It was getting close to noon.

Streets were full of people, and the entire town was emanating life. And a group of four figures was walking through one of the main streets, many people around them, almost constantly walking into them. This group was lead by a short figure that was wearing a cloak with a hood over their head. They also had a bow on their back, but no quiver.

Once the group reached the town's marketplace they stopped, and the leader turned to the rest.

"Alright everyone, you all did a good job, so you deserve some rest. We're spending the rest of the day resting. But before relaxing, can I count on you selling all of our loot?"

"Sir yes sir!" - Mald, a knight in his forties answered. He was easily the most devoted one of the group. He was wearing a full plate armor, but right now he took off his helmet, revealing his not-so-handsome face with a mustache.

"As you wish." - Lark, a woman in her late thirties also answered. She also wore plated armor, but much lighter version than Mald. She was approximately 5'9 tall, had gray hair that was cut boyishly short, gray eyes and a tanned skin. On her waist there were two swords attached, one on each hip.

"'Aight" - Scel, the rogue of the group said with bored voice. He was a man in his twenties, had black hair and dark eyes with dark bags under them. He looked like he needed to sleep, but in reality this was just the way he looked. He was minimally taller than Lark, around 6 feet, and was wearing a dark assassin's cloak with a hood. His hair were black and messed up, making it clear that he doesn't care about his looks too much, even in presence of a 'hero'.

"Actually, Scel, could you give that bag to me?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean this one?" - He pulled out a sack from below his cloak, which was soaked in blood.

The group's leader took it, and then took off his hood, revealing his curly blonde hair and yellowish eyes.

"I have a business with other heroes, you guys take care for now."

They bid their farewells and quickly separated.

Frustrated Naofumi was stomping loudly on the castle's cobblestone path while making his way out of it, his gaze aimed at the floor, many emotions in his head, with most of them being dark.

"Wait up!" - A voice from behind him.

Turning over his shoulder he noticed Ren and Motoyasu running up to him.

"The HELL were you thinking!?" - Ren yelled.

Naofumi's only response was to grit his teeth and look away, continuing his march.

"Why on earth would you agree to this shitty duel!?"

"You know I didn't have a choice! What would you do!?"

"Just say "well, fuck them!" and move on with my life!"

"And what!? Do you even know how serious it is!? Now everyone will look at me like I'm a criminal! How am I supposed to save a world full of people that hate me!?"

"...Hey...guys..." - Motoyasu started.

"SHUT UP!" - Ren and Naofumi shouted in unison, causing him to recoil back a bit with a dumbfounded expression.

Then both the arguing heroes looked at each other, frowning and exposing their gritted teeth, like dogs that were about to bite each other. They stared at each other like that for a few seconds, after which Ren took a deep breath in and loudly sighed. Looking at the ground he asked:

"...So what are you planning to do now?" - This time with much calmer voice.

Surprised Naofumi softened his expression and started feeling stupid. He looked to the side and also sighed.

"...Sorry, I shouldn't shout like that at you..."

"...No, it's fine, same goes for me..."

"...No, Ren, for real..." - He looked back at the two offensive heroes - "You two and Itsuki are the only people I can trust right now, I am infinitely grateful for that."

"No problem, mate, we're still here for you!" - Calmed Motoyasu joined in on the conversation.

"Y-yeah..." - Naofumi awkwardly answered while scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, cool, but what are you gonna do?" - Ren continued asking.

Naofumi softly chuckled, as he knew Ren will not like what he's going to tell him.

"I... want to fight... by myself."

Ren clicked his tongue and looked away, cringing.

"I swear to god you are such an idiot..." - They could hear him whisper.

"Fufu... Maybe I am... But please, understand it. Ever since we got here it felt as if this entire world was trying to tell me that I'm useless. And I want to prove it wrong. I want to show that I can achieve great things without anyone's help."

"Bro... I get it, I really do... But... you're like... hella weak right now." - Motoyasu bluntly said, completely ruining Naofumi's speech.

