)—(\ Synopsis /)|—(

(Chapter 1) Naofumi, Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu were once apartment roommates, but they find themselves all summoned to a land called Melromarc, being heeded as the Four Cardinal Heroes. Excited to fulfill their roles, it soon became clear that not everything was what it seemed, discovering that this fantasy dream alongside friends was actually a crumbling nightmare in disguise.

(Chapter 2) [N/A]

)—(\ About the Fic /)|—(

The concept of the story began as 'what if the Cardinal Heroes all came from the same world and were already friends with one another'.

However, that quickly started to become a generic shounen fanfic where the power of friendship trumps all where the trial only results in backfiring on Malty. As a wise, but very drunk, man said, "the power of friendship is bullshit." Despite wanting friendship to be one of the defining themes of this story, I wasn't really interesting in pursuing it to the point where it enables steamrolling.

That's why I decided to take a few liabilities to make an AU of the story, to be able to give it the content it needs to be interesting. In other words, I'm heading on an original plot using the pieces given to me while adding in original characters where I see fit. I will have a disclaimer that I'm not the best when it comes to canonical details and I'll definitely handwave some of them, alongside alternating some aspects to bring together a better narrative flow. Of course, I'm only hoping for that.

Before you start reading, I would like to mention that this is a multi-protagonist story.

This means that all of the Cardinal Heroes are the main protagonists, meaning that I have to deal with balancing their perspectives with one another. In other words, Naofumi is not the central character, but a central character right out from the floodgates alongside Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki. However, this means that the story length is going to be rather long with four characters to keep up with, added with my... uhm, poor pacing skills. Look, I'm trying my best, okay?

Please enjoy regardless, The Rising of the Four Heroes!

)—(\ Recommendations /)|—(

Hope of the Shield Hero
AllenBlaster

This story is one that really caught my eye. Not because it was a good story that pushed the relationship between Naofumi and Raphtalia, but it's a good story that was actually doing something great with the other Cardinal Heroes. I really like it when authors remember that they can use the other Cardinal Heroes rather than just plot devices to make Naofumi or an OC strictly look better. Ironically enough, despite its name, I'm more interested in the storylines that AllenBlaster has built for the other heroes. I would say that I highly recommend the story, but chances are, you're already favorited, followed, or read it.

Congrats on taking the top-ranked Shield Hero non-crossover fanfic by the way.

Ambition of the Red Princess
Qinlongfei

One of my favourite fics on this fandom, this one is a really good read that evolves the land of Shield Hero, something that was never touched on (or if so, then barely) in the original canon and the writing is indeed something to aspire to write like. In addition, I love how the focused character of Malty is developed in the story, so please take a look if it suits your fancy!

Four Heroes
Adam Rook

He's been writing his own take on the idea where the four heroes originally knew each other before they were summoned. I highly recommend you check it out. I will have to say that the both of us grab on different takes of each character, so it is very worth reading if you like this idea of the "Friendship AU". Without much spoilers, I will say that our genre tags do matter in seeing how we tackle the idea differently, but we certainly take up different reins despite similar ideas. I guess that's the beauty of creative writing!

)—(\ Discord Server Plug /)|—(

Want a place to talk about Shield Hero, or simply, a place to hang out and chill? This discord-partnered server might be the place for you and considering how you're here, reading fanfictions for Shield Hero, there's a particular channel you might want to swing by and say hello to. If you're someone who frequents many of the stories here on FFN, you might see some familiar faces! Erhm, usernames.

Free feel to talk about fanfics there, whether existing ones or hypothetical ones, and maybe learn a new thing or two about the entire universe of Shield Hero as a whole. Don't be shy! New faces are always welcomed in this over 10k members server!

Please help me, one of the discord moderator had a glock to my head and—

I-I mean, join the Shield Hero Discord today!

You can find a link on the r/ShieldBro subreddit or simply type in "Shield Hero Discord" on Google!

)—(\ Shield Hero Season 2 /)|—(

Well, Rising of the Shield Hero's anime has its scheduled release for Season 2.

From what I gathered, it'll drop early 2021 in line with the winter anime season and it'll cover the Spirit Tortoise Arc. Hopefully, there would be a bit more to that since it rolls right into the next arc without any stopping.

I'll keep this disclaimer here until the first few episodes drop.