antagonizing him really didn't help matters, but if he was going to be an arrogant jerk, she could at least point out the logical flaws in his argument.

"She's right," Itsuki allowed, reluctantly, not looking happy about admitting that the noob had made a valid point. He considered for a moment. "I learned to use a bow from my father and in the archery club at school. Do you know how to use a sword? Without the skills of a legendary weapon?"

Ren looked uncomfortable and didn't answer.

Itsuki nodded, understanding. "It makes a difference. You can't just swing that thing around and hope your party members aren't in the way."

Taylor saw one of Ren's group wince, and wondered what had happened. "You've got a couple of skilled fighters in your party. Why not get some basic instruction?"

The other two Heroes nodded. Motoyasu looked to his own party. "She's right. I have some experience with a staff, but fighting with a spear is different." He nodded to Taylor. "Thanks for the suggestion." Taylor nodded, but noted that the redhead was glaring at her. She didn't know what the woman's problem was, but decided to tag her with a bug to track her location.

After a light dinner, despite the workout, she found she really didn't have much appetite, she went up to her room, cleaned up as best she was able, and went to bed, banishing the fleas and bedbugs from her blanket and mattress. On a whim, she sent them toward Princess Malty's room. Stretching out her senses to locate the troublesome redhead, she found her in the hall a few doors down from her. She was approaching Taylor's room stealthily.

What have we here? With a thought, she tasked a number of other bugs in the area to watch and track the redhead. Malty paused outside her door and listened, so Taylor made a point of staying silent, feigning sleep. After a moment, she retreated as quietly as she'd come. Sleeping at the inn, Taylor decided, had just become more problematic.

Setting a perimeter of bugs to keep watch, she set a chair under the door handle to keep it shut before exploring the room for any additional surprises. The one small window was latched from the inside and there was no balcony. A straight drop of roughly 15 feet to the ground. The fact that the door was the only way in or out was good and bad. It would do for the night, she decided. After extinguishing the lamps, she got ready for bed and waited. Sleep, she rather doubted, would come that night. Instead, she spent her time setting up experiments with the shield. She'd brought an apple from dinner with her to her room. Putting it in storage, she decided to see what it would look like in a few days. If the flow of time was halted or even just slowed, in storage, she could store food indefinitely against the lean times she was sure would be coming. There were other things she wanted to try as well once she had the correct items, so made plans for things to try.

It was almost an hour before Princess Malty/Myne/whatever-she-was-calling-herself, returned. She tried to ease open the door, and caused the chair legs to scrape loudly across the floor.

"Something I can do for you, princess?" Taylor called. There was a muffled gasp from the other side of the door. After a moment's hesitation, she apparently tried to brazen it out, though.

"I was worried about you being on your own, so I wanted to check on you. I'm glad you're at least taking precautions."

"Appreciate the concern, but I'm fine." Taylor rolled her eyes, wondering if Malty actually

thought she was fooling her. "Was there anything else?"

"The, ah, offer still stands if you change your mind." With that, she retreated and Taylor closed her eyes, muttering unkind things about the bad acting before getting up and resetting the chair at the door. There were no further problems that night.