Naofumi breathed in air through his gritted teeth and sighed once again.

"Yes, Motoyasu, that is EXACTLY the reason why." - Naofumi stared at him as if he was an idiot for a few seconds, and when he noticed that Motoyasu still didn't understood his gaze switched to Ren, who was just frowning at him. - "Ren, what would you do if you were in my place? Would you just accept it and let everyone fight for you?"

Critical hit. Naofumi struck exactly where he should, as Ren's eyes momentarily widened, after which his expression softened a bit.

"...Well... No, I wouldn't, but it doesn't mean it would be a right thing to do! If you lose you will suffer double the humiliation!"

"Let's say I ask one of you guys to fight for me. Let's say you win. The entire kingdom will just keep making fun of me that I can't even fight for myself forever!"

Both Ren and Motoyasu just looked away, realising that what Naofumi just said was true.

"Still, I think you're not thinking straight." - Ren said, after which he started walking towards the castle's gate.

"Where're you going?" - Motoyasu asked.

"C'mon guys, lets quickly find a way to make Naofumi stronger, since this world is based on video game mechanics I'm sure we can find a loophole or something." - he said in defeated tone.

Naofumi's expression lighted up a bit, after which he quickly followed the young swordsman. Motoyasu, not wanting to be left alone, also started running after them.

"Hey, wait for me!"

He ran after them, and slowed down once they all lined up.

"So where are we going?"

"Let's go to that blacksmith's shop you told me about in the morning."

"You mean Erhard's ?" - Naofumi asked.

"Shouldn't we find Itsuki first?"

"Nah, we'll find him sooner or later."

"Guys!" - Someone shouted at them from the distance.

They all looked towards the source of the voice, noticing a small figure with a hooded cloak running in their direction. Once they got close enough they could see that it was indeed Itsuki.

"Told ya." - Ren said with emotionless voice.

"Well that was fucking covenient." - Naofumi said while raising his eyebrow.

"Hey Itsuki! Where have you been this entire time?" - Motoyasu called out to the approaching archer.

"Long story. In short, I didn't make it back from the forest before the nightfall, and stronger monsters started appearing, so I was like "fuck it, it's grinding time." and kept killing and killing until dawn."

"What level are you?" - curious Ren asked.

"Eleven." - Itsuki answered, making them widen their eyes.

"Oh, and I got something for ya!" - Itsuki added with a smile. He reached under his cloak and pulled out a sack that was soaked with blood.

"What's that!?" - shocked Motoyasu shouted while pointing at the thing and hiding behind Naofumi, who only rolled his eyes.

"Some good monster materials?" - Ren figured out.

"Yeah, trust me, it will be insanely useful." - Itsuki said. He was smiling like a maniac, and he had dark bags under his eyes, gained for skipping a night's sleep.

Naofumi hesitantly reached out with his hand, and grabbed the thing. He started slowly untying it. Ren and Motoyasu peeked over each of his shoulders, Ren with a raised eyebrow, Motoyasu with disgust on his face. Meanwhile Itsuki was looking at them with impatience.

"What the... - !" - Motoyasu recoiled back, and almost barfed, while Ren and Naofumi were rendered completely speechless at the sight of what was inside.

"...Itsuki... what is this?" - Naofumi asked.

"Dire Wolf Brains!" - He happily answered - "And they belonged to alphas, so they're the best ones you can get!"

"...How exactly is this going to help us?"

Itsuki clicked his tongue - "Just absorb them with your weapons and you'll see!"

"Alright then." - Naofumi said after shrugging. He honestly stopped caring at this point. Anything to make himself stronger.

He reached inside the sack and with his bare hand he pulled out one brain. It was small, pinkish in color, and covered in blood. Truly a disgusting sight.

Without any emotions on his face he moved it closer to his shield's green gem. The shield almost instantly absorbed it with a flash of green.

