Shield Hero: A New Addition

(I was thinking, trying to come up with a new fic, and my wonderful mind thought of this. (I'm being a bit sarcastic) Anyways, I hope ya'll like it)

Chapter 1

Waking up to the sun shining through the window, I sat up, rubbing my eyes. Yawning, I got to my feet and shut the blinds.

After a quick shower and breakfast, I began heading to the library. Stratching the back of my head, I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hm?" I looked over to see my best, and only friend, Naofumi Iwatani. "Oh, 'sup, man?"

"You're up early." he said.

"Yeah, forgot to close my blinds last night so the sun shone directly on my eyes." I shrugged. "Where you headed?"

"The library." he replied.

"Yeah? Same."

"Since when do you read books?" he chuckled.

"I don't." I crossed my arms. "I go there for the manga."

"Right. Well, this time I can show you some real books." he smirked.

"Sure, you can show me what a 'real' book is."

Heading for the library, the two of us walked in. Naofumi went into one of the aisles as I went over to the manga. Glancing over the titles, I came across one that seemed interesting. Reaching for it, I heard a crash come from one of the aisles. Curious, I went over to the source to see Naofumi with a couple of books around his feet. He knelt down and picked one up of the books.

"Did you have to knock half of the bookshelf over with you for one book?" I joked as I went over to him.

"Shut up." he shook his head as he opened the book and began reading it. "Huh..."

"What's up?" I looked over his shoulder to see what he was reading.

"In order to save the world from the waves of apocalyptic catastrophe, four heroes will be summoned from another world." Naofumi read.

"Waves of apocalyptic catastrophe?"

"Dunno, but I'm kinda interested." Naofumi turned the page. "Each hero wields a distinctive weapon. A sword, a spear, a bow, or a shield. Yeah, but a shield's not really a weapon."

"It can be."

Naofumi just shrugged before continuing. "Anyway, where's the heroine in this thing?"

"Ah, so you read for the ladies 'cause you can't get any, huh?" I nudged his arm.

"Says the guy that still hasn't gotten his first kiss."

Frowning, I crossed my arms. "Point taken."

"Yeah, well, at least these hero guys look pretty damn cool and impressive." Naofumi flipped through a few pages. "Guess all four of them are the main protagonists. Spotlight's on sword, spear and bow. Even the shield hero gets..." he turned the page, only to see it was blank.

"What the hell?"

The pages began flipping by themselves, a yellow glow coming from them. Placing my hand on Naofumi's shoulder, I tried to pull him away, only for the two of us to begin falling.

Yelling in surprise, I hit the floor after a few seconds. "What just happened?" I stood up, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Fantastic! The summoning was a success." I looked over to see a group of people in robes standing before us. "Brave heroes, won't you please save our world from pure evil?"

"What?" I looked to my left to see three people I didn't recognize. One of them was holding a sword, one was holding a spear, and the third was holding a bow. Looking down, I noticed I was gripping the hilt of a... "A knife?"

"That's actually a dagger." the bow wielder told me.

"Where am I?" Naofumi stood up. "What the hell is this?" he held out his right arm, a small shield attached to it.

"That's a shield." I snapped my fingers. "I'da thought you'd know that."

"Please o' brave heroes. Our world is in dire need of saving." the robe leader said.

"What are you talking about?"

"The story behind it all is long and complicated. But suffice it to say, that you are the four cardinal heroes. And you were summoned here using an ancient ritual." the robe leader said.

"Four? But there's five of us." I crossed my arms.

"Our world is in a most fragile state and teeters on the brink of destruction. So we beg you, o' brave heroes, please lend us your aid."

"I guess I could at least hear you guys out." Naofumi said.

"Forget it." the sword hero said.

"I also refuse." the bow hero agreed.

"You can send us back to our home world right? Do that and maybe we'll talk." the spear hero said.

"You brought the five of us here without our consent. Don't you even feel the least bit guilty about it?" the sword hero pointed the tip of his blade at them.

"Not to mention, if you throw us out as soon as we restore peace, we'd have done all that work for nothing." the bow hero said.

"How willing are you to accommodate our requests? Depending on your answer, we may end up as your enemies instead of your allies." the spear hero added.

Rolling my eyes, I began tossing my dagger into the air and catching it as something to do with my hand. "Good sirs, before I say anymore, we'd like you to have an audience with the king of Melromarc. You can negotiate your rewards with him directly, so please."

"All right, fine." the sword hero lowered his weapon.

"I suppose we'll consider your offer."

"Sure. Doesn't matter who we talk to, our demands won't change." the spear hero added.

"Sheesh." Naofumi tapped my arm, causing me to stop tossing my dagger.

"Hm?" I glanced at him.

"Still barely paying attention, huh?" he shook his head. "C'mon."

"Nah, I was paying attention, there just wasn't anything I wanted to say."

"Sure." he motioned for me to follow him.

Following the men in robes through the courtyard, we eventually came to the throne room. And there, sitting on one of the two thrones, was the king. "So, you young men are the...five cardinal heroes of ancient legend? This is the land of Melromarc and I am her king, Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. Welcome, brave heroes. Please identify yourselves."

"Ren Amaki." the sword hero said. "I'm a highschool student and I'm 16 years old."

"I'm Motoyasu Kitamura." the spear hero said. "College student, 21."

"I suppose I'm up next. Itsuki Kawasumi." the bow hero said. "Still in highschool and I'm 17."

I stepped forward. "Mercury Takamaki. College student, 19."

"Guess that leaves me." Naofumi stepped up. "My name is-"

"Good." the king cut him off. "Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki and Mercury."