Wolf Pack Shield - unlocked

Agility

Speed

Passive: Improved communication with party members.

"'Improved communication'? What does that mean?"

"Oh! It's the best thing out there! I'll show you, just accept my request."

"Your wha-...? Oh." - He has been cut short by an announcement popping up on his 'HUD', that read:

Itsuki Kawasumi [Bow Hero] has invited you to his party.

Accept?

[Yes] [No]

After clicking [yes] his 'HUD' was updated with a very familiar fragment.

"...Is that... text chat?" - He questioningly asked.

Itsuki: "Yeah!" - was displayed in the corner of his 'screen'.

"Wait, you mean like an actual text chat from video games?" - Ren asked while grabbing a brain of his own.

Wolf Pack Sword - unlocked

Ren: "Is this working?"

Itsuki: "Yes!"

"That's extremely convenient. Good job figuring this out, Itsuki." - Ren congratulated.

"Ehh, it's nothing..." - he answered while twirling his hair.

"Umm... Guys..." - Motoyasu's weak voice

They turned to him, noticing that he was looking away from the blood sack, but was pointing his spear at it. - "Can one of you help me absorb it? I refuse to touch it."

Itsuki scratched the back of his head and chuckled. Naofumi shook his head with a soft smile, while Ren rolled his eyes and decided to assist their less gore-resistant friend.

Wolf Pack Spear - unlocked

"So anyway, how are you doing guys?" - Itsuki asked, causing the other three to lower their heads.

"Not too good..." - Naofumi said, making Itsuki raise one of his eyebrows.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Naofumi's been framed with a crime he never commited." - Ren bluntly said, making Itsuki raise his other eyebrow.

"C-Crime? What? Who would even want to frame him? We are the legendary hereos! ...or something... What crime is it even?"

"Rape." - Ren once again answered in the most blunt way possible, causing Naofumi to look at him with a frown.

Itsuki stared at them for a moment, until he sighed and looked at them with disappointed expression.

"Guys. The point of a joke is to be funny, and this is not funny at all."

Naofumi lowered his head and smiled a bit.

"No, Itsuki, it's all for real, that girl that decided to become my party member did it only so that she could frame me later on."

"You mean that red-haired chick?"

"Yes, that red-haired slut." - Naofumi said while thinking about the woman in question, dark thoughts returning to his mind.

"... Damn, man, that sucks. Were you only accused or were you already found guilty?"

"The king found him guilty and said that to avoid punishment he will have to fight in a duel of sorts." - Motoyasu joined in on the conversation.

"Wait, you mean like, duel to death and if you win you are innocent?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Itsuki facepalmed.

"Good grief, of course these medieval idiots would come up with something like this..."

"That's exactly what I've been saying!" - Ren said while pointing at the archer.

"Wait, when did the trial even took place?"

"This morning, you completely missed it."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, we are coming back from it right now."

"Oh crap! Sorry I wasn't there with you guys!"

"Ehh, doesn't matter, the trial was staged anyway." - Naofumi waved it off.

"Really? So the judge was corrupted? This is so... unjust"

"Actually, the king himself was the judge, also, I think he is Myne's father."

"What?" - Motoyasu

"No way." - Itsuki.

"Wait, really?" -Naofumi.

Ren looked at them while frowning.

"She literally called him 'father' during the trial, weren't you listening?"

"Ahh, sorry, I was too confused to even listen." - Motoyasu.

"...And I was too fucking pissed at the moment, my mind was occupied by visions of me murdering that bitch." - Naofumi said, causing the other three to look at him weirdly. - "... Wait, but that would mean that she's the princess of this country..."

"Yes. Indeed it does." - Ren said with a slow tone, as if a teacher was explaining something obvious to his student.

"HAH! Well then GG! I ain't saving a country that is destined to be ruled over by that bitch! Fuck that! I almost feel bad for its citizens."

"Well, since they treated you so poorly I guess it's only fair..." - Itsuki agreed - "... But that makes me think, do you think that 'waves' are only Merlomarc's problem, or is it more world-wide?"

"What do you mean?"- Curious Ren asked.

"Well, surely Merlomarc isn't the only country in this world, right?"

"...Other countries..." - Ren whispered while grabbing his chin - "... I didn't even think of that..."

"Guys!" - Motoyasu interrupted, gaining everyone's attention - "Yeah, all of that is cool and all, but right now we have a problem to take care of! We need to make Naofumi stronger before his duel!"

"Oh, right, but how is he even gonna fight with only a shield?" - Itsuki innocently asked, but the furious glare that Naofumi gave him in response made him shut up.

"I'll... manage... somehow." - Naofumi said.

"O-Okay? Sorry?"

"Itsuki." - Ren started

"Yeah?"

"You reached level 11 in one day, what did you do exactly?"

"Well, I was just stealing my party's kills, if I have to be honest, but they are all already high level so it's not like they didn't like it or anything. Also, you can level up fast only to level 10, after that it becomes muuuuch slower."

"Hmm... So at the very bare minimum we would want to bring Nao to level 10 before the fight... But what if Malty will choose someone with like, i dunno, level 50 or something? How does level scaling work in this world?"

"My party said that low-level monsters can still kill high-level adventurers if they are not careful, so I think Naofumi would still have a chance."

"So what? All I have to do is to just grind monsters all night long?" - Naofumi asked to make sure.

Itsuki widened his eyes and started shaking his hands - "Oh nononono! You don't want that! I myself would surely die if it wasn't for my team!"

"So we need to find some companions for him?" - Motoyasu asked.

"... I don't think anyone will want to follow me though..." - Naofumi pessimistically stated.

"Well I can make some of my followers help you out this one night." - Ren offered.

"Same." - Itsuki

"Oh shit! I just remembered!" - Motoyasu panicked - "I was appointed with my party to meet at noon!"

The other three just looked at him with either disappointment or disgust on their faces.

"...Anyway..." - Ren proceeded with the conversation, ignoring Motoyasu's last sentence - "I just got an idea."

"What is it?"

"Let's have all of our teammates have a sparing match with you, one by one. Not only it would give you some idea of what you might be going against, and we'll test how does your shield perform in an actual fight."

Naofumi frowned while thinking about the offer. His decision about taking up the fight was taken while he wasn't thinking too clearly, and now that he calmed down he remembered he had no actual experience when it comes to fights.

"Well... It does sound good enough to me. So if you could get your parties to help me out, that would be great." - He said after a while.

"I already offered it, so sure." - Ren said.

"Well, I wasn't planning to do anything today anyway, so as long as my party members won't be busy then sure." - Itsuki

"Well, if the girls won't have anything against it, I don't see anything wrong with it..." - Motoyasu

"Okay then, it's settled." - Naofumi

"Let's go then." - Ren

"Oh, you mean right now?" - Itsuki

"No point in wasting anymore time." - Ren

"Yeah, we have only one day to work with, after all." - Motoyasu

"Oh... Alright then." - Itsuki

And so, they departed.

Our favorite Isekai quartet was making its way down one of the city's main streets. They walked in a line, effectively taking up almost half of the entire street's width, their gazes aimed directly ahead of them, their footsteps almost perfectly synchronized. Their collection of legendary weapons kept gaining attention of all the bystanders.

Naofumi was nervously looking around, noticing that people were looking at him weirdly. They were also whispering between themselves and some were even frowning at him. But nobody dared to do anything more than that.

'What's their deal?'

The rest of their short journey was very unpleasant for Naofumi, as he didn't know how to react. Thankfully his mood lighted up after reaching his favorite blacksmith's shop.

"Is that it?" - Ren asked.

"Yeah." - Motoyasu answered. - "The guy who runs this place is really nice."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go." - Itsuki said and immediately entered the shop, causing the bell above the doors to ring. The other three followed him in this order: Motoyasu, Ren and Naoufmi at the end, who also closed the door behind them.