"Yo, king." Naofumi got his attention. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Oh, yes, forgive me."

"Hey, you can't just say 'yo, king'. You have to address him with a little respect." Itsuki said.

"So, what then? His majesty?" Naofumi asked.

"Might be too formal." I replied.

"King, is fine." the king said.

"All right. Whatever you prefer. I'm Naofumi Iwatani. College student, 20 years old."

"Now, then I suppose I need to explain why we've brought you here." the king said. "My beloved country of Melromarc and the entire world surrounding it are heading down a path to certain ruin. We underestimated the potency of the waves. Once we actually experienced the first one and barely survived, we realized that only the four, now five, cardinal heroes could counter them. So, we followed the legend and summoned you five. But now, we have no time to lose."

"Okay, I think we get the gist of it." Ren said. "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't bring us here thinking we'd save you for free."

"Of course not." some old guy said. "Once you repel all of the waves, I can assure you we shall reward you most handsomely."

"Yeah? Well it would seem we have no choice but to take you at your word." Motoyasu said.

"As long as you don't reneg, we'll work with you." Ren added. "But don't think for a moment that you can tame us."

"Exactly. We won't put up with you looking down on us." Itsuki said.

"Right. What these guys said."

"If I can trust that we have reached an agreeable arrangement, I would ask you brave heroes to now check your statuses." the king said.

"Wait, what's a status?" Naofumi asked.

"Um, yeah."

"Are you guys dense? It should have been the very first thing you noticed when we got here." Ren said. "Don't you see the icon in the lower right corner of your vision? Try focusing your attention on it."

Seeing the icon, I did as told and a small menu popped up. "Level 1...dagger hero?"

"Level 1? That's really disconcerting, isn't it?" Itsuki said.

"Yeah, no kidding. Who can tell if we can even fight like this?" Motoyasu said.

"What is all this, exactly?" Naofumi asked.

"It's called status magic. An ability exclusive to the heroes."

"So where do we go?" I asked.

"You must set out on an adventure to develop and upgrade these legendary weapons."

"They weren't already maxed out when we got 'em?" Naofumi asked. "Also, mine's not even technically a weapon."

"Can't we just wield other weapons until these are usable?" Motoyasu asked.

"Suppose we'll have to figure that out as we go." Ren said. "Regardless, it looks like we've all got a lot of training ahead of us."

"We'll have to level up hard and fast."

"Then once the five of us feel like we're ready, we can form a party and-"

"One moment, brave heroes. I neglected to mention you must each recruit allies and adventure separately." the old guy said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"It is said that by their nature the legendary weapons repel one another. If you try and work together, it will apparently hinder their development."

"Looks like he's telling the truth." Naofumi said.

"Since the sun is about to set, rest here for the night and begin your quest tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties." the king said.

Tossing my dagger in the air, a woman approached us. "We have quarters prepared for you all. Please, sirs, right this way."

A few minutes later

The other heroes insisted on the five of us talk, but I wasn't interested. So, I went to my own room. I don't really care about getting to know people, especially with how demanding the other three were. I'm not what you would call a "people person."

Falling into the bed, I closed my eyes and drifted off.

The following day

Standing in the throne room, there was a line of people in front of us. "We have gathered the greatest warriors in the land. These brave souls will fight the waves along side you."

The five of us took a step forward. "Our future champions, the time has come to begin your journey." the line of people approached us.

Tossing my dagger and catching it, I didn't really care if someone joined my party or not. In all honesty, I prefer being by myself.

Catching my dagger, I placed a hand on my hip just as a girl walked in front of me. She was kinda short and had her hands clasped behind her back. She seemed extremely nervous.

Looking up at me, our eyes met. Her eyes are a crystal blue and her hair is a bright purple. She gave a nervous smile before moving behind me.

Shrugging, I continued tossing and catching my dagger. "Wha- huh?!" I looked over to see Naofumi with no one behind him. "1 there. 3 there. 5 there. 4 there?! Yo, king!"

"I am loathed to admit it, but even I was not expecting this." the king said.

"No volunteers? He must have zero charisma."

A man walked next to the king and whispered something in his ear. "I've been made aware of an unsettling rumor."

"Has something happened, sir?"

"Not exactly. The rumor that is quickly spreading around town is that the so called shield hero is ignorant of this world." the king explained.

"What?!"

"The legend tells us the heroes arrive with a firm understanding of our land. And the townspeople seem to think he doesn't meet that criteria." the king said.

"Regardless, you don't need 5 Ren! How about you give a couple of them to me!" Naofumi said.

"I'm a loner, you're right. I don't need them. Whoever cannot cut it gets left behind." Ren told his group.

"Motoyasu, help me out! Don't you think this is unfair?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised my party is all girls, too." he replied while rubbing the back of his head.

"It might seem to be the most fair if we split them up as evenly as possible. But if we try to force the issue it could destroy everybody's morale." Itsuki said.

"Mercury?"

Seeing his desperation, I just shrugged. "Not really my choice, man."

"So, what? You're telling me I just have to go it alone?!" Naofumi said.

"Look, Naofumi," I stopped when I noticed a hand raised.

"Sir, hero." a redheaded girl walked up to him from Motoyasu's group. "Would you kindly allow me to switch parties and join the shield hero?"

"Are you sure?"

"I am!" the girl nodded.

"There you go, dude!" I tossed my dagger again. "Anyways, king, may I be dismissed to begin my quest?"

"You may." he nodded.

"Thanks." turning around, I began heading out of the castle.

End of chapter 1