Erhard was there, right behind the counter, the moment he saw them a small frown appeared on his face.

"...You..." - He quietly said, giving Naofumi a feeling of anxiety. Ren and Itsuki didn't think too much about it, after all, they never met him earlier. Instead they took their time inspecting the rather violently looking strongman.

Motoyasu apparently didn't quite catch the mood, and proceeded to talk with a smile on his face:

"Hey, uncle! It's us again, and we brought some friends!" - he said after gesturing towards Ren and Itsuki.

"...I see..." - he responded.

"Nice to meet you, fine sir, I am Itsuki Kawa-..." - Itsuki politely started, but the smith interrupted him.

"Before that..." - The smith raised his voice and pointed towards Naofumi, causing him to raise his eyebrows. Without any words Erhard left his counter and started approaching him, confusing all the heroes in the shop. The aura he was emanating was rather intimidating, making all the heroes instinctively freeze in place.

"Erhard, w-what are yo-..." - Motoyasu started.

"Shut it for a second." - Erhard silenced him while raising his hand, without even looking at him.

With eyes widened and a mouth that was still opened Motoyasu found his lungs empty from the surprise. He did not expect that kind of attitude from the Blacksmith who seemed so nice yesterday.

Erhard got very close to Naofumi, and stood right in front of him. Naofumi had to look up if he wanted to keep looking into his eyes, since Erhard was a head and a half taller than him. The absolute muscle mountain of a man was towering over him and looking down on him with a very unfriendly face.

"W-What is it?" - anxious Naofumi asked.

"I have heard quite unpleasant rumors about you kid." - He calmly said while still frowning.

Naofumi stopped breathing for a couple of seconds, with a weird feeling of crushing in his stomach.

'R-Rumors? ... No... Don't tell me the word has already been spread even before proving me guilty? That... THAT BITCH! It's all her doing, isn't it!? A-and of all people Erhard believed them? Erhard!? The smiling and cheerful uncle!?'

Naofumi gritted his teeth, an unpleasant mix of anger, sadness and disappointment in his mind. He almost felt...

...Betrayed...

"They are all false!" - Ren protested.

"He never did anything bad! Those 'rumors' are all lies!" - Motoyasu joined him.

"His trial hasn't even ended yet." - Itsuki said what he could.

Erhard closed his eyes and sighed.

"Heroes or not, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Naofumi himself. So, Naofumi, tell me, what's the deal with those rumors?"

Naofumi clenched his shaking fists and swallowed his spit. Slowly he looked up to the man, and without any doubt in his almost shaking voice said those words:

"I... didn't do anything to her... she framed me, and even got her father, the king, to stage my trial. She was planning to do it from the very beginning."

Was it the lack of doubt, his serious tone, or shiny tears in his eyes what got Erhard to believe him, was a mystery. Probably a bit of all of those.

"...So, the girl that was here with you yesterday was princess Malty herself?"

'Pfft. 'Princess' my ass! That whore belongs in the brothel!'

"Yes..."

Erhard once again sighed and looked at the shield bearer, this time with much friendlier expression on his face.

"I did hear that she is quite a horrible person some time ago, so your story sadly isn't unbelievable. I am sorry that such a terrible thing happened to you, kid." - he said while putting his hand on his shoulder.

Naofumi's dark thoughts were like a balloon, that has suddenly been popped without a warning. He still didn't quite believe what he just heard.

"W-Wait, so you... you trust me?"

At that point Ren struck Motoyasu in his side with his shoulder and frowned at him, as if he was saying: 'See? THAT's what you do when your friend gets framed!'

"I may not have any actual proof, but I don't need any."

"W-What do you mean?"

Erhard smiled.

"Your eyes. Yesterday I saw how much joy and compassion were in them, and now I saw that there wasn't as much anger as there was sadness in them. It may sound ridiculous but you'd be surprised how good I am at seeing people by their true colors, and boy, you aren't a rapist at all. You are a young fellow who only wants to help others!"

Naofumi opened his mouth and started quietly analyzing what Erhard just said.

"T-Thank you." - he quietly said with lowered head and a soft smile.

Erhard smiled and laughed a bit, hitting the shielder in his back with an opened palm in a friendly manner, which almost caused him to collapse despite his high defense.

"Soo... happy ending?" - Unsure Itsuki asked.

"Ahh, right, you guys..." - Erhard turned to them, smiling - "Sorry for being rude earlier, I wanted to settle things out with the shield kid before properly meeting you guys. You are the sword and the bow heroes, correct?"

"Yes, correct, I am Ren Amaki, the sword hero, and this is Itsuki Kawasumi, the bow hero." - stoic Ren answered.

"Well, Ren and Itsuki, it's really nice to meet you! Being able to say that all four cardinal heroes are my customers is quite an achievement! Speaking of, what do you seek today?"

"You gave our friends some raw materials yesterday, which have significantly upgraded their legendary weapons. We would also like to ask for some, if that wouldn't be a problem."

"Some weapons to copy would also be nice." - Ituki said, Ren told him about that mechanic after they left the castle.

"Well, I don't have any new materials, so Motoyasu and Shield kid won't get anything new, and I also don't have any bows. You will have to visit the royal bow makers for the best specimens." - he said, while looking at Itsuki at the very end of his sentence.

"That's understandable, but I can still absorb the same raw materials as others."

"If that's the case then sure, I'll bring some for the two of you. In the meantime, why won't the four of you look around for some armor maybe? Your sets don't seem complete."

"What do you mean?" - Ren asked.

"What? You aren't even wearing any helmets! I know that adventurers often ditch them altogether, but dying to something as silly as a random rock that has been thrown at your head is quite an embarrassing way to go, don't you think?" - he said with a smirk.

The heroes found themselves at a loss of words, truth is, that they truly have been neglecting the need of a helmet, because it didn't seem hero-like enough to them. Now that someone whom they actually respected pointed it out to them all four of them started feeling quite embarrassed.

Seeing their reaction Erhard laughed and left them alone.

Two hours have passed. After finishing shopping at Erhard's each of the offensive heroes went for their respective parties to tell them about the current situation and the sparring idea. Nobody had any real objections so they all left the capital's walls and went to the fields.

Naofumi was the first one to get there, and patiently waited for the others. After a couple minutes of waiting others have finally arrived, with a combined number of eleven of their followers.

'They have so many people... Why couldn't I get at least a couple? It's just... unfair...'

"Alright then!" - Ren raised his voice to gain everyone's attention. - "Who wants to go first?"

"I do!" - a young man from Ren's arty raised his hand. He was wearing some shiny plated armor without any emblems on it. The armor was very clean and appeared to be new. He had a short sword on his waist, and a shield on his back. Seeing someone be able to use a shield AND an actual weapon simultaneously made Naofumi clench his fists for a second, but he shook his head and decided to let it go. After all, there was no reason to hate the guy for that.

"...Oscar, was it?" - Ren asked, not really remembering everyone's name yet.

"N-no, sir, that would be my brother." - He answered with am awkward smile, while pointing at some other of Ren's party members. An identical-looking young man in a wizard's robe, with some short sword on his waist, he had a smirk on his face, amused by the fact that someone confused him with his twin brother. - "I am Daniel..." - the knight continued

They looked like they were in their twenties, had silver hair and blue eyes. Their faces looked almost identical, with the only differences being:

Daniel had a short ponytail on the back of his head, while Oscar had a scar on his right cheek, right under his eye.

If not for those two things they would surely be indistinguishable.

"Ah, right, sorry." - Ren apologized, though Naofumi could feel that he didn't really care. - "Well then, you may start."

"Wait, you mean like, right now?" - Confused Daniel asked.

Without any emotions on his face Ren looked at Naofumi, who only gave him a nod in response.

"Yes. Right now. Right here."

"Oh... Okay..." - Daniel complied and started approaching Naofumi.

"Mr. Shield Hero, it is an honor being able to spar with you." - he said with a smile.

"Before that..." - Naofumi asked with tired, almost bored voice - "...I'd like to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"When choosing a hero to follow, what made you choose Ren?" - his question caused everyone to look at him with raised eyebrows. Everyone was completely quiet, making the atmosphere very heavy.

"Ah... Well... B-But... we didn't get to choose though..." - he said, clearly confused. He also quickly turned over his shoulder to give a questioning look towards his twin brother, scared that he missed something during their talks with the king.

"You didn't?" - Naofumi raised his eyebrow.

"Well, yes, parties were pre-determined from the start. The king told us what to do."

"...So the fact that you were left out was also his doing..." - Ren said while grabbing his chin, referring to Naofumi.

"Yes, I still don't understand the purpose of that was... I just assumed that Mr. Shield hero himself asked to be left alone..."

"...Wait, you can do that?..." - Ren whispered to himself, while considering dumping his party.

Naofumi went quiet for a minute, processing everything he had just heard.

'So, if I understand correctly, the real reason why I'm all alone is because of the trash king... ' - he thought, after which clicked his tongue and frowned with anger once he realised - 'Motherfucker! He really was planning to frame me from the very beginning!'

Some whispers were exchanged between the group of all the adventurers.

"...Sooo... Shall we begin?" - Daniel asked.

Naofumi looked at him. He could tell that he didn't hate him or anything. He was perfectly neutral towards him, and even gave him respect for his title of the hero.

'So not all people here are rotten to the core as trash and bitch?'

...

*Sigh*

"Very well, let's start. But I have to warn you." - he said while pointing his finger at him, causing him to raise one of his eyebrows - "I have absolutely ZERO combat experience, so please, go easy on me." - he said with perfectly stoic face, causing everyone in the group to either laugh or deadpan. Most people were expecting some crafty threats

After a second of having his eyes widened from confusion Daniel smiled and lowered his head.

"I'll try to be of as helpful as possible." - he said, after which he pulled out his sword and took his shield from his back.

Naofumi was getting nervous. He raised his shield and started staring into his opponent, trying to read his movements... Whatever the fuck that even meant, he was never in a proper fight before...

"You got this Nao!" - Itsuki cheered.

"Beat his ass!" - Motoyasu joined him

"Pffft..." - Ren scoffed, but after a second his neutral expression changed into a small smile, as he gave Naofumi a thumbs up.

"Hehehe..." - Daniel laughed - "Those are good friend you got there, Mr. Shield Hero.

Naofumi looked at him, and then at his fellow heroes. Once he looked at him he couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, I honestly couldn't imagine what would happen with me if it wasn't for them..." - He said with sad tone.

A world where the three offensive heroes weren't his friends. For sure they wouldn't trust him after the accusation. Nobody would defend him, nobody would support him, he would be TRULY all alone. The vision of such a world seemed so dark and sad.

"Hehehe... As my brother says, family and friends are the only things in life that truly matter. And my brother is a very smart person, so I believe him... Anyway, Mr. Shield Hero, it's time for our sparring match!"

"Yes." - Naofumi replied, although his eyes were covered by his hair, and the tone of his voice dark, he had a smile on his face.

"Well then let's begin!"

To be continued

Ok, so let me fricking tell you - last year at high school is no joke, I have barely any time for my hobbies, including writing, so for the time being I'll upload very rarely, sorry.

We will start next chapter with a bunch of fight scenes, and a proper introduction to all the OCs I have chosen.

(Just keep in mind that I'm an amateur writer so don't expect me to do anything too crazy with them)

Although I promised to give you two chapters at once I was not able to do both of them (again, barely any free time), so sorry.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Cya!